Technological advancement begins with devouring.

The birth of Jarvis was a significant milestone for Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen simply took a day off, no longer thinking about work, study, or improving his skills, and just wanted to rest properly.

On the way back to Mingyue Residential Area, it suddenly started snowing.

This is a rare occurrence in the warm south.

Jiang Chen had been in this world for over a decade, and this was the first time he had ever seen snow in reality.

The New Year has just passed, but apart from some shops still having Spring Festival couplets and lanterns hanging at their entrances, there is no longer any festive atmosphere.

In the new era following the Great Nirvana, the human race faced immense pressure to survive. Everyone was like a cog in a machine, operating in an orderly fashion to keep this massive machine running smoothly, fighting against the monsters that roamed the wilderness, and vying for living space.

Looking at the pedestrians hurrying to work on the street, Jiang Chen suddenly felt a complex mix of emotions.

"If there were no monsters, people's lives would be much better, right?"

Hearing Jiang Chen's mutterings, Lu Gang, who was driving, said loudly, "Mr. Jiang, the technology you've presented has already given us a significant advantage in the fight against the monsters. I heard from Commander Li that the first batch of [Ripper] units equipped with our troops has shown excellent combat results, and the higher-ups are already considering the feasibility of sending troops to recapture the surrounding 140 counties and expand the base city's area."

While Jiang Chen has been busy these past few months, the military hasn't been idle either.

With a large supply of materials prioritized and production running at full capacity, thousands of "Ripper" units have already been deployed to the front-line troops.

After repeated testing in actual combat, the performance of [The Ripper] in real combat has even exceeded the best previous expectations.

Its powerful armor-piercing ability prevents most monsters below the lord level from even getting close to organized warrior teams; they are killed outside the safe zone and pose no threat to large warrior units.

Even against a lord-level monster, a few enhanced [Ripper] weapons, along with a high-level warrior, are enough to hunt it down.

With the help of other warriors, they can sweep away the low-level monsters that are not worth wasting bullets on. A team of about a hundred warriors, equipped with twenty or thirty [Tearer] rifles, can easily clear out a large area.

As long as you don't encounter planetary-level monsters, you can roam freely.

Given this performance, the military is naturally prepared to increase its efforts and spare no expense to produce as many Ripper rifles as possible and equip them to the entire army as soon as possible.

The military has no shortage of warriors. As long as there are enough weapons that can threaten beast generals and lord-level monsters, sweeping through counties and even cities is not a problem at all.

Once an abandoned county town and its monsters are wiped out, a defensive wall can be built to accommodate a large population to live and work in.

If such areas were connected and merged with the base city, their value would be even greater.

Hearing Lu Gang talk about the performance of the [Tearers] on the battlefield, Jiang Chen also showed a smile.

The reason this weapon was handed over to the military is that only the military can maximize its value and help humanity reclaim more living space from the monsters.

Moreover, this is only the [Ripper].

If combined with the [Boxer] power mech, it wouldn't be a problem to completely annihilate or drive away the monsters, but it could at least expand the area of ​​several base cities by several times.

However, Jiang Chen did not reveal the plan for the "Boxer" right now.

On the one hand, this project is quite complex, and even with Jarvis's assistance, it will take a long time to produce an experimental model.

As for mass production, that's even more complicated.

On the other hand, giving away too much before having sufficient strength and status is not a good thing for Jiang Chen himself.

In fact, the enormous profits brought by the [Ripper] alone have already aroused the envy of many.

However, with Lu Gang's protection, many troubles were secretly resolved without Jiang Chen knowing.

It was only after Jarvis was born and he obtained a lot of information from the internet that Jiang Chen realized that his wealth had long been noticed by people with ulterior motives, who even wanted to secretly seize it.

This made Jiang Chen secretly wary, and he decided to be more careful in the future.

The military can still help them deal with the current troubles.

If even larger interests are involved in the future, attracting even more powerful forces and strong individuals, will we still be able to stop them?

Furthermore, if there are truly significant enough benefits, can the military really trust them completely?

Jiang Chen wouldn't be so naive.

Ultimately, one's own strength determines the resources one can control.

If it goes beyond this scope, it must be kept hidden and not easily known to others.

"After the [Boxer] project is completed, it's time to consider the issue of my own combat strength..." A thought flashed through Jiang Chen's mind.

But it only happened briefly.

Jiang Chen, having finally gotten a day off, just wanted to relax.

Back in Mingyue Residential Area, Jiang Chen learned that Luo Feng had just returned from the wilderness, so he simply went to Luo Feng's house for a free meal.

Unfortunately, Wei Wen had already finished his vacation and returned to school, so the three 'best buddies' couldn't get together.

Of the three, Wei Wen was the only one who chose to go to university.

Luo Feng chose the path of martial arts, while Jiang Chen, although pursuing scientific research, already had a system at his disposal, so the university obviously couldn't offer him any help and there was no need for him to waste his time.

Luo Feng's family also warmly welcomed Jiang Chen's arrival.

In particular, Luo Feng's father enthusiastically pulled Jiang Chen to drink several glasses of wine, until his face turned red and he started talking nonsense, which Luo Feng couldn't stand, so he forcibly snatched the wine glass from Luo Hongguo's hand and put it away.

After dinner, the two went to Jiang Chen's house.

"Shall we have another drink?" Jiang Chen took a bottle of wine from the wine cabinet and gestured to Luo Feng.

Although Luo Feng forbids his father, Luo Hongguo, from drinking, he himself is a heavy drinker.

During their middle school years, Jiang Chen, Luo Feng, and Wei Wen would often get together and secretly drink alcohol behind the backs of their parents and teachers.

Now that Luo Feng has become a martial artist, his physical strength has been enhanced, and his alcohol tolerance has increased significantly.

The wine on the table earlier wasn't even enough to whet Luo Feng's appetite, so it certainly wasn't enough to satisfy him.

"Alright, I'll just have some of your good wine!" Luo Feng smiled, went to get a wine glass, looked around in confusion, and asked, "Where's Uncle Lu?"

Luo Feng knew that Lu Gang had been protecting Jiang Chen for a long time, but he didn't know Lu Gang's strength and only thought he was a general sent by the military.

“Uncle Lu doesn’t drink, don’t worry about him.” Jiang Chen shook his head, opened the bottle, and poured the wine as he said, “This wine isn’t cheap, but it shouldn’t be a burden for you, right? You’re already wearing a 9th-generation combat uniform, why would you care about a bottle of wine that costs tens of thousands of yuan?”