Tech Giants: Starting from Bankrupt Companies

251: Chapter 251 Morning Star High-Intelligence Medium-Range Ballistic MissileThe fifth product raised the level of shock to a new height once again.

This time, there wasn’t even live-fire footage, only computer-simulated animations. However, everyone knew that weapons of this caliber would never be publicly displayed without having undergone actual testing.

”The Venus series, high-intelligence intermediate-range ballistic missiles,” Gu Xinghe’s voice became more serious. ”The range covers 1,500 to 3,500 kilometers. The core design philosophy: precision, intelligence, and unpredictability.”

The animation began.

Launch footage: The missile rose vertically from a vehicle-mounted launch tube, the booster separated, and the warhead entered the edge of the atmosphere.

Then, an incredible scene occurred.

The warhead did not fly along a parabolic path like a traditional ballistic missile; instead, it began to ”skip” along the edge of the atmosphere—this was the legendary ”Qian Xuesen Trajectory.”

The warhead glided in the near-space region between 30 and 100 kilometers, performing S-shaped maneuvers. Its trajectory was completely impossible to calculate using traditional ballistic prediction equations.

”Hypersonic glide warhead, speed Mach 8 to 10,” Gu Xinghe explained. ”The interception probability of existing anti-missile systems against it is less than 30%.”

But the even more shocking part was yet to come.

The animation demonstrated the ”Intelligent Mission Planning” function:

Before the missile was launched, three alternative targets were programmed: A (Primary Command Center), B (Backup Command Center), and C (Power Hub).

During flight, the missile received real-time intelligence updates via satellite data link.

The screen showed: Target A (Primary Command Center) was detected to have strengthened its air defense deployment after the missile launch, and the estimated interception probability rose to 65%.

The missile’s AI mission planning module began calculations. Based on preset rules (prioritize high-value targets, but success rate cannot be lower than 40%), it determined that the risk of attacking Target A was too high.

AI Decision: Switch to Target B.

The warhead began maneuvering, changing its glide trajectory.

But just then, intelligence updated: Personnel at Target B had been evacuated, and its value had decreased.

The AI calculated again, this time selecting Target C (Power Hub)—although its value was lower than the command center, its defenses were weak, the attack success rate was as high as 95%, and paralyzing the power system could indirectly disable the command center.

The warhead maneuvered again.

In the terminal phase, the warhead released three sub-warheads, each performing a spiral descent to attack the power station’s critical facilities from different angles: the main transformer, the control center, and the transmission lines.

The explosion simulation showed: The power station was paralyzed, but the building structure remained largely intact.

”This isn’t destruction; it’s precision paralysis,” Gu Xinghe summarized. ”Disabling high-value targets while preserving infrastructure. It’s suitable for... post-war reconstruction.”

These words were full of deep meaning.

The eyes of several Middle Eastern representatives lit up.

They needed this kind of weapon desperately: they wanted to strike their opponents’ military capabilities without turning cities into ruins, and they certainly didn’t want to trigger strong international condemnation.

Precision paralysis, post-war reconstruction—it was a concept practically tailor-made for them.

”The qimingxing missile is priced at $10 million per unit,” Gu Xinghe announced the price. ”This includes the basic intelligent mission planning module. The advanced AI module requires an additional fee.”

$10 million sounds like an astronomical price. But compared to the $1.5 million for the American ”Tomahawk” cruise missile, the Venus has a longer range, higher speed, stronger penetration capabilities, and is much smarter.

More importantly, the ”Tomahawk” requires US approval to be used, whereas with the Venus, once a buyer pays for it, it’s theirs.

In the audience, the hands of the Iranian representative, Ali Hassan, were trembling slightly.

He knew that if Iran had even a few dozen Venus missiles, the entire strategic balance of the Middle East would change completely. Israel’s anti-missile systems would become useless, and US military bases in the Middle East would no longer be safe.

But the problem was... what about US sanctions?

He looked at Gu Xinghe on the stage, his eyes filled with longing and anxiety.

With the demonstration of the five main combat systems finished, the atmosphere in the venue had reached a boiling point.

But Gu Xinghe wasn’t finished.

He walked to the center of the stage, the lights dimmed again, leaving only a single spotlight on him.

”The five items above are the products available for sale today,” he said. ”But Xingchen Defense’s research and development goes beyond this.”

The large screen lit up, and three terms appeared:

Heavenly Bow-3 / night owl / war mastiff

There were no physical objects, no parameters, only a 30-second CG animation.

But it was those 30 seconds that caused the temperature in the entire hall to drop.

Part One: Heavenly Bow-3 Hypersonic Air Defense Missile

The footage showed a missile bursting out of an underground silo, accelerating to Mach 15 and exiting the atmosphere. The target: a satellite in low-Earth orbit (the silhouette of the satellite in the footage was clearly an American ”Keyhole” series reconnaissance satellite). It intercepted, and the satellite exploded into fragments.

Key data bullet points: Speed Mach 15 (current world’s fastest interceptor is Mach 10) / Interception altitude 3-150 km (covering low-orbit satellites) / Thermal barrier coating temperature resistance 2000°C.

Part Two: night owl Intelligent Attack Aircraft

A stealth drone with an 8-meter wingspan took off vertically from a truck platform with rocket assistance, in a three-plane formation. It penetrated defenses, used a laser to designate a ground target, and then withdrew. Subsequently, precision-guided munitions hit the designated target.

Key points: No runway required / Autonomous AI planning / Swarm coordination.

Part Three: war mastiff Armed Robotic Dog

A hundred quadruped robotic dogs surged through city ruins like a tide. They could climb 45-degree slopes, wade through 1.5 meters of water, and leap over obstacles. Swarm intelligence: automatic formation, some drawing fire from the front, some flanking, and some circling behind. Besieging a tank, some were equipped with 12.7mm machine guns for suppression, while others fired anti-tank missiles.

Key points: Quadrupedal movement / Swarm intelligence / Unmanned combat.

The animation ended.

The lights came back on, and Gu Xinghe stood in the light, his shadow stretching long.

”These three weapons are currently in the development stage and will not be exported for the time being,” his voice was cold, like a Siberian wind. ”They are not on the export list, and no further details will be shown to the public.”

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the audience as if searching for someone.

Then, he uttered the most bombshell statement of the day:

”But I must inform certain countries: if the sanctions against Spark Group escalate from the commercial sphere to a substantive threat—”

He looked straight ahead, as if through the lens, directly into that conference room in Washington’s Pentagon.

”We don’t mind making the concept a reality ahead of schedule.”

As his voice fell, the entire venue went dead silent.

Everyone understood the subtext of these words:

If the US dared to launch a military strike against Spark, then China would dare to deploy these ”concept weapons” for actual combat ahead of schedule.

And once deployed, the existing military balance would be completely shattered.

This was a warning.

It was also a declaration.

4:30 PM, the press conference ended.

Gu Xinghe bowed slightly and turned to leave the stage.

There was no applause, because everyone was still immersed in the final shock.

But soon, representatives from various countries in the VIP area rose one after another and rushed toward the business negotiation area at the side of the stage.

The real war was only just beginning.