A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

Chapter 909 Serving the Dish at Just the Right Time

As the memories of Uncle Kim and Anderson faded, Junichiro snapped out of his reverie of the tatami tea room and realized he was still lying on a cot in the Darian base prisoner's quarters.

The moonlight outside the iron bars was still cold, but the desolation of the dry landscape garden in the mansion courtyard was gone. Only the sound of the waves from the dock monotonously lapped against the night.

Despite his physical exhaustion, Junichiro's mind was racing uncontrollably. Scenes of his past dealings with Anderson and Uncle Kim, and his family's high-stakes gamble on the "Ear of Poseidon," flashed before his eyes as clearly as if they were yesterday.

"Ah……"

These chaotic thoughts, in a strange way, eventually converged into a sense of reassuring peace of mind.

Junichiro felt that his identity was special, that he was protected by the "humane treatment of prisoners" policy, and that he was also carrying out a "secret mission" for the Bald Eagle, and that he was "one of their own" with his big father backing him up.

From any perspective, he firmly believes that his current situation is only temporary.

"Yes, I was forced into it, but I jumped in voluntarily. Anderson and that guy named Kim thought they had me under their control with channels and licenses, but little did they know that what they handed me was the key to the core technology I had been dreaming of."

“‘Early Tide’ is my gambling table, and that hidden listening system is my chips. Now, the cards have been dealt, and it’s time to see who will have the last laugh.”

Thinking of this, Junichiro turned over, pulled up the thin blanket, and with the certainty of a chess player after making a move, truly fell asleep.

The rhythmic footsteps of the soldiers on guard outside became the best lullaby.

Spalashi...

What a sweet dream!

……

However, under the same moonlight, while some sleep peacefully, others must be awake and bear the burden.

On one side are prisoners with special identities, confident of their safe return, and even dreaming of a triumphant return; on the other side are guardians who fight through the night to seize this fleeting technological window and gain even the slightest advantage for the nation's underwater Great Wall.

Dozens of nautical miles away, the "Shoshio" submarine, like a lurking steel behemoth, was still brightly lit inside.

Jiang Xia blinked hard at his dry, red eyes, wiping away the sweat mixed with oil from his forehead with the back of his hand. He couldn't remember how long he had been working continuously in this stuffy cabin.

A burning sense of mission, so different from the oppressive atmosphere inside the cabin, was supporting the exhausted body of the little guy.

"The carrying pole is only three feet and three inches long, and the basket is made of willow branches. Don't underestimate this thing; it carried two mountains away yesterday."

The little boy recited the poem while fiddling with the parts in his hands.

The thing in Jiang Xia's hand was only the size of a coin. It was a bowl-shaped, concave ceramic receiver head covered with a special sound-permeable rubber membrane.

Ignoring the dim light, Professor Shih-E used a magnifying glass to try and see the metal acoustic waveguide, which was only as thick as a finger: "Hey, there are spiral patterns inside. Is it to reduce sound wave reflection interference?"

Then he began to examine a metal disc inlaid with ceramic pieces, turning it over and over in his mind.

"Is this another receiver head? It's less than ten centimeters in diameter, with three thin-core shielding wires soldered to the back, and extremely fine lines engraved on the ceramic plate?"

"Is this a piezoelectric ceramic sensor? But the pattern doesn't look like a conventional one."

Jiang Xia nodded and pointed to the scattered parts, adding, "Not just the receiver head, look at these... This palm-sized metal box is a signal preamplifier module, containing six transistors and two capacitors, and the shielding is exceptionally well done."

And this small box with a knob, I guess it's a filtering component, capable of initially filtering out high-frequency noise. Most importantly, these fine-core shielded wires, coated with an anti-magnetic layer and containing seven copper strands, have extremely low signal transmission loss.

Teacher Xu Hua squatted down and picked up a shielded wire with tweezers: "The parts don't look complicated, but when they're put together, it's hard to figure out how they work. Shi E, you're an underwater acoustics expert, can you figure out its specific function?"

Professor Shih-E sighed and shook his head: "I've seen many passive listening systems, but I've never seen one so 'fragmented.' The receiver head is broken down into more than a dozen small modules, all hidden in different parts of the submarine."

Now that the parts have been disassembled, we don't even know how the signals are collected or amplified, let alone determine its monitoring range and sensitivity.

"However, the design and manufacturing of these receivers are quite sophisticated, and their sensitivity is probably not low. But the overall architecture of this system... is very awkwardly integrated."

Looking at these individual components alone, it's difficult to accurately determine its actual performance and design intent.

Teacher Xu Hua nodded in agreement: "It seems that Xiaobenzi wants to try something new, but the approach is a bit unconventional."

“Since we can’t figure it out here, let’s test it out!” Jiang Xia suddenly stood up, dusted off his hands, and said, “Let’s temporarily assemble these modules according to our understanding of the logic, connect them to a signal source and recording equipment, and test them in a real underwater acoustic environment. Wouldn’t that make everything clear?”

Upon hearing this, Teacher Shih-E pointed to the "Big Yellow Doppelganger" and reminded him, "The idea of ​​testing is good. But Comrade Xiao Jiang, look, the core of this system, or rather, the 'brain' it tries to become, is probably this computer. Without it, we might not be able to make the system run completely, nor be able to interpret the data it collects."

Jiang Xia seemed to have anticipated this. He patted the cold metal casing of the machine and said in a relaxed tone, "Professor Shi'e, you're right. However, our current purpose is to test the functional limits and working mechanism of this hardware device. As for whether the data it calculates using that logic we don't understand is accurate, that's not important for now."

We can even activate only its acquisition part, bypassing this 'brain,' and record the raw signal in our own way.

Yes, the little guy's focus wasn't on the system itself; all he needed was a verification result. Once the system's specific function was confirmed, then...

Junichiro, I've got my money back today!

"Ha, I almost forgot, you're Big Yellow's dad..."

Teacher Shih-E first teased Jiang Xia, then stared intently at the badge that Jiang Xia hadn't taken off his chest.

Jiang Xia thought the badge was a bit of an eyesore and was about to take it off.

Professor Shih-E clapped his hands: "If we just want to conduct basic functional verification and parameter assessment, this piecemeal approach is not the way to go. Fortunately, our newly built underwater acoustic test range, although not fully completed yet, already has its core test pool and standard signal transmission array ready for use."

He pointed to the badge on Jiang Xia's chest: "You have this, and your level meets the requirements for entering the outer testing area. Why don't we transport these disassembled key modules directly to the firing range? There, we can simulate various hydrological conditions and conduct systematic testing using standard sound sources. We can quickly get a pretty good grasp of the ins and outs of this system!"

Jiang Xia was slightly taken aback by the suggestion and subconsciously asked, "An underwater acoustic firing range? Professor Shi'e, what kind of place is that? It sounds like a target practice area?"

“Haha, it’s not about shooting guns or cannons,” Professor Shi’e chuckled, then his expression turned serious as he patiently explained, “You can think of it as a huge, extremely sophisticated ‘underwater acoustic laboratory.’ We deploy standard sound sources in specific sea areas or large, dedicated pools…”

Like targets on shore, they are used to simulate the noise of various ships and submarines, or to artificially create sound waves of specific frequencies.

Then, we used our sonar equipment to listen, capture, and analyze.

"So this is the firing range! It's a testing ground for sonar equipment!"

Jiang Xia was so happy that his ahoge (cowlick) stood up again. What a coincidence!

Junichiro, oh Junichiro,

Your dish,

The gift was just right!