What? My Civilian Company Has Become a Defense Contractor!

“Our company’s drone is strictly a civilian product! It is absolutely not military equipment!” Su Mu, chairman of Jiangyu Technology, struggles to contain his agitation during an on-camera interview. His voice is filled with unmistakable frustration and urgency.

The reporter opposite him presses on, holding out a microphone. “But officials on the Russian side have publicly praised your company’s drone, calling it the most advanced military-grade drone of our time. How do you respond?”

Su Mu takes a deep breath, his brow furrowed. A hint of desperation creeps into his voice. “Let me say it again: this really is a civilian drone. We have never been involved in the defense industry!”

No one knows that Su Mu is not from this era. He took over his family’s small drone factory, which was on the verge of bankruptcy and outfitted with outdated equipment. Drawing on a wealth of civilian technology from the future, he focuses on the consumer market and plans to develop a series of products tailored to people’s everyday needs, gradually bringing the factory back to life.

The civilian aerial photography drone he led the development of was designed to meet needs such as outdoor exploration and agricultural surveying. Yet the military took an unexpected interest in it, bought it in bulk, and put it into service. Before long, the outside world was calling it “the most powerful military drone of our time.”

The civilian spaceplane he spent ages developing was intended to let ordinary people experience the fun of space tourism. It had barely completed its first test flight when the space agency came knocking with a special order worth tens of billions, demanding that it be adapted specifically for space missions.

Even the agricultural humanoid tilling mech he custom-built to solve the difficulties of farming could not escape being turned into military equipment.