Chapter 226: Still Need to Be Stronger!

Accompanied by a group of Sailors who were enjoying the spectacle, Lu Yuan arrived at the Xianyang's hangar.

Since the carrier-based aircraft were all on patrol outside, ensuring the safety of the surrounding airspace, this area was cleared out and served as a temporary cargo hold.

At this moment, the hangar doors on both sides and above were open, and dozens of marines in power armor were busy flying around with their flight packs, constantly moving captured enemy equipment inside.

This was the good thing about a zero-gravity environment: moving heavy objects was incredibly easy; there was nothing that couldn't be moved, only a difference in speed.

“Please look, Your Excellency! This is the ‘thundercloud’ light fighter produced by Paradise Island!”

Jubian, who had been waiting in the hangar, pointed to the space fighter that Male God and other players were pushing in behind him.

Unlike Cangyuan’s ‘owl,’ which was equipped with an Entropy Zero Element Furnace, the ‘thundercloud’ had a pair of wings for atmospheric flight, and in front of the wings, it had a pair of heat dissipation plates that could also serve as canards for atmospheric flight, used to enhance aerodynamic performance.

“The design of this aircraft is quite significant for us to reference, mainly because its interior is very compact. Don’t let its small size fool you; its bomb load is quite substantial.

“Additionally, its dorsal laser turret should also have an AI autonomous attack mode, but the ones the Galan purchased did not include this option.”

“Why wasn't it installed?”

Lu Yuan was extremely curious.

Did they think they were too lucky?

“Well—” Jubian waved to someone in the distance, “Let’s hear the story from the person involved.”

A player floated over, escorting a Galan pilot prisoner. Jubian repeated the Executive Officer’s question.

“Be—because we secretly negotiated with Paradise Island and took kickbacks on the procurement!” the prisoner said, scratching his head. “The military high command thought they were buying top-spec fighters, but in reality, they were only mid-spec.”

Oh~

Amazing, I’m impressed!

Those pilots who were blown up certainly didn’t die in vain.

“How much kickback did you get?” Lu Yuan asked.

“About 10 million star alliance credit points per fighter, most of which ended up in Vice Admiral Sige’s personal pocket,” the prisoner replied.

“Damn, good business! You guys are a classic example of earning money but not living to spend it.”

The player who escorted him couldn’t help but complain.

“—Has the Galan Navy truly never fought against a stronger force?” Lu Yuan asked again.

“Not for at least several decades, sir. Although the Human Exploration Federation always looks down on us, their territory is far from ours, so there’s little friction, and sometimes even cooperation; as for New Hope, Paradise Island, and the Super Democratic Empire, our relations are quite good, we are all friends.”

“But as far as I know, New Hope and Paradise Island are sworn enemies, and the Super Democratic Empire covets the entire Star Alliance,” Lu Yuan questioned. “How do you manage to maintain good relations with all these factions?” Lu Yuan questioned.

“Because we Galan are especially charming!” “I’ll give you a chance to answer again.” Jubian poked the pilot twice on the chest. “Only once. If you talk nonsense again, I’ll throw you out.”

“I really don’t know, sir! I’m just a pilot—but at some banquets, I did overhear that it seems we gave a lot of benefits to the rulers of other factions, secretly ceding a lot of interests. Of course, these benefits and interests will actually be paid for by the commoners in our country and those conquered weaker ones, and will not affect our rule or our quality of life.” Lu Yuan waved his hand, signaling him to step aside.

Truly a pile of dog shit.

“Do you recommend replicating this ‘thundercloud’ fighter?” Lu Yuan no longer paid attention to these abstract matters and looked back at Jubian.

“It can be appropriately replicated. This aircraft is better than the medium fighters in the industrial ship’s blueprint library. In the future, it can be used for homeland defense, and also as a transitional mount for mid-level pilots.

“But the front-line fighters still have to be the ‘owl’! As you’ve seen, it can crush the ‘thundercloud’ in aerial combat, and the latter is already considered a pretty good fighter in the Star Alliance!”

Afterward, Jubian also led the Executive Officer to inspect a ‘Moras’ missile in very good condition. The biggest highlight of this missile was undoubtedly its warp flight capability.

To be able to fit a warp engine into a missile body less than a meter in diameter, it must be said that the Super Democratic Empire truly had something special.

“This ultra-small warp engine has given us great inspiration!” Jubian said, pointing at the missile. “With this sample,

we can try to improve our own warp engines in the future, shrinking their volume by more than two-thirds. This way, the internal space of the ‘owl’ fighter can accommodate an additional kinetic energy shield!”

“That’s a good idea.”

Lu Yuan affirmed this improvement idea.

If the current ‘owl’ heavy fighter had any shortcomings, it was that, like other space fighters, it was not very durable. A slight hit from artillery fire would send it off the battlefield, and a direct hit to a vital spot would cause it to crash.

In the previous major battle, those pilot players who were forced to withdraw early often grumbled in the player community. Having to return before they had their fill of killing was extremely disheartening for anyone.

“In the future, anti-laser coatings, kinetic energy shields, and other defensive systems must all be added to the latest ‘owl’ improved models,” Lu Yuan told Jubian.

“Technically, there’s no problem,” Jubian mused, stroking his chin, “but this will cause the cost of the fighter to rise further.”

“It doesn’t matter. We are already taking an elite route. It’s normal for high-level employees’ weapons and equipment to be more expensive.”

Lu Yuan emphasized as he spoke.

“In short, I don’t want to see anyone’s equipment easily destroyed by the enemy again, forcing them to retreat in disgrace.

Especially for heavy equipment, low survivability is an unacceptable flaw. Comprehensive defensive measures must be universally implemented.”

Jubian: “Alright, then I will proceed with improvements based on this idea.”

He completely understood the Executive Officer’s meaning.

All high-level players, in the eyes of the enemy, must be elite units with enormous health bars and extremely high defense.

The last important piece of spoils was Apollo’s defensive drone.

After scanning, the Scholar players confirmed that its technology level far exceeded Apollo’s.

Furthermore, a noteworthy point was that the drone, like the ‘Dragon Breath’ shotgun captured earlier, did not resemble human design aesthetics. Its casing presented a smooth, streamlined feel, with no straight lines or right angles anywhere on its body. Even the mounting clips and connectors for the panels were completely different from the standard styles humans had used for thousands of years, imbued with a biological sense of beauty.

The drone weighed only two tons and used a Hydrogen-3 fusion battery for power, but its electric thrusters were extremely efficient, with the fuel tank occupying only a small portion of its internal cavity.

The remaining space was occupied by a visible light, radar, and infrared triple-threat decoy system.

Now, this system has been renamed “Mirage” by the players.

Lu Yuan highly valued the “Mirage”’s combat performance because, without exaggeration, this system would change the face of naval warfare. After releasing a swarm of “Mirage” drones, even if a “Qinling” class frigate exposed its electromagnetic signature by firing its main guns, the large number of decoys would still make it difficult for the enemy to target.

It was equivalent to maintaining an “untargetable” state, only the active skill changed from “stealth” to “clone.”

And if both warring parties were equipped with “Mirage,” or similar decoy systems, it would be even more fun. It’s not difficult to infer that in such a situation, both sides, in order to increase their hit rate, would have to shorten their firing distance as much as possible, actively closing in on each other until they could discern the “illusion” with the naked eye and clearly see the details on the enemy’s hull.

Naval warfare could therefore revert to a state of passionate broadsides reminiscent of the age of sail, becoming extremely brutal, bloody, and a true test of courage.

At the same time, from a visual perspective, it was also highly spectacular, which pleased the players.

Beyond-visual-range combat only made people drowsy. Only fleet-on-fleet bombardments and brawls within 20 kilometers, or even face-to-face, could awaken their primal yearning for war and destruction deep within their genes.

Unexpectedly, the current “settings” in the game provided full justification for this fighting style, which belonged to true men. It was acceptable.

At least in terms of immersion, just like the previous “Star Sea,” it was absolutely not sloppy.

It wasn’t for the sake of being cool; it was about being logical and well-founded.

Finally, Lu Yuan suggested touring the 7 captured warships to decide which ones to repair and keep, and which to dismantle on the spot, with parts taken off as spares.

Just as he was about to leave, Ye Xing’s video call came in.

“Boss, we just received news from New Hope. Galan probably had an emergency discussion for an entire day, and now all their media outlets have finally unified their stance.”

“Starting to make trouble?”

“You guessed it! In short, it all boils down to one sentence: they claim they won, and they won big! Saying that the Cangyuan fleet was completely wiped out and the surface of Li Star is scorched earth. I’m truly speechless.”

Hmph. Lu Yuan sneered.

I knew it.

“Alright, I understand.”

“How should we respond?”

“How about this: you have Aran go find Anya in 15 days, and then have her help us spread another message.”

“What message?”

“The 101 Xianyang and 102 Chang'an will soon form a fleet to visit New Hope Space Station and display the prisoners of war there.”

You like winning, huh?