Chapter 304: Development! Matter Conversion Engine!
Since the foreign races" location was known, as well as the conditions under which they would emerge, even though the threat of the concealed army was very frightening, Su Mo had the Divulgence of Heaven"s Secret talisman. As long as they were in the talisman"s simulation world, the foreign races" army would have their disguise stripped away and exposed once he successfully arrived at the Great Canyon.
Hope One"s maximum speed was 31 knots, which was around 60 kilometers per hour after conversion.
The Great Canyon was 120 kilometers north of the basin. Even if he did not use the special ability "Charge", he could still reach the location in around two hours.
If they did not have to take any detours when the ocean emerged and traveled in a straight line, three hours was sufficient to enter the canyon and even cross most of the distance.
Furthermore, if the foreign races wanted to set up an ambush in the canyon, based on the terrain markings on the map, there were only two opportunities.
The first was at the canyon entrance.
There were many rock formations located at the canyon"s entrance. If they ambushed him here, they could guarantee that Su Mo could not immediately change directions and flee after the battle started.
However, there was an issue here—from the foreign races" perspective, Su Mo who had just entered the canyon would definitely be on high alert, and it would be too easy to fail to capture him during the ambush.
Then there was the second opportunity.
Around 72 kilometers into the canyon.
There were also many rock formations here, and they were on either side of the canyon, making it look like a pocket with its sides covered.
It would be easy for the s.h.i.+p"s hull to run aground on the rocks while sailing here, so it was also an excellent ambush position.
After pa.s.sing this point, even if he chose not to continue through the canyon, as long as he was a little more careful, he could also switch routes toward the sides to head up north. Even if the foreign races wanted to ambush him again, it would be a pipe dream.
Hence, during the three simulations provided by the Divulgence of Heaven"s Secret talisman, he only had to get to this location once.
After that, finding the foreign races" actual location would be very simple, and he would not need the intelligence team to investigate late into the night.
"But, Leader, 20 thousand…"
"No "but"s. Believe me, they can"t hide from my eyes!"
Seeing Pei Shao"s hesitant appearance, and then looking at the adorable blankness on Zhong Qingshu"s face, Su Mo smiled and sent the two of them off the s.h.i.+p.
Nine hours, three simulation chances.
If he could not sail Hope One into the Great Canyon with so many chances, then there was probably no need for the foreign races to even bother with him.
However, if he could succeed even once, then there was a very high possibility of ending this threat before the disaster even started, or taking advantage of the information gap to catch them off-guard when the disaster arrived.
"I have to hurry up and carry out the simulation tests. I haven"t done any of the sea trials for Hope One yet."
"Even whether it can successfully enter the sea once the ocean emerges is still uncertain. Each day I delay the tests is a problem in itself!"
There were seven days until the disaster. After discovering that the enemies would not attack them, Su Mo involuntarily raised his fist excitedly as he stood alone on Hope One, watching as Pei Shao and Zhong Qingshu"s figures disappeared into the distance.
He had waited nearly a month for the day he would go out to sea.
In this half a month or so, it was only after he opened the game panel every morning and checked on Su Chan"s condition that Su Mo was able to suppress his restless heart and continue working.
Now, once he installed the engine, and after he finished modifying and adjusting the autopilot system for Hope One at night, Hope One could then officially enter the testing stage.
Whether it was a donkey or a horse, he would find out after these tests!
Striding back to the bridge on the first floor main deck, after flipping the switch in a hidden compartment, a large entrance large enough for one person opened in the corner of the bridge, revealing a path downward.
This place was the escape pa.s.sage that Su Mo had designed himself within the scope allowed by the blueprint design.
It connected to Hope One"s bottommost floor—the engine room.
The place with the thickest steel plates in this s.h.i.+p was the engine room.
If he hid inside, even if a missile exploded outside, the three-meter-thick steel would guarantee that as long as he was not within the explosion radius, he would definitely survive.
Moreover, once someone hid inside, it was not as if they were stuck inside a steel cage. Upon confirming that there would be no second explosion outside, they would be able to escape by pressing a b.u.t.ton in the engine room.
This room could instantly be transformed into a small submarine. The matter conversion engine would continue to serve as the core of the submarine, providing energy for the small propeller hidden behind an iron box that could also be extended out during critical moments, enabling him to quickly escape the battlefield.
"While I"d rather not trigger an event flag, I still hope that, in this life, I won"t ever have to use this thing."
"Otherwise, if I lose Hope One, my combat strength will decline by 90%."
Su Mo thought to himself as he walked down the steel stairs.
The ocean was not like the land. Even with Hope One that had an outer layer that was a full half-meter thick, he could not sit back and relax.
As someone who could not swim and had not spent much time at sea, Su Mo was still full of awe and fear toward the ocean.
Though his awe turned into mild excitement when he reached the engine room.
Without a doubt, this engine room was simply too safe!
Currently, all the internal wiring of Hope One had been completed according to the blueprint design"s specifications.
Together with the power of the modular s.h.i.+pyard, Hope One currently had many features created with black technology that ordinary people would not be able to understand.
For example, the two pipes placed in the engine room.
The first pipe was pure black with a lightning bolt printed at the top of the pipe opening.
In this pipe, several energy transmission lines had been integrated, and the interior of the pipe was embedded very securely within the steel of the hull.
It was not an exaggeration at all to say that, even if the s.h.i.+p sank, it was impossible for any of the energy transmission lines to fail; they would definitely hold on till the last moment.
The second pipe was pure blue, and the pipe opening was at the bottom, connecting straight to the bottom of the s.h.i.+p!
Through this pipe, the seawater under the s.h.i.+p could be continuously pumped up and sent into the engine room to provide free energy for the matter conversion engine.
Between these two pipes, there was a 3*3 empty s.p.a.ce which was where the engine would be.
"The outboard motor obtained from the Lioness is too small, but after it was upgraded, its energy output was strengthened correspondingly.
"I hope the matter conversion engine"s energy conversion rate doesn"t let me down!"
Because the engine needed to be installed before it could be used, and since he would have to spend 2000 Disaster Points if he wanted to move it after installation, Su Mo had not tried it out yet since receiving this item.
He also did not know anything about the engine"s efficiency rate of converting water to energy.
Hence, it had become his greatest desire and excitement to install and try out this engine that integrated the black technology of the future.
As he watched the empty s.p.a.ce, Su Mo focused his mind, summoning the storage s.p.a.ce and revealing the things placed inside.
Among them, the 1 cubic meter-sized, box-like Civil Type II—Matter Conversion Engine was the most eye-catching!
Focusing his mind, he picked up the engine and moved it into the s.p.a.ce he had prepared for it in the engine room.
At the same time, the game prompts sounded:
[Record]: It has been detected that the rating of the current vehicle is...rare. After the engine is installed, there is a small probability that the rating of the vehicle will be upgraded again.
[Record]: It has been detected that the current vehicle is a naval vessel, and its scale is larger than miniature. It is compatible with the engine and has a greater probability of generating special properties.
[Record]: It has been detected that the current vehicle has been constructed with semi-modular technology. After the engine is installed, the conversion efficiency of the engine can be slightly improved.
[Record]: It has been detected that the current Civil Type II—Matter Conversion Engine (Rare) has been placed in the appropriate vehicle with binding conditions. Will you bind it?
[Record]: Please choose carefully. Once bound, it will cost 2000 Disaster Points to uninstall it again, and there is a small probability that the engine durability will be lost when doing so.
"There"s even something good like this. It can produce a 1+1 equals to 2 effect?"
Seeing the game"s five prompts, Su Mo—who had still been uncertain—was instantly excited.
An engine, no matter in what vehicle, was where the soul was.
If the sports car brand was not discussed, in measuring the performance of a car, the first thing everyone would mention was definitely the engine.
Six cylinders? Could that even be called a sports car?
Eight cylinders? That was just an entry-level sports car.
Twelve cylinders was the little brother in front of a sixteen-cylinder!
Similar to sports cars, when it came to battles.h.i.+ps, the engine was no less important than the existence of weaponry.
Now, however, with the matter conversion engine that could stand at the top of the food chain, Su Mo no longer hesitated and confirmed it in his mind.
Boom!
As he confirmed it in his mind, it was like thunder had struck the ground.
Invisibly, waves of energy seemed to form in the room. At the same time, the engine, which was originally a small box, 1 cubic meter in size, began to undergo a transformation that seemed to come from a sci-fi story.
Rays of blue light glowed and erupted from the outer sh.e.l.l like waves.
When penetrated by the light, the size of the box gradually grew, like a sponge filling with water.
Fortunately, he had made preparations. After seeing that the reserved 3*3 s.p.a.ce had been fully occupied, Su Mo did not panic. He pulled the two pipes back and gave the engine transformation more s.p.a.ce.
3.5*3.5…
4*4…
4.5*4.5…
5*5!
…
Seeing the size of the engine becoming bigger and bigger, to the point it nearly took up half the s.p.a.ce of the engine room, Su Mo instantly gained confidence regarding this engine"s power.
While building Hope One and watching this 80-meter-long wars.h.i.+p rise from the ground, even though most of the villagers had enough confidence in Hope One, a few military fans who liked to browse the web and Tieba still had a trace of worry on the inside.
There was no flue, no pressurized cabin and no boiler cabin.
As a large s.h.i.+p, without the most important element of power, could it be that they would have to learn from the ancients and row out to sea?
Of course, Su Mo was included among these. Before he actually saw the 6-meter-long, 5-meter-wide and 4-meter-high engine before him, he had also been worried.
An 80-meter-long s.h.i.+p like this, if the matter conversion engine did not supply enough power, even if a suitable s.h.i.+p engine was modified by the system, the resources it would need to run would have been an astronomical figure.
Calculated at the current rate, the Underground Shelter could only produce 90L of diesel per day. Even if he saved up for one full year, he would not be able to make up the fuel needed for a month out at sea.
Now, however…
Seeing that this matter conversion engine occupied two-thirds of the engine room, all the anxiety weighing on Su Mo"s shoulders disappeared without a trace.
All that remained was…
Excitement for the s.h.i.+p"s properties!
"Now, I only need to connect the operating system and electricity supply. Tomorrow morning, no…"
"Tonight!"
"Tonight, I"ll install the operating system and see just how strong this Hope One that I"ve spent so much money and energy on is!"
After trying to connect the two huge pipes to the engines according to the markings, Su Mo could not help shaking at the thought of how Hope One would look like when it went out to sea!