Chapter 188: Ma.s.sive Wars.h.i.+p
Because of the supergravity, the scanning signals could be warped, but due to how ma.s.sive this metal object was, the metal scanner managed to make the signal out despite all the disruptions.
The signal strength gradually decreased the further it traveled. Xia Fei boldly predicted that the actual size of this object was probably more than 1.5 billion cubic meters.
It was already shocking to find a metal object 1.5 billion cubic meters; it would be even harder to imagine something bigger.
A few moments later, the Tomahawk traveled through layers of rock, nearing the huge metal object, but Xia Fei and Phantom were utterly shocked when they finally saw it with their eyes.
For it was a wars.h.i.+p.
A wars.h.i.+p that could not be described in words.
A ma.s.sive wars.h.i.+p.
It was definitely not 1.5 billion cubic meters, but fifteen billion cubic meters in volume..
The Tomahawk was a battlecruiser that was fit to travel through s.p.a.ce. It was not a small s.h.i.+p by any means, but compared to that behemoth, his s.h.i.+p was like a sesame seed being compared to a watermelon. The two belonged to completely different leagues.
Normally, it was impossible for such a ma.s.sive wars.h.i.+p to stay hidden in an asteroid belt as it was nearing the size of a small planet, but because of the layers and rubble between it and Xia Fei, he did not discover it sooner. It was just like a black sun, hibernating in this ocean of rocks.
Two people, four eyes, not a single move.
Xia Fei preferred to keep emotions off his face, but the discovery of this wars.h.i.+p had shocked him to the core.
The largest metal objects known to the Alliance so far were the top-tier wars.h.i.+ps by the four companies: supercarriers.
Xia Fei had never seen the incredible supercarriers with his eyes, but he had gained plenty of information from books and the interplanetary internet.
As beefed up versions of a normal carrier, supercarriers were around five million cubic meters, with employees in the tens of thousands, and the price was certainly something that was not easy to comprehend.
In the Alliance, other than a few superpowers, the two largest organizations the Adjudicator Union and the Monastic Order, as well as the Pan-Human Alliance Navy, no one else would be able to own a top-tier wars.h.i.+p like this. Afterall, supercarriers were not cheap; they also played an important role in war strategies, as well as a symbol of strength for sovereign territories or organizations. There was no way someone could buy it if they did not have enough might.
A normal carrier could release one hundred terrifying iron cavalry drones, each of them possessing defense and firepower that greatly surpa.s.sed a normal frigate.
If a combat drone control module was installed on the carrier, the carrier could release one hundred fifty iron cavalry. With these many combat drones, its strength would rival a fleet.
Combining that with the incredible defense carriers possessed, one carrier was capable of obliterating ten battles.h.i.+ps. Therefore, the flags.h.i.+p was the backbone of a fleet, and this was not just a saying. Supercarriers could release one thousand to one and a half thousand iron cavalry drones, which was ten times the firepower of a normal carrier. It would be like an ocean of drones capable of drowning anyone that dared to oppose them. It was the strongest weapon the Pan-Human Alliance had in its a.r.s.enal bar none.
Not only did supercarriers have incredible offense, its defense was also impeccable. Its thick energy s.h.i.+eld was like huge mountains, shrugging off every single attack.
Using a normal carrier to attack a super carrier would be like hitting a rock with an egg. The attacks would barely even register. Once the supercarrier started its retaliation, it would only take a few minutes to sink all of the normal carriers because of its incredible firepower.
Although in theory a supercarrier only had ten times the firepower of a normal carrier, in practice, it was at least twenty times more powerful than a normal carrier, the unstoppable force of the Alliance.
Yet this wars.h.i.+p was at least thirty times of a supercarrier—a concept that was incomprehensible.
It took at least forty years to manufacture a supercarrier. After its manufacturing, it still needed to be equipped, tunes, test flights.. . All these would take another fifteen years. The Alliance gained another supercarrier every thirteen years and nine months.
Building a supercarrier also required a planet-size s.h.i.+pyard. Just constructing such a s.h.i.+pyard would take at least eighty years, even the incredible four big s.h.i.+pping companies only owned one of such s.h.i.+pyards each.
How much did a supercarrier cost?
One hundred billion? One trillion? One quadrillion?
If a supercarrier was sold for one quadrillion, how much would producing this s.h.i.+p cost? How long was the production period?
Its production cost or the production did not matter; what mattered was how this behemoth was produced. Was it humans who made it?
It was around this time when Harris felt that something was not quite right as he ran to the command deck to take a look at the situation. Based on the terms he was previously given, he had no rights to be in there, but now that he was Xia Fei’s slave owing to the life bracelet, the previously set terms naturally no longer applied.
Therefore, the command deck now had three people who were lost for words; six eyes that were beyond shock.
The ma.s.sive black wars.h.i.+p was just like a planet, taking up all of Xia Fei’s line of sight. It had been destroyed long ago as its body was riddled with who knew how many holes. Perhaps it was ten thousand or maybe one million. Either way, this ma.s.sive object was riddled with holes like a beehive.
This made Xia Fei even more shocked. What incredible firepower did it take to overwhelm such a ma.s.sive s.h.i.+p?
It took quite a few moments before Xia Fei closed his mouth, lighting a cigarette as he returned to his seat.
“Xia Fei, what is this thing?” asked Phantom.
Xia Fei let out a bitter smile. “I don’t know who to ask either for the answer to that question. Give me a few moments.”
He placed his two fingers on his temple. This was a shocking discovery, so much so that the usually calm Xia Fei took a few moments to calm down.
“What is that?” Harris followed up right after Phantom, but because Xia Fei and Phantom communicated via their consciousness, Harris had no idea of Phantom’s existence.
Xia Fei waved his hand, not saying anything, as he had no idea what to say.
So far, it was certain that the object was a wars.h.i.+p because of its thick plating. Moreover, there were brackets for two super cannons on the sides of the s.h.i.+p, but, for some reason unknown, there were no cannons installed on it.
A few moments later, Xia Fei came to the command deck. “Fly in a corkscrew maneuver around the s.h.i.+p, maintaining a speed of 1000m/s.”
The Tomahawk then circled the s.h.i.+p at a manageable speed, and the more Xia Fei looked the more shocked he got.
There were a few ma.s.sive scaffolds on the sides of the s.h.i.+p. These scaffolds were made of incredibly solid alloys, each of them were as thick as small mountains.
“What are those?” Phantom asked curiously.
“Maybe they are scaffolds.”
” Scaffolds?”
Xia fei blew a smoke ring. “I read in books that ma.s.sive wars.h.i.+ps can’t be built on planets because overly strong gravity means that no s.h.i.+pyard can support the weight of the s.h.i.+p. This requires a ma.s.sive s.h.i.+pyard to be built in s.p.a.ce first, then the s.h.i.+p’s parts are transported using a ma.s.sive pool of s.p.a.cecraft to the s.h.i.+pyard in s.p.a.ce before being a.s.sembled.”
Phantom nodded. “I get it. First split up a ma.s.sive wars.h.i.+p into different pieces, then combine these pieces after transporting them to a s.h.i.+pyard in s.p.a.ce, but what about its armor and structure? Won’t it break easier if it’s done in pieces?”
“Indeed, the armor and structure can’t be done using pieces and must be done in one piece, so outside of requiring a ma.s.sive s.h.i.+pyard, there’s a need for a ma.s.sive refinery—one that can melt enough alloy, then be cast into a mold,” explained Xia Fei.
Phantom pouted. It was easier said than done. How much metal would a s.h.i.+p billions of cubic meters in volume require? It was difficult to imagine how it would be cast in one piece.
“I’m referring to the common methods used in the Alliance for large wars.h.i.+ps. The manufacturing process of supercarriers is a tightly guarded secret of each company. There has been no mention of it in books, but one thing’s for sure, it’s much more difficult to produce it than imagined, so I have no idea who has the power to create this big boy,” elaborated Xia Fei.
It was just as Xia Fei said; although the four wars.h.i.+p companies had the power to create supercarriers, they had never revealed their manufacturing secret to the universe at large.
The four big companies claimed to be capable of producing a new super capital s.h.i.+p every thirteen years, but in reality, it was far from it. Apparently, the four companies would take at least eighty years to produce one capital s.h.i.+p, unlike the fifty-five years that they claimed.
There had been many curious folks who had tried various methods to collect data about supercarriers. What was most surprising was that supercarriers in the Alliance were few and far between. It was very possible that there were fewer than two hundred supercarriers in the entire Alliance. The humans occupied a large area with so many residents that it was not possible to count. It was incredibly few to only have below two hundred supercarriers in the Alliance, and this could be used to infer how difficult it was to produce large wars.h.i.+ps.
A five-hundred-million-cubic-meter supercarrier already cost a lot of manpower and money, so how was anyone capable of producing this fifteen-billion-cubic-meter super-supercarrier?
One thing that Phantom or Xia Fei could understand was the presence of lifting scaffolds next to this s.h.i.+p. scaffolds were usually attached to s.h.i.+pyards, and the presence of scaffolds usually meant that there was a s.h.i.+pyard, but where was it?
“Enable manual control.” commanded Xia Fei.
Two control sticks suddenly appeared from beneath the control deck.
Because most wars.h.i.+ps used AI computers for most operations, it was not common for people to fly s.h.i.+ps manually. Therefore, the control sticks were usually hidden away and were rarely used.
He sat at where the control sticks were, holding onto them tightly as he made a sharp turn, heading right toward the ma.s.sive wars.h.i.+p.
“What are you trying to do?” Phantom asked curiously.
Xia Fei pointed at a large hold in the body of the wars.h.i.+p. “That place looks severely damaged; the Tomahawk can probably fit in there. I want to take a look at its interior.”