"So, this is already the outer perimeter of the defense line?"
"No, no, no, there are tens of thousands of patrolling drones outside."
"Yeah, why not spread more drones?"
"Well, the main reason is that the current production capacity can't keep up with consumption. Perhaps the database in Shangjing is still running, and the hunters outside don't recognize our signals. So once our newly produced drones cross the original national border, they will be destroyed by the hunters cruising on the high seas. Of course, it is also possible that they are enemy drones that survived the war, but their numbers are not overwhelming. But this is only one aspect..."
The man glanced at Lao Yu cautiously, and after noticing his expressionless face, he continued, "On the other hand, there are marine mutants. We've really opened our eyes. After a few battles, they used ultrasound to sign an agreement with us. So now, theoretically, they've actually encroached on part of our territorial waters. Hahaha, honestly, I can't believe it. Haha, I never thought a living thing could defeat steel!"
"Wait, what agreement are you talking about?" Jiang Ling widened her eyes, and some bad memories came to her mind.
"The ceasefire agreement," Ning Weihe answered immediately. "The agreement is effective from yesterday and will last until the end of next month, which is exactly one month. We're only doing this because of instructions from above. We definitely won't renew it. At least we have to reclaim our territorial waters."
“It’s difficult.”
A few sighs could be heard from the people standing behind Lao Yu. It sounded like their morale had reached a low point. Jiang Ling didn't casually explore their memories, but she knew at a glance that they would not join this mission.
Losing one's fighting spirit is not scary. What is scary is that things that make people lose their fighting spirit are everywhere.
Old Yu stepped on the guardrail and relit the half-finished cigarette, but did not put the cigarette holder into his mouth. He just held it between the index and middle fingers of his right hand that was placed on the guardrail, letting it burn slowly. Even when the ash floated onto the back of his hand, he did not notice.
After a while, as if realizing that the babies had finished their questions, he led everyone down from the half-suspended narrow bridge to the surface of the submarine.
Viewed from above, the Type 099 attack nuclear submarine looks like an elongated water droplet, with the bridge located in the middle and front part. The equipment on it has been fully installed, and several strange cylinders emerge from there.
Jiang Ling stepped on the slightly elastic dark blue sound-absorbing tiles and penetrated the submarine's hull with her psychic power. In her human form, she couldn't see very far, so she simply assessed the submarine's exterior.
The pressure-resistant shell seemed to be a single piece; she couldn't find a single welded seam. It was likely made of a special steel, with the fine crystals within being of moderate size, achieving near-perfect toughness and strength. Perhaps it had been produced using some kind of printer, but Jiang Ling hadn't seen any nearby.
Following the current to the rear of the central section, Jiang Ling noticed sixteen vertical metal tubes arranged in a row, four by four, beneath her feet. About half of them were already filled with something, likely a submarine-launched missile of some type Jiang Ling had never seen before.
As everyone entered the ship in batches via the elevator at the rear of the bridge, a few people with good hearing heard a hissing sound coming from the front. It was a few engineering drones, spray-painted with the submarine's hull number and name on the left and right sides of the upper part of the submarine's bow.
Jiang Ling wasn't entirely sure about their submarine naming conventions. Even if she'd seen those pre-war science videos, people living in this new era would surely have new rules. But that didn't stop her from spotting the reflection of the submarine's hull number on a smooth, flat surface nearby—"602."
"509?" She whispered these three numbers, and the person behind her heard it.
"That's right. We used this hull number to commemorate her birthday! May 9th was the day when her outfitting was completed, but unfortunately, they performed a major operation on her during the crew deployment process." The man took the lead and stood on the elevator. He pressed a button on the control panel, and the elevator was immediately locked, giving the few people a few minutes to chat.
"What did they do in there?" Jiang Ling was the last one to squeeze onto the elevator.
"Not much."
"Energy, power, main control computer, vertical missile launch system, torpedo tubes, and some other things."
"There's also the fillings for the interior cabin structure, supporting keels, pressure hull, and double-skinned hull. I think the coating could also be changed, but unfortunately the production capacity in the experimental area is limited."
"The coating will definitely be put on the back burner. Although it's considered cutting-edge right now, the mass production issue remains unsolved, and the price-performance ratio is definitely not as high as the inventory. And the inventory isn't bad either, at least in the first tier before the war. Unless there are still enemy nations left, the hunters in the sea will be just that."
Jiang Ling let them speak, huddled in a corner, listening quietly. They discussed the situation for a while, not even stopping when the elevator reached the bottom. They knew 509's conditions intimately and seemed to be the submarine's designers and builders.
In short, the 509 was almost completely dismantled and rebuilt, perhaps several times. Although this process was quite costly, they had the advantage of strong industrial capacity and could experiment with their own ideas during construction.
If 509 were a person, she would probably have achieved mechanical ascension - Jiang Ling thought secretly.
Exiting the pressure chamber where the elevators were located, she found the submarine's interior quite spacious, at least much more spacious than the Tranquility V. Compared to that underwater sports car, this submarine could be called a bread-and-butter car. Their modifications must have had a special reason, Jiang Ling recalled the conversation Lao Ning had had with his friend half a day earlier. She walked to the hatch and compared its height and width with her own height. Considering the shape of the aisle, she found that it was indeed large enough for an exoskeleton to pass through, and even two ordinary people could ride side by side.
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