After Susha said this, there was no movement again. Xia Ye had long been accustomed to this, and was just thinking about what kind of research could make a person who calls himself a "god" take it so seriously.
Anyway, I'll see Curran later, so it's time to ask her.
…
"Why is this cannon so big?!"
As soon as she boarded the test ship, Xia Ye couldn't help but exclaimed.
"The caliber is 340 mm and the barrel is 15.5 meters long. Even without the gun mantlet and other structures, the weight of a single gun exceeds 20 tons."
Curran said with some emotion and some pride.
“We did not originally plan to build such a large whaling cannon, but after repeated calculations, we finally found that if we want to deal with beluga whales, only building such a large cannon is the most cost-effective.
"Its maximum range can reach 20 nautical miles. Although it is only half the range of beluga whales, it is more than twice as long as that of ordinary whales. Compared with previous whaling cannons, it is a substantial improvement. Four times.
"It is of course much more powerful. According to our estimation, if it hits an ordinary whale, it can be broken into two pieces with one shot. Even if it is a beluga, it can seriously injure the opponent as long as 2-3 hits... "
After listening to Curran's introduction, Xia Ye had a rough idea in his mind. The 340mm caliber was equivalent to the 13.5-inch main gun in the past world, and the range seemed to be similar. However, this gun was not from a battleship or cruiser. A naval gun, but just one - a whaler gun.
But when you think about it more carefully, the whales in this world are even more outrageous. The length of the Beluga is more than 300 meters, and its breath range is 40 nautical miles. It can fire hundreds of rounds at a time, and it also has tracking capabilities. It is simply a vertical-launch missile with a weakened range but an enhanced quantity.
"I understand the truth, but don't you think that this cannon is too big compared to the test ship? The front deck is crowded." Xia Ye said.
Curran spread his hands helplessly: "We only have two test ships in total. The larger one has been equipped with catapults and is used to test Strike Witches. The remaining smaller one can only be used as a scrap. In order to To put this gun in, we didn’t even install a gun mantlet and put a lot of counterweights on the stern, otherwise the ship would definitely capsize...
"In the final analysis, although the company has just completed its capital injection, with so many projects launched at the same time, Moer is still a little stretched. It is not that a test boat cannot be built specifically for something like a makeshift test boat, but... …”
Seeing that Ke Lun's words hinted at the word "making money", Xia Ye waved her hands hurriedly: "Ha, haha... I think this test ship is very good, and the size is just right. There is no need to waste any more magic." Build one more.”
…
"boom!!!"
The whaling cannon roared like thunder, and the hull tilted violently under the effect of the recoil. For a moment, Xia Ye almost thought that the test ship was going to capsize, but in the end, it turned back from the critical point with difficulty, like a roly-poly. The sea of clouds swayed constantly, making a crunching sound.
The cannonball turned into a light spot and quickly disappeared into the horizon. On such a simple test platform, the whaling cannon obviously had no accuracy at all, but the cannonball did fly out, and the cannon did not explode. As long as the range reached the expected Goal, this test can be considered a complete success.
Everyone, including Curran, looked to the horizon in eager anticipation. Not long after, a black dot flew from a distance. It was Xiu wearing a WS-1 thruster. She passed by the test ship, threw a metal cylinder on the deck, and then pulled out a beautiful arc. The line flew away in the blink of an eye.
Immediately, a gunner ran over, picked up the metal tube, unscrewed it and poured out a piece of paper. When she saw the number on the paper clearly, a smile suddenly appeared on her face.
"20.5 nautical miles!" the gunner announced loudly to everyone.
"Success!!"
The deck was quiet for a second, and then burst into cheers.
The test range has reached the design value. The large-caliber whaling cannon is a project that "Ocean Ship Leasing" has started a long time ago. It was stalled for a long time due to the company's operating difficulties. It was not until Xia Ye's recent capital injection that the funds were available to restart. Start research.
Today's test was successful, which means that the hard work for so long has finally paid off.
Curran was obviously very excited too, but she only started to cheer along with the crowd and then stopped shouting with them.
"Congratulations, you succeeded." Xia Ye said.
"Thank you, it's all thanks to your capital injection." Curran smiled, "Also, thanks to you for inventing the 'Strike Witches', you are right, they are indeed very useful."
"How to say?"
"I didn't expect the range of the large-caliber whaling cannon to be so far before. 20 nautical miles, which is far beyond the visual range. Without the 'Strike Witch', there would be no way to correct the bullet point. Even this In this test, we also relied on repairs to know how far the cannonball flew."
Before the test, engineers set up airbag buoys between 10 and 20 nautical miles in advance, one every 0.5 nautical miles, and marked the numbers from near to far. The repairman only needed to observe which two buoys the impact point of the shell fell between. , you can know how far it flew.
Curran is right. If you can't see where the cannonball hits, you can't correct the elements, and it's almost impossible to hit a swimming whale. In that case, no matter how far the whaling cannon hits and how powerful it is, it's meaningless.
A lookout like Tang Li, who has an ultra-long-distance observation range, can certainly see the impact point of artillery shells 20 nautical miles away, but after going to sea, Tang Li is likely to be on the flagship "Moby Dick" instead of equipped with a large-caliber As a whaling ship with a cannon, more importantly, her duty is to provide a wider range of vigilance, rather than staring at the impact point of the cannonball.
Therefore, letting "Strike Witch" assist in correcting the impact point is the best choice, but only if another problem is solved first.
"So, in the end our problem comes back to communication and positioning." Xia Ye said.
If Strike Witches cannot report the location of the impact point in real time, then there is no way to make corrections.
"Actually, I have already tried to find a solution to this problem." Curran said.
"Huh?"
"I asked Susha." She pointed to the flower pattern on her arm.
Xia Ye suddenly realized: "If Susha is willing to help... this problem can indeed be solved."
As long as each cat witch carries a flower, real-time calls can be made no matter how far away they are. As for positioning, it should not be a problem for the flowers.
But Curran immediately poured cold water on it: "Unfortunately, Susha said it can't be done."
"Why?" Xia Ye asked doubtfully.
"According to Susa, it's called 'cat witch incompatibility', which means that since the Cat Witch is the product of the fusion of a witch and a Shoggoth, and in a broad sense has formed a symbiotic relationship with the Shoggoth, she can no longer be in the Cat Witch. Take root in yourself.”
"ah?"
Xia Ye's first reaction was that Susha was making excuses, but after thinking about it carefully, she found that the other party's statement seemed quite reasonable. Maybe, to put it bluntly, this race named Shoggoth is quite powerful, and Susha's parasitic ability cannot be effective on the opponent.
It seems that this self-proclaimed "god" flower is not omnipotent...
"It doesn't matter. Although Susha can't do it here, I can find another person to try." Xia Ye said to Kelun.
"who?"
"Tang Li. Using her ability may be able to solve this problem."
Curran nodded: "If you need any assistance from the company, please contact me at any time."
"Okay." Xia Ye decided to ask Tang Li tomorrow, "By the way, there is another thing."
"Um?"
"Susa told me on the way here that she was studying the 'Heinekan Creation', and she also said that I would probably be interested and let me ask you."
"That's what happened. Although that flower has a weird personality, it is really powerful. Thanks to her, the "Heinekan Creation" in me has almost become a brand new contract..."
Curran said, showing a strange expression.
"Although according to Sousa, the most critical step of the research has not been completed, the results are enough to surprise me."
Hearing what the other party said, Xia Ye's curiosity was suddenly aroused: "Can you demonstrate it to me?"
Curran nodded slightly: "Let's go to the cabin below."
The two of them walked down the deck. Curran randomly picked a cabin and opened it. After Xia Ye also walked in, he locked the door firmly.
"You still remember the original effect of 'Heinekan Creation', right?"
Of course Xia Ye remembered: "Get a random Heinekan creation, such as your prosthetic hand."
"But its effect now is this..."
Curran recited the witch syllables of the contract:
"HrT-"
The crack opened, and a "Heinekan Creation" appeared from the crack and landed on the floor between the two people with a "thud" sound.
Xia Ye's eyes suddenly opened wide.
It suddenly dawned on her why Susha had said 'you'd be interested too'.
"Now creation is no longer random. Every time you use the contract, you get this..."
Curran said, pointing to the other "Colen" lying on the ground.
(End of chapter)
