Chapter 152: What Kind of Technologies are Needed to Build an Interstellar Battleship?

It was Prototype No.1. Alice had used six months and her computing power of 10 sextillion Tflops to finally design a prototype of the interstellar battleship. Its appearance resembled a broad sword; wide at the back and tapering to a slim front. It looked very sharp. Its various parameters were: Length: 412 meters. Widest width: 71 meters. Height: 32 meters. Weight: 382,000 tons. Energy system: a small nuclear fusion reactor. Power system: Ion engine.

As for the weapon configuration, by the hatch of the ship was a large caliber particle cannon. Many laser cannons were distributed at the sides of the ship, while the upper portion was equipped with electromagnetic cannons for close-range defense. Missiles and nuclear torpedo launchers of great power were installed on the bottom of the ship. In addition, there was an advanced radar system, a sighting system, and an intelligent remote control system.

After doing an overall evaluation, Alice thought that the combat capability of the Interstellar Battleship Prototype No.1 was about five. It could fulfill the basic requirements needed to participate in interstellar battles.

“Combat capability of five?” Chen Jin felt somewhat disappointed. Shaking his head helplessly, he said, “Ok, it’s better than nothing!”

“Master, do you want to enter Prototype No.1 and operate it out of the port? You could go to the meteorite zone beside the port and test the prowess of the weapons system.”

“Of course.” Chen Jin nodded. In the next second, he appeared in the bridge control room of Prototype No.1. He started up the reactor engine. The engine system began to warm and charge. The ion engine started up and it spat out an azure tail of flame.

Prototype No.1 slowly left the dock of the spaceport and entered the vacuum environment of outer space. As he increased the engine power, the speed of Prototype No.1 continued to increase. Sitting in the captain’s seat, Chen Jin felt a clear wave of push-back from the acceleration. But, it was within his tolerable range. Looking at the data displayed for acceleration, it was 1.82G.

With a frown, Chen Jin asked, “Alice, the engine has been revved up to its highest power, but the acceleration is only limited to this?” The acceleration of a battleship reflected its mobility. A higher acceleration would mean that it had better mobility and a faster response. Frankly speaking, the number of 1.82G meant that it could not even dodge attacks from most weapons. This battleship was just a sitting duck.

Alice said, “Yes, master. The engine thrust power is limited to this number. This is the maximum power that the small-sized fusion reactor on Prototype No.1 can provide.”

Chen Jin shook his head. “A shitty response speed means that the battle will be five times shittier.”

However, Alice explained that with the current technical reserves, they could only make a fusion reactor with this much power.

After twenty minutes, he arrived at the meteorite zone. The zone was littered with countless meteorites; they ranged from a diameter of 10 meters all the way to diameters of thousands of meters.

Chen Jin sat in the seat of the weapons officer. Manipulating the various weapons, he carried out an indiscriminate attack on meteorites of all sizes.

Buzz~ This was the sound of the particle cannon firing.

Pew~ pew~ The laser cannons shot out rays of blinding laser light.

Boom! The electromagnetic cannons shot out shells.

Voomp~ Countless missiles and nuclear torpedoes were shot from the launchers.

Chen Jin operated the weapons at full force. Those meteorites that were peacefully floating along in space met with a terrible fate! In the light of the orange flames, meteorites of all sizes were broken and scattered into tiny pieces. When the nuclear torpedoes with its shocking power collided with the larger meteorites that had diameters over a thousand, even they subsequently disintegrated in countless fragments under the force of his attacks. The unbridled attacks and the scene of destruction it caused created a visual feast.

After more than 20 minutes, Chen Jin got several alerts.

“Insufficient energy. Main cannon is charging. Charging will be completed in five minutes…”

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“Laser cannon is charging…”

“Energy in missile and nuclear torpedo launchers are depleted. Please start charging…”

“Insufficient energy for the electromagnetic cannons. Insufficient ammunition…”

After a round of crazy attacks, Chen Jin had exhausted all the weapons’ ammunition on Prototype No.1. However, he was still very satisfied with the impact of the attacks. At least he could not see even one whole meteorite in his field of vision anymore. He had cleared a range of 100 kilometers, creating an “empty zone.”

“Even if its combat ability is only five, it should have no trouble facing off battleships with combat abilities in the range of 10 or 20 in terms of attack power. It simply would not be able to hurt the enemy.” As long as Prototype No.1 was produced, it meant that Chen Jin had a means of self-defense, no matter how weak it was. He could just barely struggle in a fight against the heretofore unknown forces of great power.

Even if the Prototype No.1 was weak with its combat ability of five, he still had to produce a few of it. Moreover, this was proof that the Base had the technological capability. Alice had said, “If an operable interstellar battleship can be designed in a simulated environment that has a 99.9999% match with reality, it means that the ability to produce that battleship is present in real life!”

However, the computing ability needed for this project was ridiculously extensive. Alice had run herself haggard for six months.

Since the Base was prepped with the technologies needed to produce Prototype No.1 through research and development in the simulated environment, did that mean that the Base would soon be able to produce the Prototype in real life?

“No.” Alice shook her head. “The Base is currently not equipped with this ability. It will not achieve this ability for at least another ten years. Theoretically, we can create the Battleship Prototype No.1. But in reality, there are a few key pieces of equipment that the Base is still unable to produce. These few types of equipment form the core equipment of Prototype No.1. None can be missing.”

In other words, the technology contained in this type of core equipment was the type of technology that was necessary to build an interstellar battleship! The nuclear fusion reactor had to generate a power of 100 billion kilowatts or more. The weight of the reactor had to be controlled within a certain range to ensure stable operation for 50 years or more. The time needed for the Base to achieve this technolog was ten years.

The Ion engine used a powerful electromagnetic field to accelerate the speed of the ionic medium to 0.1 times the speed of light, producing a tremendous thrust. The time needed for the Base to achieve this technology was eight years.

The powerful particle cannon was a weaponized version of the ion engine. Similarly, the ionic medium would be accelerated to 0.1 times the speed of light to produce a huge force of physical- and energy-destroying power. The time needed for the Base to achieve this technology was eight years.

An intelligent control system for spacecraft was required to have the operational capability of the super calculator installed on the ship to reach 1 sextillion Tflops or more. The time needed for the Base to achieve this technology was three years.

The Base would need three to five years, in general, to come up with the technology needed to produce high-performing and superconductive materials.

“So, Alice, you mean that currently, the Base only has the technological reserves. It needs at least a few more years to develop its production capabilities before it can take the first steps to build the equipment?”

“Yes, master. Having the appropriate technology does not mean that the product can be produced immediately. The Base currently lacks various types of advanced manufacturing equipment. The transport squad is currently searching everywhere for the right equipment.”

Chen Jin asked with a frown, “And we have to wait for ten years before construction on Prototype No.1 can begin?” He had to wait for another ten years?

“No.” Alice shook her head. “It’s the most critical equipment, the fusion reactor, that needs ten years to be created. But, the body of Prototype No.1 and other systems onboard are composed of modules that use less complex technology. Those can be constructed in advance. When the reactor is produced, it can simply be installed in the battleship and Prototype No.1 will be quickly completed.”

“So that means that the earliest time the Base will have its first interstellar battleship is 10 years from now?”

“Yes, master.”

Chen Jin shook his head helplessly. He could only officially have his first interstellar battleship after ten years and depleting huge quantities of energy and resources. Moreover, it would have a very low combat ability. Was the interstellar battleship really necessary? Or should he just start all kinds of small projects, and make some headway here and there to accumulate a collection of technologies and resources? And when he had sufficient resources all around, he could develop a military and start rapidly producing armies in a frenzy.

Chen Jin was faced with two choices, making him feel rather conflicted.