52: The old empire's methods for treating deficiency

On the Bridge of CAS066, during warp travel.

Baili Ying recalled what she had read in the archives,

and explained to Xi Hai and White Shark:

"In the United University database,

"there are only three records of Void Seepage incidents."

"The first two occurred in the second era,

"when humanity was in its golden age."

"Under powerful military might,

"these two Void Seepage incidents caused almost no losses."

"Aside from the SSS-level disaster potential assessment,

"the records only contained the time, location, and suppression time."

"However, the third record is very detailed."

"It occurred in the fourth era, during the reign of the Second Empire."

"The description of the scene stated,

"countless Void Creatures surged out of the cleavage void of Crux V04.23,

"quickly sweeping through the entire star system and beginning to expand outwards."

"The Imperial National Research Institute conducted a full study on the reproduction methods and cell types of these surging Void Creatures,

"and found that they had no fixed form,

"and for ease of movement, they would collectively mimic the forms of arthropods or marine vertebrates."

"These creatures reproduce by spores,

"and individual cells can quickly form connections to become a whole."

"Thus, the Research Institute believed them to be some kind of fungus-like creature."

"The final outcome of the Void Seepage event

"was the Empire's complete physical and informational blockade of the affected area,

"until the cleavage void closed on its own six years later."

Xi Hai waved his hand,

signaling Baili Ying to pause for a moment,

and asked,

"How were those two incidents in the second era handled?"

"How did they close the cleavage void back then?"

"Can we replicate it?"

Hearing Xi Hai's question,

Baili Ying said with difficulty,

"Uh,

"it's basically impossible."

"The Federal Government at that time directly bombarded the rift with void fission bombs of incredibly exaggerated yield,

"causing the void to expand to its limit and then directly collapse."

Suddenly, as if she had thought of something,

her eyes lit up, and she said:

"However, the method the old Empire used to deal with those Void Creatures,

"we might as well try it!"

Instantly, Xi Hai became serious,

"Elaborate."

..."Our side is about to withdraw from the first line of defense!"

"A full-coverage minefield will be deployed then!"

"We cannot provide you with support,

"at most, we can maintain the defense line and wait for you for five minutes!"

The request for aid was mercilessly rejected.

"Enemy ship entering visual range!"

The Radar Operator suddenly shouted.

Under the lucky's continuous firepower,

the enemy Warship was still constantly approaching.

Even though it had already begun to break apart—the largest fragment could even be seen on the radar—

its speed was gradually increasing.

"Bring up the screen!"

Gulac's brows were furrowed into a 'Chuan' character.

Although the approaching Warship had stopped firing,

no matter how durable a ship was,

after taking so many missiles and torpedoes,

it shouldn't be able to maintain such acceleration...

"It's... it's the kind of thing from the Swarm!"

A terrified voice came, and the entire Bridge looked towards the holographic projection following the commotion—

What was projected there was not a Warship at all!

It was clearly a brownish-black giant beast draped in Warship armor, dragging long tentacles!

Damn it!

It's alive!

Gulac's heart sank.

How did these two things get together?

"Armory Chief!"

"Did we bring armor-piercing neutron torpedoes for the bow?"

Never mind,

it looks alive!

Try a neutron bomb!

Let's gamble!

The Armory Chief, after checking the inventory, reported loudly,

"There's one in the bottom torpedo bay!"

They actually brought one?

He quickly ordered,

"Quickly replace it!"

"No time! The neutron torpedo requires replacing the inner tube of the launch tube!"

"How long will that take?"

"30 minutes!"

"No! Too slow!"

"No choice! Otherwise, the misfire rate is too high!"

Gulac's expression suddenly turned ferocious.

He said fiercely:

"There is a way!"

"Place the removed torpedo and launch tube directly on the torpedo bay deck!"

"How much time will that save?"

The Armory Chief thought for a moment,

"That way, it will only take five minutes!"

"Quickly!"

"Yes!"

After speaking, Gulac looked at the Radar Operator again,

"How much longer until contact?"

The Radar Operator was sweating profusely,

comparing the distance and speed,

and estimated:

"Within ten minutes at most, it will be within boarding distance!"

Hurry... no time left... In the torpedo bay at this moment,

several people in bulky heat-resistant suits,

were desperately turning the handwheels,

and the inner wall component of the launch tube, with a torpedo inside, slowly slid outwards.

Once the several-meter-high barrel was fully withdrawn,

one person immediately operated the mechanical auxiliary frame beside it,

prying it off the slide rail,

and with a "thud," the inner tube with the torpedo directly smashed onto the deck;

while another group of people stood by,

watching the newly transported component slide onto the rail,

and be slowly fed into the launch tube by the winch group.

They then immediately drilled into the launch tube with the component,

and began to fix the internal components of the launch tube.

Two Defense Force soldiers in full-body exoskeletons stood by,

supervising every move of these white heat-resistant suits—

These people were "Lifetime Amnesty Soldiers" in the Defense Force,

essentially the same as "lifetime contract workers" in labor enterprises.

Soon, the inner tube was fixed,

and a yellow-headed torpedo was slowly fed in from the same slide rail.

The breech closed, the gate locked,

and an exoskeleton soldier responsible for supervision immediately waved his right hand,

signaling it was ready to fire.

The signal was relayed all the way to the Bridge,

and the Armory Chief, seeing the illuminated launch button,

immediately pressed it without hesitation.

This torpedo, carrying the hopes of the entire Bridge,

then flashed its tail flame and flew forward—

..."Although these fungus-like creatures are incredible,

"they haven't completely left the realm of biology."

"Although their evolution is too successful to be natural,

"high-energy neutron streams can still cause irreversible damage to their cellular structure."

"The principle by which those insect-like things defend against cosmic radiation is also very simple:

"it's that layer of biological exoskeleton,

"which is a polymer rich in hydrogen and boron."

(PS: Hydrogen can slow down high-energy fast neutrons into thermal neutrons,)

(Boron is used to capture thermal neutrons)

(The above materials are from the internet)

"The method given by the Empire is simple and efficient:

"use physical shells to break this shell,

"and then, before it self-heals,

"destroy it with a neutron stream."

It's that simple?

Xi Hai raised an eyebrow.

No, that's not right.

The old Empire, who came up with this method, took six years to trap these insects to their death.

However,

the greatest fear comes from the unknown.

He already knew what these insects were,

so next time he would naturally be a little prepared—even if it was just mentally.

As for neutron bombs... at this stage, he could only dream about them.

Friends who often do handicrafts know—

to confine high-energy neutrons,

it's best to use a small artificial strong gravity well,

and at least a very strong gradient magnetic field is needed.

He didn't have either of these things.

"night lamp, it would be great if the base could make a few neutron bombs, sigh."

Loosening his neck,

Xi Hai tentatively asked night lamp.

night lamp was silent for less than half a second,

and replied,

"As long as the blueprint is imported,

"the joint production line has the ability to manufacture all equipment."

Xi Hai flipped through the weapon technologies he had unboxed earlier.

Hmm, sure enough, there was one:

R2 Neutron Torpedo Technology.

"CAS066 has a torpedo system,

"the base can build CAS066,

"therefore the base can build torpedoes."

"No problem."

"…"

This time, night lamp was silent for a second,

and finally only replied, "Yes."

...Little Night Lamp: Although they did retrieve me and the mainframe, that's good,

but why haven't they pulled me out yet?

Do they still want me to keep exploring?

(Data stream surges into the mainframe again)

mainframe: Don't come over here!!!!!!