271: Sharpening the blade and reconnaissance of "spores"

The successful deployment of the "starlight gauze curtain" boosted the sense of security for everyone at the "Starfire" base by several levels. Consequently, everyone's steps became lighter, and even Senior Brother Li's perpetual dark circles seemed to have faded a bit (though that might have been because Mu Wanqing forced him to drink some calming soup).

But Wen Youyi knew very well that having a sturdy shield wasn't enough; one also needed a sharp spear, and—brighter eyes. "Qianlong" was that blade testing its edge, but its first encounter with the "Shadow Devourer" also exposed some issues: the reconnaissance range wasn't far enough, the ability to perceive unfamiliar environments in advance was insufficient, and there was a lack of tactical options when dealing with unexpected situations.

"We can't always let the child rely on luck," Wen Youyi said, tapping the table at the core meeting. "We have to arm 'Qianlong' to the teeth, and we also need to equip it with 'clairvoyance' and 'clairaudience'."

The task of "arming to the teeth" was primarily handled by Senior Brother Li and Senior Brother Zhang, and the technical team once again entered "liver-bursting mode".

First was strengthening the offensive means. The "starlight pulse" was useful, but its mode was singular; to deal with enemies with strong recovery abilities like the "Shadow Devourer", more intense and sustained firepower was needed. The two drew inspiration from the directional burst concept of the "warning posts" in the "starlight gauze curtain" and installed several retractable "starlight focusing array" units on the sides and belly of the "Qianlong" hull. These arrays were usually retracted inside the armor and deployed during battle, capable of highly compressing and focusing the hull's energy in a very short time to fire "starlight rays" with greater power and higher penetration, specifically used to "call out" the enemy's core or sturdy parts.

Next was improving defense and survival capabilities. Addressing the issue of the "Flowing Silver" armor being eroded last time, they developed "Active Adaptive Armor 2.0". The new armor's surface "Flowing Silver" not only possessed stronger anti-erosion and self-repair capabilities but could also quickly fine-tune its own structure and surface "Star Pattern" based on the type of attack received (energy erosion, physical impact, spatial disturbance, etc.) to conduct targeted defense. For example, when encountering energy erosion, the surface would rapidly "passivate" to form an isolation layer; when encountering physical impact, it would locally "harden" and disperse the impact force.

They also equipped "Qianlong" with an "emergency escape System". In the event that the hull was severely entangled or the core damaged, it could actively "jettison" some non-critical compartments or armor, with pre-set "Flowing Silver" quickly sealing the cross-section, while the core cabin could use built-in small thrusters to quickly escape danger. In the words of Zhao Iron Pillar: "This is called a gecko shedding its tail—survival is paramount!"

Finally, there was enhancing battlefield perception and information processing. They upgraded the "perception array" of "Qianlong" with more sensitive receiving units and loaded the "abnormal energy characteristic database" analyzed from "Shadow Devourer" samples, enabling it to identify similar threats faster. Inside the bridge, multiple situational awareness panels directly connected to the "Flowing Silver - Star Pattern" network were added, capable of more intuitively displaying the surrounding environment, threat distribution, and the real-time status of "Qianlong" itself.

Just as the technical team was performing "major surgery" on "Qianlong", the expansion plan for "eyes" and "ears" was also proceeding intensely—this was the "spore network" expansion reconnaissance plan.

Since the "spore little ones" in the outer early warning zone were so useful, why not scatter them further? Like a dandelion, let these tiny "eyes" drift into the depths of the wreckage, drifting toward those areas they hadn't yet had time to explore, but which might hide resources or threats?

This task was handed over to Wang Wu and Mo Chen's reconnaissance team, as well as Xiao Wu's "Flowing Silver conservation team".

Xiao Wu's team was responsible for "mass producing" special "reconnaissance spores". These "spores" were smaller than those used for early warning, with a simpler structure, and had only three core functions: 1. Use weak energy to maintain their own dormancy; 2. Perceive and record energy and material anomalies within a specific range; 3. Upon receiving a specific summoning signal from the base, or when their own energy was about to run out, send the recorded information back to the nearest "spore" relay node by "flickering" in the form of pure starlight pulses at a specific frequency, eventually transmitting it back to the base.

They almost never actively emit fluctuations and are extremely difficult to detect. The only drawback is that their effective working time is limited (usually a few months to a year, depending on the ambient energy concentration), and they are "disposable"—after sending the information, they will fall completely silent due to energy exhaustion, turning into Universe dust.

"This is enough," Wang Wu said, very satisfied. "We don't need them to stand guard for a long time; we just need them to act as disposable 'scouts' to go to those places we dare not or cannot go to for the time being, take a look, and report back."

Mo Chen designed several "spore" deployment schemes: some used small unmanned aerial vehicles for "precision airdrops"; some utilized the energy turbulence that occasionally appeared in the wreckage area for "drift-with-the-current diffusion"; and some even planned to "hitch a ride" on passing large meteorites or wreckage chunks, quietly "sticking" the "spores" onto them to catch a "free ride".

Consequently, the outskirts of the base became busy. Small aircraft frequently took off and landed, scattering baskets of shimmering silver "reconnaissance spores" into the depths of the starry sky. Sometimes, Zhao Iron Pillar and his team would deliberately create some controllable, small-scale energy disturbances in specific directions, artificially creating "air currents" to help the "spores" drift toward more distant target areas.

"Does this count as... sowing Seeds of 'eyes' in the starry sky?" a young reconnaissance team member murmured, watching countless faint points of light disappear into the deep space.

"That's right," Wang Wu patted his shoulder. "When these 'Seeds' sprout (transmit information back), we'll be able to see this surrounding 'dark forest' a little more clearly."

The upgrade and modification of "Qianlong" lasted for more than ten days. When it slid out of the dock again, its appearance hadn't changed much, but a closer look revealed that the hull lines were smoother, and some parts had subtle protrusions or patterns (those were the retracted focusing arrays and the reinforced armor seams). The deep blue "dragon eye" seemed even more profound and lively.

[It feels... more powerful.] "Qianlong" transmitted a clear thought, carrying a hint of "novelty" and "confidence", [Those new 'tools'... are very useful.]

To test the upgrade results, and also to coordinate with the Early Stage deployment of the "spore network", Wen Youyi decided to let "Qianlong" execute an expanded-range patrol and reconnaissance mission.

Target area: about 15,000 li east of the base, a large, dense wreckage area codenamed "Anvil". The wreckage in that area was huge, complex in structure, and the energy environment was chaotic; previously, only long-distance observations had been conducted, and it had never been penetrated. According to long-distance judgment, there might be high-purity rare metal mineral deposits, but there could also be unknown risks.

Mission: Escort a batch of "reconnaissance spores" to be deployed to the edge of the "Anvil" area; during the "spores'" operation, conduct vigilance and close-range scanning from a safe distance; attempt to contact and scan a signal source suspected to be a high-purity "star pattern gold" vein; test all newly upgraded Systems throughout the process.

For this mission, Wen Youyi still led the team in person, and the team members were still Senior Brother Li (testing the new weapon System), Senior Brother Zhang (monitoring hull status), Wang Wu (intelligence analysis), and Xiao Wu (communication and soothing).

"Qianlong"'s debut after the upgrade was about to begin.

With an almost imperceptible energy hum, the silver hull of "Qianlong" lit up slightly and quietly submerged into the "starlight gauze curtain", speeding toward the "Anvil" area, which lay dormant in the starry sky like the bones of a giant beast to the east.

This time, it brought sharper claws and teeth, sturdier scales, and countless "eyes" that had quietly opened behind it, scattered throughout the starry sky.

The sharp blade has been sharpened, the gaze has been extended.

Although the sea of stars is vast, it will eventually be illuminated inch by inch.

(End of this chapter)