47: Chapter 47: The Heavenly Eye

After destroying the Japan intelligence network, Li Ling had no time to celebrate.

The first thing he did was deploy the Radar.

Twelve long-range sea surveillance Radars, eight air search Radars, and one central command center—this was the core equipment of the first super deluxe gift package, and it was also his strongest trump card for dominating maritime power in the future.

With a maximum detection range of three hundred kilometers and decimeter-level precision, simply put, any ship or aircraft entering within three hundred kilometers of the Qingxia Kingdom coastline could not escape the eyes of this Radar system.

The Radar stations manifested by the system rose from the ground overnight.

Li Ling stood on the hilltop behind the naval port, looking at the three-story building that had appeared out of thin air on the hillside, and could not help but click his tongue in wonder.

The outer wall of the small building was painted in camouflage colors, blending in with the surrounding trees, and on the roof, a huge mesh antenna was slowly rotating, looking like a giant eye overlooking the sea.

"System, this manifestation function of yours is too heaven-defying," he said in his heart. "Do you not even need to lay a foundation to build a house?"

"Host, you cannot imagine the technology of the interstellar era," the system said with a hint of pride. "What is this? Once you unlock more advanced functions in the future, I can manifest a city for you."

"Forget it, just manifest a few more warships for me first," Li Ling rolled his eyes.

After the first Radar station was built, he took a group of soldiers to "visit" it.

The soldiers walked into the operation room and were all stunned—more than a dozen green electronic screens were flickering with a faint light, displaying nautical charts and various jumping data, looking like magical artifacts from myths.

A Radar operator was on duty at the console, and seeing Li Ling enter, he stood at attention and saluted: "Report to Young Master Li, the Radar station is normal, and forty-three targets have been detected within the current detection range."

Li Ling nodded: "Bring them up and let me see."

The Radar operator tapped on the keyboard a few times, and a nautical chart immediately appeared on the electronic screen.

The nautical chart was densely packed with light dots, each representing a target.

He clicked on the nearest light dot with the cursor, and a line of data immediately popped up next to it: Target type, fishing boat; displacement about two hundred tons; speed eight knots; heading southeast; distance twenty-eight kilometers.

"Young Master Li, this... what kind of divine artifact is this?" a veteran who had followed Li Ling for many years asked stammeringly, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"This is called a Radar," Li Ling explained seriously. "It can see things far away. For example, right now, twenty-eight kilometers outside the port, there is a fishing boat with about five or six people on board who are casting nets to catch fish."

The veteran was skeptical.

As it turned out, more than an hour later, the fishing boat really returned.

There were six people on the boat, they had indeed cast nets, and had caught several hundred catties of fish.

What was even more amazing was that the Radar operator had predicted the time and location of the fishing boat's arrival at the dock in advance, without the slightest error.

At this, all the soldiers were in an uproar.

"Young Master Li is a deity descended to earth!"

"Clairvoyance! This is clairvoyance!"

"With Young Master Li here, how can those Japan ships sneak over anymore?"

The soldiers knelt and kowtowed one after another, and the scene was momentarily out of control.

Li Ling was between laughter and tears, quickly pulling them up: "Don't kneel, don't kneel. This is not some immortal magic, it is science. Do you understand science?"

The soldiers shook their heads, their eyes filled with awe.

"Science is... it is... ah, forget it, just treat it as immortal magic." Li Ling gave up on popularizing science.

The system complained frantically in his mind: "Host, are you not planning to teach them some scientific knowledge? What kind of feudal superstition is this!"

"They wouldn't understand even if I taught them," Li Ling responded in his heart. "And this is good; let them have some sense of awe so they will fight harder in the future. Anyway, whether they believe in Young Master Li or science, it is the same to me."

"Host, you are becoming more and more like a leader of feudal superstition."

"You are the leader of feudal superstition! This is called adapting to local conditions and teaching students in accordance with their aptitude!"

"That is sophistry."

"Mind your own business!"

The man and the system were bickering happily in the consciousness space, while the soldiers nearby were still devoutly kowtowing to the Radar station; the scene was quite absurd.

The central command center of the Radar station was located in the underground fortress of the naval port.

It was a huge underground space with an area of over one thousand square meters, and the walls were made of reinforced concrete two meters thick, sufficient to withstand heavy artillery bombardment.

In the very center of the command center was a huge electronic screen wall, composed of sixteen screens, which could display the real-time situation of the entire coastal area.

Data from the twelve Radar stations was transmitted in real-time to the command center via undersea cables and, after computer processing, was presented on the large screen.

Li Ling stood in front of the screen, watching the light dots representing ships moving slowly on the nautical chart, so excited he almost jumped up.

"With this thing, every move of the Japan fleet is under my nose," he clenched his fists, his eyes shining. "In future naval battles, the initiative will be in my hands. When they set off, which route they take, how many ships they have, and what formation they are in, I will know it all!"

The system poured cold water at the right moment: "Host, Radar is not omnipotent. It can detect targets, but it cannot distinguish between friend and foe. Moreover, if encountered with severe sea conditions or electronic interference from the enemy, the effectiveness will be reduced. Additionally, Radar has blind spots, and targets flying at ultra-low altitudes might not be detected."

"Where would electronic interference come from in this era?" Li Ling rolled his eyes. "Don't try to scare me. Besides, there are no aircraft flying at ultra-low altitudes in this era; they are all wooden frames, and it is a struggle for them to fly high."

"Better safe than sorry," the system said cheekily. "What if?"

"You are just being argumentative."

However, the system's reminder did make Li Ling more cautious.

He required the operators of each Radar station to work in twenty-four-hour shifts, and any abnormal signals had to be reported immediately.

At the same time, he also selected a group of people from the Special Forces to form an "Electronic Countermeasures Team," specializing in researching how to prevent Radar signals from being detected by the enemy—although there were no electronic reconnaissance devices in this era at all, Li Ling felt that practicing it first would not hurt.

On the fifth day after the Radar deployment, the system gave Li Ling an unexpected surprise.

"Ding! Host has completed the Radar network deployment and achieved the minor achievement 'The Sky Eye Opens.' Reward obtained: Radio Encryption Technology!"

Li Ling's eyes lit up.

Radio Encryption Technology was definitely black technology in this era.

Currently, the navies of various countries basically had no encryption for radio communications, or only had very simple substitution ciphers that could be deciphered by anyone who knew a little bit about cryptography.

However, the Radio Encryption Technology provided by the system adopted a one-time pad plus frequency hopping technology, which was theoretically almost impossible to crack—even if you called all the mathematicians in the world, it would be useless without the codebook.

"Good fellow, with this thing, I can confidently use radio to command the fleet." Li Ling rubbed his hands, smiling like a child who had found a treasure. "Japan is still using plain code to send telegrams, while I am already using quantum encryption. They can't understand my intercepted telegrams, while I can read their telegrams as easily as reading a newspaper."

The system corrected him: "Host, it is not quantum encryption; it is one-time pad plus frequency hopping. With the computing power of this era, it is completely impossible to crack. However, you are right; you can indeed easily decipher their telegrams."

"Close enough, close enough. Anyway, it's just awesome, that's all."

Li Ling immediately applied the Radio Encryption Technology to all troops.

Special Forces, Army, and Navy were all equipped with new radio equipment and encryption algorithms.

He also established a special communications unit responsible for maintaining and operating these devices.

The formation of the communications unit also caused quite a few jokes.

When the new recruits saw the walkie-talkies for the first time, they thought they were bricks that could talk and were too scared to touch them.

Some burned incense and kowtowed to it, thinking a deity lived inside; some held the walkie-talkie to their ears for a long time, then said seriously, "There is a person talking inside"; others shouted at the walkie-talkie, "By the order of Taishang Laojun, hurry!" thinking it was some kind of magical prop.

It took Li Ling three days to make them understand that this thing was a high-tech product, not feudal superstition.

"You must remember," Li Ling said at the establishment ceremony of the communications unit, holding a walkie-talkie with a serious expression. "The power of science is more reliable than deities. Deities may not necessarily help you, but this thing, as long as you press the right button, it will definitely help you. It is a machine, not a deity; it will not lie to you, nor will it abandon you."

The soldiers nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Empress Su Wanqing was giggling on the side.

She had been coming to the naval port often recently, nominally to bring food to Li Ling, but actually to spend more time with him.

"Li Ling, can this Radar of yours really see everything?" Empress Su Wanqing looked curiously at the light dots on the electronic screen.

"Pretty much," Li Ling pointed to the screen. "Look at this light dot, it is a cargo ship going from Shanghai to Jinhai, carrying grain and cloth. Look at this one, it is a foreign merchant ship flying the Great Britain flag, but it is actually coming from India, and it is carrying cotton."

"You even know what is on the ship?" Empress Su Wanqing widened her eyes.

"Combined with intelligence analysis," Li Ling smiled triumphantly. "Radar can only see the target's position and movement trajectory, but combined with the port's entry and exit records and the flow of goods, one can infer the general situation. This is called big data analysis, understand?"

Empress Su Wanqing shook her head.

"...Forget it, just assume I guessed it."

Empress Su Wanqing looked at his smug look and couldn't help but laugh.

She liked seeing him like this—not the cold and ruthless general on the battlefield, but the big boy who was a little smug and a little cheeky in front of her.

"Li Ling, it would be great if you could always be like this in the future," she said softly.

"Like what?"

"Just... being able to laugh, being able to brag, and being able to bicker with me."

Li Ling was stunned for a moment, then reached out and ruffled her hair: "Don't worry, I won't change. No matter what happens outside, in front of you, I will always be me."

Empress Su Wanqing's eyes turned slightly red, and she nodded vigorously.