127: Apollo Space Fighter

Looking at the generous rewards brought by his promotion to Colonel—advanced weapons like the apollo aerospace fighter and the apocalypse tank—Jiang Xin felt a surge of unprecedented pride and ambition in his heart.

These cutting-edge units were not just weapons, but symbols of power. They would give him the confidence to speak as an equal with the National Government and even dominate the future landscape!

Looking at the massive funds on the system panel, which still stood at 600,000 gold, Jiang Xin felt the "annoyance" of having more money than he could spend.

"Superweapons are a must!" Jiang Xin's eyes burned with intensity as he quickly made a decision. He selected an open area within the Lujiang Base as the construction site.

Satellite Launch Center: 10,000 gold (Occupies 10,000 square meters)

Spy Satellite (Asia-Pacific Regional Monitoring): 50,000 gold

Gap Generator (Covers Xijiang Province): 40,000 gold

Total: 100,000 gold

"Ten apocalypse tanks and ten tesla tanks for the army as well." Jiang Xin continued to click and select.

apocalypse tank: 10 units × 4,000 gold = 40,000 gold

tesla tank: 10 units × 3,000 gold = 30,000 gold

"Air superiority is of the utmost importance! The apollo is the core, but the long-range strike and deployment capabilities of the Peacekeeper and Nightingale are also vital. The hind and chinook will handle close-range support and transport. The chinook's transport convenience is irreplaceable (no runway needed, can take off and land anywhere)." His fingers moved rapidly across the virtual interface.

apollo aerospace fighter: 10 units × 20,000 gold = 200,000 gold

peacekeeper bomber: 10 units × 6,000 gold = 60,000 gold

Nightingale Transport: 10 units × 5,000 gold = 50,000 gold

hind attack helicopter: 10 units × 3,500 gold = 35,000 gold

chinook Transport Helicopter: 14 units × 4,000 gold = 56,000 gold

V3 Rocket Launcher: 20 units x 800 gold = 16,000 gold

Total Expenditure: 587,000 gold

Funds flowed out like water, but Jiang Xin's face was filled with uncontrollable excitement. He rushed toward the Air Command Center almost impatiently, his gaze locked tightly onto the apollo aerospace fighters currently "under construction." Time seemed to stretch until the cold construction progress bar finally reached its end.

Air Command Center, Airfield.

Ten behemoths were parked quietly. Jiang Xin held his breath; the scene before him surpassed any imagination from a sci-fi movie.

The overall appearance of the apollo Fighter featured a highly streamlined triangular flying wing layout, designed to minimize drag and Radar cross-section when passing through the atmosphere. The fuselage was approximately 48 meters long, with a wingspan of about 40 meters and a height of about 12 meters. Its massive size was comparable to a large passenger jet, but its lines were much sharper and more aggressive. The paint scheme was a deep cosmic silver and matte black. Near the wingtips on both sides was a striking gold and red sun god emblem, while a large Red Alert logo sat in the center of the belly.

The apollo Fighter's Gravitational Field Modulation Engine: This was the core for achieving vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and anti-gravity. It wasn't "anti-gravity" in the traditional sense, but rather the generation of a powerful, precisely controlled local gravitational field to counteract or enhance Earth's gravity. Its principle involved the spacetime curvature mentioned in Einstein's field equations; by consuming massive amounts of energy, it created a "gravity well" beneath the fuselage opposite to the direction of Earth's gravity. This allowed it to ignore runway restrictions and achieve silent, stable, propellant-less VTOL and hovering. The engine was also responsible for maintaining a standard 1G gravity environment inside the cabin during cruise.

High-Energy Particle Thrusters served as the main propulsion system, located at the rear of the fighter and in vector nozzles under the wings. The working principle was to feed electricity generated by nuclear fusion into a powerful electromagnetic field, then use the Lorentz force (the force exerted by a magnetic field on charged particles) to eject charged particles at extremely high speeds in a directional manner, generating massive thrust. This propulsion method far exceeded chemical rockets in efficiency and was the key to high-speed maneuvers both inside and outside the atmosphere, as well as interstellar travel. The nozzles were deep blue, emitting a ghostly blue light and a low hum when operational.

The takeoff and landing method completely abandoned gliding. For VTOL, the Gravitational Field Modulation Engine would start, causing a slight distortion of light visible to the naked eye in the space beneath the fighter, allowing it to lift off the ground smoothly. When flying at high speeds within the atmosphere or entering space, the thrusters would ignite to provide primary thrust, while the Gravitational Field Modulation Engine was used mainly for attitude micro-adjustments and maintaining internal gravity.

At this moment, under the precise control of the crew, the gravity engine of one of the apollos started. Accompanied by a low hum that felt as if space itself were vibrating, the air beneath the fighter rippled slightly due to the gravitational field distortion. The massive craft was lifted as if by an invisible hand, hovering steadily ten meters in the air. The grille plates on the belly used for gravity engine energy projection retracted, revealing weapon bay doors hidden beneath the armor. The doors slid open, and a fierce-looking "Helios" 30mm Electromagnetic Rail Autocannon, covered in fire-red heat-resistant coating, emerged. Simultaneously, two larger weapon pods under the wings opened, extending two complex Plasma Beam Cannon barrels shimmering with ghostly blue energy. The air near the muzzles seemed slightly ionized by the terrifying energy contained within.

"Take me up for a look!" Jiang Xin could not suppress his intense curiosity and his pride as a Commander, and he issued the command to the fighter.

"Command received, Commander!" The pilot's steady voice came through the external speakers.

"Maintaining hover altitude at 10 meters!"

"Opening personnel transport channel!"

Near the middle of the belly, a heavy armor plate slid open silently, and a metal platform with a built-in magnetic adsorption grid descended smoothly to the ground. Jiang Xin stepped onto the platform, and the built-in electromagnetic locks instantly activated, securing him firmly to the surface. The platform then rose steadily, retracting into the belly, and the armor plate closed with a seamless fit.

Entering the interior of the apollo's cabin, it was divided into three sections.

The Crew Cabin: The space was extremely spacious, with cabin walls covered in matte dark composite materials and embedded with soft blue ambient light strips, exuding a sense of future technology. Thirty ergonomic aviation seats were lined up on both sides, each equipped with an independent display terminal and a safety restraint system. The seat pitch was generous, enough for fully armed soldiers to sit comfortably.

The Lounge: Located behind the crew cabin.

Two Advanced Hibernation Pods: Utilizing advanced cryogenic hibernation technology, they could quickly induce deep sleep. Combined with injections of cell repair fluid and nutrient solution, they could restore most of a pilot's energy within a few hours. The environment inside the pods was highly controllable, featuring life support and medical monitoring/treatment functions.

The lounge area also had a set of comfortable aviation sofas and a foldable simple dining table.

One Dimensional Space Food Storage Cabinet was located under the dining table. Using Red Alert's unique space compression technology, its external volume was about 1 cubic meter, while the actual internal usable space reached 10 cubic meters. It had a built-in intelligent management system and stored:

100 portions of high-energy individual combat rations.

200 portions of sealed drinking water/functional drinks.

Various canned fruits and nutritional supplements.

Several emergency medical kits, cell repair agents, and nutritional agents.

A small amount of fresh fruits and vegetables (needs to be replenished manually).