NOVPUB
Chapter 989: Chapter 868 Defense Armor (Subscribe please!)
In the instant the submersible hit the water,
the entire device had already activated.
Its surface shimmered with waves of light, with silver-blue radiance continuously flowing over it.
This was because its surface was coated with a layer of smart photosensitive paint; this was just its ’default setting’. If necessary, it could change to any color, although its shape was unchangeable, all for the sake of concealment.
"Tang Yi, begin teleporting the operators over," said Tang Qing after placing the teleportation node on the empty ground beside him. A series of flashes later, eight fighters appeared before his eyes.
The operation of the submersible featured a dual safeguard design of manual and automatic controls.
Normal operation required human presence because, should there be a malfunction, there wouldn’t even be anyone onsite for repairs. Although these devices had gone through rigorous testing, there are no machines that never fail.
"Click... hiss..."
After a hissing sound, a human-height door in the center of the submersible slowly opened, and a gangplank-like passage extended out, resting on the edge of the ’pool’. At this moment, there were no fighters inside; naturally, this was controlled by the command room.
Tang Qing led the way inside.
Through two doors,
he arrived at the cockpit.
The submersible was divided into an upper and lower level, with the control platform above and the storage platform below—the interior spaces were very large, with room for plenty of storage. For instance, the cockpit alone was a full fifty square meters.
These fifty square meters were the space where people could walk around.
It was quite spacious.
All around the cockpit, including the ceiling and the floor, were high-definition screens. Thanks to the cameras outside the submersible and Little Two’s simulated imaging, even in the pitch-black deep sea, its ’visible range’ extended over a hundred meters.
Eight control stations were on one side.
On the other side were some items that filled him with ’enthusiasm’.
These were ten sets of the latest research in heavy Underwater Defensive Armor; their gold-plating, standing at a tall 2.1 meters, had the imposing appearance of Iron Man, designed specifically for underwater travel and emergencies.
If the submersible were attacked and lost power,
the people inside could use this equipment to return to the surface, strong enough to withstand the pressure of eight thousand meters of water.
This Underwater Defensive Armor was a derivative product from the "Future Concept Weapons Research Plan" initiated by Tang Qing, specifically from the "Individual Exoskeleton Auxiliary Power Weapon Project".
This fully-enclosed armor cost 13 million RMB per unit, weighed six hundred kilograms, and primarily relied on built-in electric machines for movement; otherwise, it would simply be a metal coffin for anyone inside.
Modular design,
requires only the replacement of external connectors.
It could then transform from defense armor into a fully armed harvester of life.
Its main drawback currently was that it couldn’t fly and could only be used as a ground weapon. This frustrated Tang Qing, but there was no helping it; equipping it with a fuel engine would be like carrying a bomb on one’s back.
He didn’t have Iron Man’s Arc Reactor,
and small-scale controlled nuclear fusion technology was far from reality.
So, for now, these suits could only serve as playthings; they would have significant support effectiveness on the battlefield, yet Tang Qing wasn’t planning to sell them or engage in battle with anyone using them.
He could only slowly accumulate the technology.
While Tang Qing was reflecting,
eight fighters followed him.
They took their seats at the eight operating chairs.
The inner cabin door slowly closed, followed by another hiss as the outer cabin door also closed. Through the high-definition screens, Tang Qing could clearly see the scene inside the salvage ship’s cabin as if through glass.
But Tang Qing knew,
the screen was 1.8 meters from the exterior of the submersible. Of this 1.8 meters, about a meter consisted of densely packed mesh pressure reduction structures, which would eventually transfer any surface pressure to two hundred sixteen hydraulic shock absorbers.
Ultimately,
the pressure would be dissipated by six core multi-directional load-bearing bearings.
"Commander, the type three submersible system and equipment self-check are complete; we can commence the task," Tang Yi suddenly said.
"Depart, target, DX67 sunken ship site," Tang Qing replied cheerfully. It was his first ride in this thing, and of course, he wanted to witness the salvage process and be personally involved; after that, he would leave it to the fighters.
"Yes, Commander."
The fighters began to operate at the control stations.
Tang Qing only felt the submersible tremble slightly as it began to descend. The screens surrounding him came to life with the image of the sea water, quickly submerging the submersible, and his view turned into a channel leading outside the ship.
The lateral engines started to rotate.
The submersible moved sluggishly downward, and in just five or six seconds, it appeared in the vast blue sea. Gazing at the large hole at the bottom of the salvage ship in the distance, then at the ’weather simulation’ still depicting falling rain above, it all felt somewhat strange.
Tang Qing’s gaze returned to the main screen, which displayed important data, notably marking the straight-line distance to the destination---four thousand six hundred sixty-one meters, and it was rapidly decreasing.
Tang Qing felt a sense of weightlessness even stronger than taking an elevator.
There wasn’t much change in the images around him, all showing expanses of blue, with the occasional sight of some fish, albeit in very small numbers. Understandably so, as in such a vast sea, particularly in the deep-sea area, there were no colorful coral reefs.
The ecosystem wasn’t that rich.
To encounter fish.
Wasn’t easy.
"Dive depth, five hundred meters," the fighter routinely reported.
"Dive depth, one thousand meters."
...
When the submersible descended past two thousand meters, Tang Qing occasionally heard alarming sounds of steel friction. That noise resulted from the pressure of the sea water squeezing against the surface of the vessel: the deeper the water, the greater the pressure.
On the auxiliary screen.
The force endured by the entire surface of the submersible and the stress data on each vital node were precisely displayed. However, none were near design limits, with the force-bearing components still showing green.
If a component exceeded half its limit capacity, it would turn yellow.
And if it surpassed the design limit capacity, it would turn red and trigger an alarm.
"Dive depth, three thousand meters."
There were more friction sounds now.
The pressure data on the screen started soaring.
"Dive depth, four thousand meters."
Some force-bearing components had turned yellow.
"Dive depth, four thousand five hundred meters, one hundred sixty-one meters from the target, beginning to decelerate," said the fighter. As soon as he finished speaking, the submersible’s thrusters began to rotate in reverse, and the sensation of exceeding normal weight came from below.
Nevertheless.
With Tang Qing’s physical fitness.
He felt no discomfort whatsoever.
Currently.
Through the screen.
Tang Qing had already caught sight of the shadow of the sunken ship, though it was composed of lines. Without physical references and only possessing the exterior shape from the detector’s data, Little Two had not rendered much in terms of imagery.
Watching the sunken ship as it drew ever closer.
On the screen.
Suddenly, Tang Qing saw the submersible’s lights turn on, with four beams of light illuminating the sunken ship. The vessel depicted by lines, upon Little Two receiving the image data, was instantly rendered with a 100% accurate image on the hull.
"It’s huge," Tang Qing commented, looking at the data of the entire ship.
Over thirty meters long.
If stood upright, it would be as tall as a ten-story building.
A product from after the seventeenth century, during the heyday of triangular trade.
The massive sailboat had a large hole on its side, and from the deformation of the opening, Little Two deduced it was caused by an internal force, likely explosives, as this was a Dutch three-masted warship with many gun ports on the side.
This somewhat disappointed Tang Qing.
A warship.
Not a merchant vessel.
The probability of finding valuable goods was lower, but he couldn’t underestimate it entirely. These old Dutch warships likely had blood on their hands, and Tang Qing would find it hard to believe otherwise. Once touched by blood, there would likely be blood-stained items in their possession.
