Chapter 185: Naval Vessel Sea Trials

“Sir, these are the synthetic images obtained by the carbon nanotube bots, they seem not very clear and are also black and white. It’s a pity that there is no Perceiver II in this conference room right now.”

Star Ocean’s voice, tinged with a slight regret, brought Du Qiu’s attention back from the large screen he was fixated on.

It takes corresponding time for the carbon nanotube bots to replicate and gather from the nearly invisible state to the extent that they can capture images.

At the same time, the image capturing technology formed after the aggregation of the carbon nanotube bots is still not perfect; the images are still black and white and not clear enough.

After all, it’s significantly difficult for a pure carbon structure to construct an imaging mechanism, a problem that Du Qiu has not been able to solve.

Furthermore, the method these structures use to transmit signals is not the common electromagnetic wave but a kind of informational induction exchange mode between the carbon nanotube bots.

This induction mode comes from the super magnetic induction imaging technology of an alien civilization. Du Qiu has not yet fully mastered it, and the current situation is a bit like the state of early black and white televisions.

Fortunately, with the improvement in nanotechnology for the Perceiver, Du Qiu is not in a hurry to improve the imaging technology of the carbon nanotube bots.

In fact, the carbon nanotube bots were not developed for surveillance, but for a more important mission and task.

Perceiver II is a second-generation product, its material is non-metallic, and the method of monitoring and capturing images is different from existing ones.

Furthermore, Perceiver II does not transmit videos in real time, but will retreat to a corresponding safe zone to send information after capturing images completely.

All these ensure that it can avoid existing detection devices.

“Star Ocean, what is the identity of that fellow Watanabe?”

“Sir, he is the Director of the Prime Minister’s Intelligence Office, his full name is Watanabe Tomohito, and he is an elite in the intelligence world of Japan.”

“Keep an eye on him. If he poses any threat, arrange for an assassin to take him out. Africa is a chaotic place.”

“Understood.”

“Is there any movement from GIA?”

“Yes, the African Affairs Bureau’s action team has been active in South Sudan. Not only have they been watching the Iron Guard who protect the medical team, but someone has also been monitoring the industrial park. Li Shennan has already allowed them to capture it on camera.”

“Isn’t there any movement from the Tang Country affairs bureau?” Du Qiu asked, surprised.

“No, recently, the Tang Country affairs bureau has only the investigation team in Imanka that is responsible for tracing why Lagia went to Israel. The other action teams are basically holding their positions. However, the intelligence analysis team on Tang Country has been working overtime.”

“Interesting, this old man Clark is really interesting.”

Du Qiu smiled and continued, “Star Ocean, collect some intelligence information from the Tang Country affairs bureau and release it on that information website.

In the future, some information obtained from various major intelligence agencies around the world can be placed on that website. I think our intelligence business should get even better.”

“Sir, that intelligence website has already beaten the one I previously showed you, last year it earned 12 billion US dollars.”

“Not bad, we need to keep it up.”

++++++++

In New Castle City of the United States, an amusement park.

Clark was watching his granddaughter riding a merry-go-round, waving to her from time to time.

Beside him, a man from the East was speaking, seemingly making a phone call.

Amongst the noisy children’s laughter and joy, a conversation was quietly happening.

“…”

“The daffodils have been planted and are expected to bloom soon.”

“Daffodils are a fine product, much loved. Take care to protect them and not to give them directly. Remember to arrange for the canary to feed.”

“Understood, the priest has already done so.”

…

“Grandpa, I felt like I was flying just now.” After the merry-go-round stopped, the little granddaughter rushed into Clark’s arms and then excitedly gestured.

“Ha-ha, did it feel good to fly?”

“It did, what shall we play next?”

“How about the pirate ship over there?”

“Yes, yes, yes…” The little granddaughter clapped her hands and exclaimed.

Clark led his granddaughter away from the merry-go-round.

The Eastern man seemed to have also finished his phone call, put away his cellphone, turned up the collar of his trench coat, seemed to mutter a curse at the weather, and then left as well.

After leaving the amusement park, the Eastern man changed a few taxis and went to a hotel.

It was only after he entered the room that he breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

The Eastern man was startled, then laughed at himself. He was being a little too paranoid.

It was all Director Clark’s fault for making him use this visit to the United States to meet discreetly in an amusement park setting of all places.

“Who is it?” the Eastern man asked loudly.

“Director Zhao, have you returned? We were going to have dinner together.”

Director Zhao opened the door with a smile, saying, “Director Zhang, I didn’t go out. I’ve just been sleeping. Did you come to find me? I’m a heavy sleeper, so I probably didn’t hear your knock.”

The man standing in the doorway was a slightly overweight, middle-aged man with a partly bald head.

“I was wondering, just now a few of them wanted to play cards and were looking for you to make the numbers. It was Director Sun who knocked.”

“Oh, that’s unfortunate. But after dinner, we can continue,” Director Zhao replied.

“Let’s go have dinner now.”

Director Zhao closed the door and walked with Director Zhang along the corridor towards the elevator.

“Director Zhang, after this inspection, you’re getting a promotion to the ministry, right?”

“That’s quite an information network you’ve got there, Director Zhao. Just make sure not to spread it around; these days, anything can happen before it’s officially confirmed.”

“In these past one or two years, Magic City has developed so rapidly; it’s time to promote some cadres from our ranks.”

“That’s also thanks to Dream Technology and Wisdom Technology. Director Zhao, you’re not doing bad either. With the new aircraft carrier being launched this year, when handing out awards for merit, you might also move up a notch.”

“Ah, that’s the achievement of the central enterprise. I dare not even think about it.”

++++++++

After the Spring Festival, Du Qiu often stayed at the island base.

Because he was working hard on developing metallic hydrogen, after the desalination of seawater, a large amount of hydrogen was extracted and stored.

This was as a raw material for Du Qiu to prepare metallic hydrogen.

Although the base was still under construction, the surface buildings on the island could already be used, allowing Du Qiu to conduct his research work there.

This naturally eliminated the need to transport hydrogen back and forth.

Near the small island, a Type 053H frigate purchased from Tang Country was cruising around, which Mu Weini have to Du Qiu for retrofitting.

Upon hearing that Du Qiu was going to stay at the island industrial park for a while, the frigate had just finished retrofitting. Mu Weini decided to let the warship escort Du Qiu to the island.

This would both complete the sea trials and demonstrate her great regard for him.

The captain of the frigate was named Tajik, a colonel.

The naval forces of the Tanga Federation aren’t extensive; these two frigates are their largest and most advanced warships.

Therefore, astonishingly, a colonel is in charge as captain.

At first, Tajik couldn’t accept his beloved ship was to be retrofitted; he disliked the idea a thousand times over. If it were being returned to the shipyards in Tang Country for the retrofit, Tajik would have had no objections.

But this time, the entity responsible for the retrofit was a local company that had never built a warship before; they even lacked a drydock, so how could he be reassured?

Moreover, they dare to name themselves after the African king Mount Kilimanjaro, calling it Kibo Defense Company.

However, it was Mu Weini who had him and another captain draw lots, and his bad luck resulted in being selected for the retrofit.

During the days of retrofitting, Tajik lived on board, almost entirely devoting his time to overseeing the retrofitting process.

Although the retrofit focused solely on the anti-air and anti-ship missile systems, as well as the radar system.

They might seem like purely superficial elements of the ship, but they can affect the vessel’s balance.

A misjudged retrofit could unbalance the ship, and a single large wave could capsize it during sailing.

Therefore, such significant retrofits are usually done in drydock with careful calculations and the like.

Now, the entire retrofit was completed right in the Tanga Federation naval port.

The engineers and the huge industrial robots truly opened Tajik’s eyes; to them, the warship seemed like a giant toy to be assembled.

This was completely inconsistent with what he had learned at the Tang Country Naval Academy and was unlike any of Tang Country Magic City’s shipyards he had seen.

Even now, as Tajik commanded the warship sailing in the Indian Ocean, it still felt surreal.

Leaving the naval port and making it here covered a distance of 300 kilometers, during which Tajik tested every navigational operation of the warship.

There was not the slightest change in the seaworthiness of the entire ship. Of course, he was also very satisfied with the newly retrofitted radar.

It was much better than the original equipment from Tang Country, significantly extending both air and sea search capabilities.

To Tajik’s knowledge, this performance data was on par with that of certain Aegis destroyers’ phased array radars.

He was shocked when they first went out to sea for testing.

Without a doubt, this retrofit was perfect.

Well, not exactly – they haven’t tested live-fire anti-air missiles yet, nor have they confirmed if the new anti-air missile system is as sharp as the anti-ship missiles.

It’s worth noting that the anti-ship missile testing was a delight for Tajik.

The marine radar easily detected a drone ship moving at high speeds 500 kilometers away.

Following the missile launch, cruising at 3 times the speed of sound and hitting the drone ship accurately within 10 minutes, blasting it to pieces.

Images of hitting the target were transmitted by the drones hovering over the drone ship, earning applause throughout the command bridge.

The high-fidelity robot engineers arranged by Du Qiu for this sea trial were responsible for teaching these brothers to proficiently use the equipment.

In fact, the entire system is divided into automatic and manual parts; if switched to automatic mode, it can operate without human intervention, and the defense system can operate automatically.

Tajik was the most earnest learner. When the engineers initially explained the anti-ship missile system, it seriously amazed him.

Goodness, the original 2 sets with four units each, for a total of eight Eagle Strike 83 missiles, were now replaced with two sets of eight units each, adding up to 16 new Tuna missiles in total.

Thank you “Gumingben is Gege Zai” for the tip of 100 coins!