MM Racing Chapter 104 Why didn't you say so sooner!
Chapter 104 Why didn't you say so sooner!
Chapter 104 Why didn't you say so sooner!
"Buzzing"
Twenty silver-white metal spheres slowly rose into the air amidst the low-frequency hum unique to anti-gravity engines.
They had no tail flames or thick smoke; they simply floated straight up, their speed increasing until they became invisible black dots and disappeared into the murky atmosphere.
Andy looked up at the disappearing balloons, feeling quite uncertain.
This is the first batch of "Sky Dome-1 type low-orbit base stations".
The name sounds impressive, with both "sky dome" and "base station," but Andy himself knows very well that this thing's position in the STC's hierarchy is actually quite awkward.
The STC database's evaluation of this thing is only one line, which roughly translates to:
[Limited performance. Suitable for colony environments characterized by extreme poverty, zero industrial base, and loss of orbital control.]
His words and actions exuded a strong Versailles vibe!
In those days, which legitimate colony didn't use geostationary satellites? Who didn't use quantum communication networks?
If you've reached the point where you can't even launch a satellite into orbit and can only maintain communication using these "atmospheric objects" that fly close to the stratosphere, then what kind of colonization are you going to do?
Go home and farm as soon as possible!
"Damn it, what am I doing now, farming?"
Andy looked away, somewhat annoyed.
His current situation perfectly matches the STC's definition of "extreme poverty".
Although he has guns and cannons, they are for self-defense. In the aerospace field, he is now a junior.
Andy did some mental calculations.
The Tianqiong-1 satellite flies at an altitude of only 20,000 meters. Due to the curvature of the Earth's surface and atmospheric interference, the coverage radius of a single base station is theoretically only about five kilometers.
To achieve full-view monitoring without blind spots, signal obstruction and redundancy backup must also be considered.
To illuminate the entire 500-kilometer warning zone around Fort Horison, at least 150 of these things would be needed.
One hundred and fifty.
With the current, hastily assembled precision machining production line, only one piece can be produced per day.
This means that it will take at least half a year just to set up this monitoring network.
Half a year!
Half a year is enough time for his body to cool down several times over.
"Little Six, how are you feeling?"
Andy pressed the communicator and asked weakly.
"The base station has reached the designated altitude."
Xiao Liu's voice remained cool and girlish, without any emotional fluctuations.
"The anti-gravity engine is operating stably, the solar array has been deployed, and position calibration is underway."
"All twenty base stations are now in place, arranged in a ring in the airspace south of the city."
"Okay, turn it on."
Andy sighed, not holding out much hope.
"Switch the camera to me and let me see how far these twenty eyes can see."
Because Andy hasn't mastered high-density interconnect technology yet, nor does he have the photoelectric conversion center capable of processing massive amounts of image data.
Therefore, the backend of this system is actually directly connected to Xiao Liu's computing power.
As a subspace sextant, the Xiao Liu (小六) handles this video signal with ease.
"Connecting video stream —"
"Image synchronization in progress —"
The huge holographic screen in front of Andy flickered twice.
After a snowflake falls.
"Swish"
The screen lit up.
Andy was prepared to see that kind of blurry, noisy, and low-quality video where he had to rely on his imagination to distinguish friend from foe.
After all, STC has stated that its performance is "limited".
But when the scene truly unfolds...
Andy was stunned.
Father Zor, who had been holding an incense burner and praying for the soul's protection, almost dropped the incense burner on his feet because his hand trembled.
Even Xiao Liu's consistently stable blue data stream showed a noticeable fluctuation.
clear.
Extremely clear.
The screen showed a desolate wasteland south of Horisonburg.
The footage is not just high-definition; it even shows the movements of a mutated lizard hunting something in the ruins.
The color reproduction is extremely high, with no distortion whatsoever.
But that's not the scariest part!
The most frightening thing is the coverage area!
Andy originally thought he could only see that small area to the south.
As a result, the entire screen is now densely packed with split screens, each of which corresponds to a huge sector.
These twenty base stations have illuminated an area of nearly 300 kilometers in the southern half of Horisonburg!
There are no blind spots or dead ends.
Even some heat source reactions in the shallow underground layers were outlined by the infrared probe.
"this----"
Father Zor pressed his face against the screen, adjusting the focus of his prosthetic eye again and again.
"This is impossible!"
"This level of clarity and coverage is something even the most advanced oracles can't achieve!"
"This is just... twenty balloons?"
Andy was also stunned.
He quickly pulled up the STC datasheet and read it again.
It does say "limited performance"?
Could it be that he misunderstands the word "limited"?
"Mr. Andy."
Xiao Liu's voice rang out at the right moment, carrying a hint of sudden realization after some calculation.
"After comparison, it was found that the reason for this performance deviation lies in the difference in environmental parameters."
"The 'limited performance' statistic in the STC database is based on the standards of the Golden Age battlefield."
"In that era, the battlefield was filled with strong electromagnetic interference across the entire frequency band, nano-masking clouds, and even laser blinding weapons targeting optical equipment."
"In such extreme conditions, Sky Dome-1 can indeed only provide a rough view."
"but----"
Xiao Liu paused for a moment.
"Although the environment on Zais is harsh, its electromagnetic environment is extremely clean."
"Without strong interference sources and without countermeasures, industrial dust in the atmosphere cannot block our multispectral lenses at all."
"For Sky Dome-1, this environment is practically like—being naked."
Andy understood.
This is like taking a military walkie-talkie that can barely make a call in a strong electromagnetic storm and going to use it in a deserted rural area.
How could the signal be bad? How could the distance be short?
It turns out that the "trash" of the Golden Age referred to trash in the battlefield where gods were fighting!
On Zais, a planet where even radio stations still use analog signals, just twenty of these satellites would be equivalent to the scanning range of a reconnaissance ship.
Andy was in a great mood.
With this vision, anyone who wants to launch a surprise attack on Horisonburg will be dreaming.
He reached out and began to slide his hand across the holographic map, as if surveying his own territory.
The wasteland to the south, the abandoned factory to the east, and to the west—
Andy's fingers stopped.
Their gazes froze.
On the west side of the map, there is the ruins area where Zetton and Kolber scouted and brought back the Reiss scythe.
The images transmitted back by the high-definition camera clearly showed a huge, man-made circular structure.
It was a bottomless cylindrical pit, its inner walls lined with some kind of black, high-strength alloy, and the remains of a folded, giant mechanical arm structure still lingered around it.
Although it was filled with dust and trash, its neat shape and iconic industrial design style remained.
An identification box popped up instantly in the STC database:
[Facility confirmed: Planetary surface—standard space well.]
[Status: Structure intact / Power offline.]
"6
Andy stared at the red label, frozen in place.
Space well.
That was a space well.
It's not a mine pit, nor is it a sewer entrance.
Rather, it is an integrated super dock built by humanity during the Golden Age specifically for the safe assembly, maintenance, and launch of aircraft on the ground!
Because of the microgravity environment outside of space, the facilities inside are many times more advanced than those in an orbital dock!
With this, he no longer needs to painstakingly transport parts to the sky for assembly.
He could easily build the ship underground, then open the top cover, ignite it, and launch it into the air!
"Sixth grade."
Andy's voice trembled slightly.
"How long has this thing been there?"
"It's always been here."
Xiao Liu's voice carried a hint of innocence; she was always eager for drama: "According to the records, when that human individual named Jetton returned to report last time, his exact words were: 'We discovered a huge underground shaft in the ruins to the west—'"
'
He was referring to vertical shafts.
"Mr. Andy, your response at the time was: 'Mmm, mmm, mmm.'"
Andy fell silent.
Why is this involving whipping a corpse?!
I remembered.
At the time, he was preoccupied with the alien scythe and didn't pay any attention to what the "shaft" that Jetton was talking about was.
In his mind, the shafts in the ruins were nothing more than ventilation shafts, elevator shafts, and other broken things.
Who would have thought that it was a space silo big enough to fit an entire battlecruiser!
"Jetton————"
Andy gritted his teeth as he muttered the name.
"You call this a vertical shaft?!"
"This is a space duct! How can you describe it as a vertical shaft?!"
"Couldn't you describe it a little more? Like, does it have a refueling system, a maintenance platform, or alloy walls?"
""
But the next second, Andy slumped into his chair like a deflated balloon.
He can't blame Jaden.
Jetton was an Imperial citizen, and in his understanding, the concept of a "space well" might not even exist.
He reported the "huge underground shaft" truthfully, which was enough to get the job done, and Jaden could tell that he was not paying attention.
I didn't pay enough attention to it because it was a report from the indigenous people, and naturally categorized it as useless information.
If the satellite hadn't been launched today, he might have had to wait several more months to discover that such a big treasure was sitting right in front of his house!
"Damn it—"
Andy suddenly stood up and slammed the laser pointer in his hand onto the table.
"Gamma-9, prepare the vehicle!"
"I want to see this amazing thing for myself!"
Andy grabbed the yellow robe hanging on the hanger and strode out of the studio.
To hell with satellites, to hell with surveillance.
Right now, nothing is more important than confirming the status of that space silo!
If that thing is still usable ————
Deep Space Industries' shipbuilding plan can be accelerated from "when will it be done in the future" to "just around the corner"!