Star Ocean: Starting from the Abandoned Mining Space Station.

Chapter 304 Progress
Two days later.

The destroyer Chen Ming was on arrived in the Beniu Star Territory.

And judging from the spacecraft's hyperspace track data coordinates, it would take another hour to reach the star capital.

At this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door of the room.

Chen Ming took a few steps and opened the door, only to see He Gu standing at the door and saying, "We are almost there. Be prepared. There will be some bumps when entering the star gate."

"Bumps?"

Chen Ming has been on countless jump engine jumps without any bumps. Why is there still bumps on a star gate with higher technology?

He asked with doubts: "How does the star gate operate? Why does it bump?"

He Gu patiently explained to Chen Ming: "The operating principle is quite simple, it is the same operating principle as a wormhole."

"So when the spacecraft passes through, it will be pulled by the tidal force and experience bumps."

He Gu pointed a finger at Chen Ming.

The meaning of what He Gu said was clear, but the "farthest distance of a regular spacecraft" must be a special term, not the superficial meaning he understood.

Chen Ming knew this a long time ago, but it has only been confirmed now, and he has not yet come into contact with the level of technology.

Although nothing could be seen there except the deep purple background of hyperspace, He Gu's eyes seemed to be able to penetrate the hyperspace and see the star gate of Benu's capital.

"It has been found a long time ago, and the singularity has been obtained."

So Chen Ming answered directly: "I don't know."

"So other than the lack of the wormhole singularity, what other reason did the empire stop?"

"Of course there are. There were even many wormholes in the empire before, but... you probably can't see them anymore."

He Gu said: "Yes, Star Gate is the fastest way to move in this era. Star regions without Star Gate will have the possibility of breaking away from the control of the empire,"

Although his psychic powers can already achieve similar effects, if you want to rely on non-psionic means to achieve the effect of a wormhole, that is something that only top scientists can do.

"It's okay if you don't know. Anyway, what this concept means is that a spaceship uses available objective means to navigate, such as hyperspace or phase space."

Chen Ming followed what He Gu said and scattered his thoughts for a while, then quickly brought his thoughts back together and asked: "Then I remember that every star field has such a star gate, which means that the empire is building a new star gate. When choosing a domain, it’s not just about selecting a location, but there’s also the element of a star gate, right?”

"Yes, otherwise there would be no need for Zuo Jing to occupy the star gate on the Caimo Star Territory."

As for the reason why this era is gradually disappearing, several people Chen Ming knows have different answers, and he doesn’t know what He Gu’s answer will be.

Being able to control the power of wormholes at least means that the empire has the same level of power.

"Are there any natural wormholes?"

Chen Ming knew from many people about the empire's pioneering era, which was an era of hard work and enterprising.

Chen Ming asked again: "So now we have found a suitable wormhole?"

However, in the past, he was able to obtain the design blueprints of the capital ship and an entire giant shipyard, and it was not absolutely hopeless to obtain the blueprints of a star gate.

But problems will also arise.

In other words, the capital ship is definitely not the most powerful means of combat at the empire's disposal. The empire must have higher-level power.

"why?"

"The star gate needs to be opened in both directions, right?"

Okay, then Chen Ming has no problem. It seems that things like star gates are still very necessary.

He Gu said calmly what Chen Ming thought was an exaggeration.

"After all, when developing, it is difficult to have the opportunity to slow down in the middle and fully develop the area you have occupied. Some places will always be missed. If the pace of development slows down, then there will be an opportunity, and the wormhole will be found. "

Wormhole technology?

"This is a human power, not a psyker's power."

"Do you know the concept of the longest range of a regular spacecraft?"

"There were many reasons why the empire did not continue to expand externally, and one of the reasons was that it could not find a suitable wormhole for the time being."

"The capabilities that belong to the spacecraft itself, such as the jump engine, cannot be counted."

He Gu turned his head and looked out the side window.

When Chen Ming heard this, he immediately considered whether its colony also needed a star gate. If the star gate could be directly connected to the empire, the benefits would be unimaginable.

So……

"Because all the discovered wormholes and their core singularities have become the core of the star gate we built."

"At that time, we will have to turn off the simulated gravity device of the spacecraft. Remember to be mentally prepared in advance and put away some things that will fly around."

It is also time to put it on the agenda to find ways to obtain stargate technology for the colonies.

"There are many reasons for it to stop, but there is only one main reason."

Wait, what if the empire's stargate technology was created by imitating wormholes?

When he thought about the difficulty of this, Chen Ming suddenly had a headache again.

Chen Ming took back his divergent thinking again and returned to the topic just now.

"The distance that a spaceship travels in one year is the specific meaning of 'the farthest distance of a regular spacecraft'."

"Put the starting point of this distance at the center of the empire, and the end of this distance is the theoretical maximum limit of the empire."

Seeing that Chen Ming could not understand the connection between the two, He Gu added: "It means that if a rebellion breaks out on the border of the empire or a foreign enemy invades."

"If the empire's fleet cannot reach the border from the capital star region by direct navigation within a year, then there will be no way to govern such a place."

"There are limits to the empire's administrative capabilities, and there are also limits to what it can handle."

"As the empire's borders expand, the territorial scope of the entire empire grows exponentially."

"If something happens, politicians will not be allowed to meet there. One year is the maximum limit."

"This is one of the reasons why the expansion of the empire has been slow."

Chen Ming probably understood the meaning, but he still had a question: "Will administrative capabilities change?"

"Yes, so this regular one-year period will also change."

"The more developed the empire's communication methods and administrative management capabilities are, the longer this time can be delayed."

"It's like this year was set by a tacit understanding in the pioneering era."

"The situation is definitely different now. I don't know how long it will last, but there will definitely be more."

Chen Ming suddenly thought of something and asked, "When was the Star Gate technology developed?"

He Gu replied quite familiarly: "A long time ago, in the pioneering era."

"I know what you mean."

"As a device that can carry out ultra-long-distance transmission, the Star Gate almost connects the entire empire and can greatly expand the distance that the spacecraft can travel."

"But the use of the star gate is not without restrictions. Activating the star gate will cause losses to the singularity inside the star gate. The singularity needs maintenance and cannot be used without restrictions,"

"It is not something that exists objectively, but is a human creation, so it cannot be regarded as a complete increase in the maximum sailing distance of regular spacecraft."

"So this factor cannot be factored into it."

"After so many years of precipitation in the empire, sociological theories have been studied, and the improvement of administrative management capabilities has changed beyond what it used to be."

"With the breakthrough of antimatter technology, the speed of spacecraft has also been greatly improved, and the distance that the spacecraft can travel in a period has also changed dramatically."

"The empire is finally able to continue to develop."

Chen Ming completely understood how the empire's pioneering era came to a halt.

Then he couldn't help but ask a question: "Is it just because of the anti-matter technology empire that the empire decided to restart its development?"

"Of course not." He Gu said with certainty: "Just like the end of the pioneering era had many impacts, this time the empire's intention to restart the pioneering era also has many impacts."

"I won't go into details about internal conflicts within the empire, internal problems, and the sequelae of dimensional infection. I'll just talk about the one that has a closer relationship with us, the Fourteenth Legion."

"The Fourteenth Legion is currently facing the main force of Afterglow as a single legion."

"And most of the other legions in the entire empire have only participated in small-scale, low-intensity wars. These legions are not preparing for war, but providing for their retirement. Would you rather the empire pay for their retirement?"

"This is one of the reasons that affects the empire's redevelopment. It is impossible for the legion to be supported by money and let them just eat for free and do nothing."

"Then your two technologies over there...well...mainly the hyperspace channel technology."

Chen Ming immediately recalled in his mind that when he handed over the hyperspace jump technology and energy crystallization technology to Bai Quan, it seemed that it was not through He Guhe Psionics Research Institute.

Only the results of the research mission on the relics of another civilization assigned by the later legion were handed over to the Psionic Research Institute.

However, it was normal for He Gu to understand these things. Chen Ming did not delve too deeply into it and just asked: "What's wrong with this technology?"

"Well...this technology has been understood by many people, but it has only been tested in our legion before."

"The effect is very good. Recently, this engine has been adapted and optimized for different types of spacecraft, and it has begun to be promoted from our legion to other places."

"But the speed of spread is definitely not as fast as antimatter technology."

"Antimatter technology is a truly epoch-making technology, and it is also a technology that truly promotes the empire's restart and development process."

"But I remember that you also have some patents on antimatter technology, right? And it seems that you stole it from Yuhui. The antimatter technology developed by Yuhui allowed this technology to overcome the final difficulty."

"The empire's ability to resume its path of development has a close relationship with you."

"And your technology is not bad to be honest. The hyperspace channel jump engine consumes less energy than ordinary jump engines and is easy to maintain."

"Although there are restrictions, these restrictions are nothing in front of the empire."

"And even if your technology is slower to promote than anti-matter technology, I feel that your technology has a chance to be fully deployed faster than anti-matter technology."

Chen Ming asked again: "Why is this?" "Because the nature of antimatter technology itself tends to be high-precision, it is always difficult to install such technology."

"And it is impossible for the empire to start equipping the entire empire without being familiar with the use of antimatter technology."

"In addition, you know best that antimatter technology was first obtained from Yuhui, and Yuhui has not yet shown the ability to have antimatter technology that can be applied in various fields."

"That is to say, once our antimatter technology is taken away by Afterglow, it is very likely that they will be able to produce the same technology immediately."

"There is also the Mechanical Tribe. The Mechanical Tribe has also never used antimatter technology."

"But as one of the legacies of another civilization, it is very likely that they have lost part of their technology."

"Once our antimatter technology is acquired by them, the situation may be the same as that of Afterglow."

This is indeed a troublesome point.

This is also the news that Chen Ming would hear from some scientists studying antimatter when he occasionally paid attention to his antimatter technology patent fees.

"But it's not the right thing to go into battle without a weapon if you're worried about it being picked up and used."

Faced with Chen Ming's question, He Gu said: "Of course this is not the right approach, so I just said that it is impossible to start the installation so early."

"If our antimatter technology is acquired prematurely by Afterglow or the Machine Tribe, then our advantage of being one step ahead will be gone."

"So the actual deployment of anti-matter technology must be in the early to mid-term transitional stage after the war between the mechanical races begins."

"There will be a large number of ship losses at this stage, and there will definitely be opportunities for commissioning."

"All previous applications of antimatter technology were for testing."

"That's why I think your technology will be installed faster than antimatter technology."

He Gu presented his thoughts with good reason, and Chen Ming really had nothing to refute.

There was no need to refute, after all, everything He Gu said was a disguised compliment.

"What about energy crystallization technology?"

He Gu looked a little embarrassed at this time. He thought about it for a moment before saying, "It's not my research direction, and I don't know much about it, but I can give you a rough idea of ​​the legion's attitude towards this technology."

"Your technology does have great potential and performs very well. As a new energy storage material, it is even better than the battery array of a battleship."

"You should also be breeding and selecting suitable energy crystal crabs over there, right? The energy crystals sent here are also more useful than the other batches."

"Forehead……"

Chen Ming hesitated and said, "Indeed."

It's just that what he is doing is not eugenics, but the insect queen has been selecting the individuals with the best crystal quality among those Zerg individuals that specialize in producing energy crystals and have been deeply repaired and optimized by Chen Ming.

Then copy them based on such individuals, and then slightly modify their genes for producing energy crystals, trying to find the most suitable Zerg individuals for producing energy crystals.

Can the crystals sent be bad?

However, He Gu immediately changed the topic and said: "However, these energy crystals cannot be used as a technology to promote the development of the empire, and it is far less important than the previous two technologies."

"Although energy is also an important part, there is a very critical issue, yield."

"Antimatter batteries are still under research, and it's not certain whether their effects will be different from your energy crystals."

"But as long as the research is successful, antimatter batteries can definitely be mass-produced."

"So where is your energy crystal?"

"Mass production is not as simple as building a factory. If a technology is to be applied to the entire empire, it requires the support of the industrial base of the entire empire's industrial colonies."

"At most, you have only established one planet as a breeding base for crystal crabs, but what can you do with the output of one planet?"

"Even if a planet is being cultivated and produced, it can't keep up with the losses of the entire empire. It's not even possible to barely supply a legion."

"So the view in the legion is to internally digest all the energy crystals you sent over and use them all on the battleship to replace the battleship's battery array."

"Anyway, our legion itself has the ability to transform capital ships. Offensive-class and legion-level ships have specially modified models by our legion."

"This technology can be used, and it's very easy to use, but if it's limited by your side, don't even think about it if you continue to expand it, unless...you understand."

Chen Ming also knew that it was a foolish dream for the insect hive on this planet to supply energy crystals to the entire empire.

He Gu's meaning is also very clear. As long as Chen Ming is willing to cooperate more deeply with the 14th Legion, he will directly hand over the cultivation of energy crystal crabs to the 14th Legion.

As a result, although Chen Ming's proportion in the entire production process is reduced, he can earn less money.

But if the overall production scale is expanded, the final benefits may be even greater.

The yield of energy crystals...

Chen Ming felt that he needed to think about it.

Because he felt that the Insect Queen had the potential to support the energy crystal consumption of an empire.

Moreover, he and He Gu just took advantage of the opportunity to chat before arriving at the Star Gate, which was definitely not counted.

So Chen Ming simply stopped talking about this.

Instead, he followed the words of the battleship that He Gu just mentioned: "Speaking of the modified battleship, I am quite interested in the Prometheus Mk.2 in the Caimo Starfield. Is there any news about it? ?”

He Gu couldn't help but said: "Your thinking is a little jumpy."

Chen Ming said as if he was used to it: "More than one person has said this to me, but I just say it wherever I think, so how about that battleship?"

"But I'm not studying this..."

"There must be some basic data or something, right?"

"let me see……"

He Gu thought carefully and said: "The full name of the modified Prometheus class is the Prometheus Mk.2 class improved fuel transport ship."

"The main weapon carried is different from the ordinary Prometheus class. It is a weapon called Luddite by people on the left path."

As He Gu narrated, Chen Ming's mind immediately resurfaced with the appearance of Prometheus that he had seen through his Afterglow Fleet.

And when Chen Ming's mind gradually sketched the appearance of the Prometheus Mk.2 to the main gun, he suddenly realized a problem: "I remember you said that the Machine Tribe has created the only kinetic main weapon. Right?

"So that means the main weapon of this Mk.2 is not a kinetic weapon?"

When Chen Ming saw the new weapon before, he thought it was a kinetic weapon. Could it be that it wasn't?

He Gu admitted: "Yes, it is not kinetic energy. Although it looks like it, in fact its weapon type should be classified into missile weapons, that is, explosive weapons."

"And this thing is quite special. The modification of the left diameter turned the main gun into a disposable weapon."

"It can directly fire the main gun as a bomb with extremely high yield."

"what?"

Although He Gu made it clear, Chen Ming still couldn't understand it.

He Gu also looked a little nervous: "Even if the main gun is fired, it is still feasible according to the calculation."

"However, in actual combat, capital ships may be needed to rush forward to help the bomb withstand point defense fire."

"It's outrageous, but it's a weapon that fits the left diameter. Its final power is also exaggerated. If it hits the continental shelf of a planet, it will be enough to destroy the entire planet's ecosystem."

"Fortunately Zuo Jing is finished, otherwise God knows what else they could come up with."

Chen Ming suddenly hesitated to speak.

He Gu was looking out the window and didn't notice anything strange about Chen Ming.

Chen Ming thought about it for a while, but still didn't say much about his understanding of Zuo Jing.

Zuo Jing's real brainwashing psyker, Zuo Jing, who is still hiding in the empire, will have to find a suitable opportunity to tell the right person in the future.

While Chen Ming and He Gu were chatting.

The destroyer Chen Ming was on also gradually approached the capital of the Beniu Star Territory.

Then, Chen Ming discovered that in hyperspace, in front of the ship he was riding on, there was a fleet approaching him.

The familiar tattered armor and crudely modified spaceship made Chen Ming immediately realize that they had encountered pirates.

It's in the Beniu Star Territory, just a stone's throw away from the capital of Beniu.

Seeing that they only had one destroyer and four escorting frigates, this pirate fleet felt that they were too easy to handle, so they decided to come over to stir up trouble.

Chen Ming has seen too many pirates and the like.

But this was the first time he saw pirate Chen Ming near the capital of a star region.

Even in a fringe star field, such as Gallo, it is impossible for pirates to operate openly and openly near the capital.

It can only be said that the situation on Bei Niu's side is chaotic.

Frequent pirates and chaotic management

The elected interim government had close to zero ability to manage lower-level departments, even near the capital.

Zuo Jing’s legacy is really...

Just after Chen Ming discovered something was wrong outside through the destroyer's sensor, He Gu quickly learned from the captain of the destroyer that pirates were coming.

And quickly shared it with Chen Ming.

Then Chen Ming has a problem: "Didn't it say that the 14th Army Corps is responsible for taking over Bei Niu? It hasn't started yet?"

"It should be soon."

He Gu responded and was about to communicate with the captain to deal with the pirate issue.

Chen Ming had already taken action and created a Heavy Rain-class ship out of thin air.

(End of this chapter)