Chapter 48: New Achievements

47. New Achievements

The greatest problem facing the Fourth Civilization was the massive chasm between them and the Galactic Republic. They were now in desperate need of such a talent to bridge their economic system with that of the Republic, thereby reaping the final dividends before the war.

Semide's arrival was truly timely assistance.

Tang Xiao was not worried about Semide having any ulterior motives, because there was no longer a place for him to stand in the vast Milky Way. As soon as he showed his face, he would immediately face endless pursuit from the Interstellar Banking Association.

Semide's only choice was to stay with the Fourth Group, and he should also understand his situation: if he could not demonstrate sufficient value, Tang Xiao would undoubtedly "deal" with him without hesitation, while simultaneously making a good sale to Heggo Damask II.

Thinking of this, Tang Xiao's mood improved significantly. He walked to the viewport and looked around the mother ship. The area surrounding the mother ship had become much more bustling; a large number of transport ships were shuttling between the gas giant and the mining stations, which had now expanded to five.

A large number of transport ships were also constantly traveling between the Dawn Planet and the mother ship. After the expansion of construction, they now possessed over 20 transport ships, while the mining transports capable of flying in deep space had already reached 100.

Two massive umbrella-shaped space research modules, each over 200 meters in diameter, floated around the mother ship, captured by its gravity and moving slowly along with the ship in synchronous orbit; these were the Institute of Physics and the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, respectively.

The Engineering Institute had already added many auxiliary modules and was even more massive in size. One could see a spacecraft over 30 meters long docked outside the institute; this ship was equipped with two large turrets, which looked somewhat out of place.

On the other side were two interstellar shipyards, one of which was still under construction. This was a small interstellar shipyard used for frigate-class vessels. The rectangular assembly factory was approximately 100 meters long, flanked by more than ten engineering arms in the shipyard area used to secure unfinished ships. Judging by the reach of these arms, they should be capable of constructing frigates no longer than 50 meters.

This was also the standard size for a light frigate—

According to the Fourth Civilization's standards Aircraft under 15 meters are called light fighters; Aircraft between 15 and 30 meters are called heavy fighters; Aircraft between 30 and 50 meters are called light frigates; 50 to 80 meters are heavy frigates; 80 to 150 meters are light destroyers; 150 to 300 meters are heavy destroyers; 300 to 500 meters are light cruisers; 500 to 1000 meters are heavy cruisers; Over 1000 meters are capital ships, which are further divided into categories such as aircraft carriers, battleships, battlecruisers, and so on.

Currently, in the completed shipyard, a spacecraft almost identical to the one docked outside the Engineering Institute was being assembled, though the turrets on this ship were of a much more normal size. The ship's structure was complete, and several automated robotic arms on the cantilever arms were installing heavy outer armor onto the vessel.

Around the unfinished shipyard, more than ten small engineering spacecraft were constantly busy. Construction workers piloted their ships to fetch processed equipment parts from the mother ship's manufacturing center and flew them over to install them on the shipyard. It looked like this shipyard would need a few more days to be completed.

Tang Xiao nodded, picked up his communicator, and connected to the research lab. The person who answered was Dr. Qu Xuewen. After giving Tang Xiao a slight bow, she asked, "How can I help you, Administrator?"

Tang Xiao asked directly, "Has the research on the Hammer-class frigate been completed?"

Qu Xuewen nodded in reply, "Yes, the research was completed two days ago, while you were still on the Dawn Planet. Because Qi Jian was pushing hard, we began production immediately."

"By the way, that frigate docked outside your institute..."

"It looks different, doesn't it?" Qu Xuewen laughed. "This frigate is the first Hammer-class frigate we have built. The turrets on it are two turbine laser turrets. These are relatively complete pieces we recovered from the wreckage of the three bounty hunter ships that attacked us previously. Installing them on a transport ship would be too wasteful, so Professor Chi is leading us through some modifications to find a way to install the turbine laser turrets onto a frigate."

"May I come and take a look?"

"Of course, Administrator. I will report to Professor Chi immediately and make the arrangements."

Taking a transport ship to the Engineering Research Center was Tang Xiao's first time visiting; previously, he had only visited the engineering laboratory set up inside the mother ship.

The current research center, built in open space, had a much more compact structure, but the equipment inside was denser and more advanced.

Tang Xiao also saw a medium-range blue-out laser test being conducted in one of the laboratories. A laser cannon over 4 meters long was mounted on a frame, with a dense web of wires and pipes behind it. Upon a technician's command, the laser cannon fired a blue laser beam that was not particularly blinding, striking a target set out in outer space.

However, the laser beam had struck the target for less than a second when thick smoke and electrical sparks suddenly erupted from the rear pipelines. The technicians quickly halted the experiment, and several people in protective suits rushed in with fire extinguishers to spray the lines.

Qu Xuewen approached him. Following Tang Xiao's gaze, she smiled and said, "That is the blue-out laser prototype sent from Guan Yan's physics lab. We have conducted three tests today. However, although the power of blue-out lasers is much greater than infrared lasers, and they have a longer range due to their shorter wavelength and less interference, our current weapon platforms are not yet advanced enough to utilize this kind of laser."

She walked over to look at the laser cannon, which was now covered in fire-extinguishing foam, and shook her head as she said to a nearby technician, "This prototype is no longer usable. Give the data report to Dr. Guan Yan. Tell her the energy conversion relay parameters are too high; if we want our current power supply equipment to be able to use it, the parameters need to be reduced by at least another 5%."

"Reduced by another 5%? Dr. Guan is definitely going to curse us out when she hears this..." The technician wiped away cold sweat.

"Let her curse then; it's not me she's cursing," Qu Xuewen said nonchalantly, smoothing her hair. "I'll leave this to you. I need to accompany the Administrator to Professor Chi's side."

"Ah? Administrator! Hello, Administrator!" The technician finally noticed Tang Xiao's presence and hurriedly bowed.

Tang Xiao nodded in return and, accompanied by Qu Xuewen, walked toward the other side while touring the research center. Along the way, Qu Xuewen was very talkative, introducing the research projects and facilities to Tang Xiao. She was clearly very different from the type of female doctor Tang Xiao had imagined; she had no social anxiety whatsoever; on the contrary, she was quite loquacious.