Chapter 277

Longyin combat conference room, three striking rings of light shine on the holographic star map.

"Everyone look, this is the family property we are going to build in the next year and a half." Li Yang pointed to the innermost blue ring.

"Inner defense line, Blue Star-Moon orbit, codename 'Dome'."

"1,008 Heaven's Punishment laser platforms, paired with a quantum radar network, covering a radius of 400,000 kilometers. Anything that wants to enter the solar system has to pass this level first."

Chen Guang pushed his glasses: "Are 1,008 too many? According to calculations, 648 can achieve a 99.9% interception rate."

"The extra 360 are redundancy." Li Yang pulled up the design drawing.

"Platforms must leave a safe distance between each other to prevent being wiped out in one pot."

"And every platform is painted with purple material, which can absorb cosmic radiation for self-charging, Kaiyuan says this thing can live just by basking in the sun, we don't have to worry about power supply."

Wang Hao raised his hand: "What about my missile troops? Can't just watch the laser cannons fire?"

"Your missiles are in the second layer." Li Yang switched the screen, twelve huge ring-shaped structures appeared in Mars orbit.

"Middle defense line, codename 'Sea-Stabilizing Needle'. Twelve gravity disruptors, using super-large masses to generate gravity fields, can delay spatial jumps, and can also deflect high-speed particle streams."

He paused: "Each disruptor carries three hundred Bifang-deep space modified missiles, you are responsible. If the enemy wants to pass through this layer, they have to taste the missile rain."

Wang Hao grinned: "This sounds like something. But Old Li, are twelve too few? Should we add six more?"

"You think you're building blocks?" Zhao Kaiyuan's voice came from the communicator.

"The mass of one Sea-Stabilizing Needle is equivalent to half a planet, we have to drag asteroids from the Kuiper Belt to process them. Twelve is already the production limit, if we drag any more, Jupiter's orbit will be empty."

"What about the third layer?" Feng Yan asks.

Li Yang zoomed in on the outer defense line, near Jupiter's orbit, three huge cross-shaped structures slowly rotating.

"'Houyi' strategic platform." He said.

"Three, deployed at the front, middle, and back of Jupiter's orbit respectively."

"Each platform carries an experimental stellar cannon, the principle is reverse-engineered from the probe wreckage, can focus solar energy for ultra-long-range strikes."

"Can hit Neptune from Jupiter's orbit."

"What is the power of this thing..." Chen Guang asks.

"One shot can vaporize an asteroid." Li Yang said calmly.

"But charging takes 24 hours, and it can only be used three times, after three times the barrel is scrapped. So this is our trump card, don't use it unless it's a last resort."

Feng Yan stared at the three cross structures: "How long is the construction cycle?"

"Penglai-2 deep space mothership has restarted construction, the construction period is compressed to eight months, mainly responsible for towing and assembly." Li Yang pulled up the schedule.

"Heaven's Punishment platform now produces 120 per month, at this speed, the inner defense line can be completed in nine months."

"Sea-Stabilizing Needle is more troublesome, needs to drag materials from the Kuiper Belt, estimated twelve months. Houyi platform is the slowest, fourteen months."

"Adding them up is over a year." Chen Guang calculated quickly, "The Harvester fleet arrives in one year and eleven months, but their scouting units might arrive early. We need faster speed."

"Then speed it up." Zhao Kaiyuan suddenly interjected.

"I have a new discovery here, I reverse-engineered a kind of 'energy deflection coating' from the probe wreckage, which can increase the defense efficiency of laser weapons by 50%. If painted on the Heaven's Punishment platform, the interception radius of each platform can be expanded by 30%."

"Does that mean we can build fewer platforms?"

"No, it means the same number of platforms, but the defensive capability is increased by half." Zhao Kaiyuan pulled up the data.

"And this coating is simple to produce, can be synthesized using by-products of purple material. I have already let Sakura Province's factories convert production, and the first batch of Heaven's Punishment platforms can be replaced next month."

Wang Hao's eyes lit up: "What about my missiles? Can they be painted too?"

"Can, but stealth performance will decrease after painting, the coating will reflect radar waves." Zhao Kaiyuan told the truth, "You have to choose, do you want to be more resistant, or more stealthy."

"... I'll choose stealth." Wang Hao was depressed, "Missiles are meant for sneak attacks anyway, being resistant is useless."

There was laughter in the conference room.

"Alright, let's divide the work." Feng Yan made the decision, "Li Yang is in overall charge of defense line design, Wang Hao is responsible for the middle-layer missile troops, Chen Guang uses Torch Dragon-3 to optimize the overall layout, Zhao Kaiyuan provides technical support."

"I am responsible for coordinating global resources, whichever country dares to drag their feet, I will let the Heaven's Punishment platform go to their home to turn around."

One month later, the construction base on the far side of the moon.

Zhao Gong bit his pipe, looking at the huge workshop in front of him.

This was originally a mining site for Lunar Soil-7, now it has been converted into a processing plant for the core components of the Sea-Stabilizing Needle.

"Master, the mass deviation of the No. 3 gravity generator is still 0.0001% off." The young engineer floated over to report, "Should we rework?"

"Rework my ass." Zhao Gong puffed out a puff of smoke, "A deviation of 0.0001% is just an itch on a cosmic scale. Install it, next one."

"But Chief Engineer Li said the standard should be—"

"He says his, I do mine." Zhao Gong interrupted, "The construction period is so tight, and you still pursue perfection? Have it first, then optimize, understand?"

The engineer nodded as if he understood, and floated away.

Zhao Gong looked out the window.

On the lunar horizon, half of Blue Star hung in the black velvet-like space, blue enough to calm the heart.

And in Blue Star orbit, dozens of silver light spots were moving, the Heaven's Punishment platforms being deployed.

The progress was faster than expected.

The mass production speed of purple material had come up, now 500,000 tons could be produced every day.

Global major industrial zones had completed 30% coating coverage, looking down from space, those areas were gleaming with a faint purple luster, like a purple band-aid.

The energy efficiency threshold had climbed to 0.53.

Passed, but not enough.

"Master." Another engineer floated over.

"The report sent from Sakura Province, their factory production capacity increased by 40% this month, but workers are complaining that working hours are too long, sixteen hours a day, three shifts, they can't hold on."

Zhao Gong was silent for a few seconds.

"Tell them, even if they can't hold on, they have to hold on." His voice was low, "Sweat more now, bleed less in the war. Although this is old-fashioned, it is the truth."

"What about wages..."

"Wartime contribution points doubled, after winning the war, these points can be exchanged for houses, land, and spaceships." Zhao Gong paused.

"Tell them again, I, Old Zhao, am sixty-eight this year, and I work fourteen hours a day. If I don't complain, what are they complaining about?"

The engineer nodded and floated away to pass the message.

Zhao Gong continued to smoke, looking at Blue Star.

He remembered three years ago, when Feng Yan first came to his small workshop, talking about building "sharp weapons of the country".