Chapter 202: Ghost Sets Sail (Part 2) Please Subscribe

"Is the modification complete?"

Upon receiving word from Hephaestus, who had rushed over to claim credit, that the modification of the Arkhangelsk was finished, Sun Cheng's spirits couldn't help but lift.

"Yes, Master. Although it took one day longer than expected, the first phase of this submarine's modification is complete, and it is ready to head out to sea at any time!"

Before Sun Cheng, Hephaestus, whose blue eyes were noticeably dim, was using a very fawning tone to seek credit from him.

The Decepticons have a strict hierarchical system; high-ranking Decepticons possess terrifying suppressive power over low-ranking ones, and arbitrary humiliation or killing is simply the norm.

Therefore, from the moment they are born, every low-ranking Decepticon will try every possible way to seize any opportunity to climb higher, even though under Megatron's rule, the fate of these Workers is to be miners, Cannon Fodder, and slaves.

"Well done!"

Sun Cheng nodded in satisfaction, giving high recognition to the efforts of Hephaestus and the others.

He was not a true Mechanical Life; what his chassis contained was a human soul, and while his personality could not be called cheerful, it had no malicious tendencies, so naturally, he had no interest in abusing these Workers.

However, the Decepticons' strict hierarchical system did indeed bring him quite a lot of convenience.

With a stir in his heart, meeting Hephaestus's expectant gaze, he said slowly: "Your loyalty satisfies me greatly. Once the submarine's modification is completely finished, I will give you an opportunity—an opportunity to make you stronger. Now, Hephaestus, take me to see my big monster!"

"Yes, Master!"

Although it was only a verbal promise, it still made Hephaestus's chassis tremble with excitement.

After hurriedly responding, he respectfully stepped back and led Sun Cheng to tour the interior of the Arkhangelsk, which had completed its first phase of modification.

After a short week, following the modifications by a team of Decepticon Workers, this old Typhoon-class ballistic missile Nuclear submarine had ushered in a new life.

Although only a small number of changes had been made to the internal structure of the submarine for the time being, it had brought about significant changes to the space inside, which had previously been slightly cramped.

After the living facilities that originally served the Russian Navy submarine soldiers—such as the library, gym, swimming pool, lounge, and soldier dormitories—were dismantled, the usable space inside the vessel increased by more than 170 square meters.

Do not think this is insignificant; one must know this is inside a submarine, and this kind of change can only be described as a complete transformation.

The equipment originally inside the vessel was one of the key areas the Workers focused on modifying; more than 90 percent of the equipment originally installed in the ship was dismantled, and a portion was replaced by the Workers with new equipment stolen from the Warehouse inside the Severodvinsk Shipyard.

Most of them were intended to be equipped on the two Borei-class vessels currently under construction in the shipyard, and some original parts came from that Kilo-class submarine currently being built.

The core parts of the equipment were designed and completed by the Workers themselves, using stolen materials.

After the modification, the space occupied by the equipment inside the submarine was reduced by four-fifths compared to before, and the degree of automation was greatly improved.

And in terms of performance, it was more than three times better than the originally equipped gear.

Besides the equipment, another key modification project for the Workers was the submarine's propulsion system.

The primary propulsion system on the Arkhangelsk consisted of two OK-650 (VM-5) Pressurized Water Nuclear Reactors; in the eyes of Hephaestus and the others, this type of submarine Nuclear Reactor designed by Soviet Union engineers in the 1970s and 80s was simply not up to par.

What they had originally proposed was a type of Super Magnetohydrodynamic Thruster; theoretically, only one would be needed to provide this 20,000-plus-ton behemoth with abundant power of over a hundred knots underwater.

And Hephaestus and the others planned to replace the Arkhangelsk with two Super Magnetohydrodynamic Thrusters, allowing this terrifying sea monster to possess a monstrous speed of over two hundred knots underwater, faster than a torpedo fired from a tube.

However, excellent as the Super Magnetohydrodynamic Thruster was, and even though the Workers did indeed possess the manufacturing technology for it,

manufacturing a Super Magnetohydrodynamic Thruster required supporting equipment, and theoretically, manufacturing one would require at least thirty Workers working tirelessly for over twenty days, provided there were sufficient materials.

Therefore, it could only be included in the second phase of the modification.

In the past week, Hephaestus and the others had spent a considerable amount of their energy on modifying the two OK-650 (VM-5) Pressurized Water Nuclear Reactors on the Arkhangelsk.

The four Decepticon Workers worked tirelessly around the two of them for over three days, finally bringing a new life to these two Nuclear Reactors built in the 1980s.

After the modification, the size of the two Nuclear Reactors was reduced by one-third, the parts replacement rate reached over 90 percent, and the total power was increased from the original 380M to 535M, while the service life of the nuclear fuel was extended by nearly 30 percent.

Although the Workers were very puzzled as to why Sun Cheng ordered them to consume a large amount of precious energy to modify such backward devices, it was thanks to their efforts that this clumsy monster, which had often been mocked by the United States Navy for being too slow, now possessed an underwater stealth speed of over forty-two knots, becoming a true ghost of the deep sea.

Of course, only a ghost of the deep sea!

Satisfied with reading through the data of the New Arkhangelsk, Sun Cheng touched the wall of the submarine, though a hint of regret was hidden deep in his eyes.

The reason it was said to be only a ghost of the deep sea rather than a terrifying sea monster was that although the performance of the New Arkhangelsk was excellent after the Workers finished the modification, it could not hide one fact: its weapon system was no different from before, and as a ballistic missile Nuclear submarine, the nuclear arsenal that the New Arkhangelsk should have used to make the whole world feel fear was now empty!

That's right!

After docking at the pier in the Severodvinsk Shipyard, the Arkhangelsk, along with its companion in misfortune next to it, had its ammunition depot emptied by the Russian military; in particular, those Nuclear Warheads carried inside the submarine that were enough to destroy the world were all taken back into custody by the military into the armory.

During a chaotic period after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the past, because a considerable portion of nuclear weapons had leaked into the Black Market, it had once cast a shadow over Earth for nearly twenty years.

After that strong new president of Russia, Vladimir, came to power, he re-strengthened the protection and management of his country's nuclear arsenal.

Therefore, if Sun Cheng wanted to get his hands on the P-39 type (NATO codename: SS-N-20) submarine-launched ballistic missiles designed for the Typhoon-class, he would have to cause a huge scene within Russia.

Not to mention whether he alone could complete the feat that Barricade, Brawl, and Frenzy had completed together, just the fact that it would completely annoy Russia was inconsistent with the plan Sun Cheng had originally formulated.

Therefore, he could only temporarily give up on arming the New Arkhangelsk and leave it for later consideration.

Suppressing the slight regret in his heart, Sun Cheng walked around the submarine in satisfaction, feeling more satisfied the more he looked.

After completing the inspection, he did not stint on praise and said happily to Hephaestus and the other Workers gathered around him: "Not bad, your work results satisfy me greatly. After the second phase of the modification is complete, I will grant three of you the opportunity for an Enhancement Core. So, Workers, continue to work for me and let me see your achievements!"

Having said that, he no longer paid attention to the group of Workers with ecstatic expressions on their faces.

Sun Cheng hummed a familiar festive tune in his heart with pride, his gaze sweeping over the interior of the submarine, which looked even more dilapidated after being largely dismantled by the Workers, and he happily made a decision.

"My big baby, you need a new name; from now on, I will call you 'Ghost'!"

PS:

1. Thanks to the four readers 'Frenzy~', 'QQuighur', 'Ren Xi Qu Shui Dong Liu', and 'Book Friend 150901095553210' for their support through tips.

2. There will be another chapter updated in a while. By the way, I am asking for subscriptions, collections, monthly tickets, recommendations, and tips. Recently, piracy has been very rampant; almost as soon as my new chapter comes out, a pirated version appears in four or five minutes. But I don't want to engage in anti-piracy measures every day and affect everyone's reading experience, so I can only ask everyone to smoke one less cigarette a day to support Battleship i!