Chapter 505

After spending a warm and leisurely week in Gilneas, Zhang Qiu's return made Harry feel incomparably happy, and, she brought back a piece of news that was not very good, but not very bad: although Master Xuanjun had completed the magical ritual, he was not prepared to stop the war immediately. Therefore, the Heavenly Dynasty's army would continue to show an expansionary posture, which could well attract the attention of the US and the Soviet Union. However, Master Xuanjun's change in attitude this time was quite worrying. If Master Xuanjun no longer curbed the expansionary ambition of the Ming Empire, then it would be hard to say what would happen next.

Perhaps, the kind people in the Western world would sweat for the small countries in South Asia, but the people of these small countries themselves hoped to take the opportunity to mix into the citizenship of the Ming Empire. Facing such an unspeakable situation, major media chose to remain silent, except for Xenophilius, who didn't know where he saw some side news, and high-profile predicted in "The Quibbler" that the Ming Empire would retreat before New Delhi. The reason he gave was "no country would be willing to rule a cesspit."

Although the article seemed to have reasons and evidence, Zhang Qiu believed that it was filled with too much smearing out of nothing, and it was more likely a kind of personal revenge: before the Christmas dance, the Indian student Parvati defeated Luna with a huge advantage in the Ravenclaw house flower election.

Harry put the newspaper in his hand aside. He had many things to share with Zhang Qiu, and the most interesting was Tonks's change: she was pregnant, and according to the doctor, the due date would be around July.

For this reason, Lu Ping completed almost all the preparations at the fastest speed, including naming the child Teddy, inviting Harry to be the godfather, tidying up the baby room, and adding various baby supplies, etc. However, there was one most important thing he hadn't had time to do—that was to give Tonks a grand wedding.

"I didn't expect the throwing of flowers to really have a prophetic effect." Zhang Qiu sighed, "After all, Lu Ping has to get things done before Tonks's belly becomes obvious, probably around February to April; and we have to wait until you graduate, that will be at least July."

"Hmm..." Harry suddenly thought of another thing, "Will pregnancy affect her teaching?"

"Maybe a little, but it shouldn't be much." Zhang Qiu said while touching her chin, "I feel this is the curse trying hard to play a role, but it has indeed been greatly alleviated. Not only did the 【accident that causes people to resign】 turn from a harmful event into a pregnancy worth being happy about, but this due date is also very clever, almost not affecting Hogwarts's teaching—you have to know, pregnant women often need to rest after giving birth, but during pregnancy, they can actually work as usual."

"Okay, this can be considered a happy thing." Harry said, suddenly somewhat silent.

"I can guess, in fact, there are many things on this land that are not so happy." Zhang Qiu gently held his hand, "On the battlefield in the Far East, Yanayev has already shown those aerial units. Huge airships... he calls that the Kirov airship."

Harry couldn't help but turn his head and look toward the huge crystal ball glowing with fluorescence from the window.

"Did Tang Tang Nade promise to disclose the technology?" She asked.

"Promised, the Prime Minister also signed the 'Joint Air Defense Network Proposal' before the holiday, NATO side..." Harry really didn't dare to compliment the efficiency of those European bureaucrats, "At least we can start construction domestically."

"I am not sure if this is a good response now." Zhang Qiu said hesitantly, "His airship units are simply covering the sky and blocking the sun. How much effect can the Focused Rainbow have?"

"Perhaps because of the high danger of hydrogen airships, he is afraid of chain explosions after the Focused Rainbow strike?"

"It's helium."

"What?" Harry's Muggle knowledge had been forgotten almost completely. He just vaguely remembered that helium seemed not to be a flammable gas.

"Helium is a monoatomic inert gas, its chemical properties are extremely stable, it will not burn or explode; and, helium molecules are larger, the speed of penetration through materials is very slow, and it is also very little affected by temperature. This is a very mature gas that is very suitable for filling into airships." Zhang Qiu explained, "And, from the scale, Yanayev has undoubtedly mastered the technology of large-scale low-cost production of helium. Even if we suspect that the process of producing helium has magical components, the final finished airships should be pure technological creations."

"According to this, it's strange." Harry also started to feel strange, "They have no reason to be afraid of the Focused Rainbow. Why do they send spies to infiltrate wave after wave? According to Lu Ping, there are even agents who ran to Yugoslavia, wanting to incite Muggle guerrillas to attack the forest."

"Then, Lu Ping's days during this period can be said to be quite difficult." Zhang Qiu pursed her lips, very sympathetically, "No wonder he looks a little haggard."

"But having said that, the generals of the Heavenly Dynasty actually don't quite understand the significance of the airship units, because its flight speed is still relatively slow, and it cannot be invisible in front of radar, so it will be restrained by anti-aircraft missiles." Zhang Qiu recalled the discussions she heard, "The biggest possibility is that the cost of airships is really low, low to the point that he wants to fight a war of attrition."

"Then what about the space-based mothership?" Harry talked about the project that the Magical Congress was pushing, "A huge, drone-style aerial fortress that can carry various fighter jets or bombers, and of course can also carry main guns. Do you think the airship units are better or worse compared to it?"

"This is a very interesting countermeasure." Zhang Qiu said happily, "Because airships actually have another disadvantage that is rarely mentioned, that is the floating height. They extremely rely on atmospheric buoyancy, usually only about five kilometers above the ground. And if the space-based mothership relies on magical assistance, it can rise to more than ten kilometers, which can crush the airship units. The fact is also true, we only need to lift the Shun-Tian City to six kilometers, and their airship units will start to retreat."

"Ah! So we have been wrong all along!" Harry suddenly realized, "You were saying before that Yanayev wanted to destroy the Focused Rainbow to protect his aerial units, but in fact, the one who is really afraid of the Focused Rainbow is not him, but the space-based mothership!"

Zhang Qiu covered her mouth with one hand, quietly listening to his analysis.

"If we continue to push the original air defense network plan, the design drawings of the Focused Rainbow will flow into the EU, and he will have countless ways to steal it—and, a long time ago, their agents had already disguised themselves as Barty Jr. and stole the TARDIS's spatial positioning technology." Harry said anxiously, "If the Soviet side really gets the technology of the Focused Rainbow, then the one who will really suffer is the Magical Congress. Their space-based mothership will definitely contain magical components. As long as it is washed by the magic torrent, the spells will fail, and then only crashing will await them."

"Clearly, Yanayev must have noticed the existence of the Focused Rainbow first, so he used airships, this low-cost weapon that is not afraid of magical attacks. And if he can get the Focused Rainbow..."

"No need to think, he has mostly already gotten it." Zhang Qiu sighed, "No need to mention the EU, as long as the design drawings enter Downing Street, it won't be long before they appear in the Kremlin. It's a pity we didn't see the situation clearly before, and now we are in a passive position."

Harry scratched his scalp. He didn't have a deep and clear understanding of the leaky degree of Downing Street. At this moment, he could only say dryly: "Think on the bright side, at least we still have the Glintstone magic, a technology that can allow the Focused Rainbow to launch hybrid attacks..."

"Meaningless, pure magic is enough." Zhang Qiu shook her head, "Relying solely on Muggle technology, at the current stage, it is impossible to supply a large unit to rise to an altitude of more than five kilometers; but any weapon that can rise to more than five kilometers and has the ability to contend with airship units must have magical assistance. Then, as you said, as long as the Focused Rainbow washes it with a magic torrent, it will at best malfunction and crash, and at worst explode directly."

Harry asked with some lingering fear: "Then what if they use the Focused Rainbow to bombard Shun-Tian City..."

"That's not to be feared. There are enough wizards in Shun-Tian City to easily maintain the shield so it won't be broken by him." Zhang Qiu smiled easily, but soon became serious again, "However, this one we are building, let's follow Tang Tang Nade and call it Dalaran, I am afraid it may not necessarily be able to resist..."

Zhang Qiu suddenly showed a bad smile: "However, we don't have to worry too much about Yanayev bombarding Dalaran, because, he always has to find a way to shoot down the space-based mothership first. That is much more threatening than Dalaran..."

Harry was also hesitant at this moment, because he was one of the very few people who knew Barty Jr.'s true identity, and he had to add the detailed information that Zhang Qiu brought back from actually fighting the airships, as well as the profound understanding of the Focused Rainbow and the nature of magic. This meant that he was probably the only person in the entire NATO who could see through Yanayev's true layout, and if he didn't tell the Magical Congress these inferences, the result could only be that the scale of victory would start to tilt significantly toward the red side.

"If the space-based mothership is really hit by the Focused Rainbow, will it cause many casualties?" Harry asked somewhat uneasily, "Can the soldiers on the mothership survive? Will the mothership crash into the city?"

"It should be able to live." Zhang Qiu knew what he wanted to hear, "Soldiers can parachute, or escape by transport plane. The mothership shouldn't be in such a hurry to crash after being hit. Muggle technology can always play a part. As for crashing into the city... they can blow up the mothership in advance, so the casualties caused will be much smaller."

Zhang Qiu's comforting by avoiding the important and taking the light didn't make Harry feel comfortable for too long. After a sleepless night, he decided to explain his worries to the Prime Minister, at least, to let the space-based mothership and Dalaran do more precautions during the design stage.

"You are right, but we cannot tell the Magical Congress." The Prime Minister's answer was beyond Harry's expectation, "Whether it is the leakage of the Focused Rainbow drawings or the mole in the doctor's plan, these are extremely serious scandals. We must never tell the White House about such things, absolutely! Cannot!"