Chapter 91 The Steel Behemoth

Only after I got into the water did I realize how stupid this decision was. The canal was no better than the sea. There were so many warships moving around here, rolling up the mud and sand on the bottom of the water, and you couldn't see anything at all! I had no choice but to crawl back to the shore. Amidst the surprised eyes of the local players watching around me, I opened the space door leading to the location of the Earth Mother. "Ana, come into the water with me! Ling! Watch the door and don't let anyone in!" I don't want anyone to get into the Temple of the Earth Mother out of curiosity!

After taking Grandina into the water again, I asked Grandina to use sonar to navigate, and she directly presented the sonar image in my brain, so that I could also know the surrounding situation! Sediment also interferes with the sonar, but at such a close distance, and with the high accuracy of the Ariana biosonar, I could barely see the three-dimensional scan of the bottom of the water!

The sunken ship is not far in front of us. It looks quite small, about half the length of the Bi Ling. We groped our way to the wreckage, and Grandma touched the hull with her hands, and then knocked on it. "Master, this is a metal ship!"

I also 'touched' 'touched'. "Indeed, and it's made of solid steel plates!" This is a real armored ship, unlike a battleship like the Biling, which is made of wood and metal on the outside!

After the Biling was towed away, the sediment was quickly washed away. This is a channel connecting the two seas. The water flow is very fast. Without the interference of the warship, the water immediately became clear! Finally, I can see the whole picture. It is indeed an ironclad ship, and its shape is quite modern. It is basically an advanced modern warship! It seems that this is not a local boat, I thought I saw the national flag imprinted on the hull! This is a French ship!

"Shall we go in and take a look?" A Di Na suggested.

"OK!"

Grandma hugged me from behind and took me to swim into the boat through the big hole in the boat. As a mermaid, Grandma was much faster underwater than me! The boat sank just last night. There were no aquatic plants or anything like that at all, and the cabin was quite clean. After going around several cabins, we finally reached the bottom of the ship. What surprised us was that this ship uses propellers! No wonder the hull shape is similar to a modern warship. Just now I was wondering why there was no sail, but now I understand!

Grandina is an expert in underwater propellers, and you can understand it at a glance. After a brief inspection, he said to me: "It's a pretty low-level propeller. It doesn't have much power, so it can't go very fast! Moreover, this thing doesn't seem to have waterproof function. If water enters the cabin, it will stop running!"

"Fortunately, it's just junk!" I don't want others to have thrusters of the same level as us! "Let's look elsewhere!"

After checking all the accessible cabins, we found an ammunition depot. There were plenty of cannonballs, but they were all lagging behind! I found the turret on the deck and picked out a relatively complete cannon for inspection. The cannon seemed to be more advanced than ours!

After studying the entire ship, the conclusion is that European warships are ahead of Asia in structural and material technology, and they can build all-metal warships that we cannot build. The Europeans also have an advantage in cannon manufacturing. The cannons on this ship are more advanced than mine. But Europeans are not advanced in everything. The gunpowder in Europe is not powerful enough, but the artillery is very advanced. The artillery technology in Asia is backward, but the shells are powerful! A balance between the two aspects estimates that the power of artillery between us and the Europeans should be about the same! In terms of thruster technology, we should be the most powerful so far! If the propellers in this wreckage represent the level of European propellers, then I think the speed of European warships should not be much faster! With the above conclusion, I can understand why Ashford wants to buy gunpowder technology from me. It turns out that the problem is here!

After researching it, I began to think about how to clear the obstacles. This ship is very large and has a metal hull. Although the shell is not as thick as the shell of the Biling, it may be stronger than the Biling! It is unrealistic to blow up such a ship, the only way is to tow it away! Fortunately, there is buoyancy in the water, so the battleship is not very heavy as long as it does not leave the surface. They called down the three giant dragons and the little dragon girl, and lifted the wreckage up without much effort. Move the battleship to a deep water area in the Red Sea and put it down, easily done!

The repairs to the Biling are just a simple matter, as long as it does not affect navigation. Anyway, the entrance of the cave is underwater, so it does not affect the battle. Just enjoy the moon tonight!

The fleet finally passed the Suez Canal in a mighty manner. After entering the Mediterranean Sea, I dispersed the pirate fleet. This is the birthplace of my pirate brothers. They all have many old troops here. Letting them disperse is to get all the old troops back. These pirates can greatly increase the naval combat power!

There was nothing else to do during the day today, so I could only go offline and go to the base to continue familiarizing myself with the features of b13. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, calculating the time, the fleet should be almost at Gibraltar, so hurry up and get online! I appeared in the cabin and casually looked outside through the porthole. I was shocked by the situation outside. There were many ships around the Bi Ling.

"You're here!" Sumei suddenly ran in.

"What happened?" I pointed at the mess of ships outside. There are all types of boats around us, and there are even many fishing boats among them!

"Your pirate boys brought it back!"

"Boss!" Rona walked in just as he was talking.

"Did you bring this back?"

"Not all! Some were brought back by the polar bears!" (The polar bear is the new leader of the Russian pirates)

"What are these?"

"Last time we went to Asia to negotiate, we took out all the elites, and the rest were old people, women and children. It would be great to find these ships!"

Rona said the same thing! The last time they came out, they took away all the elites, and then they stayed in Asia to cause trouble with the Japanese. Of course they won't find any good fleet when they come back now!

"But!" Lorna continued suddenly: "We brought back something you like!"

"What?"

Lorna took me out of the cabin to the cabin on the opposite side of the ship, and then pointed outside: "That one!"

I followed her hand and pointed towards it, and what I saw was a wall! There was actually a silver-white wall outside the porthole of the Bi Ling! I couldn't see clearly through the small porthole, so I hurried up to the deck. Now I can see it clearly! Next to us is a giant floating object. It is called a floating object mainly because this thing seems to have no power. In front of this silver-white thing are all our modified battleships pulling it forward! 500 warships towing one thing, you can imagine how huge it is! From my point of view, this thing looks like an island floating on the sea!

"This... this... this...!" He stuttered in excitement! "What the hell is this?"

"Our trophies!" Lorna said proudly: "This morning we met our mortal enemy again - the Storm Pirates! Polar Bear and I joined forces to completely wipe out this group! It's really fun to say that we used to We have always been sworn enemies with the Storm Pirates, but both sides have equal strength and have never been able to take advantage. Instead, we have lost a lot of manpower in vain! This time we just joined forces with the Polar Bear, and boss, you helped us replace the new cannon. and thrusters, and easily defeated those scumbags like Guang Feng!”

"Then where did this thing come from?"

"This is what we found at the base of the Gale Pirates. I heard from the prisoners that the kingdoms on the shore often send troops to clear out pirate bases recently, which makes them uneasy. We happened to go to Asia, and the Gale Pirates dominated the Mediterranean and reaped a lot of benefits. For long-term considerations, they decided to build a floating city to bring all their families to the sea. So they spent all their savings to build this thing!"

"Sea city?" I looked at this thing again! "It really lives up to its name!" With a total length of nearly 340 meters, the Biling is already a giant among battleships. Although it is not as big as an aircraft carrier, it is already quite huge as a battleship! But the Biling was like a torpedo boat parked next to this giant floating object like an aircraft carrier! "How big is this thing?"

"I don't know exactly how long it will be. I'm going to capture the captive designer and ask him!"

"Okay, hurry up!"

The designer was soon arrested. He was an NPC, and he was European. "Are you the designer of this thing?"

"Yes!" Although this man looked very polite, he was very brave. He actually broke away from the sailor behind him and stood up. "Also, don't call my baby 'this thing'! You can call her Noah!"

I'm dizzy! Doesn’t the legendary Noah’s Ark refer to this one? "This...how long is Noah?"

"You mean structured data?"

"kindness!"

"The total length is 23,108.6 meters, the width is 2,607.9 meters, the draft when fully loaded is 7.7 meters, the water outlet of the ship's side is 7.1 meters, the height of the main conning tower is 8 meters, and the height of the ship's mast is 8 meters!"

Oh my God! Is this a ship? It feels like an island! No wonder it’s called a sea city, it’s really not that big!

It took me a while to digest it before I recovered from my excitement. "What kind of power does this thing use? Is it a sail or a paddle? Or do you have a propeller?"

"The design is to use a combination of three types of power for propulsion, but there is nothing installed yet! It's just an empty shell!"

"Empty shell?"

"The internal cabins, propellers, paddles, sails, weapons and living areas that were originally to be installed are all missing! Except for the outer shell, this thing only has the inner support frame, and nothing else!"

There was nothing for such a good thing. I was a little angry, and my tone of voice was inevitably a bit harsh: "Why don't you pretend?"

As a result, the designer yelled back with a louder voice than mine: "It's not all because of you! If your fleet hadn't suddenly attacked, we would still be building it now!" His voice suddenly softened a bit. "Can I ask how you plan to house Noah?"

"Of course I hope I can get it done! But...!"

"That's good!" The designer suddenly thought about what I said. "As long as you are willing to pay, I am willing to continue to serve you and complete her!"

"What?" The designer's reaction was beyond my expectation. "I attacked you, and instead of hating me you want to help me build a ship?"

"Please clarify one thing! I am not a pirate! I am Luzzo, the first Teutonic ship designer! I helped the pirates design the ship because my design was not accepted by the country, and during a voyage, the pirates attacked me on the ship. After seeing my design drawings, they actually wanted to build Noah. I had a way to realize my dream, and of course I would not give up, so I helped design and build Noah. As long as you are willing to pay me to complete my works, I don’t care who you are!”

It turns out that this designer is German! No wonder you are so crazy about technology! That's what real scientists are like. They only care about whether their own works are perfect. It's not their concern what other people do with it. Otherwise, things like the atomic bomb wouldn't have come out!

“How much does it cost to finish this thing?”

"I don't know about this, and the pirates didn't ask! I can only list the required materials, and you can calculate the price and labor costs yourself!"

"Okay!" I shook hands with him, and then said to the first mate behind me: "Take designer Luzzo to the VIP room to rest!"

After Luzo left, Lorna and I came to Noah. After we got up, we discovered that the shape of this steel monster was designed after a battleship! The middle of the entire hull is the superstructure of the ship, which is basically the base of the weapon platform. It seems to be quite complete. All you need to do is install the cannon! I wonder how many guns such a big ship needs to be mounted on! I guess if they are all filled, he can choose a fleet for one ship!

Standing on the deck, I suddenly realized that maybe Noah can become more than just a super fort! Although the hull is designed in the architectural style of a battleship, Noah is so huge that the central superstructure area has four hundred-meter-wide straight decks on both sides! I don’t need to explain what a horizontal deck that’s four hundred meters wide and tens of thousands of meters long can be used for, right?

Although I was very satisfied with the superstructure, I was completely disappointed after entering the cabin! There are several beams inside the command tower, and you can see from above when standing on them. Just like Luzzo said, the inside of the hull is completely empty! There are some support structures across the huge hull, but the partitions between the cabins are not installed. You can see the stern from the bow, and the whole thing is empty!

"Boss! Are you coming up too?" Big Pot Rice jumped over from the side. Everyone is here after working on it for a long time!

Rose came over and said, "What are you going to do with this thing?"

"Finish it!"

"Let me tell you in advance, the construction cost of this thing will not be cheaper than Essinger!"

"I know! But considering its future combat effectiveness, I decided to finish it!"

"Actually, it won't cost much to build!" Su Mei suddenly walked in from behind. "It was indeed very expensive when you built the Biling. That's because you relied entirely on purchases, so you spent a lot of money. But it's different now! Luzo's labor is free, and Essinger can produce the materials. Anyway, it's your own, as long as Just calculate the cost! Besides, the shell part of this thing that wastes the most material has been completed, and the remaining project will not require too much! As for labor! Are there enough skeletons in the Mist Legion?"

"After calculating this, all I have to spend is the material fee!"

"Of course it's not just the material cost!" Su Mei continued: "The most expensive thing is probably the cannon! It's a waste to equip such a large battleship with all the cannons, and the magic crystal cannon is too expensive. Do you think you can calculate how many cannons this ship can carry? "

God! It was already a sky-high price to install cannons on the Biling. This time, not only are there more, but they are all magic crystal cannons. What should I do?

"Actually, there are ways to save money!" Rose is indeed a major in economics, and she is the best at doing business. "We can buy technology directly! Don't let the Dark Temple know that we have this big ship that needs a lot of cannons, so that we can buy the design drawings of the magic crystal cannon at a cheaper price, and then we can build it ourselves. I want the magic crystal cannon to be The crystal cannon is similar to the electronic products sold outside now, the material cost is very low, but the technology is expensive!”

"Let's just say this first! We'll talk about the rest later!"

"Zi Ri! Come out quickly, we are in Gibraltar!" King Chuang suddenly shouted outside.

We ran out quickly, and after returning to the Biling, I took the telescope from the first mate and looked at the sea ahead. I can clearly see a large number of shining battleships appearing in the strait ahead. It seems that this is the imperial fleet! "First mate! Let the fleet stop and stand by, and the Bi Ling will go alone!"

The fleet stopped soon, and our Bi Ling drove over alone. The imperial fleet in front was lined up in two long snake formations docked on the shore, stretching for dozens of kilometers! As we got closer I could see the whole of Gibraltar clearly. According to the nautical chart, this place is called Gibraltar in the game. The name has not been changed, but the terrain seems to have changed. The coasts on both sides of the Mediterranean Sea gradually converged here, finally forming a strait only four or five kilometers wide at the outlet. The coasts on both sides of the strait are not sandy beaches but vertical cliffs. These cliffs are twenty to thirty meters high above the water, with completely flat land on top. This terrain is simply the best terrain for setting up a fort. The vertical cliffs can protect the fort from being invaded by people, and the height of more than 20 meters creates a gap for the forts that are directly above them, thereby increasing the firing range.

Now at this distance, I can see the silver cannons on the cliffs on both sides without using anything, and many of them seem to be magic crystal cannons! With such a terrifying terrain and the thought of a fort, not to mention the few ships we have, even if we have twice as many ships, we will definitely not be able to rush through!

But the reason why I dare to go here is to bet on how much the British think of us! Based on the news I released in advance about the attack on Indonesia, the British should know our combat effectiveness. In more than a day, they almost understood the whole thing. They should know that if they attack us, we will definitely fail, but the imperial fleet will also change from the world's largest fleet to a small fleet that can be bullied by most fleets at will! If our firepower can't defeat us, it won't be a problem to pull some backers!

A warship not much smaller than the Biling also came out of the fleet in front. The flag bearer told the other party that it was an envoy ship! This advanced warship slowly approached, and an authentic British knight appeared on the bow. When the two boats came together, he stood on the side of the boat and stretched out his hand to me!

The two warships are about the same height, and now they are close together. We can shake hands across the side of the ship while standing on our respective ships.

"Hello, I am Ziri from China! This is my fleet!"

"Hello, I am Baha, a British man. This is my Imperial Fleet, and my guild is the Imperial Alliance!"

"Hello!"

The two of us started to be polite, and then Baha said he would let us pass and inspect his fleet! Although I was a little worried, I still ordered the fleet to move forward. You have to pass anyway, even if it’s a trap, there’s nothing I can do about it! But I believe that the British will not want to fight me to the death. Even if they beat us, they will not get any benefits! And we are now more certain than we were at the beginning that the British did not know that Noah was empty. Baha tried to trick me many times when he was being polite to me just now. He was also very careful with this big guy he had never seen before! Anyway, I was playing Tai Chi with him, but I didn’t tell him what Noah was. I just kept hinting to him that this was our secret weapon! I believe that the British would not dare to fire randomly if they did not understand the situation!

After my fleet started to advance, Baja's battleship left the Biling and went to the front to act as a guide ship for us. I quickly seized the time to make small moves! First, let Grandina go into the water to see if the outlet in Gibraltar is deep enough! The Biling is nothing, but Noah's draft is almost 300 meters, so you can't be careful! In addition, please inform me immediately that everything will proceed as planned!