Chapter 1426 — The Communications Reconstruction Plan

He had not the slightest worry that the dragons of Tarronde would turn down this "deal," for the value of these Gorgon platforms was plain for all to see. And frankly, he had no intention of naming an outrageous price—he genuinely did wish to see Tarronde's situation improve as quickly as possible, wished for communications between the dragon homeland and the Loren Continent to be restored as quickly as possible. The growth of the Alliance's strength was a wish that came from his heart; only, on that foundation... he would incidentally earn a little something for himself.

Meitzen, meanwhile, had taken up the documents Rebecca had brought and was rapidly leafing through the more important sections. After acquiring a basic understanding of the material, she looked up again as though something had just occurred to her, and glanced at Gao Yang: "By the way—what about an aerial fortress on the scale of the Dawn of the Mortal World..."

"Regrettably, that is not for sale—at least not for the time being," Gao Yang spread his hands. "The Dawn of the Mortal World's construction costs are prohibitively high, and its ongoing operation demands enormous manpower. And unlike the Gorgon—which is a general-purpose platform that can be refitted into an unmanned worksite—the Dawn of the Mortal World's basic framework exists to serve war. Putting it to use requires thousands of operators and garrison troops. I think... its practical value to you dragons would be minimal."

"I see. Understandable." Meitzen gave a slight nod. The answer was within her expectations; she had only asked in passing.

As for that "supercritical accelerator" aboard the Dawn of the Mortal World, the one that had left so deep an impression on everyone... she simply did not ask about it at all.

Half an hour later, Meitzen left the room with an armful of documents. She needed to report these matters to Tarronde as soon as possible, and to relay news of the Tarrash Conference back to the homeland just as urgently. Rebecca remained behind in the study, and once Meitzen had gone she sidled up to Gao Yang with a grin: "Ancestor Yan, my salesmanship wasn't half bad, was it?"

Gao Yang's eyebrow twitched. "Your performance was passable, but why are you learning this at all? I've never seen you take any interest in such matters before."

"Auntie said I should learn more from you, learn to become a great person," Rebecca said at once, without the slightest hesitation. "I watched for a long time, and this is the one thing that seemed easier to learn."

Gao Yang: "...?"

"Is there still something lacking, then?" Rebecca studied Gao Yang's expression and instantly grew nervous. "Was my imitation of the manner off, or was it in my choice of words..."

"Ahem—I think you'd do just fine doing what you normally enjoy," Gao Yang said, clearing his throat twice to cover his embarrassment. "Another person's path isn't necessarily suited to you, even if it's a path I've walked—and honestly, even if you're going to imitate me, imitate something else..."

Rebecca gave a vague "Oh," and it was impossible to tell how much had actually sunk in. Gao Yang hurried to change the subject: "Never mind that. Let's talk about these Gorgon platforms. Our proposal is theoretically feasible, but rebuilding the communications environment across the Tarronde continent will be no simple matter. Whether you measure by land area or by the severity of the environment, it's a far graver challenge than the Augury region."

"Exactly—so the first step is to solve communications between Tarronde and the Loren Continent. That problem is relatively easier, and it's the foundation for the follow-up work to proceed smoothly," Rebecca said with a nod. "By my calculations, we only need to set up one fixed aerial platform above the former site of the Eternal Storm Sea, and install one large arcane nexus each at Northport and on the southern coast of Tarronde, and the problem is solved. After that, communications with the dragon homeland can be real-time.

"Then for the Tarronde mainland, the priority is communications among the current several settlements and development zones. Following the dragons' own classification of contaminated zones, we need full coverage of the green zones, basic communications restored in the yellow zones, and in the red zones we should strive to establish a certain number of 'signal zones.' As for the deeper regions... those we'll have to give up on for now. After all, although a Gorgon can operate safely above contaminated zones, their numbers will ultimately be limited—it's a big fellow, and even if its structure is far simpler than the Dawn of the Mortal World's, it can't be built overnight."

Gao Yang drummed his fingers absently on the tabletop, a habitual sign that he had fallen into thought. Only after pondering for a while did he suddenly speak: "What standard are you using to design the Gorgon platforms for export to Tarronde?"

"Huh?" Rebecca blinked, then answered instinctively: "The parameters for a normal situation, of course."

"A communications platform doesn't need a power system capable of sustaining a supercritical accelerator, nor fortress-grade shields able to withstand a direct hit from a 'Wound of Annihilation.' Broadly speaking, it only needs to be guaranteed to operate normally at high altitude in a harsh environment," Gao Yang said, stopping his drumming and addressing Rebecca with a smile. "I have a refit proposal...

"First, we cut the power array in half, reduce the shield generators by a third, and convert the remaining generators to standard models. And since we've cut the power array, the corresponding power spine can be scaled down too—it no longer needs to bear such a heavy load... Trim the rigid frame and keel a bit as well; after all, we won't be mounting heavy guns on it, at most some anti-air firepower against aerial monsters or mana spirits...

"The crew quarters can be eliminated entirely—just leave a few prefab huts for the maintenance personnel who go up occasionally. And while we're at it, we can strip the armor from the exterior of the living areas, which lets us shrink the overall dimensions a little too; so long as it's sufficient, that's all that matters. As for the anti-gravity engine array... since the whole thing has been 'lightweighted,' the anti-gravity rings should also be adjustable to some extent..."

As he spoke, Gao Yang kept thinking, and soon he had marshaled several main directions for the refit. Finally he added a summarizing note: "Basically, apart from the master brain's living environment, I think everything else can be adjusted."

Rebecca: "..."

The girl had been listening and taking notes all the while, and only when Gao Yang's voice fell did she look up. Her face wore an expression of astonishment, and at the same time a certain hesitation: "Can it really be modified like that...?"

Gao Yang answered with a question of his own: "Why not? Is there a theoretical problem?"

"Theoretically... no, there isn't. With careful adjustment it would indeed meet the operational requirements," Rebecca said, scratching her head. "And both the cost and the production cycle could be drastically compressed—there are even some partially assembled semi-finished units at the Project 115 production base right now; with a bit of disassembly and adjustment, we could 'assemble' several finished ones on the spot."

"Then that settles it," Gao Yang said with a wave of his hand. "Didn't we do much the same kind of refit when we first sold the first-generation magic-crystal railguns and mana engines abroad? This is what you call an export model..."

"But the dragons will probably be able to tell, won't they?" Rebecca said with some worry. "They've seen a real 'Gorgon' on the battlefield, and they're all well-traveled and knowledgeable..."