Chapter 332: Space Power Grid (Patreon)

Chapter 332: Space Power Grid

Day 2.

Ten seventh-generation fighter jets and one Morning Light-class transport ship officially rolled off the production line.

At this point, with the remaining resources in the shelter, production could continue for four more batches. After that, operations would halt due to the lack of certain critical materials.

"The seventh-generation fighter jets and the Morning Light-class transport ships share the same technological framework," Su Wu noted. "The key materials required are largely similar, with only minor differences in quantity due to size variations."

"Considering the vast disparity in their transport capabilities, after these initial production rounds to complete the basic accumulation, we should prioritize manufacturing Morning Light-class transport ships as much as possible."

Behind the unparalleled performance of the seventh-generation fighter jets lay a list involving tens of thousands of different materials. Many of these materials did not exist naturally and required specialized manufacturing equipment to produce.

Moreover, in this post-apocalyptic world, there was no free market for trade. Each shelter was essentially an isolated island, making the collection of sufficient basic resources incredibly difficult.

Ultimately, Su Wu faced a critical decision: with limited resources, he had to choose a primary production focus—whether to lean toward the combat-oriented seventh-generation fighter jets or the logistics-focused Morning Light-class transport ships.

After brief deliberation, the choice was almost unquestionable—full commitment to the Morning Light-class transport ships.

While the seventh-generation fighter jets were formidable, in a true life-or-death crisis, the Farmhouse Shelter—a colossal, ultra-massive fortress—could ramp up production of large electromagnetic railguns and beam main cannons. The resulting combat power might not be inferior to that of the fighter jets.

The only drawback was their immobility, limiting their use to self-defense within the shelter's vicinity. But for Su Wu, survival was the priority. As for greater benefits, rather than fighting for them on future battlefields, it was better to produce one more Morning Light-class transport ship now and gather more of the scattered surface resources sooner.

"Besides, population is also a resource," Su Wu mused. "The primary task of the Morning Light-class transport ships in the early stages is population transport. With enough people, we can generate sufficient Spirituality. Perhaps a single technological upgrade could offset all previous investments."

Having witnessed the near-revolutionary changes brought by the seventh-generation fighter jets to the shelter, Su Wu grew even more eager to advance technology. This was why he was determined to prioritize shelter expansion and gather more people at all costs. Their labor was secondary; the main benefit was the additional Spirituality they could provide.

After a brief inspection, the Morning Light-class transport ship slowly took off, exiting the Farmhouse Shelter through the newly constructed four-story flight passage. Under the dim light of the surface world, it gradually accelerated, heading toward Xiao Jiang Province. There, it would carry out its first mission: transporting the initial batch of 500,000 people back.

Following the Morning Light-class transport ship were the ten newly produced seventh-generation fighter jets, along with the very first fighter jet, which had just detached from the aerial transportation network at the calculated time.

The concentration began shifting to the warehouse area of the aerospace carrier factory.

There, they underwent specialized warehouse modifications.

Logistics robots were responsible for loading specially packaged satellites embedded with large wireless power transmission devices into their hangars.

Each special satellite had a total mass of 400 tons.

This perfectly matched the transport limit of seventh-generation fighter jets, ensuring no wasted capacity.

"Loading complete."

"Commencing takeoff procedures."

The factory's warehouse doors opened once more.

Eleven seventh-generation fighter jets slowly rolled out in unison.

Moving in perfect formation along ground tracks, they entered the launch site.

These jets lacked landing gear—their ground movement was achieved through low-power hovering flight.

Thus, upon reaching the launch site,

without requiring engine warm-up or activation,

they seamlessly transitioned into vertical takeoff.

All eleven jets ascended in three batches to over 150 meters altitude.

Following four designated flight channels above, they departed the shelter.

In Su Wu's control center,

the main console screen temporarily transformed into a launch command hub.

Multiple camera angles monitored every operational detail of the fighter group.

Seconds later,

the seventh-generation fighter formation pierced the clouds, accelerating to 20 times the speed of sound.

After slightly over a minute,

they sequentially reached their designated orbits,

beginning deployment of the special satellites from their bays.

"Deployment successful."

"Special satellites fully deployed."

"Initiating connection search... Connection established."

"Wireless power transmission network now operational."

An invisible energy beam

transmitted from the Farmhouse Compound's large power transmission device into the sky,

redirected through several special satellites before finally reaching an experimental Ice Lake-class transport ship below.

The vessel successfully received power replenishment while in motion.

"After multiple redirections, power loss reached approximately 5%."

"A single satellite can simultaneously maintain up to 100 distinct power transmission channels."

"To achieve stable coverage across the entire Eastern Continent,"

"current satellite numbers remain insufficient."

"We require at least six times the current quantity."

Before the control console,

Su Wu rapidly identified key operational nodes while reviewing the Artificial Intelligence's space power grid performance data.

Power transmitted through low-orbit satellite relays

incurred additional energy loss during transit.

While individually small, these losses became significant when accumulated.

The space power grid also had

a maximum simultaneous charging capacity of 100 targets.

Though this number seemed limited, workarounds existed.

The simplest solution involved installing multiple small wireless power transmission devices

at receiving terminals—such as within transport convoys.

A single power beam from the space grid could be received and then distributed internally.

Since small wireless transmitters could operate across hundreds of kilometers

and be interconnected into networks,

theoretically all power-needing equipment within several hundred kilometers could be treated as a single unit.

Finally, establishing a complete space power grid system would require...

A total of 66 special satellites are required.

Otherwise, what Su Wu would obtain would be a flawed version that can only intermittently energize designated ground units.

Although it's not entirely unusable.

The efficiency would inevitably be greatly reduced.

(End of chapter)