Chapter 73 Comma Flying Machine

Rose said: "Anyway, since this device can produce energy similar to magic crystal, it is very good. The properties of magic crystal are like batteries, and the cost is too high. It would be nice if it could be replaced with a longer-lasting energy source. ”

I nodded and said: "Then I agree with this plan. Regardless of the role of this spherical capsule, this energy center alone is worth a try. The energy consumption of large cities is very high, and cities like ours that are equipped with a large number of magical machines are even more It needs to be used sparingly. This plan can be started when the funds from the Dark Temple arrive, but it is recommended that you use your own team to repair it. The labor from the Dark Temple can only be used to build the underground city, and we will repair the other things ourselves."

Su Mei said: "If you don't tell me this, I can't let them repair it! Don't treat me, the engineering director of the guild, as a layman, okay?"

Rose rubbed Su Mei's head funnyly: "How old are you! Don't talk like an old man."

Ying Dao: "Urban construction is not just about having design drawings. What about specific projects? Do we still repair some special buildings?"

I thought for a while and said: "The Isinger on the ground needs to build a new transnational teleportation array. The Isinger in the sky may need to leave China in the future. It is best to use the teleportation array separately. The research institute and other things will be in the future. If we want to move to the underground area designed by Su Mei, it will be enough to leave a larger symbolic building on the ground and hang a sign. There is no need to install internal equipment. The magical experimental equipment is also very expensive, which can save money. Just save it, this part of the Dark Temple will not help us pay for it, so it cannot be wasted."

Rose said: "I think the advanced technology shipyard should be built at Essinger Ground Station. I think the shipyard of Sky Essinger should be changed to a battlefield support base. I think it would be better to change the high-rise shipyard to something else. Kong It’s not really necessary to put warships in such a big place, so it’s really a waste.”

When Rose said this, I suddenly remembered. "Woma. Didn't you say last time that you could design a mobile fighter jet? What happened?"

Woma said in embarrassment: "The results are a little bit different, but they are a little different from what was expected. I think it is better for us to go to the site after the meeting to discuss."

"Okay, now everyone decides how to arrange the defense facilities of the Essinger Ground Station."

We lasted for more than two hours in this meeting. Essinger's design was too complicated. So many of us were there to give our opinions. Su Mei simply stood on the table and took a pen to talk. Where to change. When we discussed the final plan, everyone felt a little dizzy. This plan was really too complicated.

I leaned back in my seat and rubbed my temples and said, "Okay. The plan has been come out. Let's go to work according to the plan."

"Then let's go do it first." Ying and Hongyue all left the conference hall to assign work. Woma, Sumei and Rose stayed and decided to take me to see the junior model of the Flying Legion that they had planned for a long time.

Along the way, I kept asking Woma, but she said I couldn’t understand things without seeing them, so she never told me and had to take me to see them.

The research base for aircraft models is not in Steel City, but in New Essinger. New Essinger is divided into three parts. The command area at the top is much smaller than the middle area on the second floor. So there is a circle of empty platforms at the top of the second level. This area was later converted into a runway. It was an area reserved for aviation. This is where Woma brought us now.

While we were still on the way, Wal-Mart had already notified the people here to haul out the samples, so when we arrived, the experimental samples were already placed on the platform. Even I was dumbfounded when I saw this row of experimental objects, large and small. "This...isn't this a piston aircraft?"

There are all kinds of aircraft on the platform. The one closest to us is the one I’m most familiar with because you can see something similar in almost any aviation museum. What we have in front of us is clearly an old plane, and it's not that old. This guy actually has three wings.

"You guys have been tinkering for a long time and just come up with something like this?" To be honest, I'm very disappointed. This thing was indeed advanced in ancient times, but with flying monsters and magical technology in this game, this kind of thing seems too backward.

Woma explained: "No, this is actually a training aircraft."

"Huh? Training plane?"

Woma said: "Everyone in our guild has a spear, and airplanes are of little significance to us. What we need is a flying battleship, but the battleship cannot be without the protection of aircraft, but we have limited players. Not every ship can There were a lot of players, so I looked for help, and finally Su Mei came up with a way."

I looked at Su Mei and asked in surprise: "Did you come up with it?"

Su Mei nodded and said, "Before I talk about my idea, I first want to let you know two things."

"What's going on?"

Su Mei said: "Brother Ziri and Sister Mei Mei have been busy outside, so they don't know. Recently, various cities in the system have posted notices saying that the game needs to adjust some strategic settings. Because it is still in the adjustment period, there is no direct notice. Instead, we will remind you in the form of an announcement, and then we will make a full game announcement when the official upgrade is completed."

"What exactly is the modification?"

"It's about the adjustment of city defense NPCs. In the future, there will no longer be restrictions on the actions of city guards. City-owning guilds can command city guards to attack other cities. They are no longer restricted by city limits."

"What? Then our guild can attack other guilds aggressively? That's great!" I was so excited. The biggest strength of this guild is that there are so many NPC guards. Moreover, the combat effectiveness is very strong. In the past, due to restrictions, they could not leave the city and actively attack the enemy. It can only be used as a guard, but now it can be legitimately sent out to fight.

Su Mei said: "Don't get too excited yet. The main system won't be so stupid as to give you such a big loophole!"

"Are there any restrictions?"

Su Mei nodded: "Not only are there restrictions, but there are also several types of restrictions. On the one hand, there are economic restrictions, and on the other hand, there are restrictions on social relationships."

"What kind of restriction is this? The more you talk about it, the more confused I become!"

Su Mei explained: "This is easy to understand. The first is the economic restriction. In the future, the NPC Guards will no longer be a lossless legion. Each NPC will consume some special resources according to its own situation, which means that if you want to maintain a huge standing army, A lot of money has to be spent, not just 'once' but every moment."

"Dizzy! What will we do with so many people in our guild?" I asked anxiously, "How much money will it cost?"

"The reason for spending money is not necessarily different, it depends on the military type. The most important one is food and salary consumption. Each NPC must be paid monthly, and they need to eat."

"Isn't it?"

Su Mei said: "Don't worry about this. I have consulted using the paid question and answer system. It can be said that our guild has taken a big advantage."

"How to say?"

"First, our army is an isolated legion that completely relies on us. They have no family or anything like that, so they don't need to be paid. I heard that the most troublesome army is the Paladin Legion, and the pay for those sick soldiers is scary. Secondly, The only advantage is food. Most of our guards here are undead. There are not many soldiers who need to eat, which saves a lot of money. I heard that several guilds have already started planning for major disarmament."

"disarmament?"

“What should I do if I can’t afford to be laid off?”

I glanced at Rose when I heard this, and she smiled at me. It seems that my guess is good. This modification probably comes from Rose's economic bomb plan. If this continues, players will invest more and more money in the game. It's really dark! But anyway, the money is so dirty that our Long Yuan is here, which I am still happy to see.

I then asked: "In addition to economic restrictions, what do you mean by social relationship restrictions?"

Su Mei said: "If you want to send troops, you have to go over there, right? If there are other player forces or NPC forces between the opponent and your city, can you just drive over like this? In reality, when fighting a war, don't you have to borrow money from surrounding countries first? Dao? This is going to test your social skills. Running all the way, I guess many guilds along the way will have to find ways to open up the joints."

I asked in confusion: "Just find a nearby city to borrow the teleportation array and use it."

Before Su Mei could answer Rose, she said: "You really want to come out. Don't you think about it, if such a large legion enters other people's cities, won't others worry about you taking the opportunity to attack them? It's so troublesome to take the road outside the city, let alone Let’s talk about the teleportation array in the city. And don’t think about it, the teleportation array costs money. It’s nothing if you go there alone. How much does it cost to teleport millions of troops? In addition, the teleportation array now has a probability of error. The problem is, if you pass on an army, some of it will be lost."

In this way, the actual attack is much more difficult than imagined!

Su Mei said: "Actually, the economic restrictions just now do not only include the cost of raising soldiers."

"What? That's not enough?"

"Raising soldiers is only one of the important parts. There are also many settings that need to be paid attention to." Su Mei pointed out with her fingers: "Soldiers can't go into battle naked! They must have armor. After upgrading, the combat power of NPCs will be divided into three Part, a self-attack defense and a weapon attack and armor defense. These must be calculated separately. If your own guild can produce armor, you can save a little. If you don’t have the production capacity, you have to buy it. Ask the system store or Other players can buy it, and it seems that NPCs can use the same armor as players."

"Don't the soldiers in our guild already have armor?"

"But they will die in battle!" Su Mei said: "Starting after upgrading, NPCs in the guild's legion will not be resurrected automatically if they die in battle. After death, they must spend money to summon their souls and then resurrect, and after resurrection, only coarse clothes, armor and weapons will be left on them. They all have to be repurchased. But our guild can also take advantage of this."

"How to say?"

"After an NPC dies on the battlefield, the corpse will not disappear just like the player. We can clean the battlefield, take off all the armor from the dead, and then equip our own troops. However, the damaged armor needs to be repaired, which also costs money, but it is better than rebuilding it. It’s much cheaper to buy.”

"It's okay for us to steal others! Why do we say we take advantage?"

"Because our soldiers are undead, they don't mind wearing armor ripped off the dead, but like many other arms, they don't like the armor of others. The morale of human soldiers will decrease if they wear the armor of the dead, and the Paladins will not accept it at all. "

"That said, it does take a lot of advantage."

Su Mei said: "Actually, the beast army is the most advantageous. They even wear clothes. There is no armor cost at all. By the way. It seems that when resurrecting the troops, our ghost-type troops can be paid at half price. Is it very profitable?"

Rose said: "After this change, it is said that the control of the NPC legion is relaxed. But the actual result is that everyone invested a lot of money, and in the end they offset each other, which means there is no relaxation, but the scene on the battlefield is bigger. The consumption It’s just faster.”

This is called invisible consumption. In order to keep what they already own, players must continue to invest in new places. When they find that they have invested more than they get, they will be reluctant to part with what they already have, so they will continue to invest in it. Funds, this is the cycle of making money.

I asked again: "Although it consumes a lot of money, most guilds should be able to maintain a medium-sized NPC army, but what about those guilds that don't have quotas?"

Su Mei said: "This system has also been arranged. In the future, there will be a large number of scattered fighting NPCs wandering between cities. Player guilds can recruit these NPCs to become their own guards. When recruiting, they must negotiate with the NPCs and based on the results of the negotiations Give this npc a one-time money to join the guild force. If you find it troublesome, you can also do the army task and directly get the completed legion. Of course, the scroll of the army task requires buying land, and the completion process costs a lot of money. Also Yes. In the future, NPC armies will not completely follow their own lords' guilds. NPCs will have independent consciousness. They will have high morale, low morale, or even run away and rebel based on their treatment."

"Will NPCs rebel?"

"Of course, didn't Vader and his men rebel against the Black Temple and follow us?"

"That's right!"

Su Mei said: "In short, as long as you can afford it, you can definitely expand the army significantly."

"It is estimated that all the guilds will lose money now!"

Su Mei said: "One of the reasons why I asked Sister Woma to design a training aircraft is because of this change. In the future, NPCs will definitely not be able to use teleportation stations and will have to travel long distances to fight. However, since our guild has the technology, we can completely let NPCs fight. The army is airlifted to fight. Moreover, high NPC level means high maintenance costs. In order to find the best combination between military expenses and combat power, I envision training these low-level NPCs to use high-level magical machinery. Everyone knows that a pilot is more important than an infantryman. There are many, and they are all the same person, so I plan to train low-level soldiers into pilots. Anyway, the combat effectiveness of the air commander is calculated according to weapons and does not count the driver's attack power. In this way, we can maximize our strengths and avoid weaknesses and use the least money to bring the maximum combat effectiveness."

“But aircraft also cost money!”

"Aircraft do cost money, but this is a game." Su Mei explained: "The cost of producing an aircraft in our guild is about the same as the cost of arming five soldiers, but an aircraft is definitely more powerful than five soldiers, so comprehensively Consider building airplanes to save money.”

"Can NPCs fly airplanes?"

Su Mei said seriously: "This is about my second discovery. According to my investigation, since the last NPC intelligent upgrade, many NPCs have learned the ability. As long as they do not exceed physical limitations, they can You can learn. When Sister Woma asked me to help, I even did an experiment. First, we asked a skeleton soldier with a long knife to learn how to operate a bow and arrow. As a result, it only took us one hour to teach him how to shoot. Bows and arrows. Just the accuracy still needs training. But the basic operations of shooting arrows are almost the same. This proves that NPCs can actually learn."

"But shooting an arrow is as simple as flying a plane is a completely different matter!"

"That was just an initial attempt. After that, we tried to train various NPC soldiers to use gunpowder guns, and they all learned it."

Rose asked in surprise: "The last time Woma asked me to allocate money to make 100,000 powder guns, wasn't it to form an NPC musketry team?"

Woma smiled and said: "That's right. After Su Mei and I experimented, we wanted to equip NPCs with muskets, so that all types of soldiers can shoot at the enemy from a long distance. When they get close, they can use swords and spears. Isn't this an improvement? Combat capability?"

If a group of skeletons charging with rifles appeared on the battlefield, the enemy would probably faint.

Su Mei continued: "We don't need to let NPCs understand how the aircraft flies, they only need to know how to use it. The flexibility of these white skeletons is very good, and it is enough to fly the aircraft. And recently we have experimented with it. 'We trained a dozen skeletons to fly aircraft, and the results were pretty good, as they all learned very quickly."

It’s so dizzy! Skeleton pilot?

"So this triplane is a device for training skeletons to fly?"

Woma said: "This is a junior trainer aircraft, and then there will be intermediate trainer aircraft and advanced trainer aircraft, and then there will be actual combat models."

"It seems to me that there are more than four types of aircraft here!"

"There are only three types of training aircraft, and there are many types of actual combat aircraft. Since the final model has not been decided, many samples have been produced."

I looked at the triplane closest to us and said, "Isn't this training aircraft a bit too old-fashioned?"

Woma said: "It's just to be used as a training aircraft." She explained: "Didn't the three people you brought last time transform Atlantis's thrusters into air thrusters? We miniaturized that thing and removed the outer outline and changed it to a paddle-type connection, and this imitation piston engine was born. This is actually a magic machine, not a real piston engine."

"So this thing is made of magic crystal?"

"Of course. There's nothing else to use."

I looked at the three-layer wing again and said, "If the wings are made like this, the lift is enough, but won't the speed and flexibility be lost?"

Woma said: "It's designed like this just to make it fly slower."

"Huh? You don't want to go fast but go slow?"

Sumei explained: "The magic propeller is too powerful, the space on the aircraft is limited, and we can't slow down through a large number of gear sets, so in order to combat this excessive power, we built this triplane. These wings provide lift for flight At the same time, they will slow down the flight speed, and they will seriously affect the flexibility and make the aircraft fly very smoothly. Although these are disadvantages for fighter jets, this is a junior trainer aircraft, which means it must fly slowly and steadily to provide Those novice training! If it shoots out like a rocket as soon as it starts, how can we still train?"

"Yeah, that makes sense."

Woma pulled me around the triplane and said, "This plane here is a second-level trainer aircraft, which is an intermediate training aircraft."

This thing looks more recognizable. This is a single-wing propeller fighter that looks very similar to the British Spitfire in World War II.

Woma said: "This one is the same as the junior trainer aircraft just now, but it has fewer wings and the wings are very narrow. The flight speed and flexibility are greatly improved, making it easier to upgrade training. Then Behind is an advanced training aircraft."

We bypassed the plane in the middle, and the plane behind was super weird looking. This thing looks like two wings are inserted on both sides of a large cylinder, and the cockpit above is almost riding on this cylinder.

Woma saw my expression and quickly explained: "This is a jet aircraft. The three technicians you brought last time modified the air turbine. We made it smaller and lengthened the length of the pipe. The cockpit in the middle was removed. To save trouble, we directly welded a pair of wings on both sides of the engine, and the cockpit above was completely nailed up, so it looked a bit ugly."

Rose said: "I have long heard that the German style only emphasizes practicality without regard to appearance. I have seen it today. This thing is like a trash can with wings!"

Su Mei said: "It's a training aircraft anyway. What's the use of making it so beautiful? It just needs to be able to fly."

Rose pointed at the weird-looking aircraft behind them and asked, "What are those? Why are they different from the ones in front?"

"That's an experimental fighter."

We walked to this row of planes and looked at them. To be honest, these things had nothing to do with the planes in my impression. "Is this a plane?"

Woma said: "It's more like a plane! But I think it's more appropriate to call it an aircraft."

The things in front of me didn't look like airplanes at all. Not only were they weird in shape, they didn't even have wings. I circled around an aircraft three times but could not find a propeller or a jet, which meant that this thing did not use any known method of propulsion.

Rose walked to one of the aircraft and knocked twice to listen for the response. "Pure steel? How much does it weigh?"

Woma said: "Because the speed of this aircraft is too fast, and the steering method is very special. Therefore, the torque endured by the aircraft body is very huge. It is really unbearable if we don't make the aircraft body stronger!"

I said to Woma: "Steel is still too hard. How about using the shell of a crustacean instead?"

Woma explained: "We have considered using materials such as Warcraft bones or carapace. However, the cost of those things is too high, and the output is too small. It is okay to buy them in pieces. If they are mass-produced, I am afraid that they cannot keep up with consumption. speed!"

"Then let's mix it together. Use part of the skeleton as a support beam and coat it with steel. By the way. Next time I'll contact the Dragon Clan to see if I can use the keel from the dragon cemetery. That thing is big enough and can be modified with just one piece. There are several aircraft.”

"Of course that's good, but for now we can only find steel."

I walked over to the edge of one of the aircraft and looked at it. The shape of this thing looks like a comma-shaped whistle. The "whistle"'s big belly supports the ground, and there are several retractable wheels underneath to support its balance. Behind the big belly is a tail that is not too long. Although the tail stretches there, it does not tilt the aircraft. It seems that the weight is concentrated in the big belly in front.

There are some small connecting devices on both sides of the "whistle", which may be racks for external weapons.

Rose stared at the aircraft for a long time and then asked: "Which side is the head here?"

"This way."

Woma pointed to the big belly side of the comma. Because that little tail is the real tail. But it looks like the shape of this thing is a bit like a propeller helicopter, except that this thing has no propeller.

I knocked on the big steel belly and said, "This thing has no windows. How can the pilot see the road while sitting in it?"

"That's not the cockpit!"

"Ah?" I stared at this big steel ballway with a diameter of more than three meters in surprise: "If this isn't the cockpit, where does the pilot sit?"

"In the tail at the back, you can see it when you go up."

At Woma's suggestion, I climbed onto the aircraft and saw that there were three holes in the extended tail. And they are arranged in finished glyphs. This thing has completely subverted my understanding of aircraft. Even though it looks weird, even the seats are so unique. There are two holes side by side in the part near the belly of the three holes, and a separate hole is farther away from the previous two. And it's right on the aircraft's central axis.

Woma shouted to me from below: "The two seats side by side in the front are the weapons control personnel's seats. Each of them is responsible for one side, and the one behind is the driver's seat."

faint! The pilot actually sat in the very back position. This aircraft was really special.

Rose asked: "How does this thing fly? There is no propeller and no jet propulsion port. Is it the same gravity resistance device as Essinger?"

"You guessed it right." Woma said: "This is the gravity resistance device used."

"Isn't the gravity resistance device unable to move during activation?"

Woma said: "Isn't there that special track principle?"

"Are you saying there's actually a track inside this big ball?"

“Instead of tracks, it’s track balls.”

I jumped down and asked, "What is a track ball?"

"The track ball is a connected track like the track, but the general tank track is opened into a trapezoid, but we wrapped it in a steel ball and turned it into a circle."

"Then how to turn?"

"Have you seen a gyroscope?"

"I've seen it."

Woma explained: "We use the same principle to drive the aircraft. Two pure steel rings that are just big enough to be nested cross each other perpendicularly to form a universal orbital ring. We make this ring close to the steel ball outside and Coat the inside with lubricant. The largest steel ring is just the same as the inner diameter of the steel ball outside. With the help of lubricating oil, the large ring can rotate arbitrarily inside the steel ball. However, because it is a spherical body, it cannot rotate no matter how much it is rotated. No. The small ring inside the big ring is welded to the big ring at a vertical angle, and then a rotor track is made on the inner ring. There is a gravity resistance device on this track that can slide at will due to inertia and gravity. "

"Ha, I understand." I said excitedly: "Because this gravity resistance device can move freely on the track. And the large track itself is also sliding. So it completely relies on inertia to roll. When the aircraft turns, It rolls along the inner wall of the ball, which acts as a buffer and automatically slides to the opposite direction due to its own gravity. As long as the ball activates the propulsion function like a crawler, it can drive the aircraft to move. What a smart design. But there are no computers here. How do you control which anti-gravity component should work when?"

"We don't need to control it." Woma said proudly: "Although this anti-gravity can slide, in fact its contact point with the rotating shaft remains unchanged, and there are two freely swinging energy brushes on both sides of the ball. This principle It is the same as Essinger's drive device, except that Essinger relies on gravity to make the energy brush point vertically to the anti-gravity device that needs to be activated. In our case, the motion inertia of the thruster and gravity work together to maintain the It’s really convenient to offset the inertia while flying at a high altitude.”

Rose asked: "But this can only control the attitude adjustment of the aircraft after it turns. Where does the initial power for the steering come from, and what about the control of the lift?"

"This is easy to do!" Woma said: "Because we have installed three gravity balls on the track, and they are connected with support steel pipes. So no matter how they slide, their relative positions are fixed. These three Each ball is equipped with a magic crystal resonance device. We use this device to control the startup of a certain power ball. The control can be completed through the relative activation of the three balls. However, because the three balls are always rotating, it is very troublesome to control. You must judge where the gravity ball has slid based on your flight attitude at the time. Only in this way can you control the flight accurately. This is why we need to let the pilot sit at the back, because this position is exactly where the gravity ball is pointing. However, This design also brings many disadvantages. For example, the pilot's field of view is completely blocked, and he has to rely on the guidance of the combat controller in front to fly. The pilot himself can actually see nothing except the instrument panel."

"A terrifying aircraft." I sighed: "This thing must be more dangerous to drive than a unicycle!"

Woma said with a depressed look: "That's why I have been hesitant about whether to produce this kind of aircraft. Its speed and flexibility are incredible, but it is too difficult to control when flying, especially There is no way to stabilize the landing at all, so we can only use blocking to slow it down and fall into it. The runway is of no significance to it at all. It can only be used for takeoff."

Rose said: "Don't we have jet turbines? Why not just build jet fighters?"

Woma said: "I thought, but the advanced trainer aircraft you just saw is already the limit of jet flight. This game is not exactly the same as reality. The aircraft does not have computer assistance, and the jet aircraft is completely uncontrollable unless you It allows three pilots to operate the aircraft like one person. Otherwise, there is no way to control the high-speed jet. This low-speed jet is too slow. Even a griffon can fly faster than it. And the jet fighter is very flexible. Too bad. In reality, it doesn’t matter if you masturbate on an airplane. Everyone is the same. But what we have to deal with in this game are flexible creatures. That kind of flexible aircraft is a living target. As long as people calculate the lead time, you will not be able to dodge. Don’t fall off.”

"Right. Let me go up and try it. I want to see the difference between this thing and a real airplane."

Su Mei immediately asked: "Have you flown a fighter jet before?"

"Eh...!" Oops, I spilled the beans! "No, no, I've just flown on a small sightseeing plane in a tourist spot before. I think a real plane is probably like that. If I ride on this thing again, I should be able to roughly understand the difference in performance."

"I suggest you don't try." Fortunately, Su Mei didn't ask further.

"Why?"

"Because this thing is not meant for people to sit on."

“But how can you know if it’s good or bad if you don’t try?”

Woma said: "Well, let me go up with you. Anyway, the functions of the three cabins are interchangeable. If you can't control it, I will come for you. Now I am the best at operating this thing." ”

At my request, we finally decided to take a test flight, and even Rose came up to join us in the fun. But for the sake of safety, I summoned Lucky and Chili in advance. In case of an accident, Chili's mental force field can help stabilize the aircraft, and Lucky only needs to catch us.