It was Prototype No . 1 . Alice had used six months and her computing power of 10 s.e.xtillion Tflops to finally design a prototype of the interstellar battles.h.i.+p . Its appearance resembled a broad sword; wide at the back and tapering to a slim front . It looked very sharp . Its various parameters were: Length: 412 meters . Widest width: 71 meters . Height: 32 meters . Weight: 382,000 tons . Energy system: a small nuclear fusion reactor . Power system: Ion engine .

As for the weapon configuration, by the hatch of the s.h.i.+p was a large caliber particle cannon . Many laser cannons were distributed at the sides of the s.h.i.+p, while the upper portion was equipped with electromagnetic cannons for close-range defense . Missiles and nuclear torpedo launchers of great power were installed on the bottom of the s.h.i.+p . In addition, there was an advanced radar system, a sighting system, and an intelligent remote control system .

After doing an overall evaluation, Alice thought that the combat capability of the Interstellar Battles.h.i.+p Prototype No . 1 was about five . It could fulfill the basic requirements needed to partic.i.p.ate in interstellar battles .

“Combat capability of five?” Chen Jin felt somewhat disappointed . Shaking his head helplessly, he said, “Ok, it's better than nothing!”

“Master, do you want to enter Prototype No . 1 and operate it out of the port? You could go to the meteorite zone beside the port and test the prowess of the weapons system . ”

“Of course . ” Chen Jin nodded . In the next second, he appeared in the bridge control room of Prototype No . 1 . He started up the reactor engine . The engine system began to warm and charge . The ion engine started up and it spat out an azure tail of flame .

Prototype No . 1 slowly left the dock of the s.p.a.ceport and entered the vacuum environment of outer s.p.a.ce . As he increased the engine power, the speed of Prototype No . 1 continued to increase . Sitting in the captain's seat, Chen Jin felt a clear wave of push-back from the acceleration . But, it was within his tolerable range . Looking at the data displayed for acceleration, it was 1 . 82G .

With a frown, Chen Jin asked, “Alice, the engine has been revved up to its highest power, but the acceleration is only limited to this?” The acceleration of a battles.h.i.+p reflected its mobility . A higher acceleration would mean that it had better mobility and a faster response . Frankly speaking, the number of 1 . 82G meant that it could not even dodge attacks from most weapons . This battles.h.i.+p was just a sitting duck .

Alice said, “Yes, master . The engine thrust power is limited to this number . This is the maximum power that the small-sized fusion reactor on Prototype No . 1 can provide . ”

Chen Jin shook his head . “A s.h.i.+tty response speed means that the battle will be five times s.h.i.+ttier . ”

However, Alice explained that with the current technical reserves, they could only make a fusion reactor with this much power .

After twenty minutes, he arrived at the meteorite zone . The zone was littered with countless meteorites; they ranged from a diameter of 10 meters all the way to diameters of thousands of meters .

Chen Jin sat in the seat of the weapons officer . Manipulating the various weapons, he carried out an indiscriminate attack on meteorites of all sizes .

Buzz~ This was the sound of the particle cannon firing .

Pew~ pew~ The laser cannons shot out rays of blinding laser light .

Boom! The electromagnetic cannons shot out sh.e.l.ls .

Voomp~ Countless missiles and nuclear torpedoes were shot from the launchers .

Chen Jin operated the weapons at full force . Those meteorites that were peacefully floating along in s.p.a.ce met with a terrible fate! In the light of the orange flames, meteorites of all sizes were broken and scattered into tiny pieces . When the nuclear torpedoes with its shocking power collided with the larger meteorites that had diameters over a thousand, even they subsequently disintegrated in countless fragments under the force of his attacks . The unbridled attacks and the scene of destruction it caused created a visual feast .

After more than 20 minutes, Chen Jin got several alerts .

“Insufficient energy . Main cannon is charging . Charging will be completed in five minutes…”

“Laser cannon is charging…”

“Energy in missile and nuclear torpedo launchers are depleted . Please start charging…”

“Insufficient energy for the electromagnetic cannons . Insufficient ammunition…”

After a round of crazy attacks, Chen Jin had exhausted all the weapons' ammunition on Prototype No . 1 . However, he was still very satisfied with the impact of the attacks . At least he could not see even one whole meteorite in his field of vision anymore . He had cleared a range of 100 kilometers, creating an “empty zone . ”

“Even if its combat ability is only five, it should have no trouble facing off battles.h.i.+ps with combat abilities in the range of 10 or 20 in terms of attack power . It simply would not be able to hurt the enemy . ” As long as Prototype No . 1 was produced, it meant that Chen Jin had a means of self-defense, no matter how weak it was . He could just barely struggle in a fight against the heretofore unknown forces of great power .

Even if the Prototype No . 1 was weak with its combat ability of five, he still had to produce a few of it . Moreover, this was proof that the Base had the technological capability . Alice had said, “If an operable interstellar battles.h.i.+p can be designed in a simulated environment that has a 99 . 9999% match with reality, it means that the ability to produce that battles.h.i.+p is present in real life!”

However, the computing ability needed for this project was ridiculously extensive . Alice had run herself haggard for six months .

Since the Base was prepped with the technologies needed to produce Prototype No . 1 through research and development in the simulated environment, did that mean that the Base would soon be able to produce the Prototype in real life?

“No . ” Alice shook her head . “The Base is currently not equipped with this ability . It will not achieve this ability for at least another ten years . Theoretically, we can create the Battles.h.i.+p Prototype No . 1 . But in reality, there are a few key pieces of equipment that the Base is still unable to produce . These few types of equipment form the core equipment of Prototype No . 1 . None can be missing . ”

In other words, the technology contained in this type of core equipment was the type of technology that was necessary to build an interstellar battles.h.i.+p! The nuclear fusion reactor had to generate a power of 100 billion kilowatts or more . The weight of the reactor had to be controlled within a certain range to ensure stable operation for 50 years or more . The time needed for the Base to achieve this technolog was ten years .

The Ion engine used a powerful electromagnetic field to accelerate the speed of the ionic medium to 0 . 1 times the speed of light, producing a tremendous thrust . The time needed for the Base to achieve this technology was eight years .

The powerful particle cannon was a weaponized version of the ion engine . Similarly, the ionic medium would be accelerated to 0 . 1 times the speed of light to produce a huge force of physical- and energy-destroying power . The time needed for the Base to achieve this technology was eight years .

An intelligent control system for s.p.a.cecraft was required to have the operational capability of the super calculator installed on the s.h.i.+p to reach 1 s.e.xtillion Tflops or more . The time needed for the Base to achieve this technology was three years .

The Base would need three to five years, in general, to come up with the technology needed to produce high-performing and superconductive materials .

“So, Alice, you mean that currently, the Base only has the technological reserves . It needs at least a few more years to develop its production capabilities before it can take the first steps to build the equipment?”

“Yes, master . Having the appropriate technology does not mean that the product can be produced immediately . The Base currently lacks various types of advanced manufacturing equipment . The transport squad is currently searching everywhere for the right equipment . ”

Chen Jin asked with a frown, “And we have to wait for ten years before construction on Prototype No . 1 can begin?” He had to wait for another ten years?

“No . ” Alice shook her head . “It's the most critical equipment, the fusion reactor, that needs ten years to be created . But, the body of Prototype No . 1 and other systems...o...b..ard are composed of modules that use less complex technology . Those can be constructed in advance . When the reactor is produced, it can simply be installed in the battles.h.i.+p and Prototype No . 1 will be quickly completed . ”

“So that means that the earliest time the Base will have its first interstellar battles.h.i.+p is 10 years from now?”

“Yes, master . ”

Chen Jin shook his head helplessly . He could only officially have his first interstellar battles.h.i.+p after ten years and depleting huge quant.i.ties of energy and resources . Moreover, it would have a very low combat ability . Was the interstellar battles.h.i.+p really necessary? Or should he just start all kinds of small projects, and make some headway here and there to acc.u.mulate a collection of technologies and resources? And when he had sufficient resources all around, he could develop a military and start rapidly producing armies in a frenzy .

Chen Jin was faced with two choices, making him feel rather conflicted .