Planet of Sand and Oasis of Iron

Chapter 40. It must be very exciting to use such a huge thing
The new components are similar to what you would imagine, and are assembled in the form of modular prefabricated panels.

A giant crane hoisted over the module boxes that had been assembled in other factories. Due to the special characteristics of the mobile base, the main control cabin could be placed anywhere - so it was placed slightly above.

You can raise the lookout tower at night and find surrounding enemies amidst the huge background radiation and energy radiation of the hot sand.

The huge engine assembly cabin rose from the bottom, some distance away from the main control room. After these two large items were completed, the frames and keel structural steels that had been prepared long ago were sent to the surrounding areas.

Now...now welding?

The modular structure that Sefer imagined was probably a bunch of multifunctional blocks of different lengths and sizes put together.

While such a structure may not pose any problem when the vehicle is driving, it is likely to scatter on the ground if it encounters a battle and is bombarded by artillery.

The frame structure is parked in circles from front to back to form an outline. Then different module compartments are brought in from all directions by crawlers, cranes and even construction machinery, and stuffed into each reserved square cage according to categories.

The metal support columns between the module compartments form a narrow mezzanine, which is also equipped with a large number of horizontal and vertical pipes to connect each cabin and enable them to work together.

Starting from the inner cabin to the outer external combat reserve compartment, Seifer even saw a crane placing a main gun group of at least 200 mm on the front of the vehicle. The ammunition well connected to its automatic loading mechanism looked quite reasonable.

But... why does it come with a main gun?

It was pitch black overhead, and the main control cabin was firmly wrapped in a heavy and thick defensive layer. The supervisor proudly introduced that this new type of metal defensive plate could withstand direct hits from 200mm caliber artillery within one kilometer without being penetrated.

The engine room and various transmission devices span the entire lower cabin, followed by the personnel living cabin, the attack preparation room, the weapons storage, the cargo storage...

Although it is less than 100 meters long, it has all the necessary cabins for travel and life, as well as various basic equipment inside.

Seifer secretly calculated in his mind that the price of this vehicle alone (unarmored) could not be less than 10 million. Maybe it could pay off his debts for several rounds.

Even if it is temporarily given to oneself, it cannot be simply described as "generous", but rather it should be suspected that there is some other intention behind it.

In the attack preparation room, the huge module also accommodated the machine brought by Cypher - it was a bit of a stretch, but it was enough for single-machine use.

The exterior of the car body, which is filled with boxes in an iron cage that looks like a metal fishbone, has a large number of already shaped and relatively flexible cooling ducts lowered from it. They are like veins covering the surface of the car body.

This layer of heat-conducting pipes will be filled with some special heat-conducting liquid to protect the car during the day so that everyone in the car will not turn into rice in a rice cooker.

Finally, it was the external armor plates. Those huge plates were installed and fixed. The light from the external welding shone from top to bottom, and the shining car body looked like only the original color of metal - at this time, the supervisor suddenly reminded.

"The project is almost finished, but before we finish, we need to do some treatment on the exterior of the car to protect it from wind, sand and sun."

"You can think of it as painting... the car body."

Regarding painting and spray painting, Seifer actually didn't care much about these things. The first thing he wanted to do was to paint them green, red and white to distinguish the paint surfaces, but reason told him to stop immediately.

After working so hard to build a cool car body, I always feel sorry for my good intentions when I put such a tacky paint job on it.

So, Cypher tried to contact Laika: "The guy who updated my hull asked me to choose an exterior paint scheme. Laika, do you have any suggestions?"

"Paintwork... whatever you like, Red Crossbow. I remember some mercenaries would paint their kill records on the hull of their vehicles to show off their achievements."

It's like drawing a circle on a gun barrel. Seifer thought for a moment, "Are there any special requirements for the paint job?" "Yes, there are. You have to remember not to use too bright colors. Even when the vehicle is sailing at night, its trajectory can still be easily observed."

She paused, as if looking through notes. "It's best to choose desert-colored patterns or camouflage patterns. This can effectively confuse others' judgment of you."

Seifer thought for a moment, "What about trademarks, or personal logos? Can they also be customized or not?"

"That's right. After all, these are just unnecessary decorations. Mercenaries are more concerned with optimizing the vehicle body."

"Then I'm fine."

"Well, if you need anything, just call me, Red Crossbow."

After Leica hung up the phone, Seifer immediately said, "I'll tell you guys to do it. If it's spray-painted on the outside, I hope it looks like this..."

Although the request is a bit strange, it is not something I have never thought of.

A few minutes later, a group of spray robots sprayed circles of black and sand-colored vertical stripes on the outer armor plates. The stripes were evenly spaced but slightly angled. It looked like a physiological visual error that made people dizzy.

Four sets of huge tracks steadily support the vehicle body. These devices have a complex structure but are modular, making them easy to upgrade or disassemble.

The giant gantry crane and multiple sets of supporting equipment made a dull roar, and then the vehicle body sank and pressed firmly on the load-bearing structure of the tracks. Seifer only felt a slight shaking, and this behemoth stopped quietly in place.

"The repairs are complete, Ms. Red Crossbow. Do you need any other customization?"

"Not needed for now. What next? Should I just drive away?"

The other party said that it was true, but before leaving, please remember to take the crew with you - after saying this, Seifer discovered that at the door of the personnel preparation cabin, Lin Shenxue was trying hard to shake her tablet.

After letting her get back into the car and confirming again that he didn't need to pay any additional fees, Seifer finally ended the communication with the other party and carefully looked at the interface in front of him, which had far more items than the previous ones.

...How should I put it? It's normal to feel a little confused when you suddenly switch from being a core fighter to controlling such a large thing.

Fortunately, Seifer quickly figured out how to get the engine running and perform basic driving.

Due to the uncertain number of mercenaries, the number of crew members, and their survival status, many systems are integrated into the main control compartment. As long as the vehicle structure and related facilities are not destroyed, the vehicle can be easily started.

If the main control room is compromised, then... that's another matter.

The engine compartment consists of two large engines and four small engines. The overflowing blue halo suddenly becomes stronger, sending the tremendous power through various transmission mechanisms to four sets of huge track wheels.

It moved forward slowly, in a propulsion method that was considered "fantastic" to Seifer. The huge road wheels and power wheels worked together to send this completely transformed vehicle body out of the complete maintenance factory.

To be honest, I was a little excited, especially when the independent mercenary support system raised Seifer's 'Mercenary Rating Level' by one level, indicating that Red Crossbow had taken a step forward.

But the special license has not been upgraded yet, even though... it has been confirmed that it has destroyed another combat machine. Perhaps it needs to be upgraded in other ways?

None of this matters. What matters is that Sefer can now enjoy the honor of being stared at by countless people while sailing around the city in his mobile base.

(End of this chapter)