Planet of Sand and Oasis of Iron

Chapter 41. Get to know the new guy and your employer as best you can

Seifer had previously wondered why, given such a massive vehicle, they only had a single cannon (of uncertain caliber), or even a twin-mounted gun.

The large long-range vehicles that attacked him did have two main guns at the front and rear, but when he rushed over, there were only shattered wreckage on the ground.

Now, he finally understood a little.

First of all, the vehicle body is not like those warships soaked in water, with the sea as a buffer. The reaction force caused by the artillery fire will act firmly on the vehicle body structure and load-bearing structure.

"Secondly, these main guns must be able to be retracted into the hull during the day. The complexity of the sinking mechanism forces it to make a trade-off."

In the UI in front of him, Lin Shenxue was confused: Why are you telling me this?
"Considering there are only a few of us on board, if I'm too busy with other things to control the weapons and equipment, someone has to take over temporarily... Isn't that right?"

'No, I don't think so. Just understanding these new engine blocks is giving me a headache.'

After a moment of silence, Cypher suddenly changed the subject: "Then we must work hard to make money, and then consider recruiting normal crew members."

"So we are the ones who are abnormal."

"Who else could it be?"

The huge vehicle moved forward at a steady and slow speed. The two people inside this gigantic object fell into a long silence.

In the abnormal silence, someone rudely connected the communication.

"Good morning! Are you awake, or are you just getting ready for bed? We have to return as soon as it gets dark, so don't oversleep!"

Very noisy and energetic.

Lin Shenxue immediately immersed herself in investigating the engine and the accompanying repair drawings, while Seifer sighed mechanically, thinking that he really couldn't use only one backup body to communicate with others.

We need to find a different, more intimidating cover than the current one, and preferably one that's more durable. Having it scratched by a bullet and needing repairs is absolutely unacceptable.

Despite the thought, an answer was still needed. Seifer sighed, "Yes, yes, yes. I'm still worried about naming my car. Do you have any alternative plans?"

"Naming? I'm familiar with that. Come on, let's meet in the parking lot later. I'll take a look at your car first... Oh, and you don't have to bring my little brothers this time. They have their own place."

After all, a vehicle requires so many people to operate it together, and even the turret is not fully automatic, right?

Seifer was a little confused as to why the equipment in this world was so severely fragmented.

The brand new giant vehicle slowly drove to the designated area, and then took some time to enter the designated berth. Seifer looked at the huge berths and nodded slowly.

This size is the limit here. For larger cars, you will probably have to go to other special parking areas... no, parking areas.

Tien's voice was already louder than the sky in the communication.

"What! What's wrong with your car?! Forget about that disgusting paint job, what's wrong with your car?!"

"It's a gift from someone else, for now."

"Stop bragging! Did you sign a contract with the company before you decided to become my chef?! This is a company car. Do you think you can just buy it with money?"

Tien's voice was filled with envy and jealousy, so much so that Cypher wanted to rush to her in three steps and pounce on her.

"What I want to see is your jealous face."

Seifer: "Let's not talk about the car first. Where are you?"

Then, outside the room where the car had just stopped and was being repaired, the doorbell rang.

A few minutes later, Tien rushed into the main control cabin with a "thump thump" sound - and then was shocked to find that the main control cabin was still in the same state.

"How's the armament of your car? Let me see it!" In desperation, Seifer sent her the configuration form - the latter immediately sighed with emotion.

"That's really exaggerated. It's worthy of being the work of the Phantom Mist Group."

"Explain?" Seifer was a little confused.

Tien no longer cared about his seemingly unclear behavior. She pointed to the high-tech control screen in front of her.

"First, the main gun. With a 203mm caliber, it's basically a small vehicle carrying a large cannon. Even with only one gun, it has a chance of penetrating real medium to large armored units."

A very special thing about that main gun is that after it is mounted, it can rotate 360 degrees, and at a fairly fast speed.

"Next is the secondary battery. These batteries are placed on both sides of the hull. At night, they need to open the trestle partitions to be pushed out. Look at this 76mm projectile firepower, and there are also close-in machine guns distributed at closer range."

"Even among these artillery groups, there are three particle jets. Do I need to tell you how deadly this thing is to armor?"

...Well, it's certainly quite sci-fi, but honestly, besides being very energy-intensive, it's hard to say if it can be equivalent to a dedicated armor-piercing jet. If it's plasma...

Shaking his head slightly, Seifer expressed his understanding, but what does this have to do with the Phantom Mist Group? Can't a vehicle of this size be crammed with as many weapons as possible?
"The Huanwu Group adheres to the principle of 'small branches bear great fruit', which means that as long as they can move, firepower projection will always be the first priority."

Tien pointed and said, "Compared to the I/O Enterprise I work for, which focuses more on energy weapons and even the potential energy cannons in the future, they are more pragmatic."

I see, that's how it's set up. Each company has a pretty strong focus... Wait, if there's no crew, then aren't these firepower points just for show?
"Ha, you got it. That's right, the larger the vehicle, the more manpower it requires to operate it, unless you can find some more people to help you operate these things."

Seifer thought about it for a while and felt that he might be able to find a way to make some CNC units by hand after understanding the basic electronics of this place.

Besides, to be honest, there are more mysteries about my true self. Who knows if I have the same abilities as the electronic female ghost?

"Anyway, driving a car this big is quite… Wait, it suddenly occurred to me that even though this car temporarily belongs to me, it still needs its own name."

"Oh?"

For some reason, Tien felt as if a light had appeared in her eyes.

"Let me give you a name. I've given at least eight cars impressive names, and legends about them are everywhere in this desert!"

And there was a sense of foreboding.

"A resounding name represents the captain's love for the vehicle and strengthens the crew's cohesion. It's common practice for independent mercenaries to name their mobile bases."

"First, I'd like to recommend the 'Golden Merry'! This was once a very famous pirate ship."

People always grow, so Sefer rejected the title of legend.

"How about calling it 'The Breaker'? If that doesn't work out, I'll give you my own 'Queen of Tien' or 'Octopus'."

I see. This guy is also bad at naming. Moreover, he was able to name eight cars. I think he must have lost so much money... It is quite a skill to be able to lose such property and still form a team.

Lin Shenxue, who had been silent for a long time, sent a message: I think the name "Fengxue Wanli" is also good.

Okay, shut up too. This is the only name that comes to the mind of the guy from the snow. Ah, if that's the case, then wouldn't it be more appropriate to call it the Weatherlight, a world with only sunny days?
With his arms folded, Sefer rejected all their proposals from top to bottom. He even ignored the message from his sponsor, the guy who called himself "Tangerine", because of the name.

It was not until the other party urged him directly through the mercenary system that Sefer remembered that the car did not strictly speaking belong to him.

I quickly answered the call: "What's going on?"

"After changing the car, my tone is completely different. It's like a small fry who has taken a miracle drug and feels stronger."

"Hurry up and set up a comfortable room. The target of your escort is quite valuable. If you mess up, the mercenary Red Crossbow will be one of the most insignificant fish in the desert~"

Wait a minute, didn’t this person delete his ID before? How could he register the same ID again and try to identify himself?
(End of this chapter)