The stars, but they become the gray wind

On the other side, the Duke of Normandy frowned as he looked at the decrypted telegram text that was delivered to his desk.

The experience described by his secretary was so bizarre that it seemed unlikely to be true at first glance.

But the Duke of Normandy knew very well that his secretary would not lie to him, so the contents of the coded telegram were most likely true.

"Atlas? Aliens? This..."

"A massive 900-meter-long aerial battleship? And hundreds of those same small aircraft that shot down our airship?"

"This... isn't it a bit beyond imagination?"

Due to the limitation of the amount of information that could be sent via ciphertext, neither Ange nor the secretary mentioned the knowledge they had learned from the Hundred-Armed Titan, which was beyond the knowledge of their time. Instead, they simply explained and sent a relatively brief account of the entire incident, the true identity of the founder of Atlas, and the general status of their military forces.

At the same time, they also showed that they were not subject to any restrictions on their personal freedom on this air battleship. The other party even let them visit and wander around this extremely advanced air battleship without any care, and even wrote and drew on various unheard-of high-tech equipment with paper and pen, and recorded the appearance of these equipment.

At the same time, the secretary also explained to the Duke of Normandy in the telegram that the people from Atlas did not even impose any restrictions or checks on the content of the communications she sent out, and even said that they did not care at all if the secretary told the Duke of Normandy all the information she saw and heard on the ship.

"Hmph...should I say I'm being looked down upon?" The Duke of Normandy sighed as he looked at the letter in his hand.

"Aliens... can something like this, which only exists in fantasy novels, actually exist?"

"Perhaps I'm just too ignorant to keep up with the world's developments. Even aliens have appeared. And the extremely advanced aerial battleship and those small aircraft mentioned in the telegram..."

"These aliens... their power is truly beyond imagination."

"Hmph... I guess even the most exaggerated fantasy writer would think that the existence of aliens with such advanced technology is ridiculous and unrealistic." The Duke of Normandy thought so after putting down the letter in his hand and rubbing his headache temple.

"And...you also said you'd be making a public visit to Albion soon?"

"These guys are a bit too bold...aren't they?"

"However... one person can easily take down hundreds of fully armed guards, and there is also the huge and terrifying aerial battleship mentioned here. If it is true, then the strength of these guys... may be beyond imagination..." The calculating Duke of Normandy is obviously very perceptive in this regard.

"But... a public visit to Albion... what exactly do they want to do with this opportunity?"

"It's impossible to overthrow the entire kingdom and the Republic at the same time, right?"

"Even if they have that kind of power, they shouldn't abuse it so much...right?" In the quiet office, the Duke of Normandy muttered to himself in an uncertain tone.

On the other side, on the Hundred-Armed Giant, Charlotte and the others who were still in the restaurant saw Anjie and the secretary who had left the restaurant not long ago return to the restaurant.

"Angel, are you ready?" Dorothy asked.

"Well, I've already contacted the Republic Control Room."

"So...what did you say?" Dorothy asked curiously.

"I just briefly described everything we saw here, except for the knowledge we learned that was too shocking."

"Huh? I thought they (Atlas) would restrict and screen our communications."

"Obviously not. The one called Yuki even said that the two radios are just there and can be used whenever we need them. She doesn't care if we contact the Republic and leak what's going on here to the Republic control room."

"After all, they let us wander around the ship freely. They're just saying, 'The technological gap is too great, so they don't care about intelligence and technology leaks.'"

"Because even if they knew the details of your technology, they wouldn't be able to reverse engineer it and manufacture it?" Dorothy continued Anjie.

"Speaking of which... I was curious a while ago and asked what the energy source of the giant aircraft at home was. That angel-like Aze was very generous and told me that the energy source of this giant aircraft was atomic energy."

"She said that atomic nuclei undergo fusion reactions under extreme pressure and temperature, releasing energy, and that the power source of this giant aircraft is a nuclear reactor built using this principle."

"But...are atoms really made up of a structure like the nucleus and electrons? I always thought it was just an unreliable scientific hypothesis."

"But what's even more interesting is that the angel lady also said that the nuclear reactor on the ship is the product of a controlled process. If this process is deliberately allowed to go out of control, it will create a super weapon far more powerful than an anti-gravity bomb."

"Oh...what is it?" Qianshi asked curiously.

"That angel lady showed me footage and data about this weapon. She explained that it can be broken down into many different categories, with significant differences in their principles and methods of use. However, they are all collectively referred to as... nuclear weapons."

"Nuclear weapons? Is that the name of that weapon?" Beat asked with curiosity.

"Well, that angel lady also showed me some video footage of this weapon. Remember the anti-gravity bomb? Just one anti-gravity bomb can destroy a battleship."

"And the destructive power and range of anti-gravity bombs are far less severe than those of nuclear bombs."

"In theory, a nuclear bomb with a large enough yield would be enough to completely wipe a city like London off the map." Dorothy recalled the video footage that Aze had shown her earlier and said with some lingering fear.

"Is this... so scary?" Beat asked with some stuttering.

"Well... I heard that the subsequent damage and impact caused by nuclear weapons are much more serious than anti-gravity bombs."

"And most importantly, that angel lady said that this giant aircraft we're on and the surrounding escort formations are actually loaded with a considerable number of nuclear weapons."

"Poof!!!" Beata, who was just about to take a sip of hot tea to comfort himself, was so shocked by what he heard that he spat out the tea that had already entered his mouth.

Note 1: Here Aze does deliberately exaggerate the power of nuclear weapons to scare people, but he is also right because the nuclear weapons of the protagonists in the book are actually quite different in principle from the nuclear weapons in reality.

In reality, nuclear weapons, especially hydrogen bombs, mainly use deuterium and tritium isotope materials for fusion. In addition, an atomic bomb is needed as an ignition trigger.

The nuclear weapons in the book mainly use the principles of deuterium-deuterium fusion or pure helium trimer fusion or even proton chain hydrogen-protium fusion. Later, there will even be a weird technology that creates extremely extreme temperatures and pressures to directly cause nitrogen and oxygen elements to fuse. The technical difficulty required for the fusion and the energy release level produced are not on the same order of magnitude as the nuclear weapons in reality. The destructive power and equivalent produced are far beyond the nuclear weapons in reality that use deuterium and tritium as the main nuclear fusion materials.

For example: the lowest-difficulty deuterium-tritium nuclear fusion reaction temperature is only 160 million degrees, the reaction temperature of deuterium-deuterium nuclear fusion must reach at least 900 million degrees, and the basic reaction temperature of hydrogen-hydrogen fusion needs to reach 10 billion degrees or above. Being able to create this temperature is already a technological level that is almost mythical. Nuclear weapons based on the deuterium-deuterium or even hydrogen-protium-hydrogen fusion principles and that do not require atomic bombs as triggers are a mythical-level technology that today's humans dare not even think about.

Chapter 83 Someone’s past dream?

"What! There are those dangerous nuclear weapons like the ones you mentioned on this ship?!" Beat asked loudly and excitedly, frightened to the point of spitting out the tea he had just drunk.

"Oh, don't be so excited. The angel lady also said that it's just like an anti-gravity bomb without a core detonator. When the trigger device inside the nuclear weapon is not activated, the nuclear weapon itself is just like an anti-gravity bomb without a core. It's just a piece of harmless heavy metal..." Dorothy comforted the emotional Beat.

"Even if you say so... but... staying on a ship with so many terrible bombs that can destroy an entire city is still a bit... hard to accept." Beat took out a tissue from the tissue box on the table and wiped the remaining tea from the corner of his mouth and said.

"I don't think you need to worry. The angel lady assured me that as long as the triggers of those nuclear weapons are not activated, they are even safer than many conventional explosives."

"You don't have to worry about that. After all, as long as it's not turned on, it's just a pile of harmless metal." Dorothy patted Beatrice on the shoulder to comfort him.

.........

In a bedroom used by the Hundred-Armed Giant, Aze gently placed the sleeping Mary on the mattress of a folding bed made of composite material and considerately covered her with a quilt.

"Can't you tell that you're pretty good at taking care of children?" Carlisle's voice came from the bedroom door. Aze turned around and looked at Carlisle who was leaning against the door frame. The other party looked at Aze who was taking care of the child with a playful look on her face.

"You said before that you didn't know how to take care of children? Now it seems that you are quite skilled, aren't you?" Carisi said with a smile, covering her mouth.

"I really can't. I can only take care of women of my age, or older women who are more dependent on me and lack the ability to take care of themselves."

"But you...um...are you sure?"

"I just applied my previous experience of taking care of women of the same age to Mary, but... it's unexpectedly suitable, isn't it?" Aze scratched the back of his head, saying that he didn't expect that his method would be so applicable to Mary.

"To be honest, I don't quite understand why my experience in caring for women my age and older sisters is so applicable to a child like Mary."

"Um... well... maybe it's because you have a high affinity? Your way of caring for people can turn girls of the same age or older sisters into useless people?"

"I'm not some useless person maker or some attentive mother figure. Your feelings are totally inconsistent with my style and personality, right?"

"Rather than being a caring mother, it's more fitting to describe you as a considerate lesbian wife, right?" Carisi teased humorously.

"Ah, married woman? Are there any?"

"In fact, from the beginning, everyone has always known you as a weak wife who is quite attractive to other women."

"Do I look that vulnerable?"

"Honestly…yes!"

"For example, whether you're with a girl your own age or an older sister a few years older than you, you're always the one who takes the initiative, right?"

"Uh...this...there's really no way to refute it?" Aze replied embarrassedly.

"And to be honest, I have no experience in this area, so I have no idea how to take care of a child. What's more, your experience in dating girls often makes us feel inferior."

"Don't make me sound like a scumbag, okay?" Aze retorted with some dissatisfaction.

"Uh...don't you count it?" Carlisle said helplessly.

"Forget it... Can we not dwell on this weird question for now?"

The old man passed away (8) and his wife wept

A moment later, the two came to the combat command room of the Hundred-Armed Titan, and Aze suddenly asked Carlisle something.

"By the way, Xixi, what is the current status of our nuclear weapons reserves?"

"Why are you asking about this suddenly?"

"Nothing. Dorothy just asked me what the most powerful weapon we have is, and I told her the truth."

"So, including the neutron bombs and low-yield hydrogen bombs on the Alicorn, what's the current status of our nuclear weapons stockpile?"

“嗯…我和结城之前从泰勒岛出发时,往百手巨人上塞了大概10吴亿泣玐疤陵熘吆发装载了W87热核弹头的V2弹道导弹、20枚基于氘氘聚变原理的氢弹弹头、5枚万吨级以下当量的中子弹头、还有5枚强化了放射性物质杀伤的三相弹。

Of course, if you are asking about the total reserves of all bombs that use the fusion principle, then you have to include the 25 improved SWBM shock wave ballistic missiles that can be directly stuffed into the vertical launch system of the Hundred-Handed Giant, and the LSWM long-range shock wave missile, which is a lightweight version of the SWBM. Each of our escort fighters carries two LSWMs. Including those in the Hundred-Handed Giant's ammunition depot, we still have at least more than 5,000 LSWM missiles in stock, which are nuclear weapons based on the principle of meson fusion.

"Our fleet currently carries approximately 5000 nuclear weapons, not counting the hundreds of small neutron warheads and low-capacity hydrogen bombs in the Alicorn's cargo hold."

"I understand...but...LSWMs and SWBMs are weapons based on the principles of cold fusion technology. Muon cold fusion is so powerful. Doesn't it feel a bit wasteful for us to use them like this?"

"I don't think so. Rather, although muon fusion is very difficult, its efficiency is truly surprising."

"For example, if all the energy facilities on Taylor Island were paralyzed, as long as the two remaining muon cold fusion reactors were still operational, the entire island could fully restore all its infrastructure within a week."

"The power generation capacity of cold fusion is even higher than I expected. This efficiency is quite surprising."

"But there are problems. The half-life of the muon is too short, often only 2.2 microseconds before it decays, making it almost impossible to use it under normal circumstances."

"So I think you should have noticed that there's a storage room in the ship's armory specifically marked as a high-performance freezer... That's right, that storage room is used to store muon fusion nuclear weapons like the LSWM and SWBM. The temperature of the entire storage room is lowered to 0 Kelvin, which is infinitely close to absolute zero. At the same time, the interior of those muon fusion weapons is also designed to store muons for a long time in a form similar to a particle accelerator. All of the muons are accelerated to near-relativistic speeds by the small particle accelerator inside to extend the muons' lifespan relative to the outside world."

"It has to be said that the method for producing ultra-relativistic electron beams is indeed very effective, and the same method can also be used to preserve muons."

"It's indeed a very good idea to accelerate microscopic particles with too short a half-life to a speed infinitely close to the speed of light to achieve long-term preservation." Calisi said with great pleasure.

"Speaking of which, over on the ground, Richard is secretly luring those overseas colonial troops from Britain to the mainland. They should be taking action soon, right?" Aze asked after yawning boredly.

"It seems so. According to the intelligence gathered by the drone, these guys will probably take action in three days and launch a military coup in the kingdom. Their plan seems to be to first control the Queen and the Duke of Normandy, release the imprisoned Richard, and establish a military dictatorship centered around Richard."

"I have to say, do these guys think they are all fools? They want to stage a military coup? They think they can rely on the military to rule and change the current situation in this country. But these idiots don't think about the consequences of the military government forcibly launching a military coup and taking power."

"Historically, the disastrous consequences of military coups and the establishment of military dictatorships are all fresh in our memory. If these guys who want to establish a military dictatorship were to come to power, I'm afraid the entire Albion would be plunged into a civil war or even into a repressive, authoritarian society even worse than that of a certain young general."

"If these guys were allowed to come to power, the vast majority of the kingdom's grassroots people, who already live in difficult circumstances, would be forced to go from barely getting by to a state worse than death."

"So, we have to hang this guy Richard on the pillar of shame in history, and at the same time help suppress this military coup."

"Although the Duke of Normandy controls all police and security forces throughout the kingdom, if they were to encounter regular troops, the security forces under his command would be no match for them."

"And up to this point, the Duke of Normandy remains quite confident. He clearly believes that as long as he can control Richard, the source of his unstable position, and detain him as a hostage, Richard's confidants and supporters will not dare to act rashly with their master being held hostage by his opponent."

"But his thinking is a bit too simplistic. Even if Richard's supporters and confidants lose Richard's direct leadership and orders, they will definitely not give up the opportunity to launch a military coup and directly seize control of the kingdom."

"Rather, because Richard was arrested and held hostage at the Normandy School, it will only make Richard's close supporters more anxious, and further accelerate their plans to launch a coup." Carlisle counted on her fingers and summarized one by one.

"So, how do you plan to put an end to this military coup? Just crush it with a torrent of steel?" Aze asked Calisi, who was thinking with her head down.

"No... Although overwhelming them with sheer force is indeed the simplest solution, it would also cause some unforeseen negative consequences. Overwhelming them with sheer force is clearly not the optimal solution."

"Since this coup was launched by Richard's trusted subordinates, the most effective method in this situation is obviously a decapitation strike!" Carlisle said, using her left hand like a knife to gently chop the table in front of her.

"According to the intelligence our drones have gathered so far, if those troops wanted to launch a sufficiently swift military coup, they wouldn't be able to mobilize heavy weaponry on a large scale. This is undoubtedly their greatest weakness. Dealing with a force like this, which likely doesn't even carry heavy weapons, is incredibly easy for us. All we need is a single, accurately guided weapon or a drone to launch a decapitation strike close to the enemy, and we can put an end to this military coup at the lowest possible cost."

Kalisi created a small flame in her hand and extinguished it with ease.

At this time, there were still three days before Prince Richard's trusted subordinates and supporters secretly gathered the last batch of troops that had not yet arrived in the kingdom and launched a military coup.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, on Taylor Island, Renlong's right hand brushed the smooth, transparent spherical cockpit of the anti-gravity attack helicopter. She was thinking about something that had interested her and Kalisi for some time in the past: space.

"If I remember correctly, this thing should have the ability to fly directly outside the atmosphere at speeds exceeding the first cosmic velocity, right?"

"Come to think of it, you are probably the only one among the four of you who has never ridden in this kind of anti-gravity helicopter." Cabot said to Renlong who was touching the anti-gravity helicopter not far away while lying on a lounge chair on the lawn.

"I know, and it's obvious that someone's poor driving skills obviously didn't leave a good impression on the passenger in the co-pilot seat?" Recalling Yuki's previous complaints, it was obvious that Carlisle's flying experience had left a huge psychological shadow on her.

"Actually, this thing is used as an anti-gravity attack helicopter, but that's just a dual purpose. If we only look at its original usage and design goals, it's actually a small space-to-ground shuttle for two people."

"A small shuttle capable of carrying two people and a small amount of portable items into space, reaching a speed of over 7.9 kilometers per second, exceeding the first cosmic velocity. It can, after entering space on its own, rely on its own propulsion to fly directly to a 36000-kilometer synchronous orbit."

"As a two-person shuttle, it can be said to be quite excellent, isn't it?" Cabot, who was wearing casual sunglasses, asked slowly.

"And those two anti-gravity engines give it nearly infinite v in space. As long as there's enough time, it could easily fly to Mars alone. But nobody usually does that."

"Cabot, I'm planning to go to outer space. Can you help me look for the next home?" Renlong suddenly said.

"No problem, but are you remembering any childhood wish?" Cabot stared at Renlong.

"Not really. It's not really a childhood dream. It's just something that Carissa and I were particularly passionate about for a while."

"During that time, both Khaleesi and I were particularly interested in space exploration and civilian space travel. Just like our curiosity, we were deeply attracted to the sky above our heads during that period. Since coming to this world, I almost forgot that there was such a period in the past."

"So I want to try to go to space and take a look, and experience the feeling of weightlessness." Renlong turned his head and looked at Cabot with a firm and serious expression.