"It can even do its own repairs?" a high-elf councilor said, greatly startled.
That the inside of such an interstellar warship could actually repair the interstellar warships it carried: this was rather too complete a set of functions.
"How is it I don't see a single person here?" someone suddenly noticed that there was not a soul to be seen in this compartment.
"Because it uses a fully intelligent system here, which needs no staff at all. These interstellar interceptors are all unmanned interstellar warships too. And these interstellar interceptors are controlled from another compartment, a department dedicated to control and command," Major General Wang Min, the captain, explained beside them.
After this explanation, everyone more or less understood what was going on.
Full automation like this was truly frightening.
"Wait. You install artificial intelligence like this; doesn't your Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire have a ban on such things?" someone suddenly thought of something.
To coordinate and command three thousand interstellar interceptors,[1] even with people still at the controls behind them, the programs in between must be frighteningly intelligent.
"Among our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's civilians, there is indeed such a rule. As for our Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's own defense industry…" Major General Wang Min, the captain, smiled faintly and said no more.
But the meaning in her words was plain.
We forbid those below to research and use it, but we never said we ourselves couldn't research and use it.
Hearing these words, many high-elf councilors present changed their look slightly.
For they were still very wary of advanced artificial intelligence.
On their own interstellar warships they kept it under restrictions as well.
The convenience of artificial intelligence was marked on every side, but it was a double-edged sword, and they did not dare bear the risk behind it.
After all, a machine crisis was no joke; nearly every interstellar civilization, once its artificial intelligence developed to a certain degree, could hardly avoid running into this problem.
Handled badly, it would bring a storm of blood upon one's own universe.
And the best way to avoid it was never to open this Pandora's box.
But everyone knew very well too that putting artificial intelligence into interstellar warships could greatly raise fighting efficiency.
In efficiency, artificial intelligence was beyond compare with any carbon-based life.
The Emerald Elf King stroked his chin now and said thoughtfully, "In fact I wanted long ago to use more artificial intelligence, but some old fossils, some old sticklers, simply wouldn't agree. I don't deny there's risk in it, but if you want stronger fighting power, you have to bear risk. There's nothing in this world where you can bear no risk and still get something for nothing. A pack of blockheads."
While the Emerald Elf King was cursing, the faces of several high-elf councilors behind him did not look quite right.
For the blockheads the Emerald Elf King was cursing might include them.
When they had toured this section, they went on to the next.
And the next section was more startling still, for the sight made one's back prickle a little.
For in compartments, one after another, built like an insect hive, one could see interstellar drones huddled together, rank on rank.
They were packed so thickly that one's scalp prickled just to see them.
So dense that they made all but perfect use of every inch of space.
Anyone paying a little attention would find that the structure here closely imitated hive-race technology.
"Here are the Bronze-Scarab-type interstellar drones our Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought carries. When there's fighting to do, we can throw out these honeycomb-like frames directly, and in an instant release every Bronze-Scarab-type interstellar drone loaded inside," Major General Wang Min, the captain, explained.
"So many… and T6-grade at that."
"I'd heard before that in fighting the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's legion fleets, you can forget about having interstellar air superiority. Now it looks as if it's really so. This isn't a carrier starship, only an ordinary interstellar warship, and it actually carries this many interstellar drone swarms!"
"What's that special thing over there?"
Just then someone noticed a special piece of equipment in the distance, very huge, more huge than the honeycombs that held the interstellar drones.
"That's our Bronze-Scarab-type interstellar drone production line. So long as there's enough resource supply, this Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought of ours can produce the Bronze-Scarab-type interstellar drones it needs by itself," Major General Wang Min, the captain, explained again.
"Produce them by itself? Heavens. Does this Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought of yours mean to take every job onto itself? Storing so many interstellar drones, and able to make them itself besides," a high-elf councilor said with a sigh.
Interstellar drones, which elsewhere were consumables, were consumables on this Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought too, but here the consumables could be produced while it fought you.
Tell me that isn't strong.
That is, in battle, so long as this interstellar warship had enough raw materials aboard, or a few interstellar supply ships followed it,
this interstellar warship could produce interstellar drones without end, and so make good in battle what the interstellar drone swarms used up in battle.
It was a small interstellar drone home port!
"Further on is our flight-control department's compartment," Major General Wang Min, the captain, said, and looked at the Flame Elf Queen. "Lady Elf Queen. This time we've brought only a hundred pilots for controlling drones. But we'll be responsible for training; in about a month we can train enough pilots to operate these interstellar drones."
Hearing this Owl Dragon general's words,
the high-elf councilors around showed startled looks.
They had never imagined the Owl Dragon Emperor trusted the Flame Elf Queen so much that he had sent people expressly to pass on the piloting skills.
It was no top-level secret, but to pass on the skills so frankly was enough to show that the Owl Dragon Emperor and the Flame Elf Queen were on no slight terms!
"Very well. On my side I'll provide every resource and every person you want," the Flame Elf Queen said calmly.
"Um…" a high-elf councilor raised his hand now and asked, "Your Excellency the Captain, shouldn't the location of such a department be a closely kept secret? Telling me so directly, aren't you afraid of leaking secrets?"
Major General Wang Min, the captain, smiled faintly, then explained, "We're not worried about that at all. First, while on a mission this flight-control group's compartment is completely sealed off from the outside; it communicates only with the bridge, and everything else it needs can be done inside this compartment. And the walls surrounding this compartment all use hull armor of the highest grade; you could say they're very solid indeed. They're of the same defensive grade as this ship's bridge. So if the enemy wanted to attack this flight-control compartment, they'd first have to break into the hull of the Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought and then break into this compartment. If they could really do that, they could simply destroy this interstellar warship outright; why bother hunting for an interstellar drone control compartment?"
Hearing this explanation, everyone suddenly understood.
So that was it; Major General Wang Min's explanation made sense too: with that much firepower, one could take the bridge outright; who would go to such lengths to take a flight-control department?
After that they went on down.
This time it was what was overhead that they saw.
Overhead appeared interstellar missiles hanging, one after another.
Every interstellar missile was enormous; though they only stood there silently, the feeling they gave was very heavy,
as if mountain upon mountain pressed down on one's head until one could not breathe.
Everyone knew the Owl Dragon legion fleets' style of fighting:
blanket strikes with interstellar missile fire.
If the Owl Dragon legion fleets had any labels, the first of them was beyond doubt "firepower maniacs."
It was said that if you meant to take on the Owl Dragon legion fleets, you had first to be ready to face the Owl Dragon legion fleets' terrifying attack of interstellar missiles.
That was no petty skirmishing like an ordinary civilization's fleets; it was interstellar missiles blotting out the sky, interstellar missiles like a meteor shower.
An ordinary interstellar legion fleet that took one round of such a saturation strike of interstellar missiles had, by and large, lost its fighting power.
Only an opponent of the Devourer Civilization's rank could still fight after weathering the Owl Dragon legion fleets' fire.
"Major General, may I ask something? This interstellar warship… carries interstellar missiles too, does it?" a high-elf councilor could not help asking.
"Yes." Major General Wang Min, the captain, nodded frankly.
"Then… may I ask how many?" the high-elf councilor asked tentatively.
"This Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought has a hundred interstellar missile launch units, holding thirty thousand quasi-T7-grade standard medium-range interstellar missiles." Major General Wang Min, the captain, hid nothing, but reeled off the figures outright.
These figures were no secret either.
This Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnought had appeared on the Devourer Civilization's interstellar battlefields several times long since, and there were records of many clashes.
On the Devourer Civilization's side, they had long since gone over every weapon this interstellar warship carried.
The Holy Elf Empire had planted undercover spies with the Devourer Civilization too; to get to the bottom of this intelligence would only take a little effort.
So it was better to tell them frankly now.
It would show off the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's present military strength as well.