Chapter 1489
Chapter 1489 - 1485 Large Purchase Order
1,431 words
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8 min read
"How’s the battle going?"
"I don’t know, but our business is doing very well, so the battle must be alright."
Merchant Ship Ping’an, the flagship of the Rebirth Commerce, is also the largest of the second generation Ark Class.
Redemption, also known as Guan Xinxian’s Little Sang, as part of him, also entered a Divine Sleep and became "hidden" along with him.
With the expansion of Rebirth Commerce’s major trade routes, the demand for ships has also increased significantly... In this regard, Lu did not actually have an advantage. Lin Nu’s other branches invested more, had more accumulated technology, and started research and development earlier; now the Eastern Country is buying shipbuilding technology from them.
But on Lu Ping’an’s side, there was the "Magic Plants Industry"... Since the Ark had not only proven to be reliable but also had its production and quality doubled as it became recognized worldwide (chosen by the God of Redemption) along with "Lamp Tree" and "Fusang Tree," the second and third batches of ships all chose Fusang Tree Arks.
Their speed was average, but their carrying capacity was astonishing, and as living entities, not only could they carry magic plant armaments, but their fuel consumption was minimal, allowing for remarkably long sustenance of navigation routes; they were considered one of the specialties of the Redemption Chamber of Commerce.
Also, due to the existence of Redemption, which in some sense bore the concept of "Ark" in this world, it gave its fellows, especially its successors, the traits of "ships," greatly enhancing this aspect.
"It seems like we need to order some warships."
Back on the deck, Lu Ping’an began to complain that his "ship" wasn’t powerful enough.
𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖
Regarding merchant and transport vessels, the Ark series was almost perfect — high capacity, high endurance, low consumption, in addition to the high defense and regeneration abilities of biological warships... Most importantly, they were extremely cost-effective as they didn’t require a lot of steel and special machinery.
But now, seeing the other highly effective warships on the battlefield, Lu Ping’an knew it was necessary to spend money.
"Maybe wait two years for the Official military ships to be ready... it’s too late, better to place an order with Lin Nu. But now, probably the whole world knows war is coming, and even with money, you can’t buy warships. Tsk, must I really waste my connections..."
If it were the old Lu, not the small fry as before, in most cases, his "connections" could directly decide the rise or fall, extinction... At this stage, he became even more cautious; high-level professionals also mingled for connections, and for such a "small matter," owing favors really wasn’t worth it.
"Lu Ping’an, perhaps I can help you replicate, although I’m not sure I can achieve the most elite standard, I’m confident I can reach sixty to seventy percent of the level with half the purchase cost..."
When Fang Wen volunteered at this moment, Lu Ping’an pondered for a while but eventually shook his head.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her ability, but turning some big shots against him over this issue, ultimately leading to a world-scale trade war, would be stupid.
In a way, all the big shots with territories and industries were like the financial magnates and cross-industry conglomerates of Lu Ping’an’s previous era.
Their scale was so extensive, they were generally like comprehensive technology reserve vaults; there might be strengths and weaknesses, but there was no reason they couldn’t produce some middle-low tier products.
Picking points from the Tech Tree didn’t lead directly to results; there were a lot of by-products in the process.
For instance, a company specializing in high-end optical lenses and cameras; their technology could easily produce middle-low tier photolithography machines, but after calculating the cost and potential industrial competition, there really was no need to compete with another company’s main industry.
This was the sharing of modern world-class industrial chains... cough, industrial division of labor. Everyone got a piece and focused on high profits, no need to stir up overall business competition for a bit of extra gain.
And the premise here, clearly, was the era where "capital" and "interest" ruled; after the Eastern Country officials arrived, whether they would intervene or change anything, Lu Ping’an wasn’t sure.
But now, it was better to adapt to the needs of the era.
"Place the order, send a batch to Old Zhao—one aircraft carrier, three destroyers, ten underwater vessels, and let them match the accompanying ships themselves.... Tell them to deliver within six months, and I’ll owe him a favor."
Lu Ping’an had not expected the war to come so quickly and fiercely, nor had he expected the Octopus Race to be the opponent.
After all, surface warfare and underwater combat are entirely different concepts. Even with the Divine Grace of Underwater Breathing, the ability of human strongmen to perform underwater is quite limited.
This was not simply about decreasing effectiveness but about why one would venture into dangerous areas when you can only unleash thirty to forty percent of your combat power while your opponent can achieve one hundred and twenty percent.
"I thought our opponents would be the Abyssal Insect Race or the Lava Clan..."
The reason was nothing else but great size and sufficient interests.... You are not an aquatic tribe, why dive into the sea to compete for territory.
But now, when fighting the Octopus Sea Tribe had become a political task, part of a strategic figure’s role, considering whom to fight was meaningless—how to accomplish the mission was key.
"Let’s first complete the underwater vessels..."
Even for Lu Ping’an, underwater combat was still quite terrible.
Besides the disorientation from all directions, there was more of an "isolation" feeling after diving... Being surrounded, cut off, and unable to find supply points was the norm, which could make even strongmen die a frustrating death in the deep sea, let alone middle-low tier professionals.
Most enemies and spatial rifts were deep in the sea, so diving was inevitable, but the deeper one went, the more pressure the team faced.
Defeat wasn’t scary, but being scattered and lost under the sea was a disastrous outcome.
From the accumulated experiences over the years, what was needed at this time was an underwater combat platform.
With enough underwater vessels and the Divine Grace of Underwater Breathing, the combat would not be guerrilla warfare from all sides, but a steady push of the front line... With this rhythm and style of fighting, it would return to the tactical system familiar to the Easterners.
No matter from which direction the enemy comes, I’ll slowly advance with heavy machinery, underwater vessels, and infantry.
Although it is a crude replica of land-based infantry and tank tactics, it was proven effective in past wars, so there was no reason not to continue.
This was why in Lu Ping’an’s procurement list, underwater vessels and machinery were the main focus, while the usually prioritized surface ships were only slightly purchased.... Most battles were destined for the deep sea, and the surface, due to the presence of our own Air Force’s superiority, truly wasn’t important.
Lu Ping’an didn’t buy too much, his plan was to first use this batch of purchases, and once the shipbuilding technology of the Eastern Country improved, he would directly buy from the military.... From his past experience, that stuff was definitely much better than private offerings, possibly getting several times the performance for half the price, and all of it would be products of the Eastern military, convenient for real combat cooperation.
Moreover, private companies had a fault—if the customers weren’t fussy, they wouldn’t continuously upgrade their main products. Lu Ping’an was actually not satisfied with the performance of these "warships"; he was still waiting for the official to assimilate the technology and release the next generation.
For now, enough was enough.... and his task here was mainly to set up trade routes and frontline bases, nobody expected this "treasure" to go to the front lines.
Theoretically, he didn’t even need to come to the battlefield, but since he was here, he naturally wanted to taste the flavor of sea combat.
Like him, many powers and strongmen were adjusting, correcting, and increasing their survival rates in deep-sea combat as they faced the gradually unfolding world war.
— End of Chapter 1489 —