Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 316 Drone Reconnaissance
That night, the Pansy sailed into the deep sea and began intensive sea trials: comprehensive power system testing, maximum speed testing, and ship maneuverability testing.

Both the bridge crew and the engine room crew were completely unfamiliar with this new propulsion and control system. The mechanical system was undergoing a break-in period, and the operators were gradually becoming familiar with it through practice.

In contrast, the experienced power unit operator Fuyin became the most stable and reliable among them.

Fortunately, the sea is vast, providing ample room for error, so the ship is unlikely to capsize. Minor equipment damage is a minor issue that can be easily resolved with the endless supply of spare parts available on Earth.

Each team member made rapid progress through practical operation. Problems exposed in the hardware system were also addressed one by one under the remote guidance of the Earth Technology Team.

Su Ming was busy for the first half of the night, and he was only able to go to sleep when Zi Jin and Bei Anqi came to take over in the second half.

****
The following morning, the bridge initiated the inertial test according to the pre-arranged procedure: the main engine stopped, the Pansy's gliding distance and gliding time were tested, and the corresponding speed decay curve was recorded.

During the test, the bridge crew discovered that the ship's load was not balanced, causing the ship to deflect significantly when it was gliding without power.

They immediately set about repairing the ballast water tank system and adjusting the load.

This was followed by a turning test to assess the Pansy's actual turning capabilities at different speeds. This fundamental data is crucial for understanding the ship's handling characteristics.

The selected students are all excellent in mathematics and physics. They can grasp the relevant concepts quickly and combine them with existing knowledge of navigation and ships in the other world to understand them.

Su Ming stopped intervening directly and began working on another matter: deploying the Rainbow-1 drone.

Today's weather conditions are quite ideal, with good cloud thickness and moderate altitude, making it perfect for carrying out covert reconnaissance above the clouds.

After optimization and adjustments, the takeoff distance from the land runway of Rainbow-1 has been shortened to just over 100 meters—but the current Pansy-class aircraft clearly does not have such a long flight deck.

However, this was nothing. Su Ming summoned several students skilled in wind magic, and they used the lift generated by the magic to blow Rainbow One directly into the sky.

"That 'giant kite' is awesome!" Several students exclaimed excitedly as Rainbow One soared higher and higher, eventually disappearing into the clouds. "Our leader really knows how to do it!"

Su Ming didn't hear that, otherwise the damage control team would have needed a few more members. He climbed to the highest cabin on the Pansy, and on the observation platform, deployed the drone image transmission terminal. The screen quickly lit up, showing that Rainbow One had climbed above the clouds.

In stark contrast to the gloomy sea below, the sun shone brightly above the clouds, casting a clear blue sky and golden rays that bathed the wings of the aircraft.

Compared to the complex air currents of the Dome Mountains, the wind direction and force here are stable, making drone control quite easy. After setting up the inertial navigation system, Su Ming directed Rainbow One to fly autonomously towards the sea area where the Light Fleet was located.

Su Ming activated the radar on the drone.

Because of the cloud cover, this radar was equipped with a microwave band. However, the electromagnetic waves still suffer from significant signal attenuation as they penetrate the clouds to illuminate the target and then travel back up to be received.

In addition, the inherent resolution limitations of microwave radar, and the fact that the main body of the otherworldly fleet is made of non-metallic materials, resulted in the radar's original signal interface in front of Su Ming being filled with noise, making the effect extremely poor.

Fortunately, the enemy fleet's course was roughly known. Su Ming intermittently activated the radar scan at intervals, and finally captured a definite echo signal at a distance of about 20 kilometers from the target fleet.

Su Ming adjusted the drone's flight path, maintaining an altitude of four thousand meters, and flew directly over the enemy fleet.

"Uniform speed straight-line flight mode!"

Su Ming switched the Rainbow UAV's trajectory management system, and with the assistance of the high-precision inertial navigation system, the UAV quickly entered and stabilized on a straight, predetermined flight path.

The radar pod equipment is secured and unlocked, and the antenna stabilization platform begins operation to ensure absolute accuracy in radar beam pointing.

"SAR Synthetic Aperture Radar, activate!"

Synthetic aperture radar, also a microwave signal, is subject to attenuation as it penetrates clouds.

However, relying on modern information technology and powerful signal processing capabilities, the system is able to extract and reconstruct valid information from severely attenuated echoes.

This is the main application scenario of SAR technology.

Soon, Su Ming obtained a synthetic aperture radar image of the sea surface area with an accuracy of about one meter. The positions and outlines of the eleven main warships were clearly distinguishable in the image.

Although meter-level resolution cannot display more details, it is sufficient to distinguish different ship types.

Su Ming continued to track for about half an hour, collecting navigational data such as the speed and course of each ship in the fleet, before maneuvering Rainbow One to turn around and return to port.

As the drone moved away from the target area, Su Ming's tense nerves relaxed—the enemy had not detected his reconnaissance operation through the thick clouds.

****
On the deck of the "Azure Sea Valley", the massive body of the Silver Dragon Silver Two was bathed in the biting sea breeze.

Although the lower deck was warm, it felt suffocating, like being stuffed with wet cotton, so he preferred to stay on the deck and enjoy the breeze.

For a dragon accustomed to its spacious lair and solitary existence, being trapped in this floating cage was extremely agonizing.

But compared to that, the bone-chilling cold was even more detestable to them. They had no choice but to endure the stifling atmosphere in the lower deck, curling up and falling asleep.

This is exactly what dragons excel at!

A heavy scraping sound came from the deck, and two more silver dragons climbed aboard. Yin Er looked up and recognized them as the two kin from yesterday's ambush of the winged scouts. "What's wrong?" Yin Er asked in a low voice.

"It itches." The two silver dragons each found a mast on the deck and rubbed their massive bodies against it. The hard dragon scales scraped against the wooden mast, sending wood chips flying and causing the sails to shake violently.

Upon seeing this, the first mate on duty hurriedly stepped forward and led them to the bulkhead on the outside of the ship, which was covered with thick iron sheets. "Please stay here and ease your discomfort!" he said respectfully.

The two silver dragons then began to rub against the sheet metal.

"It's caused by the salt in the sea," Yin Er analyzed. Yesterday, the two silver dragons had been soaking in the cold seawater for quite a while.

“I think so too, it should be fine if we just bear with it,” the other dragon replied in a deep voice. “It’s just that we’ve been tossing and turning in the lower deck, scratching ourselves and itching, which has been a bit of a disturbance to everyone’s peace and quiet.”

The fleet continued its northward journey, and the sudden change in weather intensified the biting chill. The two silver dragons, feeling the cold, had no choice but to lower their heads and return to the lower deck.

Yin Er let out a sigh, his breath condensing into white mist in the cold air.

Dragons possess powerful scales, making them formidable defenders. However, substances like salt can always seep in through the gaps in their scales, causing itching. This is extremely torturous for dragons, especially with the thick scales providing cover, making scratching itself incredibly inconvenient.

Therefore, compared to the pain of amputation or toothache, what dragons least want is to suffer from a skin disease.

Now, surrounded by the sea, a thorough bath is a pipe dream. Moreover, securing drinking water is already difficult enough; if precious fresh water were to be used for the dragons' bathing, the quartermasters in charge of logistics would probably jump into the sea on the spot.

Yin Er suddenly raised its dragon head and looked up, carefully sensing the subtle movements in the sky.

"What could fly to such a height?" he murmured in confusion, his furrowed brows standing out starkly against the massive dragon head.

He quickly estimated the target's altitude and the limits of his own hang time and attack range, and then concluded that he was out of reach.

Yin Er's gaze swept over General Theodore, who was wrapped in a thick fur coat on the bridge, and he understood: even he himself was helpless, let alone these insignificant humans.

Since that's the case, saying it out loud would only make things more awkward, so it's better to remain silent.

He composed himself and laid his massive body back down on the cold deck, letting the sea breeze caress his scales.

****
Rainbow One encountered trouble during landing. The magical arresting device designed by the deck team was ineffective, and the drone crashed straight into the rear buffer frame.

The damage wasn't too serious, and Su Ming immediately used magic to make the drone look brand new.

The students watching cheered and applauded.

Su Ming clapped his hands, straightened his back, and calmly left. No one noticed that the Rainbow No. 1 banner had been changed to Rainbow No. 2.

[Su Ming, ten million is gone.] On Earth, Miao Xin rested her chin on her hand, watching the staff begin cleaning up the debris on the ground.

This is not the skeleton version used for previous flight training, but a complete operational model equipped with all accessories and reconnaissance equipment.

Ten million, and that's still the internal cost price.

"I haven't charged them for the endorsement yet," Su Ming replied.

Su Ming called in the engineer in charge of the drones, and while analyzing the reconnaissance data, he also provided feedback on his user experience.

"It seems we need to use a frequency-tunable radar antenna," the engineers discussed. "That way, we can switch operating frequencies at any time to deal with different situations."

"No, you have too many good things, and I can't keep up with the collection of materials here," Su Ming sighed.

The engineer didn't understand, so Su Ming explained, "You can think of it as 'import controls'."

Due to confidentiality requirements, only the person in charge knew the true situation. The other technical staff only knew that they had to unconditionally meet all of the client's demands.

The engineers nodded in understanding. The aircraft clearly had a special purpose, and according to protocol, they couldn't ask further questions.

"So, are there any other aspects that are not working smoothly?" another engineer asked.

“Yes, when I landed on the deck, a bunch of stall and touchdown warnings popped up,” Su Ming replied. “Can these be turned off?”

“Miss Jiang,” the engineers exchanged glances, “our model isn’t a carrier-based version—should we get you the 7th generation model?”

"Don't change it," Su Ming refused. "This one is fine; it can land on the ship."

With the help of magic, and after some more practice, landing should still be possible. Su Ming didn't plan to change aircraft at this time; he had finally become proficient at piloting this model.

“…Okay, we’ll fix it right away!” the engineers said helplessly.

(End of this chapter)