My health recovery is incredibly fast.

How are supercavitation bubbles formed?

Xia Zuo knew the answer: simply design the bullet to resemble a long rod-shaped projectile and engrave specific patterns on it.

but…

How do you explain physical phenomena in the scientific field to a group of alchemists?

Alchemy and science are two completely different systems; the former is based on the four elements, while the latter is based on the observation of physical and chemical phenomena.

If Xia Zuo really wants to explain the principle of bullets underwater in its entirety, then he would have to prepare a great deal of experimental records as supporting evidence.

Xia Zuo didn't intend to do that. The more he did, the more likely he was to make mistakes. Besides, all the team members were talented, observant, and quick-witted, making it easy for them to discover Xia Zuo's unusual behavior.

Xia Zuo thought of another way.

This is a world where monsters exist.

The natural law of survival of the fittest is an ironclad rule in the deep-sea environment.

Could there be deep-sea monsters that have evolved to resemble long-barreled bullets?

While browsing through Hillenburg's encyclopedia of marine monsters, Xia Zuo discovered a very interesting marine monster.

Hillenburg named it the "Flying Sea Hare".

Sea hares, also known as sea slugs, are neither rabbits nor slugs, but rather a type of sea snail with an internal shell.

It gets its name from its pure white appearance under alchemical lamps and its antennae that resemble rabbit ears.

Sea hares have a unique structure; their shell is inside their bodies, while the outside is a soft body.

Hillenburg failed to capture the Flying Gyro, because this monster would choose to attack its enemies by committing suicide.

They inflate their bodies and then eject their inner shells.

After being fired, the inner shell either collides with the target and turns into debris, or it is crushed by water pressure after reaching its maximum range.

In short, Hillenburg was unable to obtain experimental samples of the flying sea hare, nor did he collect the inner shell that could be crushed by water pressure but was also highly lethal.

However, after being attacked by the flying sea hare many times, Hillenburg managed to observe the shape of the inner shell using the "Eye of Kolas" meditation method and drew a simple line drawing in his notebook.

The inner shell's appearance is exactly similar to that of a long-barreled bullet.

When Xia Zuo placed the page about the sea hare's inner shell in front of Hillenburg, the bespectacled team leader pondered for a moment before suddenly realizing what he had just learned.

"Oh, I remember now. Encountering this kind of monster was a long, long time ago. Back then, I was the only one in the group."

Hillenburg recalled:

"I piloted the diving chamber alone to a place 70 kilometers south of the sea castle, intending to collect some experimental samples of the demonized starfish."

"During those days underwater, the diving chamber was nearly shattered several times by the inner shell launched by the Flying Slug."

"At the time, I was very confused as to why this inner shell, which would be crushed by water pressure, could cause such great damage to the hard outer shell of the diving chamber..."

Hillenburg frowned. This perplexing question had been pushed into a corner by his busy work life, and he hadn't had time to study it properly.

Now that Xia Zuo has brought it up, he also feels that this matter is worth studying.

But... is there enough time...?

There were no experimental samples of the face-flying sea slug within the group...

Chapter 73 Supercavitation

“Xia Zuo…” Hillenburg said thoughtfully:

"You mean we should take some time to study the inner shell of the flying sea hare, right?"

"The inner shell may possess some unknown special abilities or be enhanced by some kind of magic, which is why it can damage the hard diving chamber."

"But the duration of this destructive force was obviously quite short. In my memory, from the time the Flying Shuttle Sea Hare launched its inner shell to the time the inner shell was crushed by the water pressure, it only lasted about one or two seconds..."

As Xia Zuo predicted, the natives of this world, when faced with unknown events, always react by associating them with mutations, magic, and the like.

This approach is not problematic, and it leads to the same conclusion as scientific research methods, both of which will eventually discover the existence of supercavitation.

Xia Zuo copied the answers to the homework from his experience visiting a military museum in his previous life.

Now, he wants to help the research team skip that tedious research process.

Hillenburg's tone held a hint of regret. "We may not have time to catch any live sea hares right now, Shazo, I hope you can understand. But I promise, if we have some extra time before the deadline, I'll take you to the sea hare's habitat."

“Thank you for your support, team leader.” Xia Zuo smiled and nodded in response. “I think the situation may not be as complicated as we thought. After combining some cases shared by other alchemists, I discovered something very interesting, which may be the key to unlocking the source of the destructive force of the inner shell.”

Hillenburg became interested, pushed up his glasses, and asked, "Oh? What's that?"

The other members also looked at the only poison alchemist in the group. His alchemical attitude, perfect alchemical quality, and extremely high alchemical efficiency made his words very authoritative... even though he was still a relatively inexperienced member.

"Team leader, let's do a very simple experiment. I'll show you the answer directly with the results," Xia Zuo suggested.

"Okay, what do you need?"

“I need a regular metal bullet enchanted with the [Water Pressure Control] magic circle. The bullet should look like this.” Xia Zuo took out a pre-drawn design of a long-handled bullet. He designed it based on the inner shell of the sea hare, without copying the style of the long-handled bullet from his previous life.

"If this bullet is fired in a lightless environment, I estimate that the power of the [Water Pressure Guiding] spell array will only need to be 30 points, and the initial flight speed of the bullet must be no less than 50 meters per second."

The Water Pressure Relief spell requires the [Relief] trait to cast.

After this spell is cast on an object, a portion of the pressure on its front will be diverted to its back, offsetting the pressure on the back.

Each point of spell power invested will relieve 1% of the pressure.

100 points of power can make an object completely unaffected by pressure.

Its principle is relatively simple, but its actual application is very complex.

First, humans and other things from the Earth's surface live in an environment with an atmospheric pressure of 1 atmosphere.

When releasing the water pressure, you cannot use 100 points of power, because this will put people in an environment with 0 atmospheres of pressure.

The exact amount of power required needs to be calculated by incorporating water pressure into the formula, ultimately ensuring that the recipient experiences approximately one atmosphere of pressure.

Second, the energy consumed by casting spells is related to the surface area of ​​the recipient's body, but it is not a simple linear relationship, because the recipient is not static, but in motion, and the surface area of ​​the body will change accordingly.

For the two reasons mentioned above, it is rare for a spellcaster to apply [water pressure] to a target through spellcasting.

In most cases, the spell array set up by the Tower Scholars will be used to enchant the target.

The magic circle contains formulas and parameters set by the tower scholars, essentially a program without bugs.

Users only need to inject enough energy into it for the magic circle to function properly.

Enchanting items with a [Water Pressure Relief] spell has become a standard practice in underwater research.

Hillenburg was extremely familiar with this magic circle. He quickly did some mental calculations, then rubbed his chin and asked:

"Are you sure? 30 points of power... those bullets would be crushed by water pressure almost instantly... Oh... oh... my God..."

Hillenburg suddenly shuddered, pressed his hands to his head, and stared blankly at Xia Zuo. "You're a genius, Xia Zuo. I get it, I know what's going on! Guys, we're going to be rich!!"

Hillenburg stood up excitedly, his body trembling slightly. "Quickly, Allen, Mars, take Xia Zuo's design drawings and go refine these bullets. Remember, use only ordinary metal materials, and make the magic array power 30 points."

The team members witnessed the team leader's fanaticism; he seemed to have fallen into some kind of manic state, pacing back and forth around the conference table.

"So that's how it is, so that's how it is... It was the pressure that tore apart the walls of the diving chamber, that's right! It was the pressure! The inner shell of the Flying Shuttle Sea Hare has a special shape, which generates a series of bubbles during launch, and these bubbles are the key."

Hillenburg abruptly stopped and said to Danielle, "Daniel, prepare the detection array. We need to accurately measure the pressure inside the bubble."

“Okay, team leader, I’ll go right away.” Danielle deftly picked up the document in front of her and followed Mars and Allen out of the conference room.

Hillenburg, beaming, punched Huberon on the shoulder. "In the marine environment, the best weapon has always been right in front of us, yet we've consistently overlooked it, Huberon. Water pressure is the best weapon! Everyone fears it, everyone avoids it. So why don't we eliminate the enemy's means of resisting water pressure and crush them under it?"

Huberon stared intently at the simple sketch of the sea hare's inner shell, seemingly deep in thought.

As the group's weapon alchemist, whose specialty is combat, he may have seen more than the other members.

Hillenburg walked to the other end of the conference table, put his hands on Shazo's shoulders, and said, "Well done, Shazo! You've been a great help this time! We almost missed out on this mystery."

Xia Zuo smiled modestly... inwardly marveling at how the other person truly deserved to be a highly skilled alchemist... understanding things instantly and possessing astonishing comprehension.

That's often how it is; a puzzle that has puzzled you for a long time can be solved with just a single sentence from someone else...

As long as Xia Zuo gives the research team the right research direction, all the subsequent research work will be done by others.

He didn't even need to explain why he used a low-powered [water pressure channeling] magic circle, why he didn't use enchanted metal materials, or why those bubbles, despite having very low pressure, could protect the bullets and cause massive damage.

All these problems will be solved by the highly motivated research team members.

Xia Zuo just needs to watch from the sidelines...

Before long, Hillenburg's team will master the principle of supercavitation, and then attract the attention of alchemists or scholars of the Tower during the research and development competition, leading to the development of alchemical tools or wind spells based on supercavitation...

Xia Zuo had anticipated these chain reactions.

His only intention was to minimize his own presence, attribute the source of all this to his accidental inspiration, and even take credit for the team leader.

If someone were to ask him how he captured that spark of inspiration…

Xia Zuo responded calmly:

"This is the inevitable result of Master Hillenburg's long-standing insistence on the mystery of marine monsters. Even without my reminder, he would eventually figure out the mystery of the inner shell of the Flying Shuttle Sea Hare."

Things were developing rapidly in the direction he had predicted.

About two weeks later, in a live-fire training ground without light.

Huberon controlled the combat puppet, firing underwater bullets at the monsters hiding behind the rocks.

When the bullet is fired, the power of the water pressure guiding array on the bullet is nearly 100 points.

This is to allow the bullet to be accelerated to 150 meters per second.

When a bullet is fired at this speed from an open barrel, no supercavitation will occur because there is no significant pressure difference with water pressure.

Therefore, the magic power of the bullet will decrease from nearly 100 points to 30 points in a very short time, and the flight speed of the underwater bullet will decrease sharply.

After the power of the water pressure dredging array decreased, a significant pressure difference appeared between the bullet and the water pressure, and the flight speed was also above 50 meters per second.

Only then will rings of bubbles appear in the arc-shaped grooves on the bullet, being dragged along by the bullet towards the huge rock.

These fragile and fleeting bubbles, seemingly possessing immense power, easily tore apart the edges of the rocks, churning the broken stones and dust into a chaotic mess.

Before the monster behind the rock could even retaliate, it was crushed into powder by the sudden and immense pressure difference.