late at night

The silent academy was empty, the school flag raised on the podium fluttered in the evening breeze, and the moonlight as cold as water overflowed on the bluestone paved floor, everything seemed to be pressed the mute button, and no sound came out.

But the world that passes through the thin surface layer and goes underground is completely different. The basement of the academy was brightly lit, with incandescent xenon lamps of first-class water glowing overhead, and mirror-smooth marble floors illuminating the massive space as if it were day.

The hall is full of people, like boiling water, bubbling with energy and enthusiasm. Everyone is doing their own job in their own posts, and no one is lazy, because they have only one purpose - to save the world, although they are not soldiers who rush to the front line to shed their blood, nor do they make a huge contribution to the war situation like the ship girls, but they develop weapons in their own way - to provide help to the fighters fighting against the deep sea.

"Fellow, what about the quadruple 533mm magnetic torpedoes that were halfway developed yesterday? The guidance device inside is not installed yet! Karen, the elf with transparent wings fluttering in the air, shouted anxiously, his young and immature face with an old age that did not match his age, and a worried look between his eyebrows.

"Researcher researcher, is there a test of the advanced anti-aircraft radar? Is the data out? The old elf stood on the platform where the equipment was placed, and the crutches in his hand were forcefully clubbed, the long white whiskers on his chin trembled slightly, and his eyes were bright, as if he was waiting for the results to come out.

The elves are called researchers by young men who do errand work, and they are like students of the elves, who take careful notes on the side every time they develop a weapon, and record the details in detail. Of course, the elves who are the instructors are not merciless in arousing these students, because of their limited strength, many major parts of the equipment are difficult for them to carry alone, so they need to be strong students to do the work, and they only need to shout on the sidelines, what they want.

"Mentor Vicsi, the anti-aircraft radar you want." Several big men carried a huge machine onto the research bench, the rectangular strip net transmitting antenna occupies most of the entire equipment, and below is the signal processing machine and terminal equipment used to receive and process information, which is the core part of the whole equipment, and it is also the most vulnerable place that needs to be protected.

"Is the data out," Wei Xi said anxiously with a slight tremor in his beard, "This is my brainchild's work, and I hope to surpass all the products of my generation." ”

"Tutor Viche tested it all night." A young man in a black vest flipped through the folder and pulled out the data sheet on the radar test.

"To the point, Byron, I don't remember teaching you to report to me like that." Visy struck the ground with the cane in his hand.

"Yes!" Byron straightened his waist, "The advanced anti-air radar, +7 for the enemy, +6 for the air, +3 for hits, and 40% for the air, is the best radar at present, and there is no one." ”

"Sure enough, sure enough!" Vesy exclaimed, with a look of "as I expected", and he walked step by step towards the behemoth in front of him, stroking the work that had been born in his hand with his rough hands. The old figure looks extremely small in front of the radar, but it is such a small existence that has made an indelible contribution to the development of this equipment, and the drawings of the entire equipment are drawn by him himself, and the researchers here are according to the drawings, step by step to make the design on the drawings become reality, and develop and assemble the radar.

If elves are technical talents, humans can only be considered skilled talents. Technology dominates everything, and skills serve technology, which is the rule of the equipment department of the enterprise college. This is exactly what these students believe, they work tirelessly to follow their mentors, in order to be able to learn knowledge, even if it is a little fur, it is enough to be proud, after all, what human beings can develop independently now is only some ordinary equipment, such as the triple 533 mm torpedo on the bad street, the 61 cm triple torpedo, and some carrier-based aircraft and standard radar. These equipment are limited in power and very bulky, and the Admirals with a little money will not buy them, but will spend a lot of money on the best products produced by the elves. Just like the game, if the weapons produced by humans are tabula rasa, then the elves produce purple-level high-strength equipment, and only fools will take tabula rasa equipment to PK with the deep sea.

"By the way, how is Karen going?" Vicie looked at the elf who was silent on the side, and asked Byron softly.

"Mentor Vicsi, Mentor Karen has encountered some problems in his development, and it is difficult to progress." Byron replied honestly.

"What's the problem?" Vesey asked.

"Because Instructor Cullen wanted a new type of magnetic torpedo that could be used against submersives, which was a capability that all previous torpedoes did not have, so in terms of weapon guidance, all designs had to be overturned and a new path had to be opened, which was a design that had never been done before." Byron smiled bitterly and continued: "According to Cullen's design requirements, this quadruple 533mm magnetic torpedo must have a +6 torpedo and a +3 hit, which are easy to do, but the most important thing is that he also wants a +3 dive, which is difficult to do." After all, the pinnacle of your previous quintuple 533mm torpedo MK17 has an incredible +8 torpedo and +2 hits, but it also doesn't have the slightest anti-submarine ability. ”

"Indeed," Vesy nodded in agreement, pacing the platform. "When I drew the blueprints, I didn't think that equipment like torpedoes needed anti-submarine capabilities. After all, the destroyer, light cruiser and light mothership mother ship have their own anti-submarine attributes, and they are equipped with ordinary carrier-based aircraft and sonar with anti-submarine capabilities, which is more than enough to deal with submarines in the deep sea. If Karen can break through this bottleneck and develop the only anti-submarine torpedo, I think he may become a being who surpasses me. ”

"After all, the back waves of the Yangtze River push the front waves, and the blue is better than the blue." Byron bowed his head and whispered in agreement.

"Yes, my heir must be better than me, otherwise he will not be worthy of the great surname Hans." He looked at Cullen, who was in trouble while he was writing on the drawings, and his eyes were full of pride.

Hans Karen I will be proud of you, always proud of you. He said happily in his heart.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

"Instructor Karen would like to try assembling sonar on a torpedo?" The young man on the side cautiously suggested, he was one of the first researchers to follow Cullen and his proud student.

"No, no, no, Thor, you're thinking too simply." Cullen put down the comparison in his hand and said seriously to Thor who was bent down and bowed, "I remember telling you that magnetic torpedoes are detonated by detecting the effect of the metal hull on the geomagnetism, so they do not need to be detonated by hitting the fuse by the reaction force at the time of impact, just like ordinary traditional torpedoes." Even if it just passes under the deep-sea hull, the magnetic torpedo can exert its full power. Therefore, the magnetic torpedo is superior to the existence of ordinary torpedoes, it is more flexible on the battlefield, and it is easier to exert its full power. ”

"So installing sonar equipment will cause the detonator of the torpedo to fail?" Thor seems to have figured out why.

"Not really." Cullen shook his head, grimacing. "It's just that it may fail, but what you want on the battlefield is certain, and it must not be possible for the word to appear, for the ever-changing battlefield environment, the equipment needs to be powerful and safe and reliable, if the developed weapons can't stably exert combat effectiveness, what is the difference between it and scrap."

"But if you want that +3 dive, you can only find a way through sonar, otherwise this design indicator will not be achievable."

"I know, but I'm helpless about the uncertainty of sonar." Cullen waved his hand and sighed deeply.

He knew that this was the most crucial step, and he had an almost fanatical dedication and preference for the development of weapons and equipment from the beginning, probably thanks to the influence of his father Vissy, he also had a strong competitive spirit. Every time he saw others praising the weapons developed by his father, his eyes were full of envy and admiration, and he wondered when he could stand on that gorgeous stage like his father and accept everyone's admiration.

But the failures again and again, let him understand how big the gap between himself and his father is, he has successfully developed the strongest performance of the triple 16-inch gun MK7, +27 firepower and +3 hits and ultra-long range, it can be said that it is unsurpassable. Cullen thought he had a talent for torpedo design, but his father's recent development of a quintuple 533mm torpedo MK17 shattered what little confidence he had. He didn't want to live in the shadow of his father for the rest of his life, and he didn't want people to think of Hans Visy instead of Karen when they mentioned the surname Hans. Therefore, he wanted to make a work that his father could not create, a magnetic torpedo with latent attributes, and if he succeeded, his name would be engraved in the most prominent position on the merit monument to commemorate his contribution. Even the deep sea will tremble with the weapons he has developed. And he will also get rid of the shadow as big as the sky and create his own world.

He clenched the pen in his hand, looked at the half-finished torpedo in front of him, and his eyes lit up with a raging fighting spirit.

"Thor, bring the transducer from the standard sonar." He gave the order.

"Don't you need a sound booster?" Thor asked, looking back.

"No, we just need +3 anti-diving, which is enough for a torpedo, and we don't need a sound booster to strengthen the detection of sound waves." Cullen confidently said that he knew that sonar was the only way to solve the current problem, but the effect of the equipment on the magnetic field was still huge. In order to be accurate, he had to give up a few things.

"So, Mentor, are you going to use active sonar to enhance detection?" Thor picked out the transducer from the sonar part next to him, and placed the device that replaced the sonic waves into magnetic energy in front of Karen. Since the instructor wanted to develop a torpedo with anti-submarine capability, the disassembled sonar was all around.

"Active sonar is not needed." Cullen waved his hand in ecstasy, and his hand holding the pen trembled uncontrollably. "All we need is simple passive sonar. Unless encountering a deep-sea submarine with intelligence, passive sonar is sufficient for the task of detection. ”

"Indeed," Thor nodded, "most deep-sea submarines rush forward and fire torpedoes when they encounter the ship's mother, and the sound waves they emit are huge enough to be detected by simple passive sonar, and there is no need for better equipment." ”

"Yes, the best is the best." Cullen looked at the transducer that had been installed in the torpedo guidance device, and his eyes were filled with the reverence of a believer, he was the discoverer of this great creation, and the creator of this great work. He, Hans Karen has broken through adversity and created works that no one else can match. He looked at his father with a cane on the side, and wanted to laugh three times, like a pompous actor on stage, pointing at his nose and telling him, "You Hans Visey have been surpassed by me!" When people mention the surname Hans in the future, they think of not only you, but also me, Karen!

But when he looked at the last part installed, like the end of a stage play, he didn't feel much happiness, just endless loneliness and emptiness. How many years has he been preparing for the existence of this moment? What kind of effort did he make to surpass the dark shadow in front of him? But now he looked sideways at his father, who was rickety in his back, and his nose was sore, as if he had been poured into thick vinegar. Perhaps, what I wanted at the beginning was a bullshit achievement that I wanted at the beginning, just a sentence of affirmation from my father to the child who lacked self-confidence, and the sentence that I longed for from childhood to adulthood - I am proud of you.

He smiled at his old father, but his expression was so ugly, like a crying child, frowning and barely squeezing out a smile. His father was on crutches, his hair was gray, and the white beard on his chin was trembling, and he mouth-spoke the words he had always dreamed of.

Child, I'm proud of you, and I've always been proud of you. It was like a last word delivered to himself, so heavy that he couldn't stop crying.

He asked himself if he had ever looked at the man who had once been as strong as steel. Now he can no longer lift himself above his head as easily as he used to, nor can he run in front of him as before to make himself follow his steps. Maybe he encountered old age, and he could only stare at himself with heavy steps, or maybe he could no longer teach himself with majesty, pointing at his nose and scolding.

Perhaps, he should have looked back at the man who was left behind, the old figure.

Cullen heard his father's words clearly, even though the world was noisy and full of mixed notes. But he didn't miss a thing and heard the phrase, I'm proud of you.

In an instant, Cullen's eyes were full of tears, like a broken faucet, and he couldn't stop it.