Volume 2: The Undersea City Chapter 53 Harpoon Cannon
"Actually... there is another heavy weapon on the transport ship, but..."
"What are you talking about?!" Benson raised his head in displeasure and was about to curse, but he was shocked to find that the person who was speaking was not his men, but the captain of the material escort team.
"Uh... I mean... where did the heavy weapons come from..." Benson's tone was slightly embarrassed. They were reluctant to offend the people in the escort team. No consortium would be stupid enough to go against the powerful military.
"Among the supplies we are escorting, there is a harpoon heavy cannon. This is a special equipment that the Pioneer requested from the Ark a month ago. It is specially used to deal with some powerful sea beasts..."
"There's this thing?" The supplies in the cargo hold were all sealed in metal boxes. In addition, Benson had no interest in looking through the supply list, so he had no idea that there was such a thing on the transport ship. He thought that the things sent to the pioneers this time were just some regular supplies.
"It's just... the recoil of this Harpoon heavy artillery is very large. It must be fixed on a ship or warship before it can be fired, but there is no place to install the base on this transport ship." The escort team leader said with difficulty.
"Can we drop weapons on the Pioneer?" asked the female hunter named Sharon.
"I'm afraid not." The escort captain shook his head and pointed to the observation window under his feet. "Let's not talk about the fact that we have no way to approach the Pioneer. Look at the situation on the deck. Those people can hardly protect themselves. There is no way they can complete the assembly of weapons under such circumstances."
"That means this weapon is actually of no help in the current situation, right?" Benson looked gloomy as he watched the battle below.
"…But this should be the only weapon that can threaten those creatures." The escort captain was silent for more than ten seconds before he uttered this sentence.
"What's the difference between a gun that can't shoot and an iron rod?" Benson waved his hand. "Let the transport ship carry out the satellite launch mission directly and then return. As for those people on the Pioneer... Humph, they were stupid enough to send a distress signal to an unarmed transport ship. They deserved to die."
As he spoke, he took down the intercom hanging on the bulkhead and planned to let the transport ship leave.
At this time, Ke Lan finally couldn't help but speak out: "Wait a minute!"
"Hmm?" Benson turned his head. "What qualifications do you have to tell me what to do? You have to know that my decision is responsible for the lives of everyone on the transport ship, including you guys. Do you want us all to be buried with the Pioneer?"
"If they want to be heroes, why don't they just let them jump from here? It's none of our business." Sharon, who was standing behind Benson, said, immediately causing the hunters of the Aurora Group to burst into laughter.
"Yes, jumping down and falling from the sky, how majestic!"
"Maybe those monsters just ate you to fill their stomachs and then left. If you're lucky, you might even get a posthumous medal, hahaha!"
…
Ke Lan ignored the sarcasm and ridicule, and instead looked at the escort captain and asked, "The harpoon heavy artillery can be fired directly, right?"
"The launching mechanism and the barrel are pre-installed on the Ark. As long as the shells can be loaded into it, it can be fired in theory. But the problem is that this is not a single-soldier weapon that can be carried on the shoulder. Without a bracket and a base, you can't even aim." The escort captain sighed, "I think we should just give up."
"As long as the base problem can be solved, it can be used, right?" Ke Lan asked again.
"Are you planning to make a simple base yourself? It's not as easy as you think. The Harpoon Heavy Cannon is different from regular artillery. Its shell is actually a giant harpoon equipped with a rocket propulsion system. It is connected to the base by six high-strength steel cables. After hitting the target, the icebreaker's own power is used to drag the target out of the sea... You have also seen that the power of those deep-sea giant eels can even shake the icebreaker. How can a makeshift bracket withstand such an impact?"
"Maybe we can try." Ke Lan turned around and said to Zhuoligetu and Layton, "Can you do what I just told you?"
"If it's just the tasks assigned to me, then there's no problem." Leighton patted his chest and said.
"I can try." Zhuo Ligetu also nodded.
"What are you going to do? " The escort captain looked at Ke Lan and the others in confusion. "I've already told you that the base needs to withstand a huge pulling force. Even a modified human can't resist that force."
"Let's take the weapons from the cargo hold first. As for the specific implementation plan, I have to see the actual weapons before I can make a final decision." Ke Lan said.
"Are you kidding?" The escort captain seemed a little angry. "I have to make it clear in advance that if the equipment is damaged due to your fault, you will need to pay full compensation!"
"Uh...how much is that thing worth?"
"Six million eight hundred thousand credit points!"
"It's indeed expensive... But I also want to ask, if the weapon is damaged, but we successfully save the Pioneer, how will it be calculated?"
"Are you dreaming? With just a few of you, you may not be able to kill those monsters even if I give you ten harpoon heavy artillery. I think you should just save your energy." Benson mocked from the side.
"How do you know if you don't try?" Ke Lan asked back.
"Do you know what you call this behavior? It's called overestimating one's own capabilities. I really don't know how you can survive to this day." Benson looked disdainful. "Besides, can you guys come up with 6.8 million?"
"Of course. Look, how much money is this?" Ke Lan showed his account. Just now, he asked Hound, Layton and others to transfer all the credit points they had to him. Together, they had exactly 7 million credit points.
“Haha, this is all the belongings you guys have, right? You didn’t borrow money from loan sharks? If you lose this money, you won’t even have food to eat, right?” Benson sneered.
"Don't worry about it. Anyway, we can afford to pay for this thing." Ke Lan said to the escort captain, "Can we try it now?"
"Okay..." Seeing that Ke Lan could come up with so many credit points, the escort captain had nothing to say. Anyway, as long as the compensation amount was in place, he would not have to bear any additional responsibility even if the weapons were damaged.
What's more...if these people really succeed, he can get a considerable share of the credit. No one has any reason to refuse such a sure-win deal.
"You want to see how you do it." Benson crossed his arms and sat down on a seat nearby.
Ke Lan looked the captain of the Aurora Group's advance team up and down, and suddenly said, "You know... you look a lot like the stupid villains in those cool novels who are about to be slapped in the face."
"What do you mean, kid?!" Benson, who usually doesn't read novels, didn't react to the meaning of Ke Lan's words for a while, but at least he could understand the word "idiot".
"It's nothing. I just told the truth." Ke Lan shrugged and ignored Benson. He took Layton and the others directly to the cargo hold at the rear of the transport ship.
The Harpoon heavy artillery is stored in a metal container that is two meters wide, high, and nine meters long, but this is only the main body of the gun. The sights, base, shells, etc. are all packed in more than a dozen other boxes of different sizes.
After transferring the compensation deposit of 6.8 million to the escort team leader, the latter took out the key and opened the container.
The main body of the Harpoon Heavy Cannon is a bit like the giant crossbow of ancient times, except that the bowstring and mechanism have been replaced with acceleration coils and crystal energy converters, and the grooves for accommodating crossbow arrows have been turned into electromagnetic slide rails with a metallic luster.
At the end of the barrel, there are several bowl-sized slots, which are used to install heat sinks.
Electromagnetic weapons are different from gunpowder weapons. The recoil generated by gunpowder weapons when fired is instantaneous and explosive, and you only need to withstand the force of that one blow. However, the projectile of an electromagnetic weapon feeds back a continuous and uniform force during the firing process, just like the high-pressure water gun of a fire truck. The strength requirements for the base and bracket are actually higher.
"It's not that I don't trust you," the escort captain said as he opened another box. Inside the box were four "harpoons" over six meters long and shaped like missiles. The front end was a sharp arrow made of Nino alloy with expandable barbs, and the tail was equipped with six disposable rocket thrusters.
"There are only six shells in total, and there are so many sea monsters besieging the Pioneer. Even if you can kill one with every shell, it will be useless."
"When the time comes and there are not enough shells, why not let them get into the barrel and fire themselves out?" Benson, who followed, leaned against the door of the cargo hold, holding an unlit cigarette in his mouth, the silver-white lighter crackling between his fingers, and glanced at Ke Lan and the others with a gloating look.
"Don't you like to be a hero? Don't you think you are very powerful? Keep jumping. Six shells. Let's see how you can deal with dozens of deep-sea giant eels!"
