Why Are All These Crew Members Carrying Weapons?

"Seven-thirty in the evening. Before I knew it, another day was done."

Over 400,000 consciousness waves were spent, and more than 20 model drones and a large number of accessories were scrapped.

By the time Chen Yi finished building his latest drone, the day had turned into night.

"First, I'll grab some food, then I'll take it to get refueled and test flown."

Looking at the terrifying specs of this brand-new drone, Chen Yi, who had stayed up all night yesterday and worked hard all day today, didn't feel tired at all. Instead, he was full of energy, excited, and couldn't wait to test fly it.

Interest and passion.

These were the best teachers and the strongest stimulants.

After graduating, he worked at DJI, then ran his own model drone business for over four years.

Chen Yi had always dreamed of one day owning a drone that could dominate all others, with comprehensively powerful and invincible performance.

He went to a nearby restaurant and had a simple dinner.

Then, Chen Yi pushed the drone with a manual forklift to be weighed, and then into the trunk to be refueled.

The new drone had a wingspan of only 1.38 meters, a length of 1.79 meters, and a height of 46.2 centimeters. Among a fleet of turbofan model drones, it could be considered small and exquisite, fitting easily into the trunk.

After refueling with aviation kerosene and oxidizer, Chen Yi weighed it again.

"Because the engine was significantly lightened, its empty weight is only 29.8 kilograms, but after filling it with aviation kerosene and oxidizer, it instantly surged to 206.6 kilograms."

"As expected of something called an orbital aircraft, this is practically a fuel tank disguised as a drone, filled to the brim."

He drove to the seaside park, his usual spot.

Chen Yi submitted the flight test report application, took out his laptop, signal antenna, joystick, rudder pedals, and began setting up and debugging.

As a professional near-Earth orbital aircraft capable of visiting the moon, the avionics software Chen Yi had previously commissioned was no longer sufficient for the avionics flight control needs.

However, the upgraded main avionics control of the drone came with its own integrated avionics flight control software, which could be automatically updated and downloaded upon connection.

A few minutes passed, and the avionics software update was complete.

Chen Yi set the permissions and password, and began debugging the drone's functional settings.

Communication function: Normal.

Radar imaging function: Normal.

Landing gear retraction/extension: Normal.

Avionics control signal: Normal.

After more than ten minutes of research.

Chen Yi had a general understanding of his brand-new drone.

In a word, it was powerful!

Taking the drone's radar imaging as an example.

After several iterative upgrades, the radar, suspected to be related to quantum technology, had a scanning angle of a staggering 289° and a maximum detection range of 1800 kilometers.

It could simultaneously lock onto 18 basketball-sized targets within 1000 kilometers, and 10 sparrow-sized targets within 500 kilometers. It also possessed infrared detection, microwave detection, and laser scanning detection capabilities.

The front-mounted camera on the fuselage could clearly capture the craters on the lunar surface, provided the weather conditions were favorable...

From this, it could be seen that the 30-point attribute was a threshold.

Entering the 30-attribute range marked the performance of a true orbital aircraft.

"Flight report approved, commencing test flight!"

After researching the new drone's performance, the flight report was also approved.

Chen Yi started the avionics system, then ignited the engine, and opened the throttle.

Boom!

A brilliant blue tail flame erupted from the model drone's engine nozzle, and the drone shot forward.

"Takeoff!"

Chen Yi pulled the control stick and stomped hard on the rudder pedals.

The drone executed a steep ascent in mid-air, spiraling upwards diagonally towards the sea surface to the left.

"10% power output."

Watching the monitoring screen on the adjacent computer, the drone had already ascended to an altitude of thousands of meters.

Chen Yi typed twice on the computer and pressed Enter.

In the sky to the left, a star seemed to twinkle.

Under the clear moonlight, a sonic boom cloud could be vaguely seen slowly dissipating in the sky.

Three seconds later, bursts of sonic booms arrived from the sky.

Although these sonic booms, after thousands of kilometers of attenuation, were still as loud as thunder, they no longer caused any impact.

"This engine thrust is insane!"

"Be careful next time. Don't increase power randomly at low altitudes, or you might accidentally hurt someone."

Watching the sonic boom cloud slowly dissipate in the sky, Chen Yi sighed. He opened the radar's low-power detection and photography function and controlled the drone to fly towards the outer sea of Penghai City.

Upon entering the outer sea, the radar's low-power detection and photography function was activated.

The drone began to cruise at an altitude of five hundred meters above the sea surface, flying at subsonic speeds. Along the way, it continuously passed by fishing boats, cargo ships, and even yachts.

The occasional splashing waves would also reflect countless images of the moon.

However, these moons would not last for even a second before shattering into scattered, colorful brilliance.

"The ocean at night is still prosperous and beautiful."

"Looks like I should install a microphone on the drone sometime. Listening to the sound of the sea would be nice too."

Chen Yi admired the ocean's night scenery and continued flying for another ten minutes or so.

The drone passed over the Dongsha Islands, left the outer sea of Penghai, and began to enter the range of the South China Sea Zhongsha Islands.

The sea surface here was no longer dotted with ships, but rather teeming with large numbers of bioluminescent organisms, like scattered stars adorning the vast waters of our homeland.

Occasionally, schools of warm-blooded dolphins would leap out of the water, chasing fish and shrimp under the moonlight, leaving behind beautiful scenes captured by Chen Yi's camera.

"The frontiers of our homeland, devoid of modern prosperity, are filled with the beautiful spectacle of nature's life."

Chen Yi took photo after photo with his camera, boasting an unknown number of billions of pixels.

After hovering and admiring the scene over the sea for a good twenty minutes, he stepped on the rudder, pushed the throttle, and manipulated the control stick.

Boom!

A roaring sound.

A sonic boom cloud appeared out of nowhere.

The drone shot up from the sea surface, turned its nose, and flew northeast.

It flew at supersonic speed for a while.

Soon, a cluster of bright city lights and a massive island situated in the ocean appeared in front of the camera.

"We've reached Treasure Island. I still have more than three-fifths of the battery left. Looks like the new engine is more fuel-efficient."

Chen Yi controlled the drone to take a few photos, then began flying north, heading to Fuhai before following the coastline westward, preparing to end tonight's test flight.

But as the drone returned to the coastal waters.

Suddenly, a beep.

Several red signal points appeared on the computer's monitoring screen.

Hmm?

It detected an aircraft?

Chen Yi's expression faltered as he looked at the parameters displayed on the radar scanning interface.

Length 1.3 meters, width 0.9 meters. Altitude 480.

Why does this seem a bit like a propeller drone?

But could such a thing venture out to sea?

Chen Yi glanced at the nearest sea location on the map; it was more than fifty kilometers away.

Based on his understanding of propeller drones, it was impossible for it to reach this location without changing batteries.

So, did this drone take off from a ship at sea?

Chen Yi, feeling curious, controlled the drone to descend slightly, activated the radar photography function, and aimed it at the sea area beneath these drones.

With the help of the moonlight, two cargo ships docked together successfully entered the drone's camera view.

Chen Yi's eyes widened instantly as he looked at the captured footage.

What is going on?

Why are the crews on these two cargo ships armed?!