It's just dawn.
A dazzling red signal suddenly exploded on the Auspex screen in the Alpha Hive City command room.
A coalition ship, Cobra-class Destroyer, is tearing through the clouds and descending into the atmosphere.
The ship's hull was covered in red fire caused by friction with the air, and it hit the ground like a red-hot iron.
Void Shield created circles of light blue ripples in the atmospheric turbulence. The close-in defense gun array on the belly of the ship slowly rotated, and the black muzzle was firmly locked in the direction of Hive City.
Finally, it hovered at a low altitude more than a thousand kilometers away from Hive City.
The 1.5-kilometer-long steel behemoth, like a beast crawling in the mountains, squats at the gate of Hive City.
Fu Haoran, who received the news immediately, came over and pointed his fingertips on the holographic map. In the desert, two eye-catching red marks were flashing continuously. They were the remnants of the coalition landing barge that made an emergency landing last night.
Overnight, the coalition soldiers dug trenches, hid ammunition depots in reverse slope bunkers, and deployed heavy firepower in a circular pattern along the landing area, creating a bridgehead in the desert.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg.
On the screen of Auspex, dense red light spots were spreading crazily along the mineral veins, abandoned settlements, and old industrial areas outside Hive City.
The coalition forces learned a lesson this time and no longer concentrated their forces to seek a decisive battle. Instead, they dispersed into dozens of company- and battalion-level units, each occupying a mining site or ruins and lying there like cockroaches.
If it were just that, it wouldn't be a big problem. But the most fatal thing is that the distance between these strongholds is exactly right, right in the middle of Alpha Hive City and Sijiaer Hive City.
It was also stuck in the middle of the mineral vein that the two parties were fighting for.
Fu Haoran needs these open pit mines to pay back the money at 2K World.
The opponent needs these high-value mines as loot.
The most ideal solution at the moment is to send them a few rounds of Melta Missile directly to see the Emperor.
But the problem is stuck here!
The inventory of missiles that Fu Haoran brought back from the world of Marvel has basically been exhausted. The remaining missiles should be reserved to deal with the main fleet, using one less missile.
Secondly, without satellite guidance or starship fire control guidance, these advanced weapons are no different from solid iron lumps when thrown out.
Fu Haoran frowned and tapped his fingertips on the table more and more heavily.
"What is the difference between the current situation and the trench warfare of World War I and World War II?"
Wade, as the only soldier with a professional background present, took a step forward and revealed all the bad news. "Sir, there is more trouble."
He raised his hand to call up a set of high-definition images. More than a dozen strongholds occupied by the coalition forces were all Hive City's abandoned old ore refineries.
"These buildings use the early Hive City reinforced concrete structure. The wall thickness starts at three meters and is protected by a heavy steel frame with an ore dumping spout on the top. It is a semi-permanent fortress in itself."
"The coalition deployed the Anti-Aircraft Missile and Hydra Flak Cannon platforms on the top floor of the refinery, specifically targeting low-altitude and low-speed aircraft. As long as our loitering missiles enter the shooting range, they will be intercepted by intensive firepower."
Wade paused, zoomed in on the scan of the underground structure of the refinery, and spoke in a more serious tone.
"The most critical thing is that the coalition forces have withdrawn their headquarters, ammunition depots and main forces into the ore warehouse underground in the refinery. Above their heads are dozens of meters of rock and concrete. Air-to-ground missiles can hit accurately, but a warhead weighing tens of kilograms cannot penetrate this level of protection."
"Melta Missile can melt through, but we can't afford to use it to hit scattered targets like this."
"But the most troublesome thing is this Destroyer."
Wade switches the screen back to the ship Cobra-class Destroyer.
"Its close-in anti-aircraft array can cover the entire Hive City's outer airspace covering hundreds of kilometers. Once our MiG-25 enters the air defense circle, it will be fully locked."
"The other side is determined to regain air supremacy."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, what a prodigal." Tychus smoked Cigar with disdain on his face, "Destroyer When you drop to this height, the Promethium fuel you burn every hour is a huge expense."
Fu Haoran tapped his fingers on the table twice but said nothing.
Breaking through forcefully is equivalent to sending the MiG-25 into the opponent's air defense trap.
The inventory of missiles is at the bottom and cannot be used.
Ordinary iron bombs cannot penetrate a rock fortress dozens of meters thick, and dive bombs will be targeted by anti-aircraft guns.
Now he needs a weapon that can hover in the air for a long time, find the target independently, lock it and then plunge down to detonate it accurately. It does not require an aircraft to get close and take risks, and the cost must be low enough so that it will not hurt to shoot it out.
Loitering missiles.
It can stay in the air above the target area for dozens of minutes, rely on cameras and image recognition to autonomously search for targets, and directly dive and impact after locking.
The warhead does not need to be too big, but it can accurately drill into the ventilation shafts and ore dumping ports of the refinery, and blast the entire fortress from the inside.
But the problem lies in the guidance.
Without a satellite link, the image signal of the cruise missile cannot be transmitted back, and it is impossible to control it remotely.
Warhammer World It's not that there is no AI, it's just that I don't dare to use it.
The reason why Dark Age of Technology ended was entirely because of Cybernetic Revolt, the autonomous intelligent robot that almost knocked mankind back to the Stone Age. Since then, AI has become a taboo technology in all Imperium of Man.
Even Mechanicus Cult, who covers the sky with one hand, dare not touch the red line.
Any silicon-based intelligence with the ability to make independent judgments is a heresy that must be burned.
However, with the experience of transforming the MiG-25 Wetware flight control, Fu Haoran feels that this logic can be reproduced again.
However, as soon as he said this idea, Tech-Priest Kallen shook his head directly.
"Sir, it is not difficult to make Wetware, but it requires time and even more cost. Especially to infuse Wetware with professional knowledge, you need to pay a considerable additional knowledge tax to Mechanicus Cult."
"This fee is not cheap. After all, in the teachings of Omnissiah, knowledge is also a kind of wealth."
"No, absolutely not!"
As the Minister of Finance, Yuri was the first to jump out and object. He raised his hand and photographed Hive City's fiscal deficit statement on the holographic projection, "We are almost so poor that we are eating dirt! This battle will last until the Year of the Monkey and the Horse. Every little bit we can save is worth it!"
The numbers on the projection are shocking.
The cumulative fiscal deficit this fiscal year has soared to 27% of Hive City's annual GDP, and the absolute red line for war drawn by Fu Haoran is 30%.
If this number is exceeded, the Hive City economy will collapse directly, followed by hyperinflation and a hard landing of the economy. Without the invasion of coalition forces, Hive City itself will be in chaos first.
Fu Haoran started reading "Bill" and wanted to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.
Among them, the largest expenditure is the relocation and resettlement of tens of millions of Lower Hive residents.
Fu Haoran has set a firm rule that Hive City must achieve food self-sufficiency and must not rely on other worlds.
To this end, tens of millions of acres of wasteland have been reclaimed, land has been distributed free of charge, and production materials and tools have also been distributed free of charge. This investment is a bottomless pit.
The second step is to expand the army.
In order to cope with the upcoming Horus Heresy, Fu Haoran has been expanding its army, and the number of active troops has approached half a million.
These soldiers were unable to engage in production. Not only did they have to take care of their food and drink, but they also had to pay generous military pay and adequate pensions to attract enough people to join the army, which was an astronomical sum.
The third payment was supplies for the guerrilla forces behind enemy lines.
Those Genestealer Cult soldiers do not receive wages or pensions. They dare to fight against the regular army while wearing slippers. They eat the cheapest Corpse Starch and can survive better than ascetics.
But the more this happens, the less Fu Haoran dares to deprive them of their most basic supplies of food and ammunition.
If you can't even give me this little thing, then you are no better than a beast.
Finally, there is Hive City's education, medical care, and people's livelihood infrastructure. Although the investment is not large, it is a long-term project that cannot be stopped. If it is interrupted, it will mean losing the support of the people.
Although it uses Hive City's spontaneous credit points, it seems that it can be printed at will, but Fu Haoran, as a modern person of 2K Era, is too aware of the consequences of excessive currency issuance.
He would never do this kind of thing of killing the goose that lays the egg.
After seeing the glaring fiscal deficit, Priest Kallen's optical eyepieces flashed, and he proposed again. "Using the brains of Hive City execution prisoners to make Wetware is a zero-cost solution."
"Haha, what a coincidence." Tychus couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Hive City's death row prisoners are basically gone. They were either infected and absorbed by Genestealer Cult, or they were sent to factory 007 for continuous labor reform."
"Using their brains? I'm afraid that the Wetware we make will turn around and beat us on the second day after we turn it on the first day."
The command room fell into dead silence.
Everyone was staring at the four words "Wetware Guidance" on the screen, with no idea.
Fu Haoran stared at the screen and was silent for half a minute. Suddenly he raised his eyes and raised a smile at the corner of his mouth.
"There's another place where there's a lot of cheap brains."
New York, Kings County Morgue.
The pungent smell of disinfectant and formalin mixed together, making people choke and unable to open their eyes.
Jimmy followed Fu Haoran, his face turned pale and his steps were swaying.
He has done a lot of dirty work, collecting corpses for others, forging murder scenes, and giving false evidence to settle lawsuits. The only exception is that he has never come to the morgue to discuss the business of buying and selling dead people's brains.
The morgue manager was a fat, bald man in his fifties, with coffee stains on his work clothes. There were half-eaten donuts on his desk, and there was a baseball game playing on the computer in front of him.
After listening to Fu Haoran's request, he didn't even raise his eyelids.
"Brains cost fifty dollars a piece. You can choose and install them yourself. If they have been in the freezer for more than three days, they cost thirty dollars a piece."
--
Jimmy was immediately stunned.
"Fifty dollars? So cheap?"
"This thing is useless." The fat man took a bite of the donut with disdain on his face, "If the organs cannot be removed after the autopsy, and the family members do not claim them, they will be left here to occupy the freezer, and in the end they will have to pay to have them cremated."
"How much do you want? If you want more, I can give you twenty dollars each."
Fu Haoran thought for a while and said, "All unclaimed brains from now on will be kept for me. The higher the IQ, the higher the price."
"Each one must be filed separately. The more detailed the education, major, and occupation before death, the better."
"Science and engineering majors are more valuable than liberal arts majors. Those with professional skills, such as programmers, structural engineers, surgeons, and pilots, each receive an additional $50."
"Lawyer, Accountant teacher, extra $30."
The fat man put down the donut and looked at Fu Haoran for the first time.
He was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed, opened the drawer, took out a stack of blank labels, stickers and markers, and slapped them on the table.
"Deal! Amerikan lacks the most, dead people."
The next afternoon, Fu Haoran took Jimmy to visit five hospitals and three police stations around New York, and successfully signed a long-term cooperation agreement.
The unclaimed remains in these institutions will become his Wetware raw material suppliers in the future.
"Tou, what do you want these highly educated heads for?"
Tychus, who followed Fu Haoran for a lap, finally couldn't help but ask the question he had been holding back all the way.
"Of course it is to make Wetware." Fu Haoran took out a stack of information and pointed it out to him one by one, "The programmer who died early has a strong brain and logical computing ability. He is naturally suitable for the fire control calculation, ballistic correction, and image recognition of loitering missiles. It is a hundred times easier to use than the basic instructions given to Mechanicus Cult."
"The brain of a structural engineer has outstanding spatial perception and is suitable for analyzing building structures and locating weak points in fortifications. It can accurately find the most vulnerable vents and load-bearing columns in the refinery."
"A lawyer's brain has rigorous logic and is suitable for deducing tactical rules and prioritizing targets, helping us select the most efficient targets within limited ammunition."
"The surgeon's hand-eye coordination data can be used to optimize the steering gear response accuracy of the cruise missile."
"Accountant division's digital sensitivity is suitable for logistics management."
Fu Haoran closed the document and smiled.
"You see, we only need to spend a small amount of money to get countless heads with high skills, which can be put into use with a little modification."
"According to my investigation, every year in this free world, the number of middle-class people who fall below the killing line ranges from 100,000 to 50,000, which is enough to meet all Hive City's Wetware needs."
"As for those unclaimed bodies with average IQs and no professional background, it's easy." Fu Haoran smiled, "There is no need to teach complex knowledge, only basic neural adaptation programs are used, and minimum fire control instructions and target recognition logic are implanted. Even if it can only hit a crowded place when it sees a lot of people, it is enough."
"The cost is lower, the fault tolerance rate is higher, and it doesn't hurt to call it out."
"I understand the truth, but the loitering missile itself and the glide kit are also a big expense." Tychus scratched his chin, "You can't expect to use a fifty-dollar brain with a thousands-dollar bomb, right? That's still not cost-effective."
Fu Haoran smiled mysteriously and patted his shoulder.
"Don't worry, I've already thought about it. The cost of this thing can be cheaper than a rocket."
University of Tokyo, Pengcheng.
Cheng Beixiao had just received the encryption task from the headquarters, and ran all over Pearl River Delta's industrial area overnight.
The mission this time is clear:
A batch of folding wings, tail fins, glider bodies and control components were customized in the country.
His first stop was a gas tank factory that was on the verge of bankruptcy.
There was a layer of dust on the equipment in the factory, half of the production lines were stopped, and the boss was squatting at the door smoking, worrying about next month's workers' wages.
Cheng Beixiao took the drawing in front of him. The boss only glanced at it, dropped the cigarette in his hand to the ground, and broke into a cold sweat.
The structure on the drawing is exactly the same as the bomb.
"Isn't this a bomb?!" The boss's voice was shaking, "I can't do this business! It's illegal!
Cheng Beixiao glanced at him with a nonchalant tone.
"Other than the shape, tail, structure, block, and weight, what does it have to do with the bomb?"
Seeing that the other party still didn't answer the call, Cheng Beixiao was a little unhappy. He pushed forward the contract and said, "One hundred thousand pieces. I will give you 200 yuan for each finished product. Can you do it? Can't do it. I will find the factory next door now."
The boss stared at the total price of 10 to 20 million on the contract, and his eyes instantly turned red.
This order will not only revive the factory, but also make a lot of money.
He gritted his teeth and slapped the table hard. "Do it! Let's start with the ugly words. The missile body, tail fin, and fuselage must be produced separately. You can assemble them yourself. I will not be responsible for anything that happens!"
At the end, he added, "I'm not bragging. My factory has made mortar shells modified from gas tanks for customers in the Middle East before, and I'm familiar with it! I can't say the accuracy, but the explosion is absolutely no problem!"
Cheng Beixiao signed the contract on the spot and paid the deposit.
At the second stop, Cheng Beixiao went to an aerospace model store that was on the verge of closing down.
This shop was once famous in the industry. In the earliest domestic aerospace model championships, the bodies of the championship aircraft were all customized by their family.
The owner, Lao Song, graduated from an aviation school and has a thorough understanding of parameters such as airfoil, center of gravity, and load distribution. The model glider he built won the national championship.
At that time, some people in the circle joked that the glider made by Lao Song could fly even if it was hung with a brick.
But in recent years, low-altitude control has become more and more strict, and fewer and fewer people are playing model airplanes. The technicians are scattered and dispersed. Now only Lao Song is left guarding the empty shop, and he can hardly even pay the rent.
Cheng Beixiao placed the drawing of the hang glider assembly in front of Lao Song.
Lao Song put on his reading glasses and looked at it for only three seconds before frowning. "The load capacity is wrong, and the gliding ratio is wrong too. This is not a model aircraft at all, this is the wing of a gliding bomb."
Cheng Beixiao did not deny it.
"Can it be done?"
Lao Song stared at the exaggerated load parameters on the drawing and was silent for a long time.
"Without rocket boost, it relies purely on gliding. No matter how heavy the load is, it can't fly very far."
He put the drawing down and picked it up again, "How much is the price?"
Cheng Beixiao reported a number.
Lao Song's hand shook. "One hundred thousand sets?"
"The first batch of 100,000 sets will be followed by more."
Lao Song looked at the dimensions of the elastic wings on the drawing, then looked at the numbers on the quotation, gritted his teeth and said, "I've done it. It won't fly far anyway, so just think of it as saving up the last pension before going bankrupt."
All orders for Cheng Beixiao have been finalized, and the first batch of 10,000 sets of components will be delivered in one week.