Sea Trial

When Su Ming arrived at the lower cabin, he found that even the usually energetic Beianqi was curled up in a corner, fast asleep.

"Hey, look how tired you've made my sister!" Qiluo stood in front of Su Ming with her hands on her hips, looking like she was about to accuse him.

Before she could finish speaking, she had already dashed off. A group of people dressed in chef's uniforms, wielding large ladles, appeared and chased after her, shouting, "Spit out the vinegar!"

"No way, they even steal vinegar?" Su Ming stared in disbelief as the chaotic scene receded into the distance.

"President Su!" a logistics team member who happened to be passing by explained to him, "Among the supplies brought by the dwarves this time, there was a batch of rice vinegar specifically for making sashimi, which Miss Sacred Beast particularly liked."

"Okay, don't order this kind next time," Su Ming said decisively.

At this moment, the trainees from the engine room stepped forward to report: all connection tests have passed, and the entire system can now undergo trial operation.

Su Ming nodded, then glanced at the mechanic girl sleeping in the corner with a tired look on her face.

"Wake up Beianqi," Su Ming said. "Compared to missing this moment, drowsiness is nothing to her."

The Gospel is already in place in front of the main control panel in the engine room.

The Pansy's large steam engine unit shares the same main structure as the Doomsday Locomotive. Therefore, this former train driver has now "re-employed" in the engine room as the chief engineer, who can be on duty 26 hours a day.

Following Su Ming's command, six flexible mechanical arms of the Gospel extended, precisely manipulating the various control valves. Just as they had done countless times on the Doomsday Train, a large amount of high-temperature, high-pressure steam was injected into the main generator, driving its operation.

As the rotational speed increased, the surging electricity was distributed through the main switchboard, converted by the frequency converter, and poured into the propulsion pod at the bottom of the stern. Once connected to power, it immediately began stable operation. The propeller blades churned violently in the water, creating a large cloud of churning bubbles. However, the current pitch angle was zero, and no forward thrust was generated.

As the rotation speed steadily increases to the preset range, the roaring sound of each component gradually becomes stable and regular.

Su Ming let out a long sigh of relief, grabbed the ship's intercom, and announced, "The Pansy has successfully completed its test run!"

On the ship, everyone instantly erupted in cheers!

****

Su Ming ordered the Gospel to stop, and the structural team members immediately stepped forward to further reinforce the gondola and seal the tiny leak that had just been discovered.

"Get ready, we're about to set sail," Su Ming said to Zijin, then glanced at the sleepy-eyed Beianqi, "Why don't you go back to your room and rest? You'll need to continue your shifts later."

The system still needs equipment debugging after launch. Beianqi nodded and went to the living area as instructed. The high-intensity work for several consecutive days had indeed made her very tired.

With the leak repaired, Gospel was able to add more fuel to the boiler, and the steam pressure and temperature steadily increased.

"Take it easy when you're preparing the car! Don't put too much pressure on yourself!" Su Ming reminded him.

"God said, be brave!" the Gospel echoed, pushing the pressure gauge directly to 6 megapascals (MPa).

Helpless, Su Ming picked up the walkie-talkie. "Cockpit, is it ready to set sail?"

"Wait a moment, we are executing the pre-departure checklist!"

The deck crew is inspecting the waters around the ship, checking for obstacles such as ice floes and whether there is a risk of grounding in the bay channel; the service department is also taking a headcount of the crew on board; and the support staff are busy cleaning up the shore and underwater traces of previous operations.

When the inspection was halfway complete, the control tower issued a release order.

To secure the ship under construction, the construction team laid more than ten cables. Dozens of necromancers summoned creatures and, with the aid of magic, worked together to pull the cables back in. The heavy cables were quickly pulled back amidst the creaking of friction, taking only a few minutes.

Feedback from various departments indicates that everything is normal/ready to depart.

"Left vehicle, proceed at a slow speed," Su Ming instructed Gospel.

The thrusters on the left-side pod activated, increasing the pitch angle, and the water began to be pushed steadily backward.

The ship began to feel a slight propulsion.

"Turn 90 degrees, turn in place."

The pod structure rotated as a whole, and the gushing water jets turned to the side. The massive hull of the Pansy slowly changed direction like a behemoth, and the ship began to head towards the port channel.

Thanks to this omnidirectional rotating podded propulsion system, large ships would not have been able to leave port on their own in such a narrow bay without the assistance of tugboats.

The equipment operated smoothly throughout the entire process.

Su Ming picked up the walkie-talkie again. "Bridge tower control console, equipment operating normally, requesting handover of command."

The lookouts and watchmen on the bridge were several trainees with maritime experience. Although they had not directly operated mechanical ships, they had backgrounds working on large cargo ships.

They quickly got into character.

"Control has been confirmed."

As the ship aligned with the channel, the command sounded, "Left engine pitch to zero. Right engine, slight speed, direction 270 degrees."

The left propeller feathered the propeller, while the right pod sprayed water to block the stern, gradually stopping the ship's rolling motion.

After confirming the attitude was correct, a new command came from the driver's console, "Both vehicles! Proceed at a slow speed!"

The Pansy's port and starboard pods returned to their original angles, and the propeller speed steadily increased. White waves surged at the stern as the giant ship began to cut through the water.

Su Ming turned his head and glanced at the power bilge, which looked somewhat like a nitrogen tank due to the heat emitted by the numerous devices. This upgrade of the Pansy was not simply a matter of increasing its size, but rather a step towards becoming a modern warship in terms of overall technology.

Su Ming left the lower deck and went up to the deck.

With the command to increase propulsion, the roar of the propellers intensified, and more spray erupted from the stern. As the ship entered open water, its spreading wake resembled giant white wings unfolding to both sides, and everyone clearly felt the continuously increasing thrust.

"Both vehicles, half speed!"

With the command given, the engine system's thrust surged once more. The coastline began to recede, and the oncoming sea breeze grew increasingly strong.

The crowd on the board was in high spirits, playing around, chatting and laughing, and even shouting at the sea.

Behind the stern, the afterglow of the setting sun cast a golden-red glow on the sea, and the ship's silhouette gradually disappeared into the distance.

****

Earth, within a temporarily designated no-navigation zone in the waters near Tahiti.

The vertical launch unit hatch of the Jiangkai-1 missile frigate slowly opened. With a command from the commander, a missile was ejected from the launch silo by high-pressure gas, then ignited in mid-air, spewing out a blazing tail flame, before turning and piercing the sky into the distance.

The communication information transmitted back by the real-time data link showed that the missile did not identify the sailboat, which was being used as a target, until it entered a range of 50 kilometers from the target. Subsequently, there was a brief period of target loss.