Read Novel Full Chapter 7247: More Ratios
Chapter 7247: More Ratios
After deciding to target the Goliath Hive, the rest of the meeting unfolded without any notable excitement. They just talked about mundane matters such as navigation, safety and liaising with the Rubarthans. As a tier 2 galactic citizen, Ves and by extension the Dark Apostle was entitled to special treatment. In fact, it would be better if a 'non-combatant' as important as him stayed far away from the dangerous front! Since that was not an option, the Rubarthans had to send additional reinforcements to the destination in order to make sure their guest did not befall any accidents.
The Dark Apostle preferred to tell these worrywarts not to bother, but his words would probably fall on deaf ears. The Bluejay Fleet subsequently set off to a fortified star system that was currently under heavy attack by the Goliath Hive. Due to Ves Larkinson's imminent promotion to a tier 2 galactic citizen, the escort force had bulked up substantially since recently. All of the transfers that occurred during and after Ves' visit to the Yernstall Central Star Node easily doubled the amount of hulls. The RA committed 1 heavy cruiser, 2 light cruisers, 2 destroyers and 4 combat carriers holding 20 first-class multipurpose mechs and 1 infantry battalion each.
The mechers must have talked it over with the fleeters because they transferred away a handful of warships in favor of bringing in more combat carriers. It was very clear that the 80 first-class multipurpose mechs were the real powerhouses of this relatively small force. The RF contributed 1 reconnaissance cruiser, 7 light cruisers, 12 destroyers, 4 stealth corvettes, 2 military transport vessels and 1 naval field repair vessel. It was disappointing that the fleeters declined to dispatch any heavy cruisers or battleships, but the RF had reached a point where their larger hulls became increasingly more scarce. Any battleship that met their end on the battlefield was unlikely to be replaced by a similar hull.
The fleeters were feeling the pinch. Even with the recent support provided by the Cybernetic Empire, the RF simply couldn't afford to commit two to four years of yard time just to construct extremely expensive battleship hulls. This was especially difficult during a time of rapid change. The Age of Dawn had only just begun. Red humanity was still making rapid technological progress. A hull laid down today could already become severely outdated just 2 years later. The new trend within the RF amounted to doing more with less. Rather than construct big and expensive warships that were all too vulnerable to getting wrecked by the weakest alien phase lords, it was much more sensible to build lots of small and nimble warships that packed a decent punch but could still outrun enemy champions.
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While it was not always possible for lighter warships to flee from every alien phase lord, they at least gained a higher chance to evade destruction and return to friendly space intact and whole. Of course, this was mostly a loss-mitigation strategy. The truth of the matter was that the Red Fleet simply couldn't support the tonnage it was fielding at the moment. Many of its hulls originated from the old galaxy. The Common Fleet Alliance had no problem supporting so many warfleets before the Age of Dawn, but the Great Severing happened too soon for the fleeters to build the corresponding infrastructure in the new frontier.
In short, it was actually quite generous for the fleeters to supply so many smaller warships to the Bluejay Fleet. While the lack of battleships was still distressing, keeping these big boys out of the equation kept the Bluejay Fleet fast and nimble, which was crucial to escorting a VIP to safety. At least the fleeters upgraded the existing hulls such as the Babylon Excavator while supplying lots of modern warships that had been designed from the ground up to incorporate new advancements in hyper technology and phasewater technology. The ships hit harder, could withstand more damage and had become a lot more mobile. The RF had done its best to maintain their relevancy in the new age. The fleeters could not afford to lose their military supremacy.
So far, only a small group of people knew that the fleeters collaborated heavily with the collies to develop so-called artifact warships. The RF had even been generous enough to add a couple of prototypes to the Bluejay Fleet, though it remained unclear what advantages they possessed. The RC contingent of the Bluejay Fleet was the real sun of the show. While the collies only contributed a single giant carrier, 2 light cruisers and 2 stealth frigates, the former was by far the most important vessel. As the only capital ship of the Bluejay Fleet, the giant carrier was more than a repurposed fleet carrier.
The Dark Apostle had already toured the 3-kilometer long ship and almost fell in love with the vessel. The Armitage was long but fairly narrow. Much of the space was taken up by large cargo holds that contained a large amount of giant-sized weapons and raiments. While all of this gear took up a large amount of volume, the logistical burden of supporting all of the pieces was significantly lower. A couple of hundred mechs not only needed storage space, but also dedicated maintenance crews, spare parts, workshops, support for mech pilots and so much more. All of that apparently imposed a greater burden than accommodating the gear of 31 Ascended Giants. Unfortunately, the gear was all scaled according to the standards set by the individual phalanxes.
Currently, the Ur-Titan Phalanx set their scale at 2.5x, which basically meant that the weapons and raiments were designed to be 2.5 times larger than a typical mech. The Faceless Giants only set their standards at 1.5x, which made them significantly smaller but also easier to field in larger numbers. The amount of phasewater needed to increase this scale factor rose drastically due to the square-cube law. This was why it was not so easy for the Faceless Giants to reach 2.5x considering their lower budget and much greater headcount. Whatever the case, the Dark Apostle expected the existing phalanxes to slowly increase their standards over time. Only a short time had passed since the first Ascended Giants came into existence. They all needed more time to develop their strength and increase their phasewater concentration further.
Besides, all of the fighting against alien phase lord had taught both sides that bigger was not always better. A huge phase lord may have gained a huge amount of leverage and ability to exert a lot of force, but it also turned the fool into a giant target that was far too expensive to clad with armor. This was why more and more phase lords tended to make themselves smaller than usual in order to make themselves nimbler and harder to strike. Ves and the Dark Apostle were not sure what the ideal scale should be for the different phalanxes, but it should not be too big.
As far as they were concerned, 2.5x was not enough for a lesser phase lord. It would be much more impressive if the Ascended Giants could field hundreds of phase lords that could be 3x or 4x. A ratio higher than 10x was probably pushing it as the added durability was not worth the reduction in mobility. That was firmly juggernaut territory, which meant that any organism that reached this size played by a different set of rules.
The Dark Apostle had experimented with different sizes in person whenever the opportunity arose. He was able to achieve a ratio of 7x, which was quite impressive since his phasewater concentration was just 5.6 percent. This put him significantly ahead of most of the Ascended Giants. That was not bad since Ves did not often invest in his phase lord cultivation.
One of the Dark Apostle's greatest shortcomings at the moment was not only his lack of mature fighting skills, but also his rather meager phasewater organs. He did not have enough of them to fully define his intended combat approach. Numerous phasewater organs were also rather basic and could definitely benefit from upgrades or outright replacements. The Dark Apostle talked to the doctors of the Phase Lord Department about expanding his collections of phasewater organs.
"We do not recommend you integrate more phasewater organs at this time. The risks of complications are too great. You are still injured and in the process of recovering to full health. You have also integrated a lesser Marigal organ several weeks ago. You need to spend more time allowing your latest organ to settle and for your physique to stabilize. We are concerned that unforeseen complications can arise due to your abnormal conditions. You told us that your phasewater concentration automatically increases when you undergo a 'tribulation' or integrate new phasewater organs, correct?"
"Yes." The Dark Apostle felt rather silly for nodding in front of a puny human doctor, but it was not as if there were any Ascended Giants bothered to study medicine and biology. "I think that upgrading an inferior organ for a high-grade version also produces the latter effect. I never asked for this. As far as I know, the heavenly authority of the Red Ocean is unusually invested in me and wants to turn me native for whatever reason. I resent the fact that I cannot control this process. If I want to raise my phasewater concentration, it should be my decision."
"Other Ascended Giants would be more than happy to take your place, sir. Their means of body cultivation is much more costly and tedious for them. They do not get their additional phasewater for free. They need to obtain it from other sources and absorb it into their bodies one way or another. Pain is unavoidable. The most effective method is to inject it directly into their bodies. It works faster, but generates a large amount of pain. You can spare yourself a large amount of pain by absorbing phasewater orally, but the pain is more persistent inside your body. It is still a safer approach, but so much phasewater gets wasted in the process."
In other words, other Ascended Giants indeed did not have it easy. They needed to develop a formidable amount of pain tolerance in any case of their choice. The ones that could endure greater hardship could inject phasewater directly into their bloodstreams. This would temporarily exceed their maximum concentration and cause a certain amount of damage to their true bodies. However, their flesh also adapted faster to the increased concentration, thereby translating to better results going forward. Those who chose to ingest phasewater would suffer the mother of all stomach burns for a few days. The pain would persist for days and only gradually taper off later on. A significant amount of phasewater would end up elsewhere, leaving only a fraction of the initial dose to increase the Ascended Giant's phasewater concentration.
To be honest, the Dark Apostle thought both methods were crude and lacking in sophistication, but the problem was that the giants failed to figure out anything better. The alien phase lords must have developed more efficient methods, but they probably guarded their secrets quite well against their human foes.
It would be nice if the Bluejay Fleet could kidnap an enemy phase lord and interrogate him. The underlings of the Red Cabal probably knew a lot more secrets, especially if they were old.
"I need to raise my phasewater concentration to 50 percent as soon as possible." The Dark Apostle mentioned. "I am too vulnerable given my current status. I do not want to make it easy for assassins to take my head."
"We can try to do so by implanting more phasewater organs into your true body. We do not recommend you resort to other methods as that can be counterproductive. Your health is paramount."