Upon learning of this, Ou Zhanpeng suddenly thought of the mysterious method used to cut the alien warship. Could it have been an operational error by the alien species that resulted in the ship's fragmentation?
Good heavens, so the enemy vessel was also destroyed by the aliens' own stupidity… Well, of course, Ou Zhanpeng was just thinking this to amuse himself, not genuinely believing the aliens were that foolish.
Aside from beam directional weapons, what most caught Ou Zhanpeng's attention was the water cannon.
He had initially assumed this was a standard weapon universally equipped by the alien species, but after downing the severed ship, he discovered it was nothing of the sort. A sweep of the battlefield revealed that only the "Brain Fish" were equipped with this weapon; even the "Iron Toads" weren't qualified, let alone the Giants.
According to the results of scientific experiments, although the water cannon was not a projectile weapon, its water jets were highly concentrated and possessed power far exceeding that of projectile weapons.
This was quite interesting. No matter how powerful the water cannon was, it couldn't compare to beam directional weapons. Furthermore, the alien species were clearly divided into three tiers: the Brain Fish, the Jellyfish Brains, and the Giants.
There might be other undiscovered alien species, but they were not being considered for now.
In short, why did the Brain Fish, the highest tier, not equip the more powerful beam directional weapons, but instead focus on the water cannon?
Tradition? Etiquette? Or, like a saber, was it a symbol of status within the alien race?
Whichever answer it was, it had been perplexing the researchers for a long time.
Ou Zhanpeng, however, immediately thought of the Giants' shields. These shields were impervious to energy weapons but could be penetrated by solid projectiles. Since the alien species generally equipped personal shields, was this relatively backward weapon equipped precisely to counter the Giants?
He felt he had likely found the truth.
Besides these, the assault team also found several plasma cannons in a storeroom.
As everyone knows, plasma is ionized gaseous matter. Humans had long mastered this substance and had been trying to weaponize it, but one of the characteristics of gaseous ions is their mutual repulsion. Once they leave the confinement of a magnetic field, they immediately disperse, no longer interacting with each other.
However, the aliens' plasma cannons did not simply fire plasma; they fired highly concentrated plasma. Within their effective range, the plasma did not diffuse at all, and their power was astonishingly high. During testing, a single shot penetrated the outer hull of the severed ship, nearly causing an accidental disaster.
It was clear that plasma compression technology was the core of this weapon.
Unfortunately, it was still not something that could be mastered in a short period.
Upon hearing about the plasma cannons, everyone in the assault team was somewhat bewildered. Ling Xiao was the first to voice the question on everyone's mind: "If the alien species had such effective weapons, why didn't they use them?"
"Of course it's..."
"It must be..."
Ou Zhanpeng and Xie Yu spoke in unison. They looked at each other, and Xie Yu yielded, "You go first."
Young Master Ou smiled, "It's naturally because of remote energy transmission. With the power core not activated, even the shields can't be used. Plasma, being a major energy consumer, would certainly have to remain dormant."
Xie Yu smiled, "We thought of the same thing!"
Ling Xiao nodded, "That makes sense… Hey, isn't the power core repaired now? Why don't we take it out and use it?"
"Let's just forget it," Ou Zhanpeng shook his head. "It's best not to use things we're not familiar with. Besides, plasma cannons are too powerful and not suitable for use on warships."
As a soldier, Xie Yu had an innate attachment to weapons. Originally, he, like Ling Xiao, wanted to try using the plasma cannons. However, after hearing Ou Zhanpeng's words, he immediately dismissed the idea.
It was fine to play around with them when idle, as a form of assistance to the research team, but using them against the Giants was indeed somewhat inappropriate.
What if it alerted the enemy, prompting them to deploy plasma cannons against the assault team?
Thus, this tempting idea was shelved.
"Besides the shields and plasma cannons, several other alien devices with unknown functions have also come online due to the power core's reactivation. We've categorized and gathered them together, but we haven't thoroughly researched their functions yet," Xie Yu said suddenly.
Ling Xiao's interest was immediately piqued, "When I have time, I'll definitely go take a look!"
Ou Zhanpeng suddenly became somewhat worried, his expression growing more solemn, "With so many things now operational, could the half of the warship that fell into the Pacific also have received energy supply because of this?"
At these words, everyone was stunned.
Ling Xiao asked uneasily, "You don't mean it? It's over three hundred thousand kilometers away. What kind of technology can transmit energy over such a distance? That would require immense power consumption!"
Ou Zhanpeng persisted, "Assume the worst-case scenario. That massive alien warship could emerge from a black hole; is transmitting a little energy over that distance truly that extravagant?
Xie Yu responded gravely, "We cannot rule out this possibility. No, I must report this matter!"
Ling Xiao blurted out without thinking, "Hey, hey, make sure to clarify who brought it up!"
Ou Zhanpeng grabbed the indiscreet fellow, "What are you talking about!"
Xie Yu's face darkened, "Do you really see me as such a petty person?"
Ling Xiao realized he had spoken incorrectly and quickly tried to placate him, "No, no, I just misspoke."
Xie Yu's mood worsened: Instinctive reactions are the most genuine reactions, my good brother!
With no time to bicker with Ling Xiao, Xie Yu, with a jumbled mind, reported Ou Zhanpeng's conjecture to the command center.
Tang Haifeng did not dare to delay and reported it to the capital without delay.
The fleet soon received the latest orders from the capital: organize personnel immediately, conduct a thorough study of the power core, and ascertain its principles as soon as possible, particularly the remote energy supply mechanism and its cutoff method.
Upon receiving this news, Ling Xiao did not ponder it deeply; his only reaction was to give a thumbs-up and praise the authorities for their wisdom.
Ou Zhanpeng, however, suddenly wondered if the navy had already found the front half of the severed ship.
Although he considered this possibility, he didn't want to add to others' psychological burden, so he kept it to himself, merely thinking it over.
As the research activities continued and expanded, despite Xie Yu's best efforts, the results were limited. The manpower was already insufficient, and now it was stretched even thinner.
Xie Yu had to request reinforcements from the command center, but Tang Haifeng could do little. Everyone who could be dispatched had already been sent to Luojian Mountain. The ground forces were preparing new spacecraft, and large quantities of supplies awaited transport into space. Even if more reinforcements were sent, their numbers would be very limited.
After all, the fleet had already secured the situation with the severed ship. Continuing to transport soldiers at a high cost seemed increasingly uneconomical.
However, as feared, the remaining Giants also turned their attention to the vulnerable researchers, launching several attacks targeting them.
Although each attack was thwarted by the assault team in time, resulting in no casualties among the researchers, it served as a stark warning to everyone.