Chapter 556: Chapter 441: Backplate Dragon
Looking quite helpless, Long Yi glanced at Ai Lin, who giggled in response.
"Old Master, I think you’re overthinking. Even if you accompany me to the research institute right now and wait day and night, it’d still take at least three days to unleash the first blast from the cannon," Long Yi quickly explained. The Light Cannon they previously used operated at the standard output of the Crystal Core, but now this heavy-duty Light Cannon was powered by Dragon Power. Technically, there shouldn’t be any technical problems, but it wasn’t as simple as just throwing the cannon on the ground and infusing it with Dragon Power.
"Three days? That long?" Kai Long frowned. Long Yi wouldn’t lie to him, but these three days seemed unbearably long.
"Three days is too long? You have no idea how many ’three days’ I’ve waited while researching this Light Cannon!" Long Yi retorted with bulging eyes.
"Fine! Three days it is! I want to see the Light Cannon firing in three days!" declared Kai Long.
"Hold on! Maybe you should set your expectations on something else. I mentioned three days assuming everything goes smoothly. Research is not like cooking, where you get results instantly. It’d be best if you just patiently wait at home for my notification," Long Yi seemed rather speechless facing the old master’s impatient attitude. This person, who always appeared so calm and composed, had suddenly turned quite impatient.
However, Long Yi could somewhat relate to his feelings. As a land army general, despite controlling nearly three hundred thousand land soldiers, his role was significantly marginalized in modern warfare. The land troops were a typical asset that was indispensable but not particularly useful. If the Dragon Knights of the air force couldn’t secure victory, the land forces would definitely be even more powerless against the enemy Dragon Knights. But once the air force defeated the enemy’s Dragon Knights, the enemy’s land forces were essentially rendered useless.
About twenty years ago, before Long Yi was born, the White Dragon Empire and the Black Dragon Empire had a major conflict which was the last large-scale operation of the land troops in world war history. The land forces invaded the enemy territory, drawing the attention of the enemy air force to create opportunities for their own air force.
Essentially, they sacrificed the land forces as bait. This strategy had since been almost completely abandoned by military strategists. Even the Command College has redefined land troops as units used to suppress the remaining rebels on the ground after the Dragon Knights had secured victory.
This awkward situation was what Kai Long had to face.
But now, the land troops who always caused major headaches for the Dragon Knights finally had their moment! What’s it called? A new lease on life for an old tree! A revival for the seemingly dead tree!
How could Kai Long not be excited? Compared to this, what did mealtime matter!
Under Kai Long’s persistent urging, Long Yi and Ai Lin eventually went to the research institute. Of course, Long Yi picked up some fast food along the way.
Demanding Dean Ma Deburg to smile was quite a challenging task, but seeing Long Yi’s arrival, Humour crept up to his face as surely, Long Yi was bringing new toys to play with!
When the gigantic heavy-duty Light Cannon was unveiled, Ma Deburg was utterly astounded. Kai Long was not a professional, so he didn’t understand how to gauge the power of the Light Cannon. But Ma Deburg did!
The power of the Light Cannon was derived from the resonance and excitation of energy inside the crystal. Simply put, it was directly proportional to the mass of the Light Cannon. Compared to the two crystals Long Yi had brought before, this Light Cannon was like a bucket of water versus a few droplets in terms of energy output.
"This is a Dragon Power Cannon," said Long Yi, "I custom made it to utilize a more abundant Dragon Power for energy supply. But as you can see, we need to build a barrel for this Light Cannon, there needs to be a specific interface for Dragon Power transmission, not to mention aiming and firing devices for the Dragon Knights. The most crucial thing is, I need to find a suitable dragon as the carrier."
Angidd promptly rushed to the Crystal Core research institute. He had recently moved his office close to the research institute since Long Yi habitually headed straight for the Crystal Core research institute. More often than not, his presence was required. Therefore, his arrival was swift.
After considering Long Yi’s requirements, Angidd thought for a while before saying, "The first few requirements should be relatively easy to fulfill, we just need to enlarge the targeting system we use on the armor-fighters. As for the dragon you mentioned..."
Angidd didn’t know much about the land army Dragon Knights, so he glanced at Ma Deburg.
"Perhaps we could try the Backplate Dragon?" Ma Deburg suggested after some contemplation.
The Backplate Dragon was a medium-sized Earth Dragon about five meters long. It moved on six legs, and its body, including its head, was covered in a thick bone armor. Compared to other dragon species, the Backplate Dragon boasted an extremely high load-bearing capacity. Even though it usually didn’t move as quickly as some of the high-speed dragon species, it was extremely enduring. This was because the Backplate Dragon had a unique double-group muscular structure. The two sets of muscles could rest alternately. However, they could also work simultaneously, allowing it to make high-speed sprints. But the sprint distance was very short due to the dragon’s size.
The Backplate Dragon was a herbivore, with a docile nature. When faced with danger, they would curl up into a ball. Their bone armor was adorned with naturally formed Runes. When infused with Dragon Power, the armor became an invincible defense. It was proven that a fully-defending Backplate Dragon could withstand a Black Dragon’s Dragon Breath for half an hour, and most dragons’ bites would find it hard to destroy a Backplate Dragon’s bone armor infused with Dragon Power.
In most instances, Backplate Dragons were the mainstay of transport teams. Under extreme conditions, one Backplate Dragon could haul cargo equivalent to over twenty horses. But Backplate Dragon Knights were often not referred to as Dragon Knights. Instead, they were called Logistics Soldiers, much to the chagrin of many.
In the current White Dragon Empire, there were less than three hundred Backplate Dragons, scattered among the three land armies carrying out transport duties.
"Bring one here!" declared Long Yi without missing a beat.
The news reached Kai Long, so a Backplate Dragon Knight swiftly rode his Backplate Dragon into the research institute. After Little Zi finished the reliability check on him, this somewhat reticent young man stood before Long Yi and the others.
Around twenty years old, he looked at the group of people around him with a clear sense of confusion. His Backplate Dragon also appeared equally baffled. After undergoing the White Dragon Transformation, this Backplate Dragon seemed to have enlarged a bit, reaching about six meters in length with extremely robust six feet. Its bone armor had also turned white. As an indigenous dragon species of the human realm, it became much stronger upon receiving the power of a Pureblood dragon species. However, from merely looking into its eyes, Long Yi knew that this herbivorous creature was certainly not suited for aggressive combat.
Fortunately, it didn’t need to undertake any offensive tasks. The only duty of the Backplate Dragon was to bear this cannon. The offense was the job of the Dragon Knight.
"Brother, do you know who I am?" Long Yi leaned in to ask.
"I know... I know... You are Master Long Yi." The young man stuttered, gasping for breath.
"Here’s a paper bag, breathe into it, you’re about to faint." Long Yi handed over a paper bag.
After a while, the young man’s breathing steadied. Looking at Long Yi, his face turned red as he muttered, "Thank you..."
"When did you enlist?" Long Yi asked.
"Approximately six months ago..." The young man answered.
"What task have you been performing all this while?" Long Yi continued.
"The transport team." The young man shyly lowered his head. The great hero Long Yi, the idol of all Dragon Knights, stood before him! And he was simply a theoretical Dragon Knight, a simple transport team member. It was so embarrassing!
"Don’t be ashamed, in the midst of war, anyone who accomplishes their mission is a hero. It’s owing to your silent contributions that we at the front line can kill enemies freely without worries," Long Yi said.
"Yes, sir!" The young man snapped to attention, shouting enthusiastically.
"At ease, soldier. This isn’t a formal occasion, don’t get too excited," Long Yi smiled. "However, there is an opportunity now. I hope you could help me test my new weapon. If successful, you might become the main force on the future battlefield! Are you interested?"
"I am! I am!" The young man hurriedly agreed.
"Before you agree, remember that becoming a main force means the enemy will despise you. Whenever you appear on the battlefield, you will always be the primary target! Despite all this, are you still interested?" Long Yi questioned.
After listening, the young man was taken aback. Immediately, a profoundly serious expression surfaced on his face, "Although I’ve never set foot on a battlefield, my older brother was an Armor Fighter. In a previous battle, he personally downed a Flying Dragon. However, in a subsequent fight, he lost an arm to a Crystal Beast, losing his qualification to continue as an Armor Fighter. Had his comrades not helped him, he might be lying in the Heroes’ Cemetery by now. Yes, I am not aware of the dangers of the battlefield, but I am ready."
Long Yi laughed; clearly, he didn’t need to say more to the young man standing before him.
The Backplate Dragon was quite docile, and with the Dragon Knight beside it, it simply lay down and fell asleep. When it curled up, its shape like an overturned wooden basin, even protecting its head, which provided immense convenience for others.
Collecting data, sketching out initial designs, developing blueprints, and merely the preparation work for the equipment took a day. As it turned out, the optimism about firing the cannon within three days was indeed too optimistic.
Long Yi couldn’t be there all the time, he had other tasks to attend to.
During the war, there had been an explosion caused by the collision of four powers: the power of the Black Dragon and his Giant power, plus the power of Hell and the Power of Light. Among these, the Demon Power acted more like a catalyst.
The effect of the explosion was astonishing.
Long Yi decided to research more about this Annihilation Bomb.
How exactly did these powers work? Could they be made into more portable bombs? The Giant’s Tablet did not contain any information on this. It seemed the Giants were not particularly interested in this matter.
If conditions allowed, Long Yi would rather research the Qin bomb and wipe out those bastards with a hundred Qin bombs. Sadly, both his current knowledge and magical abilities were not sufficient for such a task.
Long Yi had the power of the Giant. Dandi had the power of Hell. Long Yi also had the Power of Light, and even more so, the Demon Power. The only power he lacked was that of the Black Dragon.
The situation was clear: there were some Black Dragons in the White Dragon Empire, but not long ago, Long Yi had turned them all into White Dragons. Currently, within the whole White Dragon Empire, the only beings that could be considered Black Dragons were Bajie and Xiaoyou. Bajie was a crossbreed of a Demon Abyss Dragon and a Black Dragon, while Xiaoyou was a Shadow Dragon, a branch of the Black Dragons.
It seemed they could only test it first. After all, kidnapping a Black Dragon from the border was somewhat challenging. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users can read it at m.qidian.com.)
