Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 797

Chapter 791: The Question of the Glory Queen

During the Battle of the Black Abyss against the Eldar pirates, the Alliance’s ‘Vostok’ was exposed.

This was intentional, of course.

The presence of the Glorious Queen was unnecessary against the trapped Dark Eldar pirates.

The Alliance’s main fleet, stacked with battleships and aircraft carriers, was more than sufficient.

Deploying the Glorious Queen not only guaranteed the outcome of the battle, allowing for a direct hit on the Dark Eldar stargate, but more importantly, the Alliance relied on this warship.

The Glorious Queen was a national treasure, capable of altering the outcome of a massive campaign.

The Alliance’s possession of it held numerous implications.

The most immediate implication was that the Alliance, already incredibly difficult for the Empire to deal with militarily, would now become even more challenging.

If the Alliance was to be targeted, the seemingly exaggerated war plan devised by the Munitions Department ten years ago proved conservative. A true attack on the Alliance would require even greater drama.

So, if the plan that had Prime Minister Zibodu shaking his head ten years ago were to be carried out even more dramatically, would the Empire be willing to accept it after ten years? Over

the past decade, the Empire has earned considerable extra money from the Alliance, improving its finances. It’s worth

considering whether the Empire earns more, or whether the Alliance’s economic growth is even more alarming.

At a time when calls for a new tax rate are clamoring across Holy Terra, the Alliance’s show of force is a clear sign.

Meanwhile, the Alliance’s possession of a Glorious Queen-class battleship carries another implication: If I can build one, is it possible to build a second?

This is, in fact, a fact.

While the “Orient” was publicly revealed, the Alliance’s second Glorious Queen-class battleship, secretly under construction, was nearing completion.

This ship, already named “Spider Web,” would soon be completed.

Upon its completion, construction on the third Glorious Queen-class battleship would begin immediately,

followed by the fourth.

However, according to the Alliance’s current plan, by the time the fourth Queen of Glory is reached, if the current situation remains unchanged, the Alliance will slow down construction.

One Queen of Glory every 10-15 years, that’s at full capacity. This rapid pace stems from a nagging sense of unease in Gu Hang. He fears both the Empire and the apocalyptic prophecy he witnessed, threatening to unfold imminently.

A slower pace could stretch the timeframe to 30, or even 50, with one ship built slowly. Annual costs would be significantly reduced, and overall costs would remain roughly the same.

This is unfortunate. If possible, Gu Hang would certainly prefer to build as many Queens of Glory as possible. Even if it took ten to fifteen years to build one, eight to ten Queens of Glory in a century would be unbeatable. Unfortunately,

however, various practical constraints limit this.

For one thing, there’s the economic factor.

The high cost and length of time required to build a Queen of Glory have been tolerated. Even during previous financial crises, the Alliance could withstand a 150 billion yuan annual expenditure spanning 15 years, let alone the current situation.

This financial burden is certainly significant, with the total cost of a single warship approaching two trillion.

However, the resources required are to be paid for in 15-year installments, making it a cost the Alliance cannot afford.

However, the completion of the Glorious Queen did not come without expense.

Operating this massive vessel is no easy task. Its complex machinery, weapons, and other systems, its massive hull, and the over one million retired sailors, engineers, and marines aboard all require considerable maintenance.

The annual maintenance cost of a Glorious Queen, in normal cruise mode, is around 5% of the ship’s total cost, or roughly 100 billion yuan.

Once war breaks out, this price tag will skyrocket. The fuel used and the high-grade materials required for ship repairs are also extremely expensive.

The Alliance can afford to build one.

But if they build too many, they might not be able to keep up. It

‘s not like they don’t need to build other lower-tier warships.

As the Alliance’s budget grows, so too do the expenses.

There’s a solution—build three and sell one.

But Gu Hang never considered it.

The news that the Glorious Queen could be rebuilt would surely cause a frenzy. If the Alliance were to accept orders, sales would be a breeze.

But Gu Hang refused to sell.

A warship of this level isn’t just about money.

It’s a core competitive advantage, and the Alliance definitely won’t sell it.

If they have good relations with the Imperial Central Government, then that’s a possibility. If the End Era truly arrives, the increased power of the Imperial authorities wouldn’t be a bad thing. But now, with relations between the two sides strained, the Alliance must consider that selling the Glorious Queen to the Empire would be a potential threat to them.

Beyond purely economic considerations, there’s a more serious problem.

The two greatest resource constraints in building the Glorious Queen are Adamantine and Voidsteel.

Adamantine is generally hard to come by, and ore is rare. But the Alliance has already solved this problem. The Alliance possesses the technology to synthesize Adamantine, and the resulting product is indistinguishable from mined material.

However, Voidsteel, however, is a much more complex proposition.

It requires melting entire gas giants to extract it. The construction of the first three warships has already caused gravitational imbalances in fifteen solar systems. Further development would be particularly problematic.

Of course, if it were possible to reach non-Alliance-controlled areas, even desolate solar systems, it might be possible. However, reaching these other solar systems by conventional navigation would take an inordinate amount of time.

These are the two main economic constraints.

Beyond these economic constraints, there’s another point.

During the construction of the Queen of Glory-class battleship, Gu Hang often felt that there were inexplicable void echoes inside the hull that resonated with his own psychic frequency.

After a detailed study of the technical specifications, Gu Hang and Wu Jiarong concluded that the formation of this battleship, in addition to “technology”, was also due to the fact that the Emperor and Mars borrowed the power of certain warp entities when designing it, which enabled them to create such a magnificent work.

And the power of this warp entity will show signs of reverse contamination of the real universe during the construction process.

If construction continues, it may cause regional reality collapse.

The solution is that Gu Hang must tear out a part of his own warp essence, that is, his Storm Kingdom, to suppress this reverse contamination. A

similar situation is also reflected in the “holy artifact manufacturing technology”.

Perhaps, to a certain extent, a single technological product, as long as it is powerful enough, may have similar problems.

(End of this chapter)