When the Imperial fleet moved, the frogmen did not want to be left behind. The fin on the right side of the Sturgeon's head opened, and a black object floated down silently.
"What is this?" Dong Yi was really surprised because he had never seen such a device before.
It was a spherical steel ball. Its size was so small that it was almost invisible on the radar. However, when it was thrown into the atmosphere, perhaps due to the friction in the air, it began to expand rapidly. In the blink of an eye, it became about the same size as the Songqing spacecraft. It looked like a black ball made of two pieces of scrap iron. This was obviously some kind of exploration device.
"It doesn't look like a device to me," Cadiga said in a deep voice.
"Oh?" Dong Yi turned his head curiously. "Officer Cadiga, do you have a different opinion?"
Cadiga frowned and looked at the screen. "I don't think it's purely a mechanical device."
Xi Wen said, "Then what is it?"
Cadiga sighed. "This small planet is full of strangeness. When I first arrived on Azure Tree, I had this feeling."
These words were said for Ding Meng. Ding Meng was also secretly surprised. If the steel ball was not a mechanical device, could it be a living thing?
However, whether it was or not was not important because the situation of the ball was exactly the same as the Songqing spacecraft. It fell halfway and then disappeared. Even the radar could not see the bottom. What happened?
Xi Wen hesitated. "Should we try it too?"
Dong Yi smiled bitterly. "We definitely have to try it, but we can't try it like they did."
The Imperial fleet could launch seven Songqing spacecraft at once, but Supremacy did not have such luxury because they could not afford to lose them.
Dong Yi said, "Activate a medium-sized drone and use manual mode to operate it. Turn on the camera and record the whole process. Eject it down."
He had thought about it thoroughly. Since the radar could not see clearly, they would turn on the drone's camera. They should at least be able to see what was going on.
The Sovereign's reconnaissance aircraft was more than 50 meters long. It looked like a triangular paper plane, but both wings and tail were installed with booster and power ejectors. As soon as it was launched, it floated down lightly. After entering the atmosphere, both wings and tail ejected crystal flames, and the whole aircraft slowly glided to the ground.
Catherine controlled the reconnaissance aircraft remotely. The scanning system had been turned on, and the real-time image of the surface appeared on the screen. The terrain of the planet was almost the same, all blackened scorched earth and rubble. Looking from the sky, every place looked the same. Of course, this was easy to understand. The ground had long been scorched by the light of seven suns.
Suddenly, the screen went black, and the camera's signal was cut off.
Dong Yi said in surprise, "What's the situation?"
Catherine was even more surprised. "I don't know. I suddenly lost contact."
Everyone looked at each other. They couldn't explain such a strange thing.
Xi Wen said in a deep voice, "Send three more drones down and record each other. We must see clearly and find the cause."
Five minutes later, the three reconnaissance aircraft whistled into the atmosphere again. This time, Catherine switched to three screens. They were all real-time images of the three planes.
The same image appeared very quickly. The screen suddenly went black, and the three planes lost contact again.
Dong Yi's face was livid. "Replay the recording. Play it frame by frame. Everyone, keep your eyes on it."
Since the three planes were launched one after another, the last plane lost contact a second or two later than the first two.
It was also in this less than a second that everyone finally saw clearly. The reconnaissance aircraft was flying in the clouds. Without warning, a purple-black ray appeared in the dark clouds. This ray was as thin as a finger, fast and trembling. It was like a sword suddenly slashing out a fan, and this fan directly vaporized the drone. It was as if the plane in the picture had been erased, and then the ray disappeared into thin air like a magic trick.
For a moment, the command center was silent. Everyone believed that at this moment, the other two families were also shocked. This was definitely the first time they had seen such a strange and terrifying thing.
That ray was similar to the ray emitted by a long-range communication probe. It was too thin, so thin that the starship's radar could not detect it. But that was the problem. This ray, which was less than 0.1 meters thick and less than 10 meters long, could vaporize a drone made of titanium alloy. What kind of terrifying power was that?
Although the weapons on the starship could also achieve this effect, that was a railgun. The two could not be compared at all.
In fact, the power was not the most important thing. The most frightening thing was, where did it come from?
How did it get there?
It came and went without a trace. There was no trace at all.
"Send three more down," Xi Wen said through gritted teeth.
This kind of reconnaissance drone was not worth much. There were more than a thousand of them on Sovereign, so they could do whatever they wanted.
However, it was useless. As soon as the drones broke through the atmosphere and entered the clouds, they encountered this result.
After sending more than 20 planes in a row, Dong Yi rubbed his temples. He felt a headache.
Xi Wen did not issue any more orders. Instead, he closed his eyes and seemed to be thinking about something.
Looking at the other two families, the situation was exactly the same. The Sturgeon's steel ball also turned into nothingness when it fell into the clouds. The Empire's fleet no longer dared to use the expensive Songqing spaceships. Instead, they kept sending small detectors down.
However, the Empire's fleet was really rich. There were a lot of detectors. They all flew out one after another, forming a line in the air. However, after the "line" disappeared into the clouds, there was no more reaction. They were all vaporized.
Ming Huazhi kept staring at the Empire's fleet. "Something's not right!"
His voice alarmed everyone. Dong Yi could not help but ask, "Did you find something, Mr. Ming?"
Ming Huazhi pointed to the screen and said, "Look, the Norse Empire's fleet is still different from ours."
Everyone took a closer look and quickly understood. The detectors of the Empire's fleet had dropped much more. At least, those detectors were destroyed by the ray after penetrating the clouds.
Dong Yi turned his head and said, "Analyze the data."
Catherine immediately said, "Comparative analysis. The aircraft they sent out are equivalent to our small reconnaissance aircraft. There are 211 of them. The initial speed is Mach 45. After entering the atmosphere, it drops to Mach 20. After entering the clouds, it drops to Mach 15 …"
Xi Wen said, "Maybe it's because of the speed."
Dong Yi said, "Activate the small unmanned reconnaissance aircraft and descend at Mach 10."
This type of small reconnaissance aircraft was really small. It was not more than 15 meters long. It dived down like an eagle in the sky. However, Xi Wen's analysis was correct this time. The drone actually penetrated the clouds safely and disappeared 9,000 meters from the ground.
"It's really because of the speed!" Everyone was shocked.
Dong Yi said, "Continue, descend at Mach 5!"
Catherine immediately operated the drone carefully on the screen, but the operation of the Supreme definitely couldn't hide from the radars of the other two families. Everyone saw clearly that when the drone's speed reached Mach 5, the altitude it descended was much lower, about 8500 meters.
This time, the frogmen and the Empire's fleet did the same. They threw out drones, detectors, and reconnaissance devices as if they did not cost money. Everyone was constantly reducing their speed and breaking through new heights. Of course, the time interval was longer and longer each time.
When the large and small aircraft descended to an altitude of about 4000 meters, 233 hours and 30 minutes had passed. It was almost ten days. The speed of the aircraft was already below the speed of sound. They could no longer reduce this speed. One reason was that time did not allow for it. Another reason was that the height of 4000 meters was a threshold. No matter how much they reduced their speed, they would definitely trigger the ray if they continued to descend.
The progress of landing was once again in a difficult situation. Xi Wen frowned and said, "I think it's the force field."
Ming Huazhi nodded and said, "That's right. Only the pull of the force field can trigger that ray. The force field is just a matter of speed, strength, and direction."
Dong Yi said, "We can use the most traditional method. We can release the small drones, then use the small aircraft to drop the micro detector down. We can use the radar to precisely lock onto the detector. Everyone, what do you think?"
Everyone's eyes lit up. Ding Meng also thought that this was a good idea.
The so-called micro detector was not a product of this era. It was the most primitive and ancient aerial camera. The power system was not crystal energy, but electrical energy to drive the propeller. It used radio waves to transmit signals. The reason the Supreme had such a thing was mainly due to the narrow terrain of the cave. However, no one had thought that it would be useful in such a situation.
However, there was a problem. The size of the detector was really too small. It was only about five meters long. When it was thousands of meters in the air, the slightest turbulence or other vibrations could cause it to deviate from the preset path. This required a high level of manual skills.
"I'll do it!" Sheng Tianming stood up decisively.
Ding Meng could not help but feel a little surprised. He secretly asked, "Can he do it?"
Lu Qing's expression did not look good. "His manual skills in the field of machinery are not bad. He has won awards in the flying competition organized by the Alliance more than once."
Ding Meng said, "I really did not expect this guy to specialize in this."
Lu Qing did not say anything. She looked at the screen expressionlessly. This was because Sheng Tianming had intentionally or unintentionally glanced at her when he stepped forward. The smug look on his face was especially obvious.
Ding Meng was speechless. How was this guy here to participate in the operation?
He was clearly here to pick up girls. He wanted to show off in front of beautiful girls all the time.
However, Sheng Tianming's show was quickly dismissed mercilessly. Kardika also stood up. "Young Master Ming, you should rest well. I will ensure the safety of the flight. Young Master Ming, searching for resources is your specialty."
"This …" Sheng Tianming's smile suddenly froze. It was true that he had won awards in the competition, but when it came to manual flying skills, no one in the Alliance dared to say that they were better than Kardika. The reason was simple. Kardika was the founder of those competitions.
Show off?
Show off? Show off!