Supercavitation refers to the phenomenon in which, once a moving object's speed reaches a certain threshold, its surface becomes enveloped in a layer of bubbles.
And this technology has also been the subject of attempted military development and application.
Especially in naval warfare, if this technology could be successfully put to use, it would bring about a massive leap in naval capability.
For example, the supercavitating torpedo uses supercavitation technology to reduce hydrodynamic drag, allowing it to travel underwater at extremely high speed.
If the opposing side has not yet made a breakthrough in this field, then once they are locked on, they are basically finished.
In this world, this technology had in fact already begun to see some application, but it was still imperfect, and even now had not been truly completed and formally deployed.
Because of that, the major powers were all pouring huge amounts of money and resources into this field, each trying to complete development ahead of the others.
Once mastered, the ocean would effectively become the backyard of whichever nation succeeded first. Control of the seas would be seized and dominated by that power.
So then, what if supercavitation technology were applied not only to torpedoes, but to submarines as well?
That would be even more terrifying.
Such a submarine would become the absolute ruler of the sea.
And that very technology was now fully displayed on a laptop computer.
This was the "gift" Kain had brought as part of the trade.
It was also one of the very few STCs he had obtained that he himself could open and examine. Its core form looked like an oversized submarine-shaped USB drive.
And the connector on that drive had been designed as a universal interface.
That port looked like a lump of soft crystal clay. Any plug could simply be inserted into it.
And once brought into this world, it apparently could be read directly as well.
In the Warhammer universe, though, this kind of technology was basically a toy, almost useless for military purposes.
"Hah..."
Tessa let out a breath she had not realized she was holding. She had been reading so intently that she had practically forgotten to breathe, only stopping when she began to feel short of breath.
Only after coming into contact with it personally did she realize just how absurd and outrageous this thing Kain called an STC really was.
And the reason Tessa had apparently acted a little willfully and insisted on participating in this mission actually came from two different motives.
On one hand, there was the livestream.
According to Kain, if the plot continued like this, they would soon encounter an extremely high-impact scene.
In that case, if she could livestream it up close, the effect would be best, and she would be able to earn star coins for herself.
On the other hand, Tessa also felt that she could not keep hiding away inside the submarine forever. She wanted to truly take part in the brutal front lines.
Of course, she also had a clear understanding of her own combat ability.
So for the coming days, she had directly asked Kain to put her through hellish training as well.
Ten days would not be enough to turn her into a real warrior, but at the very least it would help her improve quite a bit.
If some kind of surprise attack happened in the future, such as the submarine being infiltrated and enemies appearing before her, she would at least not be completely defenseless.
And regarding the possibility of submarine infiltration, according to the plot Kain knew, the assault landing submarine TDD-1 really would suffer an infiltration incident.
There was also a traitor within Mithril, one who acted as an inside man to let the enemy in, nearly resulting in TDD-1 being captured.
According to him, the traitor was within Mithril Pacific Squadron's SRT, though it was not one of the three currently out on the mission.
The traitor was among the remaining members.
Since Kain had said the plot was a little vague here and he could not clearly remember the traitor's name, they figured that if they listed out the names of the remaining members, it might trigger a sense of familiarity and help him remember.
In the end, they roughly narrowed it down to two people.
One was named Guanhinbe, and the other was named Giordani.
That was a serious problem.
At present, though, there was no proof that either of them had already betrayed them. It was also possible they would be bought off later.
But starting today, those two would definitely be listed as priority surveillance targets.
And beyond that, the traitor might not be limited to just those two.
So another reason Tessa had come along this time was that the lieutenant commander and the major were going to carry out a deep internal investigation aboard the submarine.
To avoid cornering any hidden enemies into making a desperate move and going after her directly, she had naturally accompanied the regular mission as well.
Suddenly, Tessa's body stiffened.
When she had relaxed and stretched a little, she had accidentally pushed her hand against the face of the person beside her. Her cheeks immediately reddened, and she grew embarrassed.
"S-sorry."
"It's fine. Don't worry about it."
"Um... this feels a little unfair."
"A little unfair?"
Kain looked at the bashful, beautiful captain beside him with some confusion.
"I mean the trade. We're getting far too good a deal."
The gift he had given her and the return gift she was offering were worlds apart.
It was like someone handing her a gold model submarine so heavy she could not even lift it, while the gift she gave in return was just a plastic model.
That made her feel genuinely guilty about accepting it.
"You don't need to feel like you're taking advantage. I may need your help later too, and when that time comes, I'll greedily collect what I'm owed."
"Mm."
"By the way, Tessa, what kind of trade did you two make?"
A voice suddenly cut in.
"You want to know?"
"Yeah."
"If you find out, then we'll have to silence you~"
With a sweet smile and an equally sweet voice, Tessa said something absolutely terrifying.
That left Sergeant Kurz Weber, who was currently driving, wanting to laugh, but unable to.
Because at that moment, Tessa had switched into her authoritative captain mode.
By then, the group had already left the submarine and come ashore, and they were on their way to the arranged lodging.
They would probably arrive around eight in the evening.
Tessa's gaze fell back onto the laptop, and she continued absorbing the knowledge displayed there, intending later to combine it with the technology she already understood in order to develop a new submarine.
Or perhaps upgrade the current one.
Then she clicked into the next item.
"Hm?"
What popped up was a video.
As the video began to play, a group of children appeared, likely around second grade elementary school age by local standards.
These children were also dressed in what looked like military-style uniforms, and were seated before a very futuristic-looking computer, almost like a holographic system that could be operated in midair.
The children were using it to construct something.
As the video continued, the scenes shifted several times, and eventually the children boarded submarines they had apparently assembled like building blocks and then competed out at sea.
Uh...
How should she put it?
It gave Tessa the feeling of one of those toy commercials on television, the kind meant to show how different combinations and ways of playing with the toy could help develop a child's thinking ability.
That was exactly the sort of impression this video gave her.
"This really feels like an ad."
She could not help muttering that under her breath.
"You can drop the 'feels like.'"
Kain directly confirmed it for her.
That was right. The STC he had brought this time really did come from a toy company.
"Ah?"
Tessa went blank.
It really was an ad.
Still, that was not all that strange, was it? Lots of countries ran advertisements for military hardware these days too.
However, when the video reached the end and the spokesperson or celebrity guest appeared on screen, Tessa was left completely dumbfounded.
This was actually an advertisement from a children's toy company.
(End of Chapter)
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