The Hungry Fortress Wants to Build a Battleship in Another World – World of Sandbox

“Spy-bot deployment to the Northern Archipelago is complete. Since the area is within direct power transmission range, construction and operation were straightforward.”
“Good. I never really understood why the Northern Archipelago was invaded in the first place, but it’s about time we addressed it properly. One way or another, it’s the closest to . A direct threat.”

The Northern Archipelago had been left mostly alone up until now, in part to avoid provoking unnecessary retaliation. But finally, had begun moving in earnest. As a first step, the returning fleet had been tailed by the Orca submersible, which deployed insect-type spy-bots under the cover of night.
“The flying insect-type bots can now operate without resupply via microwave power transmission.
Eliminating the battery allowed for downsizing, which made a huge difference.

They’ll infiltrate everywhere and form a mesh network.
Originally, spy-bots powered by microwave transmission were useless by design, but...”
“Well, yeah. You’d never think to use something that floods the area with microwave signals when you’re trying to stay hidden.”

During the World of SpaceS era, the presumed enemy operated on a similar tech level, making microwave transmission virtually unviable.
But in this world, radio-wave technology was completely undeveloped, meaning there were no constraints at all. They could blast as much electromagnetic radiation as they liked without any risk of detection.
That said, the bots were over 3cm in size. Letting them fly around without restriction would understandably trigger suspicion—or worse, get them treated as pests to be exterminated.

Hence, movement was limited mostly to nighttime, with bots hiding in shadows during the day.
Still, this posed no obstacle to sonic data collection. While the sensors had narrow fields of view, merging visual inputs from multiple bots allowed for moderately detailed composite imagery.
Some would likely be discovered and destroyed, but their bodies were made from cellulose, resin, fluid-actuated joints, and micro-silver threads—making them visually indistinguishable from ordinary bugs even when crushed.

At the same time, palm-sized spider-type bots were also being deployed to retrieve wreckage.
These spiders possessed enhanced transmission systems, and were designed to remain concealed in shadowy areas.
They also functioned as mesh network hubs, aggregating and relaying near-real-time data back to .

“Once we have a sufficient volume of information, I will report again. As of now, it appears that long-range communication technology has not yet been developed. There’s no urgency. It seems they’re communicating with the mainland using birds.”
“...Birds?”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am.

Historically, there were so-called ‘carrier pigeons’ that used homing instincts.
I assume it’s a similar mechanism.
We’ve confirmed that birds are being released with identical messages tied to their legs, multiple times.
However, since every bird appeared to be a different species, it’s unclear whether homing instinct is at play—or whether they have some other method for directing the birds to their destination.”

“Huh…”
Well, when you thought about it, the Northern Archipelago and the Kingdom of Lepuitari were separated by a straight-line distance of at least 1,000 km. Naturally, there were no islands in between. Without being seabirds, ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) there was nowhere to rest mid-flight.
Some species could fly for 24 hours straight—but the birds in question had visibly distinct appearances, making it unlikely that all of them had such capabilities.

“Let’s investigate that over time.
Even at best, a bird-delivered letter would take three days to arrive.
If it strays off course, it might take over a week. That’s the limit of their communication speed.

In that amount of time, we can establish an entire espionage network across the Northern Archipelago.”
“Alright, alright. Then, moving on... Next is the new destroyer class, right? Testing’s going well?”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am.”

nodded at Commander Eve’s words and brought up a display of the destroyer development tree.
“Development progress is shown here. This class is separate from the first Alpha-Class.
The base material has been changed to high-tensile steel. For armor, we’ve adopted a carbon nanotube–resin composite in a layered structure.

The hull has been shaped to prioritize acceleration performance, based on resistance factors like wave drag.”
“Mhm, mhm... I see. Acceleration, huh.”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. In combat maneuvers, what’s demanded of destroyers is agility—acceleration, deceleration, and turning performance. Top speed and fuel efficiency come second.”

“Alright. Sounds reasonable. Next—propulsion system.”
Alongside the destroyer development tree, a propulsion system tree was displayed. Lines connected them to indicate which tech was being used in which ship type.
“The base tech is waterjet propulsion. The propulsive method is screw-pump. I think this was the one we tested on the first Alpha-Class?”

“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am.
We prototyped and installed several propulsion systems.
The most successful result was selected for use.

We also tested electromagnetic propulsion, which generates thrust via underwater magnetic fields—but for now, pressure-based screw-pumps show better efficiency.
Electromagnetic systems require superconducting coils, and unless room-temperature superconductors are used, they also require cooling systems, which impacts cargo capacity.
Room-temperature superconducting materials are still under research. Once practical, we’ll consider retrofitting the propulsion unit.”

“Right... Waterjets... So the hull is full of slits, huh? What kind of structure is that?”
“There are water intake ports and jet nozzles installed.
To put it simply—ejecting a large volume of water at low speed provides better acceleration efficiency than ejecting a small volume at high speed.

For optimal acceleration, we adopted a configuration that ejects water in bulk from multiple nozzles.”
“Got it… Got it. Never seen that kind of shape before, so it caught me off guard. But as long as it’s fast, that’s fine. So, acceleration and top speed are good. How’s the armament?”
“Main weapon is a multi-barrel railgun.

Short-barrel multi-barrel railguns for small or airborne targets.
Vertical launch system with anti-air, anti-ship, and anti-submarine missiles.
Torpedo launcher with short- and long-range torpedoes.

It carries both reconnaissance drones and anti-personnel drones, all of which can be deployed instantly via electromagnetic catapult.”
“Pretty well-rounded. Prioritizing versatility?”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am.

The ammunition loadout is prepared to handle a broad range of scenarios.
Living quarters are minimal. Most of the interior is cargo space, which gives it excellent sustained combat capability.”
The new destroyer class was significantly larger than the Alpha-Class.

The additional internal space had been used to load far more shells, missiles, torpedoes, and drones. According to , a single ship could perform the work of five to six Alpha-Class destroyers.
“And this is our current flagship model: the cruiser equipped with a fusion reactor.
The ship’s width was expanded to accommodate the reactor, which reduces top speed compared to standard models.

Main gun is a multi-stage electromagnetic coilgun.
Secondary weapons include multi-barrel railguns.
Short-barrel multi-barrel railguns are also installed.

A larger vertical launch system was installed.
It can fire various missiles—including long-range ones.
Also equipped with torpedo launchers and electromagnetic catapults for drone deployment.

Additionally, it carries one SR-1 Albatross-Class flying boat, and features a simple maintenance dock.”
“Definitely expedition-oriented loadout.”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am.

Going forward, there will be more missions beyond the microwave drone relay range, so we’ve outfitted it with a variety of systems on a trial basis.
For our current target—the Kingdom of Lepuitari—even if problems arise, we’ll still be within direct support range from .
I believe it’s the perfect opportunity.”

Commander Eve approved ’s proposal.
With that, ’s shipyard facilities began mass production of the new-class destroyers.