140: Pure ship-based exploration, AI demonstrates its power.

Chapter Three: Pure Fleet Expands the Sea, AI Shows Its Might

The night scene of Fuxing Island was lit up by the cold light of mechanical operations. The mechanical arms of the Primary Shipyard swung throughout the night, and the light hum of metal casting drowned out the sound of the waves. Not a single Southern Song Dynasty sailor was conscripted, nor was a single pirate lackey recruited. All shipbuilding, control, combat, and maintenance processes were completed independently by the mechanical control units, shipborne AI, and engineering robots generated by the red alert system.

Lin Zhou stood before the holographic console at the base core, completely cutting off all permissions for the Southern Song Dynasty remnants to access the red alert ships and combat systems. The commands in his sea of consciousness were cold and decisive. The years of fighting in the apocalypse and the abyss had long ago taught him that external forces, surrendered soldiers, and vassal teams always harbor treacherous hearts and different intentions. Only the native red alert combat units of the system, with absolute loyalty hardcoded into their code, were the only force that could be entrusted without reservation.

Lu Xiufu brought several personal guards and wanted to approach the slipway to assist in steering and guarding, but they were firmly blocked by the energy barrier at the periphery of the base. An ancient Chinese text prompt from the system popped up on the barrier: Non-red alert authorized combat units are prohibited from entering. Violators will be expelled by energy.

The group of old Southern Song Dynasty officials looked at each other. Although they had doubts in their hearts, they did not dare to disobey in the slightest. They watched those inanimate mechanical arms assemble the hulls autonomously, watched the unmanned patrol boats cruise autonomously on the sea, and watched the cold mechanical units complete the entire process of loading, maintenance, and navigation. They only felt that the power in His Majesty's hands had long since transcended earthly things and did not allow any external force to interfere.

Lin Zhou ignored the old subordinates on the shore and devoted all his attention to the system panel, pouring all the resources he had just obtained from wiping out the Yuan Army and scouring the deserted islands into the expansion of naval ships and the generation of combat units, leaving no redundancy.

[Ding—Consumed 5,000 Steel, 3,500 Ore, 2,000 Fuel. The Primary Shipyard has been expanded into a Medium Naval Workshop. Construction permissions for Light Frigates, Anti-submarine Torpedo Boats, and Sea Radar Sentry Towers have been unlocked.]

[Ding—Generated 12 red alert shipborne AI combat units, assigned to the centers of various ships. 100% loyalty, no desertion, no slackness, no errors. Supports fully automatic swarm combat.]

[Ding—Built 2 Light Frigates, increased High-speed Patrol Boats to 8, and built 3 fixed Sea Radar Sentry Towers. Deployed in the Fuxing Island triangular alert zone, covering a hundred miles of the surrounding sea area.]

[Ding—Activated the fully automatic resource collection fleet, 6 Unmanned Transport Boats. Autonomous cruising around deserted islands to collect rocks, coral, and sea sand, converting them into infrastructure resources. 24-hour non-stop operation.]

Blue light surged in the shallow sea area. The scale of the Medium Naval Workshop expanded three times. The slipway extended into the deep sea. Heavy mechanical arms hoisted alloy hulls, and shipborne energy cores were embedded into the cabins. Two Light Frigates took shape at a speed visible to the naked eye. The frigates were fifteen meters long, equipped with quadruple rapid-fire cannons, light ship-to-ship missile launchers, and close-in weapon systems. The armor thickness was twice that of the patrol boats, and they could collide head-on with large warships of this era. The combat power of a single ship was enough to crush a small-to-medium-sized naval formation.

Eight patrol boats and two frigates, under the unified dispatch of the shipborne AI, automatically formed a triangular naval formation. Not a single person boarded or commanded, yet the formation was neat and the speed was consistent, forming an airtight alert circle around Fuxing Island. The signal waves from the radar towers swept across the sea. Even a small boat a hundred meters away or a school of fish swimming underwater could be accurately marked on the holographic screen. The entire situation of the South Sea region was before Lin Zhou's eyes.

"Your Majesty, we are willing to steer ships and destroy the enemy for Your Majesty, to serve you like dogs and horses. Why... why won't you let us touch the divine weapons?" Lu Xiufu asked with a bow across the energy barrier, his voice filled with urgency and unwillingness. The humiliation of the crushing defeat at Yamen was etched into his blood and bones. He wished he could immediately operate a ship to kill the enemy and wash away the national disgrace, but he was blocked outside the barrier, with his strength having nowhere to be used.

Lin Zhou turned around. There was no ripple on his youthful face, and his tone carried the arbitrariness and coldness of an emperor: "My armaments, my fleet, require no outside interference. Your duty is to station yourselves in the camp on the island, manage the grain and grass, build residences, and record island affairs. Without my decree, you shall not approach the base even by a single step."

He knew very well that once the old Southern Song Dynasty subordinates were allowed to contact the red alert core, it would be inevitable for spying, leaks, or even collusion with external forces to occur. Even if the probability was minuscule, he would not allow it. Absolute rule is built on an absolute monopoly of power, and the red alert units were the only foundation of his monopoly of power.

Although Lu Xiufu was unwilling, he could only bow and accept the decree, leading the remnants back to the woodland camp on the inner side of the island, no longer daring to approach the core area of the base.

At dawn, the three radar towers issued alarms simultaneously. Large patches of dense red light spots jumped onto the holographic screen. Located eighty miles northeast of Fuxing Island was a coastal patrol formation of the Mongol Yuan Navy, totaling eight large warships and fifteen small-to-medium-sized fast boats, carrying nearly a thousand Yuan soldiers. They were ordered to sweep the exiled Song soldiers in the South Sea and were the core patrol force of the Yuan Army controlling the South Sea after the Battle of Yamen.

Within the formation, there were also two Yuan Army supply ships loaded with ironware, grain, sulfur, and timber, all of which were high-quality resources that the red alert system could convert.

Lin Zhou tapped the screen with his fingertip and issued a fully automatic combat command. He didn't assemble anyone or issue a pre-battle mobilization. All commands were directly synchronized to the AI center of every red alert ship.

[Combat Command: All members of the red alert naval formation strike out. Annihilate the Yuan Army patrol formation, sink all warships, and seize all supply materials. No prisoners, no survivors. Combat mode: Saturation Strike.]

In the next second, the engines of the naval formation outside Fuxing Island roared in unison. Eight patrol boats led the way, and two frigates brought up the rear in the center. The silver-white hulls cut through the waves, their speed breaking limits. Like unsheathed blades, they sped toward the Yuan Army formation. The shipborne AI automatically planned the optimal route, locked onto targets, and allocated strike coordinates, requiring no extra control from Lin Zhou throughout the process.

Half an hour later, the two fleets encountered each other on the sea.

The general of the Mongol Yuan Navy stood at the bow of a large warship, watching ten strange ships with no sails, no oars, and entirely silver-gray bodies rushing towards them at high speed. He was first filled with shock, then ordered the entire army to form a line. Archers notched their arrows, and catapults were loaded, attempting to meet the enemy with tactics from the cold weapon era.

"Fire arrows! Throw stones! Sink these strange ships!"

A rain of arrows and stone projectiles smashed toward the red alert fleet, but they all struck the alloy hulls. The bouncing projectiles and arrows fell into the sea, without even scratching the paint on the ship's body. The Yuan Army soldiers were dumbfounded, having never seen such indestructible ships. For a moment, their ranks were in chaos.

The red alert fleet's counterattack arrived in an instant.

The twin rapid-fire cannons of the patrol boats were the first to fire. The metal roar of the rapid-fire cannons echoed across the sea. Tongues of fire tore through the morning mist. Bullets, like a rainstorm harvesting life, swept across the decks of the Yuan Army warships. Yuan soldiers fell in patches, sail ropes were cut, oars were shattered, and catapults were turned into scrap metal. Blood instantly flowed like a river on the deck.

The quadruple cannons and light missiles of the two frigates were fired simultaneously. The missiles trailed white exhaust, accurately hitting the hulls of the Yuan Army's large warships. Violent explosions blasted the sea surface. Under the strike of cross-era weapons, the wooden warships broke, collapsed, and caught fire like they were made of paper. In just a few minutes, all eight large warships sank to the bottom of the sea.

The Yuan Army general was scared out of his wits and ordered the ships to turn around and flee in panic. However, the speed of the red alert patrol boats was several times that of the Yuan Army's sailing ships. Like hounds hunting rabbits, they bit tightly onto the fleeing soldiers. The torpedo tubes were filled, and light torpedoes were fired into the sea, accurately hitting the bottoms of the Yuan Army's fast boats. Explosions continued one after another. Only broken planks, fluttering flags, and floating corpses remained on the sea.

Throughout the entire process, not a single person boarded for hand-to-hand combat, and not a single person shouted and fought. There was only the roar of machinery and the loud noise of explosions. The red alert fleet completely annihilated the entire Yuan Army patrol formation with the absolute advantage of zero casualties and zero loss.

[Ding—Completely annihilated the Mongol Yuan South Sea patrol formation. Obtained massive resources: 8,000 Steel, 6,000 Ore, 4,000 Fuel, 5 Special Materials, and 150 Tech Points.]

[Ding—The sea area occupation range has expanded to two hundred miles. Unlocked automatic maritime commercial tax interception permissions. All unauthorized merchant ships will be seized, and materials will be fully converted.]

[Ding—The upgrade progress of the Medium Naval Workshop has increased by 50%. Construction blueprints for Destroyers and Amphibious Landing Crafts can be unlocked.]

Six Unmanned Transport Boats automatically arrived at the battlefield, moved all the materials from the Yuan Army supply ships, and then autonomously returned to Fuxing Island, delivering all the materials to the Resource Converter to be transformed into basic resources that could be directly used for shipbuilding. The naval formation automatically cleared the battlefield debris and then returned to the alert circle, resuming their patrol state, all in an orderly manner without any mistakes.

Lin Zhou looked at the surging resource values and upgrade progress on the screen, and a faint, almost imperceptible curve appeared at the corner of his mouth. The combat system of pure red alert units perfectly confirmed his judgment—absolute loyalty, absolute efficiency, and absolute control. No lack of military discipline, no desertion, and no hoarding of troops. This was his core confidence to sweep the four seas and rule the globe.

The sea returned to calm, with only a faint smell of blood drifting with the sea breeze. The base core of Fuxing Island was still brightly lit. The mechanical arms of the Medium Naval Workshop continued to operate. A new round of construction queues for Destroyers and landing crafts was already full. The unmanned collection fleet continued to shuttle between the deserted islands, continuously transporting resources.

Lin Zhou walked to the energy barrier and looked at the camp of the Southern Song Dynasty remnants in the distant woodland. His voice passed through the barrier, clear and majestic.

"Lu Xiufu, pass on my decree. From this day forward, inside and outside Fuxing Island, all sea combat, armament construction, and resource collection shall be handled exclusively by my divine soldiers. No outsiders shall interfere. You only need to hold your ground on the island and wait for me to lead the fleet to trample the Mongol Yuan and restore our territory."

On the other side of the barrier, Lu Xiufu bowed to receive the decree. Looking at the steel fleet on the sea that was unmanned yet cruising on its own, the awe in his heart had reached its peak. He finally understood that this little emperor's power was no longer comparable to earthly troops and horses, and this emperor's rule would be an absolute kingship that did not allow any external force to interfere.

Lin Zhou turned back to the console. His fingertip drew a larger sea area on the holographic screen, extending from the surroundings of the South Sea to the Nanyang islands, then to the ocean routes, and finally covering all the oceans of the entire Earth.

The construction queue was constantly refreshing. The hull blueprints for Destroyers unfolded, and the modules for Amphibious Landing Crafts began to be prefabricated. The scale of the fully automatic naval formation was expanding at a geometric rate.

He did not recruit a single soldier, did not win over any faction, and did not rely on any force.

Relying solely on the native combat units of the red alert system and the absolutely loyal steel fleet, Lin Zhou was going to build his own maritime empire on this thirteenth-century ocean.

The next step was to destroy all the coastal ports of the Yuan Army, blockade the Mongol Yuan's maritime supply lines, turn the entire South Sea into the inland sea of the red alert fleet, and then use the islands as a springboard to build an ocean-going fleet and sail to more distant waters, letting the flag of red alert be planted on every ocean and every piece of land.

The sea breeze rolled with waves hitting the beach of Fuxing Island. The mechanical sounds of the base did not stop all night. An absolutely loyal and powerful maritime steel torrent was quietly taking shape in the depths of the South Sea.