Chapter 1369: Overlord of the Sky
No new aircraft designs appeared in the plan.
Without electronic components, a monoplane’s theoretical ceiling exceeded a biplane’s — but under present conditions, the specialists determined that enhancement was the correct focus. The final call rested with President Wu.
From the meetings Roland also learned a concept he had not explicitly considered before: time efficiency.
Any production process focused on streamlining would improve on its own over time, even without deliberate changes to the line. Workers would gradually learn the relationship between themselves and the machines, learn the rhythms of the people working beside them. This was not a product of training or education or diligence — it was a product of the mild human tendency toward laziness. Workers would naturally seek the path of least resistance, and in doing so would eliminate inefficiencies the engineers had not thought to address. They would smooth out the rough places voluntarily, because rough places were harder to work around.
The result was that late-stage production not only exceeded early-stage output but cost less per unit to achieve.
This was why the Aerial Knights’ production line had to maintain continuity. A line that stopped and restarted lost its accumulated efficiency. The workers would have to relearn what the line had taught them. Better to keep it running and let familiarity compound.
The improvements to the Fire of Heaven addressed two areas: the engine and the weapons systems.
On the engine: the Fire of Heaven was built from antique blueprints obtained in the Dream World and then improved through trial and error — a complete product of Neverwinter’s own effort. Aerodynamic optimization mattered little for a biplane with a peak speed below 150 km/h, but engine improvement was cheap and straightforward with wind tunnel data and simulation support. The relevant department had already produced seven or eight prototype designs. Testing all of them to identify the optimal configuration would take time, but the process was underway.
On the weapons: the technology to mount them already existed. The military had a catalogue of phased-out designs waiting for use — 20mm autocannons, removable bomb racks, others — and the questions were simply which weapons to mount and how to mount them. With those questions defined, the relevant teams could produce add-ons as required.
According to the specifications the team provided, the Mark II biplane would cruise at 250 km/h, carry two additional 100-kilogram external fuel tanks, and sustain flights of more than a thousand kilometers. Its climb rate would exceed the original Fire of Heaven’s by a substantial margin.
The significance of those numbers: the Mark II could travel from Neverwinter’s rear areas to the front lines in a single day, or fly from the front lines to the ridge of the continent. The Impassable Mountain Range’s terrain blocked ordinary troops entirely — but for an aircraft with that range, the obstacle nearly ceased to exist. This made the parameter more than a technical achievement. It was a strategic one.
Then came the bombers.
More expensive than anything else in the plan. More controversial.
Half a day was spent debating whether bombers were necessary at all against the lesser Fallen Evils. The opposition made a reasonable case: the targets were on the ground, ground targets could be hit by biplanes, and bombers required specialized landing strips, more logistical support, fighter escorts. A large, slow aircraft with a fixed flight profile would effectively reduce the aerial units’ net advantage — Devilbeasts were poor against fast, agile opponents, but even a single beast willing to sacrifice itself could bring down a clumsy bomber. The cost of losing one would dwarf the cost of losing a biplane by an enormous margin. And under survival conditions, no one knew how many bombers could actually be produced.
Roland kept the project on the table.
The shortcomings under current technology were obvious. A bomber could not be fast and stealthy and capable simultaneously — not yet. But he had his own reasoning, and it was not about ground support.
He needed a vehicle capable of a long and difficult journey. He needed it for the attack on the Bottomless Land.
The distance from Neverwinter’s Dream World analog to the Erosion was unknown. According to Lan’s account, Roland would need to act at the moment both worlds entered the Divine Domain — and if the Dream World suddenly opened a direct passage to Erosion, he would have no time to traverse the distance overland. Lose that moment, and everything built before it would be meaningless.
Being forced to fight through demon territory while making for the Bottomless Land under aerial assault was a last resort, but a last resort was better than no resort. Under the constraints of present technology, a bomber was the only answer that existed.
Then there was Project Glory of the Sun.
The Fire of Heaven, even fully improved, could not carry the weapon. The Seagull paired with the Hummingbird’s weight reduction might allow a drop from high altitude — but without a God’s Stone of Retaliation fitted to the bomb, the device would be vulnerable to Senior Demon attacks throughout the approach. And if the Sky Lord Hackzord learned of it and used its spatial ability to relocate the Glory of the Sun mid-drop, the entire operation would unravel.
The only reliable solution was a hardened, demon-resistant delivery vehicle. That meant an aircraft capable of shielding the weapon. Which meant a larger aircraft.
The projects team’s initial design was a four-engine bomber. The engine production team would build four units with redundancy — if one or two failed during a mission, the aircraft would retain the ability to return safely. On paper, the silhouette was massive: wingspans exceeding thirty meters, a twin-tail configuration chosen to stabilize the aerodynamic profile of the larger airframe. The twin tail reduced agility but extended range and simplified control.
Carrying full fuel tanks, the estimated payload was four tons of ordnance with a range exceeding two thousand kilometers. Without accounting for a return flight, that capacity could double — more than sufficient for a strike at the continent’s ridge. The complexity of the design far exceeded the Fire of Heaven’s and precluded assembly-line production even with expert guidance.
Output would be low. There was no avoiding it.
But even a few such aircraft would give humanity what it currently lacked entirely: the means to deliver the Glory of the Sun.
Chapter 1369 - Overlord of the Sky
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The projects team did not mention any plans for new planes. Under the circumstance where electronic components were absent, the upper bounds of a monoplane were higher than a biplane. Even so, the final Annual Plan remained focused on enhancements.
The final decision maker was the Technology Department’s overall-incharge, President Wu.
Roland also learned a new concept from the meetings: time efficiency.
All manufacturing projects focusing on streamlining will improve in efficiency with time. Even if few changes happened, this was a natural phenomenon bound to occur. The reason lies in the process—workers would gradually familiarize themselves with the production line which included the interaction between man and machine as well as the teamwork between the workers themselves. This was completely unrelated to one’s upbringing, but more of an innate laziness in the workers that made them find the easiest ways and shortcuts to complete their work, to the point that they themselves would voluntarily sort out the imperfections to the process.
As a result, the efficiency of production at its later stages not only exceeded the early phases but manufacturing costs would decrease.
To form up a team of Aerial Knights, the production line that had started up with much difficulty had to maintain the status quo. This helped in familiarizing the workers with the further processing of the machines and the workflow processes so as to prevent the equipment from hindering the war effort.
The improvisation towards the ‘Fire of Heaven’ was mainly geared towards improving the engine and weapon systems.
The first point spoke for itself; the ‘Fire of Heaven’ was a complete masterpiece created completely from antique blueprints Roland obtained in the Dream World and a product of trial and error. Although aerodynamics was not an issue to a biplane that had a peak speed of less than 150 km/h, it did not mean that there were no benefits for having an improved engine. On the contrary, it was the easiest and cheapest to improve with the support of wind tunnels and simulations.
The engine was obviously the most important part of the biplane. As the saying goes, as long as you have sufficient power, even a brick can fly. With an upgrade in power ratio, the rest would fall into place. But under the most miserable of conditions, it was not simple to even design a durable and functional basic piston engine. It was reported that the relevant department produced seven to eight prototypes at one go, but time was required to run tests for all the prototypes so as to choose the most optimal design.
For the weapon systems, there were not many considerations.
In truth, the technological skills were insufficient; the military had plenty of matured yet phased out plans, for example the 20mm autocannons, removable bomb racks, etc. The questions were what weapons to install and how to install them. With these two questions in mind, the relevant department was able to provide these addons as and when they liked.
According to the technical specifications provided by the team, the Mark II biplanes were capable of 250 km/h cruise speeds and carry two additional 100kg oil tanks while being capable of sustaining flights over a thousand kilometers. It also boasted a much higher climbing speed compared to the ‘Fire of Heaven.’
The significance of this biplane was the ability to travel from the rear to the frontlines in a day, or to fly from the frontlines to the great rupture at the ridge of the continent. Taking into consideration the rugged topography of the Impassable Mountain Range that prevented ordinary troops from passing, this parameter was definitely an important feature.
The last were the bombers.
It cost the most and was the most controversial project.
It took half a day just discussing over whether the bombers were required to handle the inferior Fallen Evils. The reason for those against it was simple— the bombers’ targets were on the ground that biplanes were capable of hitting as well, only that more fuel was required. But a large-scale bomber required specialized taking off and landing, more protection, and therefore, bound to bring about more pressure for the logistics team.
Although a bomber was capable of bringing about greater destruction, it required a fighter for escort and would instead lower the advantage of the aerial units. Flying Devilbeasts were weak against agile and mobile flying units, but a clumsy bomber could be considered a double-edged sword as long as a single Devilbeast disregarded its life to ram into one.
Besides, the enemies possessed unique Fallen Evils that were similar to martial artists that added to the indeterminable risk.
After all, the price of losing a single bomber far surpassed that of a single biplane.
And the resources left for the survivors was an unknown factor as to how many bombers they would be able to produce.
In the end, it was still the research subject Roland insisted on preserving.
Under the circumstances of having low technology, it was definitely lacking. It could not deliver the goal of coming and going without a trace while being both capable of offense and defense. However, he had his own considerations.
It was an entity required by Neverwinter for long and difficult journeys, and was essential for the attack on the Bottomless Land.
No one knew how far the Dream World was separated from the Erosion, and God probably would no longer remain passive. According to Lan’s words, Roland needed to take action at the time when both worlds entered the Divine Domain. In the event that Dream World suddenly opened the
passageway to Erosion, he would have no other means to quickly reach the Bottomless Land, then all the efforts from before would be for naught.
Of course, being subjected to the demons’ attack while charging into enemy territory could be considered a last resort, but having a choice was better than having none, and bombers were the only possible answer for the present technological conditions.
The other was Project Glory of the Sun.
With ‘Fire of Heaven’s load capacity, it was impossible for them to shoulder such a huge responsibility even after improvements. Even if they were able to produce a detonator, without the means to drop the Glory of the Sun, its usage was still limited. Of course, the Seagull coupled with the Hummingbird’s reduction in weight could cause the drop to happen from high altitudes, but even so, the bomb could not be fitted with a God’s Stone of Retaliation. In that long and arduous journey, it could easily be destroyed by Senior Demons.
If the Skylord Hackzord knew about it and used his ability to transport the Glory of the Sun elsewhere, that would be troublesome.
Therefore, the most reliable method was to directly build a strong antidemon body and rely on the Aerial Knights to drop the Glory of the Sun.
This meant that they had to build an even bigger plane.
The project department’s initial plan was to build a single bomber with four engines. The team responsible for manufacturing the engines had to build four units for redundancy. In the event that one or two planes were malfunctioning, the plane would still have the ability to make a safe return. Just based on visuals, the bomber would look like a behemoth, with over 30m long wingspans. Its rear tail were divided into twintails to stabilize the aerodynamic design of the entire plane. Although the design reduced the nimbleness of the bomber, it increased the plane’s ability to travel further and provide for easier controls.
Flying with full tanks, the bomber would have the ability to carry an estimated four tons worth of ammunition for more than two thousand kilometers. Without considering the return flight, this number could double, enough to satisfy Roland’s requirements for the battle at the ridge of the continent. But, with its complexity far surpassing that of the ‘Fire of Heaven’, it could not be produced in the production line even with expert guidance.
In other words, its production output would definitely be low.
But at least, it gave humanity the capital to use the Glory of the Sun.