I can upgrade the shelter-Chapter 690 - 588

Chekov quickly welcomed the opportunity to prove himself. The people of the Flame Country gathered all the Lucians and introduced them in detail to the known types and capabilities of the alien species, while also presenting live samples of the extraterrestrial creatures before them.

If Chekov really wanted to prove his abilities, stepping forward at this moment to challenge an alien species to single combat, even if punished and confined afterward, was indeed a great opportunity to prove humanity’s ability to defeat extraterrestrial life.

But upon witnessing a Flame Country person emptying a clip from a pistol equipped by the Lucian army into the alien through a cage without causing any harm, even the brave Chekov, who dared to wrestle a bear while drunk, felt discouraged.

Although he was usually quite reckless, he wasn’t so thoughtless that he couldn’t perceive the disparity in combat power.

Even though a pistol’s power isn’t high, being unable to penetrate the shell of a creature even at close range was simply absurd.

Even though there are thick-skinned animals like elephants and rhinos on Earth that can resist small-caliber pistol shots due to their tough hides, none are like these aliens where bullets don’t even leave a dent and instead ricochet off.

Chekov himself had used military pistols and understood their power deeply — even if shooting at a steel plate, there should be a dent. But now, the shell of the alien creature resisted like steel plating, which was genuinely frightening.

Upon comparing the size of the alien to himself, Chekov abandoned the idea of melee combat with the alien, though he didn’t think the alien was invincible.

"Vasily, do you think if we used a Bazooka at close range, it could take down the alien?" Chekov quietly asked his friend beside him, sticking to the somewhat outlandish idea he previously suggested.

This time, however, Vasily indeed contemplated his suggestion. After serious thought, he said, "A Bazooka would work, but you heard the Flame Country’s introduction earlier. The alien species appears like a tidal wave. How many Bazookas do you think you’d need to defeat them?"

It was long proven in the field by the Flame Country that a Bazooka could take down alien species, but they also concluded that equipping every soldier with a Bazooka wasn’t the way to defeat the alien species.

This isn’t because the rocket launcher can’t eliminate alien species, but because it’s not cost-effective in the context of war, and its kill efficiency is insufficient.

To give the simplest example, the rocket launcher was originally invented to take out tanks, and firing a rocket to destroy a tank is undoubtedly profitable.

But if you’re using a rocket to hit infantry, taking out a squad with a single rocket is still a loss in war because theoretically, killing a squad should only require a burst of bullets.

Of course, in actual warfare, it’s not calculated this way. Sometimes, it’s worth paying a high price to capture a strategic position.

However, in the fight against extraterrestrial life, humans must account for cost issues.

Because for the alien species, the sub-combat unit, while not exactly as expendable as bullets, isn’t much more valuable — they’re just cannon fodder and consumables on the battlefield, extremely cheap resources.

As mentioned earlier, using a rocket to destroy a tank is profitable, but only eliminating one infantryman with it is a loss.

Especially when the alien species treats sub-combat units like expendable bullets on the battlefield; using rockets to block bullets not only seems wasteful but also inefficient.

After a rocket is fired, it needs reloading, and within this time, the soldier launching the rocket could be torn apart by other approaching alien species many times over.

Because of this, the Flame Country military abandoned the idea of using rocket launchers and equipped all infantry with Exoskeletons and heavy machine guns capable of penetrating alien shells, opting to mow them down with machine guns rather than targeting individually with rocket launchers.

During this demonstration, the Lucians clearly recognized the immense gap between themselves and the alien species, and they understood equipping soldiers with armor-piercing bullets and grenade launchers could indeed kill the alien species, but still couldn’t achieve victory — it merely allowed them to die with honor, pulling a few down with them before being torn apart by the aliens.

However, this was still a strategy with an unfavorable kill-death ratio.

Training a qualified human soldier takes at least sixteen years, allowing a baby to grow to the age of military service, followed by months or one to two years of training.

In contrast, alien species can hatch new combat units within a few months, or possibly just a few days or hours, constantly and endlessly.

If the battle were to become a war of attrition, humanity simply doesn’t have the population to expend against the alien species.

This is why the Flame Country accepted Lucians sending reinforcements and planned to upgrade their equipment — having another nation participate and another soldier on the battlefield meant having more resources to spend.

Though it sounds very cruel or cold-hearted, for war, an ordinary soldier is just a consumable resource, and generals must decide where to expend it and how to make its consumption meaningful.

Now, what the Flame Country military is doing is ensuring that the resources provided by the Lucians are not wasted or consumed meaninglessly, but can realize their value and demonstrate their significance on the battlefield.

"The equipment we can provide for you isn’t much, as we don’t even have enough for ourselves. Thus, what we can offer is an Exoskeleton with a jet pack, though it doesn’t come with armor plates. We’ll provide you with the blueprints for armor plates, which you can have manufactured back home and sent over. But I don’t think a thin iron sheet will provide much protection against alien species," Chen Xin was currently introducing the equipment to the high-ranking Lucian military officials.

The Lucian military leaders weren’t concerned about the lack of armor on the Exoskeleton, as they had seen what the alien species was like — additional armor would only make the aliens go from tearing cling film to tearing a box, nothing more.

"What about the weapons?" The Lucian officers were more concerned about weaponry than armor.

Chen Xin raised a futuristic-looking gun from the table and said, "Prototype Model No. 2 Electromagnetic Rifle, uses electromagnetic rails to fire 9mm nail rounds, with penetration power comparable to traditional 12.7mm armor-piercing bullets, capable of inflicting effective damage on alien species."