I can upgrade the shelter-Chapter 725 - 623: Icebound Fleet

The cold wind swept through, and the snowflakes lifted into the air filled the gap between heaven and earth like a mass of white.

The lead-gray sky was gloomy and dark, with black clouds that sunlight couldn't penetrate, carrying a faint hint of yellowish light. Only a sliver of brightness on the distant horizon kept this dim ice field from being completely pitch black.

This is the Shandong Peninsula of the Flame Country, but now it should be called Shandong Island.

With the rising coastline, the entire Shandong Peninsula has been separated from the mainland, becoming a complete island.

However, despite becoming an island, the people's lives in this region have not been greatly affected.

At the onset of the disaster, the people of this region were temporarily relocated inland, and once the surface environment stabilized, they returned to this area and settled down here.

And from the national perspective, although it was very challenging, there were always efforts to maintain the supply of materials to this area, ensuring the production and livelihood of the people.

This area originally had nothing distinguishing it from other parts of the Flame Country affected by the disaster, nor anything that could draw the attention of the higher-ups.

But when Chen Xin arrived here by plane, the place was unusually bustling.

A large number of staff were busily working, using various tools to chip open the thick ice layer, presenting a scene of intense activity.

"Academician Chen, this was the naval base before the disaster, and all the ships of the Northern Fleet were moored here." A naval officer said to Chen Xin with a complex tone, his gaze fixed on the steel behemoth frozen in the ice and snow ahead.

When the disaster struck, massive tsunamis swept across the globe, and the rising sea levels destroyed all coastal cities.

In the face of such tsunamis and disasters, even the largest military ship crafted by mankind—aircraft carriers—were nothing but small boats manipulated by nature.

To prevent these ships, built with vast resources and effort from the state, from being destroyed, the navy tried every means to dock them together at the naval base, hoping to shield them from the tsunamis.

The navy's efforts were not in vain, although they didn't have a significant effect.

The ships weren't destroyed by the tsunamis. Except for a few that were damaged due to pressure, most of the ships moored at the naval base just suffered flooding, and after a major repair, they could be restored for use.

Yet, they became "useless."

Because the entire world was frozen.

The entire ocean, all rivers, lakes, every body of water was frozen by extremely cold temperatures, and these warships which became piles of scrap metal once out of the ocean were also frozen in the icy seas.

All the warships were iced up, like enormous monuments representing humanity's past glory, yesterday's strength, and prosperity.

But now, they are merely piles of scrap metal encased in ice.

The country had originally abandoned efforts to recover these ships, only intending to see if there was a chance to dismantle them and recover steel and other resources from them.

A small number of severely damaged ships were indeed dismantled, but as the temperature continued to drop, this work became increasingly difficult and eventually ceased.

So most of the ships in the naval base remained intact, but they lost the chance to navigate the seas once again.

Now, Chen Xin proposed a new idea, giving these ships a new opportunity to come back to life.

"Academician Chen, all the ships of the Northern Fleet, including the flagship aircraft carrier, are here. What are you planning to do with them? Can these ships really be reused?" The naval officer asked Chen Xin, eyes filled with hope.

As a naval officer, he obviously didn't want to see the grand fleet that generations had spent their lives building being discarded.

Yet reality made these ships lose their purpose, other than dismantling and reclaiming, he couldn't think of any way these ships could be utilized.

But Chen Xin, a scientist who has always been creating miracles, suddenly proposed another use for these ships, offering a glimmer of hope to the navy.

Thinking that the army now had ground-based carriers, perhaps it's not impossible for the navy to get these ships moving again?

As the officer thought about this, Chen Xin spoke to him: "I plan to transform these warships into Land Ships, allowing them to move again and contribute to the nation's defense efforts."

"Land Ships? Like those ground-based carriers and mobile bases?" Hearing Chen Xin's words, the naval officer's eyes lit up entirely.

As for the matter of ground-based carriers, as a naval officer, he certainly couldn't be unaware, especially since the crew draw from their navy, and the navy was very concerned about this.

After all, large vehicles have always been the navy's specialty; the army never had such large apparatus.

Thus, even though it's called a ground-based carrier, the crew operating the ground-based carrier still needs to be provided by the navy.

This also instilled hope within the navy—that with the increase of mobile bases and ground-based carriers, the navy, which had lost its role, might regain vitality in another form.

What the navy didn't expect was that Chen Xin not only revitalized the naval branch, putting it to use again, but also gave new purpose to the ships originally waiting to be dismantled.

Alongside Chen Xin, the naval officer came to a ship.

This was an old warship, although it was still part of the navy's active fleet before the disaster, compared to the newly commissioned ships, it was somewhat outdated.

Having served for over ten years, it was approaching retirement age. However, the catastrophe came before it could have a glorious retirement ceremony, and instead, it was frozen together with other ships at the naval base.

Now, these veterans that have served over a decade seemed poised to clamber back into action and return to the battlefield.

On the hull of the old ship, a group of workers was clearing the frozen ice, while another group was chipping away the ice beneath the hull, attempting to free the ship from the ice.

Watching the bustling workers, Chen Xin again utilized his watch to project nanomolecular design blueprints, comparing them with the ship in front of him to prepare upgrades, to revive the old ship with vigor and brilliance once more.