21st Century Necromancer

Saint Petersburg, as the original birthplace of the Russian Navy, holds Russia's oldest shipyard—Admiralty Shipyard.

This is a three-century-old factory established in 1704, having survived Tsarist Russia, the Soviet Union, and Russia, constructing various vessels from sail battleships to nuclear submarines, and remains a crucial military shipyard producing nuclear submarines for the Russian Navy today.

It is also one of the only two Russian shipyards capable of fully assembling titanium alloy submarines.

Despite facing difficult times post-Soviet Union dissolution, once on the verge of bankruptcy and demise, this historic shipyard was revived with Russia's 2002 receipt of China's order for eight Kilo-class nuclear submarines, securing the construction quota for five of them.

Although currently unable to repair aircraft carriers like the Severodvinsk Shipyard on the Arctic Ocean coast, Admiralty Shipyard nevertheless maintains a healthy operational status with the ability to build ships as large as seventy thousand tons.

Chen Yu's yacht, funded by Americans and constructed by Russians, was commissioned by this shipyard.

After all, the Severodvinsk Shipyard was occupied with repairs on Russia's own Kuznetsov, leaving no room for Chen Yu's yacht construction.

Despite being called a yacht, Chen Yu's vessel is essentially a bona fide aircraft carrier, built based on the Soviet-era Kiev-rank aircraft carrier.

The Kiev-rank aircraft carrier, known in the Soviet era as the 1143 heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser, was an improved design from the Moscow-grade helicopter carrier.

Originally intended as an aviation antisubmarine cruiser, its main purpose was to provide airborne antisubmarine cover and anti-air firepower for the Red Navy fleet.

It could be considered the Soviets' exploration and technical accumulation for building large carriers capable of competing with the United States Navy, with a total of four vessels constructed.

Upon the Soviet Union's collapse, the Russian government, financially constrained, couldn't afford the maintenance of four carriers and sold the first three—The Kiev, The Minsk, and The Novorossiysk—retaining only the last-serving The Gorshkov.

Of these, The Novorossiysk was purchased and dismantled by South Korea, while The Kiev and The Minsk were bought by China, one serving as an aircraft carrier park, the other as an aircraft carrier-themed hotel.

As for The Gorshkov, it was later sold by the Russian government to the Indians, becoming the infamous INS Vikramaditya.

Because Chen Yu's yacht is built on the hull of the Kiev-rank, when Chen Yu and his wife accompanied by Saint Petersburg officials visited Admiralty Shipyard, they saw the long 274-meter hull lying on the slipway.

Just observing this gigantic structure, Chen Yu noticed the expressions of the accompanying Russian officials seemed complex, especially a few who were clearly officers of the Russian Navy, looking particularly dissatisfied.

Recognizing the gazes of these Russian Navy officers, Chen Yu thought briefly and understood the reasons behind their expressions.

As noted earlier, post-Soviet Union breakdown, Russia has long been unable to support extensive military spending. Despite inheriting from the Soviet Union a vast navy capable of sea confrontation with the United States, Russia could not afford the maintenance; most were either sealed, sold, or dismantled.

Despite Russian economic improvements following the rise of the Great Emperor, constant funding issues have always constrained naval expansion.

Maintaining the current scenario and properly serving these thirty-year-old Soviet relics is challenging enough, building new ships piecemeal is already a struggle, and constructing a forty-thousand-ton military vessel is now impossible for Russia.

In fact, they have not built any large surface vessels over ten thousand tons for thirty years, not even having had many above five thousand tons.

Thus, it's understandable that these Russian Navy officers would look at what should have been a large military vessel turned yacht with envy, jealousy, and resentment.

Especially as Americans generously funded the yacht's construction, Admiralty Shipyard has been persistently active, employing three shifts for round-the-clock work, reminiscent of the Soviet era's fervent nation-building.noveldrama

Normally, constructing such a large military vessel would take several years; even during the Soviet era, the shortest completion for the four Kiev-rank aircraft carriers took over two years for the Kiev, while the other three averaged three years.

Yet even time must yield before the magic power of money.

To save time, Admiralty Shipyard adopted a segmented shipbuilding method, constructing sections simultaneously and assembling them upon completion.

This process indeed saves construction time but demands rigorous standards for final assembly, as any error could compromise ship quality.

Nonetheless, this is not an issue for Admiralty Shipyard, given their rich experience in submarine construction, a process naturally segmented; Admiralty Shipyard excels in this technique.

Therefore, the yacht is near completion, barring the unfinished deck structures and internal decorations, it is actually almost ready for launching.

Led onto the colossal steel construct via the gangway due to the high deck, the group entered the hull's interior through the side doors rather than directly accessing the deck.

Although originally a military vessel, the Kiev-rank's original interiors were not designed for luxury, but the yacht is crafted to luxury standards inside, contrasting with military functionality.

While not fully complete, elements such as carpets, walls, and lighting fixtures are nearly finished.

"What a beautiful ship; I quite like this style." Chen Yu observed the cabin's decor, after hearing the interpretation of the interior design plans from the Admiralty Shipyard engineers, expressing no objections.

Hiromi Jounouchi, observing the design images with curiosity, asked, "Is there an indoor swimming pool on this ship?"

"Yes, we've designed it to luxury cruise standards. As we're maintaining the military style on the exterior, the pool's placed inside the hull." The accompanying designer promptly explained to Hiromi Jounouchi.