Strange Matters

After waiting for several hours, the captain of Locke's squad finally received his modified weapon.

He immediately uploaded the video of their mission on Muta Planet to the public network.

The public network was the shared network system of Temporary Army No. 32 aboard the ship.

Before carrying out a mission, every squad would set its system to automatically record and preserve a video of the mission.

This was a regulation of the Empire's Temporary Army.

Because the Temporary Army's management was much more lax than that of the regular army, the Empire required its soldiers to use automatic recording equipment to record their missions, preventing them from slacking off while carrying them out.

Naturally, the captain had also recorded their mission on Muta Planet.

The video was uploaded to the public network, where everyone aboard the ship could view it.

The public network was similar to a forum, and soldiers could even comment on and share posts there.

At that moment, the soldiers familiar with Locke's squad saw the captain's newly updated post and immediately began leaving teasing comments below it.

"Oho? Got your military merits?"

"Now that you've got your military merits, aren't you going to treat a few of us brothers to a good time?"

It had originally been nothing more than ordinary banter, but after those familiar soldiers opened the video and watched its contents, they were immediately shocked.

"How can there be a level-five Furball Monster? This Furball Monster isn't normal!"

"What happened? Shouldn't this situation be reported? Otherwise, if there's an error in the information when we carry out missions in the future, we'll be in danger too!"

Some of the soldiers were drawn to the Furball Monster.

However, others were drawn to the battle saber in Locke's hand.

"That battle saber has the power of the Star level, but even someone with the Planet-level energy level can use it!"

After hearing this soldier's analysis, everyone in the comments was shocked and began discussing the Mechanical Battle Saber noisily.

"Which master modified this Mechanical Battle Saber? Please introduce me!"

Seeing his friend ask this question in the comments, the captain of Locke's squad hurriedly explained there that the Mechanical Battle Saber had been made by Su Ming.

"What? Su Ming? You mean that newly joined mechanic aboard the ship? Isn't he only Planet level?"

"That's normal. Many mechanics these days keep a low profile and can't be bothered to get certified. Master Su Ming must already be a Star-level mechanic; he just can't be bothered to get certified."

"Holy crap! A Star-level mechanic? We have a Star-level mechanic aboard our ship? I'm going to find him and have him modify something for me!"

One person told ten, and ten told a hundred.

Before long, the news that Su Ming was a Star-level mechanic had spread throughout the entire ship.

Now, all the soldiers knew that Su Ming was a Star-level mechanic.

As a result, the line of soldiers waiting outside Su Ming's quarters for repairs grew even longer.

Some soldiers even handed their Star-level mechanical equipment over to Su Ming for repairs.

And Su Ming really did repair that Star-level equipment.

This result further convinced the soldiers that Su Ming was a Star-level mechanic.

For a time, Su Ming's status and earnings aboard the ship rose rapidly.

Previously, after repairing a piece of mechanical equipment, Su Ming could only receive around 200 to 400 military merits.

But after the soldiers discovered that Su Ming was a Star-level mechanic, they raised the price of every piece of mechanical equipment he repaired or modified to between 1,000 and 1,200 military merits.

That was nearly five times as much!

The value a Star-level mechanic could create really was five times that of a Planet-level mechanic, or even more!

Some Star-level mechanics from outside the ship could not even be booked in advance.

In the soldiers' eyes, having a Star-level mechanic aboard the ship was practically a benefit provided by the Temporary Army.

One after another, they racked their brains trying to get Su Ming to repair and modify their equipment.

Su Ming's income also continued to skyrocket during this period. He could even earn around 20,000 military merits a day!

At this rate, it would probably take less than a week for Su Ming to successfully exchange for the mecha knowledge and blueprints he had always wanted!

However, the commotion caused by the mission video uploaded by Locke's squad was not limited to the matter of Su Ming's mechanical equipment.

Before long, Lieutenant Walker, the ship's true administrator, also saw the video. Lieutenant Walker's gaze immediately fell on the level-five Furball Monster.

He was not interested in Star-level mechanical equipment.

Given his status, finding a Star-level mechanic was extremely easy.

But the level-five Furball Monster caught his attention.

"Strange. Why have so many Cosmic Creatures with strange levels appeared lately...? This isn't the first such incident!"

Lieutenant Walker frowned, and a grave look flashed through his eyes.

Other people might have merely found the matter strange.

But after connecting it with the Lothar Party's coup in the Bander Galaxy and its ambiguous attitude behind the scenes, Lieutenant Walker vaguely sensed that the recent strange incidents in this starfield might have something to do with the Lothar Party.

Lieutenant Walker stood up and soon found Locke's captain.

"Lieutenant! May I ask what this is about?"

Seeing that Lieutenant Walker had come specifically to find him, the captain looked at him curiously.

Lieutenant Walker nodded slightly, his expression solemn. Then he said to the captain, "According to the mission video, I saw that you seemed to have cut off a piece of flesh from the level-five Furball Monster you killed. Can you hand that piece of flesh over to me?"

Seeing how serious Lieutenant Walker was, the captain was slightly startled before saying, "Of course. This piece was specifically cut off for submission and research. It would be even better to submit it to you now!"

After speaking, the captain took a piece of meat stored in a preservation device out of his storage space and handed it, along with the preservation device, to Lieutenant Walker.

The lieutenant nodded, then said to the captain, "Don't tell anyone about this!"

The captain was startled. "Lieutenant, is there something wrong with this level-five Furball Monster?"

After hearing the captain's question, the lieutenant shook his head and said, "I'm not sure either. But this matter feels strange, so I need to study the flesh and blood of this Furball Monster before I can make a judgment!"

After hearing the lieutenant's words, the captain opened his mouth, but in the end, he could only nod without saying anything.

Since the lieutenant had put it that way, the meat likely involved something sensitive. How could the captain have the nerve to ask further?