"According to our estimates, each mercenary group level represents 10,000 units of production capacity!"
At 30,000 pills a day, selling each one for just 1 Energy Coin would still bring in 30,000 Energy Coins daily—enough to build a battleship.
"The economic value isn't great, but the strategic value is significant!" Lin Zhichen sighed softly. NZT-50 could have an enormous impact on society as a whole. Many young people who had given up on their dreams because of their mediocre talents might regain hope for the future thanks to it. That would be a tremendous boost to society.
"Recently, we've been searching StarNet for information about the special products granted by relic permissions. We found that every faction with a special product eventually established a country, and then the supply of those products—which had been scarce to begin with—began to skyrocket." Wu Tianyi spoke seriously:
"Maybe that's the key. Only by establishing our own nation can we completely remove the restrictions on NZT-50."
Lin Zhichen nodded. That was the most likely answer.
Name: Meteor Type: Mercenary Leader: Lin Zhichen Level: 3 Military Merit: 44 Mission Completion Rate: 100% Members: 4/100 Warships: 1 Psionic Frigate, 2 Frigates, 20 Pirate Raiders, 3 Pirate Gunboats Base: Earth Special Product: 30,000 NZT-50 pills/day Rating: A rookie nobody!
"How's recruitment going?" he asked.
"We've only just started, but over a hundred fellow countrymen who graduated from the Virtual Academy's captain program have already submitted applications. I took a quick look. There aren't any elite captains above A-rank, but we have plenty of ordinary B- and C-rank captains," Wu Tianyi replied:
"There are also a dozen or so army officers. The rest are engineers and the like, all with average abilities."
"Average ability is normal. In this era, anyone with even a little talent has started their own business. Who'd work for someone else?" Lin Zhichen said with a smile:
"Poor ability isn't a problem. We have plenty of ways to improve it. Loyalty is what matters most. Keep a close eye on them, and do your best to identify any spies from other factions.
"Once NZT-50 hits the market, the entire Federation will turn its attention to us. We'll have to be very careful with recruitment then."
"Understood, Big Brother." Wu Tianyi nodded.
The hour passed quickly. The Qinyuan entered a Space Warp once more and disappeared from the Solar System.
In the Dakan System, in the outer reaches of a planet's orbit, lay a vast starship graveyard.
"We got here too late." The information from the gravity sensors left Link deeply disappointed. The starfield was pitch-black, with no glimmers of light left. The three-day protection period had ended, and they didn't have time to slowly sort through the useful Components anyway. There were far too many other things to do.
Lin Zhichen didn't answer. He piloted the Qinyuan slowly into the graveyard, heading deeper and deeper inside.
This was actually very dangerous. If a starship spotted the Qinyuan on the outskirts of the graveyard, it could bombard them from an extremely long range. Trapped in a heap of space debris, the Qinyuan would have little room to accelerate and escape.
But though the situation seemed perilous, Lin Zhichen had it under control. His Psionics constantly sensed the information around him in space. The amplification from the Psionic Crystal had raised his perception to an entirely new level, allowing him to sense even the faintest threats more quickly.
His sharper instincts also told him that something of considerable interest was nearby.
Soon, an object giving off a faint glow appeared. No—not just one. This seemed to be the center of the graveyard, with four or five objects scattered across a small area.
A massive wreck drifted through space, occasionally colliding with the surrounding chunks of scrap metal and scattering showers of metal fragments. Lin Zhichen had seen all kinds of starships at the Virtual Academy, and he recognized it at a glance: the wreck of a battleship.
Link perked up and quickly reached out with his Psionic sense. "Big Brother, there are blueprints!"
Lin Zhichen didn't answer. He carefully maneuvered the Qinyuan to a stop beside a patch of debris. To Link's surprise, he didn't immediately salvage the valuable spoils. Instead, he spread out his Psionics and drew in an escape pod drifting through space.
"Big Brother..." Link was puzzled. Escape pods were where survivors stayed after a warship exploded. Their oxygen and power supplies could last only three days. If nobody rescued them within that time, the people inside would suffocate.
The problem was that there were safety pods carrying NPCs all over this patch of space. Why rescue this one in particular?
"Focus on sensing your Psionics. They'll guide you to the most valuable spoils," Lin Zhichen replied. Only after the escape pod had been retrieved did a faint smile appear on his face. With a sweep of Psionics, he gathered up all the nearby glowing spoils.
The faint sensations he'd felt through his Psionic perception had now vanished completely. There might still be spoils left in the graveyard, but they were certainly no longer worth spending more time searching for.
The Qinyuan slowly sailed away from the graveyard. To get out as quickly as possible, he even shaped his Psionics into arms and pushed aside the tiny metal fragments nearby, clearing a safe route.
"Big Brother, a blueprint for a Light Aircraft Carrier?!" Link rummaged through the spoils and found the most valuable item.
Lin Zhichen took one look and was immediately drawn to the three-dimensional image of the aircraft carrier on the blueprint.
As in the Planetary Era, aircraft carriers primarily relied on their carrier-based fighters in combat. In a fleet, they usually served as flagships or support ships, using their fighters to extend the fleet's field of view and spot enemy fleets before they entered engagement range.
But unlike the dominant role they had held in naval warfare during the Planetary Era, starships in the Space Age had thicker armor, more powerful Energy Shields, and higher-performance combat computers. This greatly improved point-defense systems,
severely limiting the combat power of Space Fighters and reducing the importance of aircraft carriers. In most cases, they could only serve as flagships supporting a fleet or as the eyes of a Main Fleet.
But that didn't mean aircraft carriers were useless. At the very least, against small and medium-sized warships below the Cruiser class, they could still put up a decent fight.
"Aircraft Carrier blueprints don't show up very often, do they?" Lin Zhichen asked with delight. The appearance of the blueprint gave him plenty of new ideas.
"That's right. According to the statistics on StarNet, for every hundred or so Battleship blueprints produced, only one or two Aircraft Carrier blueprints turn up," Link said excitedly, though with some regret. "Too bad it's not a battleship."
Battleships were the absolute mainstays of a large fleet. On the Space Battlefield, they were like heavy cavalry—hard to stand against.
Although a Light Aircraft Carrier was in the same class as a battleship, it was no match for one in a head-on fight.
"No. At this stage, an Aircraft Carrier would improve us far more than a battleship," Lin Zhichen said, shaking his head.
What was the Aircraft Carrier's greatest strength? Its carrier-based fighters!
And Space Fighters needed pilots. His talent happened to let him train the finest pilots in the shortest possible time. The combat strength of this carrier might even surpass that of a battleship.
"There's another blueprint here. It's for a Tachyon Lance!" Link handed it to him. "That's why I said it was a shame."
The Tachyon Lance was an upgraded version of the Particle Light Spear, a primary weapon that only large warships in the Battleship class could equip. Its blazing beam could easily pierce a Cruiser's shields and armor.
"It's no shame. We've got the money to build an Aircraft Carrier now!" Lin Zhichen said with a faint, relieved smile.
Even the military's special permissions didn't include a way to buy this kind of equipment. On the market, a Tachyon Lance cost 2,800 Energy Coins, but it was almost always unavailable at any price. Its true value was therefore even higher than the market price.
Some powerful weapons and equipment, like ballistic missiles in the Planetary Era, weren't sold to just anyone. The Tachyon Lance had reached that level.
"Big Brother, we only have this one blueprint. Shouldn't we ask for..." Link hesitated, because manufacturing a Light Spear required the precious material Tachyon Crystal.
Tachyon Crystals were a rare crystal commonly found among the stars. It sounded contradictory, but compared with metals like gold, silver, copper, and iron, Tachyon Crystals were produced in much smaller quantities. Yet many important pieces of industrial equipment required them, making this mineral extremely scarce and expensive on the market.
Under normal circumstances, one unit of Tachyon Crystal cost around a hundred Energy Coins. A single Tachyon Lance required about three units.
That wasn't much, but given the Meteor Mercenary Group's current size, it would be impossible to get enough of the rare crystal by outbidding everyone on the market in the short term.
"Don't worry. With my military permissions, I can redeem a batch of Tachyon Crystals every month," Lin Zhichen reassured him:
"As long as we complete the weapon, it'll bring us plenty of profit."
Battleships, unlike Cruisers and lower-class vessels, were mainline warships. Small warships like Frigates and Destroyers were basically cannon fodder on the battlefield. They were quick to build and relatively easy to crew, and in every fleet engagement, they played the role of drawing enemy fire.
Battleships were the true backbone of a fleet. Their heavy armor and powerful Energy Shields gave them extraordinary defenses, making them difficult to sink. With the other cannon-fodder warships screening them, they could unleash their firepower to the fullest—and that made their main guns crucial.
"And now, the most important spoils of all..." Lin Zhichen looked at the escape pod. "Let's see what affected my Psionic perception."
He pressed the switch. The remaining oxygen sprayed out like white smoke, bringing a fresh sensation. The two of them peered inside as an NPC Crew member slowly woke from a deep sleep.
With a sense of anticipation, Lin Zhichen opened the man's personal panel. Natural Persons didn't need the other party's consent to view the NPC template of an NPC from an independent faction.
Name: Draftsman DKXXHTS Human, Red Gender: Male Age: 17 Profession: Draftsman, Beginner Talent: Red Blueprint: Blueprint drafting speed +16% Skills: 1 - Red Blueprint, Beginner 4.03%: Blueprint drafting speed +17%, blueprint permissions +0; civilian industrial goods and military Frigate blueprints unlocked 2 - White Ship Piloting, Beginner 14.57%: Sublight Speed +20% Rating: Don't ask me. I just draw.
"Blueprint talent? What kind of talent is that? How'd he end up as a warship pilot?" Link muttered to himself.
"This is our biggest gain from this trip," Lin Zhichen said, letting out a breath. A sincere smile appeared on his face.
Perhaps the draftsman's talent wasn't particularly impressive. It only increased his blueprint drafting speed. But he had undoubtedly solved the Meteor Mercenary Group's urgent problem. At the very least, with this NPC draftsman working alongside Dr. Will, they could now make some modifications to Frigate-class vessels.
At this stage, that was more than enough.
"I never thought NPCs spawning in the wild could have talents like this," Lin Zhichen said with a sigh. "It's such a waste to leave them in NPC Factions. Take this draftsman, whom all the major factions desperately want—he was trained as a warship pilot instead."
If he hadn't been lucky enough to be rescued, one of the rarest professional talents in the stars would have been lost. When he thought about the countless NPC Fleets in the Dark Galaxy, fighting each other over and over, he wondered how many more elite talents would be lost.
And when he thought of how much more these people could accomplish in his hands, he couldn't help feeling a pang of regret.
"Big Brother, how did you find him?" After Lin Zhichen explained things, Link now understood how important the draftsman was. What amazed him was how sharp Lin Zhichen's Psionic perception had been.
"It was partly my own ability, but the Psionic Crystal helped too." Lin Zhichen looked at the Crystal Stone that occupied half the command cabin:
"It amplifies my perception."
"Big Brother, with this ability, we'll have a much better chance than ordinary factions of finding NPCs with rare talents in the future!" Link exclaimed. This was what it meant to be a prospector, striking one gold mine after another.
Despite their massive haul, the Qinyuan didn't head straight back to the Solar System. They were already close to their destination: an unnamed planet.
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