Global Crossing: Empire of Stars

A mere five thousand ground troops wouldn't even make a splash if dumped into a pit.

"The first layer doesn't need much modification. We can't create a better defense system ourselves, and a simple repair will make it usable.

The second layer is for warehouses and material production bases, specifically for producing basic alloy materials. From what I've seen, the technology is rather basic. Currently, we can mainly produce Universal Alloy," Wu Tianyi continued.

"The equipment is quite old. To produce superalloys, we'll need to invest heavily in upgrading the machinery. This will require the cooperation of the 'Jujing Hao.' Once we purchase the corresponding Blueprints, we can quickly start producing finished products.

I've discussed this privately with Dr. Li Heng. If the new material production line is completed, it can produce one hundred units of alloy per day on a large scale, which should be sufficient for our early development.

With the Jujing Hao's production capacity and the team of senior technicians we've already trained, it should take about half a month, possibly even less," he added.

Lin Zhichen nodded. "This plan is good. Let's build Li Heng's material laboratory on this level as well. Once new products are developed, they can immediately enter industrial production."

"Li Heng requested the same, but he requires a high specification for his laboratory. A set of experimental equipment will likely cost 35,000 Energy Coins!" Wu Tianyi's face showed a pained expression as he said this.

That's enough to build two or three standard Battleships!

For major consortiums and families on Earth, assembling a small fleet would cost around that much, even if they emptied their coffers.

"Give it to him. Technology is the primary productive force, and we're not short on this small amount of money!" Lin Zhichen waved his hand dismissively, approving the expense.

"What about Dr. Er, Brother? What about Dr. Er's latest development?" Wu Tianyi reminded him. "He's been working on your orders to create the latest Particle Light Spear."

As he spoke, he activated his holographic wristband and projected an image of the new Particle Light Spear.

"Particle Light Spear: Blazing Star Radiance

Energy Consumption: 200 Cost: 200 units of Universal Alloy, 1 unit of SAC-17a Superalloy, 3 units of Tachyon Crystal Type: Energy Damage: 600-1500 Cooldown: 15min / 1min Accuracy: 85% Tracking: 0% Range: 15 light-seconds Damage Traits: -50% Shield Damage, +100% Armor Damage, +50% Hull Damage Blazing Star Radiance Special Enhancement: 1: Can draw stellar energy near a star to accelerate charging; 2: Can continuously draw stellar energy and convert it into Energy Coins (1 Energy Coin/h)"

SAC-17a Superalloy is a relatively rare red material specifically used to manufacture energy main cannons like the Particle Light Spear. Its manufacturing process is complex, and its uses are relatively limited, making it a military material controlled by the Federation.

"That's a great item!" Link, standing nearby, looked on with envy. As long as it's near a star, the charging time can be reduced from 15 minutes to 1 minute. A 15-fold acceleration in charging means a 15-fold increase in output!

"We need this. If we equip dozens of Particle Light Spears on the Dakan I and Dakan Ia, we won't fear any fleet attacks!" Lin Zhichen said happily, then pressed further.

"How is it? Is it difficult to build this?"

"Brother, this is a cutting-edge military product. How could it be simple to manufacture?" Wu Tianyi replied with a wry smile.

"Currently, only the 'Jujing Hao' has the capability to produce such equipment. Furthermore, SAC-17a Superalloy hasn't completed industrial production yet; it can only be prepared on a small scale in the laboratory."

"Li Heng is truly a genius. He managed to experiment with the production process for SAC-17a Superalloy in such a short time?"

Lin Zhichen was surprised. It's only been a few days? Logically, shouldn't he be busy with the mass production of Bc-106 Superalloy right now?

This alloy is used for warship armor and hulls, and the demand is much higher, making it more urgent.

"That's old news, Brother. The industrial production process for Bc-106 Superalloy has already been completed. Engineers are now working on the Blueprints for the machinery according to the process design. In about a week, we'll be able to see a steady stream of Bc-106 being produced!" Wu Tianyi dropped a bombshell.

"I only recently discovered that Li Heng can easily deduce the corresponding production process for existing alloys. This means that as long as we have enough time, we can obtain all sorts of materials and alloys on the market!"

Lin Zhichen and the others were speechless. They had underestimated Li Heng's talent. After awakening his Psionic energy, he had completely transformed, ascending from an ordinary person.

What is the biggest challenge in producing cutting-edge industrial products?

It's the materials! Only super-strong, high-temperature resistant materials like SAC-17a Superalloy can withstand the extreme heat of particle beams for extended periods, which is necessary for the Particle Light Spear.

Once the material issue is resolved, more than half the problem is solved.

"Also, Brother, in conjunction with Blazing Star Radiance, the Particle Light Spear's greatest advantage is defense. Especially for the Dakan I. If we deploy a Space Fortress in outer space, combined with dozens of light spears, we can completely block any incoming enemies in deep space," Wu Tianyi reminded him.

"We still need the Blueprint for a Space Fortress!"

Lin Zhichen nodded. Space Fortresses are the third-tier military fortresses, following space stations and Starports. They specialize in warfare and possess extremely powerful defensive capabilities.

Blueprints for military fortresses of this caliber have always been strictly controlled by the Federation military. Unless it's the black market, there's usually no way to acquire them.

What's the difference between a military fortress and a commercial port?

The biggest difference is the number of turrets on a military fortress, which is generally five times that of a civilian port!

"I'll figure this out," Lin Zhichen said, rubbing his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

Even in the military's authorized shop, he hadn't seen any related Blueprints. Let alone a third-tier Interstellar Fortress, he hadn't even seen a second-tier military Starport, which shows the difficulty.

"Brother, I saw on the Star Net that some people say attacking a rebel base might yield Blueprints for military fortresses. Just like this time, capturing this large pirate base gave us the Blueprint for a large Starport," Link said.

Starports generally refer to commercial interstellar ports, like the new Starport above Earth, or the Ouwan Galaxy Starport of the Anlan Civilization. These are commercial ports with relatively weak defenses but are much larger than military ports of the same level and are convenient for entry and exit.

"Rebel base?" Lin Zhichen nodded. Pirate bases generally correspond to civilian ports, while rebel bases correspond to military ports and have stronger defenses.

Of course, this pattern isn't absolute, but that's generally how it is.

"Big Brother, we actually still have some defensive capabilities," Wei Peng interjected at this moment. "I don't know if you've noticed, but when the Transformers transform into Fortress mode, they can mount an X-Slot Main Cannon!"

"What?" the others were stunned, finding it hard to believe.

After all, the main cannons were generally large. The Particle Light Spear, for instance, was over 300 meters long and nearly twenty meters in diameter!

How big were the Transformers themselves?

The Pirate Raiders were even smaller than standard Frigates, less than 200 meters long!

"Did you forget? The Transformers can transform!" Wei Peng said with a smug smile. "It can completely encase the main cannon and act as a slow-moving turret in space!

That's right, even in Fortress mode, the ion thrusters still exist."

The others were dumbfounded for a moment. Wu Tianyi questioned, "That's impossible, right? How much energy does the Particle Light Spear need to activate?

I remember the energy core inside the Transformer was also a small Nuclear Fusion Engine installed later, right? The energy provided isn't enough to power an energy-type X-Slot Main Cannon!"

"It can, but I calculated it in my free time. The charging time extends from the standard 15 minutes to 2.5 hours per charge, reducing efficiency by 10 times. It's only a one-shot deal in combat, so it's not very practical.

However, this drawback is perfect for a Blazing Star Radiance-equipped X-Slot Main Cannon!" Wei Peng chuckled.

"We can even draw stellar energy when we're idle and produce some Energy Coins!"

The others were dumbfounded, never imagining that the combination of Blazing Star Radiance and Transformers would have such an effect.

"As expected of a Relic from an Instance World, it has such wonderful uses when linked together!"

Lin Zhichen's eyes gradually lit up. With this, the Transformer, which was somewhat awkward in space combat, transformed from a practical heavy ground combat mech into a turret that also bore the heavy responsibility of space defense.

Wei Peng hadn't mentioned one more thing, but Lin Zhichen knew that an X-Slot Main Cannon occupied by a Transformer wouldn't take up the existing slots of a Starport like a space fortress; it was an additional defensive weapon.

Perhaps in the future, such convenience would be icing on the cake for the Meteor Mercenary Group, which had a strong industrial base, but for them, starting from scratch, this convenience was precisely what they needed most urgently.

"We need it," Lin Zhichen commanded. "Tianyi, get the production lines for the Particle Light Spear and Blazing Star Radiance up as soon as possible. The production scale doesn't need to be too large, just enough to refit our Battleships and equip the Transformers."

This was the weakest moment for the base, and they had to guard against potential enemies.

"Understood, Big Brother," Wu Tianyi nodded and continued his report. "The third level of the base is mainly the shipyard, a relatively complete starship industrial production line, and a total ship capacity of 360 units, capable of maintaining and servicing more than half of the Meteor Fleet simultaneously.

Although the equipment is somewhat outdated and its efficiency is far inferior to new mechanical equipment, our fleet size is sufficient for a considerable period. I think we don't need to modify it initially; we can make do with it for now."

Lin Zhichen nodded. "It's fine if it's a bit slow; we don't have that many resources to enter ship-building mode.

When producing Battleships again, he no longer intended to produce standard Battleships. After searching for a while, he had discovered that the most popular fleets in the Federation had varying degrees of enhancements, even at the cost of significant resources and a greatly reduced fleet size.

At first, he didn't understand why, but after experiencing more battles, he gradually understood that the vast dark starfield contained countless NPC fleets accumulated over countless years.

If they were to compete solely on the number of warships, no Civilized Nation could afford it, because monster fleets came at no cost, while their own fleet's consumption was real, both in terms of personnel training and fleet maintenance, which had scale limitations.

Therefore, various factions in the Federation desperately cultivated their own Heroes to enhance their overall strength in fleet battles.

Enhancing the strength of individual units was also a viable strategy. Even if the cost was higher, a higher survival rate and stronger firepower on the battlefield could give the entire fleet an advantage.

Therefore, a qualified major power must have an independent warship industry capable of partially or even entirely increasing the power of its warships.

"The fourth level is the precision machinery processing center, used for processing and producing precision weapons like Ship Cannons and base cannons, as well as more precise components on warships, such as engines, Nuclear Fission Reactors, and fusion reactors, etc. But as I said, these all require Blueprints.

This time, the Draftsman also had a harvest. This broken place actually had a junior Draftsman, although his talent isn't very good," Wei Peng said.

"This level will be our ship-mounted weapon processing center. From large Particle Light Spears to small Electromagnetic Cannons and even missiles, we will be able to produce them independently.

But the problem is also obvious: the equipment is also old, and in terms of processing precision and certain processing techniques, it doesn't meet the current weapon production requirements. We can only rely on the 'Jujing Hao' to gradually upgrade. This process is hard to predict; we can only identify and solve problems as they arise."

Lin Zhichen nodded and asked, "What is the talent of that Draftsman NPC?"

"It seems to be replication. He can quickly replicate Blueprints, but there are significant limitations. He can only replicate those that are one tier lower than the Blueprints he has already mastered," Wu Tianyi thought for a moment.

"He is currently a junior Draftsman and can only design Frigates. Ship-mounted weapons are one tier higher than warships. This means he can quickly replicate the weapons and general components that Frigates can equip—in the time it takes others to produce one Blueprint, he can produce ten!"

"He's a talented individual, but unfortunately, he can't be put to use in the short term."