Building materials: 150,000 units of universal alloy
Construction cycle: 30 years
Price: 100 million energy coins"
"This is really..." Wu Tianyi stammered for a long time before spitting out a word: "Audacious!"
What was the Sky Pillar Fortress?
It was a fifth-tier military fortress, the strongest stronghold among the civilized nations.
One could say that this single fortress could easily fend off a standard fleet on the scale of tens of thousands of starships. If paired with a defense fleet, this kind of specialized defense fortress would practically never fall.
"Big brother, over here!" Link pointed at two selected blueprint projections. Lin Zhichen looked over, and they were precisely the military port and space fortress they needed.
"They're both standard specs. The military port costs 100,000 energy coins, and the space fortress 1 million! That really is too expensive."
"It's supposed to be expensive. This kind of business carries massive risks from the start, and they're all one-off deals." A voice rang out, and the few of them looked up to see that an old man wearing a mask had somehow appeared inside the virtual shop:
"Who buys military fortresses if not major factions?
They all cultivate their own draftsmen. Once they buy these blueprints back, they can copy them themselves. This is equivalent to buying a complete knowledge system, and they can play on their own from then on."
"It can't be that simple, right? The contents of these military fortress blueprints are complex, and copying the whole set must take an unknown amount of time." Lin Zhichen mused. He casually swiped through them, countless streams of information flowing within the blueprints and making him dizzy.
Even a top student would have to kneel before such a massive amount of information, which showed that a draftsman was indeed not something just anyone could do.
"Heh, I can tell you're a rookie just by hearing you speak. Haven't you ever heard of a specialized drafting computer?" The old man said impatiently: "Buy if you want, leave if you don't."
"You..." Wei Peng, with his hot temper, was furious and wanted to step forward and speak, but Lin Zhichen stopped him: "Old sir, I want the blueprints, and I want the drafting computer as well. Please do us a favor!"
"I only sell blueprints here. Drafting computers are very rare, and I don't have any here. Go look in the black market; you might just stumble upon a lump of gold." The old man said indifferently.
Lin Zhichen said no more and bought the two blueprints.
These were only projections; the reality was that both parties agreed on a trading location and then exchanged goods for money on the spot—online transactions were certainly feasible, but they would leave certain clues that might become a time bomb at any moment.
Gazing with lingering reluctance at the many blueprints in the shop, he closed his holographic bracelet.
"Big brother, 1.1 million energy coins!" Wu Tianyi's mouth twitched in agony. Converted into Federation Credits, that was an astronomical figure!
"It's already been explained on StarNet. Although rebel bases have a chance to drop military port blueprints, the probability is very low. You might conquer ten bases without a single blueprint.
If it were normal times, we'd still have time to take it slow, but we only have two months, and time is tight." Lin Zhichen shook his head. This was no time to feel a pinch over money.
A day later, Lin Zhichen retrieved the two blueprints from a covert channel and piloted the Guiche Hao back to the Dakan System, only to find a huge transport ship more than 50 kilometers in size hovering above Dakan I.
Transport ship after transport ship operated like busy little bees, hauling the materials loaded inside the transports one by one into the underground base's warehouses.
Lin Zhichen couldn't help but walk over to the ship's rail, looking past the special glass at that colossal beast in outer space.
The whale-sized ship was vast, yet it couldn't be compared with these bulky civilian vessels. Placed together, the two were the difference between an aircraft carrier and a frigate.
The Guiche Hao slowly passed the side of the transport ship. Its alloy hull, stretching endlessly like a city wall, blocked out almost the entire field of vision, presenting a cold and stern industrial aesthetic.
"Beep-beep~"
The sound of holographic communication rang out, and Conilia's graceful figure appeared in the command module's holographic communicator:
"Is this the secret base you selected? I must admit, your eye is quite good. The base is deeply hidden dozens of kilometers underground; even if someone discovers its location, there's no good way to attack it, and they can only fight it out head-on."
In the New Universe, the upper limit of weapons and equipment was practically locked down. Weapons like the Star Destroyer Cannon were extremely rare, serving as trump cards kept hidden at the bottom of the box by every powerful civilization, and private factions had zero possibility of possessing them.
Under such circumstances, more than twenty kilometers of strata made the best armor, because currently no weapon could penetrate such a thick stratum to directly destroy an underground base.
The weapons developed by humanity were far too insignificant for a planet. An explosion that looked heaven-shaking and earth-shattering would likely be nothing more than a scratched skin to these colossal entities, completely negligible.
"I don't plan to fight a ground battle. Resolving it in space is best." Lin Zhichen watched the transport ship unload its cargo while saying:
"How did you pull this off? Such a massive transport ship, directly transported here via spatial teleporation?"
"This universe is much larger than you see." A certain profound meaning laced Conilia's tone: "This transport ship can't even be considered a colossal entity. Wait until you've witnessed a Planet Transport Ship someday, and then it won't be too late to call things huge."
Lin Zhichen was speechless. He had occasionally heard of Planet Transport Ships, the smallest of which featured hull sizes exceeding a thousand kilometers. Compared to super-class starships of that caliber, the one before his eyes truly counted as a little dot, mere tadpole-tier.
"Big brother, this time we owe it all to Ms. Conilia. She brought a complete set of high-end metallurgy equipment, and our smelting plant will soon be able to operate at full capacity, turning out hundreds of units of Bc-106 superalloy every day!" Wu Tianyi's figure appeared in the projector:
"And SAC-17a superalloy. The biggest advantage of this equipment set is its versatility. It can freely and rapidly adjust production lines to mass-produce multiple models of superalloy on a large scale. This is a huge help to us!"
"Don't thank me. I never imagined you possessed such an outstanding materials scientist." Conilia smiled:
"Not every psionicist with the talent for matter reorganization is a great materials scientist, but Li Heng has pulled it off."
Psionics could certainly increase a person's talent, but whether one could become an excellent scientist depended primarily on talent, though that wasn't everything.
Only those with high intelligence who yearned for knowledge and could endure loneliness possessed the aptitude of a scientist. Unfortunately, very few people possessed all of those factors together.
"Have you ever heard of a drafting computer?" Lin Zhichen asked.
Conilia frowned slightly: "Did you hear that in the black market? The rarity of that thing rivals a relic; they aren't even sold in the black market. Not only is it regulated, but drafting computers are also strategic resources capable of accelerating a draftsman's work efficiency, making them extremely scarce."
"How so?" Lin Zhichen asked.
"Draftsmen can use dedicated drafting computers to accelerate drawing. Different computers also yield varying speed increases, and I hear certain super drafting computers allow expert-level draftsmen to draw 10 battleships within an hour, achieving efficiencies over a hundred times higher than normal states."
Conilia spread her hands helplessly:
"Presumably you've already searched the black market and found no stock left? Now you know how precious that thing is."
Lin Zhichen sighed: "What a pity."
He only had two draftsmen, and one of them was only a junior who couldn't be of any use.
"Don't fret. I brought you a good thing this time." Conilia smiled slightly: "Want to guess?"
"Spider Silk Clothing?" Lin Zhichen asked with interest.
In any world, women's money was the easiest to make.
In the New Universe, there was a special kind of spider whose produced spider silk was soft, smooth, natural in color, and unconventional, winning the welcome of many wealthy matrons—and of course, the welcome of men as well.
Because this kind of spider silk was best suited for making interesting nightgowns, and that semi-revealing effect was quite extraordinary, driving people crazy.
"Go to hell!" Conilia scolded with playful anger. She was truly defeated by this thick-skinned fellow, and said ungraciously: "It's a subspace sensor dedicated to large bases. The hyperspace detection range reaches a diameter of 2 light-years, enough to cover the entire stellar system.
The radar detection range is 24 light-seconds!"
The subspace sensor was a third-generation radar, especially the kind used for bases. Because it was not limited by volume and energy supply, its output was enormous, and its detection distance far exceeded ship-mounted radar.
This radar belonging exclusively to bases was similarly classified as military-controlled contraband. Although far from being as strictly confidential as a military port blueprint, it was still not easy to get hold of; Conilia had indeed put in effort.
"Not bad, not bad. I'll accept this dowry of yours first. By the way, as a scion of a wealthy family, this bit of a stake isn't enough for your net worth." Lin Zhichen nodded in satisfaction, continuing to take verbal advantage of her.
"During this period, the Anboli will continue to transport resources over. Just contact the captain directly for whatever you need, and I'll procure it on your end—for a price, of course." Conilia said ungraciously:
"I'll do my best to buy you time, but I can't guarantee for how long. You need to get ready as quickly as possible."
With that, the holographic communication was cut off.
"Big brother, you managed to tick off the Goddess of Wealth and chase her away." Wei Peng chuckled from the side.
"What do you know? The money is right here; she'll be back sooner or later." Lin Zhichen said unceremoniously: "Quick, turn on the radar now. We need a pair of eyes most of all."
Wu Tianyi had performed far better than imagined. Not long after he gave the order, he felt a wave of radar pulses propagate outward. Evidently, before he returned, Wu Tianyi had already instructed people to install the radar.
"Big brother, come take a look." Not long after the subspace sensor for large bases was activated, Wu Tianyi's serious face appeared in the holographic communicator. Lin Zhichen frowned slightly, strode forward to look, and saw the ship-mounted holographic projector displaying the data model within the radar's detection range.
Among these, the numerous points of light gradually closing in on the base were the most conspicuous.
"It's a fleet, about 20 light-seconds away from us. The target is still unclear for now." Wu Tianyi said: "Judging from the advancing direction of this fleet at present, it will miss Dakan I, but at its closest point to us, it will be only 5 light-seconds away."
A light-second was about 1.5 million kilometers. This distance was an astronomical figure on a planet's surface, but in outer space, it was the blink of an eye—truly far too close.
"Big brother, let me go check it out." Link requested assignment: "I've had the Guiche Hao for so long, it's just right to take it out for a spin."
Lin Zhichen did not reply immediately. He looked at the unknown fleet displayed on the radar and frowned slightly: "Only about 1,000 ships? It's a small fleet. Which faction could it belong to?"
By all rights, the battle of Dakan I ended extremely quickly and would not attract excessive attention from NPC factions, but the current situation clearly exceeded expectations.
His sharp psionic perception gave him a vague, different premonition—it seemed like a new threat, or perhaps merely an illusion, hazy and obscure for the moment.
"Big brother, what should we do?" Wu Tianyi asked.
"Our fleet will rely on Dakan I to make battle preparations. I'll go check out the enemy fleet's situation and be right back."
Answering, the Guiche Hao—which had yet to enter the underground base—carved an arc through outer space and flew rapidly toward the location of the unknown fleet.
The closer he got, the sharper his psionic perception became, and that marvelous feeling grew increasingly distinct. He was now certain that this fleet of unknown origin possessed certain unusual traits.
Bolstered by gravity drives, the speed of the Guiche Hao was extremely terrifying. Flying at 50% of the speed of light, it approached within 3 light-seconds of the unknown fleet in just a few seconds.
The next moment, the Guiche Hao's speed plummeted, shifting into a combat state of 300 kilometers per second. At this point, the unknown fleet was already close at hand.
Clearly, the swaggering intrusion of the Guiche Hao had alerted the fleet, and more than a dozen frigates immediately broke away from formation and surrounded them from afar.
Streams of wide-area communication broadcasts were also sent over, inquiring over and over again about the origins of the Guiche Hao.
In fact, this was the normal reaction upon encountering an unfamiliar starship; without confirming identities, they would maintain a measure of vigilance toward each other.
Lin Zhichen did not respond to the enemy fleet's communications. Anyone able to swagger unhindered through the Dark Galaxy looked nothing like friendly forces. At a time like this, he acted as though he hadn't heard and continued closing in on the fleet.
This attitude immediately aroused the enemy's vigilance, and after continuous inquiries yielded no results, starships immediately opened fire.
Before you continue