Having been reborn, Wang Dong knew, of course, that as long as he inherited Yuan Shu's War Axe, there were ways to solve all the problems mentioned above.
That was because the War Axe carried several Shipborne Modules whose functions were truly top-notch.
But he couldn't let that show.
Just because Yuan Shu was being so affable with him now, Wang Dong couldn't assume he was some "destiny-granting old man" straight out of a novel.
Could an ordinary person keep causing trouble for the Jin Family for decades, never giving up even while being hunted by them?
Before his rebirth, Wang Dong had had his cheat-like advantage, yet he'd only lasted a little over ten years under the Jin Family's pursuit.
So now Wang Dong was wholeheartedly playing the role of "a promising young man."
Every word and action had to fit the character he was portraying. Otherwise, if Yuan Shu noticed something was off...
Wang Dong knew very well that the Levistan Civilization's military stimulants lasted twenty-four hours, not a mere hour!
Yuan Shu wasn't entirely without other options.
If Wang Dong wasn't suitable, there were plenty of other candidates in the mining district!
Yuan Shu had spent decades making his way through the stars. He wasn't some sheltered young noble. After giving it a little thought, he'd more or less understood why Wang Dong had refused.
"I didn't think it through. I forgot that you and people like us came from entirely different worlds."
Yuan Shu said with some feeling, "I took command of the War Axe at thirty and spent more than seventy years traveling through the stars. I've long forgotten what life is like for people who live on planets."
"Planet dwellers" was a term for ordinary people who spent their entire lives on a planet and couldn't freely venture into space.
It carried no praise or blame. It was simply a neutral term.
A rather apt one.
Like "a frog at the bottom of a well."
"Wang Dong, I'll presume on our friendship and call myself your big brother. I'm older, after all, and I've seen more people and things.
"I understand that you have your own ideas, and that you know more than most people, but you may not have had enough exposure to the wider world."
Yuan Shu struggled to undo the seat belt holding him in place, then slowly sat upright.
"I've been enemies with the Jin Family for so many years, yet I've remained at large. They've raised the price on my head again and again, but they've never been able to do anything to me.
"Only this time did they finally succeed. They found the family of a key member of my crew, threatened and bribed him into betraying me, and set a trap.
"The reason the Jin Family couldn't track me down for all these decades wasn't luck, of course.
"Nor was it the War Axe's combat strength.
"It was my Yuan Family's heritage—the special-function Shipborne Modules our ancestors acquired while making their way through the stars, which the Jin Family coveted!"
"Additional Shipborne Modules?"
Wang Dong asked, somewhat surprised.
"Aren't the modules installed on a Kindling Warship called Shipborne Modules? What does 'additional' mean?"
"It seems you still don't know enough about Kindling Warships.
"There are two types of Shipborne Modules: standard modules and additional modules. That's common knowledge. The Shipborne Optical Computer aboard the War Axe has records on the subject. You can look them up later."
Yuan Shu chuckled.
Wang Dong acted as though he understood, but still shook his head. "Mr. Yuan, what you've said gives me some confidence, but there's still one crucial prerequisite I have absolutely no confidence in meeting."
"What prerequisite?" Yuan Shu asked, puzzled.
"As far as I know, to become the captain of a Kindling Warship, you have to fuse with the ship's Kindling. The chances of successfully fusing with it are very low.
"Unless you cultivate the Body Forging Technique to an advanced level, success isn't guaranteed."
Wang Dong said with some embarrassment, "I'm not part of the privileged class, so I'm not qualified to practice the Body Forging Technique. I might not even be able to fuse with the ship's Kindling."
Yuan Shu shook his head slightly. "The success rate you're talking about applies to first-generation Kindling Warships.
"Transferring the captain's authority doesn't require you to worry about the odds of successfully fusing with the Kindling or your level of Body Forging Technique. It's guaranteed to succeed."
Wang Dong nodded, somewhat at a loss.
This was something he had to ask. As he'd said, "the character" mattered.
He had to show enough admirable qualities—calmness, composure, careful thinking—to convince Yuan Shu that he could cause the Jin Family trouble in the future and wouldn't prove to be the wrong person to entrust the ship to.
At the same time, he had to be careful not to overdo it. He couldn't act too outlandish, such as knowing far more than anyone could reasonably be expected to know, or asking nothing at all as long as he could take over as captain.
"You can look into the specifics later. Trust me, it'll be a pleasant surprise." Yuan Shu began to speak faster, with a hint of impatience.
"All right, I'll take your word for it, Mr. Yuan. And if you have any other instructions, please tell me those too."
Wang Dong accepted the point, nodding with some reluctance.
Of course Yuan Shu had other conditions. He'd gone to all that trouble to explain so much—did Wang Dong really think he was just handing over the warship before he died?
How naive.
"Good. Then let's be frank with each other from the start."
Yuan Shu's voice weakened slightly.
Then, as if it had received a command, the ring-shaped intelligent medical machine that had been hovering above Yuan Shu slowly moved in front of Wang Dong.
Next, a dark green syringe emerged from one of its mechanical arms.
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