The Pond

The average returns were low, and the risks were considerable.

With the Auxiliary System, War Axe entered Otherworldly Space battlefields far more often than an average Kindling Warship.

An average Kindling Warship entered an Otherworldly Space battlefield fewer than twice a year, because signals from Otherworldly Space were difficult to detect.

Wang Dong was different.

By making use of the one-month Buffer Time for his ship's onboard kindling, Wang Dong could enter Otherworldly Space battlefields as many as twelve times a year!

Six times the average.

That was the kind of cheat having an auxiliary system gave you.

Of course, that didn't mean this Otherworldly Space battlefield had been perfect.

If War Axe's Source Point acquisition rate hadn't been only twenty-five percent, the number of "remaining Source Points" should have been 7,456!

Most of the Source Points War Axe had gained this time came from killing members of the Yatai civilization.

For every ten thousand members of a civilization eliminated, one Source Point could be obtained.

With a Source Point acquisition rate of 25%, gaining 1,681 Source Points meant Wang Dong had just caused the deaths of more than seventy million people in this rich star system, whose population numbered over ten billion.

Less than one percent of the total population!

The main reason, of course, was that War Axe currently had no weapons capable of causing large-scale destruction, and its ammunition reserves were seriously depleted.

As a result, Wang Dong had failed to seize even an opportunity like this, when his luck had been so absurdly good.

Still, overall, Wang Dong was satisfied.

The limitations of his hardware were an objective fact.

After all, who could have guessed that the first Otherworldly Space battlefield he entered after being reborn would yield such a huge windfall?

It wasn't his fault that he hadn't been able to fight his way through. Wang Dong didn't dwell on it.

As long as he could keep "laying low" in safety, he didn't think he'd ever be short of Source Points.

Besides, the "renaming fee" he'd expected to save up over multiple Otherworldly Space battles had been covered in one go. That alone was a very pleasant surprise.

"Next, it's time to deal with my current predicament."

The first step was to change War Axe's name.

He linked up with the onboard kindling and selected the option to re-engrave the warship's name.

The process went smoothly, and his command was accepted.

"Please enter the new name for your warship."

"Goddess of Dawn." Wang Dong was full of anticipation.

Dawn heralded new life and hope.

"Sorry, the name you entered is already taken."

"Goddess of Dawn." Wang Dong furrowed his brow slightly.

"Sorry, the name you entered exceeds the maximum length allowed for a destroyer."

Wang Dong: ...

He'd almost forgotten. As the most basic form of Kindling Warship, destroyers really were discriminated against a little in certain respects.

Seven or eight more names were already taken.

"Eagle!" Wang Dong snapped in frustration.

"Sorry, the name you entered is already taken."

After racking his brains over more than a dozen names,

"White Crane..." Wang Dong said dejectedly.

"Sorry, the name you entered is already taken."

Wang Dong: "Uh..."

Wang Dong finally understood why most of the Kindling Warships he'd encountered had such uninspired names, whether it was Yuan Shu's War Axe or the Jin Family's Curved Saber, Small Saber, Long Saber, Big Saber, and so on.

This was reality, not a novel. It didn't matter what a minor character was called; you could name them after any old Tom, Dick, or Harry.

In real life, every Kindling Warship was its captain's most prized possession.

And no one who became a captain was an easy mark.

Of course they'd carefully chosen their warship's name.

The only reason names like War Axe, Curved Saber, and Small Saber still existed was that the people who came before them had already taken all the good ones, leaving nothing for those who came after!

Over the course of ten thousand years, human civilization had built countless Kindling Warships, and naturally, there had been countless warship names.

Any name that sounded halfway decent had been snapped up thousands of years ago.

Those who came later had been forced to lower their standards again and again. By Wang Dong's time, even names like Little Eagle and Gray Crane were gone!

Wang Dong had never imagined he'd get stuck on the naming process for over an hour.

After who knew how many attempts, Wang Dong felt as if his brain had nearly turned to mush. The words coming out of his mouth were practically unconscious sounds, uttered without any thought.

"Lake..." Wang Dong murmured weakly.

"Sorry, the name you entered is already taken."

"Pond."

"Pond, name available. Confirm?"

"Bathtub... wait, available?"

Wang Dong suddenly came to his senses.

"Bathtub, name available. Confirm?"

"No, no, no."

Wang Dong hurriedly rejected it. "Pond" was already tragic enough. What would it be like if he changed it to "Bathtub"?

"Pond."

Wang Dong said cautiously.

"Pond, name available. Confirm?"

"Confirm!"

Wang Dong had run out of patience. Pond it was. At least it was one step up from Bathtub.

"This operation will consume 1,000 Source Points. Confirm?"

"Confirm."

He answered without hesitation.

"Honored Captain, War Axe has been successfully renamed Pond. This change will be recorded in the navigation log. Renaming the warship again will cost 2,000 Source Points."

"Whew, it's finally done."

Wang Dong pressed a hand to his forehead, deeply relieved.