Repair

He'd gotten stuck for over an hour on what he'd thought would be the easiest part. Wang Dong was honestly at a loss.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, pulled himself together, and began the next step.

"Changing the name alone wasn't enough to completely conceal the War Axe's—no, the Pond's—suspicious history.

The Pond had previously suffered severe damage to its stern armor, which was a very obvious tell."

It took 1,000 Source Points to change a warship's name. Maybe the War Axe had happened to have more than 1,000 Source Points in reserve?

Besides, there were also some special Shipborne Modules that could change a warship's name.

So changing the name alone wasn't enough to be safe.

"Spend Source Points to repair the warship's damage!"

The physical structure of a Kindling Warship wasn't all that different from that of an ordinary warship. Its armor, for example, was also smelted from alloys, and its performance parameters were the same as those of ordinary warships.

But once those alloy armor plates were installed on a Kindling Warship, they performed far better than they would on an ordinary warship.

That was because of the "Kindling."

This miraculous creation called the "Kindling" could emit energy waves that enhanced every module on the entire warship.

The warship was merely a vessel. The "Kindling" was its core, its soul.

Source Point enhancements didn't strengthen the warship itself, but rather the Kindling aboard it.

Normally, enhancing a given module didn't change the module itself, but instead enhanced the bonus the onboard Kindling gave that module.

Once removed from the Pond, its LV.2 main cannon was no different in performance from the main cannon of an ordinary warship.

By contrast, if a cannon of the same specifications was installed on the Pond,

the Kindling aboard the War Axe would enhance it, turning it into an LV.2 main cannon. It would be several times more powerful than an unenhanced warship cannon.

Repairing damage to a Kindling Warship wasn't actually difficult. Most low-quality standard modules with similar technology could be taken to a repair shop and fixed with ordinary repairs.

If a module was severely damaged, it could simply be replaced with the same model. It was quick and easy.

Of course, this kind of replacement was limited to identical components: a Standard Main Cannon for another standard warship main cannon, a standard engine for another standard engine.

These ungraded modules had long been mass-produced to standardized specifications. Even with the special requirements of Kindling Warships' Shipborne Modules, they could still be mass-produced to a certain extent.

But if the original main cannon was replaced with a different type,

such as swapping the Pond's standard main cannon for a blue-quality Blast Cannon,

then the enhancement level the onboard Kindling had previously given the standard main cannon wouldn't carry over.

The Blast Cannon would have to be enhanced from LV.0 all over again.

As for Shipborne Modules that used vastly different technologies—or even came from different civilizations—they couldn't be repaired this way.

In an emergency, or under special circumstances, a Kindling Warship had another unique means of self-rescue.

It could spend Source Points to repair itself automatically.

Convenient, environmentally friendly, and incredibly effective.

The only downside—

This method of repair... was even more of a money pit than pay-to-win games!

Source Points were an incredibly precious resource, directly tied to a Kindling Warship's growth. Every single point was vital to the warship.

And repairing things with Source Points didn't just cost a point or two!

Just like what Wang Dong was doing now.

"Activate Source Point repair.

Damage report for this ship: armor damage, 38%; hull damage, 4%. See diagram below. Select the area to repair."

"Repair the stern armor."

Wang Dong made the request without a hint of concern.

With Source Points, once the old were gone, new ones would come.

"Repairing stern armor.

Armor damage in this area: 90%. This area accounts for 10% of the ship's total armor. This ship's armor enhancement level is LV.1. The repair will cost 200 × 10% × 90% = 18 Source Points and take 18 minutes.

Please note: the armor module will not function normally during repairs."

He'd been prepared for this, but Wang Dong still frowned slightly.

The cost of this kind of repair was calculated by multiplying the upgrade cost of the module being repaired by the proportion of the module that needed repairs!

The Pond's armor was LV.1, green quality. Upgrading it from LV.0 to LV.1 had cost 200 Source Points.

The stern armor made up 10% of the warship's total armor, and 90% of the Pond's stern armor was damaged. Multiplying those three figures gave a final cost of 18.

If he repaired the armor across the entire ship, it would cost as much as upgrading and enhancing the armor module all over again!

Still, that level of expenditure made sense.

After all, the repair directly altered matter itself. It was only natural for it to cost a little more.

But compared with having the ship repaired at a shop, it was far less cost-effective.

Repairs only required ordinary currency used by the common people. There was no need to spend a high-end, precious resource like Source Points.

He couldn't afford not to repair it.

"Confirm repair."

He had to cover up this tell.

Wang Dong didn't dare take the Pond to any repair shop. Damage this convenient would easily arouse suspicion, and Wang Dong couldn't afford to be suspected.

"Repair confirmed. Cost: 18 Source Points. Time required: 36 minutes. Beginning repairs. Countdown..."

Remaining Source Points: 846.

"The name has been changed, and the damage has been repaired. Those two major tells are gone, but that'll only get us past the most cursory screening."

Wang Dong's thinking was clear.