the next day.
Han Xiao arrived at the shipyard early in the morning, ready to begin building the spaceship components that the group had entrusted to him.
To maintain secrecy, the spacecraft's overall blueprints were divided into various components for different Engineer to build. The most crucial components were handled by the group's core personnel, and external Engineer like myself, who had just joined, were generally not involved in such large orders.
The Summit Keystone Group was only eager to bring him into the project because of the project schedule and his B+ level performance, but the core component blueprints would not be given to him.
The three components that Han Xiao was responsible for were high-tech but not critical devices. Because they were custom-made high-end components, the group did not have the corresponding production line, so the Engineer came in handy.
He hadn't originally planned to steal the blueprints, but if it was a cluster-class flagship... well, it's a matter for the mechanics, can it really be called stealing?
He planned to use virtual technology to allow Phillip to infiltrate the Summit Keystone Group's database, which should be able to steal the basic framework of a cluster-class flagship. The virtual security Engineer hired by the Summit Keystone Group were no match for him; they could sneak around in someone else's house like thieves and not even be noticed. How infuriating!
More critical component drawings are stored in paper form. Although this method is primitive, it will never be outdated. After all, virtual mechanics are notorious Missionary of benevolence, and no one wants their database to be pampered by others every day.
Summit Keystone Group is rushing to meet its deadlines, and its manufacturing speed is an advantage. As long as it quickly completes its current targets, the group will likely give it some more component blueprints to manufacture—incidentally accumulating progress on its specialty tasks.
If we can find a way to steal the remaining classified blueprints, we can synthesize the complete blueprints for a cluster-class flagship.
Upon arriving at the Engineer ' work area, Han Xiao immediately spotted Luke and nodded in greeting.
"Barn, what brings you here?" Luke, somewhat surprised.
"Why do you look so surprised?" Han Xiao raised an eyebrow.
"I thought you'd spend the whole day studying the blueprints... If you want to visit, I'll have someone show you around. The project is a bit rushed, and I'm very busy today; I probably won't have time for anything else."
Luke assumed Han Xiao was still getting familiar with his future work environment.
Han Xiao shook his head. "You've misunderstood. I'm here to start work today."
Upon hearing this, Luke's eyes widened.
"You learned how to draw the blueprints I gave you in just one night?!"
That's incredibly efficient.
He was somewhat incredulous. These advanced spaceship components were extremely complex; it had taken him three days to master them, and he expected Han Xiao to take at least a day or two to learn them as well. Yet this new colleague had learned them in just one night?!
"If there's nothing else, I'm going to work," Han Xiao said, reminding Luke when he saw Luke staring at him in a daze.
Luke snapped out of his daze and quickly replied, "Okay, okay, I won't bother you anymore."
Han Xiao nodded, swiped his card, and entered the workshop.
Luke didn't look away until Han Xiao's the Sight of Father's Back was obscured by the door of the private workshop, secretly marveling... This new colleague named Barn was even more formidable than he had imagined.
Engineer certifications can be obtained by using the top-tier private workshop of the Summit Keystone Group, which is fully equipped. Although it is not as luxurious as Han Xiao's private workshop at the Black Star Army headquarters, it is still quite valuable.
After closing the door, Han Xiao was the only one left in the workshop. He glanced around the workshop and nodded.
"They gave me a production target of half a month, which I can probably finish in half a day... Hmm, that seems a bit too much. Let's slow down and drag it out to three days."
Kerala--
Han Xiao launched a series of compressed balls, forming various assistant robots. These were all mechanical products he had personally manufactured and modified. They were exclusive equipment for top A+ level mechanics, with extremely powerful performance, and were all private equipment that could not be bought on the market.
Sizzle--
Mechanical Force overflowed from their hands, bright electric light connected the machinery, and all the assistants sprang into action, using various devices to process materials and begin manufacturing.
The vast pool of experience was the source of his confidence to disregard the Soul Embryo. While creating it, he used the [Quantum Matrix Mind Field] to connect his brain to the network of the Summit Keystone Group and infiltrate the shipyard's database.
Han Xiao's virtual technology could easily deal with the virtual intelligence of an ordinary shipyard. He could easily conceal his own traces, bypass the database's firewall and early warning mechanisms, and let Phillip enter the database to copy the data.
"Let me see what good stuff we have!" Han Xiao said happily.
Countless pieces of information were displayed directly in his mind, including all the past order history of the Summit Keystone Group. After filtering out a large amount of redundant data, Han Xiao extracted valuable information from it.
The database doesn't store high-value spaceship blueprints. Generally, a dedicated blueprint storage warehouse is built, but it's not marked on the shipyard's floor plan, so the location of the blueprint warehouse is currently unknown.
The database contained mostly ordinary spaceship blueprints, which Han Xiao readily accepted, learning everything he could—even a small amount was still valuable. Besides, he had a special talent [Research Theory], gaining +1 intelligence for every 3 skills, so the more blueprint skills he acquired, the better.
After searching for a while, Han Xiao finally found the information he needed, which was the current large order from the Summit Keystone Group.
"The Eternal Light Fortress Ship?!" Han Xiao was taken aback.
This flagship model is so famous that it's not a product of any star cluster-level civilization in the Shattered Star Ring... but rather one of the flagship types of the Federation of Light!
Although the Eternal Light is not the flagship of a cosmic-class civilization, it is still in active service and is one of the main warships of the Federation of Light fleet in conventional interstellar warfare. Its combat power is comparable to that of the flagships of star cluster-class civilizations, and it is even slightly stronger in terms of energy. However, its manufacturing cost is relatively low, making it one of the less technologically demanding flagships of the Federation of Light.
The blueprints for the Federation of Light's warships are priceless on the black market, yet an ordinary shipyard located in the Shattered Star Ring is actually building a high-level flagship of a cosmic civilization.
There seems to be something fishy going on here?
Han Xiao's eyes flickered, and he couldn't help but let his imagination run wild.
"The Federation of Light is secretly hiring local shipyards in the Shattered Star Ring to build warships, is it actually planning to garrison troops in this star system? Could they be planning something big? If so, it's certain that the Summit Keystone Group isn't the only shipyard building Federation of Light warships..."
Hmm, no, the Federation of Light has its own secret military factories in the Shattered Star Ring, so there's no need for them to outsource. Besides, their goal in amassing troops in the Shattered Star Ring could only be to confront the Crimson Dynasty... Could it be that the negotiations are just a pretense, and they intend to forcibly occupy the Shattered World?
That doesn't seem likely either. Not only was this part of the storyline not present before, but if the Federation of Light really wanted to do this, they would have sent a large army already...
After letting his thoughts wander for a while, Han Xiao came up with a fairly plausible guess.
--This matter should have nothing to do with the Federation of Light. It's possible that someone obtained the blueprints for the Eternal Light through some channel, then placed an order with the Summit Keystone Group, having this powerful shipyard help build it.
In that case, this major client must either have a close relationship with the Summit Keystone Group or be someone they can't afford to offend; otherwise, they wouldn't just casually provide an invaluable blueprint to an outsider.
"So, stealing the blueprints might be more difficult than we thought, and we might even offend some powerful forces..."
Han Xiao frowned slightly, then relaxed his brow.
I'm "Barn" now, not "Black Star." Barn stealing blueprints has nothing to do with me, Black Star.
Just steal it.
The basic framework blueprints for the Eternal Light Fortress Class do exist in the database. The framework refers to the hull structure and external armor, much like building the outer shell of a vehicle—it's like the skeleton and skin of a spaceship, and doesn't involve any particularly critical technologies. Because the framework of such a large flagship is usually built in outer space orbit, the engineering is quite complex and requires virtual intelligent coordination, so the framework blueprints need to be entered into the database.
The core of a spaceship lies in its components, such as energy reactors, shield generators, warp drives, and hundreds or even thousands of other devices. These components are the organs of the spaceship, and are more important than its framework.
Han Xiao glanced through the basic framework blueprints of the Eternal Light Fortress Ship, and a prompt quickly popped up on the panel.
You have obtained [Battleship Blueprint - Eternal Light (Fragment)]!
"Incomplete is fine, but I'll try my best to steal the complete blueprints..." Han Xiao chuckled to himself.
For the next ten days or so, Han Xiao stayed at the shipyard, burying himself in building spaceship parts, and the progress of the [Engineer] mission steadily increased.
He completed the first batch of targets in just three days, which really surprised the group's senior management.
After inspecting the components and finding no issues with their quality, the higher-ups felt they had recruited a gem. They then gave Han Xiao several more blueprints to build, which he completed in less than two days.
The group's senior management gradually handed over more blueprints to Han Xiao, which he completed quickly. However, the senior management was now in a dilemma. Han Xiao's work efficiency exceeded their expectations, which had now caused trouble. If this continued, the newcomer "Barn" would learn about the blueprints for more components, which would not be in line with the original intention of splitting the spaceship blueprints to share the risks.
Just as the top management was struggling with this decision, the group's behind-the-scenes boss came to inspect the situation.
In the conference room, Sedim reviewed the latest reports from the Summit Keystone Group, glanced at the several senior executives waiting beside him, and spoke calmly:
"I'm a little disappointed with your efficiency. Why hasn't the Eternal Light been created yet?"
"Your Sedim, this is the flagship model of a cosmic-level civilization. With our technological reserves, we simply cannot quickly build an advanced flagship. Moreover, the Engineer within our group are at most B+ level, and the production capacity of those advanced components is too low..."
"Oh?" Sedim narrowed his eyes. "I suspect that you're focusing your efforts on the shipyard's sales performance, only thinking about completing external orders and earning commissions, and don't want to work for me for free?"
"You, you've misunderstood! We didn't have that idea!" Several high-ranking officials' expressions changed, and they hurriedly tried to explain.
Although they are senior managers of the group, Sedim is the boss. The Summit Keystone Group itself is an enterprise under Sedim's name. In addition to taking on external orders, another responsibility is to produce machinery for him. All production resources must be given priority to the manufacturing tasks issued by Sedim.
If Sedim is the king of Planet Maixibo, then the Summit Keystone Group is a state-owned enterprise; Sedim can take back the power of these high-ranking officials whenever he wants.
Building the Eternal Light Fortress Ship was Sedim's mission for the Summit Keystone Group, and this blueprint belonged to him.
"Don't forget who you're working for," Sedim Warning the group, then said calmly, "I'll give you four more months. If you still can't complete the Eternal Light..."
Several senior executives hurriedly pledged their loyalty, saying, "Rest assured, we will definitely be able to build it."
Sedim nodded casually, looked at the report for a while, and suddenly asked, "Did you recently hire a new Engineer?"
"Yes, his name is Barn."
Sedim pointed to the data on the report, "Even if he's a B+ rank, such high work efficiency is rare. Hmm... there are two possibilities: he might have outstanding Mechanic Class talent, possessing the potential to become Calamity Grade being, or... he might be deliberately concealing his strength for some purpose."
The senior executives were taken aback. "What should we do then?"
You don't need to worry about this.
Sedim waved his hand, revealing an expression of great interest.
"If he's the former, I'd be interested in taking on a promising apprentice... but if he's the latter, perhaps that would be even better."
The high-ranking officials looked at each other in bewilderment.
"So how should we arrange his work? Should we let him continue to participate in the creation of the Eternal Light? With his efficiency, he'll learn the blueprints for a large number of components..."
Sedim smirked. "Just protect the blueprints for the core components; there's no need to worry about leaking anything else."
"Okay, alright." No one dared to object.
Sedim stood up, a playful glint in his eyes. "I'll observe him for a while, then find some time to get to know him. I have a feeling he'll be an interesting fellow."
The Milky Way stretches endlessly, the universe boundless.
The Shattered Star Ring is one of the edges of the Explored Universe. This region is divided into more than a dozen star clusters and contains hundreds or even thousands of star systems.
Among these galaxies, the Eternal Night Star System is the most unique.
Because this galaxy is nurturing the next star cluster-level civilization.
A uniquely blessed race thrived here. Under the leadership of a great man, their civilization rose at an astonishing pace, and their race evolved in an incredible way. This race remembered the glory brought by their leader and changed their name. Today, they call themselves the Star Pupil Protoss.
Sisko was the leader of this civilization.
On this day, the Star Pupil Protoss welcomed a group of uninvited guests.