33 points of grace, that was the largest sum Gu Hang had received so far.
He planned to save three points to train three more squads.
As for the remaining thirty points, he contemplated the possible directions he could allocate them.
First, he opened the [Hero] interface; his own personal information panel was still stuck on the message that he lacked enough experience to level up.
The way to gain experience was through war, beyond that Gu Hang didn't know if there were other means, such as whether dealing with government affairs would grant experience? Gu Hang felt it should, but he hadn't verified it, so he wasn't sure.
In any case, the war he had just won was not enough to allow him to reach the leveling threshold.
Instead, he spotted a new name there.
[New Hero Activation Available: Yan Fangxu, Activation Requires 10 points of grace]
Hmm?
This caused Gu Hang a bit of a dilemma.
Should he activate Yan Fangxu as a hero? After becoming a hero, he could accumulate experience, level up, and gain talents... That guy didn't seem to have any spiritual energy talents, so probably, once activated, he'd just be a warrior template.
And if he truly invested effort into cultivating him, once the Yelisia Starship left in a couple of years, Yan Fangxu, this navy captain, would likely leave as well, and by then, all the resources invested in him would have gone to waste.
Gu Hang wouldn't distrust him just because he was in the naval hierarchy, but investing and cultivating him was another matter entirely.
Let's wait on that, Gu Hang decided, and then opened the [Technology] panel.
He tried by investing 10 points of grace.
[Invest 10 points of grace to illuminate new basic-level technology with a 70% probability, confirm investment?]
No no no no no!
Gu Hang was taken aback.
The probability could decrease?
Before, ten points of grace directly exchanged for a basic-level technology. He had thought that every exchange for ten points would get him two Black Box Manufacturing Machines, but now they're saying the probability will drop?
A 70% chance wasn't low, but Gu Hang was concerned that it might continue to decrease!
"Every successful technology illumination causes the success rate of the next attempt to drop?"
Gu Hang guessed at the system's technology panel's function.
A heavy blow.
He had thought that with such a huge advantage, he would easily become invincible later on, since technology was the primary productive force. Even if the imperial taxes became oppressive, by selling Black Box Manufacturing Machines, wouldn't organizations such as the Empire Commerce Guild and the Empire Mechanical Church come eagerly handing over money? There was no need to worry about tax issues at all.
The issue with the declining probability was a real setback.
"Looks like I have to do this the honest way," Gu Hang thought reluctantly.
Lucky for him, he had never considered the sale of technology as his only lifeline. If he could resolve the tax issue normally, he would; these black boxes, including those accumulated from future technology illuminations, were the capital for him to continue growing stronger.
In his position as governor, he wasn't just planning to grit his teeth and get through a few challenging years before figuring out how to be transferred elsewhere.
The position of a planetary governor was very special. Governors of places like Rage Owl Star, of course, weren't held in high esteem; but for planets with top-notch productivity and military capability, the governor's voice could be immensely powerful. Pei Desi, the leader of the Tianma Star Sector, was able to secure his current position primarily because his younger brother was the governor of the Flying Wing Planet, the Star Sector Capital, with a population of tens of billion and a vast, stable production capacity as his solid backing.
Technology was the primary developmental force. Unless absolutely necessary, Gu Hang would certainly not sell the Black Box Manufacturing Machines.
Currently, the success rate for the [Technology] function had decreased, but no matter, the remaining 70% was still a decent probability. With over thirty points of grace in hand, he should at least be able to successfully exchange for one.
[Invest 10 points of grace to illuminate new basic-level technology with a 70% probability, confirm investment?]
Taking a deep breath, this time he clicked yes.
[Basic Level Technology: G9 Rifle Clan]
[Developed by the Empire Mechanical Doctrine to fulfill the order requirements of the Star Realm Army's new generation of kinetic rifles. They continued to advance in lightweight and modular design while managing to lower overall costs compared to the previous generation of rifles. With different accessories and simple modifications, they could be transformed into machine guns, automatic rifles, precision rifles, and short submachine guns, further adapting to alloy bayonets.]
Gu Hang's mouth curled into a smile, and then he could not help but laugh more and more joyfully.
What a treasure!
I don't know about other places, but at least in the Tianma Star Sector, whether it's the main force of the Imperial Guard Star Army or the main force of the Navy's Marine Corps, the firearms in use are still predominantly the G7 type, also known as the 'Striker' Rifle.
Previously, Gu Hang's memory also indicated news about the gradual replacement with G8 rifles, but at least until now, the scale of the replacement has not been large, and the production capacity has not been sufficient.
And now, he has directly obtained the even more advanced G9!
Another great weapon.
If Gu Hang could integrate the entire planet, just the production of the G9 rifles could bring in a massive amount of orders. The Star Realm Army of Tianma Star Sector, the Navy, and even the local defense forces of various planets, shouldn't bother switching to the G8—just directly upgrade to the G9 and call it a day.
Taking those orders would be enough to pay the Empire's taxes.
Of course, this is just wishful thinking. For one thing, ramping up production capacity that much is a difficult task; and for another, if he made such a big move, he wouldn't be able to explain the origin of the technology.
Unlike the production process for foundational, widely-used materials like alloy steel, the G9 Gun Family is still very scarce. If he made too much noise, he wasn't afraid of much, but would the greasy folks from the Mechanical Church come knocking on his door?
And if he really couldn't explain the origins of this thing... even the Tribunal might come calling. Possessing knowledge of an unknown origin is a sign of chaos and corruption.
Of course, Gu Hang was not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
He still had to use it.
At the very least, there should be no problem equipping his forces on a small scale.
He was just planning on utilizing the weapons and equipment captured from those mercenaries; now, it seems, there is not much need for that anymore.
With great enthusiasm, Gu Hang clicked on the [Technology] interface again.
[Invest 10 points of Grace, with a 40% chance to unlock a new basic level technology, do you confirm the investment?]
As expected, it had dropped again.
One successful technology unlocking leads to a 30% drop in the success rate? If this happens two more times, won't it plummet to zero?
Outrageous! Who would want to keep investing in this?
Gu Hang cursed under his breath.
Then he invested another ten points.
What else to do? The technology system's offerings were too tempting.
[Unlocking failed.]
Gu Hang's face fell, and, blood rushing to his head, he invested the remaining ten points as well.
Yan Fangxu can wait a bit, pulling cards is a tad more important right now.
[Unlocking failed.]
Hang on, with a 40% chance, two tries in a row both failed, what's the meaning of this?
Actually, Gu Hang really didn't like this kind of probability-based gambling and loathed failure. But right now, he could only play at the 10 Grace points tier, as the next tier required 100 Grace points for a single attempt.
In this way, it seems that in the [Technology] panel, each tier's prize pool is limited. The more you draw, the more the chances decrease, so you either have to move up to a higher tier to pull better items or pay a higher price to chase the low probabilities.
Under this concept, there's probably a hidden mechanism: when the odds are high at the start, you need to get the good stuff; otherwise, if the good stuff is left until the odds are low, it would be a terrible loss.