After finishing lunch with Old Wang, the two friends parted ways. Feng Mo returned to his dorm, while Wang Chongsheng boarded a transport starship to head home.
Feng Mo's dormitory was located in the villa complex behind the main teaching building. This area housed the dorms of all four years of Starship Command cadets, with each cadet having their own luxurious villa. During freshman year, students could even customize the interior decor to their liking if they were willing to pay an additional fee.
Feng Mo arrived at the door of his Villa 369. The smart terminal at the entrance scanned and verified his identity.
"Welcome home, Master!"
The door opened, and two smart robots greeted him with a bow. Feng Mo entered and collapsed onto the plush sofa. A sky-blue screen appeared in front of him.
[Name: Feng Mo]
[Level: Level 1 Gene Warrior]
[Occupation: Junior Starship Engineer, Lord of Xianyun Prime Planet]
[Special Talent: Half the Sky (When your fleet's female soldiers outnumber male and non-humanoid male soldiers, your fleet receives a luck bonus)]
[Starship: 0]
[Mission: Build your first starship. Reward upon completion: Access to the Points Shop and 100 points.]
[Inventory: T2 Black Bear-Class Interstellar Frigate Blueprint, T3 Storm-Class Interstellar Battleship Blueprint]
Feng Mo had been born with a flame-shaped birthmark on his chest, which turned out to be his cheat: Xinhuo! It could be described as a system or an intelligent lifeform that remained dormant. It first became active when he turned eighteen, leaving him with a simple interface and random tasks with rewards but no penalties for failure, offering significant freedom.
With the wisdom of two lifetimes, Feng Mo had always been exceptionally bright. At eighteen, he was accepted into the Cloud Mountain Military Academy, where he received the genetic enhancement serum and became a Level 1 Gene Warrior, awakening a rather peculiar talent.
His talent, Half the Sky, required that his fleet have more female warriors than males to gain a luck bonus. As strange as it seemed, he had to admit it was quite impressive.
Becoming a Gene Warrior not only granted a unique talent but also increased lifespan. According to the Cloud Mountain Daily, ordinary citizens of the Human Federation lived to around 180 years. At age eighteen, everyone received free genetic enhancement from the empire, extending their life expectancy by a century and awakening their unique talent. Further gene upgrades, achieved through cultivation, could extend one's life even more.
The daily newspaper reported that there were thirty-three Level 5 Gene Warriors in the Cloud Mountain Empire, and their lifespans supposedly spanned millennia. However, everyone's talent had a limit, and without breaking through genetic barriers, aging would eventually catch up.
Feng Mo planned to build a starship using the T3 Storm-Class Interstellar Battleship blueprint he had received as a mission reward last semester. Currently, a T3 battleship had a market price of no less than fifty million Cloud Mountain Credits, and he had calculated that building one would cost at least thirteen to fourteen million Credits. With his current budget, he didn't have enough money, but he did have academy points.
He planned to exchange points for essential materials at the academy, supplementing them with purchased supplies. Feng Mo estimated that he could complete the project for around eight million Credits.
Starship companies sold ships at these approximate prices:
T1 Starships: Around one million Credits
T2 Starships: Between four million and ten million Credits
T3 Starships: Around fifty million Credits
T4 Starships: Over one hundred million Credits
T5 Starships: Priceless, as only the Human Federation's empires possessed the blueprints and did not permit production by starship companies.
Among starship classes, carriers and battleships were the most expensive, followed by destroyers and frigates. Support ships had highly variable prices and were equally rare.
At precisely 2 PM, Feng Mo arrived at the academy's starship warehouse, just in time for the administrator's afternoon shift.
"Hello, professor. I'm here to exchange materials for a starship," Feng Mo said at the counter, uploading a detailed list via his smart terminal.
"Here is the list of parts I need. Could you also assign me a shipyard?"
The administrator scanned the materials list and asked, "Do you need to hire any starship engineers or repair workers?"
"No, professor," Feng Mo replied with a shake of his head.
The administrator, assuming Feng Mo had already arranged for engineers, didn't press further.
"All the requested components and materials are available in the warehouse. They'll be delivered to Shipyard No. 3 within thirty minutes. You now have sixteen academy points left."
"Thank you, professor," Feng Mo said, leaving the warehouse. He then took an academy shuttle to Shipyard No. 3, spending 0.01 points on the ride.
The Cloud Mountain Military Academy, as the top institution in the empire, had an impressive points system, where one point was equivalent to 10,000 Cloud Mountain Credits. Across three years of university, Feng Mo had accumulated just over three hundred points, all of which he had now spent.
A notification pinged as he rode to the shipyard:
"Ding! Third-year Command Cadet Feng Mo has been granted access to Shipyard No. 3 for two months."
Upon arrival, the shipyard's doors recognized him and opened automatically, revealing a vast, three-square-kilometer space. Feng Mo waited at the entrance as a convoy of transport vehicles arrived, unloading materials with the help of massive smart robots.
Once the transporters left, Feng Mo closed the doors and headed to the central control console. He summoned a series of holographic screens and began inputting data rapidly. Finally, he uploaded the T3 Storm-Class Interstellar Battleship blueprint into the control system.
A detailed blue 3D model of the battleship appeared on the main holographic screen, rotating in midair. Feng Mo had two blueprints registered in the Human Federation's database, ensuring legal usage. Even if someone tried to steal them, they wouldn't dare use them openly for profit, given the Federation's stringent copyright laws.
The academy's shipyard came equipped with an intelligent construction system. As mechanical noises filled the space, the construction process began: materials were cut and shaped, the ship's sections were assembled, and the weapons and other components were integrated.
This wasn't Feng Mo's first experience building a starship, but it was his first time constructing a T3-class vessel. His actions were precise and confident, like a seasoned engineer.
Time flew by, and soon it was August 27th, just four days before the start of the new semester. Feng Mo had spent nearly two months living in the shipyard. Standing in the assembly area, he admired the completed T3 Storm-Class Interstellar Battleship.
The sleek design and the black-and-red armor gave the ship a powerful and imposing look. Exhausted
but satisfied, Feng Mo took a deep breath, finishing the final inspection.