All upgrade conditions are now met; you may upgrade to the T4 System Mall. Do you wish to upgrade?
The System's alert tone sounded in Zhao Chen's mind.
Zhao Chen at once chose to consent.
Thereupon, he watched his System points begin to be deducted at flying speed — from the original 250,000 System points, straight down to 190,000 System points.
At this point, a new region appeared on the page of Zhao Chen's System mall too. That was the T4-tech-grade goods region.
Zhao Chen unfolded it and cast an eye over the goods within. A whole series of T4 warships, along with some other tech-creations besides. Each with its own strengths. But there was one point they all shared — that was: "expensive"!
The T4-grade goods generally required 600,000 System points and 40 task points to redeem. And for some of the very top-tier T4 ship technologies — carrier starships, interstellar battleships, and the like — the System points might well be three times as steep still! Set against this price, the 190,000 System points Zhao Chen had left after upgrading the System mall this time were simply not worth a look.
"Can only get an eyeful, and no more." Zhao Chen fixed his gaze on the images of those warships, one after another. It was a kind of "loving, and yet not being able to have" feeling. As though there were dozens of beauties of every varied pose and bearing swaying their forms before you, and yet, of all things, you could not lay a hand on them. That itch in one's heart, it was quite a torment.
"Best not to look after all…" Zhao Chen withdrew his gaze and looked no more at these T4-tech goods. Out of sight, out of mind.
But a seed had already been buried in Zhao Chen's heart: he absolutely had to possess one combat-type T4 warship! Having witnessed, with his own eyes, the terrifying combat power of the T4 Boreas-class Heavy Interstellar Battleship and the T4 Hive Mothership, Zhao Chen knew well that a T4 warship, set against a T3 warship, held an absolute gap! By the terrifying combat power of the T4 Boreas alone — only if Zhao Chen's Owl Dragon Fleet equipped a certain number of T3 Judicator-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ships would it, at a certain cost, only just have the ability to win when the two sides' ship numbers were equal!
As Zhao Chen was browsing the System page, he suddenly noticed that his quarterly mission seemed to have become a touch different. He tapped it open.
Quarterly Mission:
Requirement one: Redeem one each of a combat-type and an auxiliary-type T3 starship blueprint (incomplete).
Requirement two: T3 warships reach fifty (61/50).
The quarterly mission's second requirement had, of all things, been met!
At present, the T3 warships in his active service were one T3 Phoenix, five T3 Phantom Assassins, and 20 T3 Blizzards — these all combat-type warships. Beyond that, because this quarterly mission hadn't marked out that only combat-type warships counted, the auxiliary-type ships ought to count toward the requirement as well. Zhao Chen still had, in auxiliary-type warships, one T3 Andromeda, one T3 Goddess Academy, 10 T3 Prospector-class Heavy Interstellar Mining Ships, and the 10 T3 Virgo-class Heavy Interstellar Supply Ships urgently built and commissioned on account of the hive-race invasion. With the T3 Furnace-class Heavy Interstellar Industrial Ships counted in besides — whose number in service would reach 10 by this quarter's end — and the T3 Triceratops-class Interstellar Heavy Assault Frigates in this quarter's construction plan besides — reaching the number of 50 was, too, merely a matter of time.
"By the look of it, over in the Owl Dragon System, there ought already to be T3 Triceratops rolling off the line. It's just a pity they didn't make it in time for this hive-race campaign," Zhao Chen muttered with some regret.
"In that case, then — if I redeem two T3 warships, I can complete this quarterly mission." Zhao Chen, without a word more, reopened the System mall and began browsing among the T3-grade goods. In truth, he'd long had a plan in his heart.
He at once redeemed a T3 auxiliary-type warship.
Expend 12,000 System points and 10 task points to redeem the item "T3 Silver Eden-class Ship" technical blueprint?
"Confirm."
Congratulations — acquired the "T3 Silver Eden-class Ship" technical blueprint.
Before — System points: 190,000
Before — task points: 320
Spent — System points: 12,000
Spent — task points: 10
After — System points: 178,000
After — task points: 310
That's right — the T3 auxiliary-type warship Zhao Chen had long fancied in his heart was this T3 Silver Eden-class Ship, the upgraded version of the T2 Bronze Eden-class Ship!
Zhao Chen took a brief browse through the T3 Silver Eden's technical data. Its design philosophy was the same, but the relevant technologies had all made use of T3-grade cutting-edge tech, which greatly increased its relevant performance and effect. Back when Zhao Chen had had the T2 Bronze Eden, he'd wanted to set foot in the line of interstellar grain trade; but at the time, having weighed the pros and cons over, he'd decided to shelve it for the time being. First, Zhao Chen had no "umbrella"; and the grain trade was no small pie, with a great many hands already in it. Second, if he'd thrown the greater part of his capacity into producing T2 Bronze Edens, that would beyond doubt have affected the Owl Dragon Fleet's expansion. So this notion could only be put off for the time being — he'd built merely one T2 Bronze Eden, enough to satisfy the Owl Dragon Fleet's own needs.
But at the moment Zhao Chen saw this year's annual-mission requirements — and before promulgating the Owl Dragon System decrees — he'd already thought to redeem this T3 Silver Eden!
The T3 Silver Eden's grain output was a full hundred times the T2 Bronze Eden's! If one called the T2 Bronze Eden black-tech, then the T3 Silver Eden was the black-tech among black-tech. But whatever the case, this was a quite terrifying figure indeed! At the same time, the build cost of a single unit was likewise exceedingly expensive: 300 million star coins of raw materials. Still, the investment and the return were in direct proportion. A single T3 Silver Eden's grain output could satisfy the normal living needs of 100 million people; and in an extreme state, could satisfy the minimum living needs of 1 billion people! The grain it produced, at the current market price, could reach an annual output worth at least 1 billion star coins! Were grain to glut the market, this price would, of course, fluctuate somewhat. By the current population figure of the Owl Dragon System, merely a few T3 Silver Edens would be enough to satisfy the grain needs of the whole Owl Dragon System. This was precisely where the confidence behind Zhao Chen's promulgating that high-welfare decree lay.
Built using a T3 Furnace-class Heavy Interstellar Industrial Ship, one T3 Silver Eden could be produced in a single month. But there was one special factor. That was: to build a T3 Silver Eden, one needed an asteroid whose figures met the requirements in every respect! In fact, rather than call the T3 Silver Eden a ship, it were better called a "reformed planet" — a qualifying asteroid was hollowed out, and then, through a series of reformations, turned into a special interstellar ship. Happily, this asteroid standard wasn't very harsh; so far as Zhao Chen knew, in the Owl Dragon System there were at least a dozen-odd that met the standard, and were one to search carefully, one might well find no small number more. When the Owl Dragon System's had been searched through, there was still the Lion King System. In terms of quantity there was no problem.