"That, um… it's nothing; I was doing an experiment, and carelessly touched off an explosion. Afterward I'll just find technical personnel to repair it, and it'll be fine." Zhao Chen, his expression somewhat peculiar, explained to Charlotte on the far side of the video window.
A moment ago, upon learning the news that the hull's interior armor had been damaged, Charlotte had, at the very first moment, traced out its position — and had, of all things, found it to be the position of the captain's quarters.
This had left her unable to help worrying over the Commander's safety, and just as she was making ready to lead a squad of women-soldiers in forcing their way into the captain's quarters, Zhao Chen had sent a video comm to explain a bit.
"Then… very well." Charlotte always felt that something in it wasn't quite right.
The comm-explanation over —
Zhao Chen let out a breath of relief.
He looked at the wall covered all over with the shapes of his fists, the deepest of them a full half-meter, so that one could see some of the electronic components within.
And then he looked at the robot that had heroically given its life on the floor.
He'd never imagined that its first day taking up the post would be its first day laid off the post.
Zhao Chen, bearing a "solemn and stirring" mood, swept it up and tipped it into the recycling bin.
He walked to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror.
His body's outward form had, in the main, undergone no very great change from before, which left Zhao Chen no small measure of relief.
Before, injecting the three grades of super-soldier serum, his body had grown ceaselessly more solid and robust; the T3 super-soldier serum above all had pushed Zhao Chen's bodily contours to an extreme!
That had been the state Zhao Chen was most satisfied with.
Were he to grow any bigger, then he'd become a muscle-man, which even Zhao Chen himself couldn't accept.
Though his physique had undergone no very great change, Zhao Chen could plainly feel that his body's strength had been greatly raised.
He took out a small knife and drew it across his own arm; the skin was cut open — but after the blood flowed for a few seconds, it stopped, because the wound had already restored itself to as before, without so much as a scar.
Thereupon, Zhao Chen simply went ahead and did something more severe: with the strength of an ordinary person, gripping the small knife, he stabbed it toward his own thigh.
The blade-tip pierced into the skin, but as the blade-tip went deeper, the resistance grew greater and greater.
At about a centimeter of the blade-tip's entering, the strength of an ordinary person was already hard put to drive the small knife in any further.
The muscle's strength was terrifying!
And this was still in a situation where Zhao Chen's subjective will hadn't intervened.
At this point Zhao Chen looked at the fist he'd swung against the wall just now; just after he'd struck, the fist had still been a bloody mangle, but now it had already recovered.
A super-soldier's body did not mean that you were a wall of bronze and a rampart of iron, impervious to blade and spear — that would be no human, that would be a robot.
If, by some mischance, something went wrong with your body and you needed surgery, wouldn't the medical instruments then be unable to cut open your skin?
Zhao Chen's body — its recovery ability was very strong.
And, at the same time, one could control one's own muscle strength: when needed, its subcutaneous cells would become firmer, and in ordinary times, it was merely more robust and of stronger density than an ordinary person's.
And, at the same time, Zhao Chen's senses and reaction speed, too, far exceeded an ordinary person's; under enhancement in every aspect, this, just this, was Zhao Chen's "super soldier."
Zhao Chen looked at the swimming pool off to the side, its water drawn and ready; he lay down into it, savoring that feeling of comfort.
And at the same time, he clicked open the System store.
A moment ago he'd, on a sudden whim, redeemed the T4 Super-Soldier Serum — but that didn't belong to the mission's requirement; the mission stipulated a T3 technological product, and Zhao Chen still needed to redeem one more.
In the end, Zhao Chen chose a crucial military facility the Owl Dragon Legion currently needed.
A star-port!
For one must know, up to now Zhao Chen's Owl Dragon Legion had, all along, been docked within a temporary base — which was merely a few temporarily reformed asteroids, along with a gathering-ground of a heap of interstellar industrial ships.
Do you wish to expend 50,000 System points and 50 task points to redeem the item "T3 Storm-Fortress-class Large Military Star-Port" technical blueprint?
"Confirm."
Congratulations — acquired the "T3 Storm-Fortress-class Large Military Star-Port" technical blueprint.
Before — System points: 390,000
Before — task points: 290
Spent — System points: 50,000
Spent — task points: 50
After — System points: 340,000
After — task points: 240
At the very moment Zhao Chen finished redeeming this T3-grade technology, one could see, within the annual mission, that one of the mission requirements had shown as complete.
Requirement five: possess 20 items of System-produced T3-grade technology (20/20) (complete)
From this, of the annual mission's five mission progressions, three had now been completed.
Just now, Zhao Chen first began to study this T3 Storm-Fortress-class Large Military Star-Port.
First was its size, which was the largest of all the models of star-port Zhao Chen knew of.
And it was, moreover, a military-grade star-port; outside the star-port, a hundred one-way star shields could be activated, for defense against assault.
At the same time, the star-port's outer perimeter was fitted with several thousand orbital cannons of various models, defense-cannons, and other such defensive-type weapons.
Within the star-port were fitted over 3,000 large- and medium-sized starship berths, and, moreover, these 3,000 starship berths possessed T2-grade starship-repair equipment, able to provide repairs for returning damaged starships.
The whole star-port's standard holding-capacity could reach 1 billion in population — wholly the equal of an artificial planet.
It was equipped, besides, with 10,000 T3-grade Storm interstellar drones, and could, when necessary, be equipped with corresponding manned interstellar fighters as well.
One might put it thus: the combat power of such an interstellar star-port was not one bit inferior to an interstellar fleet of 1,000 interstellar warships.
In the future, the Owl Dragon Legion could, with this star-port, forge a military base.
Such a T3 Storm-Fortress-class Large Star-Port, if undertaken by a single T3 Furnace-class Heavy Interstellar Industrial Ship, would need 30 months of construction to complete, and would consume 2 billion star coins of raw-material supplies.
Even arranging all the current 10 T3 Furnaces, it would still need three months' time.
And so, by the look of the Owl Dragon Legion's current situation, in any short span of time there was no possibility of seeing this majestic star-port-fortress.
"Keep it for now as a technological reserve; wait until the T3 Furnaces have been expanded, and then build it. By the look of it now, the need for a star-port isn't very high," Zhao Chen muttered.
Beep, beep.
At this point, a comm request came in on Zhao Chen's handheld terminal.
He tapped it open.
Lilith's image appeared.
"Lord Commander, there's a matter I need to report to you," Lilith said.
"Speak."
Lilith reported, "We've just received notice from the North Wind Star Region Governor's mansion: the North Wind Star Region's hive-race disaster has been, in the main, brought under control. And, taking into account that some star systems' original lords either fell in battle, or were punished on account of deserting their posts without leave and the like, there will be a need to rearrange some of the North Wind Star Region's star systems. And, at the same time, in accordance with the empire's requirement, some conferred lords will be rewarded and enfeoffed — and you are included among them. You'll need, before the tenth of October, to arrive at the North Wind Star Region Governor's mansion, to attend the star-region meeting."
The reward and enfeoffing of star systems!
He'd nearly forgotten so important a matter.
These star systems gotten for free — how could Zhao Chen not want them?
If he could obtain a few star systems of decent resources, then that too would be, for Zhao Chen, an enormous help.
And the single most important point was this: to obtain a star system that already had a star gate in it — then, when the time came, Zhao Chen could quietly and directly connect it up with his own T3 Radiant Moon-class Star Gate in the Owl Dragon System.
When he needed to leave the Owl Dragon System to see to matters connected with the Starlight Empire, he'd then have no need to cross the interstellar fringe space around the Owl Dragon System — greatly saving time!