Withdrawing his eyes from the attribute panel of the Fire Sunflower Soldier Tree component in front of him, Song Chi began to count the funds he currently had.
In addition to the 1,000 strands of zero-level floating land essence provided by his parents, there were 2.4 million credit points in his account.
According to the official collection rate of the Morning Star Principality, 10,000 credit points could be exchanged for one strand of zero-level floating land essence.
In other words, he now had 1,240 strands of zero-level floating land essence in total.
Of these, at least 500 strands had to be reserved for essential purchases: medical supplies, nanobot repair kits, Angry Tiger ① floating land mining vehicles, and dedicated exploration instruments. That left him with around 700 strands for strengthening the psionic shuttle.
Without hesitation, Song Chi chose to first enhance the psionic shield—a crucial defense system of the Xinhuo flying ship. For someone like him, who owned the Zhutian Market, advancing his life level through steady cultivation was a long-term certainty. But in the short term, surviving in alien star regions was paramount.
Strengthening the psionic shield, however, required not only floating land origin and psionic energy, but also life pronuclei a familiar item to Song Chi. In the Broken Star Sea, many star sea lifeforms left behind energy-rich crystals upon death: the life pronucleus. These were widely accepted across civilizations and often used as currency, including in Xinhuo human civilization, where they could be freely exchanged for other strengthening resources.
After greeting his parents, Song Chi visited the Dongjiang Xinhuo Shopping Mall nearby. Though not large, the mall was adequate for newly awakened Xinhuo captains. After ten minutes of price comparisons, he bought the necessary life pronuclei and proceeded to the Xinhuo Flying Ship Enhancement Area to begin his first round of upgrades.
[Confirm upgrade: Psionic Shield Lv0 → Lv1 (1 floating land origin + 100 psionic points + 5 life pronuclei)]
"Confirm!"
[Confirm upgrade: Psionic Shield Lv1 → Lv2 (3 floating land origin + 200 psionic points + 6 life pronuclei)]
...
After four upgrades, the psionic pool was drained. It needed to refill before further upgrades—fortunately, the engine's recharge speed was decent, storing 9 points per second when active. In under two minutes, it was full again.
Eventually, Song Chi enhanced the psionic shield to level 7, using:
59 floating land origin strands (49 for upgrades, 10 for purchasing 100 life pronuclei)
56 life pronuclei
2,800 psionic points
Psionic Shield Lv7
Quality: Colorless
Consumption: 10/s (psionic points)
Protection: 18
Shield Value: 180/180
Charging: 23s
Buffer after overload: 46 minutes
Next Upgrade: 15 floating land origin, 800 psionic points, 12 life pronuclei
Not fully satisfied with only one defense upgraded, Song Chi turned to hull armor. While not as strong as the shield, it was still vital.
Each level of hull armor required refined iron, at 1 strand of floating land origin per ton. To upgrade it to level 7, he used:
28 tons of refined iron
77 floating land origin strands
Hull Armor Lv7
Quality: Colorless
Consumption: 3/s (psionic points)
Protection: 18
Next Upgrade: 15 floating land origin, 800 psionic points, 8 tons refined iron
With both defenses upgraded to Lv7, their energy needs now exceeded the default output of the psionic engine. To keep the shield active, he also had to enhance the psionic engine.
[Confirm upgrade: Psionic Engine Lv0 → Lv1 (1 floating land origin + 100 psionic points + 5 life pronuclei)]
"Confirmed!"
After four upgrades, only 9 life pronuclei remained insufficient for the fifth upgrade. He bought 200 more using 20 floating land origin strands, and continued until the engine reached level 7:
Psionic Engine Lv7
Quality: Colorless
Consumption: 4/s (psionic points)
Energy Supply: 24/s
Psionic Pool: 1,700
Buffer after overload: 23 minutes
Upgrade Requirement: 15 floating land origin, 800 psionic points, 12 life pronuclei
The remaining 188 life pronuclei were stored for future use.
Finally, Song Chi turned his attention to firepower. Although the upcoming exploration was considered a "welfare mission," alien star creatures could still appear. Better safe than sorry.
The psionic main gun did not require life pronuclei to upgrade, making it a straightforward enhancement. He upgraded it to level 5, consuming:
25 floating land origin strands
1,500 psionic points
Psionic Main Gun Lv5
Quality: Colorless
Consumption: 20/shot (psionic points)
Power: 16
Charging: 4s
Buffer: 8s
Upgrade Requirement: 11 floating land origin, 600 psionic points
The main gun now had noticeably improved power and slightly faster recharge times—an overall solid improvement.