Zhao Wan'er carefully examined the starship from top to bottom.
She stared at Zhao Chen in shock. "This starship... was assembled from those three ships... the T2 Hyena, the T2 Gray Wolf, and the T2 Devil Crocodile?"
She understood why this starship felt so familiar—it shared a 90% similarity in hull design with the T2 Devil Crocodile-class Medium Interstellar Battleship.
And the weapon modules on top looked very much like those of the T2 Hyena-class Medium Interstellar Destroyer. Plus...
In short, this starship had too many features from those three starships.
"Yes," Zhao Chen admitted openly.
He couldn't reveal the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser matter yet, but he couldn't hide that he had assembled a starship himself.
Because the starship warehouse had exchange records, and later Zhao Chen planned to use this starship to duel Zhang Haoran. Anyone with eyes could figure it out.
"You've been here assembling this starship for over half a month? When did you learn starship assembly?" Zhao Wan'er looked at Zhao Chen in disbelief.
Disassembling three starships to assemble one was no easy feat. The most important thing was ensuring every module on this starship could actually activate!
Zhao Chen pointed at the starship and smiled, "I have many secrets. Besides the captain course we're taking, I secretly learned some starship engineering on my own.
This is my first starship, and I named it Zero Blizzard!"
Calling it a simplified version of the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser felt inappropriate, so Zhao Chen simply gave it a separate name: 'Zero Blizzard.'
"Zero... Blizzard?" Zhao Wan'er muttered this strange name. This starship looked like a battleship, a cruiser, and even had a destroyer style—what on earth was this thing?
"Are you sure it can really start?"
"Zhao Chen, I know how you feel about Jiang Shasha. But that woman is really not right for you. Don't hang yourself on this one tree.
Besides, you know the situation of our territory.
You and I barely used the last of our territory's savings to become cadets at North Star Starship Academy. Only if we graduate smoothly do we have hope to revive the territory.
You don't want your title to be revoked by the empire, right?
If you get expelled... can you face the spirits of Mom and Dad? And the sacrifice of our sister..." Zhao Wan'er stared at Zhao Chen with rage.
Then, she grabbed Zhao Chen's wrist directly. "I'll ask my best friend for help. She comes from a prominent family. Let her negotiate with Zhang Haoran to cancel this duel."
But Zhao Wan'er couldn't pull Zhao Chen.
Instead, Zhao Chen suddenly stepped forward and gave Zhao Wan'er a princess carry.
"W-what are you doing..." Zhao Wan'er's cheeks flushed red.
"Come see my starship." Zhao Chen said nothing else, holding Zhao Wan'er as he ran toward the starship's hatch.
Passing through the somewhat old corridor inside the hull, they arrived at the bridge—the 'brain' of this starship.
The bridge wasn't large, about a hundred square meters. Because it hadn't started, the bridge was pitch black.
Zhao Chen set Zhao Wan'er down and walked alone to the captain's chair. Sitting down, he placed his hand on the right armrest of the chair.
'Highest access detected...'
'Starting identity verification...'
'Captain... Zhao Chen... identity verified...'
A floating crystal control panel rose in front of Zhao Chen. He pressed several buttons on it.
'Starship starting...'
'Starship main control system starting...'
'Starship power system starting... 10%... 30%... 60%...'
With Zhao Chen officially starting the starship, the lighting system on the bridge began to activate. The entire bridge brightened up.
At the same time, this massive vessel started to awaken!
'Starship propulsion system automatic check... completed... functioning properly...'
'Starship weapon system automatic check... completed... functioning properly...'
'Starship...'
One mechanical sound after another echoed through the bridge.
Zhao Chen's first starship was officially awakened!
'All starship modules functioning normally, starship power remaining 19%'
Zhao Chen joyfully clenched his fist. Although he had the skills, he honestly didn't dare guarantee a 100% success.
Unexpectedly, it succeeded on the first try.
"It really started..." Zhao Wan'er didn't expect it either.
"So? Not bad, right?" Zhao Chen got off the captain's chair and put his hand on Zhao Wan'er's shoulder like a brother.
Though they were siblings, Zhao Wan'er had always been outstanding, so sometimes they felt more like brother and sister.
Zhao Wan'er rolled her eyes. "So what if it starts? What about combat power? Can it fight in real battles? That's the problem.
I heard Zhang Haoran's starship is a T2 starship.
Are you sure this assembled ship can beat it? Don't let it fall apart before the fight even starts."
"Little sis, why don't you trust your big brother? Forget whether I can beat him. In ten minutes... I'll wipe out Zhang Haoran's T2 starship!" Zhao Chen confidently crossed two fingers, making a cross sign for ten.
"Tch... Ten minutes... How come I never realized you liked bragging so much?" Zhao Wan'er shot him a glance, clearly disbelieving his words.
"Besides, you're the only one on this ship, no crew. How can you fight?"
Slap.
Zhao Chen suddenly clapped his hands, eyes shining. "How could I forget that? No wonder I felt something missing when I started the ship just now."
Zhao Wan'er covered her head in despair over her older brother. "I'll still talk to my best friend to figure out what to do."
"Wan'er, where do you think I can find crew the fastest?" Zhao Chen looked earnestly at his sister.
He was good at modifying and disassembling starships, but when it came to this kind of thing, he really had no idea.
"You haven't even figured this out and you're still thinking about a starship duel?" Zhao Wan'er was speechless but explained, "There are generally three sources for crew.
One is cadets from other departments at the Starship Academy. Besides the captain course we're in, the Starship Military Academy has various other specialties.
The second source is recruiting veterans discharged from the imperial army. They're skilled operators, but maintaining them costs a lot.
The third source is more unofficial crew—like those from gray industries, pirates, slaves, and so on.
Actually, the academy provides channels for crew recruitment.
You use your ID card to connect to the academy network. There's a dedicated channel for this."
Zhao Chen rubbed his chin and asked without much thought, "Which is the cheapest?"
Zhao Wan'er rolled her eyes but knew her brother's pockets were thin.
"Cheapest are definitely slaves. These slaves are usually prisoners of war, some originally starship pilots.
But due to loyalty and identity issues, many don't like using slaves. At most, they're assigned the lowest-level tasks.
For example, work on the bridge still..." Zhao Wan'er was explaining when
Zhao Chen had already connected to the academy network using his ID card. In a crew recruitment channel, in the far corner, he found the slave option.
Clicking it brought up a list of slaves.
Scanning the list, Zhao Chen suddenly stared intently at it as if he had found treasure!
"This one!" Zhao Chen clicked the exchange option without hesitation.
Because his academy points were exhausted, this time Zhao Chen paid with his own account.
"What did you... do?" Zhao Wan'er had a bad feeling when Zhao Chen closed the holographic interface with a satisfied look.