Shi Ming was taken aback.
Perhaps a keyword had been triggered, because some of the previous host's memories surged into his mind like a spring.
He vaguely recalled that the body's previous owner had indeed been a crew member on a "wild ship," struggling to survive on the apocalyptic seas with his companions.
So-called "wild ships" were vessels that weren't officially registered and weren't counted among the 100,001 drifter ships.
Unlike the drifter ships, wild ships lacked sophisticated survival equipment. All their resources, such as food and fresh water, had to be caught or distilled by the crew themselves. Life was arduous, but at least a wild ship was still a ship. Compared to the corpses at the bottom of the sea, they were already fortunate enough.
Moreover, these people possessed the most precious thing of all: freedom.
Though the daily catch was small, it was barely enough. The crew shared it equally, finding some joy amidst the hardship. They had even found a hidden island to use as a secret base, where they planted some strange seeds, hoping to one day reap a harvest and end their days of drifting with the currents...
Life was slowly improving until one day, while out at sea, they encountered this very drifter ship, which barreled toward them recklessly.
The outcome was inevitable. Everyone on the wild ship was enslaved, all their supplies were seized as spoils of war, and the freedom that was once within their grasp became an unattainable luxury.
Slaves were consumables. Some were sold, others died. Soon, the previous host was the only one left from the wild ship's crew. And during a recent storm, he too succumbed to starvation. That was when Shi Ming was reborn in this body. The power carried in his right arm transformed this vessel, resetting its frail condition...
Shi Ming let out a sigh.
'I suppose I've avenged you all now.' As a modern man, carrying out his Employer's missions was the norm, but the values he'd been raised with made him despise all forms of oppression. That was precisely why, after becoming the captain of this ship, he had abolished the drifter ship's system of slavery and replaced it with one where rewards were based on labor...
This went against the post-apocalyptic world's law of the jungle and had bred discontent among some of the old crew members. But it didn't matter. Shi Ming was no social Darwinist.
Humanity didn't evolve from apes to become the masters of Earth by preying on the weak, but by working together with a united heart.
...
"Captain?"
The warehouse manager's voice snapped Shi Ming out of his reverie. He looked at the chip before him and reached out to take it from the box.
"What about the other items from that wild ship?"
"Oh... they're all scattered in different areas of the warehouse. If you need them, Captain, I can sort them out and gather them up later."
"Alright."
The warehouse manager scratched his head.
'Great, another dirty, thankless job.'
"Okay, you can get back to your other tasks," Shi Ming said, carefully examining the chip. "I need some quiet to study this thing."
"You got it, Captain! Just call me if you need anything," the warehouse manager replied cheerfully, disappearing up the stairs in the blink of an eye.
After a busy day, he finally had time to slack off.
Shi Ming touched the chip, feeling its texture, hoping to trigger some memory about it, but unfortunately, nothing came to mind. This body, transformed by the blood-red patterns on his right arm, was becoming more and more like the original Shi Ming. Even his face had reverted to how it looked in his past life.
Thankfully, the people on this ship had never paid any attention to what the lowly slaves looked like.
And even if someone had, they would just assume the slave's previous appearance was a disguise. If the identity was fake, it was only natural for the face to be fake as well.
'Whatever. I'll just give it a try and see if it works.'
Upgrading this so-called "D3-Level Standard Food Production Line" required a total of 100 Sea Crystal Stones, 30 iron ore, and one Sky Net Intelligence Chip.
Shi Ming moved the iron ore and Sea Crystal Stones in front of the machine, then placed the chip on top. He focused his attention on the production line and activated his Brain of Creation.
[BEEP.]
[All materials for the "D3-Level Standard Food Production Line" upgrade blueprint detected. Upgrade now?]
'It actually works!'
'Yes!'
Shi Ming selected "Yes" without hesitation.
The Brain of Creation could be used for three upgrades a day. He had used the first two for experimental purposes on his sailing suit. This was the last one for today.
'Let's see if it can upgrade into a nice surprise!'
[Upgrading...]
The time required to upgrade the standard food production line was far longer than for the sailing suit, but time was one thing Shi Ming had in abundance. He waited patiently, and after about three minutes and twenty seconds, the "Upgrade Complete" notification finally appeared before his eyes.
[Upgrade Complete.]
[D3-Level Standard Food Production Line Pro]
[Level: 2]
[A creatively evolved food production line. Multiple new food recipes have been added. It can use the energy from Sea Crystal Stones to deconstruct ingredients and reassemble them into standard rations. Currently able to produce: steamed buns, biscuits, canned beef, canned luncheon meat, pineapple pizza, and braised beef noodles. The food produced is highly nutritious and provides all the nutrients required for daily human needs.]
[Upgrade requires: Sea Crystal Stone x300, Iron Ore x100, Sky Net Intelligence Chip x1]
'Holy crap!'
'It really did add new recipes! Three of them!'
Luncheon meat was an old friend to Shi Ming. Pineapple pizza... hmm, the Italians would not be pleased. As for the braised beef noodles, being a carb-lover, Shi Ming was very satisfied.
He immediately made himself a bowl.
Familiar recipe, familiar taste. The only shame was that the braised beef noodles didn't actually contain any beef. So, Shi Ming opened a can of beef. This stuff had plenty of "beef" in it. Even though its raw material was sea fish, if something looked like beef, smelled like beef, and tasted like beef, then it was beef.
No doubt about it.
After a simple late-night snack, Shi Ming informed the warehouse manager and the logistics crewman in charge of machine maintenance that the food production line had been upgraded.
From now on, they would be responsible for its upkeep.
"Heavens! This is a miracle! Captain, did you repair this? It's hard to imagine you could master such high-end technology with your own two hands!"
"Captain, you are our god!"
The two crewmen, each holding a bowl of beef noodles, started laying on the flattery with tears in their eyes.
On the drifter ship, crew members didn't get food for free; they had to purchase it with Sailing Coins.
The most basic steamed buns cost one Sailing Coin, biscuits were three, and a can of beef was ten.
An ordinary crew member could earn a monthly income of around 300 Sailing Coins by selling their labor, which was enough to exchange for daily necessities.
As the captain, Shi Ming needed to set a price for the new food items.
"These new foods are rare, but there's no need to price them too high. Let's do this: luncheon meat will be 5 Sailing Coins, pineapple pizza will also be 5 Sailing Coins, and the beef noodles... let's make it eight. The ship is in a state of recovery right now, and we need to appropriately boost the crew's motivation."
"Yes, Captain."
The logistics crewman agreed, his reply muffled but extremely loud through a mouthful of noodles.