124: Full upgrade

"Master, the entire Peaceful Passage has a total of 376 terraformed life planets, 77 resource planets, 8,977 ordinary planets, and 366,972 low-value asteroids."

"There are 817,000 units of rare metals and 1.972 million units of conventional resources..."

"We have captured a total of 24,777 starships, of which 7,320 have reached Level 6..."

Asroth reported the territory and resources currently under control one by one.

"Tsk... It's much poorer than I imagined."

Zhang Huaiyuan shook his head.

Years ago, when he had just taken over the "Gale," he felt quite wealthy.

But after a trip to the core area of the Free Star Alliance, his horizons had naturally broadened.

"Send these starships and combat weapons back to the forge to be recast. Build the processing platforms first, and wait until I have perfected the new design plans before starting production."

"In addition, after the harvestable resources from those low-value asteroids are collected, order the engineering robots to build energy extraction devices underground to store them as high-quality energy stones."

"Temporarily slow down expansion into areas outside the Peaceful Passage, especially in the direction of the Sea Tree Island region. Build up defensive zones to prevent trouble in our backyard."

Zhang Huaiyuan pondered for a moment and gave the order.

Extracting planetary energy would cause the planet to be destroyed prematurely.

However, with the situation currently volatile, there was no need to preserve those low-value, uninhabited asteroids.

Furthermore, many areas beyond the "Sea Tree Island" region and the Peaceful Passage were secretly controlled by the Star Dome Empire.

Before taking control of the Free Star Alliance, he didn't want to create any extra complications.

However, if the Free Star Alliance were to fall into civil unrest, they would very likely intervene, so he couldn't afford to be unprepared.

"Understood, Master."

Asroth responded respectfully and began to remodel the entire area.

The "Suppressor I," "wanderer ii," various mechs, weapons, and combat suits that could no longer keep up with the times were all sent to the dismantling factory to have their useful parts separated and sent to the material storage planets.

engineering robots burrowed into the ground one by one, beginning to build the energy extraction devices.

Energy from the planet's core was refined through pipes into large amounts of high-quality energy stones, most of which were sent to storage for wartime needs.

A small portion was directly converted via energy conversion devices to generate the materials needed to build the processing platforms.

More "starship production workshops," "mech production workshops," and "weapons manufacturing plants" were built.

This way, when war broke out, he would have a rear base capable of producing a steady stream of forces.

In addition, it moved some worthless asteroid belts and asteroids to the edge of the Peaceful Passage to build a defensive system.

After dismantling and recasting the defensive facilities on the planets originally occupied by the Four Great Pirate Groups, it deployed them along the defensive line composed of asteroid belts and asteroids, and began building an ionic defense system.

While Asroth was fully engaged in these operations, Zhang Huaiyuan arrived at the largest research and development center.

He looked at the "legend series" starships he had previously designed.

With their silver-white, streamlined structures shimmering with the unique luster of transcendent alloys, they possessed "sturdiness," "stealth," and "regeneration."

"Except for the power supply system, which is far behind the newly mastered 'Void Infinite Energy,' the original design concept remains sound in terms of both cost-effectiveness and practicality."

Zhang Huaiyuan reached out to touch his former creations, his eyes filled with appreciation.

"However... limited by my horizons at the time, I had seen too few powerful transcendent life forms, and the transcendent enchantments used were only at the high-level tier; they need to be replaced."

Zhang Huaiyuan flipped through the transcendent diagrams in his mind.

In terms of stealth, the "Shadow Walk" ability possessed by the SSS-Rank Star River Beast, the Shadow Spider King, encountered at "The Great Millstone," was an excellent choice.

It allowed one to slip into shadows at any time and recover rapidly while within them, almost combining the original three separate enchantments.

However, when designing, it was obviously necessary to lower the standards.

Otherwise, even if the Statue of Liberty emptied the entire Star Alliance's SSS-Rank blood crystals, it wouldn't be enough for him to build a fleet.

"In terms of defense, the Lava Alligator Turtle and many of the Galaxy Beasts seen in the Cataclysm-level Disaster Zone are good choices, but..."

Zhang Huaiyuan pondered for a moment, recalling another Galaxy Beast, the "Mirror Image Spirit."

Its ability, "Mirror Image," allowed it to travel across the surface of most objects that could reflect light, and while in this state, it was immune to the vast majority of conventional means.

"If I combine this ability with Shadow Walk, taking a part of each..."

Zhang Huaiyuan's brain worked rapidly, simulating the possibilities.

"Slip into shadows when attacked, while simultaneously triggering the damage immunity effect of 'Mirror Image,' achieving an effect similar to a low-spec version of 'Phase' protection within high-level rules... Let's try it..."

He controlled his thoughts to condense into complex diagrams, simultaneously dismantling and recombining the sequences within them.

"Collapse..."

"Collapse..."

From time to time, they were destroyed directly due to genetic chain conflicts.

However, Zhang Huaiyuan did not lose heart, simply continuing to test different possibilities.

Scientific research inherently requires the accumulation of countless failures to find that one path to success.

After 3,716 combinations, the newly fused transcendent diagram did not collapse but remained running stably, shimmering with the unique aesthetic of Genetics.

"It worked!"

Zhang Huaiyuan's expression brightened, and he converted it into the corresponding machine language, transmitting it to his left wrist:

"Asroth, conduct a simulation test and tell me the results as soon as possible."

"Understood, Master."

After solving this problem, he looked at the original weapon system of the "legend."

Just like the issue with the hull, it was also limited by his horizons at the time.

The main cannon, "Mini Annihilation Cannon," referenced Qin Mie's ability "Annihilation," while the electrostatic field referenced Leios's ability "Thunderstorm."

Both were high-level abilities, which were clearly not enough for the current situation.

"Since it's also a paralysis effect... Thunderstorm can be replaced with the Shadow Spider King's 'Invisible Web,' which greatly improves both range and effectiveness."

"For the main cannon, I can reference the 'Omni-Impact' of the SSS-Rank Star River Beast, the 'Crystal Core Spirit.' That is a high-end application of gravity, even far more powerful than the gravity weapons equipped on the Star Alliance's Level 7 'Pathfinder' series starships."

While Zhang Huaiyuan pondered, his thoughts condensed into form, attempting the possibility of fusion.

It had to be said that although the SSS-Rank Star River Beasts had caused quite a bit of trouble, they had also brought him infinite inspiration.

The innate abilities possessed by these miraculous life forms were often the ultimate destination that science spent a lifetime struggling to pursue, just like the ancient Sky Tree on Sea Tree Island.

The frontline research team of the Star Dome Empire had studied it for over a hundred years without making a breakthrough.

"Besides starships, the 'Wings of Freedom' series also needs an upgrade. Whether borrowing from Gore's Transcendence Level ability 'Blade Soul' or the Gods Chosen abilities of the two SSS-Class Transcendent, it can increase their strength by several times."

"And the War Fortress I swiped from 'The Great Millstone' will also be transported here soon, and it still needs repairs..."

Zhang Huaiyuan thought, feeling both excited and a bit of a headache.

These tasks could only be completed by himself, possessing True Sight; the workload was simply unimaginable.

"Sigh, the road ahead is long and arduous. I can only hope the Star Alliance Head can hold on for a while longer."

He shook his head and began to devote himself heart and soul to the work.

At a time when no one was paying attention.

A force capable of rivaling or even surpassing the main legions of the three major powers was about to be born.