77: This class is going to be tough to manage!

(Already received explosive updates from three handsome guys (Xia Ji Ba Da) (Leng Duan) (Olga Yizi Ka) with flowers!)

(Don't update me to death during National Day)

(Eight chapters owed)

...In Ursa Major V12.22,

Just as Han Xin's success and failure were both due to Xiao He,

The communication blackout was both a good thing and a bad thing for Xi Hai.

Although he used this opportunity to swiftly crush this fleet from the Cosmic Army and take control of this node space station, all while maintaining the neutral status of the Sacred Stars Group;

swiftly crushed this fleet from the Cosmic Army and took control of this node space station, all while maintaining the neutral status of the Sacred Stars Group;

However, the inability to establish any contact with the outside world also left him completely oblivious to the situation out there:

He didn't know when communications would be restored, nor did he know the extent of external attention on this place.

Ursa Major V12.22 was now like a huge opaque black box,

The outside couldn't see in, and the inside couldn't see out—

No one knew when this black box would open, or what would emerge when it did.

This left Xi Hai feeling very insecure.

However, he then stated,

A certain talented individual once said that all fear stems from insufficient firepower.

Since there's no sense of security, then let's prepare for war with all our might!

Thus, after several hours of intensive construction,

Two newly built Pathfinder bases were completed and joined the production—

Their design was also very streamlined, consisting only of production lines and main structures,

Without any superfluous buildings.

Adding the base that had just been deployed,

Xi Hai now had three joint production lines capable of building battlecruisers.

Xi Hai tried to combine their production capacity after segmenting production, and the result was that the man-hours for one eternal storm were directly compressed to 7 hours—

This was still with all modules produced!

If no modules were produced, a bare ship would only take 5 hours of man-hours.

He looked at the eternal storm that had started production earlier in his own base,

Hah, it still needed ten hours,

Which meant that the warships he built himself would be launched a bit earlier.

However, after the warship production capacity increased,

Resources became Xi Hai's biggest constraint—

The Kuiper Belt was simply too barren.

The most abundant solid materials here were rocks and ice, and the metal content of each asteroid was surprisingly low.

Even the asteroid he blasted on his way here could be considered a rich ore deposit among this dust ring.

Even if dozens of newly built engineering ships dug until their drills smoked, they barely managed to gather enough resources for three Eternal Storms—

A portion of which still needed to be used for the construction of smaller warships.

Xi Hai's gaze once again turned towards the interior of Ursa Major V12.22,

Such a good resource point, why was it occupied by bugs?

No! It can't be wasted!

A crazy idea gradually formed in his mind:

How about a 'search, hit, and retreat' operation in the bugs' territory?

That has some potential.

But before that, he had to complete the modifications to the warships he had—at least all warships needed to be equipped with anti-air capabilities.

He pulled out the blueprints and looked through the ones he had,

The 'Comet Tail' Point Defense Cannon on the kalilein?

Dismantle it!

On the eternal storm... wait, so many treasures?

The 'Everlasting Polaris K' MK2 Anti-Air Missile Array?

NT Drone Anti-Air System?

Energy Shield Generating Drone?

Point Defense Pulse Cannon?

Dismantle, dismantle, dismantle! Not a single nail left!

And the Emperor... after he had stripped all these treasures from the blueprints,

Xi Hai specifically allocated a capital ship production line to build these things.

Once completed,

He would directly perform a 'super assembly' to install them on other warships,

By then, with such dense anti-air firepower, coupled with the neutron torpedoes previously prepared for CAS066,

Would there still be a need to fear those bugs?

He would directly blast their mines right under their noses,

And after blasting, he'd even leave a message: 'Thanks for the meal, I'll be back next time!'

Hahahahaha!

"night lamp, how about it, now that the weapon systems have been dismantled,"

"Can they be directly installed on existing warships?"

night lamp replied,

"As long as it doesn't affect the keel and main structural layout of the warship,"

"Installation is not a problem."

"But it might affect the warship's defensive capabilities."

"And the capabilities of the onboard basic AI are extremely limited,"

"It cannot effectively control additional weapon systems."

"Personnel are needed for simple operation."

Xi Hai... why did he feel like he wanted to complain but also found it very reasonable?

Is this the true strength of the Lung Mist AI, which can perform blood-pressure-raising operations like Space Traffic Jams?

(Space Traffic Jam: A feature of the setting game, where fleets endlessly circle in place due to various bizarre reasons)

Alright, people it is.

With over twenty thousand people in his space station now, he didn't believe there wasn't a single person who could operate these weapon systems.

—Actually, it didn't even matter if there wasn't,

As a certain well-known restaurant chain once said, does a chef really need a chef's license?

Does driving a warship really require a driver's license?

Wouldn't operating it according to the manual be enough?

He didn't believe that the simple operation mentioned by night lamp would be harder than thawing and heating pre-made meals.

After confirming the production progress,

Xi Hai dialed Norma's communication—

"Father!"

The call was almost instantly answered, and Norma's enthusiastic voice came through the receiver, splashing all over Xi Hai.

He quickly changed the subject and asked:

"Does anyone among you have starship piloting experience?"

"Preferably for warships."

Norma pondered for a moment,

In the gap of his contemplation,

A creaking sound of a door opening came from the background,

Then, a series of strange noises followed—

["Ah—!!!"]

["Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho ho—!!!"]

["What are you doing?"]

["Close the door tightly!"]

["I'm talking to the Commander!"]

["Bang!!"]

Xi Hai was startled by this sudden commotion and quickly asked:

"What are you doing?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end, and after a while, Norma replied:

"That Cosmic Army leader."

"We were interrogating him,"

"But this guy is quite stubborn,"

"Dozens of interrogators have been swapped out, and no one can make him speak."

"He just refuses to say anything."

Xi Hai listened, both puzzled and shocked,

Dozens of people swapped out?

Was this person's mouth really that tight?

"What did you ask him?"

Brief silence,

[—Door opening sound]

[—Screaming sound]

["Everyone stop,"]

["What did you all ask?"]

[Silence]

["You didn't ask?"]

[—Door slamming sound]

"Cough cough—"

Norma's voice came again,

"Sorry, Father,"

"We were negligent."

"We'll start asking right away."

"…"

Xi Hai:

"So, you've been beating him for so long?"

"And didn't do anything?"

Norma coughed a few more times,

"We did do something."

"What did you do?"

"He... they..."

"¥%...%¥#...%&..."

"…"

Suhart: Speak for me!

Closing the communication,

Xi Hai rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighing with a headache:

This batch is hard to lead!

... (Some say that giving too good ships leads to a power collapse)

(They think the natives can't fight, making it a pure wish-fulfillment story)

(But no matter how heaven-defying the setting's technology, or how fast shipbuilding is)

(The protagonist only has the resources of one star system)

(Mining is still a problem)

(Development time is only two or three days)

(How many years have the natives developed? The setting says tens of thousands of years!)

(The Sixth Era alone saw 800+ years of peaceful development)

(And they possess resources from multiple galaxies)

(Even if their industrial system is backward, the warships they've accumulated would have dismantled more than one star system)

(And they're holding onto who knows how many ancient artifacts)

(Modern warfare is a clash of systems)

(Just like how the Third Reich had so much technology and advanced tactics back then)

(Wasn't it still overwhelmed by sheer numbers?)

(So there's no need to feel that the power level is collapsing)

(I don't want a tower-defense-style power progression)

(Always fighting enemies of the same level, then switching enemies upon leveling up, that's turn-based)

(I just want to see bombardments, plot progression, bombardments, then more plot progression)

(There's no need to suppress the protagonist for the sake of balancing power, right?)

(What I want is to win the war, not to win a battle)

(The scope needs to be broadened, all of this is in the outline appendix)

(I'm afraid some people might drop the novel because they think the power level is collapsing)

(So I'm explaining it here)