310: The "Hope" refurbishment project and extraterrestrial black technology

Aila Xinghen was a woman of action.

After understanding the basic situation, this lieutenant from the Sky Patrol civilization immediately entered work mode—her efficiency was so high that even Wen Youyi, a former programmer, felt inferior.

"I need all the design blueprints for "hope," from the engine structure to the energy circuits, and from the armor Materials to the node distribution of the neural network."

Aila stood before the main console on the bridge, her hands tracing through the air to pull up complex streams of data. "And all your "trump cards"—what is the principle behind that purification energy? What are the data on the energy conversion efficiency of the "star moss"? What are the limit parameters for the stealth technology of "Qianlong"?"

Wen Youyi scratched his head. "Ms. Aila, the volume of this data is huge, and some things are still in the experimental stage for us..."

[Then organize it while you explore.] Aila's thought came through clearly and decisively. [Time waits for no one, and the pursuers of the "Star Devourers" could arrive at any moment. We need to complete a comprehensive combat upgrade for "hope" before they catch up.]

She paused and added, [Don't call me Ms. anymore, just call me Aila. We are now in the same boat—that's a metaphor from your civilization, right?]

Zhao Iron Pillar chuckled. "That's right, in the same boat! Aila, your learning ability is impressive!"

Aila glanced at Zhao Iron Pillar, the corners of her mouth curling up slightly. ["Little sister"... that's a very friendly term. I accept it.]

In the next half-day, the interior of "hope" entered a state of unprecedented busyness.

Senior Brother Zhang, leading the technical team, practically turned the entire starship's design database upside down, organizing all the blueprints, parameters, and experimental data to send to Aila.

Senior Brother Li and the members of the engine team accompanied Aila down to the engine room to let her inspect the operation of the "star core engine" in person.

When Aila saw the complete star core suspended in the center of the energy field, emitting brilliant starlight, her indigo eyes visibly brightened.

[A star core with extremely high purity... and it's an ancient model that shares the same origin as the "star key."]

Aila's hands operated rapidly on the console, pulling up a series of test data. [The energy output is stable, but the utilization rate is only around 42%. It's such a waste.]

"42% is low?" Senior Brother Li widened his eyes. "We've tested it; this is already five times more efficient than the traditional spirit gathering arrays of the Immortal Realm!"

[By the starship standards of the "Sky Patrol," the passing mark is 70%, and excellent is 85%.] Aila didn't even look up. [Give me three hours, and I can optimize the energy circuits to raise the utilization rate to over 65%—if there are enough Materials.]

As she spoke, she quickly sketched out new energy circuit designs on the data pad. The patterns were as complex as a heavenly book, but Senior Brother Li gasped after just one look—this design philosophy was too advanced, completely jumping out of their existing conceptual framework!

"This... will this work? Won't the energy nodes conflict if arranged this way?" Senior Brother Li pointed to several key positions on the diagram.

[In your words, this is called "Yin and Yang complementing each other, and the Five Elements rotating."] Aila actually used cultivation terminology; evidently, she had learned their cultural data as well when connecting to the "hope" network. [Our ancestors studied the energy theories of many civilizations. Your cultivation civilization's System is very unique, but there are commonalities in principle. My design is a Fusion of the two Systems.]

On the other side, Wang Wu took Aila to visit the ecological dome and the "star moss" cultivation area.

When she saw the patch of blue-purple moss capable of converting starlight energy, Aila displayed a rare expression of surprise:

[Autonomous organic energy conversion... and the conversion efficiency is this high? Did you cultivate this?]

"It counts as an accidental discovery," Wen Youyi explained. "In the previous Shelter, it mutated on its own due to long-term exposure to starlight and the special environment."

Aila crouched down and gently brushed her fingers over a piece of "star moss." A faint green light flickered from her fingertips, as if she were sensing the energy flow inside the moss. A moment later, she stood up, her eyes flashing with excitement:

[A perfect ecological closed-loop component! If it can be cultivated on a large scale, it could even replace parts of the artificial energy circulation System! I need samples and detailed growth data...]

"Senior Sister Mu is in charge of this," Wang Wu pointed to Mu Wanqing, who was checking the "star rice" seedlings. "She is our medical and biological expert."

Mu Wanqing walked over and exchanged a few words with Aila. The two women from different civilizations quickly began discussing professional issues such as the cultivation conditions, peak energy conversion, and mutation possibilities of the "star moss," speaking so fast that Wang Wu, standing next to them, couldn't even get a word in.

Finally, Aila was taken to the hangar where "Qianlong" was located.

When she saw the silver-white, streamlined small starship, Aila walked around it twice and reached out to touch the hull:

["Flowing Silver" memory alloy, combined with an optical distortion layer formed by the starlight energy field... a very clever stealth design. But why did you only do visual and energy camouflage, and not spatial fluctuation camouflage?]

Xiao Wu, who was responsible for the maintenance of "Qianlong," was stunned. "Spatial... fluctuation camouflage?"

[It means minimizing the "presence" of the ship at the sub-space level.] Aila explained. [Many reconnaissance units of the "Star Devourers" don't rely on sight, but lock onto targets by sensing spatial fluctuations. If you only do surface-level camouflage like this, it's very easy to be detected when encountering high-level reconnaissance units.]

Xiao Wu's eyes went wide. "It, it can be played like this? Do we have this technology?"

[I have it.] Aila was concise. [Give me authorization, and I can add a layer of "spatial buffer membrane" to the hull of "Qianlong." Although it cannot be completely invisible, it can at least reduce the probability of being discovered by 60%.]

By the time all the data was collected, it was already six hours later.

Aila locked herself in the small conference room—now temporarily converted into her "main design room." A dozen holographic screens floated on the table, displaying the data of different Systems of "hope." Her hands operated rapidly in the air, and from time to time, she would blurt out a few sentences in the Sky Patrol language that Wen Youyi and the others couldn't understand, evidently having entered a state of high concentration.

Wen Youyi and the others stood guard outside the door, feeling conflicted.

"What do you think... is this alien girl reliable?" Zhao Iron Pillar muttered in a low voice. "We've known her for less than a day, and we're about to entrust our lives to her for modifications..."

"From a professional perspective, the plan she proposed is indeed much more advanced than ours." Senior Brother Zhang pushed up his glasses. "And most importantly... she has a deeper understanding of the "Star Devourers" than we do. Knowing how the enemy finds us is the only way to know how to hide."

Wen Youyi nodded. "If you suspect someone, don't use them; if you use them, don't suspect them. Aila's interests are now completely aligned with ours—her brother died at the hands of the "Star Devourers," and she herself wants revenge, and even more so, she wants to prevent the "Star Devourers" from obtaining the "star key." She has no reason to harm us."

As they were speaking, the door to the conference room slid open.

Aila walked out with obvious fatigue on her face, but her eyes were startlingly bright. She held a data pad in her hand, which was densely packed with plans.

[The preliminary modification plan is out.] Her thoughts came through, speaking quickly. [It will be done in three steps. The first step is emergency modification, to be completed within twelve hours; the second step is an upgrade during the voyage, expected to take five days; the third step is the final strengthening before reaching the "Return to Ruins."]

She handed the data pad to Wen Youyi. "Look at the first step first."

Wen Youyi took it and looked, unable to take his eyes off it.

"hope" Emergency Modification Plan (Step 1)

1. Energy System Optimization:

Re-arrange the energy transmission circuits from the engine room to the entire ship, adopting the "Xinghen Family Secret Spiral Progressive Method," and it is expected to increase energy utilization to 68%.

Install "energy stabilization crystals" recovered from the wreckage of "Green Scale" at key nodes to reduce transmission losses.

Connect the "star moss" cultivation area in parallel with the ecological circulation System, allowing the gentle energy converted by the moss to directly supplement the consumption of the living area, saving main energy.

2. Stealth System Upgrade:

Install a "spatial buffer membrane" for "Qianlong" (Materials need to be extracted from the supplies of "Green Scale").

Spray a layer of "Sky Patrol special wave-absorbing coating" on the hull of "hope," which can absorb 90% of conventional detection waves.

Adjust the "reflection mode" of the neural network to external scanning, disguising it as the energy characteristics of a common asteroid.

3. Defense Strengthening:

Use the 'Scale Armor' Materials recovered from 'Green Scale' to repair the external damage of 'hope' and install additional armor in critical areas.

Integrate 'purification energy' with the ship-borne energy shield System to form a 'composite shield' that has an extra suppressive effect on 'Star Devourers' bio-mechanical units.

Deploy 'rapid purification nodes' in key internal corridors of the ship; in case enemies board the ship, they can instantly release high-concentration purification energy to clear the area.

4. Firepower Enhancement (Priority):

Modify 30% of the 'high-frequency purification pulse' emitters to allow them to switch to 'starlight focus mode,' increasing the power of a single shot by three times, but increasing energy consumption by five times (to be used in critical moments).

Fill the 'energy burst shells' with the 'phase disintegrator' found in the 'Green Scale' arsenal, which has miraculous effects on the mechanical parts of the 'Star Devourers'.

Design and install four 'Sky Patrol-style gravity distortion cannons' (need to be built from scratch, Materials are insufficient, so only two can be built), which can create local gravitational anomalies to interfere with enemy ship maneuvering.

5. Navigation Strategy Adjustment:

Abandon the original route and switch to the more hidden but more dangerous 'Shattered Star Belt' region within the 'smuggling routes'.

Use the dense asteroids and energy turbulence of the 'Shattered Star Belt' as natural cover.

During the voyage, 'Hidden Dragon' will conduct forward reconnaissance throughout the entire journey, maintaining a distance of three thousand li from 'hope', and will issue an immediate warning if any anomalies are detected.

After reading it, Wen Youyi took a deep breath.

This plan... is too detailed, so detailed that it clearly marks how many people, how much time, and what tools are needed for every single process.

What's even more terrifying is that the plan also considers their current technical level and material limitations; all the modifications were proposed under the premise of being 'achievable'.

"Aila," Wen Youyi looked up and gazed at her earnestly, "What were you responsible for on the 'Green Scale'?"

[Deputy Captain and Chief Engineer.] Aila replied calmly, [60% of the modifications on the 'Green Scale' were designed by me. If it weren't for encountering the main hunting fleet of the 'Star Devourers' this time, we would have at least been able to escape.]

The tone was a mix of confidence and regret.

"Understood." Wen Youyi handed the data pad to Senior Brother Li, "Organize the manpower immediately and execute according to the plan. All departments must cooperate fully, and set the priority to the highest level."

He looked at Aila: "Just say what you need, the resources of the entire ship are at your disposal."

Aila nodded, but immediately frowned: [There is one problem... not enough manpower. According to my calculations, to complete the first step of the modifications within twelve hours, at least three hundred skilled technicians are needed. But you can currently mobilize no more than fifty people, and that includes cultivators who are unfamiliar with the structure of the starship.]

This was indeed a realistic problem. Although 'hope' was a massive ship, the total number of crew members was only over two hundred, and even fewer could be considered skilled technicians.

Wen Youyi rubbed his chin, and suddenly his eyes lit up: "What if... I could make a portion of the people 'temporarily enlightened'?"

Aila looked at him in confusion.

Wen Youyi did not explain, but instead issued instructions directly through the neural network: "Xiao Wu, bring your 'Flowing Silver' team to the main conference room. Senior Brother Zhang, bring all the 'spirit awakening stardust' and 'crash course technical manuals' we have in stock!"

Half an hour later, more than eighty crew members gathered in the main conference room—they were all young, capable of learning quickly, but were ordinary crew members who previously mainly handled simple maintenance work.

Wen Youyi stood at the front, holding a small bottle of glowing 'spirit awakening stardust' in his hand.

"Everyone, the situation is urgent, I won't waste time with pleasantries." He scanned the crowd, "I need you to master at least one starship modification skill in the shortest possible time. The process might be a bit... uncomfortable, but to ensure everyone survives, give it your all!"

After speaking, he signaled Xiao Wu.

Xiao Wu led a dozen 'Flowing Silver' members forward, each holding a mass of silvery-white liquid metal that squirmed like a living creature.

"This is 'Flowing Silver'—a part of the neural network of our 'hope,' and also the best 'medium for knowledge transmission'." Xiao Wu explained, "In a moment, Senior Brother Zhang will use the 'spirit awakening stardust' to pour the 'Sky Patrol Basic Starship Engineering Technical Manual' into your brains, and then 'Flowing Silver' will assist you in quickly understanding and digesting this knowledge. The process... might cause a headache, but it won't cause any fundamental harm."

A crew member asked timidly: "Will... will we become stupid?"

"No, at most it will be as uncomfortable as not sleeping for three days and three nights in a row and then taking a college-level mathematics exam." Senior Brother Zhang pushed up his glasses, "But the effect is permanent—this knowledge will become your 'muscle memory'."

Aila watched from the side, dumbfounded: [This is... knowledge infusion at the consciousness level? You actually have this kind of technology? And using living metal as an intermediary... this is too crazy.]

"A crude method forced out by necessity," Wen Youyi smiled bitterly, "When we were in the Ranch World, in order to quickly train resistance fighters, we had to use every trick in the book."

Soon, the modifications began.

The crew members lined up, each inhaling a pinch of 'spirit awakening stardust,' and then Xiao Wu's team pressed the 'Flowing Silver' against their foreheads. The 'Flowing Silver' permeated into their skin, temporarily connecting with their neural networks, and began to synchronously transmit massive amounts of blueprints, parameters, and operational procedures...

A chorus of suppressed groans rang out in the conference room. It was indeed very painful—stuffing the knowledge of hundreds of books into the brain in a short time, that kind of throbbing pain was not something an ordinary person could endure. But no one retreated; everyone gritted their teeth and persisted.

Two hours later, the first batch of forty 'crash-course technicians' was born.

Their eyes were still a bit dazed, but their fingers were already subconsciously gesturing the motions of welding, wiring, and calibrating. Aila randomly picked a few to quiz, and the results shocked her—although the theoretical depth was insufficient, they had remembered all the practical operation points!

[Incredible...] Aila muttered to herself, [With this kind of training efficiency, if you gave us 'Sky Patrol' ten thousand years, I'm afraid the entire sea of stars would be occupied by your technical workers...]

Wen Youyi smiled: "That must be why the 'Star Devourers' are so afraid of us 'Ranch World' civilizations escaping, right? The more we are suppressed, the more terrifying our rebound becomes."

With this fresh force, the modification work could finally be fully rolled out.

Inside 'hope,' the lights were bright.

In the engine room, Senior Brother Li led people to carefully adjust the energy circuits according to Aila's blueprints; on the hull maintenance platform, Zhao Iron Pillar was shirtless, carrying 'Scale Armor' with a group of strong men, welding it onto the ship's hull with clanging sounds; in the weapon control center, Senior Brother Zhang was debugging the newly installed 'gravity distortion cannons'—although there were only two for now, those ferocious muzzles were already daunting...

Aila shuttled between the various workstations, using her ultra-fast thinking speed to solve problems on the spot, and occasionally demonstrating personally—her hands, which looked slender and long, were terrifyingly steady when operating precision instruments.

Wen Youyi sat in command at the bridge, monitoring the overall progress while sensing the distance through the key.

Suddenly, the key transmitted a burst of urgent fluctuations!

[Warning: Large-scale spatial disturbance detected. Bearing: Rear, Distance: Approximately two days of travel. The disturbance characteristics are consistent with the warping signs of the 'Star Devourers' main fleet. Quantity... at least three complete hunting formations.]

Wen Youyi's heart sank.

It's here... and it arrived faster than expected!

He immediately connected to the ship-wide broadcast:

"Attention everyone! 'Star Devourers' pursuers have entered the two-day travel range! The first phase of modifications must be completed within twelve hours! After completion, we depart immediately and enter the 'Shattered Star Belt'!"

A chorus of "received" responses came over the broadcast; no one was panicked, only their movements quickened a few notches.

Aila's voice also came through the neural network, calm and firm:

[There is enough time. In twelve hours, I can make 'hope' undergo a complete transformation.]

Wen Youyi looked at the busy scene outside the porthole, and then looked at the slightly hot key in his hand.

He took a deep breath and smiled.

"Then let them see..."

"Just how much energy 'Ranch World' livestock pushed to the brink can erupt with."

The modifications continued.

The countdown began.

(End of Chapter)