165: Chapter 165 Hilla's Breakthrough

One week later.

After a week, thanks to Grace's firm hand and the stimulating "money power" of that 180 million deposit, the White Feather Guild had fully awakened from the brink of collapse, and its massive war machine was running at high speed again.

To maximize the efficiency of searching for Level 6 core materials, Grace carried out a drastic reorganization of the entire fleet's structure.

The original bloated formation was completely broken up. Now, every three Level 5 battleships, paired with thirty Level 4 or lower frigates and gathering ships, formed a highly mobile joint fleet with independent exploration and reclamation capabilities.

The entire White Feather Guild was divided into twelve such joint fleets.

"Boom—boom—boom—"

Accompanied by the deafening roar of engines, nine of the joint fleets, like a scattered wolf pack, carried countless Winged warriors eager to perform meritorious service and obtain high bounties, sailing majestically out of the defensive zone and diving into the vast Cangyun Airspace, heading towards those unknown floating islands.

The remaining three fleets, serving as garrison forces and mobile support squads, remained around the 'wind chaser', ready at any time.

Inside the fortress, everything was developing in an orderly manner.

In the medical room, a huge vertical cylindrical therapy chamber was operating at full power.

Pale blue genetic evolution fluid flowed slowly in the chamber. Hira was immersed in the nutrient solution, wearing a precise breathing mask over her mouth and nose, her eyes closed.

At this moment, she was stark naked. Her flawless body, carved like mutton-fat jade, was visible in the pale blue liquid; her long, taut legs, her slender waist that could be held in one hand, and the large, beautiful pure white wings behind her outlined a perfect curve.

However, this serene beauty carried a hint of pain.

Hira's beautiful brows were tightly knitted, and her slender fingers curled slightly at her sides. A vast and pure energy was rampaging through her limbs and bones; it was the Tier 5 breakthrough potion that Shen Xingyue and Luo Ning had concocted for her.

"Beep—Energy concentration has reached the critical value, breakthrough unlocking initiated!"

With a system prompt.

"Hum!"

Hira's body shook violently, and a dazzling pure white psionic energy erupted from her body like a solid substance, instantly dyeing the pale blue liquid in the chamber a blinding bright white. The wings behind her snapped open, every feather flowing with the luster unique to a Tier 5 powerhouse, and a sharp, incomparable aura instantly swept through the entire medical room.

Tier 5, breakthrough!

"Swoosh—"

The drainage valve of the therapy chamber opened, the liquid was quickly drained, and the glass cabin door slid slowly to both sides.

Hira took off the breathing mask, gasped for air, and stepped out of the therapy chamber barefoot.

The feeling of exhaustion after the breakthrough made her stumble slightly.

Just then, a large and soft pure cotton bathrobe was thoughtfully draped over her, tightly wrapping her perfect body and all its beauty.

"Put your clothes on first, don't catch a cold. Although your Tier 5 physique isn't afraid of the cold, your psionic energy is still on the verge of running wild."

Shen Xingyue walked up, helped Hira tie the bathrobe belt with gentle and natural movements, and handed her a glass of warm electrolyte water.

"Thank you, Sister Shen."

Hira held the water glass with both hands and took a small sip obediently.

"Go sit on the side and rest."

Shen Xingyue pointed to the soft chair not far away, her tone filled with concern.

"You have progressed too fast during this period. High-level potions and therapy chambers have no toxic side effects or damage to your foundation, but your muscle memory and neural reflex speed are far from keeping up with this surging power."

Shen Xingyue, while recording the various physiological peak values during Hira's breakthrough on the console, instructed: "If your power progresses too fast and you can't control it, it will become a fatal weakness in actual combat. For the next few days, high-intensity psionic training is prohibited. Your task now is to rest and let your consciousness slowly accept this Tier 5 body."

"Mm, I'll remember that."

The Winged girl, who was decisive on the battlefield, was like an obedient student at this moment, nodding obediently and sitting honestly on the soft chair, watching Shen Xingyue busy.

A moment later, Shen Xingyue looked at the green data on the screen that had all stabilized, and closed the holographic panel with satisfaction.

"Alright, all tests and rejection treatments are done, your state is perfect."

Shen Xingyue turned her head, looked at Hira's slightly pale little face, and a hint of a smile flashed in her cold eyes.

She walked up and gently rubbed Hira's soft hair: "Starving, right? Go to the logistics area and find Old Zhang, let him make you something good to nourish your body. Recently, Muzi has cultivated a lot of top-quality new goods in the agricultural cabin. The ingredients are excellent, don't be polite with him, eat as much as you want."

...

"Hoo—"

Zhou An, shirtless with a white towel around his neck, pushed the door out of the gravity training room. After two hours of high-intensity physical exertion under ten times gravity, his streamlined muscles, like a cheetah, were covered with fine beads of sweat, and the blood energy of the Tier 5 Peak roared in his body like a rushing river.

He put on a loose black T-shirt and walked leisurely towards the central restaurant of the fortress. As soon as he entered, he happened to run into Hira, who had finished washing up and was wearing capable casual clothes.

Zhou An paused, his deep eyes scanning Hira up and down. Although Hira tried her best to restrain it, that sharp aura that had just completed a dimensional leap and had not yet been fully controlled could not escape Zhou An's spatial perception.

"Broken through to Tier 5?"

Zhou An pulled out a chair and sat down, a look of appreciation curling the corners of his mouth, "It seems the suffering these past few days wasn't in vain."

"Thanks to the resources provided by the boss and Dr. Shen's care."

A joy that could not be concealed flashed in the depths of Hira's eyes as she sat down opposite Zhou An obediently.

"Boss, Hira, dinner is served!"

Accompanied by a vigorous shout, Old Zhang walked out of the back kitchen carrying two large insulated trays. With a "bang," two portions of amazing, colorful, and fragrant nutritional meals were placed in front of the two.

"Boss, this is your steak."

Old Zhang pushed the other portion in front of Hira.

"Hira, you just broke through, your body is depleted, this medicinal stewed meat is specifically added with ingredients by Shen Xingyue for you, eat up, there's more in the pot!"

"Thank you, Uncle Zhang!" Hira looked at the delicious food emitting an enticing aroma, her stomach made a soft sound in cooperation, and she immediately picked up her cutlery and began to eat heartily.

The two chatted while eating.

"Boss..."

Hira swallowed a mouthful of juicy beast meat, put down the cutlery in her hand, and her expression became serious.

"In a while, I want to leave the fortress and go out to train for a while."

Zhou An stopped cutting the meat and looked up at her.

Hira bit her lower lip slightly and explained: "I have been staying in the fortress during this period, relying on top resources and potions to pile up my realm to Tier 5. But I can feel that my control over my power is unfamiliar. If I don't experience real life-and-death combat, this sense of emptiness of having a realm but no foundation will sooner or later become a fatal weakness."

"Want to go out and hone yourself in actual combat?"

Zhou An put the cut steak into his mouth, nodded, and did not object.

"The idea is correct, you can't raise an eagle that can tear through storms in a greenhouse. It's no problem to go out and train; you are now Tier 5, and your self-preservation ability is sufficient."

Hearing Zhou An's agreement, a hint of joy flashed in Hira's cold eyes.

"However, there are a few rules you must remember."

Zhou An put down his knife and fork and wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin.

"First, don't run too far. Keep within communication range where you can call for support at any time, centered on Cloud Top Fortress or the White Feather Guild fleet. Second, when you encounter an enemy you can't beat..."

Zhou An paused and stared seriously into Hira's eyes: "Don't try to be a hero, just run. It's not shameful to be unable to beat someone; only those who survive have the qualifications to talk about dignity and revenge. If you die, everything is gone. Living is the only hard truth in this airspace. Understand?"

Hira was stunned. In the traditional education of the Winged race that "dying on the battlefield is the highest honor," no one had ever taught her "run if you can't beat them." But looking at Zhou An's calm yet caring eyes, a warmth rose in her heart, and she nodded heavily.

"I'll remember, boss. If I can't beat them, I'll run back to find you."

Meanwhile, on the other side, in the White Feather fleet.

After several days of continuous cleanup and reorganization, Grace finally straightened out the mess of the guild, and the fleet was back on track.

However, at this moment, she was sitting behind a large desk, looking at an encrypted document on the holographic screen, with deep worry between her beautiful brows.

"Click."

The office door was pushed open gently, and Ivy, who had just taken office as the Great Elder, walked in with two cups of refreshing special drinks.

"Guild Leader, still handling official business? Take a break."

Ivy placed the cups on the table, looked at Grace's furrowed brows, and asked softly, "Did you encounter any tricky problems?"

Grace sighed and shared the holographic screen's view with Ivy.

"It's about the placement of those wounded."

Grace rubbed her swollen brow, her tone filled with deep helplessness: "Dr. Shen has superb medical skills and did indeed pull those more than a hundred brothers persecuted by Cormac back from the gates of hell. But... due to the lack of legendary grade limb regeneration drugs, although they saved their lives, most of them were left with irreversible disabilities. Some had their wings torn off, and some lost their hands and feet."

The Winged race is a pure combat race. In their social structure, there are only warriors, commanders, and explorers; there is no such thing as basic industries like agricultural planting, industrial manufacturing, or assembly line processing.

"The vehicles of these brothers were destroyed in previous battles long ago. Now that they are disabled, they can no longer participate in high-intensity interstellar combat and relic exploration." Grace looked at the names on the list who had once bled and sweated for the guild, feeling a soreness in her heart, "Our White Feather Guild has no logistics industry to settle them. Are we supposed to keep them in the bottom cabin of the flagship like useless people? That would not only drag down the guild's already tight resources but would also be a humiliation worse than death for those proud warriors."

After listening to Grace's concerns, Ivy also fell silent. Indeed, a Winged person who has lost combat capability and has no vehicle is almost equivalent to being sentenced to death in this cruel world.

However, a scene Ivy had seen on Cloud Top Fortress these past few days suddenly flashed in her mind, and her eyes lit up.

"Guild Leader, we don't have industries... but Lord Zhou An and the others do!"

Ivy leaned forward excitedly and said quickly: "I've been chatting with Hira these past few days, and when I visited Cloud Top Fortress, I discovered that their place is simply a perfect micro-ecological industrial park! Miss Muzi is in charge of the huge agricultural planting cabin, Uncle Zhang is responsible for logistics and material processing, and Luo Ning even has high-end processing assembly lines!"

"You mean..."

Grace's eyes lit up as well.

"Although their fortress has advanced equipment, there are only a few core members, and they can't handle everything. Many automated devices also require manual labor for fine supervision and transportation."

Ivy made a firm suggestion.

"We can discuss it with Lord Zhou An. Although these wounded can't fight, their Tier 5 and Tier 4 physical foundations are still there; moving and carrying things, watching over farmland, and operating processing assembly lines is definitely more than enough!"

Ivy's suggestion was like clearing the clouds to see the sun, instantly dispelling the gloom in Grace's heart.

"Good idea!"

Grace slapped the table, and a smile finally appeared on her face, the most relaxed one in these past few days.

"This will allow our brothers and sisters to earn resources with their own hands and regain their dignity, and it can also help Lord Zhou An share the logistics pressure. Let's go, Ivy, come with me to Cloud Top Fortress!"

Not long after, Grace took Ivy to visit again.

When the two were invited into the hall, Zhou An had just finished that high-calorie extra meal and was leaning on the sofa drinking tea to aid digestion. After listening to Grace's slightly probing and requesting intention, Zhou An put down his teacup.

"Arranging for the wounded to work?"

Zhou An spread his hands and said frankly.

"To be honest with you, I'm just a hands-off boss. The logistics and production lines in the fortress are basically managed by them, and most of them are fully automated. You're suddenly stuffing more than 150 people in, and I'm really not sure if there are suitable positions for them. How about this, I'll call the manager over and ask."

Zhou An shouted in the internal channel, and after a while, Old Zhang and Li Muzi came to the hall.

After hearing Zhou An's retelling, Old Zhang was the first to slap his thigh and report happily:

"Boss, my food processing line is actually short of manpower. You know, I mainly process the agricultural products and livestock meat produced by Muzi into portable cans, high-energy drinks, and compressed rations. Currently, the finished products on the production line are at least legendary grade, and we are slowly phasing out legendary grade recently, preparing to switch the entire line to legendary grade."

Old Zhang counted on his fingers: "However, the rough processing and high-temperature cooking on my side are all fully automated assembly lines, and even the final boxing and packaging are assisted by seven all-terrain robots. Although orders have been exploding recently, and the profit alone is about 1.5 million Tier 5 unit materials per day, there really isn't any physical labor that requires manual work."

"Click."

Grace and Ivy, who were sitting on the side, had their teacups shake in unison, almost spilling.

"One... 1.5 million? Every day? And that's net profit?!"

Ivy widened her eyes, looking at this middle-aged man in an apron who looked unremarkable, like he was a monster.

Their White Feather Guild risked their lives to hunt exotic beasts on high-level floating islands, and sometimes a fleet would go out for a spin and only earn a few hundred thousand Tier 5 materials. This human industrial mass production is simply a dimensionality reduction strike!

Before the two could recover from the shock of "earning a million a day," Li Muzi adjusted her glasses and began to report on the situation in her agricultural cabin.

"Boss, I am mainly responsible for raw material supply and crop cultivation. From sowing, pest control to irrigation, all are handled by the smart drone array modified by Luo Ning in the air. As for the harvesting on the ground, special crawler robots are used, and they will not damage the roots of legendary grade plants."

"So... I don't really need manual labor here either."

After listening to the reports of these two "logistics giants," Grace and Ivy looked at each other, their faces full of embarrassment.

They originally thought that their Tier 4 and Tier 5 warriors, even if disabled, at least had good strength, and coming to do some hard labor would definitely be fine. Who knew that the farms and factories in the fortress were all dominated by technology and AI robots, and there wasn't even a place to help move bricks!

"Full automation is indeed convenient, but machines also have machine costs."

Zhou An touched his chin and suggested.

"Since we want to arrange for people, why not ask Luo Ning. Those drones and robots were all built by her. Let's see if there are any links where manual labor can replace machines and reduce costs while increasing efficiency."