25: Kitchen Upgrades and Trade-ins

Lin Mo's gaze swept across, and suddenly, a bold, pinned announcement grabbed everyone's attention.

“Longxiang Fleet - Commander-in-Chief: This fleet is currently recruiting S-Rank battleships or S-Rank Talent holders. Upon joining, you must unconditionally obey the fleet's command, and all collected resources must be submitted for unified distribution by the fleet. We will establish a new order in this sea area. Those who do not obey are enemies.”

This announcement was like a ladle of cold water poured into a boiling oil pot; the entire chat channel instantly exploded.

“I Am Not A Salted Fish: Holy crap! Am I seeing things? An S-Rank battleship? Do these things really exist? My broken raft is only D-Rank!”

“Old Man Wang Who Picks Up Trash: S-Rank Talent... isn't that threshold too high? Does my C-Rank life Talent mean I don't deserve to live?”

“Bystander: Longxiang Fleet? What big talk! Establishing a new order, who does he think he is?”

“flagship - Vanguard 1: Watch your mouth, upstairs! Our flagship is an SS-Rank destroyer! Our boss is an SS-Rank Talent holder! What right do you trash still playing in the mud have to question us?”

SS-Rank destroyer!

SS-Rank Talent!

As these two phrases appeared, the entire channel fell into a deathly silence.

After a full half-minute, messages once again refreshed like a geyser.

“Hug The Thigh: Boss! Please take me in! Although I only have B-Rank Talent, I'm strong, I can work, and I'm willing to do anything!”

“Begging To Join: Boss, look at me! I have A-Rank scouting Talent and can help the fleet avoid danger in advance!”

“Bootlicker No. 1: Longxiang Fleet is mighty! Support the boss in establishing a new order! I've long been annoyed with these lone wolves fighting by themselves!”

The voices of doubt disappeared.

In their place was an overwhelming tide of flattery and fawning.

In this dog-eat-dog world, the emergence of a sufficiently powerful force was the only lifeline for ordinary people in despair.

Lin Mo looked at the information on the screen, his eyes calm.

SS-Rank destroyer?

It was indeed very strong.

In front of any other player, it would be enough to form an overwhelming advantage.

Unfortunately, they had encountered him.

Lin Mo's fingertips gently tapped the armrest, his heart completely undisturbed.

Compared to that Longxiang Fleet, he was more concerned with his own development.

The immediate priority was to quickly raise the level of the Natural Selection, unlock more functions, and gradually unearth the potential of this god-tier battleship.

Just as he was deep in thought, a pair of soft, small hands suddenly reached out from behind, gently covering his eyes.

A sweet scent, accompanied by the girl's bell-like laughter, rang in his ears.

“Guess who I am?”

“Who else could it be but our greedy little chef at home?” Lin Mo's voice held a hint of a smile.

“Hmph, I'm not greedy at all!”

Gu Nianqiu released her hands and walked around from behind him, running a few steps to stand in front of him.

She bent down, hands resting on the armrests of the captain's chair, and brought her small face close to Lin Mo's eyes, her large, watery eyes blinking, full of anticipation.

Her soft chest, separated by a thin lace nightgown, almost pressed against Lin Mo's arm.

“Brother Mo,” her voice was so soft it could melt, “I... I want to upgrade the kitchen.”

“Hmm? Why the sudden thought of upgrading the kitchen?” Lin Mo asked.

Upon hearing this, Gu Nianqiu immediately pouted, her tone full of grievance.

“The current kitchen is too rudimentary!”

“There's only one pot and one freezer; I can't even properly display my cooking skills!”

She extended her fair, tender fingers and began to list her complaints.

“No refrigerator, so many ingredients that need refrigeration and preservation have nowhere to go.”

“No oven, I can't make you and older sister fragrant roast chicken and egg tarts.”

“No barbecue grill either, we can't even have a barbecue party on the deck!”

The more she spoke, the more pitiful she sounded, and her big eyes even welled up with tears, making one's heart melt.

“Many a-rank cuisine require special cooking utensils to be made...”

Lin Mo looked at her like this, his heart stirred.

Upgrade the kitchen?

This was absolutely necessary!

He immediately thought of a key point.

If there was a refrigerator, Nianqiu could prepare a large amount of buff food in advance and store it.

For example, the “Calming Cheese Cake” that could increase mental power.

If he could stock up on more, the next time he encountered something terrifying like the Skull Forbidden Zone, he wouldn't be so helpless.

At a crucial moment, a bite of cake could be the difference between life and death.

“Okay, upgrade it!” Lin Mo agreed without hesitation.

He immediately opened the ship's upgrade panel and found the kitchen icon in the [Basic Modules] section.

“Simple Kitchen (Primary)”

“Requirements to upgrade to Intermediate Kitchen: Ship Exchange Points * 10, Metal Blocks * 30”

Indeed.

Lin Mo looked at the requirements on the screen, understanding dawned on him.

He had discovered a pattern.

If it was a brand new module that had never been unlocked, like the previous [Medical Module] and [Ship-mounted Machine Gun], it only required consuming Exchange Points to build it out of thin air.

However, to upgrade an existing module, in addition to Exchange Points, extra basic materials were also required.

This game mechanism was forcing players to constantly explore, scavenge, trade, and even plunder.

He still had 37 Exchange Points, but after upgrading the engine module, he had very few Metal Blocks left.

Where could he get 30 Metal Blocks?

Going out to search by himself was too inefficient and full of uncertainty.

Lin Mo's gaze returned to the regional chat channel.

He had an idea.

Trade food for it!

In this world, food was hard currency, and the a-rank cuisine Nianqiu made was a unique luxury!

There were plenty of people willing to pay the price for it.

He turned to look at Gu Nianqiu, who was still leaning on the armrest, watching him with expectant eyes.

“Nianqiu, the ‘Calming Cheese Cake’ from this morning shouldn't be finished yet, right?”

“Not finished yet, there's still more than half left!”

“Cut a small piece, we'll use it to trade for materials.”

“Alrighty!”

As soon as Gu Nianqiu heard this, her eyes instantly lit up, and she immediately bounced off like a happy little rabbit, skipping towards the kitchen.

Lin Mo, meanwhile, opened the exchange interface.

Without the slightest hesitation, he directly created a trade item.

“Item for Sale: A piece of Calming Cheese Cake (A-Rank) * 1”

“Item Needed: Metal Blocks * 30”

“Remarks: Consuming it can temporarily increase mental power and grant mental resistance. Limited quantity, first come, first served.”

After setting it up, he directly linked this trade information to the regional chat channel.

In an instant, this glittering trade information appeared before all players.

The chat channel, which had just been filled with flattery and fawning, once again fell into an eerie silence.

A few seconds later, a massive flood of information, like a bursting dam, completely drowned the entire screen.

“I Am A Noob: Holy, holy, holy! Am I blind?! A-Rank cuisine?! And it can even add mental attributes?!”

“Wu Yanzu of the East Sea: 30 Metal Blocks for a piece of cake? Isn't this price a bit too dark? I can't even gather that much by mining for a whole day!”

“flagship - Vanguard 1: Where did this swindler come from, daring to play tricks in front of the Longxiang Fleet? A-Rank cuisine, why don't you say you can build an atomic bomb?”

“Fisherman of Mariana: Whether it's real or not, I can't afford this stuff... I'll just stick to my roasted dried fish.”

Doubt, mockery, jealousy—all sorts of voices mixed together.

But more people were frantically sending private messages to Lin Mo, asking if the price could be cheaper, or if they could trade other things.

Lin Mo ignored them all.

He knew very well that the truly smart people would no longer waste words in the chat channel at this moment.

Indeed.

Less than a minute later.

A system notification popped up in front of his control panel.

“Player ‘Deep Sea Blacksmith’ has accepted your trade request.”

“Gained: Metal Blocks * 30”

“Lost: Calming Cheese Cake * 1”

The trade was completed instantly.

Lin Mo's lips curved into a smile.