Chapter 422: Poor Man’s Dignity
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Some frivolous words, spouted from the mouth of a creature from an unknown race, with an unknown appearance and even gender, had actually caused her heart, which had been calm for nearly a hundred years, to suddenly feel humiliation and anger.
Even Mu Yunhua felt a little surprised.
In order to avoid the embarra.s.sment, she shortened the length of the necklace chain so that it would no longer hide in her clothes. She put it on her neck again.
The alien didn’t say anything strange at that moment. It just randomly commented, “Hey, that’s quite a pretty collarbone.”
Mu Yunhua could not be bothered to respond.
…
A few more days pa.s.sed.
Mu Yunhua’s work was focused on one important matter—the design and finalization of the interstellar wars.h.i.+p.
Using the greatest level of efficiency, they had to produce a full set of design sketches for an interstellar wars.h.i.+p in about half a year. After the appraisal meeting for the finalized design, they would have to go into production quickly to outfit the wars.h.i.+p and put it into service as fast as possible.
Obviously, this process seemed to be very hasty, hasty and not in line with the natural progression of things. This project also contained a lot of hidden dangers.
30 years was not exactly short, but it was not particularly long, either.
They really did not have a lot of time.
If the wars.h.i.+p’s design phase lasted about a year, the manufacturing process another three years, and training and breaking in the crew another five… 10 years of work would pa.s.s in the blink of an eye. Moreover, even when they arrived at that stage, they would not have proficient combat skills yet… They would still belong to the category of novices and “cannon fodder”.
Then, after the Selains’ second wave of wars.h.i.+ps arrived, they would meet, army against army… The ending would not be difficult to predict.
In the conference room.
A military expert said, “We do not have any requirements for the various combat indicators on the first generation of interstellar wars.h.i.+ps. As long as they can sail in s.p.a.ce and have some certain means of attacking the enemy, and as long as they can achieve certain effects from their military training… A wars.h.i.+p that meets these points can be manufactured immediately.
“So, the first generation of interstellar wars.h.i.+ps can be considered training s.h.i.+ps, used to train and nurture combat talents.
“We will construct the second generation interstellar wars.h.i.+ps after we have deciphered the Selains’ technologies. We will combine their technologies with the other advanced technologies that we have in order to create powerful and terrifying super wars.h.i.+ps. It is a type of super wars.h.i.+p that can bring us victory and destroy all the threats standing in our way.”
This military expert’s idea could be condensed into one sentence—they would be a beggar in the early stages, and G.o.d-like in the later stages.
But…
Mu Yunhua thought that there were some problems in this process.
She thought to herself, Isn’t the span of time between the two stages a little too big? Although we don’t have any experience in designing interstellar wars.h.i.+ps, we can’t have no absolutely no requirements or standards for their technical capabilities, and then put all our hopes into the follow-up of the second-generation wars.h.i.+ps. What if the second-generation interstellar wars.h.i.+p were not up to standard, or were not as strong as expected?”
In short, it was completely unacceptable to fail to work their hardest to achieve the best results now, and instead to pin all their hopes on the indiscernible future.
“Seems like you have a tricky problem on your hands again.”
A voice suddenly sounded in her ear.
Mu Yunhua’s gaze settled on the pendant of the necklace hanging from her neck.
“You urgently need an interstellar wars.h.i.+p with an outstanding design, but you have no relevant design experience in this area, so you have no outline to go on, right?”
Yes.
Mu Yunhua nodded in acknowledgment of his a.s.sessment. This was a clear fact. They really had no experience in designing and manufacturing interstellar wars.h.i.+ps, and they did not even have any references to draw from. They were going into this totally blind and were still in the stage of theoretical exploration.
Even if they did succeed in creating an interstellar battles.h.i.+p, she predicted that they would make a lot of minor mistakes.
“In that case, I should have a suitable model of interstellar battles.h.i.+p for you. It does not use a high level of technology and belongs to the very low-grade E-cla.s.s, but it has been especially described as ‘the strongest garbage,’ ‘a magical c.o.c.kroach that never dies’, ‘the most tenacious cannon fodder’, ‘the poor man’s last vestige of self-respect,’ and so on.
“It is very cheap to produce, simple in structure, and has few components. It is especially good for construction on a ma.s.sive scale. If you have sufficient raw materials, and you go full steam ahead, one s.h.i.+p can be built in 15 days in the context of a 100,000-ton s.h.i.+pyard.
“In addition, it has very good maneuverability, a high thrust-to-weight ratio, and its overload can easily reach 10G. Its intelligence level is very high. Under the human control mode, just 20 people would be sufficient to take charge and operate the entire battles.h.i.+p, while under the unmanned intelligent control mode, It can still attack the enemy with multiple attack formations and combat strategies. Its attack style is unpredictable and, thus, difficult to defend against.
“Its attack power is mainly composed of two parts. The high-energy laser and mid-range nuclear missile have an effective kill radius of about 50,000 kilometers. They have a lot of destructive power against battles.h.i.+ps at the B level or lower. If matched with certain combat tactics—things like surprise ambushes, attacking when the enemy is weak, and guerilla warfare—you can often achieve some amazing results, as long as the strategy is right.
“In addition, it can also self-detonate its nuclear reactor if necessary, releasing a very large amount of offensive power. It is capable of mutual destruction.
“As for its defensive ability—there is no doubt that this is its weakness and shortcoming. After all, in order to achieve eminence in flexibility and mobility, it must sacrifice its defense. Therefore, it may completely lose its combat effectiveness when under an attack of a certain level.
“But its escape system is quite cla.s.sic. The manned c.o.c.kpit will be reinforced by specialized armor. Once the s.h.i.+p is in danger, this pod can quickly eject and escape. The chance of survival is over 45%. In general, it is both useful and highly reliable.”
Oh…
Upon hearing these descriptions, excitement glimmered in Mu Yunhua’s eyes. The best wars.h.i.+ps for the poor, easy to ma.s.s-produce and control—yet they could cause a lot of trouble for a powerful enemy. This was her ideal interstellar wars.h.i.+p.
…
The meeting was over.
On that same night.
Going back to her bedroom, Mu Yunhua took the necklace off from her neck and said to the hanging flower bud-shaped pendant, “Friend, please send me all the information on design, subsequent use, and training for the battles.h.i.+p that you talked about. Thank you very much for your generosity and kindness.”
“Do you mean the interstellar battles.h.i.+p that’s called the ‘Poor Man’s Dignity?’”
“Hmm, yes.” Mu Yunhua nodded. Her face was full of expectation.
“So, what remuneration can you give me?” the voice from the earpiece said.
“Re…remuneration?”
“You’re not thinking that I’ll give this information to you for free, right?”
“No, no. What kind of remuneration do you want? If I have it, I will give it to you.” Mu Yunhua was annoyed. Just a few days ago, he had said that he was a protector, yet now he was asking for remuneration.
“Then give me some alms. Take me to share a bath with you later. Woah, hahaha… I will give you the Poor Man’s Dignity in exchange for this visual feast.” The voice became lascivious. It even simulated heavy breathing noises.
“Bas…tard!”
Mu Yunhua’s cheeks flushed red. That d.a.m.n alien, who might be as ugly as a c.o.c.kroach, actually wanted to take advantage of her.
But she nodded after some thought and entered the bathroom with the necklace. Compared with the survival of human beings, what was this little sacrifice?
…
Haierfa.
Standing in front of a large screen.
Chen Jin was like an unmoving statue, his eyes were blank, and his soul seemed to have left his body.
He could not help but stare dumbly, like a fool.
After all, in front of the screen, blanketed by curls of mist from the water was a perfect body so white that it was glaring to the eyes. Her resentment and helplessness amidst her n.o.ble bearing, her resistance amidst her bashfulness—this exceptionally beautiful scenery could give him a nose bleed.
“Bad master! Haven’t you seen enough?!”
Alice’s dissatisfied voice rang out, after which, large amounts of “holy” light immediately appeared on the screen, bringing Chen’s attention back to reality.
“Oh, oh, sorry. I was a bit engrossed.”
Chen Jin gave an apologetic smile, but did not forget to remind Alice, “Oh yeah, save all the video that was playing just now, minus the ‘holy’ light.”
“I know, you lecherous master!”
Alice pouted, and her cheeks puffed up.
“Master, you are making trouble in such a willful manner. After all, she is the Princess of the Empire. How could you be so disrespectful towards her? This is so rude.”
Nuwa’s shadow appeared, and she also expressed dissatisfaction with Chen Jin’s behavior.
“This is called an equal exchange. If the other party gets used to receiving free gifts, they will take our goodwill for granted, and even begrudge us if we do not help them anymore in the future. Our dealings would become unpleasant. There is no love without reason in this world, and pies do not fall from the sky… I believe that she clearly understands this logic.” Chen Jin said with confidence. His face did not grow red, and his heartbeat remained steady.
“…” Nuwa and Alice were speechless.
Chen Jin looked Nuwa and asked, “Nuwa, I gave you the task of sorting the information on the Poor Man’s Dignity wars.h.i.+p. Have you finished the task?”
“Yes. Can I start the data transfer?”
“Then…do it.” Chen Jin nodded.
The Poor Man’s Dignity cla.s.s of interstellar wars.h.i.+ps was one of the 11,867 cla.s.sic wars.h.i.+ps in the online virtual game Galaxy Era. Although it was not a powerful s.h.i.+p and could hardly be used in the more intensive battles at the later stages, it ranked within the top ten most cla.s.sic interstellar wars.h.i.+ps. It was a model that nearly all the novices used, and had appeared in many cla.s.sic conflicts, defending the dignity of one poor man after another.
However… if one brought the design of the interstellar wars.h.i.+p from the game into the real world, would it act in the same way? Would it have the same effects and results?
In this regard, Alice and Nuwa guaranteed that it had a 99.9999% probability of producing the same results in reality as it did in the game. It was absolutely impossible for something to go wrong.
After all, Galaxy Era had been running for more than fifty or sixty years, and the game had existed for an even longer time. After countless simulations of military campaigns, it had condensed the wisdom of countless players. Due to its high degree of realism, they did not have to question the reliability of this wisdom once brought into reality.
…
The next day.
Walf planet.
When she left her room, Mu Yunhua held a thin, transparent square sheet in her hand. It was about the size of a thumbnail. This was a storage device with a capacity of 12TB.
All the information about the Poor Man’s Dignity cla.s.s of wars.h.i.+ps which the alien had talked about was in this storage device.
She then thought of the sacrifice that she had paid for this information. She could not help her smile from dissipating.
She secretly gritted her teeth and said, “I’ll just think of it as having only been visually tarnished by a wriggling, maggot-like creature. We are so far apart that he can’t do anything to me. At most, it could have rubbed one out facing the screen, spraying hundreds of millions of DNA material as far as its eyes could see, and made a blur on the screen.”
But why did that make her feel even more disgusting?
…
Inside the information hall.
Mu Yunhua upload the data to the highest-ranking AI brain. It began to judge and a.n.a.lyze the values of the data.
About two hours later.
The middle-aged man on the screen asked gravely: “Yunhua, where did you get this information from?”
“This… I don’t want to reveal it.” Mu Yunhua looked at the necklace hanging from her neck and shook her head. “What’s the matter? Do you think this info has practical value? Can it be used as a reference?”
“It’s a genius design.” The middle-aged man on the screen sighed. “I simulated the plans for two hours and found that, besides the lack of defense, it achieves near-perfect equilibrium in all other aspects! I retrieved the dozens of interstellar wars.h.i.+p proposals designed by our experts, and created one virtual battle after another. The model of wars.h.i.+p you provided was the victor in every fight. Moreover, victory was extremely easy, and it performed beyond expectations.”
The middle-aged man played a few videos, showing the exact battles he had simulated.
So, the information that the alien provided was true?
Mu Yunhua was ecstatic. To be honest, she did not really understand the design of wars.h.i.+ps. She could not see where and how their power lay. On the contrary, those wars.h.i.+ps with a domineering and mighty form, would always give her a very powerful vibe, at least in visual terms. The temptation was very strong.
The Poor Man’s Dignity cla.s.s of wars.h.i.+ps was not only ordinary, it was even ugly, and it did not look sufficiently trust-worthy at the beginning.
However, after Pangu’s verification, Mu Yunhua felt more at ease. Although the alien was frivolous, he was honest and did not trick or bait her.
She even felt somewhat glad about it. She could get something like this in return for just taking a shower. Overall, it was very profitable. If she sacrificed even more the next time around, wouldn’t the return be…?
All of a sudden, her thoughts took a turn into an uncertain direction.
…
In the conference room.
“I agree on Plan No. 28!”
“I agree with it too!”
“Agreed!”
“No disputes over Plan No. 28. It has pa.s.sed with unanimous votes of approval .”
“Captain, I didn’t expect you to also be talented in wars.h.i.+p design. I really admire your work.”
“Captain, have you perhaps been blessed by the G.o.d of science? In addition to the intelligence that was responsible for deriving the formula for the Grand Unification of Forces, you also have a talent for interstellar wars.h.i.+p design.”
“As long as we obey and follow the Captain’s leaders.h.i.+p, we can free ourselves from this predicament and move toward the light!”
“Yes, I have 100,000% confidence in this!”
The voices of praise and adulation from the delegates came rolling in, one after another. Each compliment came from the love and respect in their hearts.
However, Mu Yunhua started to feet rather embarra.s.sed. The “No. 28 Interstellar Wars.h.i.+p Design Plan” was the design scheme for the Poor Man’s Dignity provided by the alien. At that moment, this plan had not only gotten the all-pa.s.s vote, but it had also increased her popularity and prestige again.
She seemed to have become omnipotent in the eyes of the representatives. Their gazes were full of wors.h.i.+p.
In truth, she wanted to explain that she did not come up with “Plan No. 28.” It was given by others. But the voice in the earpiece told her to say that she had designed it. Even Pangu said to her, “Just say that it is yours. They need an idol—the people need a G.o.d. Only then can all the powers be united.”
She was the G.o.d.
They could not do otherwise than let her become a G.o.d.
After all, she had performed a lot of miracles and had gained the faith and wors.h.i.+p of countless people.
After the “No. 28 Interstellar Wars.h.i.+p Design Plan” was approved, a representative came up with a last-minute idea and issued a proposal which was endorsed by all the representatives.
“Well, since the No. 28 Plan was proposed by the Captain, why don’t we give a code name to this cla.s.s of interstellar wars.h.i.+ps? How about the ‘G.o.ddess’ Honor’? It is an honor bestowed on soldiers by the G.o.ddess. I believe that from the moment the soldiers sit in the combat cabin, they will have already prepared their minds for the possibility of dying in defense of this honor. Surely the courage that bursts forth from the bottom of their heart will dispel all fears?”
“Hmm, the ‘G.o.ddess’ Honor’ sounds good.”
“I agree!”
“When we come up with the next cla.s.s of wars.h.i.+ps, let’s call them the ‘G.o.ddess’ Honor: Second Generation.’”
“Yes, the G.o.ddess’ Honor should continue indefinitely!”
The meeting room had become very noisy.
However, Mu Yunhua heard a clicking of the tongue coming from the earpiece.
“Tsk, from the ‘Poor Man’s Dignity’ to the ‘G.o.ddess’ Honor.’ What a sudden change in style.”
Ahh!
Mu Yunhua’s face flushed red, and she felt so embarra.s.sed that she wanted to yell.