A Core Ship From The Start

Chapter 33: Chapter 23 Core Upgrade_1

For Duanmu Huai, this was indeed an unexpected joy.

Although he had guessed that since he had been teleported to Elisa’s side, it suggested that following her should involve main missions and Holy Artifact clues. However, he did not expect that he would obtain the first Holy Artifact so soon.

After obtaining the Holy Artifact, Duanmu Huai temporarily separated from Elisa and others and came to the top of the castle. He then initialized the system. Soon, a system prompt appeared in front of Duanmu Huai.

[Holy Artifact signal detected, do you want to activate the teleportation beacon?]

“Activate.”

Following Duanmu Huai’s command, six Skull Heads quietly appeared under his feet, then a beam of light emerged, and the next moment, Duanmu Huai returned to the Core Cabin that originally floated in space. Ogis was also looking around him, obviously curious about this magical place.

The Core Cabin was no different from when Duanmu Huai left. Except for a terminal and a hibernation pod, it was still bare. Duanmu Huai walked to the terminal, extended his hand, and placed the “Gift of the Water God” on the platform above the terminal. Soon, the terminal automatically lit up, and lines of information appeared.

[Holy Artifact signal detected]

[Holy Artifact retrieved]

At the same time, Duanmu Huai saw the white pearl shatter, disintegrate, and turn into light dust, disappearing without a trace.

[Building Points +1]

[Construction function initiated]

With the system information, Duanmu Huai saw the terminal expand again and rows of information appeared.

[Core Cabin (Completed)][Reactor (Not Unlocked)][Enhancement Room (Not Unlocked)]

[Tribunal Library (Not Unlocked)][Strategic Command Room (Not Unlocked)]

[Power System (Not Unlocked)][Defense Module (Not Unlocked)][Weapon Module (Not Unlocked)]

[Extinction Order (Not Unlocked)][Void Barrack (Not Unlocked)][Void Dockyard (Not Unlocked)]

[Special Building (Not Unlocked)]

“Very good.”

Looking at the building blueprints in front of him, Duanmu Huai couldn’t help rubbing his hands with excitement. These are the basic components of a Judge’s space fortress.

The [Core Cabin] doesn’t need much explanation, it is the place where Duanmu Huai had previously woken up.

The [Strategic Command Room] is mainly used for an intuitive scanning and detection of the entire planet map.

The [Power Reactor] is the basic component that provides energy for the fortress.

The name [Enhancement Room] is somewhat misleading, at first glance it seems to be used for the player to strengthen themselves, but that’s not the case. In fact, the [Enhancement Room] is used to manufacture Mecha Servants.

The so-called Mecha Servant is a product of ancient Imperial tech, in simple terms, it involves cloning a person, then merging them with machinery, transforming them into a mechanical bio-human. These Mecha Servants don’t have self-awareness and can perform simple tasks through inbuilt program logic.

Of course, if players find it troublesome, they can also directly capture some criminals and put them into the brainwashing device for transformation.

Speaking of which, there were players who caught a group of beauties to make Mecha Servants, to see if they could do whatever they wanted… Unfortunately, a game is still just a game, as for what would happen in reality… That’s arguable.

However, those who have such thoughts have basically been corrupted by the God of Lust and have been loyally labeled on the Tribunal’s list.

The [Tribunal Library] is a large library, but it’s not just a simple library, it is also an analytical reformation device. Players can give the [Tribunal Library] the items they obtained from adventures in other worlds for analysis, thereby acquiring skills, magic, or knowledge from that world to modify their fortress.

The [Defense Module] is the defensive shield of the fortress space station, the [Weapon Module] is used to build various defense weapons, nothing too special.

Next is the [Extinction Order]… yes, as the name implies, the [Extinction Order] is a decree to exterminate a planet, which is essentially a powerful weapon to destroy the planet. If a Judge confirms that the chaos corruption of a planet is beyond redemption, he can use his authority to sign an extinction order, and then one shot — the entire planet will be completely blown to ashes.

The [Void Barrack] is where Judges train their own troops, and the [Void Dockyard] is mainly used to manufacture warships. The former has no use for Duanmu Huai, because later Soul Walkers become a one-man army… In fact, it’s the same now. If Duanmu Huai wants to, he can completely pave his entrance with hundreds of puppets.

The attack power is just a bit low.

[Special Building] is an additional enhancement module, if a player’s main mission evaluation is high enough after the adventure on a planet, or if the planet’s reputation is high enough, they may receive additional building module rewards and can build some buildings with special abilities.

But this is still too far away for Duanmu Huai now.

The order in which these buildings are unlocked is also a matter of consideration.

Within “Star Ocean Online”, there are multiple civilization routes. One is the default Judge Empire technology route, where players don’t have to make tough decisions, simply click and everything’s set. However, there are also other civilization routes that have developed over time after the “Black Hole Project”, scattered throughout the Milky Way. These include magic civilizations, technology civilizations, and mixed civilizations.

Generally, only new players naively choose the default Imperial technology route. Granted, the Imperial technology route is pretty powerful and helpful in the beginning, but once you think about it, you’ll realize that the mighty Empire fell apart under the Subspace Chaos Evil God. So won’t ticking on this path again simply be a rerun of its defeat?

On the other hand, searching for technologies from other civilizations then incorporating their best aspects is a better choice.

So, Duanmu Huai did not immediately unlock the “Power Reactor”. If unlocked now, it would automatically construct an “Imperial Techno Core – Plasma Reactor” due to the current enforced Imperial technology tree. Though this would allow the fortress’s weapon systems to charge up and provide an early spatial firepower advantage, later on, players would find that different power systems require corresponding modules. In other words, once a player builds a “Plasma Reactor”, modules acquired from adventuring on other planets might not even be usable, and the player would be forced to stick to the default Imperial technology route.

A classic case of gaining a sesame seed but losing a watermelon.

Well…….. Duanmu Huai even suspects that the game makers designed it this way on purpose. After all, it is indeed tempting to be able to perform space-based strikes in the early game……..

But they’d later realize how big of a price they’d paid for it.

After all, constructing a module only costs 1 construction point.

But disassembling it requires 10……..

Well, they’re definitely doing it on purpose.

“Unlock the Strategic Command Room.”

Duanmu Huai pondered for a moment, deciding to build the “Strategic Command Room” first. Right now, he didn’t need weapons for space-based strikes. Although the “Tribunal Library” is also very important, for now, opening the map is the priority.

“—————–!!”

As Duanmu Huai’s words fell, the entire Core Cabin suddenly flashed a white light. Soon after, the Core Cabin began to tremble. After a moment, everything returned to silence. Simultaneously, Duanmu Huai found that at the end of the Core Cabin where the wall should have been, a heavy gate had appeared. He walked over, and the gate quickly rose, revealing a large cabin.

It didn’t look like the core of a space station, but more like a part of a cathedral, given the splendid decor and architecture around. The floor-to-ceiling windows nearly ten meters high were decorated with extravagant lace. Gorgeous patterns were drawn on the curved dome. A red flag hung high on the wall. Through the windows, one could clearly see a deep-blue planet and the starry sky.

Starlight from the window shone in, casting dazzling, golden light on the two-headed eagle symbol.

Were it not for the holographic projection console in the middle, it would appear more like a church hall, rather than a part of a space station or warship.

Well, not surprising. After all, players have complained that Imperial warships and space stations are just cathedrals with an engine attached…

But anyway, for the current Duanmu Huai, this was enough.

He walked over to the holographic projection console and reached out. Quickly, under Duanmu Huai’s operation, the full view of the planet below was completely revealed.

Well, time to get going.

When Duanmu Huai and Ogis returned to The City of Silver through the teleportation beacon, everyone else had already been waiting for them for a while.

“Where on earth did you go?”

The Elf Scout asked, sounding a little annoyed.

“We couldn’t find you anywhere. We thought you ran off with the Holy Artifact.”

“I was just doing some preparation,” Duanmu Huai replied briefly, before looking at the rest of the group.

“And you?”

“We also did some preparation and are ready to set off.” The Elf Scout replied with an edge in his voice.

“But planning the route is a bit troublesome, especially since we’re not quite sure about the situation outside……”

“No need to worry about that.”

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai spread out his right hand. Soon, with a flash of light, a projection of a planet appeared before him.

“Huh?!”

Seeing this, everyone’s eyes widened in surprise.