Zi Ye sighed helplessly, "You idiot. What use is this thing to me? I don't understand mining, and metals are only useful to me after someone else has processed them. You're the one entering this field, take it and study it; you'll surely be better at it than I am. Furthermore, is anything more important than us actually getting a battleship off Silver Talisman Star?"

Tie Shou was so moved he was nearly in tears. "Thanks, kiddo."

Zi Ye waved his hand and walked over to the battleship's holographic model. He continued, "The battleship has three module slots that can accommodate launchers, which can fire ordnance in eight directions. The launcher orientation can be adjusted based on the enemy’s direction. It can also hold energy plates, depending on the need. There are drone bays, capable of holding up to 20 drones."

Da Tou nodded, looking the battleship over from bow to stern, then frowned. "Where is your mech bay?"

Zi Ye froze on the spot. "Mech bay? I forgot!"

Everyone, having just been impressed by how professional she sounded, burst into laughter at her sudden stunned expression. A battleship wasn't a mothership; it didn't have the massive capacity to house Iron Cavalry carrier aircraft, but drones and mechs were essential inclusions.

Some mech-specialized battleships could carry thirty mechs at once. Forgetting to install a mech bay was an utterly basic error.

Amidst the laughter, Zi Ye’s face flushed scarlet with embarrassment. She clutched her head. "I'll go back and fix it right now."

Lao Gou quickly waved his hands, signaling everyone to stop laughing so Zi Ye wouldn't get angry out of humiliation. "It’s fine. What you’ve done is already excellent. For people like us who have actually piloted battleships, we still aren't as good as you."

Zi Ye scratched her head. "Let me think about how to change it." The truth was, she had never actually seen a battleship up close. The vessels used for tours at the initial academy of Fei Lü were cruisers, and when she occasionally needed to travel, she took the interstellar bus. She had almost no concept of a battleship. Although the DADA that 69 shot down was a battleship, it was specially refitted, with the mech bay converted into an airship hangar. At the time, she had simply thought that since no airships were needed, that section could be eliminated.

She hadn't realized at all that a battleship required a mech hangar!

Having spent two years on Silver Talisman, she had long since begun treating mechs as independent entities rather than mere ship attachments, which was why she had forgotten with such self-justified logic.

Da Tou stood up. "Everyone, don't rush. Let's step out for some tea and rose pastries first. We can continue later."

The others understood Da Tou's intention. They stopped teasing Zi Ye and dispersed in small groups, arm-in-arm, heading out for tea, leaving only Zi Ye, Da Tou, and Lao Gou behind, along with a tiny figure everyone had ignored—Xiao Xiao.

Lao Gou, a former pilot who valued independence and freedom, was more familiar with battleships, so he stayed behind. He brought up the shared data Zi Ye had sent on his light screen interface, pointing at the virtual ship diagram. "A ship is different from a mech. A ship needs to be sturdy; you have to look at its armor, specifically its resistance and penetration values. These require higher-grade metals. Since your metal is based on the DADA battleship's alloy, it should be fine."

Zi Ye secretly thought, Thank goodness.

"However," Da Tou interjected, "ships place high demands on the CPU, especially its processing speed. And then there are the energy grids. Stable and sufficient energy is the prerequisite for keeping a ship operating at high speed."

Zi Ye broke out in a cold sweat. She had previously only designed the battleship blueprint based on structure, thinking that as long as all the components could be fitted harmoniously into the hull, the ship would function normally. She had absolutely no idea which components were most important or critical.

The theoretical knowledge gleaned from books provided a vastly different result than discussions with experienced personnel. She learned far more useful things from Da Tou’s mouth than she had ever seen in textbooks. Many issues that only experienced captains discovered were never mentioned, and logically couldn't be mentioned, in books.

Listening to them, Zi Ye made notes on the sections requiring modification and marked the points needing adjustment. Once finished, she turned to them. "I'll go back and fix it immediately. If I don't understand anything, I'll ask you, or perhaps you two could come back with me? I have the facilities at my place."

Da Tou was about to nod when Xiao Xiao ran over and volunteered enthusiastically, "Kid, I'm coming too."

Lao Gou clapped him on the shoulder and teased, "Young man, are you afraid she’ll accidentally convert your drone bay into a mech bay?"

Xiao Xiao shook his head and said seriously, "No. I just thought it over. With the current design, the battleship requires four people to be on duty simultaneously just to launch. Silver Talisman probably won't have that many personnel available."

This was an aspect Zi Ye hadn't considered at all before this moment.

Da Tou smacked his forehead. "Oh, thank goodness you reminded us!" On Silver Talisman, besides those present, only Hong Fa was familiar with ship operations. That made only three people in total—not enough to sail.

Lao Gou urged, "Xiao Xiao, do you have a good idea?"

Xiao Xiao grinned proudly. "We can borrow from the drone concept. Drones don't need manual control because they have powerful electronic systems. If we convert the parts of the ship that need manual operation to system control, leaving only the Captain and Vice-Captain positions, wouldn't that solve it?"

The four of them returned to Zi Ye's residence, embarking on another round of day-and-night effort. When the blueprint was finally ready again, Zi Ye felt a huge weight lift from her chest. She uploaded the blueprint to the shared files, kicked Da Tou and the other two out to rest, and then slept deeply to restore her energy before packing the tools needed to leave Silver Talisman.

Xiao Dou Ya had analyzed An Jun Lie’s movement route via the tracker installed on his mech. It differed slightly from the trajectory they had previously plotted, so Zi Ye decided to follow An Jun Lie's exact route.

At the very least, she needed to understand what was going on.

As for the residents of Silver Talisman Star, they could just focus on building the battleship before they set out!

With all preparations complete, Zi Ye also chose to depart at five in the morning, just as the Purple Constant Star was setting—the deepest, darkest moment on Silver Talisman Star. Everyone was still asleep; no one noticed that another resident had just departed Silver Talisman Star!

The mech lifted off the ground, entered the atmosphere, and then rapidly ascended. The Ping’an model thoroughly demonstrated its unparalleled speed. By the time the morning light bathed Silver Talisman Star, Zi Ye had already flown out of the atmosphere.

It was at that moment that the residents of Silver Talisman Star simultaneously received a message from Zi Ye: "Dear everyone, this is Kiddo. To determine a safe route away from Silver Talisman Star, I have gone ahead and left! This route has been adjusted based on the trajectory map left by the aliens, so I shouldn't die. Also, please don't be sad or upset; I haven't abandoned you. In Warehouse Number One at my place, I have prepared ten Ping’an model mechs for you to leave Silver Talisman Star a step ahead of others. First come, first served! If you can't get a mech, it's okay. As long as you build the battleship, hehe, you can still leave."

"But please do not take anything from my house to vent your frustration, or I will demand tenfold compensation. Right, I have set up a reception system in the shared files that can receive my entire path and record everything along the way. Goodbye, dear friends, see you in space."

This message caused a tidal wave to crash over Silver Talisman Star; the planet instantly erupted into chaos.

"Damn it! That damned Kiddo, daring to leave me behind?" With a sharp crack, Hong Fa, having just woken up and hearing the news, was so furious that the palm unit of his B360 shattered into dust.

Lao Gou, who also heard the message, immediately steered his airship toward Zi Ye’s house—no matter what, he had to get a mech first!

－ [bookid=2678902,bookname=《Star Gourd》] A very good urban supernatural novel