Ziye's mind was completely occupied by the Dreadnought's jump drive. She barely slept, rising early to pour over the engine schematics.

Little Sprout, spoiled by Tang Wen, poked her sleepily with a tiny sprout, "Silly Ziye, let's go swimming."

Ziye paid no heed. "I'm busy. Can you find the engine's operational principles for me first?"

Speaking of jump drive construction, its principles were on an entirely different level from those of an ordinary battleship.

Ziye had initially been confident, thinking she could grasp it after a few reads, but once she started her research, she realized the depth of knowledge required was staggering.

She could barely follow the principles for standard battleships, but as for the Dreadnought's jump drive—even if she understood the underlying theories, she hadn't even scratched the surface of its practical application or manufacture.

In a word: difficult!

Ziye looked from the Jump Drive Construction Principles manual to the engine diagram she had meticulously deconstructed on her optical computer, then sighed. "Doudou, let's go to Colette."

Little Sprout rolled around on the floor, wailing, "No, no! I want to swim!"

Ziye said helplessly, "Swim in the fish tank? I'll fill it with water for you."

Little Sprout rolled harder. "I want a swimming pool! A really big swimming pool!!"

Ziye immediately threw up her hands. "You're this tiny; a swimming pool would only emphasize how small you are! We don't have that facility here. A swimming pool would require being on a planet."

Little Sprout whined, "I just miss Big Bad Tang!"

Ziye let out a slow breath. "How about a walk instead? There's only one month left until summer vacation. When vacation starts, I’ll take you swimming on a planet."

Little Sprout's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Ziye chuckled. "Why would I lie to you?"

Changing her clothes, she headed toward the garden of the Sprout Villa, bringing Duzai and Douya along.

Duzai had gotten fat as a pig and was panting after every three steps, wheezing heavily.

Ziye, showing rare patience, stood still and waited for it, simultaneously calculating in her head how much money she would need this year.

Dreadnoughts were incredibly expensive to build, and the required production and maintenance equipment cost several dozen times more. Where on earth could she find tens of billions in funds? Not even robbing a bank would yield that much.

The thought of money gave Ziye a headache so bad she wanted to tear at her hair.

Her goal was to earn a vast fortune, but so far, everything felt like pouring water into a sieve. Even the Mengya Group's profits were considered quite good in the industry, yet they could only siphon off a billion per quarter.

The Sea Wolf Galaxy, recently developed by Wolf's Den, was still in the construction phase, nowhere near ready for attracting outside investment...

Frustrated, Ziye squatted down and scratched her head—she couldn't think about it any longer, or she'd scratch her hair clean off like a nun.

Little Sprout flew around, cheering happily, but received no response. It turned to see the other two lagging behind, so it gracefully flew back, hovering above Ziye's head and sending electric pulses toward Duzai: "Hurry up, giddyap!"

Ziye couldn't help but smile. Just as she was about to speak, her Omni-Com chimed. It was an unfamiliar number. Ziye cautiously answered to hear a strange man's voice: "Hello, Ms. Ziye? This is the Air Force Assembly Bay at Colette Space Station 27. What is the delivery address for your Dreadnought engine and main shaft?"

Ziye's eyes widened in disbelief. "Dreadnought engine? And the main shaft? I didn't order anything!!"

The man replied, "These were sent by a gentleman who left no name."

Ziye frowned suspiciously. "Just leave them there for now; I'll come take a look later."

It must be An Junlie? Who else would do something like this? She had only mentioned to him that she intended to build a Dreadnought.

Hanging up the Omni-Com, she asked Douya, "Who do you think sent me this?"

Little Sprout opened its optical screen and rapidly crunched calculations, then angrily slapped the screen with a wing. "It must have calculated wrong! How could it be an alien? I clearly hoped it was Big Bastard Tang!"

Ziye raised an eyebrow and smiled. "How did you calculate it? Let me see."

Little Sprout transferred the screen to her. She saw an analysis of the probabilities of the two men purchasing the engine shaft, factoring in parameters like their personalities and economic capabilities. The final result showed a 63% probability of it being An Junlie, while Tang Wen registered only 34%, leaving 3% for the unexpected.

However, because Tang Wen’s affinity rating with it was slightly higher than An Junlie's, it emotionally hoped it was Tang Wen.

Ziye laughed softly. "How high is your affinity level with me?"

Little Sprout huffed. "It just dipped to 927 out of a thousand. Because you came out for a walk, I’m temporarily raising it to 930."

Ziye was pleased and rubbed its head. Though not maxed out, it was leagues ahead of Tang Wen and An Junlie, which made her happy. She accompanied Duzai on a lap around the garden, then called An Junlie's number. "Did you send me a gift?"

An Junlie was just about to step out the door. Two lines of bodyguards stood waiting outside, and his assistant held files, all awaiting his command.

An entirely male entourage—the sight was quite imposing. Unfortunately, as soon as An Junlie received her Omni-Com call, his expression softened, and a smile broke through, instantly diffusing half of his majestic aura.

He said with a gentle smile, "Didn't you want to build one? Here are some small parts for you to play with. I’m waiting for you to build one even more powerful than the existing models."

He had originally intended to send a complete Dreadnought, but Dreadnoughts fall under the flagship category, which are crucial strategic assets for a legion. Even if he bought one himself on the open market, as the Legion Leader, sending such a gift would spur media speculation and potentially cause unease among the various legions. So, he decided to send it piece by piece.

As long as she kept the components intact, she could assemble a Dreadnought herself later!

Ziye looked at the screen, feeling an inexplicable wave of warmth.

Once again, she believed her choice had been correct.

An Junlie might not always be with her, but he understood her needs and stood firm as her powerful backing.

After their walk, she cheerfully scooped up Duzai, who was crawling like a looper caterpillar, called out to Little Sprout, and set off for the Air Force Assembly Bay at Space Station 27.

Space Station 27 was contracted by a single corporation to serve as a naval workshop, capable of assembling everything from shuttles to supercarriers.

Ziye had no prior experience with assembly, so she took Little Sprout to the assembly area to observe, broadening her horizons, before heading to her main destination: to see her Dreadnought engine.

The engine was a product of Star Path Group, under the Interstellar Federation, boasting an excellent reputation within the industry.

The moment Ziye saw it, her eyes locked onto it.

It had to be said, An Junlie’s gift hit the mark perfectly; she absolutely adored it.

The only complication was: where to put this thing?

School was out of the question; they had no facilities for handling Dreadnought-sized machinery. The equipment at Sprout Villa could only handle mechs, not large enough. Although the Mengya Group was currently investing in building a shipyard, it was only equipped for standard battleships and marauder ships, incomparable to flagships.

Ziye was thoroughly stumped.

After agonizing for a long time, she asked meekly, "I don't have a place to store this right now. Can it stay here for the time being? I'll need to come back to use it."

The young man responsible for delivery replied, "That’s no problem at all. There are many warehouses available for rent here, and the fees aren't high—just a few tens of thousands per month. You can store it here. If you want to assemble it on-site, you can rent a set of workshop equipment and do it yourself; it generally takes about two months for most people. The rear of this space station is open-access; once assembled, you can launch directly into space. Within 500 AU nearby, there are several large structures dedicated solely to flagship docking."

Ziye was stunned. A mere million-plus for equipment was considered cheap? However, compared to the tens of billions required for the entire Dreadnought, a million was indeed a small sum.

Ziye stopped worrying immediately. Since An Junlie had covered the engine purchase, the money she had was more than enough to cover equipment rental and warehouse fees.

She thanked the young man, said she would return later to finalize the engine arrangement, and left with Douya in her arms and Little Sprout in tow.

In the assembly bay, filled with solid steel and metal, the only traffic consisted of massive equipment, robots, and the occasional staff member zipping by in a shuttle, all wearing uniforms. There were also a few buyers who looked like serious procurement agents. Ziye, however, dressed like a young girl, strolled through casually with her pets, looking like a tourist attraction entirely out of sync with the environment.

Occasionally, a space station police officer would inquire, "Are you lost?"

Ziye felt a wave of embarrassment. "I'm looking to rent a warehouse."

The police officer outlined several options for her. She secretly noted them down and visited them all, eventually leasing a large warehouse in a relatively remote section of the station for a monthly rent of fifty thousand credits, asking the delivery attendant to help move the engine inside.

Next, she needed to start analyzing the engine.

The first step was simple: Little Sprout would scan all the intricate internal structures and print the blueprints.

The engine was immensely large, and its internal structure was incredibly fine and complex. Little Sprout couldn't finish scanning it immediately, but Ziye wasn't in a rush. She opened her optical computer, connecting it to Little Sprout's scan data to see where to begin.

The Dreadnought's massive jump drive resembled a colossal hedgehog, encased in thick armor. To begin work, she first needed to find a viable entry point.

She flew her shuttle around the engine in a full circle, stopping disheartenedly. Seeing the data flowing like a river across the five screens of her optical computer, she couldn't help but ask, "How's it going?"

Little Sprout was too busy working to bother with acting cute, merely replying, "Ing."

Ziye didn't want to distract it further. She picked up Duzai and placed it atop the engine. "Doudou, what kind of machinery do you think we should get to help us?"

Duzai hadn't brought its teething stick when they left the house. Upon seeing high-precision metal, it instantly began gnawing, sinking its teeth into a thick section of metal.

Ziye’s forehead broke out in black lines. "Besides pulling things, all you know how to do is eat. Chew one more time, and I'm throwing you out!"

Duzai looked up at her with dewy eyes. "Jee~?"

Ziye put on a stern face. "Don't look at me; acting cute won't help!"

-RS