Chapter 9: I Want a Spaceship!

9. I Want a Spaceship!

Tang Xiao hurriedly flipped through the list of legendary figures, only to find that the vast majority were in an unviewable state. However, there were still a few whose names could be seen.

"What's the deal with these people whose names I can see? Can they be awakened?" Tang Xiao asked.

【They cannot be awakened directly. According to the protocols established before they entered the mothership's cryo-chambers, they would swear an oath of allegiance to you. However, for individuals of this caliber, the binding power of such an oath is difficult to determine. Therefore, before you awaken them, you can conduct a negotiation with them while they are in a semi-conscious state. If they are interested in the terms you offer, they will be willing to accept awakening and serve you.】

"So, those whose names I can see are the ones who might be satisfied with my conditions?" Tang Xiao looked at those names—names that sounded like thunder in his ears—feeling both anticipation and trepidation.

These people clearly all came from films, television works, and games. Behind every name lay countless stories and legends; many were even the protagonists of those very works! So this is what legendary figures are like! Then, what kind of terrifying people exist in the tiers represented by the two question marks behind them?

【Yes. Furthermore, if the negotiation fails, they would rather sleep forever than serve you. But if we have fully met their conditions, we can awaken legendary figures directly without negotiation. Of course, the conditions they propose are often extremely harsh,】 the Main Brain added.

Tang Xiao nodded. He understood now; this wasn't the unconditional loyalty found in those system-based novels. Legendary figures only offered an initial level of favor and a verbal oath. They could be used by you at the start, but if you lacked the ability to earn their true loyalty, they could turn on you at any moment.

This was likely why the legendary tier only unlocked after he awakened his own power.

He suddenly saw a name and his eyes lit up. If he were to oppose Palpatine, perhaps this person could do it! Even if any random marine on the scene could beat him to death, this person truly had the ability to stir up trouble in the political arena of the Galactic Republic.

But... this person... had hidden dangers. He had no loyalty, no faith, no justice; for him, there was only power, only profit, only ambition.

Everything was a transaction.

Yet, only such a ruthless person could contend with Palpatine... even then, Tang Xiao couldn't guarantee it.

It had to be him! When the time was right, he would talk to him and see if he was willing to come out of retirement to help him. As for the consequences of doing so, who cared?

Right now, he had only one goal—war!!

The Clone Wars might be 10 to 30 years away. During this time, he had to prepare for war! Only then could he survive in this conflict that would sweep across the entire galaxy!

Beyond that, he could abandon everything else.

Tang Xiao leaned back in his chair and raised his hand toward a cup of tea on the table. After focusing his mind, the cup was indeed lifted by an invisible force and flew toward him.

Awakening, huh...

Tang Xiao felt a surge of joy, but the cup clattered to the floor, shattering into pieces.

There were no cleaning robots, so he really should awaken a few janitors... Tang Xiao looked at the tea leaves scattered on the floor, then at everyone busy on the bridge, and shook his head.

In any case, this mysterious power must be the Force, a unique power in the *Star Wars* universe. It is a supernatural and omnipresent power; it could be said to be all-encompassing and omnipotent.

In this world, those who use the light side of the Force are Jedi Knights, while those who use the dark side are Sith Lords. In short, the people buzzing around with lightsabers in the movies are these two groups.

The epic war between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire was the confrontation between the light and dark sides of the Force. In the end, the Jedi Order, representing the light, won, and the Sith Lords were completely wiped out, forced to operate in the unknown shadows.

So, I have the Force too. Tang Xiao felt this power, and the shards of the teacup on the floor were lifted one by one, flying steadily toward the trash can nearby.

Then, they clattered and fell all over the area around the trash can.

"Administrator." Qi Jian came to Tang Xiao's side, who was having a bit too much fun, and looking at the teacup shards flying everywhere, he offered his sincere congratulations, "Congratulations, Administrator, on mastering this mysterious and powerful force."

"Do you need something?" Tang Xiao asked.

"Yes. Our staff department just completed a proposal regarding our current military strength. Please take a look." Qi Jian sent a data packet to the screen in front of Tang Xiao.

Tang Xiao looked at the plan and the listed data on the screen and said, "Tell me the conclusion first."

Qi Jian nodded and said, "Our most urgent matter right now is to improve the mothership's defensive capabilities. Relying solely on Blade-class fighters is far from enough; to put it bluntly, that thing is just a sealed iron box with a machine gun and a pair of engines. We need a stronger starfighter, and since the production lines inside the mothership can produce fighters directly, this saves us the time and resources of building a space dock for now."

Tang Xiao signaled for him to continue.

"We hope to begin the R&D of the Blade II fighter as soon as possible, have the research department decode the technology for this fighter, and modify the production lines to start manufacturing. In addition, we need to start research on infrared laser weapons to upgrade the weapon systems of the Blade II," Qi Jian said, bringing up the data for a fighter.

Tang Xiao looked at the fighter. He recognized it as the fighter from *Homeworld 2*; it was indeed an upgraded version of the current Blade-class fighter. The design was smoother and the handling was better, but the firepower was as weak as ever, with only a single six-barreled electromagnetic cannon.

No wonder Qi Jian also requested research into infrared laser weapons; this was early-game laser weapon technology from *Stellaris*, which was indeed very practical for the time being.

However, after reading the data, Tang Xiao shook his head vigorously. He understood very well what kind of opponents he would be facing; the slight increase in combat power from the Blade II was merely a drop in the bucket.

Based on his knowledge of the *Star Wars* universe, the main fighter of the Galactic Republic should be the Z-95 Headhunter, the prototype for the later, famous X-wing. In front of such fighters, both the Blade-class and the Blade II were just flies that could be swatted away at any time.

He thought for a moment and said, "I will immediately establish a physics research department to begin researching infrared laser weapons."

"Then, what about the Blade II fighter?" Qi Jian asked.

"This fighter offers limited improvement to our combat capabilities. For now, we can increase the production of the Blade-class fighters to 100 units and wait for them to be retrofitted with infrared laser weapons. That is our current objective," Tang Xiao said.

"But the reliability and combat capability of the Blade-class are far from ideal. I'm worried..." Qi Jian still wanted to argue.

"We need a more powerful fighter, preferably one with atmospheric combat capabilities. The enemies we are about to face are far more powerful than we imagine. If the time to develop and manufacture the Blade II is two months, then whether we spend two months to increase combat power by 10% or six months to increase it by 100%, I choose the latter." Tang Xiao waved his hand to interrupt him. "You must understand, we don't have the extra time or resources to research and manufacture too many transitional products."

In fact, he had already chosen the next fighter model he needed to research. According to the development difficulty reference provided by the Main Brain, the difficulty of this fighter was within an acceptable range, but the boost to their combat power would be immense.

CF/A-17!

Wraith!

From *StarCraft*!

{Note 1}: By the way, this book will not feature overly absurd or immersion-breaking characters or technology, such as Gundams.

【Easter Egg Chapter Image 1: CF/A-17, Wraith】

(End of chapter)