The universal slots consisted of 6 medium (m) slots, 8 small (s) slots, and 2 function (a) slots.
It was worth noting that the Destroyer he had commissioned was not a conventional Gale-class Destroyer, but an Elite Hurricane-class Destroyer, which not only had higher base attributes than the conventional Gale-class, but also came with more slots.
However, correspondingly, while a conventional Gale-class Destroyer cost 150 million per ship bare-hull, the Elite Hurricane-class cost 250 million per ship—a full 100 million Star Credits more.
Destroyer (Hurricane-class): A multi-purpose warship with assault, anti-air, escort, patrol, guard, and reconnaissance functions.
Attributes:
Base Hull: 10,000
Base Armor: 10,000
Base Shield: 10,000
Base Speed: km/h
Default Tactics: Sentry Tactics
Fleet Slot Size: 2
Advanced Heavy Cannon Bow Module, Advanced Gunboat Stern Module.
Components: Power Core, FTL Component, Thrusters, Sensors, Combat Computer.
Weapon Slots: L4, M12.
Universal Slots: M7, S8, A2.
In truth, what he really wanted was the Excellence Black Hawk-class Destroyer, but the shipyard didn’t have blueprints for that either.
And this was only the beginning of the spending.
Next, Li Qing made additions and adjustments on the configuration sheet, installing several slots on this Destroyer.
Based on the Hurricane-class Destroyer’s maximum modification limit of 15 Modification Points, he added 2 extra L large weapon slots, each consuming 6 Modification Points, costing 50 million × 2 = 100 million Star Credits, maxing out its attack power outright.
With the remaining 3 Modification Points, he added one M medium universal slot consuming 3 Modification Points, costing 10 million—using up every last credit.
Total expenditure: Hull 250 million + 100 million + 10 million, for a total of 360 million Star Credits.
After that came the second-largest expense: weapons and universal slot configurations.
It was worth noting that his four L large weapon slots were not equipped with conventional large weapons, but with L-slot Main Battery Weapons.
In the star sea, the four weapon types—M medium, S small, P-slot Point Defense, and Autocannons—each weapon slot actually contained two cannons, mounted one on each side of the warship.
Meanwhile, X extra-large slots, G missile slots, and T-slot Doomsday Weapons each had only one.
The L large slots were somewhat special, because this type of large slot had two templates.
One was the conventional template, which also split one slot into two cannons.
The other was the main battery template, with only one cannon per slot.
The main battery equipped in an L large slot was more powerful than a single conventional large weapon, but also more expensive.
The four L large weapons were kinetic weapons—Advanced Kinetic Railguns—more powerful than standard Kinetic Railguns, at 50 million each, for a total of 200 million Star Credits for all four.
Advanced Kinetic Railgun: A highly advanced kinetic cannon capable of firing high-powered, long-range kinetic shells.
Type: Instant, Kinetic.
Damage: 2800–5000.
Fire Rate: 90 seconds/shot.
Accuracy: 90%.
Range: 1,500 km.
Modifier: +50% Shield Damage.
Modifier: -25% Armor Damage.
Then, the 12 M medium weapon slots were also equipped with kinetic weapons—Fifth-Generation Electromagnetic Cannons.
Fifth-Generation Electromagnetic Cannon (Medium): A long-range antimatter cannon capable of firing high-powered kinetic shells at extreme distances.
Type: Instant, Kinetic.
Damage: 500-700.
Fire Rate: 25 seconds per shot.
Accuracy: 75%.
Range: 500 kilometers.
Modifier: +25% Shield Damage.
Modifier: -50% Armor Damage.
The Fifth-Generation Electromagnetic Cannon (Medium) cost 10 million for a set of two, and 12 sets came to 120 million.
With the weapons configured, next came the Universal Slots—7 M-type Medium Universal Slots, 8 S-type Small Universal Slots, plus 2 A-type Function Slots.
Li Qing considered for a moment.
Of the 7 M-type Medium Universal Slots, 2 were fitted with the Fifth-Generation Medium Energy Shield, each adding 4,000 Energy Shield points with 2 points of automatic regeneration per second.
The other 5 were fitted with Fifth-Generation Neutron Armor, each adding 3,000 armor points with 2 points of armor repair per second.
Both the Fifth-Generation Medium Shield and the Fifth-Generation Medium Armor were priced at 8.8 million each, so the 7 slots came to 61.6 million Star Credits.
As for the 8 S-type Small Universal Slots, they were all fitted with the Fifth-Generation Small Energy Shield, each adding 2,000 Energy Shield points with 1 point of automatic recovery per second. Get faster updates on novelping.com.
The Fifth-Generation Small Shield cost 2.2 million each, so 8 of them came to 17.6 million Star Credits.
The two A-type Function Slots were configured identically, both with the Advanced Afterburner, whose effects were +30% acceleration, +30% turn rate, and +20% normal flight speed.
Each cost 20 million, so 40 million for the two.
Maxing out speed directly.
Weapons plus Universal Slots came to 200 million + 120 million + 61.6 million + 17.6 million, totaling 399.2 million.
Adding the earlier bare hull cost of 250 million plus 110 million for the extra slots, which came to 360 million, the grand total—
Li Qing scratched his head and couldn’t help clicking his tongue:
“So expensive!”
And it still wasn’t fully configured—he still had to buy the reactor, hyperspace engine, thrusters, sensors, and combat computer, five more items.
Fifth-Generation Zero-Point Reactor, Destroyer version: 12 million Star Credits.
Fifth-Generation Jump Engine, Destroyer version, maximum jump range of 50 light-years: 30 million Star Credits.
Fifth-Generation Phase Pulse Thruster, +60% speed, +25% acceleration, +25% turn rate: 40 million Star Credits.
Fifth-Generation Tachyon Sensor, Destroyer version, maximum detection range of 100,000 kilometers in diameter: 16 million.
Advanced Combat System, Destroyer version, +10 accuracy, +10% flight speed: 7.5 million.
All together, that came to 105.5 million.
Adding the previous expenses, a fully-equipped Destroyer was complete, with a total cost of 844.7 million Star Credits.
“Tsk tsk tsk!”
The 1.2 billion Star Credits he’d just earned had lost more than half in one go—utterly outrageous.
This expense made Li Qing abandon his earlier plan of configuring two fully-equipped Escort Ships.
For now, one would do; he was afraid he couldn’t afford two.
He could barely afford it—an Escort Ship cost far less than a Destroyer—but the main issue was that after configuring it, he probably wouldn’t have much money left.
He still had to buy large quantities of weapons and ammunition, and large-caliber ammunition was outrageously expensive.
On top of that, he’d need to spend money recruiting a new crew, and the families of the crew members who had died would need to be paid a hefty compensation.
Next, he would have to stay in Jinmen for a while, studying shipbuilding-related skills at the engineering academy—all of which cost money.
He didn’t need to buy an Escort Ship; the one he had now just needed modifications to add extra slots.
An Escort Ship only had five Modification Points, so there wasn’t much to consider: four slots would be S-class small weapon slots costing only one Modification Point each, and one would be a P-class Point Defense slot—five in total, at 5 million each, for 25 million.
Combined with the original slots, that made 9 S-class small weapon slots, 2 P-class Point Defense slots, 5 S-class Universal Slots, and 1 A-class Function Slot.
The weapons were all Fifth-Generation Flame Storm Machine Guns, priced at 2.5 million each—9 of them for 22.5 million.
Fifth-Generation Flame Storm Machine Gun: A large-caliber ballistic weapon capable of firing Casing-Shedding Shells at extremely high velocity.
Type: Instant, Kinetic.
Damage: 50-60.
Fire Rate: 2 seconds per shot.
Accuracy: 50%.
Range: 70 kilometers.
Modifier: +25% Shield Damage.
Modifier: -50% Armor Damage.
Since it was an Escort Ship whose main duty was intercepting enemies that closed in on Destroyers, it naturally needed the fastest-firing autocannons.
The P-class Point Defense slots were fitted with Guardian-class CIWS, also priced at 2.5 million each—two for 5 million.
Guardian-class CIWS: The Warship’s last line of defense, specialized in defending against missiles and space fighters.
Type: Instant, Kinetic.
Damage: 3-3.
Fire Rate: 12,000 rounds per second.
Accuracy: 30%.
Range: 18 kilometers.
Modifier: -75% Armor Damage.
Modifier: -50% Hull Damage.
For the Universal Slots: three shields and two armor, at 2.2 million × 5 = 11 million Star Credits.
The A-class slot was fitted with an Advanced Afterburner Chamber, the Escort Ship version priced at 10 million Star Credits.
The power core was the Escort Ship version of the Fifth-Generation Zero-Point Reactor, priced at 8 million Star Credits.
The Escort Ship version of the Fifth-Generation Jump Drive, priced at 15 million Star Credits.
The Escort Ship version of the Fifth-Generation Phase Pulse Thrusters, priced at 20 million Star Credits.
The Escort Ship version of the Advanced Combat System, Accuracy +10, Fire Rate +10%, at 2.5 million Star Credits.
Adding it all up, excluding the price of the Warship itself, the total cost was: 25 million for modifications + 22.5 million for 9 Fifth-Generation Flame Storm Machine Guns + 5 million for 2 Guardian-class CIWS + 11 million for 5 S-class Universal Slots + 10 million for the Advanced Afterburner Chamber + 8 million for the Zero-Point Reactor + 15 million for the Fifth-Generation Jump Drive + 20 million for the Phase Pulse Thrusters + 5 million for the Tachyon Sensor + 2.5 million for the Advanced Combat Computer.
A total of 135 million.
Adding the bare hull at 20 million, a fully equipped Swift-class Escort Ship cost 155 million.
155 million plus 84.47 million made 999.7 million—total assets of 1.23 billion Star Credits had shrunk to just 230.3 million Star Credits.
At the price of one fully equipped Escort Ship, if he bought another one, the remaining seventy or eighty million might seem like a lot, but it really wouldn’t last.
Playing with Warships burned money like water—most of the time you had no idea where it all went.
If you didn’t save up more, the day would come when you were suddenly flat broke, and then it would all be over.
Next, Li Qing made a trip to the Crew Guild to pay the death benefits for his crew members who had died.
The death benefit for a senior crew member was 2 million each, and 5 million for an Escort Ship captain.
An Escort Ship had 3 senior crew members, and fortunately there had been no captain, so in the end he paid a total of 6 million in death benefits.
“…”
Fortunately, the new ship had just been ordered, and the Escort Ship’s wages weren’t too high yet, so he could just about bear it.
But once the Destroyer was launched and its crew was in place, he would have to leave Jinmen early to make money.
After leaving the Yu Shipyard, Li Qing first rented an apartment at Jinmen Space Habitat No. 3.
He would be staying in Jinmen for at least half a year, so he needed a place to live.
Using his personal terminal, he accessed the Engineering Academy network and registered online for a series of shipbuilding-related courses, both online and offline, costing a total of over ten million Star Credits.
After that came an intensive course schedule as grueling as the college entrance exams.
He had registered for too much—a full series of shipbuilding-related courses, more than thirty in total, with four or five classes almost every day.
Apart from attending classes, he did nothing but attend classes, frantically absorbing knowledge from every subject.
With the tenfold experience boost and his powerful Innate Attributes, one class for him was equivalent to dozens of classes for others, and his skills improved extremely quickly.
Li Qing estimated that at this rate of improvement, once he finished all the courses, he would be able to try building an Escort Ship himself.
At that point, he could recruit a batch of shipbuilding engineers, with a few senior engineers assisting, and he would be more or less ready to build Escort Ships directly.
Selling ships was far more profitable than mining—arms were always hugely lucrative at any time.
A bare Escort Ship hull sold for 20 million, so even at just a 10% profit margin, that would be 2 million.
But in reality, how could the profit possibly be only 10%?
Through his research, he learned that the price of a warship was composed of three parts.
Blueprints accounted for 10%, materials accounted for 50-60%—60% if you didn’t have a stable material supply channel, but if you had a stable supply channel and the right connections, you could obtain materials at below-market prices.
Then, normally, the shipyard usage fees plus the shipbuilding engineers’ salaries added up to about 15%.
Then there were channel fees, which were hard to pin down.
If a shipyard sold directly, there would naturally be no channel fees, but some merchants partnered with shipyards, buying ships at low prices from the shipyard and reselling them—the middleman would certainly take a cut.
So, for ships built and sold by normal shipyards, those with stable supply channels could earn roughly 20-30%, and never more than 30% at most.
That margin wasn’t large, but ships were so expensive that it added up—30% of 20 million was 6 million.
6 million per Escort Ship, and 100 Escort Ships would be 600 million.
The construction time for an Escort Ship was 60 days, and a large shipyard could typically build several hundred to over a thousand Escort Ships in a single batch.
An income of five to six billion in two months was quite good.
It was worth noting that the construction capacity of these large shipyards, which easily reached hundreds or thousands, was not the same as the shipyards in the High-Dimensional Fortress Li Qing possessed.
The shipyard in his High-Dimensional Fortress was, strictly speaking, called a Hyper-Structure Assembly Base—a single integrated shipyard that could build thousands of Escort Ships, each occupying only one slot of naval capacity, at the same time, or build a Titan Super-Flagship occupying over a thousand slots of naval capacity.
The docks of ordinary large shipyards were merely regular docks merged together, capable of building thousands of Escort Ships and Destroyers simultaneously, but unable to build Flagships, which occupy enormous dock capacity.
To put it plainly, the 2,300 construction capacity of the Hyper-Structure Assembly Base in his hands was a single unified whole.
Whereas the thousands of construction capacity in ordinary shipyards were pieced together from countless docks with only a dozen or a few dozen capacity each—in other words, their maximum single-ship construction capacity was only around twenty, at most able to build Battleships with a naval capacity of 20 slots, and completely incapable of building Flagships with naval capacities reaching several hundred slots.
Moreover, Li Qing’s Hyper-Structure Assembly Base dock had a special attribute: shipbuilding speed increased by 100%.
This meant that while a normal Escort Ship took 60 days to build, this Hyper-Structure Assembly Base could complete one in just 30 days—cutting the time exactly in half.
Furthermore, it only required 1 chief engineer, 2 senior shipbuilding engineers, and 30 ordinary engineers to build a ship.
This Hyper-Structure Assembly Base currently had 2,300 dock capacity, which theoretically would require 2,300 senior shipbuilding engineers and 69,000 ordinary engineers to operate at full capacity.
And that was just for building Escort Ships.
If Destroyers, Cruisers, and Battleships were also to be built, ordinary engineers could be shared, but a large number of matching senior shipbuilding engineers would still be needed.
What’s more, the docks that remained intact now were only a part of this Hyper-Structure Assembly Base.
In its fully intact state, its total dock capacity exceeded one hundred million, and at its absolute peak, it could build up to one hundred million Escort Ships per month—absurd just to think about.
But when you consider that this thing’s dimensions had to be measured in astronomical units, and its power furnace was a galaxy the size of the Milky Way, it suddenly didn’t seem so absurd anymore.