Letting out a soft breath and casting aside the melancholy in his heart, he said in a low voice:
“Then let me tell you—everything I said is true. I really do have two Flagship Blueprints in hand right now, one Dreadnought Blueprint, and one Interstellar Mothership Blueprint. I’m prepared to sell you the Interstellar Mothership Blueprint. I’ve already quoted you the price—do you have any objections?”
Joy clearly appeared on Li Xingchun’s face:
“Deal!”
“I want cash. No credit accepted.”
Li Xingchun was taken aback, his face showing a look between laughing and crying:
“If it were buying a fully-equipped finished Interstellar Carrier, I might not be able to afford it right away, but a mere blueprint I can certainly pay for.”
Li Qing curled his lips, took out a chip glowing with purple light, and handed it over.
Li Xingchun received it with both hands, his joy impossible to conceal, and quickly took out a decoder to examine it.
“It really is a complete Interstellar Mothership Blueprint!”
Even with Li Xingchun’s experience and knowledge, he was extremely excited at this moment.
To him, this was not just a super warship—it was a ticket to a higher status.
Once the flagship was built, commissioned, and incorporated into his own fleet, his standing in the family would instantly surpass the vast majority of his peers, leaping him straight into the Family Decision-Making Layer.
Though merely at the very edge of the Round Table, he would still have entered that tier, and his status would be on an entirely different level.
And all of this was brought about by this son of his who usually kept such a low profile.
Once the excitement passed, Li Xingchun calmed his emotions and turned to look at Li Qing.
One could clearly see the subtle changes in his expression and gaze—even his voice and tone were the same, yet one could distinctly feel that something was different from before.
“Wait a moment.”
His fingers tapped on the device on his left wrist, and a light-screen appeared.
He lightly touched it, and after a moment his gaze fell on Li Qing.
He hesitated slightly, then pressed down with his finger.
The next second, Li Qing felt something stir in his heart as a light-screen popped open before his eyes, and a notification appeared:
“[Imperial United Bank]: You have received a transfer of 40,000,000,000 Star Credits from ******. Balance: 40,216,300,000 Star Credits.”
Li Qing looked up in surprise, but before he could speak, Li Xingchun explained:
“Spending 40 billion Star Credits on a Flagship Construction Blueprint that is of vital importance to me—that’s perfectly reasonable, isn’t it!”
Li Qing slowly gave a thumbs-up:
“Perfectly reasonable!”
There was nothing more to say.
Li Qing instantly felt that the lingering resentment in his subconscious seemed to dissipate quite a bit.
Sure enough, no matter the time or space, the most common illness in the world is poverty, and money is the most effective cure.
“By the way, don’t you still have a Dreadnought Blueprint in hand? What do you plan to do with it?”
Li Qing immediately looked up warily, but Li Xingchun waved his hand:
“Don’t worry, I have no other intentions. I couldn’t afford to build it right now anyway. I’m just asking how you plan to handle it—keep it for yourself, or sell it?”
“Keep it for myself.”
“Hmm, that’s a bit tricky.”
“Even setting aside the blueprint, building a Dreadnought requires at least 200 billion Star Credits, and with fully-equipped conventional Fifth-Generation Top-Tier Weaponry and Equipment, it would take several hundred billion more. A flagship must maximize its combat power, so modifications are definitely needed. All in all, the cost would be at least somewhere between 1.2 and 1.3 trillion.”
“And that’s just the standard configuration. If you want something better, like an unconventional Sixth-Generation Weapon Components setup, the price will be even higher—fifteen trillion wouldn’t cover it.”
“And then? Do you have any suggestions?”
Li Qing appeared expressionless, but inside he was stunned.
His father’s estimate was far higher than he had expected—he had originally predicted it could be built for less than a trillion Star Credits.
“If you rely on earning the money yourself, it will be very difficult to build the Dreadnought before the fate of Zutal’s eight Life Planets is settled.”
“Besides, while a Flagship’s firepower is ferocious, it needs an Escort Fleet to unleash its full power. You’d need to earn at least five trillion Star Credits within ten years, plus maintain a monthly income of at least fifty billion Star Credits, to put together a fleet qualified to compete for a Life Planet.”
“With your current abilities, honestly speaking, that’s extremely difficult—even with my support in the days ahead, it would be hard to achieve.”
Li Qing fell silent.
His father had put it rather tactfully.
Five trillion Star Credits in ten years, plus a monthly income of fifty billion—honestly, even with the Palm Universe in hand, Li Qing found it extraordinarily difficult.
For anyone else, it would be virtually impossible.
He asked:
“What would you suggest, Father?”
Li Xingchun nodded and said:
“I have a few methods that would let you assemble a massive fleet led by a Dreadnought Flagship within ten years. Consider them.”
“The first method: demonstrate your potential to attract capital investment. As a member of the Qinghe Li Clan with noble status, you have certain advantages here—you can attract plenty of high-quality capital, and investors will inherently rate you higher than ordinary people.”
“But the downside is that capital always chases profit, and your greatest asset is that Dreadnought Flagship. They will inevitably demand you pledge it as collateral. If the situation turns unfavorable and the investment looks likely to fail, they will certainly demand to seize the collateral early—they might even deliberately scheme to take your Flagship.”
“Moreover, as more and more capital flows in, your share will keep shrinking. Once success seems possible, the investors will inevitably seek greater profits, and there will be all kinds of scheming and infighting. Honestly, I don’t think you can outplay a pack of old foxes.”
“The second method: cooperation. Use your Dreadnought Flagship as capital to buy into an existing large organization. At this stage, any major organization that acquires a Dreadnought Flagship would see its strength multiply several times overnight, greatly increasing its chances of seizing a Life Planet. Once a planet is successfully taken, whether you keep your shares or sell them and exit, you’ll gain wealth beyond ordinary imagination.”
“This method is safer than the first, though there will still be various troubles down the road. And if the organization you choose also has capital investors, there will be even more trouble than the first option.”
“The third method: build your own organization, using your Dreadnought Flagship to attract powerful solo players or small teams.”
“Since you’d be building from the ground up, as long as your leadership is strong enough, you can keep your subordinates under control, and future problems would be minimized.”
“The prerequisite is not bringing in capital. But if you do take a Life Planet in the future, developing it without capital investment would be extremely difficult.”
Li Qing listened carefully, then suddenly asked:
“Either way, capital will have to be brought in eventually. So why can’t I bring in the family? I remember the family has its own investment company.”
Li Xingchun shook his head:
“In the contest for Life Planets like this, the major Warlord Families are not allowed to enter directly.”
At this point he suddenly paused, thought for a moment, and said to Li Qing with a grave expression:
“Do you know why you Pioneers can’t get large-scale support from the families, why the families aren’t allowed to directly help you?”
Li Qing shook his head.
Li Xingchun said in a deep voice:
“Because the so-called System is actually the Civilization Will Aggregate of human civilization—the projection of the will of all players in human civilization, the representative of every human player’s will.”
“People have no inherent hierarchy. The vast majority of human civilization consists of ordinary people. Without these constraints, if the powerful and privileged could oppress ordinary people at will and cut off all paths of advancement, imagine what would happen?”
“When the vast majority of wills within the Civilization Will Aggregate become angry, it means the civilization’s rejection.”
Li Xingchun didn’t continue, but Li Qing could read the answer from the flicker of fear in his eyes.
No wonder these wealthy and powerful families were so restrained.
He had simply assumed they wanted to cultivate their juniors through a survival-of-the-fittest approach, but now it seemed they simply didn’t dare go too far.
The juniors of wealthy noble families did indeed have great advantages over ordinary people, but not to an insurmountable degree.
Like the eight Life Planets in the Zutal Sector this time—anyone could compete for them.
Children of the great families could go, and so could ordinary people.
Their success rate might not be as high as that of the wealthy families’ children, but the opportunities were real, and there were plenty of them.
As long as one’s Innate Talent was strong enough, there was a chance to rise.
“So, which one do you want to choose?”
Li Xingchun looked at his son and said earnestly:
“Personally, I suggest you use the second method—find a large team to cooperate with directly. That way you can immediately start building a Dreadnought. Flagship construction cycles are extremely long, often taking more than five years. By the time yours is built, the Battle of the Zutal Sector will be entering its final phase, which is exactly when the competition will be fiercest.”
“It’s predictable that among the many players competing, few will have Flagships. You’d have a very good chance of seizing a Life Planet and holding it.”
“Of course, if you want to use the third method, that’s fine too. Your father will do his best to help you, and if you develop smoothly in the future, you could even gain the full support of our faction.”
“I’m not sure yet.”
Li Qing thought for a moment, then explained:
“I’ll prepare to head to the Zutal Sector, but I’m still not sure whether to cooperate or build my own team. I’ll go over first and observe to see if there’s anything suitable. If I make a choice, I’ll let you know.”
Li Xingchun nodded:
“Make your own choice. I won’t interfere. But remember—if you go with the second option, you must decide within five years at most. For the third option, it’s best to decide within two to three years from now. Beyond that, it may be too late.”
“I will.”
“It’s in your hands.”
They chatted for a while longer.
This was the first time father and son had talked so intimately—previously, only his most outstanding sons had received this treatment.
A Flagship Blueprint was worth far more than just those 40 billion Star Credits.
Leaving the family office, Li Qing checked his bank account balance aboard the Flyer, then began planning how to use such a large sum of money.
Meanwhile, in the office, Li Xingchun was sitting in his chair deep in thought when a knock suddenly sounded at the door.
“Come in!”
The one who pushed the door open was Li Lun, dressed in a Zhongshan suit and leaning on a dark-gold wooden cane.
He sat down in the chair Li Qing had just occupied and asked casually:
“What, did you come all the way from Qinghe just to see this son of yours?”
Li Xingchun nodded and said:
“You’ve been here for so long, you should have a good understanding of the Yu family. Are there any unmarried women of marriageable age among the direct line of the Yu Round Table?”
Li Lun was surprised and asked:
“Are you arranging a marriage for one of your sons?”
“Li Qing.”
Li Lun’s pupils widened slightly, surprise showing in his eyes:
“You’re arranging a marriage for him? And seeking it from the Yu family’s Round Table level?”
His expression was complicated, and for a moment he didn’t know what to say.
“Just tell me whether there are any or not.”
“There are, of course there are, but I don’t think there’s much chance of this working out.”
Li Lun shook his head and said:
“Among the Yu family’s current Round Table decision-makers, only two meet the requirements—a pair of twin sisters. The elder is Yu Yueyao, and the younger you should have heard of: the Pearl of the Yu family, Yu Yuefei.”
“To be honest, given the Yu family’s standing today, plus the Imperial Senate’s current emphasis on Zutal, the Yu family’s importance is rising higher and higher. I’d bet that before you even had this thought, plenty of people had already been sounding out the Yu family.”
“Then one more won’t matter. Help me deliver a visiting card, and I’ll pay them a visit in a few days.”
“Uh…”
Li Lun was somewhat speechless:
“Well, actually, what I want to say is, going would be pointless. Neither your status, nor nephew Li Qing’s abilities and talent potential, stand out among the candidates. It’s unlikely—”
Li Xingchun looked up at his second brother, who was hesitating to speak, and waved his hand:
“Whether it’s possible is another matter. Just pay them a visit first.”
“Fine!”
Star City, Berth No. 547 of Starport No. 5.
By the time Li Qing returned to the Escort Ship docked there, he had already made arrangements for how to use that massive sum of 40 billion Star Credits.
The plan had changed several times.
Originally, he hadn’t planned to go to Zutal, but after hearing his father say that if he didn’t go, he would lose any future chance to compete for a Life Planet, there was no other choice.
If he was going to Zutal, then considering the current situation there, he needed to prepare thoroughly.
First, he needed to assemble a small fleet of considerable size, containing at least two Cruisers.
Although his current command skills couldn’t yet handle Cruisers, he could first purchase the Blueprints and shipbuilding materials and store them in the Palm Universe’s warehouse.
Once his shipbuilding skill improved enough to build them, he could construct them himself.
Beyond that, he would also need several Destroyers, a batch of Escort Ships, several Transport Ships, Industrial Ships, and a considerable number of Mining Ships.
And of course, he would inevitably need one or two Personal Base Devices with plenty of Modules, as well as a complete set of industrial equipment and so on.
After that, he went on a wild shopping spree on the market, throwing money around freely.
Soon, shipload after shipload of materials was delivered by merchants to a large warehouse he had specially rented, where he then transferred everything into the warehouse of the High-Dimensional Fortress inside his Palm Universe.
It was worth noting that although Cruiser Blueprints were available for sale on the market, they had all been listed at four to five times the market price and had sat there unsold for a long time.
After much consideration, he decided not to buy one.
However, he did go ahead and purchase the many materials needed to build a Cruiser according to the recipe.
PS: Recommending a friend’s new book
Title: [What the Hell Top Laner]
Recommendation: A lighthearted, humorous, cheat-powered LoL novel.
The author’s original name, “I Have Skills, Do You Need to Watch?”, got reported.
Link below.