Although the Level 3 sailing suit could be upgraded again, the blueprint now required an additional material: the Triangular Sea Star. The required seaweed also changed to "mutated seaweed," no longer the ordinary kind.
These were all materials Shi Ming had never heard of.
In particular, he couldn't find any record of the Triangular Sea Star in the Drifting Ship's warehouse, even using his captain's authority to search the index.
'Looks like I can only get this suit to Level 3 today. Besides, the Brain of Creation's upgrade function can only be used three times a day.'
After testing the Brain of Creation's ability, Shi Ming was deeply impressed. Even though he could only use it three times a day, it was still a skill with limitless potential. He could upgrade not only his clothes, but also blades, firearms, tables, chairs... He could even upgrade the bottle of red wine sitting on the table!
Shi Ming focused his attention on the red wine on the table.
[Mellow Red Wine]
[Level: 3]
[Upgrade Requirements: Sea Crystal Stone x30, High-Level Sea Crystal Stone x1]
'This wine's starting level is actually 3! It's the highest-level item I've seen so far! A collector's-grade legendary vintage, indeed!'
He then turned his attention to the handgun on the table.
[92B-2037 Handgun]
[Level: 2]
[An ordinary, standard-issue handgun, but its power is not to be underestimated. It was one of the most popular sidearms of the old era.]
[Upgrade Requirements: High-Level Sea Crystal Stone x1, Iron Ore x3]
...
Reading the lines of text that appeared on the panel, Shi Ming felt a surge of delight. He couldn't upgrade much at the moment due to a lack of materials, but the mere existence of the Brain of Creation gave him limitless potential and endless possibilities.
'I can always find more materials, but not everyone has the ability to upgrade things!'
Shi Ming grew more and more excited. He threw on his newly upgraded suit and prepared to take another tour of the Drifting Ship, wondering if he could use the Brain of Creation to upgrade some of the older equipment.
Especially the food production machine!
'I really don't want to eat hard bread and canned food every day.'
He went down to the second sub-level.
This was where the ship's food production lines were located. The previous captain hadn't been picky about food, so this Drifting Ship only had three production lines: steamed buns, crackers, and canned goods. The crew had to rely on supplements for any other nutrients.
'The food on this ship is way too monotonous.'
As a reincarnator from a nation of foodies, even with his special forces background, Shi Ming couldn't stomach eating this stuff every day.
He focused his attention on the production machine and activated the Brain of Creation.
[D3-Class Standard Food Production Line]
[Level: 1]
[The most common type of food production line. It uses the energy from Sea Crystal Stones to deconstruct raw ingredients and reassemble them into standard rations. Currently capable of producing steamed buns, crackers, and canned goods. The resulting food is bland and only provides basic daily sustenance.]
[Upgrade Requirements: Sea Crystal Stone x100, Iron Ore x30, Sky Net Intelligence Chip x1]
'The materials for this upgrade are far more than what the wine or the suit needed!'
Shi Ming didn't have a shortage of Sea Crystal Stones; there were plenty in the warehouse. There was also a large surplus of iron ore. The Drifting Ship currently had no facilities that consumed it, so the previous captain had likely collected so much for trading purposes.
Both of those materials were easy to get.
'But this Sky Net Intelligence Chip... is it related to the Celestial Net Chips implanted in the crew's brains?'
Shi Ming used the intercom to call the warehouse manager.
...
「First Sub-Level, Crew Lounge.」
"Brother Huang, what do you think of this room? It's close to the captain's quarters, in a great spot, and it even has a window! When you're tired, you can lie on the bed here, watch the sea, and have a little drink. It doesn't get better than this. Hehe."
"Nice. We'll take it."
"You got it. I'll register you right now."
BEEP, BEEP.
The intercom on the warehouse manager's hip chirped.
He glanced at the intercom and hurriedly pressed the button to answer.
"Captain, it's me, Old King... Are you in the warehouse right now? An 'intelligence chip'? I haven't heard of... wait, let me think. Oh, right! I think something like a 'smart chip' was checked into storage a while back. I'm not sure if it's what you're looking for, but I'll go get it for you. Okay, just a moment."
The warehouse manager ended the call.
"The captain needs something, so you two make yourselves at home. If you need anything at all, just let old King know."
Old King left the newly registered crew member's room and went clattering back down the stairs. If you had to name the busiest person on the ship today, it would surely be him. He'd been assigning crew status to the former slaves, registering their rooms, and giving the captain a tour of the warehouse. Now, at the captain's beck and call, he was off to rummage through the stores for materials.
But he didn't dare to utter a single word of complaint.
Everyone knew that being the warehouse manager was the cushiest job on the entire ship. With the Drifting Ship in a state of upheaval, he had to be cautious and tread carefully to hold onto this prime position.
If he accidentally provoked the young captain, he could be casually tossed into the sea and replaced with one of the captain's cronies, and no one would say a word in his defense.
...
While the warehouse manager was turning the storeroom upside down, Shi Ming wandered the ship by himself.
'The pharmaceutical production equipment should be a priority for an upgrade. The water purification system... Hmm, it's good enough for now.'
'The ecosystem of equipment on this Drifting Ship is pretty complete, like a miniature society. It has all the basic infrastructure you could think of. It's not very advanced, but it meets our daily needs.'
Small, but it has all the vital organs. Although this Drifting Ship was only Silver Level, it represented the pinnacle of human technology. That was why it could serve as a safe bastion preserving the last embers of humanity, allowing them to survive on this azure planet after the continents sank.
'I wonder who it was that led the project to build these 100,001 Drifting Ships as the apocalypse loomed.'
'Speaking of which, I still have an even higher-grade "Gold-grade Drifting Ship" sitting quietly in my inventory.'
'I'll have to study it tonight and see what's so special about it. How can something so small actually be Gold-grade?!'
...
"Captain! I found it! Look, is this the chip you were looking for?"
The warehouse manager came down from a cluttered shelf, holding a box. The box was open, and with a single glance, Shi Ming saw a palm-sized, irregularly shaped electronic chip resting inside.
"Can you check its origin?"
"Let me check the intake logs... Ah, here it is. The former captain plundered it from a rogue ship during a skirmish about half a year ago. It was tossed into the warehouse with a bunch of other spoils of war and forgotten... If you hadn't asked about it today..."
The warehouse manager trailed off, then looked at Shi Ming with a strange expression.
Shi Ming, of course, noticed the subtle change.
"Spit it out."
"...Captain, have you forgotten? You were also... captured from that same rogue ship, and then you became a slave... Bah! I mean, it was all that blind fool of a former captain's fault for mistaking an Awakened like you for a slave!"