From sailboats to star destroyers (Source: Web)

Chapter 43 Future Development Direction

After seeing off the Investigation Bureau members once again, Miao Meng didn't even take a few more steps inside the villa. After arranging for the crew to be on guard, he moved all the weapons into the basement in one go.

The villa's basement wasn't a dedicated research facility. Miao Meng could tell from the wooden shelves and empty bottles that it was originally intended to be used as a wine cellar.

However, Miao Meng didn't care about this. Finding such a suitable villa in an hour was already quite an achievement, and there was no need to ask for more.

He then focused all his attention on organizing all the alchemy tools that he hadn't been able to display due to space constraints, transforming the entire basement into a proper alchemy workshop.

The previous house was just a rental, and many of the furnishings were for convenience and were not very professional. Many devices that required sufficient space for renovation could not be installed.

While it doesn't have a significant impact on basic item crafting, it's impossible to go further with just basic tools.

Although the thieves only took a batch of practice and defective products after looting the workshop, it still shows that the workshop's security measures were extremely thorough.

Therefore, Miao Meng equipped all the protective arrays that had not been set up before, and even though it cost him a lot of materials that were originally intended for modifying the ship, he did not hesitate to use them.

Then, without stopping, they made a return gift from the gift sent by the Investigation Bureau—the Fire Stone that was in the box.

The tragic deaths of those thieves, while venting Miao Meng's anger, will inevitably have an impact on the local investigation bureau.

People in the real world aren't like monsters that can be respawned in a game instance; everyone has their own life relationships and family.

Until you can single-handedly defeat the entire world, following local rules can save you a lot of trouble, just like the handling of this murder.

Not all psionicists are lawless outlaws. In Dongxia, a place with strict laws, many psionicists who entered the inner world by accident still quite agree with the Dongxia government.

With the experience gained from making the fireball necklace last time, this necklace has undoubtedly made a leap forward in performance.

Besides using significantly more material than before, Miao Meng has also made considerable progress in carving runes, guiding arrays, and other aspects after such a long period of study.

As a result, on the third day, the Investigation Bureau sent people to retrieve the necklace for testing, and its astonishing effects even alarmed the North China headquarters.

Fireball Necklace: Blue Fine Equipment, +2 Fire Resistance, with the spells: Ignite, Charge, Simple Fire Elemental Shaping.

The effects of the three magic circles interact with each other, together creating this powerful item comparable to a superhuman.

Aside from requiring a high level of mental strength from the user, it has no drawbacks and can unleash terrifying power when located in a fire-prone area.

Because fire element shaping requires extremely high levels of willpower, mental strength, and imagination from the user, otherwise this necklace could even reach the level of a purple epic.

The necklace can be stored in an incinerator or power plant for recharging, and can be taken out and transformed into a mobile turret when needed.

One kilogram of a complete Firestone is enough to accumulate enough to fire twenty fireballs with the power of a mortar, or other attacks of similar power.

When Miao Meng saw the specific attributes of this necklace, he almost decided to keep it for himself, but then he remembered that it was a return gift to be given, so he had to give up the idea.

Because this item represents his highest level of alchemy, it not only enhances his reputation but also allows him to reach new heights in prop making.

In the future, as long as there is a sufficient supply of materials, it will not be so difficult to make props of the same level again. With practice, it may even be possible to mass-produce them.

Through this prop-making experience, he gained a clearer understanding of himself and decided on his future development path.

The Magic Cannon Master, a class that should have been a well-rounded combat-oriented magic profession, was forcibly turned into a support-oriented alchemist by himself, which also shows that he does have some talent in this area.

Therefore, in the future, the main body will increasingly focus on research and production aspects on the path of magic cannon users, that is, develop in the direction of logistics.

The transformed ship girl form becomes stronger over time and with increased level, thus becoming more combat-oriented.

With health and defense dozens of times greater than its original form, and extremely high attributes, it also possesses a weakened version of infinite energy, making it virtually invincible in prolonged battles.

Moreover, by becoming the captain, the ship's growth restrictions were lifted. As he gained more experience, those outstanding battles and experiences would accumulate into specialties that would be layered onto this form.

Unfortunately, the two forms cannot use the same class skills; they only have some basic spiritual abilities and spells, and there is no such distinction between them.

Of course, skills obtained through skill points on the talent page don't have this problem; otherwise, Miao Meng wouldn't know how many resources he would need to grow.

With a clear direction for future development, Miao Meng's life returned to a stable rhythm.

Every day was as fulfilling as my senior year of high school: mornings for exercise, afternoons for studying, and evenings for playing dungeons.

Of course, training doesn't mean improving physical fitness, but rather practical combat training. For psionicists, the improvement brought by physical enhancement is not as useful as a bottle of potion.

Especially in her ship girl form, she possesses multiple specialties such as the Sword of Wind. Even though she inherited some of the Black Earl's combat experience and skills, it was impossible for her to immediately become a master of combat.

Fortunately, with the First Mate, who also inherited the Black Earl's memories, by his side, Miao Meng was able to receive guidance and instruction. Under the original guidance, Miao Meng's close combat ability did indeed improve significantly.

In the ship girl form, some abilities that are not at a certain level are not displayed; otherwise, there should be an additional rapier proficiency skill available now.

As for the Swift Sword that he originally possessed, it was set aside by Miao Meng because its role overlapped with the Wind Sword and it was not as strong.

Once we find enough materials, we'll replace it, replacing the ram at the bow with a figurehead and giving it another passive, permanent skill.

Of course, even amidst his busy schedule, Miao Meng wouldn't forget to visit Grandpa Liao. He would study diligently for two days, then go to the hospital for a visit and rest for a day.

Liao Ye's injuries weren't too serious. After all, that cheap homemade gun could only fire some low-quality ammunition, and it didn't have much killing power from a distance.

However, the old man was too old to be immune to injury. Even though he looked very healthy, many of his organs were already aging. Although the gunshot only left a small gash on his leg, the injury was still serious.

But in reality, it severely damaged the man's spirit and energy. Fortunately, his son was filial and took leave in time to go to the hospital to take care of him, preventing the old man from being too frightened and taking his last breath.

Shortly afterward, the old man moved away from the suburbs despite his son's strong opposition. Upon learning that Miao Meng had moved away that very day, the old man patted Miao Meng on the shoulder with satisfaction: "You're a guy who'll live to be a hundred."

Miao Meng just smiled and remained silent in response to Liao Ye's joke. Although the lifespan of his main body could not be measured, his ship girl form had a history of such behavior.

Ship girls, as a type of psionic construct, are essentially low-dimensional manifestations of high-dimensional projections, and they can also modify and replace body parts, meaning that theoretically they have no limit to their physiological lifespan.

Of course, it's hard to say in reality. One aspect is the psychological and spiritual capacity to withstand it, but whether one still recognizes oneself as the same person after living a long time is another matter.

On the other hand, being a professional is ultimately a risky profession; one never knows whether they might die on the road.

Moreover, there are external threats in reality, and one day we might wake up to find the world has ended. Immortality does not mean immortality.