Though there weren't enough materials for another upgrade to the Drifting Ship, Shi Ming was still quite satisfied with the outcome.
This upgrade not only improved the hull material and speed, but it also yielded a new, high-level piece of equipment.
A Repair Sleep Pod.
[M19-Type High-Level Repair Sleep Pod]
[Repair for ten minutes, battle for two hours! Made with body-friendly materials for a natural, skin-like feel. Its scientific repair function enhances sleep quality while rapidly restoring Physical Strength and Endurance.]
???
'Could it really be that amazing?'
Looking at the exaggerated description, Shi Ming was reminded of the fraudulent mattress salesmen from his previous life.
But a product of the Brain of Creation was unlikely to be a rip-off. He was already eager to try it out.
Besides, he was mentally exhausted after the recent upgrade and really needed a good rest.
...
The Repair Sleep Pod was, of course, installed in the captain's quarters as Shi Ming's personal equipment.
The captain's quarters were spacious enough that installing the single-bed-sized sleep pod was no problem at all, and there was still plenty of room to spare. The pod itself looked like an astronaut's cryo-chamber from a sci-fi movie, giving it a very high-tech appearance.
Shi Ming lay down in the sleep pod.
'Whether it's comfortable or not is secondary. Restoring my Physical Strength and Endurance is the top priority!'
He inserted some Sea Crystal Stones for power and flipped the switch on.
It felt as if a warm hand were constantly massaging every part of his body—his arms, his muscles, his neck and shoulders, his head—without any uncomfortable pressure, inducing only complete relaxation.
Energy permeated Shi Ming's skin in a peculiar fashion, repairing his cells little by little.
After lying in the sleep pod for less than twenty minutes, Shi Ming felt refreshed and clear-headed.
'This is so much better than any of those hot spring treatments or sauna spas from my previous life!'
Repair for ten minutes, battle for two hours!
No exaggeration at all!
Even the mental energy he had consumed upgrading the Drifting Ship was completely restored.
'It really is effective.'
'The only downside is that this sleep pod is a non-upgradable piece of equipment, so it has no further potential. And the rate at which it consumes Sea Crystal Stones is truly shocking!'
In twenty minutes, it had consumed twenty Sea Crystal Stones!
A single Sea Crystal Stone was worth about 10 to 15 Sailing Coins.
Calling it a money sink would be an understatement!
Shi Ming got out of the sleep pod and stretched his body, extending his newly relaxed muscles.
'I can only use this thing occasionally. If I actually slept in it for a whole night, the amount of Sea Crystal Stones it would consume could bankrupt me!'
'To him, the Brain of Creation's upgrade ability was practically a cheat code. Though it consumed a lot of resources and materials, the upgraded items were always an incredible value! Take this sleep pod, for example. Its repair function alone made it worth far more than 3,000 Sea Crystal Stones!'
'To make full use of the Brain of Creation, I need massive quantities of Sea Crystal Stones—and even High-Level Sea Crystal Stones!'
'Next, I need to use my upgrade chances on the ship's energy production equipment. That's the only way to produce Sea Crystal Stones more efficiently!'
...
Pushing open the door to his quarters, Shi Ming went down to sub-level two.
The crew was busy at work here, where the ship's energy production equipment was also housed. This area was essentially the Drifting Ship's power station. Here, giant machines continuously extracted and solidified seawater into individual Crystal Stones to power the ship's various pieces of equipment.
When the busy crew members saw Shi Ming, they all greeted him.
"Hello, Captain."
"Hello, Captain."
Shi Ming nodded and began to inspect the production line.
"How efficient is the Sea Crystal Stone production equipment on our ship?"
"Captain, the Sea Crystal Stone equipment on our Drifting Ship is something the previous captain spent a fortune in Sailing Coins to acquire from the Black Society's headquarters. Its extraction efficiency is quite high—on average, it can pull 100 stones from the seawater each day! Plus, if we travel to more energy-rich sea regions, the efficiency increases dramatically."
"Energy-rich sea regions?"
"Yes, in some places, the seawater has a higher concentration of the components that form Sea Crystal Stones! You can extract one stone from just ten tons of seawater! But sea regions like that also tend to be more dangerous."
Shi Ming nodded.
'Humans knew those were prime spots; how could the sea beasts, who are even more sensitive to the ocean's energy, be unaware?'
'The greater the danger, the greater the opportunity!'
He looked at the steel machine whirring before him, preparing to activate his Brain of Creation.
'Out of three upgrade chances for the day, I've only used one on the Drifting Ship. I still have two left.'
'This energy production equipment should be upgradable too.'
Shi Ming rubbed his temples, his mind now clear. He activated his Brain of Creation, focusing his attention on the sprawling piece of energy production equipment before him.
[A3-Type Energy Production Equipment]
[Level: 1]
[The most common type of energy extraction equipment, having undergone slight manual modifications. It separates Sea Crystal Energy and other elements by processing seawater. As the equipment has been in operation for over 15 years, its extraction efficiency is not very high.]
[Upgrade requires: Sea Crystal Stone x100, Iron Ore x100]
'It's only level 1!'
'And it's only been slightly modified? It's practically ancient! How could the crew possibly consider this "high efficiency"?'
'And to think Chunyi got this from the Black Society headquarters... This is it?'
'He must have been completely ripped off by someone he knew!'
'Looks like I'll have to handle this myself!'
The ship's hold still contained roughly 3,500 Sea Crystal Stones and 400 units of iron ore.
It was a good thing Shi Ming had acquired a large amount of loot from the *Sakura*, or else his stores would be critically low. He still had to keep a month's worth of resources in reserve for the Drifting Ship, just in case of a major storm or other emergency.
Shi Ming did a quick calculation. He had about 1,000 Sea Crystal Stones he could use freely.
As for the iron ore, it wasn't something he typically used. It was generally used for bartering with other drifting ships or given as tribute to the Black Society, which had a high demand for it.
Now that Shi Ming had broken away from the Black Society, paying tribute was out of the question.
'The people in charge at the Black Society aren't fools. They've probably already noticed Chunyi's death from the change in his chip's status. They'll likely send people to reclaim the Drifting Ship soon. What's more, that so-called Governor's "secret treasure" is still in my possession.'
'A conflict in the future is inevitable.'
Therefore, he had to increase his own power as quickly as possible.
"I'm going to do some adjustments and maintenance on this machine. For now, shut it down and head up to the deck for some fresh air."
"Yes, Captain."
The crew members had no questions about the captain's ideas and requests—nor would they dare to.
The captain was an Awakened. It was perfectly normal, they felt, not to understand the things an Awakened did. Besides, the tale of how the captain had improved the food production equipment was still fresh in their minds. That one modification had added several delicious new meal options to the Drifting Ship!
There was a future in serving a captain like him! That was something all the crew members agreed on.