Chapter 52: Particle Beam Cannon

Besides, there was actually another minor reason.

He had just upgraded the Golden Rock Hull Armor to level 10, and it hadn't been used even once yet. If he replaced it directly now, all the resources spent on upgrading the Golden Rock Hull Armor would be completely wasted.

Once a shipboard component is uninstalled, all of its enhancement levels reset to zero, and none of the consumed resources are refunded.

Skipping over the Obsidian Hull Armor, Song Chi looked toward the second ray of light.

His eyes lit up. Compared to when he saw the Obsidian Hull Armor component, he was noticeably much more excited this time.

Particle Beam Main Cannon lv0
Quality: Blue
Consumption: 20/shot (Psionic Points)
Special Characteristic: Main cannon power increased by 10%
Power: 17
Charge: 10s; Buffer: 20s
Upgrade Requirements: 3 wisps of Floating Land Origin (Tier 0), 300 Psionic Points.

Although the Psionic Main Cannon on the Sky was also recently upgraded to level 10, the difference was that the Psionic Main Cannon was merely a colorless-quality main cannon, two tiers lower than the particle beam cannon before him. This meant that whether in terms of upgrade potential or offensive might, the particle beam cannon would completely crush it.

Moreover, there was the most important point: this particle beam cannon possessed a special characteristic, making it top-tier among blue-quality components.

Generally speaking, only components of purple quality and above possessed unique characteristics of their own. However, a very small number of blue components also came with characteristics, and every single blue component with a characteristic was unquestionably top-tier among components of the same tier.

"Dad, does Mom's Dragonfly have a blue main cannon?"

Although Song Chi desperately wanted this particle beam cannon, his mother's Dragonfly was currently at a crucial juncture for advancement. A good main cannon would allow the Dragonfly to eliminate more alien races during alien territory explorations, thereby accelerating its advancement success rate.

Therefore, he had to let his mother choose first. Even though he also lacked a main cannon, he was still young after all, and he had plenty of time ahead of him.

A trace of gratification flashed across Song Chao's eyes, and then he smiled:

"You really don't say—originally, I intended for you to choose this main cannon and leave that Obsidian Hull Armor for your mother. Now that you've proactively chosen this particle beam cannon, it works out just right."

Seeing that Song Chi was still uneasy, Song Chao continued, cutting him off before he could speak:

"Don't worry, the main cannon on your mother's Dragonfly is also of blue quality, and it was upgraded past level 20 long ago. Rest assured, I will handle your mother's promotion mission. You just focus on handling every upcoming alien territory exploration properly."

Song Chi nodded. Hearing his father's definitive answer, he finally felt at ease and drew the ray of light containing the particle beam cannon into his Firekind Ancestral Aperture.

Entering the Heavens Market, he summoned the Sky, swiftly uninstalled the Psionic Main Cannon, and equipped the particle beam cannon.

Afterward, he immediately began upgrading the particle beam cannon.

Upgrading a blue-quality component required far more resources than a white component. Bringing it to level 10 cost Song Chi a total of 271 wisps of Tier-0 Floating Land Origin.

Particle Beam Main Cannon lv10
Quality: Blue
Consumption: 40/shot (Psionic Points)
Special Characteristic: Main cannon power increased by 15%
Power: 173
Charge: 3s; Buffer: 6s
Upgrade Requirements: 15 wisps of Floating Land Origin (Tier 1), 2500 Psionic Points.

Song Chi stopped here in his upgrades. It wasn't that he didn't want to continue, but he only had 12 wisps of Tier-1 Floating Land Origin left in his possession, making any further progression impossible for the moment.

However, compared to the previous Psionic Main Cannon, the particle beam cannon's attributes were still vastly superior.

...

Jiangyuan First Firekind Academy, the starship base at the rear of the academy.

In one of the starship docking bays, the cruiser *Radiance* sat quietly.

Inside the *Radiance*, Zhu Yaokui, the president of Jiangyuan First Firekind Academy and a Tier-3 Firekind Captain, was currently standing atop a psionic cultivation platform whose enhancement level had long since reached level 39, quietly studying a guidance technique.

For a Firekind Captain who had been promoted to Tier 3 for over two hundred years and whose lifespan was approaching five hundred years, nothing was more important than persevering in cultivation.

Judging by the average lifespan of Firekind Captains within the Firekind human civilization:

Tier-0 Firekind Captains were no different from ordinary people, retaining a lifespan of only 140 years.

Tier-1 Firekind Captains enjoyed a much longer lifespan, around 200 years.

Tier-2 Firekind Captains lived even longer, boasting a lifespan of up to 300 years.

And upon reaching the Tier-3 level, the change was even more dramatic, with the lifespan directly doubling from the Tier-2 baseline to a staggering 600 years.

Six hundred years was undoubtedly a very long unit of time. Yet, for every Tier-3 Firekind Captain, they would still frequently feel that their time was not enough.

Firekind starships upgraded quickly; as long as specific resources were available, they could be upgraded rapidly. However, the cultivation of guidance techniques was different. Especially past level 30, the cultivation speed was indescribably slow, and usually, decades or even a century were required just to gain a single level.

Therefore, even a veteran cruiser captain like Zhu Yaokui, who had advanced to Tier 3 for nearly three hundred years, currently possessed a guidance technique level of only level 37.

With only a century left before his lifespan expired, if he did not want to turn into a patch of loess a hundred years later, he had to attempt to advance to Tier 4. The prerequisite for breaking through to Tier 4 was that the guidance technique must reach level 39.

This was the main reason why Zhu Yaokui, and indeed ninety-nine percent of Tier-3 Firekind Captains, spent the vast majority of their free time soaking on psionic cultivation platforms.

Just at that moment, a shout came from outside the *Radiance*. Interrupted in his cultivation, Zhu Yaokui instinctively frowned and was just about to angrily scold the intruder when a sweep of his mental sense revealed that it was his own son, causing him to voluntarily exit his meditative state.

Outside the *Radiance*, Zhu Kang did not board the starship; instead, Zhu Yaokui walked out.

Although it lacked any sense of prestige, there was no help for it—the mechanics of Firekind starships dictated it.

Once an outsider entered a Firekind starship, regardless of their personal strength, the starship would deduct 10 wisps of Floating Land Origin matching the starship's tier, based on the vessel's own rank.

Moreover, this was only temporary and could only be maintained for ten minutes. After ten minutes, for every additional minute spent inside, double the amount of Floating Land Origin would continue to be deducted.

For example, once Zhu Kang was allowed inside the *Radiance*, the moment he stepped aboard, the vessel would deduct 10 wisps of Tier-3 Floating Land Origin. If Zhu Kang stayed on the ship for eleven minutes, another 20 wisps of Tier-3 Floating Land Origin would be deducted. At twelve minutes, it would be 40 wisps; at thirteen minutes, 80 wisps, and so on.

Because of this peculiar restriction, virtually no Firekind captain would allow outsiders to casually step foot onto their personal starships, especially high-tier Firekind captains.

"What is it this time? Your eldest brother couldn't solve it for you, so you had to come running to me?"

Zhu Yaokui wore a stern expression, his tone rather cold. He had never held much regard for this son of his, who essentially did nothing but cause trouble for him.

Zhu Kang knew well that his father held him in low esteem, so he went straight to the point without beating around the bush.

"Dad, a short while ago, I picked up news regarding titanium crystal."