Author Note: Quick note, dears. You all know that I usually don't ask much from you, but if you can, could you leave a few 5 star rating if you are enjoying the novel? I would appreciate it if you, Dears, could push me up a few ranks, hahaha.
(If everyone played fairly, I would ask for honest ratings, but anything less than 5 stars pushes me down! So… I am being a bit shameless as well, hehehe. OwO)
Also, don't forget to check the massive gallery and advanced chapters on P******.com/mortrexo!
***
Eight years after Liu Shu began Leveling Up, the alarms in Ceperet detected the approaching fleet. By this time, the scientist had managed to get a hold of the information within the system of the Starry Ships.
With the effort of thousands of focused minds, all buffed by Liu Shu's blessings, they managed to archive and categorize most of the important data. They didn't know what Liu Shu had planned for the future, but for now, they had developed a budding technology that allowed them to create lists and store large amounts of information.
Nothing more complicated than that, but quite developed for a budding technology. It helped tremendously once incorporated into the workforce, as the written information was slowly but surely transferred and stored in an easy-to-search location.
Some people were not accustomed, so they preferred written storage methods. Nevertheless, because Liu Shu's society was in full-throttle development, it was much more adaptable and welcoming to new ideas than societies with thousands of years of tradition.
The disadvantage was that, without predecessors, they were bound to make some mistakes.
Regardless, everything was part of progress, and the vast majority learned plenty from these mistakes, slowly but surely shaping their world with the combined efforts of the population.
Melody looked at a screen in the observatory with a thoughtful expression. "These signals are different from usual. However, they are not as careless as the
While the mercenary group arrived at the edge of their solar system in hiding, they were not actively trying to avoid detection. They instead used a passive stealth that was not too difficult to detect.
This group seemed to know that there were dangers in this location, so they used active methods like decoys and other signal-blocking devices clearly beyond Ceperet's current technological reach.
Melody couldn't help but sigh. "I hope our Liu Shu wakes up soon and develops that mixed technology she spoke about. While we've tried, most of them are just straight up worse than the methods we learned from the mercenary group's database."
Looking at the side, she asked a human man with ordinary features by her side. "Do you know who they are?"
"It's difficult to say." The human man commented, his eyes moving between the database on the screen and some written documents on his desktop. "From what I can see, their ship's qualities match those of a standard mercenary group. We can't see much other than the signals, since our devices lack the clarity to peer so far away… So the most I can say for now is that they are Explorers. They are not from the Nexus or Covenant."
Melody nodded, reviewing the data he presented to back up his words. "Number of ships?"
"There are 18 ships that we can detect. We don't know of which type, since the distance is just too far to distinguish when they are trying to avoid our scrutiny."
Melody stood up and gently ran her fingers through her hair. She had been sitting for a few hours, and she could feel her otherwise voluminous hair somewhat flattened against her back. "I'll go inform the others. I also need to make an inventory of the spaceships we've managed to make operational."
She moved toward a massive airport Liu Shu had built in the past for flying beasts and other similar modes of transportation. Once there, she went to the main control area and quickly encountered the person in charge.
He was a fox beastkin named Viorel. His name referred to his fur and eye color, while his short and slender frame made him look quite adorable. While he was not yet at Level 100, his role in overseeing such an important structure spoke to his incredible capabilities.
"Viorel, I am here to check the number of spaceships we've fully repaired and are operational."
She had already warned him of her arrival, so she went straight to the point without wasting time with pleasantries. Viorel nodded and smiled, his fluffy fox tail waving behind him. "Come with me, Lady Melody. You'll be quite pleasantly surprised."
He called a woman for a moment, asking her to go fetch a few prepared documents. Then, he guided Melody to the back of the structure.
This zone was restricted to the public, as it was where all the military-grade flying vehicles were stored. Viorel spoke with her as they walked, his steps calm. "As you can see, we have a total of 12 spaceships ready for battle. However, you must take into account that there are still eight of them in the restoration wing. We don't know how many we will repair, but after successfully repairing six Silver Moon-Type Battleships, we are confident that our progress for the last eight will be faster."
Melody took a look at the short list in her hand, which had the names of the repaired ships at the top.
***
[Level 130 Starry Phantom Trail (Flawless-Level World-Grade)] x1
[Level 149 Starry Traveler Ship (Flawless-Level World-Grade)] x4
[Level 160 Starry Carrier Battleship (Flawed-Level Core-Grade)] x1
[Level 140 Silver Moon-Type Battleship (Flawless Level World Grade)] x6/14
***
The rest of the documents were a description of their combat capabilities and other miscellaneous details. Melody was slightly confused as she read. "According to this, a Moon-Type battleship has a third of the combat strength of the Starry Carrier Battleship. Their levels are a whole Cycle apart, though."
Viorel nodded. "You are right. Even when the Moon-Types are lower level, they are much stronger than the Starry Traveler Ships. The armament of one Moon-Type equals three Starry Traveler Ships. While the Starry Carrier Battleship is stronger, I am sure that three Moon-Types would be enough to bring that ship down."
Melody clicked her tongue in awe. "The Nexus's technology is truly fearsome. I remember Liu Shu saying that the Obsidian World-Types Motherships were Level 150, right? How are they compared to these?"
"Incomparable." Viorel shook his head, his long fox ears flopping from side to side cutely. "A single World-Type with six Moon-Types around it would be able to decimate our fully repaired fleet. The World-Type is a ship that not only has powerful armament, but can also strengthen the Moon-Types around it."
Melody sighed, feeling a bit frustrated. "We've detected at least 18 different spaceship signals approaching. Do you think these will be enough for us to go and defeat them?"
Viorel crossed his arms. "In a worst-case scenario, no. After all, these 18 might be bait. From what I've read, I can tell that Lady Heavenly Willow's existence is starting to spread out in the galaxy. If the annihilation of the Floating Starry Mercenary Group is public by now, anyone who comes has either come prepared or has yet to be informed of their demise."
He spoke his mind with peace. It was a culture they developed to avoid holding back out of respect for superiors. If something felt wrong, they would express it. If their opinion was wrong, they would reflect on it and work to better themselves. What was important was to create a proper feedback loop.
Making senseless assumptions would get someone in trouble, but if they could back them up, even if later found to be incorrect, the punishment would be negligible.
Melody pondered over his words and nodded. "Alright, I'll note that down. Give me a conservative estimate about how long it will take your group to fix the last eight Moon-Types we were able to salvage."
Viorel pondered and didn't answer straight away. Instead, he asked someone to fetch some data and analyzed it for around 20 minutes. Melody waited patiently until Viorel wrote down a few things and passed them to Melody. "The next Moon-Type should take us four more months to finish, and we've been working on it for five months already. Given that the first one took almost 3 years to fix, the progress is great. I think that we will need an average of 7 months per Moon-Type for the last eight. A little bit under five years."
Melody took around 5 minutes to check the data and nodded, satisfied. "Looks good. I'll go inform the others. Keep all spaceships combat-ready from now on."
After a few details about the resources Viorel would need and noting them down, Melody made her way to the main Town Hall, where Flor and the others worked.
She entered through the main door, patting the Town Hall with a smile. "Thank you for your work, little one."
The Town Hall's gentle and mature voice echoed in her head, a soft and pleasant laugh speaking to her. "You are welcome, Grandma Melody!"
Melody's eyes softened, and she patted her bark two more times before making her way to the top. She made a small detour, going to Harmonixia's office. It was empty right now, but there was a little one that Melody came to visit.
"Violue, my pretty little flower, I came to visit you with some yummy things~."
Violue was the office plant daughter that Liu Shu gifted Harmonixia in the past. Since it was Melody's granddaughter, she naturally spoiled this intelligent flower to the heavens, buying the best fertilizer available and even giving it a few toys of plants.
These toys were flexible and biodegradable sticks that they could bend and entangle with their roots and leaves.
Seeing the flower sway happily at the sound of her voice, Melody squealed and approached it with a big smile. "Look how pretty our beautiful little flower is~. Grandma is here with some very yummy things."
Violue extended her long and gorgeous stalks, coiling them around Melody's fingers while her flower body bounced up and down excitedly. Clearly, she was delighted about her grandma's visit. And while her intelligence was not much more developed than that of a 1 or 2-year-old, it was enough to show a wide array of emotions.
When she approached, Violue used one of her thin roots to unearth Liu Shu's limp root. She was clearly somewhat confused as to why her mother, who often spoke to her and pampered her, was limp and silent. Melody instantly understood her because Violue had asked this same thing many times before.
Knowing this baby's intelligence, Melody didn't care and explained things again in detail, never impatient. "Well, your mother is currently becoming stronger. Don't worry, she will wake up soon to give you many, many hugs and kisses. Just… like... this!"
Her lips landed on the flower many times, making it dance delightedly, her stalks tightly curling around Melody's fingers.
After playing with her pretty flower granddaughter, Melody went up to inform the others of what she had just learned.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the Solar System, three groups gathered for a conference on their objectives in the