From sailboats to star destroyers (Source: Web)

Chapter 64 [Survival: A Feast for the Senses]

"You're limited by the size of the ship, right? Then I need to see which development direction can make the ship bigger."

Looking at the five different skill pages, Miao Meng immediately ruled out the "Crown" skill page, which was better suited for art, and then ruled out the "Throne" skill page, which strengthened subordinates.

The remaining three skills—warfare, survival, and witchcraft—all seem to have the potential to increase the size of a ship, although the methods and limits of this increase will likely differ.

Just by looking at these three names, he could think of several different ways to increase power, since similar skills exist in many games.

Such as berserkers who increase their size by accumulating rage during battle, or ghouls that grow in size by devouring other units.

There are also rarer skills, such as increasing or decreasing one's size by applying corresponding giantification or shrinking magic; these are skills that are very likely to be unlocked.

Although Miao Meng didn't click on it directly, he quickly came up with a clear target after a little thought: he needed the highest possible growth potential and the most stable buff effects.

Therefore, any method that increases size in battle was immediately ruled out by him. Next, he ruled out magic that could increase size, but might require a long time to maintain.

"May the heavens and earth spirits protect us, may all the gods and Buddhas of the eight directions bless us..."

Miao Meng bowed to the four directions of heaven and earth with great reverence, even though he knew that the new skill would change according to his own strong will, he still made such an action.

This can also be seen as a psychological boost to myself, reinforcing my direction for acquiring new skills.

【Survival·Activation Feast】: The ship has undergone further activation, and its size can grow indefinitely by consuming various materials.

However, different materials have different limits on the size that can be achieved. Ordinary wood is not as good as metal, and ordinary metal is not as good as magical metal. The rarer the material, the higher the quality, and the larger the final size can be.

"Yes! The 'mind over matter' feature in this version is really strong. Next time I get skill points, I'll have to unleash my imagination even more."

Seeing that his newly acquired skill had been successfully obtained, Miao Meng breathed a sigh of relief and then began to imagine whether he could be even more exaggerated when he gained more skill points in the future.

Even if you don't become a god with a single skill, it will at least allow you to take another big leap forward in your strength.

With this dream in mind, Miao Meng went to the warehouse and put the timber and stone that had just been placed there back into the ship's hold, using his devouring ability to increase the size of the ship.

[Ding! You are currently processing 48 units of wood and 17 units of common food.]

The digestion process is expected to take 13 days. Afterward, the ship will grow to 26 meters long and 7.8 meters wide, with a cargo capacity increase of over 20 tons.

Upon seeing the long digestion time, Miao Meng's heart sank. An average digestion rate of 5 units per day was simply too slow.

Moreover, the utilization rate is a bit low. 65 units are enough to build a ship of the same size, but it only increased the Fortune by 4 meters.

"Alright, it seems that the effect of one skill point is really limited. In that case, let's continue to use the new skill point to enhance the Feast effect."

Putting his previously imagined invincible abilities back into his heart, Miao Meng felt it was better to be more realistic. Even if the mind triumphs over material things, it still needs a sufficient support, otherwise it will ultimately remain a fantasy.

After completing the skill upgrades, Miao Meng finally had time to organize his loot from the dungeon and step out of the basement to check the sky outside.

The time flow in the voyage's instance is not entirely fixed compared to the outside world; the number of days consumed inside is just one resource.

Aside from the real time spent fighting and thinking, a 60-day dungeon run would only take a little over two days on the continent of Galtiran, and even just a few hours in the main world.

Miao Meng briefly experienced the effect of this peculiar time difference, then put it out of his mind. He was now practically an immortal being, so there was no need to dwell on such details.

Although her physical body has a limited lifespan, Miao Meng is confident that she can cross that limit before her life ends by using her ship girl form.

Even if the original body dies completely, surviving as a construct in the form of a ship girl would be a successful path to immortality.

Standing at the doorway, Miao Meng glanced at the beach where the foundation was still being cleared in the distance, stretched, and then returned to his laboratory.

Now is not the time to completely relax. The effect of the spirit obtained from the dungeon has not yet been analyzed, and the distant port is waiting for my construction.

Even the existing crew is not enough for the number of guards. When the Black Earl returns, they will need to recruit some crew members with special talents.

Miao Meng didn't want to just fill the positions with incompetent people. After all, these crew members would be his comrades-in-arms for life, and it would be a waste to just recruit some fishermen.

Back in the lab, Miao Meng devoted himself to studying the essence, not even bothering to go and take a look at the Morning Star Lighthouse under construction on the mountaintop.

He entrusted the matter entirely to the Black Earl and the local butler, Owen Ford. Otherwise, what use would a butler hired at a high price be if he had to worry about everything?

After two days of hard work and research, Miao Meng quickly compiled the effects of the special material, Essence, using information from the online forum.

Soul of the Deep Sea Giant Shark: Fragment of Essence, a strange material containing fragments of the soul of a deep-sea giant shark, which can be used as a special soul.

When crafting equipment, you can enchant it with corresponding magical effects to enhance its strength, defense, or summon a giant shark projection to attack.

It can also be made into other magical items, imbuing magical items with a small amount of spirituality. Through special techniques, this spirituality can even be brought to its extreme, allowing magical items to "come alive".

Of course, this kind of coming back to life does not come without a price. In addition to the requirements for technology and materials, it may also cause the magical artifact to develop self-awareness, refuse to be used, or even devour its owner.

However, Miao Meng didn't take the magic device's rebellion seriously. That deep-sea giant shark couldn't even beat him when it was alive, so how could it possibly turn the tide now that it's dead?

Therefore, he took out the large pile of fire stones that he had prepared in advance and began to prepare to make a powerful magical tool according to his own wishes.

Before confirming the effects of the Holy Flame Devouring, he even considered using these fire stones as materials, but after seeing the digestion effect and utilization rate, he abandoned the idea.

With a utilization rate of less than 1/10, it would be better for him to directly craft these fire stones into corresponding magic cannons and load them onto the ship. That would be more effective than eating them.

Therefore, after the effects of this grand event ended, Miao Meng finally completed the magical artifact he had created using tens of kilograms of fire stones and this essence.

Deep-sea Torpedo Compartment: A ship-specific modification facility that adds a unique weapons compartment to the ship, capable of storing up to 6 Hellshark torpedoes.

Torpedo Hellshark: An underwater torpedo with a speed of 80 km/h and an explosive force equivalent to 100 kg of TNT.

Shark Spirit Enchantment: After locking onto a target, it can track the target indefinitely until its power runs out, and greatly increases the chance of the target bleeding or getting waterlogged after dealing damage.

The typical loading rate is one torpedo every 24 hours, or it can be increased to one torpedo per hour by assembling it with a large amount of psionic energy and fire stones.

Currently, it is powered by a special Mind Cube, filling two cubes per minute without requiring any psionic or material resources.

After Miao Meng created this facility, his only regret was that the torpedo design was too powerful, causing the unlimited ammunition pouches to be incompatible with weapons.

If forced to load, it can only load a bunch of ordinary torpedoes that can travel at 50 kilometers per hour, and their explosive power is not even half the effect of the Hellshark.