Chapter 1 The Beginning

　　Zi Qing examined the drawing carefully, then asked Su Mo, "Are the parameters accurate?"

　　"Ninety-five percent accurate. If you want more detailed parameters and status, you'll need to record footage later."

　　Su Mo replied simply.

　　"Well, from what you've drawn, this should be a light patrol ship."

　　"That's what I think too. The problem is, we don't know how to operate it. I've discussed it with Lin Zinuo, and we were hoping you could teach us."

　　Su Mo explained the situation briefly.

　　"These are considered to be relatively easy to operate ships, but only for professionals like us. The operational difficulty is very high for you. The training cycle for any qualified captain is calculated in years, and even the fastest takes several months."

　　Zi Qing told Su Mo sternly.

　　"So it's a no-go."

　　Su Mo's heart sank to the bottom.

　　"Not necessarily. It's unrealistic to completely master the ship and become a qualified captain in a short time. But maybe we can take a gamble, do some crash course studying, and maybe there's still hope to get it running."

　　Zi Qing explained.

　　"Okay, I'll send a message to Zinuo."

　　Su Mo nodded.

　　"Don't rush. Besides teaching you how to operate the ship, it's been abandoned for so long, it's questionable whether it can even start. If it's broken, it won't matter even if you learn how to operate it."

　　"That shouldn't be a problem. We seem to have a mechanical repairman named Qin Wang with us. Zinuo had him inspect the ship. Also, we found a lot of spare parts in the base."

　　"So you brought Qin Wang with you? Then there shouldn't be any problems. He's an old master. We'll officially start training you when we get to work tomorrow."

　　Zi Qing said in a good mood.

　　"Okay."

　　Su Mo nodded, the matter was settled.

　　Han Na sighed with disappointment.

　　"If we had gotten a ship like this before, I would have been overjoyed. But now, I just can't seem to get excited."

　　Zi Qing shook her head helplessly and simply said to Han Na, "I told you, don't think so much, just focus on doing your job well. And don't think we've really gotten the ship yet. Don't get your hopes up too high for anything that's not in your hands yet. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. There are many variables involved. First, it's still questionable whether this ship can even start. Even if it can, it's questionable whether Zinuo and the others can bring it back. Second, even if they do bring it back, this ship won't be so easy to get."

　　"Okay."

　　Han Na and the others replied.

　　"Everyone, get some rest early and recharge your batteries. There's been a lot going on lately, and the guild's situation in the game isn't very good. We might be summoned to participate in the war at any time."

　　Zi Qing briefed everyone on the situation.

　　Su Mo then remembered that Dawn City was still under attack.

　　"Zi Qing? Has the battle for Dawn City not ended yet?"

　　"No, there are a lot of attacking monsters. We're probably going to have to prepare for a protracted battle. You don't need to worry about these things. Team Leader Zhao Han and the other remaining team leaders will handle it."

　　Zi Qing looked a little worried when she mentioned this.

　　"Understood, I'm going to take a shower first."

　　Su Mo was indeed a little tired. He went back into the room to get a set of clothes and walked into the bathroom.

　　He planned to take a hot bath to relieve his tired nerves.

　　Su Mo filled the bathtub with hot water and immersed himself in it.

　　Hu~

　　He exhaled a long breath, feeling as if every pore on his body was now open.

　　Today, he not only overexerted himself playing the game, but the whole game was either fighting or escaping, which was really exhausting.

　　Su Mo slowly closed his eyes, but memories of the Star Ring involuntarily surfaced in his mind, and all the battle scenes kept replaying.

　　At this moment, he seemed to be standing from an observer's point of view, watching his battle in all directions.

　　Seeing his first battle controlling the mecha, Su Mo was very dissatisfied. The seemingly excellent operation was actually full of flaws and mistakes.

　　His mind quickly calculated how to optimize the battle if he fought again, and how to exert the strongest combat power with his limited operating skills.

　　......

　　--------------------------------------------------

　　Two days later, Su Mo came to the company early in the morning. He skillfully clocked in and walked towards the computer room.

　　Soon, Su Mo came to a computer room. He found a machine and logged into the game. In a moment, he appeared on the deck of the ship. He looked into the distance, Qin Wang and some people were absentmindedly repairing the ship.

　　During this time, Su Mo took some time to send the ashes back and spent some effort to drive the mecha back.

　　His job now is very simple, which is to help Qin Wang move some parts from the base warehouse from time to time.

　　The other is to be responsible for guard work, but the monsters here have been cleared, so there is basically no danger.

　　Also worth mentioning is the training of the ship's captain. Lin Zinuo, as the leader, volunteered to take on this responsibility.

　　According to her, she had wanted to try driving this big guy for a long time, and it would be very cool.

　　So Lin Zinuo has been doing high-intensity crash course training with several sisters during this time.

　　Overall, their team is still optimistic and positive. However, it seems that everyone's mood is a little low due to the recent situation.

　　At this time, Su Mo saw Zhou Qian. She was lying on a small recliner not far away, but she didn't seem to be in a good mood.

　　She waved weakly to Su Mo when she saw him online.

　　"Su Mo!"

　　Su Mo walked over and asked in confusion.

　　"What's the matter?"

　　Zhou Qian stretched and said to Su Mo, "Nothing, just bored, chatting with you."

　　Su Mo was speechless for a while. He didn't even know what to talk about.

　　"Forget it, I'll go on guard duty."

　　"Don't be so rigid, has no one ever said you're boring?"

　　Zhou Qian rolled her eyes at Su Mo. If she wasn't in a bad mood and had no one to talk to, she wouldn't have bothered to find Su Mo. It was impossible to communicate with him at all.

　　Su Mo was silent for a while. He really didn't know how to chat. He raised his head and asked Zhou Qian, "When will the ship be repaired?"

　　"Sigh~"

　　Zhou Qian sighed, so boring.

　　This guy is probably only reliable in battle. She said to Su Mo, "In a few more days (game time), Qin Wang has roughly inspected it. There's no major problem with this ship. It's just that the power system and some equipment need to be debugged, some old parts need to be replaced, and fuel and oil need to be added..."

　　"Okay."

　　Su Mo nodded.

　　"But it feels meaningless. It's not necessarily a good thing to repair the ship."

　　Zhou Qian sighed, feeling a little down.

　　"Are you worried about the game?"

　　Su Mo asked curiously.

　　"Nonsense, if I'm not worried about this, what else would I be worried about? This game is killing people in disguise, and the storm it's causing is so big now, how can I not be worried? If this game really ends, we'll definitely be laid off. Then all the hard work we put into training and the efforts we made will be wasted."

　　Zhou Qian didn't hide anything from Su Mo.