In fact, Zachary's purpose in acquiring these three starships was very simple: with his current capabilities, it was impossible to construct the T3 starship rewarded by the system.
However, if he used the technical blueprints provided by the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser as a foundation and modified these three starships, he might be able to assemble a simplified version of the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser!
In Zachary's mind, which already possessed 'Top Starship Engineer' skills, after countless calculations, he determined that the feasibility of this plan was as high as eighty percent!
"Using the hull of a T2 Devil Crocodile-class Medium Interstellar Battleship, then combining it with some performance modules from the T2 Hyena and T2 Gray Wolf…" Zachary muttered excitedly, a wild glint in his eyes.
Having formulated the assembly plan, Zachary immediately began to operate.
He went to the control console and personally operated the robotic arm to begin cutting the three starships.
This was Zachary's first time modifying a starship, but the moment he started, Zachary felt as if he had done this many times before. It was second nature to him, and his operations were perfectly executed.
Even the most senior starship engineer in the academy would be amazed by this young man's craftsmanship and skill. Without fifty or sixty years of practical experience and top-tier knowledge, it would be impossible to perform with such fluidity.
Disassembling three starships by oneself was a considerable amount of work. Hiring repairmen or engineers to assist would be a great help. But Zachary couldn't do that.
Firstly, because Zachary had no academy points left—all his academy points were used for exchanging parts. Secondly, this process could not be known to outsiders. Disassembling three different starships and assembling them into a brand-new starship, which also involved some core technologies of the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser—if someone noticed something amiss and it spread, who knew what consequences that might lead to.
So, the entire process could only be handled by Zachary himself.
Zachary calculated in his mind that about twenty-odd days would be enough.
For the next three weeks, Zachary basically canceled all his classes. This was also because it was nearing the end of the semester; some assessments had already concluded, and Zachary's credits were sufficient to qualify for the fourth year. So Zachary's truancy didn't have much impact.
However, the news of Zachary challenging Victor Hargrove had spread throughout the third year, and many students would go to Zachary's classroom to see this rumored down-and-out Baron, but they all returned disappointed.
Beep, beep, beep, beep.
The starship workshop door flashed red, and a prompt sound indicating someone was requesting entry came through. For the first few minutes, Zachary ignored it, but the prompt sound was very patient, continuing for about ten minutes.
Zachary could no longer endure it, so he dragged his tired body out of the workstation, went to the main door, and opened it.
"Zachary, are you crazy?!"
As soon as the door opened a crack, before he could clearly see the person, he heard a delicate shout, and then a slender, fair leg stepped in first.
Wendy Chase immediately pointed at Zachary's nose and scolded him, but Zachary basically didn't hear any of it. He leaned against the doorframe.
"Wendy… are you done scolding? If you're done, I need to rest. Ahhh…" Zachary half-closed his eyes and yawned.
The graceful woman before him, with skin as fair as snow, was Zachary's younger sister, Wendy Chase. She was also a fourth-year student at the North Starship Military Academy and would be a fifth-year next year.
Why was Zachary, the older brother, only a third-year student while Wendy was a fourth-year? Because Wendy was a genius. She completed all three years of coursework and passed all assessments in just one year, surpassing her older brother Zachary and becoming a fourth-year student.
Due to her outstanding appearance, she had always been a great beauty in the academy. She was currently wearing a white military uniform. Considering that this young lady only came to find him more than half a month after the incident, it was probably due to the fourth-year final assessment, which required piloting a starship for practical combat assessment. She had only just returned to the academy.
Upon returning, she immediately heard the news and came to find him.
Wendy looked at Zachary, who had dark circles under his eyes, messy hair, and even an odor about him. Then she looked behind Zachary, where there was a makeshift bed on the ground at the entrance of the workshop, with a box of instant nutritional meals next to it, and discarded packaging scattered everywhere, emitting a sour smell. Several sets of clean academy uniforms were also thrown on the ground, untidy.
It was clear what kind of life Zachary had been living for the past half-month.
"You still have time to rest? Do you know how much trouble you've caused? For a woman, you're going to have a starship duel with Victor Hargrove, and you even made a bet that whoever loses gets expelled from the academy. Are you crazy?!" Wendy grabbed Zachary's ear, frustrated.
Logically, this force should have caused some pain. But now, sleepiness overwhelmed Zachary, and he directly fell onto Wendy.
"You…"
Thud.
Wendy fell to the ground, and Zachary leaned against her like a child.
"This guy!" Wendy was helpless and could only drag Zachary into the starship workshop first.
But when she looked up at the starship parking area, which was several football fields in size, she was stunned.
A starship stood there.
The hull was visibly old, not new. Some areas were uneven, and there were even traces of being hit by cannon fire. On the surrounding control consoles, scattered parts of various sizes could be seen.
But despite this, Wendy could still feel the hidden ferocity emanating from this starship.
Most importantly, Wendy felt that this starship looked familiar, but she couldn't recall any such starship in the starship encyclopedia she had studied.
"Wendy…"
A call from behind pulled Wendy back to reality.
Zachary had woken up by now, sitting cross-legged on the ground. Although he had only slept for about ten minutes, Zachary's condition was much better now.
"You… what is this?" Wendy pointed at the unknown starship before her.
"My starship," Zachary replied instinctively.
"You're lying to me without even thinking! I heard from that Levi kid that you exchanged your academy points for three old starships, not at all…" Wendy stopped mid-sentence.
She turned her head and looked at the starship before her with an incredulous gaze. She seemed to know why this unknown starship felt familiar to her.
"Wendy, aren't you usually very smart? How come you still haven't figured it out?" Zachary said with a teasing smirk.