Whats's it like to have a fleet that can only recuirt female soldiers?

The ship was so enormous that it was hard to see the enemy.

Zhao Wan'er examined the starship carefully from top to bottom.

She looked at Zhao Chen in disbelief. "This... starship is assembled from those three... T2 Hyena, T2 Gray Wolf, and T2 Devil Crocodile?"

She suddenly realized why this starship felt familiar—it had the same hull as the T2 Devil Crocodile-class medium-sized interstellar battleship, with the weapon module resembling that of the T2 Hyena-class medium-sized interstellar destroyer.

In short, this starship had too many features borrowed from those three ships.

"Yes," Zhao Chen admitted openly.

Although he couldn't yet reveal the details about the T3 Blizzard-class light interstellar battle cruiser, the fact that he had assembled the starship himself was undeniable. The record of the exchange at the starship warehouse made it clear, and considering Zhao Chen was about to duel Zhang Haoran with it, anyone with a keen eye would have connected the dots.

"You've been assembling this starship for the past half month? When did you learn how to assemble one?" Zhao Wan'er asked, her voice tinged with disbelief.

Disassembling three starships and combining them into one was no small feat. The real challenge was ensuring that all the modules would actually function!

Zhao Chen pointed toward the starship with a smile. "I have a lot of secrets. Aside from our captain's courses, I secretly learned some starship engineering on my own."

"And this is my first starship. I named it Blizzard Zero!"

Since it was a simplified version of the T3 Blizzard-class light interstellar battle cruiser, but not quite the same, Zhao Chen had opted for a straightforward name—"Blizzard Zero."

"Blizzard Zero...?" Zhao Wan'er muttered, taken aback by the strange name. What exactly was this ship that seemed to combine features of an interstellar battleship, cruiser, and destroyer?

"Are you sure it will even start?"

Zhao Wan'er continued, her concern evident. "Zhao Chen, I know how you feel about Jiang Shasha, but she's really not right for you. Don't hang all your hopes on her.

And do you even realize the situation with our territory?

We've finally used our last savings to attend the North Star Starship Academy. Only if we graduate can we have any hope of reviving the territory.

Do you want the Empire to revoke your title?"

"If you're expelled… you… you will dishonor the spirits of our parents, and my sister's sacrifice…" Zhao Wan'er stared at him, anger in her eyes.

Then, Zhao Wan'er grabbed Zhao Chen's wrist. "I'll go ask my best friend for help. She comes from a powerful family. Let her intervene and try to get Zhang Haoran to cancel the duel."

But as Zhao Wan'er tried to pull him away, Zhao Chen suddenly lifted her into a princess carry.

"You… What are you doing…" Zhao Waner's face turned red.

"Let's go see my starship," Zhao Chen said, barely pausing as he carried her toward the hatch of the starship.

They passed through the ship's old corridors and reached the bridge—the "head" of the starship.

The bridge was small, only about 100 square meters, and since the starship hadn't been activated yet, it was dark.

Zhao Chen carefully set Zhao Wan'er down, walked over to the captain's chair, and sat in it. He placed his hand on the right armrest.

'Highest authority detected…'

'Identification in progress…'

'Captain… Zhao Chen… Identification complete…'

A crystal console rose from the floor in front of Zhao Chen, and he pressed a few buttons.

'Starship starting…'

'Starship master control system initializing…'

'Starship energy system powering up… 10%… 30%… 60%…'

As Zhao Chen officially started the starship, the bridge's lighting system flickered on, bathing the entire room in light.

The massive ship began to come to life!

'Starship transmission system testing… Test complete… All systems operational…'

'Starship weapon system testing… Test complete… All systems operational…'

A series of mechanical sounds echoed through the bridge as the starship powered up.

Zhao Chen's first starship was officially awakened!

'All functional modules are operating normally. Current energy: 19% remaining.'

Zhao Chen punched the air with joy. Though he had the skills, even he hadn't expected a flawless start on the first try.

"It actually started..." Zhao Wan'er muttered in disbelief.

"How's that? Isn't it amazing?" Zhao Chen jumped out of the captain's chair and placed his hand casually on Zhao Waner's shoulder, his tone brotherly.

Despite being siblings, Zhao Chen often felt more like a friend than a brother to Zhao Wan'er.

Zhao Wan'er rolled her eyes. "Even if it starts up, what about combat effectiveness? Can it perform well in battle? These are the real questions.

I heard that Zhang Haoran's starship is a T2 model.

Are you sure your homemade ship can defeat it? You don't want it falling apart before the duel starts."

"Sis, why don't you trust me?" Zhao Chen grinned, crossing his fingers. "Let me tell you, in ten minutes… I'll have Zhang Haoran's T2 starship knocked out!"

"Tsk... ten minutes? I didn't realize you were such a big talker," Zhao Wan'er scoffed, not buying into his confidence.

"Plus, you're the only one aboard this ship. There's no crew. How are we going to fight?"

Snap.

Zhao Chen clapped his hands suddenly, his eyes lighting up. "How could I forget? That's what's been missing all along!"

Zhao Wan'er held her head in despair. "You haven't even thought about that, and you're still thinking about the starship duel?"

She sighed, then said, "I'll explain it to you. There are three ways to find crew members. One is through students from other departments at the Starship Academy. Aside from the Captain's Department we're in, the Starship Military Academy has various other specialized departments.

The second option is hiring retired veterans from the Imperial Army. They are reliable, but expensive to maintain.

The third option is to recruit from less formal sources, like pirates, prisoners, and slaves.

The academy also provides a recruitment channel for crew members. You can connect with your ID card to the academy network, which has a dedicated section."

Zhao Chen rubbed his chin and, without thinking, asked, "Which one is the cheapest?"

Zhao Wan'er rolled her eyes. She knew Zhao Chen didn't have much money.

"The cheapest option is obviously slaves. These are usually prisoners of war, many of whom were former starship pilots.

But using them is controversial. Most people hesitate to rely on slaves and limit them to lower-tier tasks, like working on the bridge..."

Zhao Wan'er continued explaining, but Zhao Chen had already connected to the academy network with his ID card and found the "slave" option in the crew recruitment section.

After clicking through, a list of available slaves appeared.

Zhao Chen scanned the list, his eyes suddenly widening as if he had discovered something invaluable.

"That's it!" He clicked on the redemption option without hesitation.

Since the academy points were all used up, Zhao Chen paid for it using his personal account.

"What did you do?" Zhao Wan'er asked, her bad feeling growing as she saw Zhao Chen close the holographic projection with a satisfied look on his face.