Chapter 337: Questions with Answers

"This doesn't look right... Can you fix this part?"

[I've already fixed that section ten times! You want to fix it again? What's even wrong with it?!]

"No, just... look at it. This doesn't look right at all."

[Then tell me what it should look like to feel correct, dammit!]

[Sir Axel, I've finished the oxygen diffuser's differential design. Please check.]

"Oh, okay... This... looks okay. See, Navi? Mimir is doing a much better job than you!"

[God-fucking-dammit!]

It had been quite a long time since Axel, Navi, Mimir, and Bellachrona started working on reverse engineering the mothership. Right now, they'd already completed around 99% of the ship's blueprint, and were only tackling the smaller sections that remained.

Once that was done, then they'd finally have a blueprint they could actually use—a blueprint of the latest design mothership by Trismus!

But now that they were at the last step, Axel and Navi had been having a quarrel of sorts.

Axel was picking on Navi's reverse-engineered blueprint quality, while Navi was complaining loudly about how vague Axel's original instructions had been. They'd been going back and forth like this for almost two months now... roughly a full day in real time, give or take.

Thankfully, Mimir had learned the unbeatable skill called "ignore" and continued working at her own pace, pushing the completion closer, one iteration at a time.

And just as the two finished their quarrel about the piece they were deciphering, Mimir had already completed the rest of the sections, pushing the completion rate to exactly 100%.

[Congratulations! You have successfully reverse engineered the blueprint for the Trismus Weapon Solutions' B3-400AR All-purpose Mothership!]

[This is the first successful reverse engineering of an actual advanced product!]

[Rewards received: Instant Crafting Completion Voucher x10]

And the very next moment, popup windows appeared before Axel. Ones that, after reading, made his lips curl up into a big smile.

"Nice! What a timely reward!" He cheered, before sending a sharp glare to the side. "The system really is more useful than this trashy system spirit!"

[Are you talking about me, you idiot of a contractor?!]

"You're the one who said it. I didn't call names, did I?"

[Then if not me, are you calling my Mimir useless?! Step outside, you bastard! Let's settle this mano-a-mano!]

[Hey, don't drag me into your petty squabble...]

Although their exchange was lively and chaotic, Axel wasn't slowing down at all.

After all, this was something he'd planned from the start. Even if they'd finished it by two months, or a day earlier than expected, the next step didn't change one bit.

Right after their little stress-relief session was over, Axel rolled up his sleeves while staring at the system panel.

"Alright, time to use the Upgrade Ticket!"

He still had three leftover upgrade tickets left, after all. And if he didn't use one now, while the moment felt right, he wasn't sure when he'd ever get around to using them at all.

But one thing he didn't expect was...

[Upgrading this blueprint will consume three Upgrade Tickets. Are you sure?]

"...Damn!"

To upgrade the mothership recipe fully, he had to burn through all three of his remaining tickets at once, no partial option in sight! He felt more than a little scammed, but after thinking it over carefully for a bit, he nodded slowly to himself.

'This recipe doesn't just contain a mothership, it even has an advanced computer, weapons, and defense systems built in. If upgrading it upgrades all of those too, then this is actually a bargain!' he thought.

Thus, after convincing himself of this expense, he tapped the "confirm" button without further hesitation.

The next moment, something happened.

"Woah...!"

A bright flash of light exploded outward, making even Axel reflexively pull his arm over his eyes. For a split second, he thought the system itself had exploded, but thankfully, nothing like that occurred.

Instead...

[Please input the image of the finished product based on your requirements: _______ ]

Seeing the prompt, Axel paused.

Then, he looked around and discovered that everything nearby seemed to have stopped in time entirely. Even Navi and Mimir, and even the floating dust particles in the air, had halted in place.

'Is this some weird barrier? Just for upgrading a recipe?' he thought.

Although he was filled with questions, he decided to follow the prompts for now and figure out the rest later.

After thinking for a bit, Axel typed in a short description.

"A mothership that could carry everyone I hold dear. A flying fortress that wouldn't fall even under constant attacks. And an unstoppable force of wrath to enemies who dared stand in its way."

After checking the answer and making sure he was satisfied with it, he pressed enter.

[Answer confirmed.]

The window said.

[Next. What is your favorite animal?]

"Huh?"

Reading the next prompt, Axel raised a brow. "What's this, some kind of blind date question?" He huffed in disbelief.

Still, he answered the question without much thought, typing in:

"An Eagle. As free as could be, and as deadly as birds of prey could go."

After that, he was forced to answer a dozen more questions, each one seemingly more random than the last, without any obvious relation to the upgrade itself. He felt as though he was being interviewed for a job rather than upgrading a blueprint!

Ten minutes later, the final window appeared.

[Thank you for answering all the questions. All the answers are now being compiled and used as reference for the final product. Please wait...]

The moment that window appeared—

WHOOSH!

The flow of time suddenly returned to normal, all at once.

Navi, Mimir, and everything around Axel were no longer halted in time, but instead moving with purpose once more.

[...Huh?]

Navi, the original system spirit, quickly noticed the change that had just happened.

He wasn't sure "what" exactly had happened, but he knew that "something" had, something significant enough to cause such a big shift within the system itself.

Curious, Navi checked the inside of the system, but...

[Upgrade complete!]

[The blueprint for the Trismus Weapon Solutions' B3-400AR All-purpose Mothership has been successfully upgraded to Singularity Eagle A-01 Mini-World Mothership!]

[Oh, it's done?]

Mimir whispered, a hint of relief and curiosity in her voice. [Let's see what it became—]

[W-What the heck is this?!]

But soon enough, Navi's shocked voice echoed inside the small laboratory.

His little penguin eyes opened wide, practically popping out of their sockets. His face turned a mix of blue and white, as though he were seeing something that shouldn't even exist.

Curious about Navi's sudden change, Mimir quickly took a glance at the newly upgraded blueprint but...

[Damn... Is this even the same type of blueprint anymore?]

Even the little black cat went speechless, staring at the screen in disbelief.

Axel himself was even worse off. He couldn't even utter a single word, just stare at the spec sheet, reading it over and over again as if to confirm this wasn't just him hallucinating.

"This..."

He muttered after a long silence, his voice trembling with barely contained excitement.

"This is no longer a ship... This is...!"