Stars, Players and Immortals

Chapter 76 [Advanced - Master of All Machines!] (4K+)

The Priest of Ten Thousand Machines is currently the highest rank in the Martian Ten Thousand Machines Way professional system, and also represents the knowledge boundary that the entire Martian civilization can reach.

After Zhang Qiming completed the second transformation, it meant that he had reached the end of the Martian native inheritance. There was no higher-level knowledge or cultivation path that could be provided to him on the entire Mars.

Further advanced knowledge will either be developed gradually through civilization research projects, or it will be obtained by exchanging knowledge with more mature interstellar civilizations once humanity truly integrates into the interstellar civilization system.

Of course, there is an even more dangerous path: to break into the virtual realm and gamble on whether you can retrieve what you want from those chaotic virtual spaces.

Zhang Qiming wasn't in a hurry; he believed that things should be done step by step.

He gathered his thoughts, picked up the advanced knowledge separation chip sent by Saint Sophia, and let mechanical force seep into it along the interface lines on the edge of the chip. The knowledge within the chip immediately unfolded.

Mass Resonance, Machine Spirit Prayer, Gear Confession, Ritual Workshop —

This is the advanced knowledge of the Priest of Ten Thousand Machines. When he comes into contact with this knowledge, the Gaia System will pop up a prompt.

[You have now been exposed to the advanced knowledge rituals corresponding to the "Priest of All Missionaries"!]

[In progress —]

[Test passed!]

You have met the advanced requirements!

[Current job level: Mechanic LV20]

[Number of advanced-level knowledge points for Machine Soul type mastered: 3]

[Number of advanced knowledge points in drafting/construction that have been mastered: 1]

[Already possesses 1 weapon with a contract seal]

[Currently, the following advanced knowledge requirements have been met: Mass Prayer Ritual, Machine Soul - Low-Level Syntax, Machine Soul - Gear Confession Ritual, and Construction - Ritual Workshop Setup!]

[All career advancement requirements have been met!]

[You have completed your career advancement: Priest of the Myriad Machines!!!]

【转职固定奖励发放中：万机係数+6、其他係数+2（不朽者修正×2）、智力+6、耐力+2、敏捷+1、神秘+2、自由属性点+5、技能点+3

[You have unlocked the Priest-level knowledge tree for the Mechanical Engineering department!]

[You have acquired the special ability—Praise of All Machines!]

Your maximum weapon slot limit has been increased from 1 to 3.

[You have learned the following skills: Priest's Edict, Mech Soul Stabilization, Mass Mech Blessing, Data Mech Soul Recitation, and Giant Mech Soothing!]

[A career advancement has been detected; the "Dual Mind" perk has been triggered!]

[Total level cap being adjusted – 100 → 170]

[Current profession of Wanji: Wanji Priest LV1 (0/12)]

Zhang Qiming felt that his mechanical power had been completely reshaped, and his strength was surging up continuously.

He quickly suppressed the novelty of gaining power and raised his hand to open his experience pool.

Current experience pool: 1 billion

Looking at that string of numbers, Zhang Qiming's face showed the kind of gratified smile an old farmer would have when he saw a full granary.

These one billion experience points are the result of the Skyward Legion's efforts in the Martian Liberation War, the Counterinsurgency War, the Anti-Organized Crime Campaign, and a series of faction missions.

This was something he gradually deducted from the players' hands—oh no, strictly speaking, this wasn't deduction.

After all, as the supreme commander, he only received one-tenth of the experience rewards from each Skyward Legion's gains through tithes.

The players received all the experience they were entitled to; he simply shared a small portion of the victory bonus as the faction leader, the civilization's backer, and the supreme commander of Mars.

Zhang Qiming looked at the experience pool and was in a very good mood.

Since the liberation of Mars, his beloved comrades in the Skyward Legion have amassed an enormous amount of resources for him, and now he only has one thing to do.

"Gaia, I need to level up!"

The next second, the experience pool number began to drop rapidly.

[The Priest of Ten Thousand Machines has been upgraded to LV2!]

【耐力+2、敏捷+1、智力+4、神秘+1，获得4点自由属性点，获得1点技能点！】

Then, a series of notifications popped up like a screen being flooded with messages.

【LV5→LV10——】

【LV10→LV20————】

【LV30→LV5————】

[Priest of Ten Thousand Machines LV35 (MAX!)]

[Detection indicates that the Wanji class has reached its current stage cap!]

[Coefficient of all opportunities +4 (Immortal Modification × 2)]

[Priest of Ten Thousand Machines LV35 (MAX!)]

【累计获得：耐力+68、敏捷+34、智力+136、神秘+34、自由属性点+136、技能点+34！】

[Experience Cost: 4.8 million]

Current experience pool: approximately 5.2 million

Zhang Qiming casually poured all 136 free attribute points into [Intelligence].

The properties panel refreshed in the next second.

【属性栏：力量24、敏捷85、耐力119、智力447、神秘77、魅力9、幸运10】

His omnipotence coefficient also surged to 32 points after this round of advancement, with 28 points coming from the class, body, and immortality modifiers, and the remaining 4 points from the current civilization coefficient and prosthetic creed bonus.

According to the current panel calculations, his total mechanical strength has reached an astonishing 14304 points.

This number is outrageous among professionals of the same level.

Normally, a Priest of Ten Thousand Machines has a mechanical power pool of between 4000 and 6000 points. Even if someone relies on top-tier prosthetics, exclusive chips, civilization traits, or rare feats to artificially inflate their power, it is almost impossible to break through the 10,000-point mark, let alone directly reach the monstrous value of 14,000 points.

Zhang Qiming's mechanical power pool is now two to three times that of other classes of the same level, making him a true blue bull incarnate. His mechanical power is extremely abundant, and his endurance and multi-line control capabilities are at their peak.

More importantly, he has truly entered the ranks of the strongest combat forces on Mars.

Now, using his professional skills and expertise, he is capable of single-handedly taking down a complete second-generation SA.

The reason why he was able to kill the second-generation machine in one fell swoop lies in the unique specialization talent of the Master of Ten Thousand Machines.

Once the Priest of the Myriad Machines reaches level 15, three specialization branches will be unlocked simultaneously: Cyber ​​Priest, Mechanic Priest, and Holy Priest.

Professionals can choose their own branch by consuming skill points. Once points are invested in a certain skill tree, the future direction of combat, production and technological development will be fundamentally changed in that direction.

Zhang Qiming currently has quite a few skill points.

[Currently available skill points: 37]

The job change reward was 3 points, and the Wanji Siduo was given another 34 points for going from LV1 to LV35.

Based on the optimal solutions summarized by countless players from his previous life who had stumbled upon them, as well as his own combat experience, Zhang Qiming already had an unshakable skill point allocation plan in mind.

Without hesitation, he prioritized the Cybersor branch, which represents the core capabilities of the Machine Soul system.

[Skill Points Invested: Cyber ​​Priest Branch - 17 points]

[Unlock Expertise: Cyberspace & Network Topology Perspective]

[Unlock Skills: Cyber ​​Digital Avatar, Puppet Programming, Basic Mechanical Meme - Neural Conversion Hacking, Deep Dive Mode]

[ICE writing, firewall worship]

This specialized path focuses entirely on cyberspace and global network warfare, forming the foundation for Machine Soul professionals to control the virtual world.

Once [Network Topology Vision] is activated, Zhang Qiming's consciousness can directly detach from his physical body and access any networked system in pure data form.

Once inside cyberspace, what he saw was no longer a cold stream of code, but the three-dimensional topology of the entire network world.

He can traverse cyberspace as if he were walking in reality, instantly traversing the distance of planetary networks, and even leaving his own mini-programs in data streams.

For his second priority, Zhang Qiming chose the Group Mech Priest branch, which is also part of the Mech Soul system.

[Skill Points Invested: Mass Mechanic Priest Branch - 10 points]

[Unlock Skills: Fire Control Chorus, Mass Mechanical Prayer, Overload Pardon, Megamachine Status Calibration, Steel Soothing]

This approach specializes in the synergy and enhancement of large-scale mechanical systems, and is particularly effective in improving the overall performance of large ships.

By guiding the will of the swarm of machines to resonate with the soul of the ship, he can provide the entire fleet with comprehensive enhancements in firepower, defense, repair, and overload resistance. This is an essential core capability for future commanders of interstellar fleets.

Finally, Zhang Qiming invested his remaining 10 skill points into a skill that most players in his previous life would never have touched—the solitary, isolated node at the deepest part of the Saint Tudor branch.

This node does not extend into any skill tree, nor does it provide a complete set of combat capabilities.

It has only one thing.

[Standard Template Bible (STC Module Blueprint)]

However, its consumption is ridiculously high.

[Unlock Requirements: 10 Skill Points]

Zhang Qiming's gaze lingered on this point for only a second before he clicked without hesitation.

[Skill Points Invested: 10 points in the Holy Priest branch]

[You have unlocked: Standard Template Bible (STC Module Blueprint)]

[Currently available skill points: 0]

Zhang Qiming had previously told Saint Sophia that he had a way to increase the production capacity of the Mars dock.

This method is—[Standard Template Bible (STC Module Blueprint)].

The STC module here is officially called a Standard Template Construction System.

Its value lies not in the strength of individual equipment, but in breaking down a mature product into standard blueprints and processes, and then directly inserting them into the industrial system so that ordinary factories can also mass-produce according to the template.

A standard firearm blueprint can only show you how to manually craft a firearm.

A single STC module blueprint can enable a foolproof assembly line to produce a large number of firearms.

This kind of thing is somewhat useless in the hands of individual players.

Players need at least a million experience points to create an STc blueprint, and more complex ones can require tens of millions of experience points. They also need to invest additional resources to build a standard template construction system.

Spending so much money just to produce a batch of "standardized equipment" is completely not worthwhile for players.

What they want is strength.

With the same experience and materials, players can gamble on blueprints, find a master craftsman to modify parameters, and then have a mechanical craftsman handcraft an elite weapon.

Large guilds, needless to say, have dedicated blueprinters, craftsmen, material suppliers, and testing teams. They can push the limits of stats for a weapon from blueprint to finished product.

Moreover, STC can only operate successfully if it has the backing of a powerful civilization. The players' meager resources are barely enough to satisfy STC's needs.

Therefore, players often say—"STC, even a dog wouldn't click it!"

Spend ten skill points to unlock STC, then invest massive resources to build a production line, and finally produce a batch of stable, durable, inexpensive, and easy-to-maintain industrial products.

This is a complete loss for the players!

Zhang Qiming is no longer a player; he now holds the fate of an entire Mars in his hands.

For a wartime regime that must complete the formation of the Fourth Fleet, increase military production capacity, and upgrade the three main fleets within six months, the value of the STC standard template blueprint is vastly different from that of individual players.

Individual players find it outrageously expensive and impractical, but this is precisely the industrial foundation that the national industrial machine craves most.

Standardization means that parts are interchangeable across the entire industry chain.

The availability of interchangeable parts means significantly improved maintenance efficiency, a marked reduction in production losses, and a substantial reduction in worker training cycles.

All docks can seamlessly share orders, and the repair cycle for battle-damaged ships will be shortened exponentially.

More importantly, the [Standard Template Codex] is a rare ability even within the entire Stellaris native class system.

Players can at least use ten skill points to grind for it, but native Wanji professionals can only rely on long-term research, ritual accumulation, and inspiration to try their luck.

The fact that neither Santa Sophia nor Caul, a top Martian engineer, could comprehend the STc module blueprint demonstrates just how rare this ability is.

Zhang Qiming opened the [Standard Template Bible] interface. Since he was now the Mars Commander, he was able to access most of the relevant production capacity blueprints.

The [Standard Template Bible] can convert: ordinary drawings into STC template blueprints.

At this moment, instead of a blueprint shimmering with legendary brilliance, the screen displayed rows of cold, monotonous, yet incredibly heavy gray standard component nodes:

[Standard Blueprints → STC Template Blueprint Modules: Basic Ship Keel Standard Components, Destroyer Universal Armor Plates, Frigate Modular Propulsion Cabin, Shipborne SA Plug Standard Interfaces, Vertical Launching Silo Maintenance Modules, Military Prosthetic Body Basic Parts Package, Small Reactor Auxiliary Coil, Second-Generation SA Universal Joint Frame ————]

These things, taken individually, are nothing special.

They don't have any dazzling legendary attributes, unique exclusive effects, or even the critical damage, attack speed, and overload multiplier that players rave about in forums.

However, they can directly transform Martian industry from a backward "manual workshop-style artisan system" into a "standardized mass production system" capable of supporting interstellar warfare.

Zhang Qiming's gaze swept over all the nodes, finally landing on the [Destroyer Universal Armor Plate] and the [Shipborne SA Mount Standard Interface].

The first thing to fill the gap left by the destruction of the Fourth Fleet is the fleet's "skeleton" and "teeth".

The construction cycle of heavy cruisers and aircraft carriers is too long and can be postponed for the time being; destroyers, frigates and shipborne SA projection capabilities are the core of being able to quickly form combat capability within six months.

[Generate the corresponding STC module blueprint?]

[Objective 1: Destroyer Universal Armor Plate | Estimated Experience Required: 100 Million!]

[Objective Two: Shipborne SA pylon standard interface | Estimated experience consumption: 80 million!]

Zhang Qiming stared at the astronomical number of experience points consumed without even lifting his eyelids.

For ordinary players, this is a wasteful act that could bankrupt them.

For the supreme commander who leads a civilized war machine, this is simply a worthwhile national strategic investment.

"generate.

6

The next second, two standard template blueprints with a metallic sheen slowly unfolded on the light screen, with every parameter and tolerance accurate to the micrometer level.

[STC module blueprint generation in progress —]

[Destroyer Universal Armor Plate: Generation Complete!]

[Shipborne SA pylon standard interface: Generation complete!]

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