I, a ship girl, am the savior of civilization.

Laura also stared intently at the ion cannon, not because she loved weapons as much as Jefferson, but because Noah's notification suddenly echoed in her mind.

"A weapon accessory that can be installed has been detected: a primary high-energy ion cluster generator. It can be added to the memory catalog using the ship's hull scanning system."

Laura raised an eyebrow and asked casually, "Noah, the Dawn has this function?"

Noah replied affirmatively: "The Dawn doesn't have it, but the Ship Spirit does. It's a core analytical technology unique to the Ship Spirit. In fact, the initial design of the Ship Spirit included plans to incorporate external technology."

"Using the scanning system, as a ship spirit, you can directly obtain the manufacturing blueprints for technological devices and reshape them using the Dawn's hull configuration technology."

"That sounds like a great feature."

The next moment, Laura's face darkened: "But Noah, can you explain why the progress bar is stuck at 1%?"

On the panel unseen by others, the scanning and analysis progress of the ion cannon remained as steady as a mountain, hovering at 1%, and the final modeling was only a blurry framework, which even made Laura suspect that she had developed nearsightedness.

"Because the Dawn's scanning equipment only has shipborne radar, it's already good if it can scan even an outline."

Noah's voice came again: "If you want to increase the speed, I suggest switching to some technology that is more relevant to your expertise."

Then, two high-end-looking device models appeared in front of Laura.

[Macroscopic State Detector: Used for picosecond-level detection of matter in the macroscopic realm; the effective range of the mothership is 1:5 the ratio of the conventional detection range]

[Activation Cost: 1 Civilization Commands]

[Microscopic trap: Used for picosecond-level capture of matter in the microscopic realm, with an effective range that is 1:5 the size of conventional target acquisition range]

[Activation Cost: 1 Civilization Commands]

Well, for an ion cannon that's worth at most one civilization command, I have to spend two civilization commands myself.

Although somewhat annoyed, Laura readily pointed out the two devices. While Noah might have been suspected of extortion, in Laura's view, these two capture devices were absolutely worth all the civilization commands she possessed.

Even in Laura's mind, these two capture devices were definitely beginner-friendly, truly great value for money.

In ship spirit form, Laura's power is weakened, but not significantly. The moment the two capture devices are activated, Laura hears several notifications from Noah.

Throughout the Hong Kong base, there are quite a few things that can replace certain technologies on the Dawn.

The progress bar on the ion cannon, which had been stuck, instantly increased to 100%. As expected of its picosecond-level capture efficiency, it's fast enough!

However, upon realizing her condition after the scan was completed, Laura felt a bit like she was having a heart attack.

Just now, the Dawn suffered an overload, and its power reactor output system was directly damaged. Instinctively, the Dawn activated its backup power reactor, using the Revival Wind to repair the mothership's damage.

In less than a second after it was started, the nuclear fuel rods lost five years' worth of energy.

Feeling the immense damage to the ship, Laura couldn't help but feel like crying.

It seems that until a higher-powered energy and output system is installed, the technology capture device will break down every time it's used.

17. Before stepping onto the world stage

Laura had considered transferring the technological weapons developed by the Pacific Rim Earth civilization to the Dawn, but the truly valuable weapons were closely guarded by the PPDC, so she had no way to proceed.

Even though Laura, as a ship girl, can fearlessly charge into any base, defeat all the guards with her bare hands, then perform a feat of dismantling mechs with her bare hands, and swagger away into the water carrying equipment bigger than herself, she can still escape.

Well, while Laura had considered going all in, she couldn't guarantee that PPDC's mechs would be waterproof, nor could she guarantee that the equipment wouldn't be damaged during the process, so she ultimately abandoned the idea.

However, after activating the capture device, Laura perfectly solved her problem of craving PPDC technology.

Although the capture device burned out the power plant that could power the entire mothership in less than a second after it was activated, Laura successfully analyzed three alternative technologies in that short time.

In other words, the Hong Kong PPDC base alone has three technologies that meet the requirements for updating or loading the Dawn satellite.

Besides the ion weapon that caused the incident, there are also the special alloys used in transport helicopters and the new engines for the F-22 auxiliary flight squadron.

Among them, what helped the Dawn the most was not the ion weapon, nor the new engine of the flight squadron, but the seemingly ordinary special alloy.

The requirements for the autonomous replacement of the Dawn are very high, but ultimately, the most crucial requirement is that its performance basically replaces the old technology, and there cannot be more than 10% lag.

Just like the special alloys that have been analyzed, which far exceed the existing levels in terms of corrosion resistance, strength, toughness, and density, they were included in the replacement projects.

The special alloy used in the helicopters responsible for transporting the mechs has only a thin inner layer, but it can withstand hundreds of times the pressure.

This is why only eight helicopters are needed to lift the mechs weighing thousands of tons.

Similarly, the pressure plates of PPDC's mech parking bay are also made of this type of alloy; otherwise, every step Horizon takes would create a hole in the ground.

Based on this calculation, the power output of the new Chinook transport helicopter must be a staggering figure. It's a pity the mothership doesn't carry a matching helicopter; otherwise, it might have been an additional option.

However, although the revival of the ship's structure can be used to reshape the ship's materials, the energy required is not a simple amount.

A complete overhaul of the ship would require thirty years of conventional energy consumption. This is currently beyond the capacity of the Dawn.

"Perhaps it's time to consider changing the power source."

Laura sighed inwardly. At first, she thought energy was the least of her worries. Now she realized how naive she had been.

In the 21st century, nuclear power has begun to decline in both total energy output and power output. Laura has made up her mind to switch to a more advanced energy source after the end of the Pacific Rim world.

The three acquired technologies were transferred to the Dawn, and Noah's notification sound followed.

[Optional Mission 2: Ion Weapon Acquisition (Completed)]

[Mission Reward: Civilization Order*1 (Already Issued)]

The appearance of a command in the previously empty command library reassured Laura considerably. Since becoming a ship girl, commands have been like money to her; she always feels inexplicably anxious if she doesn't have a few prepared.

"Uncle, I need to go back for a bit. I suddenly remembered that I have something to take care of."

Making up a random excuse, Laura hurriedly headed out of the base. At this moment, Laura's mind was entirely focused on the Dawn.

Jefferson watched Laura's retreating figure, unsure what to say. Had his plan to lure Laura into this mess succeeded or failed?

Back home, Laura lay on her bed and activated the ship girl core technology. All the data of the Dawn appeared in Laura's senses.

60 years of conventional energy consumption, three electromagnetic acceleration channels, HSLA-80 type non-magnetic steel hull, tunnel-type flight deck, 20 F-22 flight formations...

The core alloy derived from helicopters is named HSLA-1200. In terms of yield strength, this new material is more than ten times higher than HSLA-80.

It's obviously unrealistic to make the entire ship out of HSLA-1200. Not to mention the irrationality of using the same material for the mothership, Laura wouldn't use half of her energy to strengthen defenses that are practically useless.

Even the HSLA-1200 couldn't effectively resist the Kaiju hordes rumbling in the Pacific. The Dawn wasn't designed as a mech, so there was no need to focus too much on defense.

Therefore, Laura simply added 12 ion cannons next to the three acceleration channels to make up for the lack of firepower, while also replacing the engines of the carrier-based aircraft.

However, it didn't actually increase their combat strength against Kaiju by much. After all, the electromagnetic railgun is the weapon most likely to inflict devastating damage on Kaiju.

"Moreover, bad times are coming soon."

Laura put aside the link to the Dawn and stared blankly at the ceiling.

The Kaiju invasions are becoming more and more frequent. Although they are currently under control, only Laura knows that humanity's advantage will gradually diminish in the coming years.

The concept of the Anti-Monster Wall was proposed after 2020. Finally, in 2024, due to the complete failure of the Hunter Project, PPDC was abandoned, and only Hong Kong remained operational among the eight broken dome bases.

Humanity has now located the wormhole, but has been unable to close it. Laura knows that she can use the monster's DNA to bypass the wormhole's authentication, but she doesn't know how to inform humanity.

"Perhaps the conjecture that Uncle Chen Hui mentioned earlier can serve as a reference."

Recalling Chen Hui's account of the internal speculations within PPDC during their first meeting, an idea gradually took shape.

Perhaps impersonating a prehistoric civilization isn't such a bad thing.

At least, it's more convincing than her current identity as a little girl.

However, it requires a suitable time and a plausible reason.

Laura had basically made up her mind, but the right timing was up to luck.

Finally, in 2019, the opportunity came.

In 2019, the Marani Islands in the Philippines were invaded by the Kaiju again. However, this time, unlike the last invasion, the Kaiju was just a weak level 2 creature.

This Kaiju is level 4!

Therefore, after the two Horizon Warriors from Hong Kong set off, they sent a request for support to the Dangerous Rangers in Anchorage.

Meanwhile, the previously hidden Dawn, under Laura's control, is about to make its way to the world stage.

18. This is the civilization of Elriel.

What requires the Dangerous Ranger and the two Horizon Robotics to team up is the world's first Level 4 Kaiju, codenamed Skyhook.

Although the Horizon Warrior has been modified and updated, its overall combat strength is only barely at level three. If it really goes up against Skyhook, it will most likely end up with two more pieces of scrap metal.

To this end, PPDC’s Anchorage and Hong Kong bases formally cooperated for the first time, and also mobilized a large number of armed helicopters and fighter jets to assist in the operation, which took five hours to successfully kill the target.

Originally, this epic battle was enough to attract the attention of the entire PPDC leadership, and even the United Nations.

Whether it's the unprecedented value of a Tier 4 Kaiju corpse or the considerations for the future development of the Jaeger program, these factors are enough to be key to the war between human civilization and the Kaiju.

But in reality, almost no one paid attention to the six mech pilots who had just made history.

During the perilous battle against Skyhook, the previously hidden Dawn suddenly appeared, and its three tungsten steel bullets hit Skyhook precisely and swiftly, making it the MVP of the entire battle.

Originally, the PPDC was already used to the Dawn stealing kills, after all, there were precedents. However, before the PPDC could take any action, the Dawn would always dive into the deep sea and disappear without a trace.

It wasn't that no one had considered sending a submarine to track it, but even if the submarine happened to arrive, it wouldn't be able to catch up with the Dawn's specially designed French-powered engine.

The speed of the Dawn is truly incredible!

Considering that the Dawn did not harm humans and was instead focused on hunting Kaiju, the PPDC eventually stopped paying attention to the Dawn and regarded it as an occasional external aid.

But this time it's different.

After destroying Skyhook, the massive Dawn did not dive into the ocean as usual, but instead remained quietly afloat in front of the three mechs and numerous flight formations.

For the first time, humanity had ample time to carefully observe the miraculous lines of the Dawn's hull.

The silver-blue armor gleamed in the sunlight. Fully armed, the protruding electromagnetic channels and ion cannons exuded a menacing aura. The radar and quantum satellite receivers on the top of the bridge slowly hovered, causing everyone watching the Dawn to hold their breath.

Laura: Suddenly I feel like there are a lot of weird uncles staring at my body.

"Jefferson, is this the mysterious giant ship the general mentioned before?"

Albert sat inside the mecha, staring blankly at the enormous machine before him.

Jefferson nodded solemnly, compared the differences between the Horizon and the Dawn, and suddenly felt that the mech in his hand was not so appealing anymore.