Chapter 1858 - Medium Airship
After the senior administrator verified the Airport Building Order's authenticity, he presented a list of Airport Designs for Shi Feng to choose from.
Unlike other Advanced Constructions, players only needed an Airport Building Order to construct an airport. The airport's size would depend on the player's budget Players had three sizes to choose from: Small, Medium, and Large.
The larger an airport was, the more airship docks it would have. Moreover, the system would allocate higher-quality airships.
How expensive! As Shi Feng examined the various airports' prices, he felt like a poor bastard.
The cheapest airport on the list the senior administrator had provided cost 50,000 Gold to construct, whereas the most expensive Small Airport cost 150,000 Gold. Needless to say, the Medium and Large Airports cost even more.
Although he had known the minimum price for constructing a Small Airport, he hadn't expected such a large price disparity between the cheapest and most expensive Small Airports available.
Of course, the most expensive Small Airport was worth every Coin.
The 50,000 Gold airport looked shabby next to the 150,000 Gold option.
The 50,000 Gold airport only had four Small Docks, which were only available to ordinary Small Airships. The 150,000 Gold option had six Small Docks, and all six housed Small Bronze Airships. Not only were Small Bronze Airships 30% faster than ordinary Small Airships, but their load capacity was also 50% higher. The profits a Small Bronze Airship could generate was more than double that of an ordinary Small Airship.
However, after deducting the promotion fees he had paid earlier, he only had a little over 90,000 Gold on hand. It was obviously not possible to construct the best Small Airport available right now.
Moreover, if he wished to become the Secret Stone Fortress's Advanced Manager, he needed to fork over another 60,000 Gold...
He still had two days left before he had to pay the 60,000 Gold for the Secret Stone Fortress. Although he could earn a lot of money through the Guild's territories and selling the rare materials from the Ice Crystal World, he should have barely enough money for the cheapest airport and the required fees for the Secret Stone Fortress with the total profits.
It seems I have no choice but to go with the cheapest option for now and rebuild a better one once I have the money to do so. Shi Feng could not help his sigh as he read the list.
As long as players qualified to build an airport in a town, they could build whatever kind of airport they wished. However, once an airport had been constructed, it couldn't be upgraded. If players weren't satisfied with their Small Airport and wanted to construct a Medium Airport, they'd have to remove the current construction and build the desired airport from scratch. In other words, players would have to pay the full price for a Medium Airport, rather than the price difference.
This was why even Super Guilds didn't dare to expand their airports casually.
"Lord Protector, as you are the first heaven-blessed individual in Star-Moon Kingdom to construct an airport, we have two additional Small Airport models and one Medium Airport model we can offer. May I know if you are interested in seeing them?" the senior administrator asked, smiling at Shi Feng, who was deep in thought.
"Let me take a look." Shi Feng's eyes glowed with interest when he heard the NPC's offer. This additional recommendation was the equivalent of a bonus reward. Naturally, he wouldn't ignore the potential opportunity.
The senior administrator then retrieved a second list, handing it to Shi Feng.
Although the list only had one page, listing only three airport variations, descriptions covered the page. Only a fraction of the descriptions included simple introductions, while rules and regulations took up the majority of the page.
[Model 024 - Small Airport]
Price: 150,000 Gold
Has five Small Docks, each equipped with a Small Bronze Airship.
Has one Medium Dock, equipped with a Medium Bronze Airship.
Installment plan: Down payment of 60,000 Gold and pay an additional 200,000 Gold within one month. If payment is not completed within that time, the airport will be repossessed.
[Model 039 - Small Airport]
Price: 180,000 Gold
Has six Small Docks, each equipped with a Small Bronze Airship.
Has one Medium Dock, equipped with a Medium Bronze Airship.
Installment plan: Down payment of 80,000 Gold and pay an additional 240,000 Gold within one month. If payment is not completed within that time, the airport will be repossessed.
Shi Feng couldn't ignore the temptation of these two models.
Not only could he pay in installments, but the Small Airports even had a Medium Dock and a Medium Bronze Airship.
Normally, this benefit was only included with Medium Airports.
A Medium Airship wasn't just larger than a Small Airship; it also allowed NPC merchants to transport large and special cargo that Small Airships couldn't handle.
As for the Medium Airport the NPC recommended, Shi Feng had instinctively ignored it. Five hundred thousand Gold was more than enough of a reason to pass the option by.
"Lord Protector, are you satisfied with the airports listed?" the senior administrator asked. "If you cannot decide or lack sufficient funds, we can reserve these three options for you for three days."
"No need. I'll go with Model 024," Shi Feng said without hesitation.
He definitely couldn't afford the Medium Airport, even if he bankrupted himself. As for Model 039, he would've chosen it if he could have. After all, it only cost an additional 30,000 Gold, or a total of 60,000 if he chose the installment plan, for an additional Small Dock and Small Bronze Airship. However, if he paid the 80,000 down payment, he would have a very difficult time collecting the 60,000 Gold required to claim the Secret Stone Fortress. Hence, he had chosen Model 024.
Although playing the remaining 200,000 Gold within one month would be a little troublesome, with Zero Wing's current development rate, it wasn't entirely impossible.
Moreover, with an additional Medium Dock and Medium Bronze Airship, his airport would likely generate enough income to cover a significant portion of his debt Furthermore, the airport's construction would increase the income from Silverwing Town's other facilities.
"Lord Protector, the Model 024 you have chosen comes to 150,000 Gold. Would you like to issue a one-time payment or pay in installments?" the senior administrator asked respectfully.
"I'll pay in installments," Shi Feng said. He then retrieved 60,000 Gold from his bag, leaving him with just a little over 30,000 Gold.
"Alright." Once the senior administrator confirmed the payment, he explained, "I have received the 60,000 Gold. I will soon send people to Silverwing Town to start the construction. The airport will take two natural days to complete. If you wish it, you can reduce the construction time to one natural day by paying an additional 6,000 Gold."
"Just build it normally," Shi Feng replied.
Building an airport required a lot of time, which he knew. That was also why he had chosen to construct the airport now. If he completed the airport a day before schedule, it would do more harm than good.
Once Shi Feng finished with the airport selection, he returned to White River City's Candlelight Trading Firm. He had to set aside his original plan of helping Cola and Alluring Summer level up, sending the two to Beslo Hills, a neutral map near Star- Moon Kingdom, once they had formed a six-man party instead.
The Beslo Hills was a Level 70 neutral map and home to the Undead. Although the monsters there were roughly as strong as the monsters in the Flame Demon's Valley, the party would face far less danger than in the valley. Moreover, Undead generally had below-average HP. With Cola's current equipment, he'd be able to resist the Undead army in the area. His five party members would simply need to consume Holy Light Potions, converting their attacks into light-type. Light-type attacks dealt double damage to Undead, which would significantly increase the party's grinding speed.
Many of Star-Moon Kingdom's large Guilds had used this method to power-level new, low-level members in the past.
The only downside to this was that Undead monsters were very poor. Even after killing an army of several hundred Undead, one wouldn't earn enough money to cover the cost of a single Holy Light Potion.
After making the necessary arrangements for Cola and Alluring Summer's leveling, Shi Feng returned to his Special Forging Room in the Candlelight Trading Firm. He then took the Subclass Dark-Gold Design from his bag.
Anticipation flashed in Shi Feng's eyes as he gazed at the blank parchment before him. He then pulled the Hell Tank Design[l] from his bag.
The Hell Tank required multiple subclasses to craft its various components. The forger subclass was only one of them.
Among the parts the forger subclass had to craft, the most important were the power source and the sturdy, outer shell. As an Intermediate Tank, both were Fine-Gold rank. If he could upgrade one of them to Dark-Gold rank, it would definitely improve the overall Hell Tank.
With his current forging standards, modifying the Hell Tank's power source or outer shell would be impossible. Not even an Advanced Master Forger was guaranteed to accomplish the task. However, the Subclass Dark-Gold Design before him could forcefully modify and upgrade a low-ranked design to Dark-Gold rank, making the impossible, possible.
Of course, he had never actually heard of anyone achieving the feat, so he wasn't sure if it was possible, but if he succeeded, the Hell Tank would become far more powerful.
Improving the outer shell will only increase the tank's Defense and durability, but the tank's offensive abilities are more important. Let's go with the power source. After examining the Hell Tank Design before him for some time, Shi Feng decided to upgrade the tank's power source.
Shi Feng activated the Subclass Dark-Gold Design and designated the Hell Tank's Power Source Design as the target.
A loading bar then appeared as the system analyzed and modified the design.
Please succeed! Shi Feng silently prayed as he watched the loading bar slowly fill.
TL Notes:...
[1]Hell Tank: Changed Hell Chariot (from Chapter 1771) -> Hell Tank...