Time waited for no one. After the initial wave of joy passed, Lin Zhen immediately decided to begin his plan to build the spaceship.
The process of constructing the ship was already etched into his mind.
If he gave it his all, he would need one and a half days at most to complete the vessel.
If he included the time needed to build and install the positive-negative warp engine, it would take another half a day.
In other words, if no accidents occurred, they could board the spaceship and leave this godforsaken place in two days at most.
Of course, that was the most ideal scenario.
In reality, while building the ship, Lin Zhen also had to consider how to prevent the Saints’ Hand Society on the warship from discovering that they were quietly constructing a vessel.
Originally, Lin Zhen had intended to build the spaceship’s frame underground first. Then, after coming to the surface, he would install the skin, some of the wiring, and the positive-negative warp engine.
That way, they could depart in about half a day, minimizing their exposure time on the surface.
Compared to two days, he could probably find a way to deceive the warship’s monitoring for half a day.
But now, due to the limitation of materials, it was impossible for them to build the spaceship underground.
After all, Lin Zhen couldn’t just take a bunch of materials and sneak past the green elves into the underground world.
There simply wasn’t enough time.
They could only build the ship in the giant stone city — ideally, right on the great rock itself.
Looking at it this way, the construction site was also a problem.
After shielding everyone’s neck collars, Lin Zhen voiced his concerns, hoping to brainstorm a solution.
“A Zhen, you said you tested it before. How long can the collar be shielded before it triggers a warning from the battle camp?” Yun Che asked.
“One day. My previous test lasted exactly one full day!” Lin Zhen said. “But that isn’t a fixed number. There might be fluctuations. After all, I only tested it once.”
“Fine, let’s call it one day!” Zi Jiu nodded.
“Then how about we spend one day building the ship and one day resting? Or, we can stagger the time. A Zhen, you can build the ship when your star energy is full, and when it’s low, you can unshield the collars and rest.”
“But if we do that, I’m afraid the frequent signal interference will actually attract the battle camp’s attention!” Lin Zhen replied.
“I agree. An occasional signal loss can be explained by going to the underground world or a place that naturally shields signals.”
“But if the signal frequently disappears while on the surface, the people on the warship would have to be idiots not to notice. No, there’s definitely a smart AI on that warship. We can’t fool it!” Yun Che said seriously.
“Then what do we do?” Anvil bit his nails, looking nervous.
“Let me think, let me think!” Yun Che frowned, muttering to himself in a low voice.
The others couldn’t come up with a solution for a moment and fell into deep thought.
If they didn’t solve this problem, their plan would be nothing but a bubble, easily burst with a single poke.
“Should we just stretch out the timeline?” Kaos suggested cautiously. “Let A Zhen take a large amount of metal needed for the ship and go to the underground world to build the frame first?”
“That is an option, but I’m afraid time is against us.”
Lin Zhen truly felt that if he had met the others sooner, or if he hadn’t gone to the underground world in the first place, things wouldn’t have been delayed until now.
“The battle camp has two methods of monitoring. One is the neck collar monitoring, and the other is the warship periscope you mentioned, right?” Yun Che suddenly asked.
“Correct!” Lin Zhen nodded. “The periscope is easy to handle. We just need to block the view of the sky.”
“Then I have a plan. But this method requires us to burn our bridges. Once we start, there is absolutely no turning back! Are you willing, A Zhen?” Yun Che looked at Lin Zhen seriously.
A bitter smile spread across the young man’s lips. “Haven’t we already reached the point of no return? Just say it.”
“Good!”
Yun Che pointed at Lin Zhen’s neck collar and then pointed toward the sky.
“Since the battle camp only has two monitoring methods, we’ll just deceive them directly!”
Yun Che’s method was actually very simple.
First, Lin Zhen would return to the underground world and immediately shield his collar, creating the illusion that he was staying there.
Then, he would immediately return to the surface in a disguise to build the spaceship.
During this time, no one else could go looking for Lin Zhen. This was to prevent the battle camp from using their collars to discover his location.
This way, Lin Zhen would be completely off the grid.
Although the battle camp would react after one day, the search party they sent out wouldn’t be able to find Lin Zhen immediately.
Even if they did find him, it would take quite some time.
And this time difference would be enough for Lin Zhen to complete the construction of the spaceship.
Lin Zhen pondered for a moment and couldn’t find any major flaws, but Zi Jiu disagreed.
“But this method is far too dangerous! What if the battle camp senses something is wrong and sends out a commandant?”
“Even if the spaceship is finished, I think with their strength, they could just shoot us down! Don’t forget, even Xiao Xi can destroy a spaceship easily!”
“That’s why I said we have to burn our bridges!” Yun Che spread his hands.
“Jiu! I think this plan is good!”
Lin Zhen looked at Zi Jiu, his face full of resolve.
“I really think it’s good! Even if it fails, it won’t affect you guys!”
“But!”
Zi Jiu wanted to say more, but Lin Zhen waved his hand, adopting a rare, firm attitude.
“My hands and legs belong to me. Do you think I won’t do it just because you don’t allow it?”
Hearing this, Zi Jiu bit her lip, looking somewhat aggrieved.
Lin Zhen’s heart softened slightly. He let out a sigh and explained, “This task has to be me. For everyone’s sake, I’m willing to take the risk. Besides, if this opportunity were placed in front of you and it had to be you, would you stop just because we advised you not to?”
“No…” Zi Jiu said quietly.
“So, do you understand my thoughts now?”
Lin Zhen stood up. He thought back to that day, to Yun Ruoxi, who had stepped out from the crowd to take the blame for him.
It clearly didn’t have to be her, but she had stepped forward anyway.
Her tenderness and her kindness were evident in that moment.
Therefore, even if he had to take the greatest risk, he would take them all back to the positive universe!
“Jiu, things aren’t necessarily that absolute. Maybe we can find a way to increase the success rate a bit!” Yun Che suddenly said.
“What way?” Zi Jiu asked.
“I’m not just talking nonsense!”
Yun Che tapped his own neck collar and asked, “Since A Zhen can shield the collar’s signal, why can’t he take it a step further? For example, refracting the collar’s signal to another location? Or simply faking the signal?”
“That is much more difficult than shielding the signal!” Lin Zhen shook his head.
“But haven’t you been plotting for this plan for two years?” Yun Che seemed to have great trust in Lin Zhen.
“The fact that you could research an alloy capable of shielding the collar signal proves you already understand the collar deeply enough. So, why wouldn’t one more step be possible?”
Yun Che going crazy rn