Chapter 25: New Technology, G9 Rifle Series
33 Grace Points—this was the largest amount Gu Hang had received so far. He planned to reserve three points for retraining three more battalions.
As for the remaining thirty points, he pondered on the possible directions for their expenditure.
First, he opened the [Heroes] interface.
His personal information panel still displayed a message indicating insufficient experience to level up.
Experience was gained through warfare.
Beyond that, Gu Hang was unsure whether other activities, such as handling governmental affairs, would grant experience. He believed it should, but he had not verified it yet.
The recent victorious battle had not been sufficient to allow him to level up.
Instead, he noticed a new name on the interface.
【New Hero Available for Activation: Yan Fangxu, requires 10 Grace Points】
Hmm?
Gu Hang found himself slightly conflicted.
Should he activate Yan Fangxu as a Hero?
Once activated, Yan Fangxu could accumulate experience, upgrade attributes, and acquire talents.
Although Yan Fangxu did not seem to have any psionic talents, activating him would likely result in a warrior template.
Moreover, if he invested effort in training Yan Fangxu, there was a chance that when Alicia’s starship left in a couple of years, Yan Fangxu, as a Navy Captain, might leave as well.
All the investment in him would then go to waste.
Gu Hang did not distrust Yan Fangxu because of his Navy affiliation, but investing significant resources was a different matter altogether.
Deciding to set this aside for now, Gu Hang opened the [Technology] panel.
He tried investing 10 Grace Points.
【Invest 10 Grace Points, 70% probability to unlock a new basic technology. Confirm investment?】
No, no, no, no!
Gu Hang was a bit astonished.
The probability could decrease?
Previously, ten Grace Points were directly exchanged for a basic technology.
He had assumed that each exchange of ten points would yield two Black Box Fabricators. But now, the probability was lower?
70% was not particularly low, but Gu Hang was worried it might continue to drop in the future!
“Each successful technology unlock reduces the success rate for the next one?”
Gu Hang speculated about the system’s technology function panel.
A heavy blow.
Initially, Gu Hang thought that with such a significant cheat, he could easily become invincible.
After all, technology is the primary productive force.
Even if the Imperial taxes became pressing, he could sell the Black Box Fabricator, and organizations like the Imperial Commerce Guild or the Imperial Mechanicus would eagerly come to buy it, solving any tax issues effortlessly.
However, the decreasing probability issue hit him like a brick.
“I still have to proceed honestly,” Gu Hang thought helplessly.
Fortunately, he had never considered selling technology as his only lifeline. Handling tax issues normally was preferable, and these Black Boxes, along with future ones unlocked through technology accumulation, were his capital for continued growth and strength.
In his role as Governor, he was not just looking to weather the storm for a few years and then seek a transfer.
The position of planetary governor is very special.
A governor of a planet like Fury Owl Planet might not be valued, but for a planet with top-tier productivity and military capability, the governor’s influence is enormous.
The head of the Pegasus Sector, Pedes, held his position firmly primarily because his brother was the governor of the sector’s capital planet, Winged Planet, with its hundred billion population and vast, stable productivity serving as his strongest support.
Technology is the primary force for development.
Unless absolutely necessary, Gu Hang would never sell the Black Box Fabricator.
Currently, although the success rate for the [Technology] function had dropped, the remaining 70% was still a decent probability. He still had over thirty Grace Points, enough to successfully unlock something.
【Invest 10 Grace Points, 70% probability to unlock a new basic technology. Confirm investment?】
Taking a deep breath, this time he clicked yes.
【Basic Technology: G9 Rifle Series】
【The Imperial Mechanicus developed this new generation of kinetic rifles to meet the demands of the Star Realm Army’s orders. The G9 series continues the trend towards lighter and more modular designs, allowing different configurations like machine guns, automatic rifles, precision rifles, and submachine guns through various attachments and simple modifications. It also further supports alloy bayonets.】
Gu Hang’s lips curled into a smile, which soon grew into a broad grin.
Treasure!
At least in the Pegasus Sector, whether for the Imperial Guard’s Star Realm Army or the Navy’s Marine units, the primary weapon was still the G7, also known as the ‘Assaulter’ rifle.
Gu Hang recalled hearing about the gradual adoption of the G8 rifle, but the scale of the changeover was still small, and production capacity was insufficient.
Now, he had obtained the even more advanced G9!
Another powerful tool.
If Gu Hang could consolidate the entire planet, the production of G9 rifles alone could bring in numerous orders.
The Star Realm Army, Navy, and even local defense forces on various planets in the Pegasus Sector wouldn’t need to adopt the G8—they could jump straight to the G9.
Securing all these orders would be more than enough to cover the Imperial taxes.
Of course, this was just an idea.
Firstly, achieving such high production capacity was a challenging task. Secondly, if he made such a significant move, he wouldn’t be able to explain the source of the technology.
Unlike Alloy and Plastic Steel, which is a fundamental and widely applicable material production process, the G9 Rifle Series is still very rare.
Making too much noise about it might not be a problem, but would the tech-crazed members of the Imperial Mechanicus come knocking?
Moreover, if he couldn’t explain where this technology came from, the Inquisition might get involved.
Suddenly acquiring some unknown knowledge is often seen as a sign of Chaos corruption.
Of course, Gu Hang wouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
He still needed to use this technology.
At the very least, equipping his own troops on a small scale shouldn’t be an issue.
Previously, he had been considering how to utilize the weapons and equipment seized from those mercenaries, but it seemed there was no longer a need for that.
Eagerly, Gu Hang opened the [Technology] interface again.
【Invest 10 Grace Points, 40% probability to unlock a new basic technology. Confirm investment?】
As expected, the probability had dropped again.
A successful technology unlock reduces the success rate by 30% each time? If this continued for another two times, the probability would be zeroed out?
Ridiculous! Who would be willing to invest in this system?
Gu Hang cursed and grumbled.
Then he invested another ten points.
What else could he do?
The rewards from the technology system were too tempting.
【Unlock failed.】
Gu Hang’s face fell.
Overcome with frustration, he threw in the remaining ten points.
Yan Fangxu could wait; drawing cards was more important right now.
【Unlock failed.】
Seriously, a 40% probability, and he failed twice in a row?
What was going on?
Gu Hang actually disliked these probability-based systems, as he hated failure. But he could only draw from the 10-point Grace level right now; the next level required 100 Grace Points per draw.
From this perspective, the [Technology] panel’s reward pool was finite.
The more one drew, the lower the probability became.
Either he would need to level up to higher tiers for better rewards or pay a higher price to gamble on lower probabilities.
Under this concept, there was likely a hidden mechanism: obtaining good items when the probability was high was crucial, otherwise, getting good items after the probability dropped would be a huge loss.