If you really wanted to praise this plane, well—honestly, you couldn't.
After all, it was a very basic, rudimentary aircraft.
Its speed, altitude, and maneuverability were all severely limited. Not to mention the design was far from elegant.
With Luo Lan's memory and comprehension, he had mastered the controls in less than an hour.
The plane was now positioned on the central avenue of the base, where a crowd had gathered to watch, their faces filled with curiosity.
"Luo Lan, can this thing really fly?"
"Hina's curious… but Hina's also scared!"
Hina ran over, poking and prodding the aircraft as she spoke to Luo Lan, who was already seated inside.
"Seras said it'll be fine."
"And even if something does go wrong, I'll just step off with Moonwalk. No big deal."
Luo Lan was completely unfazed.
After all, this thing still ran on cola as its fuel source. Which meant...
Even if there was a malfunction, it wouldn't explode—at worst, it would just fall apart mid-air.
For someone like Luo Lan, whose Doriki had nearly reached 4000 and who could use Moonwalk (Geppo) like second nature, what was there to worry about?
What did concern him, though, was the length of the central avenue.
Seras had said that based on his calculations, a runway of a thousand meters would be enough for takeoff and landing. The central avenue was about 1,200 meters long, so it should be fine.
It wasn't his safety that Luo Lan was worried about—it was the plane.
It'd be a real shame if it got wrecked.
This was, after all, the first aircraft in the world of pirates! Someday it would definitely belong in a museum, admired by future generations, right?
"Captain! We've loaded 30 liters of cola into the fuel tank. That should last about an hour of regular flight!"
At that moment, Seras ran over to report.
"Great. Can we begin now?"
"All set!"
With a nod, Seras gave the signal to clear the runway.
Marines began ushering people away, ensuring the central avenue was completely empty.
Then, one marine stepped up, grabbed a propeller blade just as Seras had taught, and gave it a hard spin.
"It's turning… It's turning!!"
"Damn, look at that thing spin! So fast!"
"But seriously, it's so tiny—can something this small really lift that metal hunk into the sky?"
The marines were buzzing with excitement, chattering amongst themselves.
Of course, there were still plenty of skeptics in the crowd.
Not that it mattered—because just seconds later, the aircraft piloted by Luo Lan began to move.
It rolled forward down the central avenue.
Faster...
And faster...
Until finally, just as it neared the end of the runway, the wheels—
Lifted off the ground.
Yes. The nose tilted upward slightly, and the plane broke free from the earth.
It was flying. Really flying.
Everyone watching was dumbfounded, mouths agape.
Meanwhile, up in the cockpit, Luo Lan was thoroughly enjoying himself.
In his previous life, he'd always dreamed of being a pilot. But due to his extreme nearsightedness, that dream had never come true.
Now, at last, his dream had taken flight—literally.
The only regret?
The aircraft was just too primitive.
Still, that didn't matter. As long as they had progressed from 0 to 1, then reaching 2, 3, 4, and beyond was only a matter of time.
After about half an hour in the air, Luo Lan's excitement gradually faded. He steered the aircraft back and executed a smooth landing.
Everything went perfectly. Not a single issue.
That was the thing about Seras—his inventions were always reliable.
"Seras, we need to improve the flight speed, altitude, maneuverability—and definitely the firepower. Otherwise…"
"At this level, it's nowhere near ready for actual combat in this world."
After hopping down from the aircraft, Luo Lan walked straight over to Seras.
He was right. In this world of pirates, a vehicle like this wasn't battle-ready at all.
Sure, it could fly—but it was basically a flying coffin.
If it faced off against any remotely powerful opponent, it'd be knocked out of the sky in no time.
"Don't worry, Captain. We already have plans for further development!"
"Good. Let me know if you run into any problems."
Luo Lan nodded in satisfaction. He had complete trust in Seras when it came to scientific research.
"Well, speaking of problems, Captain…"
"Didn't I just say? If there's an issue, just tell me directly!"
"Yes, sir. The problem is... we're short on people!"
"What? Not enough people? Didn't I just assign you hundreds of researchers?"
Luo Lan's eyes widened in disbelief.
He had more researchers than soldiers at this point!
"Captain, we do have a lot of personnel, but most of them are just apprentices."
"What we lack isn't helpers—we need actual high-level researchers who can lead projects."
Alright, now it made sense.
In other words, the number of high-level researchers determined how many projects they could run simultaneously.
A very real, very practical problem.
You couldn't exactly put an apprentice in charge of a critical development, could you?
So, if they wanted to accelerate scientific research and expand into new fields, they'd need more elite talent.
Unfortunately...
In the system store, scientists were by far the most expensive personnel.
A single A-rank scientist cost 10,000 points.
And someone like Seras—a strategic-level scientist—cost a staggering 1 million points.
That was ten or twenty times more than any other category of talent.
It hurt just thinking about it.
But this was one expense he couldn't avoid.
The Marine HQ had very few scientists to begin with—and the good ones were all already snatched up by major powers.
Recruiting and training civilians from scratch?
That was a joke. Who had time for that?
In the end, he'd just have to buy them.
"How many do you need?"
"Captain, we're not asking for much. Just 10 high-level scientists and 100 mid-level ones!"
"…Here, take this gun. Aim it right here and pull the trigger."
Without another word, Luo Lan pulled out a black pistol and handed it to Seras, then pointed at his own temple.
Ten A-rank and a hundred B-rank scientists?
And you're telling me that's "not much"?
That's 200,000 points. A full 2 billion Beli.
And this guy had the gall to say it like he was being modest.
"Three high-level scientists. Twenty mid-level ones. Take it or leave it!"
"We'll take it! We'll definitely take it!!"
Seras beamed, rubbing his hands together like a scheming merchant.
Truth be told, he never expected to get what he asked for.
But if he hadn't started by asking for more, how could he negotiate down to a good deal?
In fact, what he was getting now was more than what he had originally hoped for.
Watching him grin like that, Luo Lan immediately realized:
He'd been played.
These damn bioengineered nerds…
They were getting craftier by the day.
And who the hell had been teaching them these tricks!?
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