"Every meal, just rice…" Zachary Chase frowned slightly.
Some of the female crew members' eyes began to dim.
Zachary shook his head and said, "It's a bit difficult to have rice every day, because we can have porridge and bread in the morning, pasta for lunch, and rice or other meals in the evening."
Hearing the captain's words, those female crew members whose eyes had dimmed instantly felt as if they had returned to heaven.
"Alright, you all continue eating. I'll go deal with other matters first." Zachary saw the suppressed joy of the female crew members and tactfully left the Starship Restaurant.
The moment he walked out of the Starship Restaurant, he could hear laughter and sounds of joy coming from behind him.
"Oh my goodness… We can actually have rice with every meal, every day!"
"Is the captain bluffing us? How is this possible… Even our territory's Lord Fleet didn't have this kind of treatment back then!"
"I don't think the captain would lie to us. Look at the food the captain gave us just now! It was simply the best I've ever eaten in my life."
"Does the captain need to deceive us? We are slaves bought by the captain. Even if he doesn't give us these things, wouldn't we still have to work honestly for the captain?"
Zachary's lips curved slightly upward; this was what he wanted.
What he wanted was not a lifeless slave fleet, but an elite fleet with morale and a desire to fight!
Although in this era, the technological level of a starship itself, to some extent, surpassed the morale of the crew on board, under the same conditions, a fleet with morale is always stronger than other fleets. And a fleet with morale can create miracles!
How to have such a fleet? It's very simple: give the crew what they want and fill them with hope for the future. In this way, anything that stands in the way of their hope, anything that tries to destroy their hope, will be regarded as their mortal enemy!
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
Urgent footsteps came from behind him.
"Captain, I think your decision is very ill-considered!" Charlotte blocked Zachary's path.
"What's wrong? I think it's pretty good, and everyone seems to like it, don't they?" Zachary shrugged.
Charlotte said seriously, "I am very grateful that you improved the crew's meal standards, but do you know what a daily meal standard of 0.3 star coins per person means?!"
"I can still do that math. That's 10 star coins a month, and we currently have one hundred crew members, so the monthly consumption is 1,000 star coins," Zachary said calmly.
Charlotte said sternly, "One thousand star coins! Do you know how many energy blocks, how many military supplies, how many missiles, how many bullets that can buy?!"
Zachary looked at Charlotte with a smile: "Are you done speaking?"
Charlotte continued, "You can improve everyone's food benefits. I think 0.1 or 0.05 star coins per day would be enough, and those synthetic foods don't need to be completely abandoned."
Zachary waited for Charlotte to finish speaking, then he smiled and said, "I know what you are worried about, but in my opinion, none of that is as important as making everyone happy and satisfied. Before, they were a group of lifeless slaves. But do you know what I saw in them just now? Hope! "
"What I want is a fleet with hope, not a fleet of walking dead. Alright, regarding the welfare and dining standard issues, there's no need to discuss it. This is the captain's order; it will not be changed, nor will it be lowered, and in the future, if necessary, it may even be gradually increased! If a captain can't even fill his own crew's stomachs, then he is not a qualified captain."
As he spoke, Zachary suddenly reached out and swiped Charlotte's lips.
Charlotte was stunned. She saw a grain of rice on Zachary's finger, and then she saw Zachary actually put that grain into his mouth.
"Later, have the logistics department personnel come for a meeting. We need to discuss in detail how many daily necessities to purchase, and the future menu for the Starship Restaurant."
After Zachary finished speaking, he disregarded the blushing Charlotte and was already far away.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
It took Charlotte a long time to recover. She clutched her heart. The captain's action just now truly stirred her heartstrings. Especially his unwavering demand to set that 'luxurious' meal standard, which made her feel an indescribable emotion in her heart.
"The menu is set like this. From now on, you will provide meals for the crew according to this menu. Because we will be going on a long voyage in a few days, I will purchase a batch of daily necessities and military supplies.
"Charlotte, you are responsible for making a detailed list for me. At that time, I will find someone to transport all the necessary daily necessities and military supplies. You don't need to consider the funding issue; just calculate based on the actual situation of the Blizzard Zero." Zachary looked at the several high-ranking female crew members in the meeting.
"Okay… Okay." Charlotte responded, but since she walked into the room, she had not made eye contact with Zachary again.
"Your logistics department can start preparing. I will first order a batch of food raw materials to be delivered within three hours. Our meal standards will begin with tonight's dinner." Zachary said.
"Yes!" The female crew members of the logistics department were all in high spirits, and then they walked out of the meeting room.
"That…" Zachary looked at Charlotte.
Before Zachary could even speak, Charlotte left in a hurry, saying, "I'll go tally the required daily necessities and military supplies now."
Zachary was surprised. Why did he feel that his vice captain was a bit strange?
That evening.
One telling ten, ten telling a hundred, the news of the Starship Restaurant's menu change quickly spread throughout all starship posts.
Before, they thought it would take some time for the captain's policy to be implemented. They never expected that what was just said at noon would be changed by evening.
Soon, female crew members who were not on duty flocked to the Starship Restaurant.
The Starship Restaurant at this time was completely different from before; even the layout had changed a bit. What was originally a rationed meal system was now changed to a self-selection meal system.
Originally, the daily three meals had fixed menus, with only one or two food options at that time, mostly synthetic foods, divided into set meal one and set meal two, and the portions were also fixed—only less, not more.
But now it was different. In addition to the food displayed in the showcase available for selection, one could also directly order from the kitchen, choosing what they wanted to eat, and the kitchen would prepare it on the spot.
Of course, the chosen food had to be from the menu, and the unit price was slightly higher.
The menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner each expanded to more than ten categories.
And each female soldier's meal allowance was also changed to an allowance of 10 star coins per month. Each dining female crew member could order freely. As long as the total did not exceed this allowance in a month, it was fine, and there was also a rule against waste.
"There's even meat!" A female crew member pointed to a dish of stir-fried shredded pork with vegetables, her eyes wide.
However, that dish was relatively expensive, equivalent to three days' meal standard. But if one was a little frugal normally, eating meat once a week was not a problem.
"Um… excuse me, can we order now?" A female crew member asked timidly and a little impatiently.
"Of course. As long as the options lit up on the sign, and the food displayed in the cabinet, you can order." The half-orc chef personally came out and said.
This half-orc chef used to be a chef for a certain half-orc lord and was quite skilled in cooking. On the Blizzard Zero, she served as the logistics chef.
"Give me a bowl of rice with toppings!"
"I want a steak!"
"Just give me a bowl of rice and some vegetables!"
"I want beef noodles!"