Chapter 436

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 436: The Value of a Planetary Ship (2)

A planet.

In space, a planet was essentially an exposed entity.

Although each planet continuously moved along its orbit, that path was ultimately fixed.

So, as long as one knew the coordinates, they could visit—or attack—it at will.

From a human perspective, planetary orbits remained unchanged over what seemed like an eternity, and even future changes were predictable.

That is, if there were someone who knew the gravitational forces and life expectancy of every celestial body scattered across the universe.

“Wait, hold on a second.”

When Yeongwoo abruptly paused with a roll of his eyes, Earth and Pluto looked startled.

『W-what now?』

Yeongwoo's gaze dropped to the ground.

“You said every coordinate in the universe has an orbit embedded in it, right?”

『…That's right.』

“Then who makes those coordinates?”

『Ah.』

Earth looked slightly relieved.

At least this time, it was a question that fell within the bounds of common sense.

『All coordinates in the universe—』

Swish.

Earth then looked up at the sky.

『—are created by the Great Typesetter.』

“That damn Typesetter again.”

An enigmatic being said to have recorded the past, present, and future of the entire universe.

Whether it had a consciousness, was a colossal machine, or was just a vast record board as some cosmic entities claimed—no one really knew.

One thing was certain, though.

“…Damn, that’s actually kind of impressive. It means it knows the future trajectory of every celestial object in existence?”

『That’s basically correct. Every coordinate is issued the moment a being destined to receive it is born.』

“Then what about you?”

『What about me?』

“Was your future—as a planetary ship—already written into your coordinates?”

『That…』

Earth’s expression grew complicated again.

And Yeongwoo layered on an even more complicated question.

“If the Typesetter already knew you were going to become a planetary ship, wouldn’t it have stopped assigning you an orbital path at some point?”

『H-how dare you say such blasphemous things?!』

“It’s not blasphemy—it’s just logical, isn’t it? If the Typesetter is that great, then maybe it even stopped recording the orbit of the entire solar system at some point.”

『……!』

『W-what.』

To Earth and Pluto, this was an insane idea, too overwhelming to even entertain.

『T-that can’t be.』

As Earth firmly denied this heretical theory, Yeongwoo’s Bastard pointed at the sky.

“Then what happens if someone uses your old coordinates and jumps here, but you’re not in your original orbit anymore? Wouldn’t they just end up in empty space?”

『Ah…….』

If the orbit embedded in the coordinates didn’t account for the variable of the planetary ship, that’s probably exactly what would happen.

『Then what do you think would happen?』

Unable to provide a definitive answer, Earth threw the question back at Yeongwoo.

And the cheeky little hybrid made a sweeping gesture in the air and said something crazy.

“If the Typesetter is that amazing, then it must’ve predicted even the rise of planetary ships. After all, it was the Typesetter that wrote down the future where I marry the Princess of the Sun.”

Then he glanced at Pluto—Svera, the dwarf planet.

“If we become planetary ships and start carrying the solar system around, of course that’ll affect things on a galactic level too, right?”

Earth tilted its head for a moment, then replied.

『You’re right. Planetary systems in our galaxy likely exert at least some indirect influence on each other.』

“Exactly. I think that’s what the Sun meant by ‘completeness.’ If the condition changes, even slightly affecting the galaxy, it becomes a burden.”

Then Yeongwoo added something else.

“But once we become planetary ships, we won’t be burdened by that anymore.”

『…Why not?』

“Have you not been listening? We no longer move along fixed orbits, so we can’t be reached or targeted using standard coordinates. Unlike regular planets, we can run away.”

A fitting description for a cosmic band of space pirates.

“The moment you become a planetary ship, your original coordinates are likely discarded. Of course, in return…”

Yeongwoo stopped talking.

Even he couldn’t confidently predict what came next.

『In return… what?』

“Well, we’re still planets, so we’ll probably be issued new coordinates.”

If, by some chance, no new coordinates were assigned, then the planetary ship “Earth” would essentially become invincible.

A planet that could move unpredictably—and couldn’t even be targeted.

『New coordinates?』

“Yeah. You’d need coordinates when docking somewhere, right? For visitors to come, you need a place for them to go.”

But Yeongwoo believed those coordinates wouldn’t contain the future path of the planetary ship.

Even if the Typesetter did know the trajectory, just as no one knows their own fated future, the path of a planetary ship would be no different.

Around that time, the next item on the main cannon list appeared in the air.

Fwoosh!

「Red Lightning」 – Epic Ship Cannon

【Output: 1200】

【Max Charge Capacity: 2】

【Firing Time: 15 seconds】

【Energy Requirement: 1400】

【Manufacturer: Kadusa】

<Kadusa’s masterpiece! The last thing your enemies will ever see is a flash of red.>

Price: 2.1 billion Karma

“Whoa, what’s this? The energy efficiency’s under 100%?”

It draws 1400 units of energy to fire at 1200 power.

Totally different from the “Roar of Gadia,” which used 400 energy to generate 800 output.

『But the output is 1200.』

Earth chimed in.

"That's true. So from a planet’s perspective, is the Red Lightning scarier than the bombardment cannons we saw earlier?"

When Yeongwoo asked the actual targets of the bombardment, both Earth and Svera nodded.

『The firepower per shot is higher…』

『And the trigger time is just 15 seconds. Not much time to respond.』

"Oh, so it charges quicker."

Gadia's Roar had a trigger time of 60 seconds.

In contrast, the Red Lightning could fire a 1,200-output shot in just 15 seconds.

That was why the Red Lightning cost nearly 500 million more.

『Of course, Gadia’s Roar has its own advantages.』

Earth looked up at the sky and elaborated.

『It requires less energy. Not every planet has a sun-level power source. And it might be installed on regular ships, not planetary ones.』

"Oh yeah? I still don’t have a good sense of the energy stats yet… how many hits would it take to kill you guys?"

Yeongwoo looked back and forth between the two celestial bodies as he asked, and though Svera dropped her jaw, Earth—who was starting to get used to Yeongwoo—furrowed his brow for a moment and gave an answer.

『Around 2,000 in output could kill me.』

2,000 output.

That meant three shots of Gadia’s Roar, with its 800 output, or two shots of Red Lightning with its 1,200 output.

Also, considering Red Lightning's 15-second charge time per shot...

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

"So with the Red Lightning, I could kill you in 30 seconds?"

『If it’s fully charged and I take two direct hits while completely defenseless, yes.』

It was Earth’s first time talking about his own death, and his expression grew complicated.

『But killing a planet isn’t that simple. There’s damage reduction depending on the planet’s grade, and the level of development in the capital also—』

As Earth’s explanation began to drag, Yeongwoo waved a hand to cut him off.

"Anyway, your base HP is 2,000, right?"

『That’s correct.』

"Then both Gadia’s Roar and Red Lightning are useless. No need to buy that junk."

Earth’s eyes widened.

『Why’s that?』

"I mean, are we going to all this trouble building a planetary warship just to beat up some loser planets?"

『…….』

Earth, suddenly labeled a "loser planet," froze.

And Svera, who was ranked even lower than that, quietly lowered her head.

"Even in just our solar system, there are planets way bigger than you."

He was referring to Jupiter.

The largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter’s mass dwarfed Earth’s several hundred times over.

"If it takes 30 seconds to kill you with that weapon, how are we supposed to survive in this brutal universe?"

And soon, Jupiter—and even more daunting, the Sun—would be arriving here.

Whether through diplomacy or intimidation, it was clear they would need an even bigger gun.

"We’ve already started this as bandits. If we’re going to face off against the solar system, we need some absurdly massive weaponry."

Saying this, Yeongwoo turned to the purchasing system, which had just started displaying the third set of artillery, and issued a new command.

“Clear all this. Show me Toma’s cannons. We’ll be here all night otherwise.”

At his words, the list of displayed artillery specs vanished into thin air.

Pop!

Then, with a different color scheme from the previous ones, new specs began to appear.

Beeep!

『Wha…』

The weapon specs were being revealed from the top down, and the moment the cannon’s name appeared, Svera stepped back in shock.

Clatter.

It was understandable—Toma’s specially-made cannon had a name befitting a monster:

「Planet Hunter」 - Legendary cannon

『What… what did you just summon?』

Even Earth was speechless, staring at Yeongwoo in disbelief.

Then came the rest of the Planet Hunter’s monstrous specifications.

「Planet Hunter」 - Legendary cannon

【Output: 4100】

【Max charge: 4】

【Firing time: 3 seconds】

【Energy Requirement: 1700】

【Manufacturer: Toma】

<If there was a misfire due to a coordinate error, quickly eliminate the witnesses.>

*Price: 6.3 billion karma

"Holy… 3 seconds?"

Three-second trigger time.

Just as the tooltip warned, even if you input the wrong coordinates, there wouldn’t be time to correct it.

You could literally erase four planets in just 12 seconds with this thing.

"Hey, with that kind of firepower, how strong is it? Could it take out Jupiter in one shot?"

Yeongwoo asked Earth, but Earth was staring into the void, mumbling something weird, totally spaced out.

『You want me to… mount that on my body?』

Meanwhile, an alert appeared in the sky.

Beep!

「|lI|-Voltu is entering orbit.」

"Who the hell is Voltu now?"

Yeongwoo scowled at the alert and asked, and Svera cautiously answered.

『…It’s Jupiter.』

Jupiter.

The strongest being in this star system, aside from the Sun.

Speak of the devil—and he appears.

Jupiter had shown up the moment they mentioned him.

"What, Jupiter? I thought he and Mercury were off running to the Sun?"

Svera blinked her blue eyes.

『That just means the audience is over. It means His Grace is on his way. Jupiter’s here to handle the situation before that.』

“Handle the situation.”

A phrase loaded with implications.

Without another word, Yeongwoo grabbed Earth by the collar.

Grab!

"Snap out of it, damn it! We gotta strike first!"

『Wha… what?』

"Let’s ‘accidentally’ shoot Jupiter!"

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]