Chapter 612

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Chapter 612: An Unusual Customer (2)

—Ahh……

Unsaek could tell by instinct.

That the other party had been waiting this whole time for the topic of discounts to come up.

Of course, the fact that the only bait he could come up with for a wonder of the universe was a discount made him just as frivolous.

—Th-thirty percent… that’s quite a lot.

“This isn’t the time to worry about margins. If not today, when will you ever get the chance to do business with a planetary ship?”

—…That is true, but—

Unsaek turned his head and looked out the window at the Earth Ship.

A wonder of the universe.

Even if the ship’s owner’s appearance and personality were very different from what he had imagined, the fact remained that the so-called ‘wonder,’ spoken of only in rumors, was now right in front of him.

In other words, he was standing before a development that he would never experience again in his existence as a single being.

Click.

Unsaek pulled a small mechanical device from his waist.

It was a communicator used to call in engineers from headquarters.

—Sometimes, leaving behind experience rather than money is what truly matters.

“Doesn’t look like you’ve given up that much money.”

In truth, just invoking the name ‘planetary ship’ would’ve been enough to slash the price of the ship cannons even further.

But where was he right now?

This was also President Toma’s place of business.

Not only had Toma attended Jeonggu and Jiseon’s wedding as a guest, he was also a senior in terms of existence rank.

‘I’ll soon be walking the path toward Rank 4 anyway. No need to make enemies of my seniors over this.’

In Yeongwoo’s view, he was still far too weak to throw his weight around just because he owned a planetary ship.

Didn’t the Earth Ship lack even auxiliary guns at the moment?

‘The path to Rank 4… Even compared to President Toma, I’m lacking in too many areas.’

What on earth did one have to do to reach existence Rank 4?

‘Is growing for a hundred million years every day still not enough…?’

While Yeongwoo sighed against the backdrop of outer space beyond the window, Unsaek—having summoned the engineers—bowed deeply and opened a catalog.

—Please wait just a moment. The technicians will arrive shortly. In the meantime, let us head to our sales branch and take a look at the products.

With that, Unsaek gestured through the air.

The ship carrying Yeongwoo disengaged from docking with the Earth Ship and began to move.

Toward the Toma Corporation’s commercial planet visible in the distance.

“To think you use an entire planet just for a sales office. Toma really is a major corporation.”

—Indeed. That is why many companies are striving to secure planets of their own.

Then, looking at the Earth Ship now far behind them, Unsaek added,

—But aren’t you using a planet itself as your ship? That is an entirely different realm altogether.

“I can destroy a planet, sure—but wiping out an entire fleet is still beyond me. For now, it’s only a half-finished planetary ship.”

Yeongwoo spoke modestly, but Unsaek’s expression stiffened.

The phrase planetary destruction is possible sounded dangerously close to a threat.

And coincidentally, the Yueta Branch was currently well within the Earth Ship’s range.

—L-let’s… start here.

At last, Unsaek activated the catalog.

Click.

When he pressed a small button on the corner of the book, a holographic display burst upward from the center of the open pages.

Paaaah!

—First, I’ll explain standard main guns and auxiliary guns.

As he spoke, a wide, flat-shaped ship appeared on the hologram.

—This is the size standard at which ships begin mounting main guns: a medium-class vessel.

“Oh. So anything smaller can’t mount a main gun?”

—Correct. Generally speaking. Main guns consume massive amounts of energy, and—

To supply that level of energy, the ship itself must be large.

In other words, ships below semi-medium class cannot mount large cannons and are limited to auxiliary guns.

—Except in special cases like planetary hunters, main guns are typically used for ship-to-ship combat or city-level destruction.

“So even if a semi-medium ship has outstanding performance, it can’t fight a fleet.”

—By conventional standards, yes.

Unsaek then pointed to the medium ship on the display.

An orange-highlighted cannon appeared at the top center, while yellow-highlighted cannons lined up along straight paths to either side.

—As I mentioned, main guns are high-output weapons designed to destroy large targets.

“Then the yellow ones are auxiliary guns.”

—Yes. Auxiliary guns generally consume less energy, but offer rapid fire and fast reload times.

According to Unsaek, auxiliary guns are primarily used for intercepting fighters and small vessels, as well as wide-area ground bombardment.

—Some high-energy auxiliary guns are even used to intercept semi-medium ships.

“Then since our energy supply is practically unlimited, we could mount larger auxiliary guns too.”

At that, Unsaek nodded with a bright smile.

—In my opinion, you could even use main-gun-class cannons as auxiliary guns. However, given that you currently have no auxiliary guns at all—

He suggested that starting with standard auxiliary guns for fighter interception would be the wiser choice.

Yeongwoo agreed.

“But in the end, if we’re going to fight fleets, don’t we need multiple main-gun-class cannons? A fleet is made up of many ships, after all.”

—Correct. The reason a planetary ship can fight a fleet single-handedly is because there is virtually no limit to the number of cannons it can mount.

Unsaek ran his hand over the holographic ship as he concluded,

—Ultimately, your goal will be to equip a wide variety of auxiliary guns.

In short, only by completely covering the ship with both auxiliary and main guns could one defeat a fleet alone.

“So it all comes down to money. How much would that even cost?”

—W-well… This is my first time serving a planetary ship as a customer, so—

At that point, the weapons dealer Koatu, who had been silent until now, spoke up.

—Let’s look at the cannon list first. Auxiliary guns aren’t that expensive. If you want to blanket an entire region with main guns, that’s a different story.

“Right. Let’s start by looking at the cannons.”

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As Yeongwoo agreed, Unsaek, as if he’d been waiting for this, tapped the hologram.

—Then I’ll begin with the primary auxiliary gun lineup.

Paaaah!

「Keisac」 – Epic-Class Cannon

【Output: 200】

【Max Ammo: 36】

【Fire Interval: 0.5 seconds】

【Energy Requirement: 60】

【Manufacturer: Toma】

*Price: 600 million Karma

—This is the Kaysak, a highly versatile auxiliary gun and our best-selling model.

“This is the top seller?”

Yeongwoo blinked as he studied the Kaysak’s tooltip more closely.

“Fire interval: 0.5 seconds?”

Compared to planetary hunters with a three-second firing interval, it was incredibly fast.

The output was far below that of a main gun, but the rate of fire was enormous.

“And the ammo capacity is much higher. Auxiliary guns really are built completely differently.”

This was Yeongwoo’s first time shopping for ship cannons, so everything felt new.

“The price is 600 million—this is per barrel, right?”

—Correct. Thanks to its high rate of fire, a single Kaysak can handle most engagements. But if you have two… combat becomes twice as easy.

“How many of these do large ships usually mount?”

—Anywhere from four at the low end to thirty-two at the high end. Rarely, some ships even mount sixty-four.

“At least four…?”

That alone meant 2.4 billion just for Kaysaks.

Thirty-two would be 19.2 billion.

“So 600 million isn’t actually cheap at all.”

As Yeongwoo fidgeted his fingers at the scale of the expense—far beyond anything he’d shopped for before—Koatu added,

—That’s why people say you can’t put a price on a great house’s flagship. It’s the result of reinforcements accumulated over generations.

“That makes sense. If they’ve got thirty-two auxiliary guns… the number of main guns must be huge too. They didn’t install all of that overnight.”

Knowing Yeongwoo’s budget well, Unsaek bowed slightly and offered advice.

—There’s no need to rush, Shipmaster. Ships are meant to be completed slowly, over time.

“But I don’t have time. I’ve already lived for hundreds of millions of years, and even now, my enemies are—”

The Salzeo Fleet.

The Kardal Royal Family.

The prestigious Shirak House.

Yeongwoo’s life was nothing but accumulated karma, and for someone newly emerged into the cosmos, he had an unusually large number of enemies.

“How much money do we have right now?”

When Yeongwoo turned and asked, Koatu scratched his chin and replied,

—10.2 billion, plus thirteen Katangdal ingots.

“So what’s that in cash?”

—Uh, well—

As Koatu began calculating, Unsaek answered first.

—23.2 billion, Shipmaster.

“23.2 billion? Why?”

—…Pardon?

“Shouldn’t it be 29.7 billion?”

—H-how did you arrive at that number?

“Katangdal ingots are worth 1.5 billion each.”

That was true—in the Black Zone.

And Unsaek, who of course knew this, smiled awkwardly.

—S-Shipmaster… that would be in the Black Zone—

“Either way, that’s the maximum value, right? So we should calculate at maximum value.”

It was effectively ignoring exchange rates through sheer stubbornness, but Unsaek didn’t dare scold him.

After all, he was dealing with the owner of a planetary ship.

—…Very well, Shipmaster. Since you’ve gone out of your way to visit Toma, we too—

Just as Unsaek was about to raise the white flag, Yeongwoo activated his signature boundary-crossing maneuver.

“Then may I ask for one more favor, Branch Manager?”

—Eh? A favor… of what sort?

Yeongwoo cleared his throat and pointed at the Kaysak specs floating above the catalog.

“There are better auxiliary guns than this, right?”

—Of course. But the price—

“I’ll buy those. Several of them.”

—Ah, that is a wise choice, but before that, we should really—

As Unsaek was about to insist on reviewing the budget first, Yeongwoo’s next words shut his mouth completely.

“Then lend me some money.”

—……?

“I don’t have time. When would I ever finish saving up for auxiliary guns? If Toma just lends me the money, the problem’s solved, right?”

—No, but—

Overwhelmed by the sheer shamelessness of it, Unsaek stumbled backward.

Yeongwoo stepped forward by exactly the same distance, closing the gap once more.

“Oh, I’ll pay it back. I mean that sincerely.”

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