Chapter 616

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Chapter 616: An Unusual Customer (6)

Through this transaction, the Earthship ended up installing a total of 41 cannons.

Of these, Nemua accounted for the largest share with 32 cannons, followed by Hemstitch with 5, Raider with 3, and Volcano with 1.

In effect, a single Earthship was now carrying the firepower of a decent-sized medium fleet in its entirety.

Which meant that the only thing left was—

‘Once we install a shield using Selulite, we’ll be more or less finished.’

After today, there would be no need to tuck tail and run from enemy interceptors or fleets.

‘Heh.’

As Yeongwoo wore an expression brimming with ambition, a gigantic antenna-like structure atop the sales headquarters building bloomed open like a flower.

“…What’s that?”

–That is the synchronization device I mentioned earlier.

Not long after, a bluish pillar of light shot upward from the fully blossomed antenna.

Kwaaaaah!

Straight toward the Earthship anchored far out in space.

–Until the technicians arrive and begin their preparations, we’ll proceed with installing the cannons first.

As he said this, Unsaek guided Yeongwoo and Koatu to a vast corridor prepared inside the headquarters building.

At the center of the corridor, a hologram of the Earthship had been projected—no one knew when it had even been prepared.

And surrounding this hologram were barrels of various lengths, long and short alike, lined up in rows.

“So those are all the cannons we purchased.”

–Correct. Once you tell us the desired positions, we can install the cannons remotely.

“There aren’t that many cannons, so there’s no need to overthink it.”

Yeongwoo decided to install the cannons primarily in the Asian region, which had relatively fewer traces of Stellar Collision.

The plan was to gleefully fire with the planetary hunter in the Pacific and across Asia, and once all ammunition was depleted, ram the Earthship into the enemy’s flank or rear.

“Doesn’t that sound like a solid plan?”

As Yeongwoo laid out his strategy, Koatu wore a dubious expression.

–Don’t ask me to approve such a bizarre inspection. Cannon placement is entirely your decision. That said… if you really intend to ram them, you’ll probably need to divide the ship into sections.

“Then we can stick with this for now. It’s not like we won’t earn more money later and increase the number of cannons anyway.”

Of course, ethically speaking, he’d still need to pay off the credit he owed to Toma first.

‘Still, two months should be plenty. That’s a whole 60 billion years, after all.’

As Yeongwoo counted epochs on his fingers, Unsaek—now standing at the center of the corridor—looked toward him.

–Then we will proceed with installing the cannons as ordered.

“Yes. Let’s get started.”

The moment Yeongwoo nodded readily, Unsaek swept his hand across the holographic Earthship.

Hwae-at.

The cannons that had been standing neatly around the ship scattered in different directions, embedding themselves across Asia and the Pacific.

“Now that they’re installed, it actually feels like we’re short on firepower.”

As Yeongwoo muttered while watching the cannons embed themselves into the Earthship, Koatu shrugged.

–The ship’s surface area is overwhelmingly larger than that of a standard vessel… so it’s only natural to feel that way.

Then he added—

–But that also means the enemy won’t know where to strike first, which should be frustrating for them.

And once the Selulite modification is complete, the ship will gain the ability to push its defensive power to the extreme, even if only momentarily.

–So… what’s next?

“What do you mean, what’s next?”

–You’re already installing cannons, and soon you’ll have a Selulite-based shield. So what’s the next move?

Since Koatu had effectively become part of the Earthship’s fate, it was only natural for him to be curious.

Yeongwoo rolled his eyes for a moment, then raised his index finger.

“Oh. We go collect a ransom. Come to think of it, there’s still a pretty good money source left.”

–Ransom?

“Lady Kanaph. It’s about time we send her back home, don’t you think? Especially since we’ve acquired such a perfect means of transportation.”

Lady Kanaph.

The younger sister of Duke Dalqui Izori.

At this very moment, the Duke was probably desperately searching for his missing sister.

“The Duke likely believes his sister was killed after being abducted. Imagine how devastated he must be. We should hurry and return her safely—and get paid.”

What’s more, this act of demanding a ransom was recognized by the Catalog System as hypocrisy.

While the intent was impure, it still counted as a form of good deed.

–Duke Dalqui, huh… He’s going to have a headache dealing with someone like you.

“Still, wouldn’t I be the benefactor of his house? It’s better than getting his sister back as a corpse.”

As Yeongwoo and Koatu spoke, Branch Manager Unsaek—who had finished installing the cannons—looked up.

–All cannons have been installed. Once they’re connected to the Earthship’s power core, firing will be possible.

“Ah, thank you for your hard work. So now all that’s left is the shield, right?”

–Correct. The technicians have just arrived, so we’ll begin immediately.

As he said this, Unsaek pressed a panel embedded in the corridor floor, and a small pedestal rose up near Yeongwoo.

–Please place the Selulite there. The shield installation can’t be performed here, so we’ll be relocating for the process.

Right on cue, Earth spoke through their shared consciousness.

○ That’s incredible… They sent the cannons to precise positions from that distance.

‘So the cannons are all installed now?’

○ The cannons are all in place. We’re connecting them to the power grid following the guide sent by Toma.

‘Only the shield is left. It seems like a major operation, so they have a separate process for it.’

Earth shrugged within Yeongwoo’s mind.

○ They just requested transmission of all detailed coordinates of the Earthship. If they had bad intentions… it’d be information that could allow a full bombardment of our vital points.

‘To install a shield that covers the entire ship remotely, they’d need our exact position.’

As Yeongwoo placed the Selulite on the pedestal, Unsaek glanced at it briefly.

–I’m a little curious how you obtained Selulite as well… but I suppose you found a way. As expected of a Planetary Shipmaster.

“Yes. I just work hard, and the universe helps me out.”

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With that joke, the Selulite and pedestal sank back into the corridor floor.

–Once we have the precise coordinates, the shield installation won’t take much time. Please wait here, and we’ll display the installation status on the screen.

With a wave of Unsaek’s hand, another workspace appeared in the air.

Inside were technicians from headquarters, all wearing vividly colored goggles and operating the central hologram with mechanical gauntlets.

And the hologram in question was none other than the Earthship.

“So they already received the coordinates.”

The countless points forming the Earthship model were clearly the detailed coordinates Toma had requested earlier.

Each time the technicians rotated the model, coordinates briefly appeared and disappeared.

“Did these guys spend their entire lives doing nothing but technical training?”

As Yeongwoo muttered, Koatu nodded.

–At the highest levels, that’s usually the case. Mantero—the acting captain you’re using—has probably spent nearly his entire life mastering navigation.

“Oh. Our acting captain.”

A high-grade specialist now tasked with handling 42 cannons and a Selulite shield.

Yeongwoo felt, once again, that the Earthship was growing stronger by the day.

Despite all the twists and turns, hadn’t they acquired a capable captain and proper facilities?

Koatu, however—having encountered far more beings across the universe—seemed to see things differently.

–Mantero may be an escapee, but at his core, he’s a royal navigator.

“So?”

–Which means he’s fundamentally ill-suited for a ship belonging to a family of professional bandits like yours. Do you think he’s ever even considered ramming a ship?

“What are you saying? That Mantero won’t be able to make proper use of the new armaments?”

–He’s better than most, but he won’t fully draw out the Earthship’s performance. He lacks boldness… or rather, recklessness.

“But he’s still the best navigator we can get right now. And even if we found a new one, we couldn’t afford their salary.”

As Yeongwoo said this, Branch Manager Unsaek—who had vanished from the corridor—appeared inside the on-screen workspace.

He was actually participating as a hands-on technician in this operation.

Chuaaaaah!

Unsaek and six senior technicians from headquarters gathered together and began forging the shield.

At that point, Koatu spoke again.

–If you truly want a captain optimized for the Earthship, go to a battlefield.

“A battlefield? With our size, wouldn’t we get focused down immediately?”

–That’s why you look for a battlefield after the fighting is over. A dying warzone, where stragglers are being hunted down.

“Oh. So we recruit a captain from the losing side?”

–To willingly take the helm of a pirate ship, they need to be one of two things: either someone who’s crossed the line of death and lost their mind, or someone rotten to the core.

And on top of that, they still need to be exceptionally skilled.

–Even as a defeated soldier, surviving to the end as a captain is proof of outstanding ability.

“That makes sense… but how do we even find battlefields? Wars don’t happen that often, do they?”

As Yeongwoo shrugged, Koatu shook his head.

–Wars may be rare for any single being, but across the universe as a whole, they’re happening constantly and if it’s you and the Earthship…

“Oh. We can travel the universe through black holes now, right?”

–Exactly. If you’re going to search for myths anyway, you might as well look for battlefields too.

“If we find battlefields, I can sharpen my swordsmanship too… Doesn’t sound bad.”

As Yeongwoo nodded, strange light began to pour out from the screen in the corridor.

Piaaaaah!

The Selulite shield installation on the Earthship had finally completed, and its first test run began.

And as if he had been waiting for this exact moment, Unsaek turned toward the camera and shouted.

「Now! Shipmaster, look! As promised, we engraved our emblem on the outer layer of the shield instead of charging labor fees!」

“Ah… I see…”

As Yeongwoo nodded awkwardly, Unsaek—his voice soaked in madness—struck something within the strange light.

Kwaaaang!

「Selulite Shield, activation!」

At once, the actual Earthship—anchored far from the sales office—began to glow pure white, and at the same time, a flash of strange light filled Yeongwoo’s vision.

But that light was—

Piiiiiing!

‘…Huh? This is—’

An unexpected Achievement System signal.

[Achievement Unlocked : Basic Armament]

| Achievement Rank : Cosmic

| Clearance Rank : #10

「All basic armaments of a planetary ship fulfilled.」

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