Super Mothership
Nie Yun was not surprised by this at all—everything was ultimately driven by profits, nothing more.
Atlantis’s Ministry of Commerce immediately sprang into action and launched a new commercial initiative—the “Kara Star Economic Special Zone Plan.”
Kara Star lay at the boundary between the two sides, and its geographical position made it extremely suitable as a trade hub.
Although the Gemini civilization held actual control over Kara Star, powerful enemies surrounded the Solar System. Even the wormholes were firmly controlled by the “Guardian Beast,” the Immortal. Under the current circumstances, the neighboring star systems could hardly be considered safe.
In such a situation, large-scale immigration was impossible. Even if the council approved it, very few civilians would be willing to accept relocation.
As a result, Kara Star was something of a white elephant for the Gemini civilization—tasteless to use, yet a pity to abandon. Using it as a trade center could at least activate a dormant asset, so Gemini naturally had no reason to oppose the idea.
While countless Gemini ships set course for this remote planet, Nie Yun also dispatched his own business delegation—a fully unmanned spacecraft loaded with robots.
This small ship, named “The Wolf of Wall Street” by Nie Yun, carried 500 units of the latest humanoid robots.
Unlike the traditional “Little Wolf–type” miniature robots, this model was fully humanoid in every respect, including size, closely matching the appearance of Earth humans.
If the goal was to integrate Earth’s people into the greater galactic family, then humans themselves naturally had to take part.
Human language habits and behavior carried strong imprints of civilization. To Gemini, who had observed Earth for many years and were familiar with its culture, even the tightest secrecy could still result in inadvertent leaks of human information.
For example, during the previous battle on Callisto, a small robot had subconsciously made a religion-specific gesture—crossing himself over the chest—which immediately tipped Gemini off.
Under such circumstances, concealment achieved little and instead easily aroused suspicion. It was better to be open and clearly state their identities from the start.
With the banner of the “Earth Branch” of the All-Things-Return-to-One Society as cover, Earth humans could interact openly and legitimately with the other side.
Meanwhile, within Gemini’s business delegation heading to Kara Star, Leon and several Gemini intelligence elites had already disguised themselves as corporate representatives and blended into the group.
He intended to personally go and meet this mysterious organization…
……
On the distant opposite side of interstellar space.
“What? You want me to go behind enemy lines to carry out commerce raiding?”
When Nie Yun first received the news, he almost thought he had misheard.
What kind of mission was this? Wasn’t it essentially a special-operations unit operating deep in enemy territory?
Arthas was the dignified son of the Speaker—surely they wouldn’t make him personally take such a risk? Was Girard trying to completely tear away all pretenses?
“Yes, my lord. We’ve just received word from the family. The Speaker has already approved Girard’s request for your assignment and has instructed you to do everything possible to complete this mission,” Catherine said solemnly.
Nie Yun frowned. “Is there something more to this?”
Cruze, as Arthas’s father, could not possibly be unaware of the risks involved. Yet he still agreed—there was definitely something strange going on.
“Yes. In fact, two small-scale fleets will be dispatched for this mission. One will be under your command, my lord. The other commander will be the Sea Clan’s favored prodigy… Beckman!”
“Beckman? So it was him…” Nie Yun revealed a look of sudden realization. With a bit of analysis, he immediately understood the general course of events.
If even the Sea Clan’s favored prodigy was personally entering the fray, then the Winged Clan—longtime rivals for tens of thousands of years—would naturally be unwilling to show weakness. Given Arthas’s current status and standing, it was indeed impossible for his personal safety to outweigh the Winged Clan’s dignity.
Even if pressured by internal opposition and public opinion within the Winged Clan, Cruze would still have to agree to this assignment.
“Heh! They’re really staking everything on this—turning it into a gamble, huh… But seriously, what grudge does he have against me?” Nie Yun curled his lips, genuinely feeling baffled.
Going to such lengths just to target him—did Arthas used to live next door to Beckman or something?
Hmm… given Arthas’s level of charm, that actually didn’t seem entirely impossible.
Nie Yun indulged in this malicious speculation.
“Sir, competition between the two races has existed since ancient times. And as the saying goes, the tallest tree catches the strongest wind. Even without personal grudges, your very existence is already a threat to many people,” Catherine said.
“Sigh… So in the end, it’s because I’m just too outstanding?”
“Uh…”
In any case, since the mission had already been handed down, Nie Yun had no intention of backing out. He would deal with soldiers as they came and water as it flowed.
At worst, he’d lose this clone body and return to the Solar System to inherit billions of mechanical bugs—no big deal.
“But since they dumped this dirty job on me, there’s no way I’m getting zero support, right? Don’t tell me Beckman is going to compete with me honestly and obediently.
Fairness and justice? I don’t believe a single punctuation mark of that!”
“Uh! Actually… there is support,” Catherine said. “With the patriarch’s approval, you may make one request to the family. Whether it’s enemy intelligence, weapons and equipment, or elite warriors, the family will do its utmost to provide support.
Of course, this assistance cannot be made public and must be carried out in secret. And since this is ultimately Girard’s territory, the level of support we can offer may be somewhat limited.”
“Oh? Is that so…” Nie Yun pondered for a moment, then snapped his fingers with a click.
“Then tell the family this—I want one set of the civilization’s most advanced single-soldier armor, and one top-tier combat mech!”
“W-What?” Catherine was stunned.
“What? Is there a problem?” Nie Yun raised an eyebrow.
These were just small items. Surely the dignified Speaker wouldn’t be incapable of secretly slipping such things onto his warship, right?
“No, no—it's not that. But sir, are you sure you only want one set?”
This wasn’t a problem—it was too little of one, okay?
Top-tier single-soldier armor and combat mechs were indeed valuable, but requesting just one set, especially when it involved competition with a Sea Clan prodigy, was something Speaker Cruze could easily arrange.
If nothing else, the nearby Dreadnought Warstar alone was guaranteed to have stock.
But what could a mere single set of equipment accomplish deep behind enemy lines, where enemies were everywhere?
Even if it was Gemini’s top-tier mech—perhaps superior to the Sea Tyrant class—it would still amount to little more than the difference between fifth-generation and fourth-generation fighters.
Sure, I believe you can take on ten bronze-tier enemies—but can you fight an entire swarm of bronze mechs?
Do you think Gemini’s top-tier mechs are some kind of divine dragon warriors…?
“Mm! I’m absolutely sure. Just submit the request,” Nie Yun waved his hand dismissively.
Since they were sincerely letting him make a request, failing to squeeze out another round of high-end technology would be an insult to Beckman for creating this opportunity.
Besides, to me, what’s the difference between one set and a thousand sets?
Push me too far and I’ll just mass-produce troops—believe it or not? And they’ll be the mythril-enhanced version, too!
If Beckman knew that Nie Yun was cheating this outrageously—asking for only a mere hundred Sea Tyrant–class units—he’d probably cry himself unconscious right there in the hangar…
……
Although Nie Yun’s request was somewhat peculiar, the Cruze family immediately pulled some strings. Three days later, the items were delivered to the Fallen Angel in supply crates.
At Nie Yun’s command, the items were immediately sealed away.
Catherine was utterly confused. If he had requested them, why seal them up immediately afterward? And calling them secret weapons, no less.
The commander’s way of doing things was becoming increasingly unfathomable.
What she didn’t know was that very night, Nie Yun had already ordered the mechanical bugs to enjoy an extra “midnight snack”…
TL Note- Duel...
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