Super Mothership
The chubby little man rubbed his sore fists and feet, finally stopping his outburst.
He glanced at the old clan chief with disgust and spat in his direction, then straightened his jewel-studded golden robe. With short legs trying hard to look imposing, he waddled up to his throne—more than ten meters high.
This fat man looked somewhat like a werewolf, with a slightly protruding nose and a pair of pointed ears. But his height, barely a meter tall, and his plump body completely ruined what should have been a fierce presence.
Only when the fatty sat back on the main seat did the two towering werewolf guards at his sides finally shift their wary gazes away from the old clan chief.
“Lord Jinlok, our clan failed in our duty to protect the structures, resulting in damage to one of the devices. We are willing to accept punishment.”
The old clan chief seemed used to this sort of treatment and admitted fault calmly.
A trace of satisfaction flashed through the fatty’s beady eyes, and he immediately revealed a greedy smile.
“Punishment? Of course there will be punishment. The supply quota your Ryan Clan owes this year will be reduced by thirty percent, taxes increased by twenty percent, and you must provide an additional three hundred thousand ordinary soldiers and one thousand bronze warriors!”
Now he looked nothing like the furious bully from moments before—he resembled a shrewd merchant gleefully cutting his employees’ bonuses.
He had already investigated the situation: although the wormhole expansion device was heavily damaged, its core components were intact. A little repair fee and it would be good as new.
Subtracting from one side and adding to the other… he’d make a nice profit!
Hearing Jinlok’s punishment, even the old clan chief—whose face was usually stiff and emotionless—couldn’t help but twitch violently.
This defeat was entirely because three device coordinates were exposed, and the Gemini forces gathered were far beyond expectations. In truth, the incorrect intelligence Jinlok had provided was the real reason for the failure.
But he knew that the more he argued now, the heavier the punishment would become.
Greedy and stingy, Jinlok started his fortune as a loan shark. Even a mosquito’s leg—he would try to carve off a layer of meat. His reputation was terrible even within the Wolf Civilization.
Three hundred thousand ordinary soldiers, one thousand bronze warriors…
Once these people were sent out, how many would come back alive?
Sighing internally for the tragic fate awaiting his clan, the old chief could only bleed inside and clench his teeth in silence.
“This matter ends here. But next, you must quickly defeat that low-level civilization and open the wormhole passage!
I’ve already contacted several major clients in the Empire—everyone’s waiting to split the slaves and planets on the other side. If you make our gods wait too long, I won’t forgive you!”
Jinlok pulled out a delicate golden nail file and casually shaped his sharp claws as he spoke.
“My lord, the enemy somehow acquired coordinates for the three devices. This time, they planned meticulously and attacked with their entire force. Although they didn’t succeed, they won’t let the matter rest and will definitely return.
From the battles so far, the enemy surpasses us in both warship numbers and weapon technology. They also possess a terrifying war star. They are absolutely not some weak civilization we can invade at will.
Our clan has suffered massive losses—over sixty percent of our warships destroyed. If we split our forces to defend all three locations, we will be defeated one by one.”
Faced with such a brainless demand, the old chief could only explain helplessly.
“Hmph! As expected, a pack of useless fools! I spent so much money buying you people—should’ve bought some mechanical-race cannon fodder instead!”
Jinlok continued cursing.
He didn’t care why they couldn’t do it. In his eyes, the Ryan Clan was just a hunting dog. If a hunting dog couldn’t tear apart prey, then what value did it have?
He bought the clan’s ownership solely to squeeze greater profits. He didn’t care about their heavy casualties—only about results.
But the danger to the three precious wormhole expansion devices… that he had to take seriously.
Those things weren’t cheap. When arms dealers sucked you dry, they weren’t any kinder than he was.
“Fine. Since you at least tried your best in the battle, I’ll grant another investment: 30,000 soldier-enhancement slots, 10,000 bronze mechs, and an additional 500 warships!”
Jinlok said with some pain in his voice.
In truth, aside from the 10,000 bronze mechs, the rest hardly cost him anything.
The enhancement technology that Jinlok provided had long been eliminated by the Wolf Civilization. Its patent protection period had expired years ago, and the cost was almost negligible.
Those 500 warships were also near-scrap second-hand vessels—basically converted armed merchant ships—which Jinlok repurposed at a price no different from collecting junk.
Even though this was only a trivial amount of money to Jinlok, it was still an “off-budget” expense, and it pained him deeply.
The old clan chief opened his mouth, wanting to speak but hesitating.
This level of support would, at best, slightly strengthen the Ryan Clan, but it was absolutely impossible for them to crush or even decisively defeat the enemy.
However, after glancing at Jinlok’s expression, he knew this man would never spill another drop of money. All he could do was sigh inwardly.
“Yes! The Ryan Clan will definitely do everything in our power to complete your mission, my lord!”
……
“A big merchant from the Wolf Empire’s Golden Wolf Clan? I didn’t expect that the one making Gemini treat this war like a life-or-death crisis… is actually just a greedy, money-grubbing businessman?”
Even Nie Yun, who had read countless puzzles and riddles, never imagined the situation would turn out this way.
From Spartacus’s words, Nie Yun learned that the Ryan Clan and these vassal soldiers were all private property owned by an imperial merchant named Jinlok.
The Wolf Civilization was a typical imperial system with vast territories. Even the Ryan Clan did not know exactly how many star systems it spanned—only that it belonged to the top-level powers of the Fourth Orion Arm Star Cluster, ruling over countless subordinate civilizations.
These vassal civilizations were conquered and placed under unified military supervision by the Wolf Empire. After undergoing a series of “military harmlessness treatments,” they were sold to major powers to serve as hired fighters.
These “harmless treatments” included forced technological cutoffs, industrial restrictions, and extreme material dependency.
Without a complete industrial chain or even independent food resources, these vassal races were tightly controlled by the Empire and could not resist—becoming a unique form of “foreign legion” under the Wolf Civilization.
After thousands of years of development and interstellar navigation, the Wolf Empire had long moved beyond the primitive stage of relying solely on official territorial expansion. Much of its growth now came from private capital continuously expanding for profit.
Among this, the vassal-civilization “foreign legion” system provided the Empire with a nearly cost-free war model—after all, vassal civilizations didn't require pensions when they died.
The Gemini civilization was fortunate: the first thing they ran into was merely a weaker vassal civilization. They hadn’t even touched the true core of the Wolf Empire.
They thought they had seen the whole picture through one spot—but it turned out the spot they saw was just a flea living on the leopard’s fur. One couldn't tell whether Gemini was lucky or unlucky.
The Wolf Empire was not only powerful but highly commercialized. Capital power was immense. Wealthy merchants like Jinlok could not only possess their own private military forces, but even privately own dozens of star systems as “real estate.”
Shortly after Gemini’s wormhole was exposed, the coordinates were sold and eventually acquired exclusively by Jinlok, who immediately began preparing for conquest and exploitation.
Every wormhole represented a virgin land of unknown value—and the unknown value of its civilization.
It was like gambling on uncut jade—you could never predict whether cutting it open would reveal something worthless… or fortune beyond imagination.
To a merchant as greedy as Jinlok, who dreamed day and night of making enormous profits, buying a wormhole coordinate for private exploitation was no different from gambling on jade—with endless possibilities.
And the powerful Ryan Clan was merely one of many vassal civilizations of the Wolf Empire. Unfortunately, they were purchased by the miserly and avaricious Jinlok. For the sake of their race’s survival, they could only serve as expendable pawns.
Heaven and earth are merciless, treating all living beings as straw dogs.
“Truly worthy of being the boundless universe—countless races… my horizons were still too narrow!”
Nie Yun clasped his hands behind his back and sighed, though excitement burned in his eyes.
He thought he had only opened a single door…
But what greeted him on the other side was an entire world.
TL Note- Damn the scale....
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