Super Mothership
“Dominate the arena? Heh! Should I say you’re naïve, or that your courage is admirable?”
Before Goldtooth could even speak to dissuade him, a teasing voice suddenly sounded not far from the two of them.
“Hmm?” They both turned toward the newcomer in surprise.
This was the competitors’ lounge of the arena. Under normal circumstances, without the person’s consent, arena security would never allow anyone to enter casually.
“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Shadow, the leader of the Dark Temple.” The newcomer strode in familiarly, accompanied by two subordinates.
He wore a strange black metal mask, and a black robe threaded with golden patterns, giving him an extremely mysterious appearance.
“D–Dark Shadow?!” Goldtooth almost jumped in fright.
As one of the Seven Great Pirate Regiments, the Dark Temple’s leader, Shadow, enjoyed a fearsome reputation throughout the Shattered Star Sector—though for pirates, it might be more accurate to call it infamy.
“Dark Temple?” Nie Yun raised an eyebrow.
Red Dragon, Black Sail, Dark Temple, Dragon Riders, Golden Coin, Madmen, and Karon—among the Seven Great Pirate factions, the Dark Temple ranked among the very strongest.
His thoughts raced, and Nie Yun quickly realized why such a big shot would suddenly seek him out.
The first possibility: among the unlucky fools he had just taken down, there had been someone belonging to the Dark Temple, and now the aggrieved party had come knocking.
The second possibility: his brilliance as a “nugget of gold” had been too dazzling, drawing the other side’s interest.
Either way, the fact that the faction leader had personally come showed just how much importance they attached to this matter—which made things rather interesting…
“You’re the Ghost Captain? Hm? No—wait! A robot?”
Before Nie Yun could speak, Shadow had already sensed something amiss, his expression changing instantly.
“Th–this… how is this possible?”
With the technological level of the Wolf Empire, it was naturally possible to build ordinary remote-controlled robots that moved almost as fluidly as humans. But this was the pilot controlling the Ghost Ship!
This simply wasn’t scientific!
Just like Gemini, the Wolf Empire was also constrained by communication interference, which limited the large-scale deployment of remotely controlled unmanned weapons.
As civilization advanced, the energy output of various weapons increased geometrically. Energy weapons capable of destroying planets or even entire star systems not only possessed terrifying destructive power, but also generated high-energy radiation particles that severely hindered communication stability.
The most typical example was the now widespread energy shield technology!
From the “Earth Doomsday” incident involving the gravity bomb, one could see that even the standard shielding level of Gemini was already sufficient to block electromagnetic waves and other “low-energy” traditional communication signals.
And the stronger the shield, the more thoroughly it isolated communication signals. To maintain smooth communication during combat, the transmission energy had to be increased.
But boosting transmission energy also increased the size and power consumption of the communication modules. Thus, only massive war machines such as battleships or fortresses could maintain a certain level of communication on the battlefield.
As for small units like mechas and fighter craft, their communication capabilities were inevitably severely affected.
Therefore, in a competitive arena—where energy turbulence ran rampant and layers of shields isolated the spectators in an independent space—remotely controlling a mecha was unimaginably difficult. Even the slightest delay could mean the destruction of the machine and the death of its operator.
Once outside the arena, things were easier, since Wi-Fi service covered the entire Shattered Star City. But inside the arena… Wi-Fi itself would have to admit defeat!
So what was going on with this robot?
One person controlling a robot, which in turn controlled a mecha, and still fighting his way into the top ten?!
It sounded tongue-twisting, but it was still completely unscientific!
Unless…
There was another possibility—that this robot itself possessed extremely advanced combat intelligence.
His heart skipped. Recalling the astonishingly precise biomimetic mechanical technology of the Ghost Ship, a shocking possibility suddenly emerged in his mind…
“What is your relationship with the Mechanical Race, sir?”
“Uh…” Nie Yun froze for a moment, completely unprepared for how rich the other party’s inner monologue was.
After thinking it over slightly, however, he had to admit that the other man’s guess was quite reasonable.
Mechanical Bug’s communication technology could be described as peerless. At least among the civilizations Nie Yun knew of, none possessed anything comparable. This was one of his greatest advantages.
As long as he wasn’t dragged away for a “full-body inspection,” it was easy to be mistaken for an intelligent lifeform.
Ever since the “Mechanical Catastrophe,” the Wolf Empire had become extremely sensitive toward artificial intelligence. Not only had they destroyed the few remaining intelligent lifeforms, but they had also ceased the large-scale production of automated combat robots and unmanned mechanical legions.
In the world of programmers, there was even a self-deprecating saying: “There is no firewall in the world that the Mechanical Race cannot breach.”
Faced with such an overwhelming gap, playing to one’s strengths and avoiding weaknesses was the inevitable choice of any rational leader. At least until they could develop safer intelligent technologies, the Wolf Empire had chosen to retreat and avoid direct confrontation.
Under these circumstances, the origin of a robot suspected to be an “intelligent lifeform” naturally became highly questionable…
After the great war, although the Wolf Empire and the Mechanical Race still remained wary of each other, viewing the other as a massive threat, the three great mechanical dukes and the severely weakened Wolf Empire checked one another. As a result, another large-scale war was not easy to ignite, and there were even certain levels of diplomatic exchange between them.
One of the three great factions of the Mechanical Race—the Silver Dawn—maintained friendly relations with the Empire. Not only did they engage in trade, they had even dispatched a “clansman” to the Wolf Empire to serve as an ambassador.
Moreover, there were rumors that the nobles of the Mechanical Race had peculiar hobbies, enjoying playing at “travelling incognito,” secretly infiltrating the human world to increase their “life experience as machines.”
Of course, based on Nie Yun’s observations of Codename’s growth process, such rumors were probably not groundless.
For newly born intelligent lifeforms to continue evolving and develop more refined intelligence, entering a race rich in emotion to accumulate “life experience” was indeed one viable path.
“Ahem! Although the Mechanical Race’s technology is indeed unique, it doesn’t mean they are the only ones capable of such things…” Nie Yun answered ambiguously, sidestepping the question.
On the surface, it seemed like he was distancing himself, yet at the same time, he left plenty of room for imagination. In this regard, Nie Yun was highly experienced.
Shadow couldn’t quite gauge the depth of the other party, yet he couldn’t help but grow cautious.
Indeed, even though intelligent life research was officially banned, the Wolf Empire must still be conducting secret studies behind the scenes—after all, one couldn’t stop eating just because of the risk of choking.
But even if the other party truly had no connection to the Mechanical Race, anyone capable of engaging in such taboo research could not possibly be a minor force…
“Heh. I see. In that case, I won’t beat around the bush. Lord Ghost, your combat strength is extraordinary. My Dark Temple is in dire need of talent—would you be interested in joining us?” Shadow realized that further probing would yield no result, and directly stated his purpose.
Nie Yun had already anticipated this, so he wasn’t surprised. However, before he could respond, another voice—this time a woman’s, tinged with mockery—cut in.
“Join your Dark Temple? Heh! Wouldn’t you need to brainwash him first?”
As the only pirate faction among the Seven Great Pirates with a religious nature, the Dark Temple was anything but benevolent. Most of its pirates were fanatics who had undergone special forms of brainwashing, fighting with reckless disregard for their own lives. Anyone who encountered these suicidal zealots would inevitably find them a massive headache.
Of course, for top-tier experts like Nie Yun, the Dark Temple also maintained a guest elder system to keep them well treated, so one couldn’t generalize.
Still, having someone openly sabotage his pitch naturally displeased Shadow.
He frowned, but upon seeing the fiery figure who had just entered, he sighed softly. “Messiah… I heard you were also in Shattered Star City. I knew you would come join the fun.”
“D–Dragon Riders’ leader, Messiah?!” Goldtooth nearly shattered his own golden teeth. Another big shot.
“Hmph! The Dark Temple isn’t good stuff, but what makes your Dragon Riders any better? Female supremacy, male inferiority—playing that whole matriarchal society nonsense.”
At this moment, yet another voice joined in, instantly turning the room lively.
“R–Red Dragon!” Seeing the latest arrival, Goldtooth felt his legs go weak, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
Three of the Seven Great Pirate leaders had shown up at once?!
Each of them was a heavyweight whose mere footstep could shake the entire Shattered Star Sector. Ordinarily, it was already difficult to meet even one, yet here they were, flocking together to this very place.
He had a feeling… things were getting seriously out of hand today.
Yet when he glanced at Nie Yun beside him, that bastard clearly looked like he was enjoying the spectacle, completely unbothered by the chaos…
All of a sudden, Goldtooth found himself nostalgic for the ordinary days back when he had still been the leader of a small pirate crew…
TL Note- Fooling fools....
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