Super Mothership
As night fell, the long, noisy revelry in Village No. 67 finally began to fade into silence. In the darkness, only the dying embers of the bonfire gave off a faint glow.
Sura leaned against the drunken Spartacus when she suddenly felt someone gently tug at the corner of her clothes.
Looking down, she saw it was little Kiki. A smile immediately appeared on her face as she gently pulled the girl into her arms.
“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you asleep so late?”
“Sister Sura… is my dad never coming back again?” Kiki lowered her head and asked softly.
Sura’s body stiffened. Spartacus’s hand twitched slightly as well—his habits from the battlefield made him a light sleeper.
“Of course not. I told you, your father is just on duty. He just couldn’t come back with us this time,” Sura said, still unable to bring herself to tell the little girl the cruel truth.
“Really? But… Mom was crying in the room for a long time just now…” Kiki said in a low voice.
Though young, she wasn’t completely unaware. Having grown up around such things, she had already sensed that something was wrong.
Sura fell silent for a long time, saying nothing. She simply held the softly sobbing Kiki tighter.
Spartacus quietly opened his eyes but said nothing, only gazing somewhat blankly at the dim, grayish starry sky.
Kiki’s father was his fellow townsman and comrade, assigned to a different combat squad. After a battle two months ago, there had been no news of him ever since.
In the end, there hadn’t even been an official notice of death.
But no one cared about such “minor matters,” because simply staying alive already required all their strength.
Perhaps one day, he too would disappear from this world just like that comrade—without a sound. When that day came, would his loved ones feel the same sorrow as Kiki?
Spartacus glanced at Sura beside him, a trace of pity and reluctance flickering in his eyes.
If he were to die… what kind of future would Sura—and the child they might one day have—face?
Even though he had now advanced to become a high-ranking Bronze Warrior, was he still unable to change the tragic fate of his people?
At that moment, a brilliant meteor suddenly streaked across the dark sky, lighting up the entire valley.
Spartacus looked up in surprise, only to see dozens of fiery meteors tearing across the night sky.
“This is… spacecraft!” His heart jolted as he immediately stood up.
He knew that the Jinlok Consortium didn’t have many troops stationed here, yet what he saw breaking through the atmosphere were nearly a hundred landing crafts—these were likely not ships from the Fifth Fleet!
“Spartacus.” Sura stood up, holding Kiki’s hand, worry evident in her eyes.
The villagers of the Ryan race also noticed the anomaly and were quickly awakened, falling into confusion and panic.
“Don’t worry. For a fleet of this scale, a village like ours poses no threat. They shouldn’t be interested in us…” Spartacus tried to reassure Sura.
However, before he could finish speaking, a landing craft flew straight toward the valley. The roaring friction of the air only intensified the people’s fear.
“Quick! Get the women and children into shelters! Men, grab your weapons! Warriors, into the mechs!” the one-armed village chief roared.
Spartacus quickly told Sura to take Kiki and hide, while he followed the others and climbed into an old mech.
The mech was not only rusted all over, but its only weapon was a single beam gun. Facing an unknown enemy, Spartacus had no confidence at all in whether it would be of any use.
To prevent rebellion among the Ryan people, the Jinlok Consortium strictly controlled weapons on the planet, leaving them with almost no means to resist a modern interstellar landing force.
By the time Spartacus led his group to guard the mouth of the valley, the landing craft had already descended with a thunderous crash.
“So it really isn’t a ship from the Jinlok Consortium…” Seeing the unfamiliar model, Spartacus confirmed his suspicion, his heart sinking.
Several menacing high-powered cannons on the craft made Spartacus and the others not dare to act rashly.
The gap in strength between the two sides was far too great. And there was more than one landing craft—there might even be a fleet waiting in space. Acting without knowing their intentions would be suicide.
Hiss— The hatch of the landing craft slowly opened.
Powerful floodlights from the ship illuminated a wide area around them. Spartacus could clearly see that walking out from the hatch was… a human?
This was a tall man with black fur—one of the Wolf Empire’s people—and he wasn’t wearing any protective gear.
After stepping out of the hatch, he glanced around at the surroundings, then walked straight toward the mouth of the valley.
He really is coming for the village! Spartacus’s heart tightened instantly, and many of the Ryan warriors also gripped their weapons.
“Boom!” Just then, a deafening explosion erupted from a patch of wasteland about a hundred meters away, sending dirt and rocks flying!
A ferocious beast over five meters tall suddenly burst out from underground, raising a cloud of dust. It had three sharp horns on its head and a body covered in black scales.
“It’s an Earthdrake! The landing must have angered it!” the Ryan people cried out in alarm.
The Earthdrake was enormous, with thick hide and flesh, and the sharp horns on its head were extremely dangerous. Even a mech could be knocked over if it wasn’t careful! Even on Ryan Planet, where fierce beasts were everywhere, it stood at the top of the food chain.
“Roar—!” The Earthdrake let out a thunderous roar toward the sky, then lowered its head and charged straight toward the landing craft. Its massive body, weighing over a dozen tons, made the ground tremble violently.
In the pitch-black night, this was the brightest and most conspicuous spot, naturally becoming its primary target.
Unfortunately, the man who had just stepped out happened to be standing right in the Earthdrake’s charging path!
Whether pirates or Ryan people, no one had expected such a sudden disruption. Everyone was stunned, and it was already too late for the pirates to intervene.
Just as the unlucky man was about to be crushed beneath the Earthdrake’s feet—
“Bang!”
The massive body of the Earthdrake was suddenly sent flying backward with a whoosh, before crashing with a thunderous boom into a distant hill.
Its thick legs twitched twice… and then it stopped moving.
Nie Yun slowly lowered his raised leg and dusted himself off. “Heh! The creatures here are quite enthusiastic.”
Everyone could clearly see that the Earthdrake’s head was twisted at an unnatural angle—its thick neck had been snapped by a single kick…
The scene fell into silence. Everyone looked at Nie Yun as if he were a humanoid tyrannosaur.
As if nothing had happened, Nie Yun controlled his mechanical insect avatar and slowly walked into the valley, passing the barricades made of massive rocks.
All the Ryan people watched him as if facing a great enemy, yet even with more than a dozen mechs present, no one dared to make a move.
Step… step… step… The only sound in the silent scene was Nie Yun’s footsteps. Cold sweat formed on the foreheads of many Ryan people.
Then Spartacus realized in shock… the man was walking straight toward the mech he was piloting!
Nie Yun stopped in front of Spartacus’s mech, looked up at him with a smile, and a familiar voice echoed directly in Spartacus’s mind.
“Now, it’s time for you to make your choice, Spartacus…”
Spartacus was completely stunned.
He recognized that voice immediately—it was the mysterious figure who had signed a contract with him and even gifted him a Hammer of Destruction!
Could it be…
Thinking of that inexplicable mission, “Spartacus’s Redemption,” he swallowed and looked at Nie Yun.
“A choice… of what?”
“A choice to free your loved ones from the fear of death. A choice so your children can live carefree lives. You can choose to be an ordinary person—a free person—instead of a slave bound against your will…”
Nie Yun’s words made Spartacus’s heart pound violently.
This mysterious being had helped him save Sura when he was in despair. And now, descending from the sky with a fleet, he claimed to bring the dawn of redemption to him and his people…
Even if it was a lie, it was a beautiful one—so beautiful that Spartacus found himself intoxicated by it.
“Why help us?”
“Because you have value,” Nie Yun replied bluntly.
“…What do you want us to do?”
“Become pirates. What do you think?”
Spartacus: “…”
……
Everyone watched in confusion as Nie Yun stood motionless before Spartacus. No one knew what the two had communicated.
But soon, before everyone’s astonished eyes, the battered mech slowly bent down onto one knee, lowering its head toward Nie Yun.
Among the Ryan people, a proud warrior would only perform such a gesture under one circumstance… submission.
From this moment on, the history of the Ryan people turned a new page.
Later generations of historians would refer to the “plunder” that took place on this remote planet as the beginning of the Spartacus Uprising…
TL Note- Beginning of a Legend....
Next
Comments
Post a Comment