Super Mothership
This time, the largest portion of the spoils was undoubtedly the vast stockpile of weapons and military equipment.
The Three Lights Unit even resorted to demolition, blasting the bases off several massive fortress cannons before towing them behind their ships like dogs on leashes.
According to Nie Yun's inventory, the haul included over 50,000 mechs alone—more than enough to double the size of his mech corps, with plenty left over. Better yet, a considerable number of them were brand-new, high-end models.
The more chaotic a region became, the larger the proportion of its trade that consisted of arms. And within the Shattered Star Starfield, the arms trade undoubtedly sat firmly at the top.
What did pirates do with the money earned from selling plundered goods?
Aside from indulging in personal luxuries, the overwhelming majority spent it on purchasing equipment to strengthen themselves—or more accurately, to improve their chances of surviving.
As a result, over seventy percent of the Gold Coin Pirates' warehouses were filled with all kinds of weapons and military supplies.
Not all of these were intended for the Gold Coin Pirates' own use. In fact, most of them were orders placed by other pirate groups.
As for how the customers who had already paid in advance would feel after today...
All Nie Yun could do was offer them his deepest condolences.
Besides the mechs, the Three Lights Unit also brought back tens of thousands of powered exosuits and individual combat equipment.
These items were of little significance in fleet warfare, but for pirates, whose objective was often to capture rather than destroy their targets, they were indispensable tools for close-quarters combat.
A considerable portion of the cargo holds was also occupied by production-line core components, massive smelters, industrial-grade printers, and precision manufacturing equipment.
To Nie Yun, these were far more valuable than the weapons themselves.
Pirates possessed weak technological foundations. Constant chaos and conflict meant they lacked any meaningful research infrastructure, leaving them dependent on importing or looting advanced equipment and technology from the outside world.
Without a powerful backer, such a thing was simply impossible.
That was precisely why, among the Seven Great Pirate Crews, only the Gold Coin Pirates had managed to establish even a moderately complete industrial base.
But Nie Yun had no such limitation.
By himself, he was a super research center combined with a super industrial machine tool.
Whether it was the immense body of scientific knowledge accumulated by Earth's researchers or the countless high-tech products continuously devoured by the Mechanical Bugs, Nie Yun's technological capabilities advanced with each passing day.
At present, his overall technological level had already surpassed that of the Gemini Civilization, though it still fell slightly short of the Wolf Empire.
With the support of the Mechanical Bugs, however, Nie Yun had already taken the lead in several fields, including communications, advanced materials, Energy Crystal charging technology, and human augmentation.
Previously, because of the vast distance separating them, he had been unable to deploy Mechanical Bugs on a large scale. Consequently, the level of support he could provide to the Ghost Pirates was nowhere near the industrial revolution currently unfolding within the Solar System.
But now, with these newly acquired facilities and the Mechanical Bugs' incredible industrial reconstruction capabilities, Nie Yun could rapidly transform the Ghost Pirates into the second major industrial base outside the Solar System.
Perhaps one day, it would even replace the Gold Coin Pirates and become the industrial heart of the Shattered Star Starfield.
Of course, valuable as the weapons and production equipment were, they weren't the most valuable part of the loot.
Anonymous crystal cards, rare gemstones, priceless works of art, luxury goods, and an entire treasury filled with Energy Crystals...
These tiny items, occupying only a single cargo ship, were actually the most valuable treasures seized during the operation.
Although calculating their exact value was difficult, even a rough estimate placed them at well over 30 to 40 billion Shattered Star Credits.
Since arriving in the Shattered Star Starfield, Nie Yun had spent only three to four hundred million Credits on procurement.
That alone illustrated just how staggering this fortune truly was. Even several major pirate organizations combined couldn't possibly maintain such an enormous cash reserve.
Calling it enough wealth to buy nearly half a star system would hardly be an exaggeration.
If news of this ever spread, the Ghost Captain would probably gain yet another nickname—
"The Richest Man in the Shattered Star Starfield."
Compared to all this, Nie Yun suddenly found it rather amusing that, before the battle, he had gone to the trouble of writing an IOU just to avoid paying a mere few hundred million Credits.
His vision really hadn't been broad enough back then.
Although the wealth was astonishing, Nie Yun had long since moved beyond the primitive mindset of measuring everything by "how many bowls of beef noodles it could buy."
Leaving everything else aside, Energy Crystal charging technology alone could provide him with an endless stream of wealth, allowing him to launch a massive resource acquisition campaign across the civilizations of the mid- and lower-tier galactic community.
If Energy Crystals from the Solar System could already be transported to the Shattered Star Starfield, Nie Yun could probably create an entire Seven Warlords-level pirate force simply by throwing money at the problem.
The strategic importance of this technology was no less significant than the Wolf Empire's wormhole expansion technology.
Naturally, charging Energy Crystals wasn't something that happened overnight.
The process required an enormous amount of energy.
After all, Energy Crystals were ultra-high-density energy sources.
Even though thousands of solar sails from the Prometheus Project were already supplying Nie Yun with an endless stream of low-cost energy, monthly production still amounted to only about 200 tons of charged Energy Crystals.
Converted into Shattered Star Credits, that represented roughly 200 million Credits per month.
As the Prometheus Project continued to expand in the future, Energy Crystal production would steadily increase, allowing Nie Yun to gradually free himself from the mundane pursuit of wealth.
When you already own a money-printing machine...
Who still needs to rob people with a knife?
Weapons weren't the most important.
Money wasn't the most important either.
What Nie Yun valued above all else were the more than 300 warships and over 100 cargo ships captured as spoils.
Spaceships were the true foundation of any pirate force.
No matter where one went, acquiring them was never easy.
Even the Solar System Fleet currently being assembled by Earth's Defense Force had yet to accumulate even one hundred operational warships.
After all, even mass production takes time—you still have to make the dumpling filling before you can boil the dumplings.
Of course, the reason Earth's Defense Force still possessed fewer than a hundred warships wasn't solely because the Solar System's shipbuilding industry was still in its infancy.
Nie Yun's inhuman pace of technological advancement was another major factor.
Every few months, his technological database would revolutionize shipbuilding once again.
Sometimes, before one production batch of warships was even completed, the shipyards already required another round of upgrades.
Under those circumstances, Nie Yun had never been in a hurry to finalize a standard production model.
At best, everything built so far could only be considered prototype validation ships.
Within the Shattered Star Starfield, the Mechanical Bugs could directly "manufacture" almost anything.
But massive spacecraft were a different story.
Perhaps he could manually create one or two by pushing his psychic abilities to their limits.
Building hundreds that way, however, was simply unrealistic.
It could be said that these captured vessels completely solved the Ghost Pirates' greatest weakness—their lack of mobility—and instantly transformed them into the largest armed force under Nie Yun's command.
With these warships, the abundant manpower of the Ryan race, and the "Collective Descent of Earth's Players," Nie Yun finally possessed every prerequisite needed to build a truly formidable Ghost Fleet.
Inside the Ghost Fleet
Small landing craft launched one after another from the Ghost Fleet's ships, constantly shuttling between the surrendered Gold Coin warships like hardworking bees flying between hives.
Surrounded by countless gun barrels, the surrendered ships had already shut down their shield systems and had no means of resistance.
One after another, they obediently opened their docking ports.
Hiss!
The landing craft's hatch slid open, and nearly a hundred Little Black robots equipped with only basic gear rushed out.
The players controlling them immediately followed the system's guidance toward key locations throughout each warship.
"Hurry! Stay in formation! Take control of this ship as quickly as possible!"
"The system says the surrendered pirates' loyalty is below the acceptable threshold, so don't let your guard down. The priority is protecting our captain."
"Tell those pirates in advance that our captain explodes with... considerable force. If they don't want trouble, they'd better behave themselves!"
"..."
Their division of labor was remarkably efficient.
Critical areas such as the fire-control platform, energy core, and main computer room were secured almost immediately.
Their final destination—
The command center of the ship.
The bridge.
Under the astonished and uneasy gazes of the pirates inside, the robots swiftly escorted every pirate off the bridge.
Moments later, more than a dozen robots took their places, sat before the control consoles, and began operating the systems with astonishing familiarity.
That's right.
These players participating in the second wave of the new "instance" weren't experts in individual combat.
Their specialty was warship operation and fleet command.
Nearly everyone selected for this "instance" possessed at least Level 3 spaceship piloting skills and had an impressive record in coordinated fleet battles.
Thanks to the game's extraordinary realism, piloting licenses earned in Civilization Frontline were now fully recognized in the real world.
The group of over a hundred players before them belonged to one of the game's well-known player organizations.
Most of them firmly believed in the creed:
"Warships are true romance. Fleets are the ultimate path."
Rumor had it they were bitter rivals of another faction devoted to the philosophy of "Mechs Rule the Sea of Stars."
"Weapon launch systems clear!"
"Life support systems operational!"
"Shield systems operational!"
"Fire-control systems test complete!"
"..."
Seated in the captain's chair, the robot with the "C4" insignia engraved on its chest carefully listened to every report from his subordinates.
He slowly swept his gaze across the bridge.
"Brothers, those hot-headed combat fanatics have already completed their mission brilliantly."
"Now..."
"It's time to show them that our Infinite Fleet Faction has earned its reputation!"
"OOOH!!"
Throughout the bridge, dozens of iron fists shot into the air in unison.
TL Note- Factions....
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