Super Mothership
What's going on here?
Before Spartacus could figure out what had happened, he noticed that after that meaningless shout, the group of robots instantly fell silent. Every mechanical eye turned in perfect unison toward... the top of his head?
A golden one! An NPC with a golden name!
"A revolutionary chosen by fate... An NPC with a prefix! This is definitely a hidden-quest boss!"
The players surged forward in a frenzy, instantly surrounding Spartacus from every direction.
Spartacus was so startled that he froze, completely baffled by the bizarre behavior of his "comrades."
"Hello! I'm the leader of the Freefall Corps. Mind adding me as a friend?"
"Big Bro, are you recruiting? I'm the kind of guy who'll risk his life without hesitation."
"Over 200 jin, no salary needed, I'll cover my own food and lodging. I'm just here to freeload. Interested, Boss?"
"Ahem! Brother Ryan, do you have any quests? Whether it's delivering letters, finding lost dogs, or charging through mountains of blades and seas of fire, if I so much as frown, you can pretend I never said a word!"
"..."
Spartacus: "???"
...
While Nie Yun was busy integrating his newly acquired forces, and the Black Flag and Twin Dragons factions were frantically looting the Gold Coin Pirates' assets, pirates from all directions who had rushed over after hearing the news were thrown into complete chaos.
"W-What...? The Gold Coin Pirates were wiped out just like that?!"
Although many had expected this outcome when the Gold Coin Pirates found themselves besieged from all sides, the moment their remaining fleet actually transmitted a surrender signal, every pirate watching the battle let out a chorus of disbelieving cries.
The Shattered Star Field had been anything but peaceful lately.
First, Black Flag and the Madmen joined forces to besiege the Red Dragon Pirates. Refusing to be outdone, Red Dragon revealed one of their trump cards, summoning the Dragon Cavalry and combining forces with the Twin Dragons.
Just as the four factions were locked in chaotic battle, the Ghost Captain suddenly barged into the fray. One after another, the Four Legendary Mechas took the stage, gathering together in a spectacle so rare that the onlookers had the time of their lives.
In the end, Black Flag appeared to hold the upper hand while the Twin Dragons seemed to flee in defeat.
But then the situation took a dramatic turn.
The pursuit had been nothing but an act. The two sides had secretly reached an agreement long ago and abruptly turned their attention toward the neutral Gold Coin Pirates, who hadn't even joined the conflict, catching them completely off guard.
In the end, the seemingly uninvolved Gold Coin Pirates were the innocent bystanders who got caught in the crossfire, becoming the first faction eliminated from the entire melee...
To outside observers, the entire course of the war was simply... incomprehensible.
It was like two gangs getting into a massive street fight, only for the people fighting to walk away unharmed while an innocent passerby was beaten to death instead.
The completely unexpected ending left everyone utterly stunned.
All anyone could say was...
Those pirate big shots really knew how to play.
However, it didn't take long before everyone realized that the Gold Coin Pirates weren't the only innocent victims this time...
"Um... I placed an order with the Gold Coin Pirates not long ago. So... where exactly am I supposed to pick up my goods now? Asking online because it's pretty urgent..."
That single message silenced the entire spectators' chat for a moment.
"Damn it! My money!"
"I'm doomed! My shipment is still inside the Gold Coin Pirates' base!"
"Damn it! That's several months' worth of income for us!"
"..."
The chat exploded instantly.
Every pirate who had done business with the Gold Coin Pirates began cursing in rage.
A moment ago they had been watching the Gold Coin Pirates' downfall as entertainment.
Now that they realized part of the wealth being looted by those raiders might actually belong to them, anguished wails filled the chat.
"Uh... Since the Gold Coin Pirates are gone... does that mean I don't have to repay the loan I borrowed from them?"
A discordant voice suddenly cut in.
To every pirate crew that had suffered losses, those words were like rubbing salt into an open wound and then whipping the corpse afterward—a direct critical hit.
"Pfft!"
"Pfft!"
"Pfft!"
Bleeding emote stickers instantly flooded the chat.
At last, they truly understood what it meant to become richer the more debt you owed.
Unfortunately...
It was an extremely painful lesson to learn.
"No! We have to recover our losses! If they refuse to compensate us, I'll fight them to the death!" shouted the captain of one pirate crew that had suffered enormous losses.
"That's right! If we can't get our losses back, we'll fight them!" everyone echoed.
The Gold Coin Pirates truly deserved their reputation as the pirate world's top "businessmen."
Among the pirates watching the battle, more than a dozen pirate crews had economic dealings with them, giving the outcry considerable momentum.
"Are you people insane? That's the Four Great Pirate Crews, plus the Ghost Pirates, who are just as dangerous. Even if all of you charged together, would you survive even one salvo from their fleet?" someone tried to reason with them.
The hotheaded victims immediately felt as though a bucket of cold water had been dumped over them.
Yeah...
Did they really think those pirate overlords were running a charity?
Trying to lecture the apex predators of the pirate food chain about consumer protection laws?
Expecting them to spit out the meat they'd already swallowed?
Were they sure they weren't just volunteering to die?
Those people had beaten up innocent bystanders like the Gold Coin Pirates without a second thought.
Would they really care about crushing a few weaker spectators as well?
"Then what are we supposed to do? Just accept our bad luck?" the victims asked gloomily.
"Hey! Look over there! Another fleet is approaching!"
...
Black Flag Flagship.
"So they really came..." Flint said with a grim expression.
The outer patrol fleet had just sent back word that a force of more than twelve hundred warships was speeding straight toward them.
Judging by their banners...
They belonged to the Dark Temple and Karon.
The arrival of those two pirate crews together completely confirmed the Ghost Captain's earlier intelligence.
The three neutral pirate factions had indeed been secretly colluding behind the scenes.
The previous hostility between the Dark Temple and the Karon Pirates had been nothing more than an elaborate performance for everyone else.
That had been close.
They had almost fallen for it.
Recalling his earlier agreement with the Ghost Captain, Flint had already made his decision.
"Leave the ground forces behind to continue collecting the spoils. Withdraw the fleet from the base and form battle formations!" Flint ordered.
At the same time, the Madmen, Red Dragon, and Dragon Cavalry also realized what was happening. They temporarily halted their looting and began deploying their fleets around the wreckage of the base.
Although each faction still kept a clear distance from one another, maintaining safe separation, every single one of them trained their cannons in the same direction, forming a loose joint battle formation.
...
"It seems... we've arrived too late," Shadow said calmly.
The miserable state of the Gold Coin Pirates' base shown on the surveillance screen told him that any rescue operation was already unnecessary.
"That fool Gold Dagger is utterly useless. He couldn't even hold out for such a short time. What a piece of trash!"
A deep, muffled voice echoed through the room, yet there wasn't a single figure to be seen.
"A merchant is still just a merchant. His performance isn't surprising. Still, without him gathering intelligence and amassing wealth, life won't be nearly as comfortable for us from now on." A glint flashed through Shadow's eyes.
"Let's go. Let's meet the people on the other side. I'm quite curious to see who it was that managed to see through our scheme and ruin our plans."
"Hmph! Whoever it is, I'll tear them to pieces! Anyone who stands in His Highness's way will be buried along with the rest..."
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