Super Mothership
Inside the bridge, Codename was reporting the casualties and results of the battle.
“287 dead? That's still a rather high casualty figure…”
Nie Yun frowned.
Even such a minor loss was still somewhat unsatisfactory to him.
After all, he was a man famous throughout the world for achieving zero casualties…
As for the losses of the Ghost Knights…
Did such a trivial matter really need to be concerned about?
Mechanical Bug: “……”
Of course, this was because they had encountered a group of players who were naturally addicted to “getting themselves killed.” Dying once wasn't enough for them; they had to find increasingly creative ways to get themselves killed just to see whether they could trigger some hidden achievement.
If they were ordinary people, seeing such a huge disparity in casualty numbers would probably result in a protest march over “true racial discrimination.”
The slogan was practically ready-made—
“Player Lives Matter!”
“The main problem is that we currently don't have enough mecha equipment. We can only equip each Ryan warrior with a single meat shield. If we could give each person two riders, or even three, their safety factor would increase exponentially.”
Codename's suggestion undoubtedly stabbed the players once again.
“Hmm… Makes sense! Then let's do that!
“The shortage of mecha equipment is only temporary. Last time, among the spoils seized from the Gold Coin Pirates, we obtained the molds and core components for this mecha's production line. Once I personally make a few more copies, it'll be enough for us to build two or three mecha production lines.”
It had to be said that the “Bronze” mecha truly deserved its reputation as a product that the Woolf Empire had refined and perfected over nearly a thousand years.
Although its combat performance couldn't be considered outstanding—it was even somewhat inferior to Gemini's high-end mechas—it had extremely balanced overall specifications.
And when it came to cost-effectiveness, it was absolutely first-rate.
Most of the materials required could be gathered from ordinary resource star systems.
For players, a group with an extraordinary talent for getting themselves killed and an extremely high equipment consumption rate, it was a remarkably cost-effective disposable product.
Even the Solar System's weapons and equipment manufacturing bases had already begun studying the successful aspects of this mecha and improving their own unmanned mecha designs accordingly.
“Mm! Although we can't compare with the Solar System's industrial base, the Shattered Star Domain has an enormous black-market economy. As long as we have money, resources aren't particularly difficult to obtain. It shouldn't be difficult to meet the equipment requirements of the pirate group itself.”
Codename nodded.
Incidentally, the Solar System's industrial capabilities had already become completely different from what they once were.
However, because it was located safely behind the front lines and had not directly entered the war, signs of excess production capacity had already begun appearing in the fields of warship and weapons manufacturing.
Chu Xiaoxiao was currently worrying about what to do with this excess military-industrial capacity.
She had originally planned to export some of the products through Kara Star.
However, Gemini's military-industrial system was already quite complete, and Nie Yun couldn't possibly put too many high-end weapons, far superior to Gemini's own, on the market.
Combined with the enormous short-term demand for basic industrial products created by the Solar System's massive development projects, this had resulted in a huge trade deficit between Earth and Gemini aside from the energy-crystal trade.
Simply put…
The Solar System's products simply couldn't sell!
Therefore, in Chu Xiaoxiao's eyes, these industries were currently nothing more than piles of idle assets.
How to put them to productive use had become a headache.
She had once suggested temporarily converting military production to civilian use, but Nie Yun had rejected the idea.
The military-industrial sector was a key area of development for every interstellar civilization.
Leaving it idle for too long would be extremely detrimental to both the upgrading of military technology and the innovation and development of new products.
A careful study of the military-industrial development history of Earth's various countries would reveal some astonishing similarities.
During wartime, the need for survival was the primary driving force stimulating the development of military technology.
During peacetime, the pursuit of profit would take its place, causing the industry to conform more closely to the laws of the market economy.
Take Germany, for example.
During World War II, it possessed military technology that could be considered among the most advanced in the world, far beyond even the United States, which possessed enormous capital advantages.
That was the result of survival needs acting as a stimulus.
Now look at the United States after the war.
The development of its military technology did not stagnate simply because the war had ended.
Instead, it continued advancing by leaps and bounds.
This was because American military-industrial companies continuously expanded the global arms market.
They sold the F-16 to more than thirty countries around the world, with the total number of aircraft sold exceeding the combined air-force strength of most countries at the time.
The profits involved could be imagined.
The enormous profits of the arms market continuously stimulated the military-industrial system to upgrade and replace its technology, allowing America's military strength to pull far ahead.
Without a doubt, this was one of the abundant fruits produced by a free-market economy.
Of course, capital was like a wild horse.
Once it broke free of the reins, disaster would follow.
The military-industrial giants that had grown too powerful to control were one of the prices the United States had paid.
No wars to fight?
World peace?
No one buying weapons anymore?
How could that possibly work!
Cause trouble!
Cause trouble across the entire world!
Create such severe regional tensions that conflicts broke out everywhere.
Even if there were no enemies, create some!
The World Trade Center had fallen?
Wonderful!
A perfect excuse had practically been delivered right to their doorstep.
And so the Middle East was the one that suffered.
Unfortunately, the Pentagon hadn't fallen, so there was no excuse.
No problem.
We had the “chemical weapons” card in the form of washing powder.
And so Iraq suffered as well.
Through the repeated conflicts manufactured around the world and the successive wars launched, American military companies obtained enormous profits from arms sales.
At the same time, the performance of their military weapons was tested in actual combat through battlefield feedback.
The military-industrial giants invested this money into developing even more advanced weapons, maintaining their technological lead.
Then they sold the outdated weapons elsewhere, before continuing on to the next war.
Thus, a virtuous cycle was formed.
If it weren't for the concern that this could trigger a global nuclear war, the United States—which had already been held hostage by capital—would probably have had no qualms about turning its attention toward countries possessing nuclear weapons.
It was easy to imagine that if war disappeared from the world, this market-investment-research chain would be broken.
Military companies would lose their orders, sources of funding, and motivation for research and development.
As a result, American military technology would inevitably begin declining.
And military hegemony was the core of American imperial hegemony.
Losing advanced military technology would also mean losing its position as a superpower and the corresponding benefits.
So…
World peace really was just a slogan…
Ahem!
Perhaps that was getting a little off-topic.
But Nie Yun was undoubtedly facing the same problem now.
Nie Yun wasn't a warmonger.
He couldn't possibly take the initiative to start wars.
Therefore, if he wanted to promote the healthy, rapid, and sustainable development of military technology, the only option was to expand the market.
And Gemini, which bordered the Solar System while also possessing an enormous market, was undoubtedly their only choice at present!
After the previous battle, Gemini had suffered enormous military losses.
Chu Xiaoxiao immediately saw the business opportunity.
At this moment, Gemini's demand for weapons and equipment was absolutely unprecedented.
If the Solar System could mass-produce the standard “Bronze” mechas used by hostile forces…
With mecha performance superior to that of Gemini, combined with the low-cost advantages of the Mechanical Bug manufacturing system, once they began dumping these products into Gemini's market, they might be able to completely break into its arms market.
Coming back to reality, Nie Yun looked out the viewport at the grayish-brown planet.
“Where's Spartacus?”
“He's already entered Ryan Star. His current exact location… should be somewhere along the route toward the largest settlement on Ryan Star.
“According to the intelligence we obtained from the prisoners, the Ryan people's clan leader currently lives there. Of course, perhaps ‘imprisoned’ would be a more accurate description.”
“Is that so? I hope… everything goes smoothly.”
This time, they weren't merely abducting a few people.
They were taking an entire race.
That was completely different from ordinary people-snatching.
If Nie Yun wanted the Ryan people to willingly work for him and prevent any future problems, he couldn't use overly forceful methods to subdue them.
The key was…
Win them over through virtue!
But Nie Yun couldn't guarantee that the other side would somehow sense his overwhelming kingly aura from hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, immediately fall to their knees, and pledge allegiance to him.
Therefore, he could only start from within their own ranks.
Spartacus was the first Ryan person Nie Yun had come into contact with.
After some… adjustment—
Ahem!
After some “guidance,” his loyalty was now definitely above 95%.
Using him as a bridge for communication was undoubtedly the safer approach.
Liberator or conqueror…
That would depend on your performance.
TL Note- Liberation.....
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