A spaceship that was less than five hundred meters long. If this thing was on Earth, it would be considered an unattainable piece of alien technology. The largest spacecraft that humans had ever built was only at the level of a tin can that circled around Earth. But in the vast and unpredictable universe, among the galactic civilizations that surrounded us, such a spaceship would be no different from a dinghy.
Due to the special nature of the space environment, spaceships that performed long-term missions in the universe must be equipped with an ecological self-circulation system. Depending on the race, the requirements for these ecological systems might be different, but to completely simulate the environment of a planet in space was a troublesome task. Since the spaceship in front of me had the ability to travel in deep space, it must be equipped with such a device. I was very curious about how a mere 500-meter-long spaceship could fit such a device into it …
Also, it felt great to lead hundreds of people to spy on others while invisible.
Of course, the people on the landing platform would not know that there were hundreds of pairs of eyes below the spaceship, staring at their broken ship and commenting on it. They would also not notice that there was a spaceship that was dozens of times more powerful than them parked next to them, scanning them from head to toe. They had already begun their operation.
After the spaceship came to a stop, a ten-meter-wide hatch opened from the middle of the spaceship. A dirty loading and unloading channel extended out from the hatch and slowly extended to the platform. When it was halfway through, it obviously got stuck. We broke out in a cold sweat as we saw two bull-like men in space combat suits appear above the channel. They swung two large hammers at the connecting part of the spaceship and the spaceship before the channel was completely opened.
"I suddenly feel like going up to help them …"
Ahoge on Artoria's head spun and said hesitantly.
At this time, a few caterpillar vehicles that seemed to be used for construction came down from the teleportation channel of the spaceship. After looking at the broken spaceship for so long, these brand-new space engineering vehicles were really eye-catching.
"What are they doing? An exploration team? " Big Sis said in confusion. She watched as those people parked the engineering vehicles at the connecting point between the landing platform and the assembly platform. Then, they began to assemble some strange mechanical equipment on the spot as if they were probing for something.
At that moment, Visca finally remembered to transfer the signal that he had intercepted to the public channel. Instantly, the voices of those people talking to each other echoed in our heads.
"… (Preface) Finally found it. This asteroid belt is really desolate."
It was a rough male voice. Visca identified the source of the voice as one of the two strong men who had smashed the loading dock with a sledgehammer. As soon as he finished speaking, the other man replied, "If it wasn't for the fact that it's desolate, we wouldn't have been able to snatch it. Big Sis is really amazing. She's actually so well-informed. We might even be able to make a fortune this time, haha …"
"Truth be told, this is the first time I've seen such a base. I wonder which force built it. It looks really advanced."
"Don't even think about it. It must be someone from the financial group. They've long wanted to expand their territory during this chaotic war cycle. It seems that some unlucky bastard has come to this universe and was picked up by the financial group. Hey! Move faster! Although Big Sis said that this place has been abandoned, if other privateers come here, we will be in big trouble! Also, the Angels might know about this place. We can't fight against a powerful force with an administrative planet! "
"You guys hurry up too." The other man jumped down the loading dock and commanded a team of construction robots that had just come down from the spaceship. "First, remove the rare items and send them to the spaceship. Don't touch the shiny golden building first. Let 'Doctor' go in later to take a look. There might be some treasures in there. With such an advanced base, the items removed from there will definitely be sold for a high price on the black market!"
"Don't even think about keeping it for yourself! The guy who hid a navigation device is still being whipped at the mine. If you think that's comfortable, try it! Before we came out, Big Sis said that everyone will get three times the amount after we sell the items. But if anyone hides anything and is found by our people on the black market, they will be sent to Planet Redstone to mine for ten years! "
After listening to them for a long time, I finally understood the identity of this group of people.
Pirates … No, they weren't even pirates. They probably couldn't even be considered as robbers. They called themselves privateers, but in reality … they were more like scavenging vultures, right?
They were scattered and unorganized armed forces. They were weak but extremely cunning. In this chaotic world, they relied on picking up battlefield ruins and collecting mysterious technology to sell on the black market to make a fortune. Occasionally, they might even do some daring business, such as smuggling, selling information, or following behind a certain army to salvage the remains. That was the most they could do.
These were privateers, or, to put it bluntly, scrap collectors.
It didn't seem strange for such small groups to appear in this chaotic world. There were opportunities to produce battlefield trash at any time. Battleship wreckage, destroyed bases, space stations, and all kinds of battlefield remnants were produced every moment. Many of the things salvaged from them were worth a good price on the black market. Don't think that no one would want the wreckage. In this world where new races could mistakenly enter at any time, technology was everywhere. Since there was almost no environment for developing new technology, obtaining the ready-made technology of others to modify their own armies became a good way for many forces to strengthen themselves. Although there were conflicts between different systems of technology, there were many "talents" in this world who could integrate different technologies. The modified spaceships that were scattered all over the place were examples.
From the looks of it, the abandoned bases left behind by the Proteus advance team had become their treasures. That was absolutely new technology.
Perhaps even the "national government" here would usually buy battlefield relics from these people, right?
Because I had been in contact with official forces like the Gotark Kingdom's army, I had never heard of such a small group. Now that I saw them, I didn't know what level they were among their "peers". However, the largest "privateers" were just slightly larger scrap collectors. They salvaged some debris from the battlefield and sold it on the black market. The income may be higher than that of ordinary people, but it was definitely not as high as fighting for territory on the battlefield. The risk was not any less. Not to mention anything else, just this base that had just been abandoned for more than ten hours was dared by these guys who drove a garbage ship to pick up treasures. How much risk did they take?
Whether it was the forces that belonged to the base, the army that attacked here, or other "government forces" that wanted to take advantage of the situation (From the words of the big guy just now, even the "sovereign" government forces would occasionally put down their pride and personally salvage the wreckage), any one of them would definitely be able to destroy that broken spaceship that looked like a wreckage. They were all a bunch of people living at the bottom of society.
Of course, there was no doubt that if they were given enough weapons and equipment, these seemingly small scrap collectors would be willing to transform into Interstellar Pirates who licked blood on the tip of a knife at any time. The people of this world were extremely valiant. Children were born with tri-edge military bayonets in their mouths. How powerful could they be?
They were not enemy soldiers who attacked the base, nor were they regular soldiers who understood the situation. This group of privateers immediately made us lose interest. Visca began to wonder if we should kill them all. Of course, this suggestion of disregarding human life was jointly rejected by my elder sister and me.
"Boss! There's nothing in front of us! "
At this moment, another voice sounded in the public monitoring channel. A tall construction robot walked over from the storage area. In his arms was a somewhat familiar bucket-shaped machine … Err, it was the probe from earlier. Because it sprayed Visca's face black, it was kicked a few kilometers away by the little girl. It directly smashed into a warehouse in the storage area. From the looks of it, this was the only harvest of this construction robot. The two unlucky fellows following behind this construction robot were empty-handed.
"That's it?" The sturdy man who was referred to as the boss wore a space mask on his head. I couldn't see his expression clearly, but his voice definitely sounded angry. "What is this? It looks like an unfinished engine. The three of you searched for so long and only found this thing? "
"They've all been emptied," the robot pilot's voice sounded particularly aggrieved. "We've searched through a few warehouses, but there's nothing but walls and lighting facilities. The walls are full of dents left by the embedded devices that were removed, and there's not even a screw left on the ground …"
Damn, they really know how to live. The commander of the Proteus advance team is really meticulous. Did they force him to do this when he was rebuilding Koplu?
"Oh my god, isn't that too much?" Just like my ridicule, the sturdy man who seemed to be the boss couldn't help but smack his lips. "Why does it feel like they are more thrifty than us?"
"Boss! We didn't find anything here either! "
At this time, several other robot squads also came back empty-handed. These engineering robots looked like they had removed their armor plates, leaving only their skeletons. Obviously, they were specially designed for such "exploration work". They were not tall, but they had mechanical arms that were almost equivalent to their entire height. However, even the cleverest housewife can't cook without rice. No matter how professional a scavenger is, it is impossible to find treasures in an abandoned base. Twelve robots, except for two of them who were holding two or three unknown mechanical components in their arms, the others were empty-handed.
They came back so quickly. They must have retreated after seeing the empty shell of the building that even the screws were unscrewed. I have to sigh, they really know how to live …
"There's nothing?!" Another burly man who was commanding the engineering vehicle to transport things to the base suddenly realized that he might not have to work anymore. He immediately shouted loudly, "Then, didn't we come here for nothing today?"
"No, Ham, we can't just go back like this. If Big Sis dares to shoot us," the burly man who was acting as the commander of the robot waved his hand as though he had made up his mind. "Get the mecha down! Even if we use laser cannons, we will have to blast these buildings into pieces. There must be something that can't be dismantled inside. Although no one wants it on the black market, it is good to have more things to bring back. At most, we can just say that these are all new technology and we can't see any value in them, so we will take them all back … Yes, that's it. You over there, someone, someone, go and get the 'doctor' down! If we don't want to get whipped when we go back, we can only rely on that one smart person … "
However, before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a voice that suddenly sounded on the radio. "Hey, I say, if you've done this much, we're going to have to take action."
"Who? Who is using this frequency?! "
No one answered. There was only a bunch of noise in the communication channel.
"Beck! Who are you talking to! "
After scaring the other party, I was immediately shocked by his name. Beck? His brother, Ham … These two brothers are here to liven up the atmosphere, right?
"Damn, maybe I heard wrong. I just heard someone talking to me over the radio, and it was using Big Sis' frequency …"
"Bullsh * t," Ham waved his hand. "Why would Big Sis talk to you at this time … Wah!"
"What's wrong … Hey!" Beckham was just about to turn around to see what had happened to his brother when he saw a bull-like man in a space combat suit flying toward him horizontally. They didn't even have time to react before the two Beckham brothers rolled into a ball.
"What's going on?! Ham, what kind of kung fu are you practicing?! "
"There … There is something strange about this base! I just saw a translucent little girl appear in front of me, and then she flew over! "
Friendly reminder: Visca can throw away all non-friendly targets that are taller than him. Of course, if his sister is present, the two little guys will throw you in the opposite direction.
Uncle B was impressed by this.
"Shrink the formation! Return to the engineering vehicles! Get into position, there is something strange about this place! "
The burly man named Becker had goosebumps all over his body after witnessing two supernatural incidents one after another. He immediately announced the formation of a defense formation. Although the privateers who were trying to pry the cables from the steel beams of the base did not know what was happening, they immediately responded to the order and gathered together. A few engineering vehicles, a dozen engineering robots, and a dozen soldiers in space combat suits immediately formed a circle, forming a "line of defense" that was full of loopholes.
At first, we wanted to quickly chase these fellows away, but now, everyone, including Weska, seemed to have some kind of evil interest and intended to torment these privateers who had almost blown up the base with their cannons. Looking at them suspiciously forming a circle, a few empire leaders and a bunch of unscrupulous heroic spirits immediately surrounded them with sinister smiles.
"Brother, why do I feel a little cold …"
The brawny man named Ham seemed to be the younger of the two brothers. Although he was as strong as a bull, he was surprisingly timid. Uh, maybe it was because Visca's amazing shoulder throw was too supernatural, but his voice sounded a little shaky.
"Don't scare yourself. It might be the overpressure from the warp just now, and we are all hallucinating. Everyone, stay close and don't move … Damn, if I knew this would happen, I would have repaired the warp engine … Hey, the mechas are coming down. These little bastards have finally arrived!"
The mechas that jumped down from the spaceship's loading and unloading channel were the mechas that they were talking about. How should I put it, five things that looked like Gundams, which made me embarrassed on the spot.
… There are actually three red people in this world.
"Mechas. I used to dream of piloting Gundams." I couldn't help but shrug as I looked at the five metal giants that were almost twenty meters tall that jumped off the spaceship agilely and ran towards me. "But now, that dream is over."
Although they looked mighty, they were actually very average in actual combat in a Stellar-level civilization. Battleships that had the ability to fight in deep space didn't lack energy. With the same level of technology, the main reactor of such battleships was usually several hundred times the size of the mechas, and the standard power output was thousands or even tens of thousands of times that of the mechas. Individual mechas were limited by the capacity of their accessories. No matter how advanced their technology was, when faced with battleships of the same level, it was impossible for them to have an advantage.
The logic was simple. If even a single mecha could use a proton rifle, why wouldn't the battleship opposite it be equipped with two thousand proton cannons? Soldiers were already equipped with armor, so the transport ships couldn't possibly still be made of wood, right? In a balanced technology, all military types had to evolve at the same time. No matter how agile the Gundams were, they wouldn't be able to avoid the even more agile turrets. This was because the angular acceleration technology (the key technology that allowed the turrets to operate without inertia) was far easier to develop than the reaction-force braking technology (the main method for mechas to change their attitude in space).
However, the above only applied to civilizations like Schilling's people. Mechas still had a large market among "low-level civilizations." Although they were powerless against galactic battleships, they had a huge advantage in ground conflicts and local battles. Their armor was just enough to withstand most weapons within the atmosphere, and their varied movement patterns also made it difficult for most ground cannons to target them. Their firepower far surpassed any ground troops — once again, excluding Schilling's people.
These privateers could even afford to use mechas. Looks like they're not as poor as we thought.
The new mechas that joined the defense circle didn't know what was going on. The huge laser rifles in their hands could only point around aimlessly. Humans really were a strange species. Their special sense, known as the sixth sense, confused even Sandora. Now, the sixth sense of these privateers made them tremble in fear. The reason was that they were surrounded by all kinds of unscrupulous gazes.
Then, as luck would have it, a certain unlucky mecha took a few steps to the side. In the blink of an eye, it crossed over ten meters and stood in front of Visca.
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