A Core Ship From The Start

“Welcome to…….. oh, Sir Knight, what can I do for you?”

This cheerful greeting belonged to Kukulu, the shop owner.

“Do you have explosives here?”

“Explosives??”

On hearing Duanmu Huai’s request, Kukulu paused momentarily.

“Yes, I am planning to blast open a river course and need some explosives. They need to be powerful, and ideally for directional blasting.”

Duanmu Huai dared not use his own grenades. With their power, they could easily demolish half of a Ratman Tunnel. One wrong move, and the entire Modheim could collapse. So, he decided to look for supplies in the Holy City—clearly, Kukulu was a better choice.

“Hmm……..”

Kukulu was somewhat taken aback by Duanmu Huai’s request, but after a moment’s thought, she nodded in agreement.

“Of course, we have an explosion set for civil engineering works …”

It’s a set meal?

“Then give me one set.”

“Alright, no problem!”

Kukulu quickly went to the warehouse and brought out a blasting set. It was a half-spherical metallic container that looked like a big bowl. According to Kukulu, you just needed to attach the flat side of the metal bowl to the wall, twist the screw at the top to secure it, and then light the fuse.

Moreover, according to Kukulu, her “set meal” included a chain blasting mechanism. In simpler terms, numerous packages of explosives were hidden inside the metal bowl, each enclosed by a metal shell. During the explosion, the first explosive would enter the blasted hole due to the shockwave and cause a secondary explosion. This subsequent explosion will then push another new explosive deeper, enabling a simple and easy creation of a passage within the dense soil and rock layers.

Well, in simple terms, it’s like a modified version of firecrackers?

It was definitely an interesting idea.

Observing the empty gun shop, Duanmu Huai was suddenly struck by an idea.

“How’s business here? Every time I come by, there don’t seem to be many customers.”

Duanmu Huai recalled that there were hardly any customers during his previous visits. Even though Merlot was constantly working on adjusting the firearms in the shop, suggesting that Kukulu’s technical skills were quite reliable, it seemed that the shop’s business was not very good.

Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s inquiry, Kukulu let out a bitter smile.

“Well… as Sir Knight can see, Holy City is rather peaceful and there aren’t many people who use firearms. So, our business isn’t exactly thriving…”

It does make sense. All the clergy from the Cathedral Church were close-quarter combatants, and most of the city’s guards also predominantly used melee weapons. Moreover, the Holy City seldom encountered any danger, negating the need for additional weapons and ammunition.

Hearing this, Duanmu Huai came up with a good idea.

“Have you ever thought about changing your job?”

“Changing jobs?”

Kukulu seemed surprised by Duanmu Huai’s suggestion.

“Yes, I’m currently in need of someone who can manufacture weapons and ammunition. If your skills are really good, I would like to hire you to work with me.”

Duanmu Huai was currently in need of exchanging the Void Barrack and finding someone to manufacture weapons and ammunition. After all, it’s thrilling to bomb, but it drains the inventory.

He didn’t plan to manufacture Mecha Servants, but to use Puppets in place of Mecha Servants for some automation tasks. However, more delicate tasks still require human intervention.

It wasn’t that Imperial standard ammunition wasn’t good, but the reality was that Imperial standard equipment wasn’t enough to confront Chaos, which is why the game let Judges travel to various worlds, adopt their strategies, and create their own technology trees and development directions. Judges’ fleets in the game would also vary.

There were fleets from Magical civilizations, from Mechanical civilizations, from both, and even some Judges who went against the grain and created Biological Fleets to compete with Insect Races to see who was more terrifying. There were also some non-mainstream Judges, whether because of chuunibyo or other motivations, who created Ghost Fleets, each with different and powerful capabilities.

For example, the Mechanical civilization fleets had high automation capabilities. Although Judges had an agreement not to create self-conscious AI, players were no less than rats in exploiting loopholes. They created automated machines for different duties, basing their design on assembly-line factory production, and were very skilled at amassing an army.

The fleets from Magic civilizations performed exceptionally in Subspace Resistance, even being able to long-distance travel without a Star Torch. Although there weren’t many fleets from Magic civilizations, their quality was incredibly high. One fleet could match the combat power of several ordinary fleets.

The Biological Fleet was simply a replication of the Insect Race. Players would integrate some kind of biological matter with their warships to create Biological Fleets. Duanmu Huai had also witnessed this, but frankly, he couldn’t accept the walls covered with slippery muscle tissue, the sensation of stepping on skin and teeth, and the eyeballs rotating everywhere, making the space akin to a nightmare.

However, the firepower of a Biological Fleet is indeed powerful, and most importantly, they could strengthen their team on the battlefield by devouring other prey on-spot. As long as you can bear the peculiar aesthetical style of a Biological Fleet, then it’s acceptable.

Of course, Duanmu Huai thought that as long as most people have normal aesthetics, they wouldn’t be able to accept it.

The Ghost Fleet also had its unique strengths. Most importantly, like the Biological Fleet, it could replenish its strength on the battlefield. However, the Ghost Fleet did not depend on devouring organisms, but on seizing souls—yes, the Ghost Fleet would seize the souls of those who were killed in wars and add them to their own fleet.

Although the Ghost Fleet could become powerfully stronger this way, it was equally first-rate in attracting hostility because the Evil Gods also needed those souls. The Ghost Fleet was essentially grabbing food from a tiger’s mouth and would naturally provoke the hostility of the Evil God and Chaos Legion. But for players, it’s mandatory to bring along a Ghost Fleet during combat, otherwise, after all the trouble, they couldn’t just sit by and let their enemies grow stronger, right?

At the moment, Duanmu Huai still hadn’t decided which type of fleet to mainly upgrade. However, he wouldn’t miss out on talented individuals.

Being invited to join by Duanmu Huai, Kukulu was somewhat surprised, but she still indicated that she would discuss it with her sisters before making a decision. Meanwhile, Duanmu Huai returned to the underground tunnel with the explosive kit.

With the help of the Reconnaissance Servo Skull, the underground environment was clear. Upon opening the map and comparing the underground to the aboveground environment, Duanmu Huai quickly picked a target area – a tunnel that goes under the river. From the location, it seemed this was a tunnel dug by the Ratmen after they got underground, between the piers and the riverbank, for them to shuttle back and forth.

These creatures that burrow everywhere are indeed annoying.

But soon, they would be utterly destroyed.

Following the map, Duanmu Huai arrived at the side of the underground tunnel. Fortunately, perhaps considering the need for the Mouse Troll to move around, the hole made by the Ratmen was high and wide enough. Otherwise, considering his physique, Duanmu Huai might have difficult time squeezing in.

“This is the place…”

After catching his breath, Duanmu Huai lifted his head to look upward. At the moment, he was under the river, and turbulent water flowed above him, although he couldn’t sense anything here. He reached out, took the explosive kit he got from Kukulu, and pushed it upwards. Afterward, Duanmu Huai took a deep breath, grabbed the screw-like handle protruding from the top, and then heard a “bang”. Immediately, four nail-like objects shot out from the corners of the kit and firmly embedded itself in the ceiling.

“Alright, let me see, I remember I need to hold here and light the fuse……”

Now, let’s just look forward to the grand spectacle.

Meanwhile, under the bridge, the soldiers led by General Pastte were launching an assault against the Ratmen in cooperation with the combat corps.

To the city of Modheim, the bridge connecting the east and west sides was certainly a critical location. If they could capture the bridge, it would prevent Chaos Believers’ further actions and confine them to the western part of the city, signifying half of the mission to reclaim Modheim was accomplished.

But it was not an easy task.

“Where has that blockhead run off to?”

The Imperial Captain swung Longsword, fending off the approaching Ratmen, while complaining. Honestly, he had hoped that Duanmu Huai would fight side by side with them here, which would lessen his burden. However, to his surprise, Duanmu Huai had gone into the slums, and according to the report of his subordinates, that big fellow seemed to have fallen underground?

Was he dead?

Even though the Imperial Captain felt that wearing such terrifying armor, hardly anyone could kill him, there was still a limit to how powerful a person could be. That guy couldn’t fly after all. If he’d fallen into a deep pit several tens of meters deep, he may have already turned into a pile of scrambled meat.

“Don’t lose focus!”

At this moment, the voice of General Pastte suddenly sounded from the side. Hearing his words, the Imperial Captain gritted his teeth and resumed his charge. The Ratmen on the bridge were already cleared out but those in the hole under the bridge pier were still resisting desperately. The Imperial Captain really didn’t want to fight the Ratmen in the cave, which was dark and narrow, and those Ratmen were adept at using poison…..

“Pfft—————!!!”

As if to fulfill the bad premonition of the Imperial Captain, the surrounded Ratmen suddenly took out several round bottles from behind and threw them at him. The round bottle shattered upon hitting the ground, and the green liquid inside it turned into dense fog, filling the entire tunnel.

“Uh————eh———!!”

The pungent and nauseating stench hit him in the face. Just by smelling this, the Imperial Captain felt a sudden darkness before his eyes.

“Retreat, retreat……!! Uh……!!”

The group almost scrambled out of the hole until they smelled fresh outside air, giving them some relief.

“God, that was disgusting…”

The Imperial Captain complained while looking into the cave. The Ratmen had taken advantage of the stench to escape.

“General, we should stop here. We don’t have any experience fighting Ratmen in a tunnel!”

“Hmm……”

Hearing the Imperial Captain’s words, General Pastte frowned. However, just then….

“Thud———!”

A dull noise suddenly echoed, leaving everyone startled. They all looked around in surprise, trying to determine the source of the noise.

“What happened?”

“Where did the noise come from?”

“It seems to be from underground…”

“Thud———!!”

The noise sounded again, this time everyone clearly heard it coming from underground.

“Could it be those rats are up to something again?”

Hearing this, the Imperial Captain’s face turned pale.

“General, it’s too dangerous here, we should move to a safer place……”

“Boom!!!”

Before the Imperial Captain could finish speaking, suddenly, accompanied by a loud noise, everyone saw the water in the river ahead exploding open. Immediately, the turbulent river water began swirling downward, revealing a huge vortex!