I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship, so I Became a Space Mercenary - Chapter 417

Progress and Raid

The loot taken from the space pirates would be dropped off at the Reemay Prime Colony, where supplies were in short supply whereas the parts and equipment for the navigational ships, for which demand was likely to be low, would be stored at the Black Lotus for the time being.

[I was wondering if you could sell ship parts as well.]

It seemed that Hartmut heard that Mimi and the others had looked into the possibility of selling ship parts at Reemay Prime Colony, and contacted us from their side.

“it’s fine, but again, why?”

[We’ve prioritized securing food and medical supplies, and as a result, we’re running low on mechanical components…]

“I see. I see. That’s fine with us. It’s good for us to be able to dispose of our cargo.”

In other words, they wanted to buy them as scrap parts. It was indeed true that the parts used to furnish ships could be disassembled and reused as parts to maintain a functioning colony, as Tina and Wiska had said.

“If you’re going to use them as parts, don’t you need to make sure they’re fully maintained and working?”

[It would save us both a lot of trouble if you just send them as it is.]

“You’d have to pay a reasonable price for the ones that we have already checked, though.”

[I’m not so stingy that I’m going to be cheap about it.]

Hartmut laughed behind the holoscreen. Well, handsome or what…all the nobles of the empire had good looks, really. Was this the result of a lineage of beautiful men and women?

[By the way, have you found any effective measures against the epidemic you were talking about the other day?]

“Oh, yes, we’ve already figured out the physiological mechanisms of the pathogen and created a formula to counter it. We are now simulating how it can be applied to other people and species. I was told that the operation could be finished by the end of the day.”

[You don’t really know what’s going to happen when it’s used, since it’s not your area of expertise, is what you are trying to say, right?]

“Well, yeah, I mean, I only heard that the results are going to blow the biological trials out of the water and be highly reliable, so I’m sure that there will be a cure…should we get our doctor in on the conversation?”

[Sorry, but I have to ask.]

At Hartmut’s request, I connected the communication to Dr. Shoko in the lab and focused on listening without interrupting their conversation. The information Hartmut was seeking was simple: whether Dr. Shoko’s research results were ready-to-use and how safe they were.

[The accuracy was comparable to that of the old one, so I don’t think it will be a problem if you use it right away. The body becomes highly immune to the source of infection, so even if someone got infected after they were treated, they will not show the primary symptoms anymore and will not spread new infections.]

[Can that cure be mass-produced?]

[If you have the appropriate facilities, yes. Our lab can make it on a small scale, but…]

[How much can you make?]

[If we had the materials, we could make enough for 200 people per hour at full capacity, or 4,800 people per day.]

[I hope you can make it soon, but it’s not quite enough…]

Hartmut showed a troubled face. The population of his colony was about 500,000, so it would take more than three months to supply all of them with our lab’s production facility. We didn’t intend to stay in the colony for that long.

[The manufacturing plant in our lab is only a small-scale one, you know. It’s not difficult to manufacture the cure if you have the right equipment, so why don’t you look for companies that have equipment that can manufacture within the colony?]

[Let’s try that. Can you send me data on what kind of equipment you would need?]

[That’s what he said, but, what do you want to do? Captain.]

“If you want to reward our excellent doctor, you can prepare an appropriate one for her research results and me who will be providing the labor force.”

[Within the limits of my authority…I see… so that’s what you want, huh?]

“That’s right. I’d like you to take good care of that orphanage, or rather, that facility, Your Excellency.”

[Alright, I understand.]

With this, for the time being, it seemed that the administrative side, or rather, the so-called higher-ups, would take care of the problem. It was just a verbal agreement, but I have recorded the log of this conversation. I could make better use of it while keeping it a secret. In the end, it all came down to violence. I would use money, connections, simple violence, or anything. In the meantime, there was also the option of a duel using a navigational ship, or, although I was not so keen on it, a duel with swords.

[Well, now that you’re talking about getting some kind of reward, Captain, how would you like to reward me?]

But first, though, how do I get around our doctor’s request for a reward when I couldn’t cut her communication off like with Hartmut, as she smiled at me. Maybe I could solve it with money? No? I guess not.

???

I went along with Dr. Shoko’s [research] until she was satisfied with my peculiar origins and constitution – or rather, my body itself, and I went through a lot of trouble, both physically and mentally. Recently, thanks to Kugi’s guidance, she had been refining her psionic abilities, or rather, she was actually becoming able to do a lot of things. I was made to tell about this and other things by something akin to an interrogation by Dr. Shoko, which was in guise as a medical interview. I had thought I would keep it a secret until I had mastered it properly…

“Are you tired, Hiro-sama?”

“Yes, I am, actually.”

I replied as Mimi called out to me while I was slumped on the sofa in the rest area. Then Mimi sat down next to me and pulled me closer. I didn’t resist and fell down, my head landing on Mimi’s thigh. Mimi’s big breasts were right in front of me, and the view was spectacular. In fact, I was touching them a little. It was great. I felt like my mental state was getting better and better.

“…You beat me to it.” (Kugi)

“Hmmm. I guess it’s my turn today.” (Mimi)

As I was being soothed by Mimi’s lap pillow, I heard Kugi’s voice. Did she sense my weakened spirit? But today, Mimi’s great luck seemed to have triumphed over Kugi’s telepathy. It was hard to choose between plumpness and softness in terms of healing power. For now, let’s be healed by Mimi.

“How’s Linda doing?”

“Yes, my lord, Linda-san seems to be learning about maintenance from Tina-san and Wiska-san.”

“I see. It will be difficult to learn something in a short period of time, but I hope she can start on something.”

As for Linda, I think I should leave her to those two. There was no point in me getting involved and giving her something to do. Well, I wonder if Linda would be attracted to a mercenary life like ours. As a matter of fact, I could bring Linda on board to join us… but well, there was no reason to.

“Uh, yeah, can you tell Tina and Wiska to stop overhauling the stripped equipment? They can finish what they’re working on, but I want to take the rest as scrap parts, or rather reusable components to be traded.”

“Okay. You can leave the message to me.”

With my head in her lap, Mimi started operating her tablet device. Mm, good. Very good. I wouldn’t say what’s good, but it was great so far. This was happiness…no, the truth of the universe…!

“…Mimi-san, how about we work together to heal him?”

Kugi, sensing something in my spirit, made a wonderful suggestion to Mimi. Great suggestion, excellent. But what about Mimi? I might witness a scene where Mimi and Kugi might be slightly competing with each other.

“That might be a good idea!”

It seemed to be alright. So it was going to be a two-person job, right? Well, I wouldn’t run and hide. You could come at me all you want. What? You thought I was tired? Well, yes, but of course the mind could overcome the body if the two of them were to provide the service.

???

It happened as I was being soothed by the enthusiastic service of Mimi and Kugi, Elma was relaxing over a few drinks, Dr. Shoko was grinning at the data and samples she got from me, and Tina and Wiska were working with Linda to maintain and sort through the stripped equipment.

Or rather, it was happening.

“Master. There was an attack on the facility in the lower section.”

“What?”

I couldn’t help but ask back when Mei told me the shocking news after I had just finished taking a shower with Mimi and Kugi. No, we did have combat bots in place for such an eventuality, but I never thought they would actually be useful, you know? Even I would hesitate to attack a place where four of those military battle bots were deployed.

“Yes, there was an attack on the facility where the combat bots were deployed. Please be assured that the attack was successfully repelled by the combat bots and two locally hired security personnel.”

“Of course they could have, but…”

“The children weren’t harmed, right?”

“Yes, Mimi-sama. No one was injured, including the two locally hired security personnel.”

“I don’t understand their motive… or maybe they simply attacked us because we had supplies.”

I’d rather not think about any other motive or much else. They told me before that the mafia and gangs that were supporting the facility were generally decimated, so I doubt it was related to that… oh no, wait? I didn’t hear anything about any mafia or gangs that were not supporting the facility. Could it be an attack from that side instead? I mean, it would have been unthinkable for that facility to attack in the first place, unless… the mafia or gangs that were supporting them were to come back into power, so they would certainly have to aim at us to pay back the price.

“Can you get us in touch with the local authorities?”

“Yes. We can contact them through the combat bots we have deployed.”

“Well, I guess we’ll have to start by asking them what’s going on…”

Not long ago, I was in a good mood, but now I have a headache. I guess a bouncer might get excited about this situation… I wonder what I should do. Maybe I should just clean it up and disinfect whoever was doing this? Physically.

Thinking about such dangerous things, I took Mimi and Kugi and called everyone as well as we headed for the rest area.

T/N: Thanks for reading. See you in the next chapter.