Ch.81Ghost Ship (2)

# Chapter 81: Ghost Ship (2)

The report sent by the dispatched research vessel stated that the ghost ship was estimated to be a vessel from the Dark Age.

The Dark Age.

According to this game’s lore, it was an era from the distant past, far removed from the player’s timeline.

A period ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years ago, when ancient civilizations were flourishing and full of vigor… literally a name referring to an era that exists within the game’s established setting.

And as is always the case with games of this type, ships and equipment from this era boasted overwhelming technological prowess that was impossible to replicate in the current age.

Of course, those who had never experienced the technology of the Dark Age would dismiss the very concept as nonsense, questioning how such things could be possible.

But such skepticism only came from newbies who didn’t properly understand this world.

In other words, it only applied to those who knew nothing because they had just recently emerged as interstellar nations.

If you traveled through space even a little, you would inevitably learn, whether you liked it or not, how remarkable the Dark Age truly was.

Take Alina, who reigns as the saint of our office slaves—isn’t she an ultra-advanced strong AI produced during that Dark Age?

Additionally, if you browse through the unnecessarily complicated and user-unfriendly UI that has thrown user convenience to the dogs, you’ll find national rankings showing… question mark-filled nations whose identities couldn’t be determined.

Those very nations served as living fossils that preserved the technology of the Dark Age intact, literally proving the existence of the Dark Age I just mentioned.

Upon hearing that this was mentioned in the report, I couldn’t hide my surprise.

“A ship from the Dark Age? This is absolutely huge.”

“Indeed, if we play our cards right, we might even acquire technology from that era.”

I thought this was an event where we’d get a free battleship, but it turned out to be a vessel coated with ancient technology.

Moreover, the report contained an even more important fact.

“…It seems this isn’t a battleship.”

“Why not?”

“They surveyed it from a distance to avoid potential attacks, and apparently its size far exceeds that of conventional battleships.”

And the moment I confirmed the report’s contents and recited them to Riel, a new event message appeared before my eyes.

[Event: Ghost Ship!]

[To identify what this object is, you dispatched a research vessel for investigation, and the results have finally come in.]

[Surprisingly, except for welding marks near the bow, almost every part of the ship is made of materials typically seen only in Dark Age artifacts.]

[Even more astonishing is that, contrary to the initial report, the ship’s size is overwhelmingly larger than modern-era battleships.]

[The problem is that this fact has also become known to other empires.]

[Neighboring nations, having realized the strategic and technological value of the ship, have begun preparations to obtain ownership of the vessel.]

[Option 1: We can’t just sit idle. (Continue to linked event)]

[Option 2: I don’t understand all this fuss over a single ship. (End event)]

Although there was only information that the exact size hadn’t been confirmed, as soon as I saw this event, I vaguely remembered seeing a similar game event in my previous life.

‘If we do this right… wasn’t there a story about repairing the ship and incorporating it into the empire?’

Although the details were hazy since it had been so long ago.

If we just sat idle, another nation might snatch the ship away.

[Option 1: We can’t just sit idle. (Continue to linked event)] <Selected>

I immediately summoned the Purge Unit members who were about to hold a gathering with their cultists in the basement of the Diplomatic Executive Planet.

“You guys, let’s work on something together.”

“WOOOOOOOOOAH!!!!!!”

“With the Minister, we’ll go to the edge of the galaxy!!!”

After calming down these overly enthusiastic fellows, I promptly dispatched them to acquire that magnificent ancient battleship… or super dreadnought, or titan, or whatever it was.

“Now that the Purge Unit members have gone, I guess that ship is as good as ours.”

“Riel, remember that we must not let our guard down.”

“…Is there something else?”

In response to Riel’s question, I read through the detailed contents of the report and said:

“Hmm, it seems other neighboring nations have also dispatched their special forces to obtain the ghost ship.”

“Still, isn’t it practically impossible for most of them to defeat our Purge Unit members?”

Hearing Riel’s words, I found myself nodding involuntarily.

“I can’t imagine our Purge Unit members losing.”

“Minister, that’s a flag.”

“Ah.”

Hastily taking back what I just said, I watched the Purge Unit’s ship leaving orbit and heading into space.

“Well then, let’s get back to work.”

“Even with an ancient ghost ship appearing, our work remains the same.”

As always, we began tackling our backlog of work one by one.

But how many minutes had passed since then?

-Beep!

-“Minister? Excuse me, but there’s a request for an audience with you.”

I responded to the message through my terminal with undisguised puzzlement.

“A request to see me at this hour? Who is it from?”

It was perplexing because I couldn’t predict who would want to speak with me right now.

And it seemed Riel felt the same way.

While continuing my communication through the terminal, I glanced at Riel, but…

-*Shaking head*

Riel’s response indicated she didn’t know either, which only amplified my confusion.

And then, the answer came through the terminal…

-“Well… the person requesting an audience is Ambassador Jad Samiya Halabi’dus of the Prosnack.”

Upon hearing this response, I felt more annoyed than curious.

And for good reason…

Frankly, from our perspective, the Prosnack species wasn’t exactly a trustworthy bunch.

They had a habit of turning other aliens into soap.

No, they repeatedly committed genocide, and when deemed necessary, mercilessly destroyed innocent civilians and infrastructure through indiscriminate orbital bombardment.

Moreover, if they felt it necessary, they would assassinate important figures from other nations even before war was declared.

“I understand. I’ll contact you again shortly.”

-“Yes, Minister.”

After ending the communication, I decided to discuss how to handle this situation with Riel, who was conveniently beside me.

“Riel, what do you think about this?”

“Well, honestly, I can’t even guess why a Prosnack ambassador would contact us at a time like this.”

The problem was that I couldn’t fathom what the Prosnack’s intentions were in trying to contact me.

“Alina, do you know anything about this?”

“I did detect encrypted communications between the Prosnack ambassador and their home country recently, but the encryption was so sophisticated that I failed to decode it, Mr. Flesh Chunk.”

Even Alina didn’t know, which left me pondering how to handle this situation.

[Pause]

To avoid wasting time, I paused and continued to contemplate, eventually wondering if this might be a Prosnack plot to assassinate me.

‘It’s certainly a plausible theory.’

I’m not just being self-important; the reality is that the current state of the Holy Sebelli Empire is… well, frankly, I’m carrying the entire operation.

In other words, the Prosnack’s request to speak with me might actually be a plot to assassinate a key figure like myself.

Especially considering that the Prosnack had actually employed such tactics in the past.

I decided to unpause and share these suspicions with Riel and Alina.

[Unpause]

“Riel, you don’t think the Prosnack might be trying to assassinate me, do you?”

Of course, seeing my attitude, Riel…

“Minister, aren’t you being a bit too full of yourself?”

…immediately called me out for being conceited.

“Well, it’s not entirely wrong though.”

“…”

“It would be a disaster if you were assassinated, Minister. What should we do about this?”

Using a hot-and-cold strategy right after calling me out.

Given Riel’s unpredictable response, I decided to seek advice from Alina instead.

“Alina, how do you think we should respond to the Prosnack ambassador’s request for an audience?”

And Alina, with her high intelligence quotient that seemed to know everything, responded to my question in a calm tone:

“If you’re worried about terrorism or assassination, why not suggest meeting ‘there’?”

“…Ah, that place.”

The moment I realized what ‘that place’ Alina was referring to.

Recognizing it was more effective against the ‘Prosnack’ than anywhere else, I nodded and reopened the communication.

“It’s me. Arrange a meeting with the Prosnack ambassador. Yes… tell them we’ll determine the location.”

I decided to have a meeting with those formidable Prosnack fellows.