Abyss Solo-Chapter 44 - : In the Name of the Father

Chapter 44: In the Name of the Father

“Oh! No! I object!”

Molly’s voice was filled with sorrow and indignation, “Just like that, I automatically become Molly No. 1. I can think, I am a Thought Body! I’m not one of those silly answering machines!”

Yang Ming squinted his eyes and smiled, “Alright, Molly No. 1.”

Molly’s image appeared on the forward porthole, angrily folding her arms.

Quite cute.

Yang Ming wanted to give the glass panel back, but Kolev refused.

...

The old man said earnestly,

“This is yours now, Hanton. It’s a portable control system, and when you pilot small vessels, you can use it to control the Feinan, of course, the prerequisite is that you maintain contact with Molly No. 2.

“Don’t tell me you can’t come up with a mere one million credit coins.

“Molly No. 2’s primary loyalty is to you. She has great potential for development, provided you give her enough computational power support. Now, you can try calling her.”

Yang Ming cleared his throat, “Molly No. 2.”

Right beside Molly No. 1, a virtual image of a young girl Molly appeared, bowing to Yang Ming.

A cold electronic synthesized voice resounded inside the spaceship,

“Captain, I am your comprehensive virtual spaceship assistant. You may inquire about the status of all parts of the ship. Compared to the last upgrade, thirty-six new detectors have been added to the ship, with one thousand six hundred twenty-five new hull sensory modules installed. Sixteen new crewmembers have been added to the onboard mechanical sailor library, their models are…”

Molly No. 2 began a series of mechanical announcements.

Yang Ming blinked, turning to whisper to Kolev, “You’re now second mate, Kolev.”

Kolev rolled his eyes in frustration and huffed, “Let’s not go to the bridge just yet, let’s head to the aft cabin first. I still have one last pirate lesson to teach you.”

Yang Ming asked with interest, “What is it about?”

Kolev squinted and smiled, “How to forcefully enter the hull of a target ship that resists. But before that, should we relax a bit? There are two special robots here.”

Yang Ming’s eyes lit up.

If Mimili found out that the two of them were relaxing on the spaceship, wouldn’t that be a bit awkward?

To hell with it.

He was Uncle Hanton.

A few minutes later.

Yang Ming lay in the ‘Feinan’s’ rest lounge, forehead lined with resignation, enjoying the sluggishly executed foot massage service from a robot; he turned his head to see Kolev a few meters away, sitting in the barber chair enjoying a ‘beard care’ service, and silently flipped him the bird.

So, the special robot was this thing?

Shouldn’t it be a highly flexible lifelike bionic companion robot?

Yang Ming softly called out, “Molly No. 2, give me a monitoring panel.”

Several cameras on the ceiling projected rays, weaving a pale blue projection screen.

Yang Ming began studying the internal structure of the spaceship.

The Feinan had a total length of one hundred twenty-three meters and, when its Main Cannon was still attached, functioned as a light gunship, usually supplementing fire support in major corps battles. If it faced a Heavy Battleship’s Main Cannon, it wouldn’t withstand more than two hits.

The Main Cannon of this ship had been removed—hence its current pincer-like structure.

Kolev had readjusted its hull, also replacing the internal chamber layout, filling the areas reserved for crew rest rooms, entertainment rooms, dormitories, and so on with dark energy battery arrays, endowing it with stronger endurance and protective shields.

To compensate for its anti-raid capabilities, Kolev had added twelve hidden Guard Cannons, forming a thirty-six Guard Cannon array, ensuring no blind spots around every direction of its body.

Its external armor had been thickened by three whole layers, now comparable to the strength of some ring-mining ships.

From a pirate’s perspective, this spaceship was like a shell; if it couldn’t threaten merchant ships, it was meaningless. But to fulfill Kolev’s dream of ‘eternal sailing,’ the ship was more than suitable.

Looking at it this way, Kolev hadn’t deceived him.

One million Federal Credit Coins spent on a ship worth fifteen million, and he was allowed to charge it to an account…

Even Yang Ming felt somewhat embarrassed with his thick skin.

He knew in his heart.

The meaning of that one million Federal Credit Coins wasn’t just to satisfy Kolev’s pirate principles.

The old man was doing it for Mimili.

The old man feared something would happen to him during this operation and wanted to use this method to establish a deeper relationship between Yang Ming and Mimili. Even without Kolev in the future, Yang Ming would likely look after Mimili, attaching an additional bond due to the debt of one million.

‘This fatherly old man doesn’t realize his daughter’s talent in the pirate business.’

Yang Ming smiled and continued scanning the conditions of various cabins on the ship, observing the idle looks of those maintenance robots, pondering how to repay Kolev for the favor of underselling the spaceship.

—The jailbreak was a joint operation, with neither owing the other.

Hmm, taking down Kimo would be a good option.

…

To pull off a space heist, the most critical part was how to attach drones and boarding craft to the merchant ship.

Generally, merchant ships would also have civilian protective shields, one of the main purposes of which was to prevent pirate invasions, but low-energy shields were not without weaknesses.

At the moment, the sight before Yang Ming’s eyes was two military boarding crafts.

They were like claws that stretched ten meters long.

The front half of the boarding craft had four ‘mouth’-shaped arranged alloy claws, which were not only razor-sharp but also equipped with various precision instruments. The deflectors on them could prevent the widespread aggregation of protective shield energy within a small area.

The central part is a piston-like cockpit, which, once the claw part securely lodged into the enemy ship’s cabin, would “inject” three assault team members into the body of the opponent’s vessel.

Afterward, the assault ship would continue to fill the incision on the enemy vessel, preventing the enemy ship’s chamber from depressurizing.

Kolev, the master with over forty years of experience as a pirate, was explaining patiently:

“Generally speaking, the construction cost of merchant ships is several notches lower than that of military ones. You can think of them as thin composite material coffins.

“The process of robbing them is a psychological battle, and this thing is our ace in the hole.

“The two in front of you now are relatively advanced assault ships, identical to the Sherman Empire’s military equipment. The cost of a single one is a twentieth of this ship. The Sherman Empire calls it the ‘Piranha,’ but we prefer to call it the ‘Little Bee,’ just a light sting to those big guys.”

Yang Ming crossed his arms and said, “The guard cannons on the merchant ships are not vegetarians either.”

With his hands in his pockets, Kolev laughed and said:

“It has a small protective shield; can you believe it? It can withstand half a minute of Guard Cannon fire. Moreover, it has powerful thrust, a keen early-warning system, and the ability to scan the enemy’s hull to determine the best landing spot… that’s why it’s so expensive.”

“I need to practice piloting,” Yang Ming said softly.

“There will be plenty of time and space for you to practice later.”

Kolev pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, “Hanton, I’m ready to set off as soon as possible. Can we leave tomorrow?”

Yang Ming asked, “Just the two of us?”

“Us two, and Molly No. 2, as well as this ship,” Kolev said, “I plan to bring twenty of the more intelligent robots, which, under the coordination of Molly No. 2, will be enough to maintain the ship’s body and handle general emergencies.”

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“Then you need to say a proper goodbye to Mimili.”

“No,” Kolev said, “she will definitely insist on departing with me, and my old buddies will also ask to stand by my side, but I don’t want that, and they won’t be of any help to us.”

Yang Ming replied seriously, “It is for you to decide. In my view, nothing fosters a father-daughter relationship more than a heart-to-heart talk. Go tell her how much you care about her.”

Kolev sighed, “Don’t worry, I will. I’m much more experienced at being a father than you.”

As it turned out, Kolev was still stubborn.

He did not say a proper goodbye to Mimili, instead, he saw her for a brief moment half an hour before departure, asking her many questions about how to become a pirate captain.

Mimili seldom came to this side of the hangar.

So, when the spaceship began to load various supplies, checked the outer hull, and the docking clamps gradually disengaged… Mimili did not notice anything unusual.

It was not until the hangar’s roof slowly opened, and a two-hundred-meter-long trench appeared on the side of the canyon, with the whole base trembling slightly.

“Hey, Molly.”

Mimili put down the book in her hands, her palm covering the desk surface: “Is it an earthquake?”

“Yes, Mistress Mimili,” replied Molly No. 1, calmly, “It’s common here. Please focus on your studies; it’s nothing serious.”

Mimili was about to resume reading but hesitated for a moment.

She suddenly felt her body lightened a lot.

Anti-gravity field!

Mimili stood up abruptly, rushing out of her bedroom and along the corridor towards the direction of the hangar.

Molly’s holographic image appeared alongside her, keeping up with her rapid movement, yet remaining silent.

Molly could hear the conversations inside the spaceship’s bridge.

“Anti-gravity field at one hundred percent activation.”

“Ship self-check complete… let me see the self-inspection report.”

“All green is fine, Hanton, move quickly, keep the radio silence, and max out the stealth system, do not expose this base.”

Yang Ming pressed the launch button, and the spaceship began to ascend with a soft roar, while waves of heat emerged in the hangar.

A row of caterpillar robots stood neatly in a corner of the hangar, saluting in military fashion.

In the clean and spacious bridge of the Feinan, Yang Ming and Kolev were lying in their modified pilot seats, in front of them flickered a dozen screens displaying data.

Yang Ming glanced at the new screen popping up in the lower left corner of his field of vision, projecting the image of Mimili running through the corridor.

There were tears at the corners of her eyes.

Yang Ming turned his head to look at Kolev. He had been about to remind Kolev to say something, but then he noticed a similar projection screen by Kolev’s hand.

The spaceship slowly rose.

Mimili’s figure appeared behind the glass window in the upper left corner of the hangar.

She could not go any further; the path to the hangar was already blocked, and most of the air inside the hangar had been lost.

Mimili pounded on the window forcefully.

Kolev bowed his head, looking at that small, delicate screen.

As the hangar’s rooftop began to close, the spaceship moved smoothly at a few hundred meters above the ground, progressively disconnecting from the base’s internal network. The small screen shook slightly, gradually blurred, and soon disappeared from view.

“It would have been fine to bring her along,” Yang Ming suggested, “Whether it’s Molly No. 2 who stays behind on the spaceship, or whether it’s Mimili, it’s the same.”

“No, you’re wrong,” Kolev said, “Humans are emotional, while machines are cold. Molly No. 2 can fully comprehend our orders, while Mimili would get emotional.”

“She’s already grown up.”

“She’s not mature enough yet.”

“Fine,” Yang Ming slid the main control panel to the side, “the spaceship is now in your command.”

“I will give her everything, Molly will take good care of her,” the old man muttered to himself, “Kimo has no idea what a foolish thing he has done! Hanton, do you know? He dared to bully my daughter, I will make him pay the price, I swear!”