Chapter 164

48. Birth of the Dark Empire (1)

After Jin-woo brought the pirate base back to the moon, he stationed it near the Demon’s Eye. Now it felt a little less empty.

After that, it was time to study and repair the pirate base. Se-yeon and the G&P Research Institute people were perfect for that job, and they moved from the G&P Research Institute at Jin-woo’s call. Se-yeon already knew that he had already set up a base on the moon, but the professors and researchers were completely unaware of it.

Up until now, they had only been concentrating on Jin-woo’s instructions to study robotics. The professors were depressed as their technology being developed day and night had hit a limit.

“I-is this the m-moon?”

“I-I can’t believe I’m on the moon!”

Yoo-na briefly explained before they came, but the professors and researchers were astonished. Professors Kim Dae-jin and Choi Sung-min couldn’t hide their excitement to search around the moon’s surface. Jin-woo watched them with a smile.

It was still too early to be surprised, however.

“This way.”

Jin-woo guided them to the pirate base via portal. Dimensional gold coins had been invested around the pirate base to create artificial gravity and shields, as well as installing several portal stones. It had been created exclusively for JW Books, so he planned to use this as their main base.

“T-that’s…”

“Gasp!”

The professors were continually astonished. It seemed their eyes were about ready to roll out of their skulls, and Se-yeon was no different. She couldn’t hide her excitement as she hung onto Jin-woo.

“A s-s-spaceship?! I-is it working?”

“Yeah, I drove it myself.”

“W-what about the energy source? What about the warp system? Does the shield work, too? What kind of engine does it use? Is it a fusion engine? Or antimatter? If it’s that size… ah.”

Se-yeon’s rapid-fired her questions, and the researchers waited with anticipation for his answer. It was a little scary. Se-yeon even began to drool.

‘At this rate… I can’t even joke around.’

He would tell them to go back now that he showed them everything, but he stopped. If he did that, they might riot. Jin-woo smiled and guided them through the base. The researchers were eager to disassemble the pirate base right away. With every step they took, they screamed in admiration.

Jin-woo took them to the warehouses next to see the battleships. As soon as she saw them, Se-yeon’s expression was colored with ecstasy, and she fainted. Jin-woo barely caught her before she hit the ground.

“Woooooooow!”

“Uwooooow!”

“Kwaaaaaaaaa!”

Se-yeon, the professors, and the researchers shouted bizarre sounds and ran to the battleships. They touched the ship’s exterior, tapped it, and rubbed it all over their body. They even went so far as to lick it.

“We’ll start researching it right away!”

“We need to move the lab here!”

Jin-woo nodded. Alongside G&P, technicians from all dimensions were going to study them together. The dwarves led by Degurron had already settled inside. As everyone gathered, Jin-woo was reassured. Jin-woo didn’t ask for much, but just for them to remodel the pirate base to be useful. There was nothing more he could hope for if it were enough to operate those battleships.

Professor Kim Dae-jin clenched his fists when the battleship’s engine started.

“If it’s like this… with this technology, we can complete it.”

“Yeah, finally…”

Choi Sung-min nodded. Jin-woo had forgotten what they were making. No, he hadn’t even thought about it.

“Hey, you guys seem to be talking about something interesting.”

Degurron, holding a hammer, approached the two professors. It was the first time they met, but as soon as their eyes clashed, they nodded. After all, they could immediately recognize that they were in the same class. Research, production, and delivery! That was the reason they lived.

“Fufufu…”

“Hehehe…”

“Khuhuhu…”

A great aura wrapped around them.

“Sci-Fi World… fuh-fufufu.”

Se-yeon muttered under her breath. When it came to the romance of the Sci-Fi World, one had to think of the Dark Empire that ruled the entire universe! For that, the scientists in the Sci-Fi World were second to none! Let’s make something even more awesome! Disassemble, research, and remodel! To conquer the universe!

Such a slogan was invented. It appeared the demons added those strange words at the end, but Jin-woo didn’t care.

Yoo-na, entering the pirate base, was startled to see the scientists working into a frenzy.

“…That’s an amazing sight.”

Jin-woo nodded. As Se-yeon pointed her finger to the far side of the universe, everyone began to nod.

‘Well, it’ll be fine.’

They were more excited than usual, but this was normal.

[The Golden Space Research Society has been established.]

[S] Golden Space Research Society

‘Only the crazy, crazy, crazy and crazy make great things.’

A research group formed by brains from all dimensions belonging to the Great Emperor. Different technologies have been combined to create a great synergy. Creativity explodes, and technology development speeds up. However, during the research period, they lose half of their sanity.

They are influenced by the power of domination.

*[S] Dark Great Empire: Affected by the power of domination, they develop objects that match the Great Emperor’s dignity.

*[A] The Dark Scientist: The speed of technology development increases significantly.

Jin-woo gulped. He might have broken a seal that he shouldn’t have.

* * *

Jin-woo was thinking of taking a leisurely break before going back to the Sci-Fi World. Even if he returned right now, he would be just wandering through outer space. The universe where the side story unfolded was so wide that even if he wandered through it all his life, it might be difficult to find a planet where people lived.

Jin-woo didn’t want to suffer like that. In that sense, he was really lucky to take this pirate base and the battleships. If a map could be drawn by interpreting their input coordinates, that problem would be solved. Furthermore, the Pirate Union headquarters’ location must also be inside the base. It was a place the Empire, the Kingdom, and the Space Federation so desperately wanted to find and destroy.

Jin-woo was planning to devour the entirety of the Pirate Union. Since he started this war, he had to see it to the end to feel better.

‘I was going to relax until then, but…’

Jin-woo, who had been enjoying his unemployed life for a while, returned to the moon base. The base was completed, and Professor Kim Dae-jin had something to show him. He honestly thought it would take longer given the technological gap with the Sci-Fi World. However, Jin-woo realized that he had underestimated his subordinates.

The pirate base was disassembled and transformed into the JW Base in an instant. The G&P researchers worked with Degurron to invent new things, combining science and fantasy to give birth to unusual things that Jin-woo never knew of.

‘It’s cool, but….’

The JW Base was nice. However, it felt like the mothership of the dark army from a sci-fi movie. Se-yeon came out to welcome him. Her hair was messy, and her clothes were dirty. But despite the dark circles under her eyes, her expression was bright.

“Are you here?”

“Is that it?”

“The JW Dark Mothership!”

A matching name. To be honest, he thought it would draw attention if something like that were brought through the portal.

“The combination of black and red is always stylish!”

“Umm…”

“It’s the most powerful color combination!”

Se-yeon explained. Next to the Dark Mothership, the moon base was expanding with their newly developed tools. Rocks were disappearing without a trace every time a light flashed. Ignoring that for now, Jin-woo entered the Dark Mothership. The interior of the Dark Mothership had also completely changed. Although it had a clean feel, it felt as villainous as the exterior.

“Umm?”

Avatars were moving and carrying things around, controlled by Arorong. However, they looked different from before. They had large mechanical arms and wore strange helmets.

“Those are?”

“With the help of Heaven, I remodeled the avatars! They possess the latest technology.”

Although it was an avatar, to others, it looked like a modified human body. In the Delox Empire and the Lainez Kingdom, human body modification was prohibited. Prosthetic arms and prosthetic legs were permitted but restricted for military use to protect human dignity. The Delox Empire, the Lainez Kingdom, and the Space Federation had even signed an agreement to ban human body modification. So, what was developed instead were reinforced suits.

When Se-yeon called, the modified avatar approached. She called the modified avatar the A1.

“The A-series specializes in hard work.”

The A1’s hands split, and a blue beam projected out. Its body was imbued with several machines, so its physical strength was also quite high.

“Isn’t that cool?”

“That’s true, but…”

“I designed it myself!”

Seeing Se-yeon’s sparkling eyes, Jin-woo couldn’t say it was too much. The A1 went back to work with a disciplined step.

‘Well, it’s just an avatar…’

Come to think of it; it was wise to provide the necessary labor force like that. It was just an avatar made of mud in Heaven, and if an accident occurred, it could be recreated. Jin-woo followed Se-yeon’s guidance and walked down the long hallway, heading to the research institute built inside the mothership.

While walking along like that, Jin-woo looked out the window. It was a window made so that people could see inside the mothership rather than into outer space. Jin-woo had no choice but to stop walking as he looked out.

“…What is that?”

He could see troops lined up out there, each of them wearing black helmets and dressed in attire similar to an officer’s uniform, complete with a cape.

“It takes a lot of people to operate the ship, so I made the crew. They were modified so that they could survive in outer space. They don’t even have to breathe or eat because their internal organs are completely modified! All they need are mana crystals!”

“I see.”

It was understandable. The ship wasn’t able to move alone; many technicians were needed to run its system. Jin-woo understood that, but he couldn’t help but feel a bit strange. This was because it looked like an army poised to conquer the universe.

“Somehow…”

There seemed to be some majestic background music swelling around him. It turned out that Se-yeon was a big fan of sci-fi movies, as much as she enjoyed magical girls. It was Jin-woo’s mistake to overlook Se-yeon’s tastes.

“Would you like to go see it?”

“Yeah.”

This crew’s model name was T1, marking it as part of the T series.

When Jin-woo nodded, Se-yeon guided him down through the elevator to stand before the lined-up T1s. Then, the only avatar wearing a red helmet took a step forward. It was the T0 model that served as their leader.

[Get ready!]

The T0’s voice resounded rough and mechanical. It was a villain’s voice, no doubt about it.

Thud!

The lined-up T1s stood up at attention as one.

[Salute!]

Se-yeon looked proud. They weren’t just perfect in appearance; they were also skilled crew equipped with all the technologies provided by the demons and strengthened with combat techniques brought from the East World.

[D+] T1

‘Glory to the Dark Empire.’

Designed by Se-yeon herself and created by remodeling the avatars. The information extracted from the pirate engineers was input so that they could command the ship skillfully. They are also equipped with combat skills.

*[D+] Beam Cutter

*[D] Dark Sword Technique

*[C] Ship Engineer

*[C] Long Live the Dark Empire

Jin-woo forgot what to say for a moment. What did she think to make something like this? Jin-woo shook his head.

‘I don’t think it will be strange no matter what comes out now.’

Jin-woo sincerely thought so. Now he was confident that he wouldn’t be surprised by anything else.

“…Let’s go to the lab.”

“Yeah!”

Jin-woo arrived at the research institute. Kim Dae-jin, Choi Sung-min, and Degurron were busy working among the avatars.

“A rocket punch is a must! Without it…”

“I understand how you feel, but isn’t it too inefficient?”

“I would rather have a beam weapon. We have solved the energy supply problem, so there’s no problem!”

The three were having a heated discussion looking over some blueprints. Jin-woo didn’t quite understand what they were talking about.

“The Dark Emperor… cough, n-no, our CEO is here!”

When Se-yeon said that, the professors and Degurron ran to Jin-woo. Their conditions, too, were no different from Se-yeon’s. Still, Jin-woo was grateful that they worked so hard for him.

“Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty?”

“Ah, no, Sir! H-hehe!”

Professor. Kim Dae-jin covered his slip with a laugh.

“Do you have something to report, Professor?”

“P-please drop all the formalities. We are all your men, Sir.”

Jin-woo was comfortable with that too. Kim Dae-jin’s eyes twinkled with joy. What in the world was that for?

“Finally, the problem’s solved, and we’ve completed it. The engine has been completely identified and remodeled. They use energy sources that are quite efficient in the Sci-Fi World, but they are not comparable to magic crystals.”

Kim Dae-jin beamed with pride. Since he was talking about engines, it must be about the ship.

“Ah! Sorry. The introduction is too long. I’ll show you right away!”

With that, the researchers rushed to move. Before them was a large mechanical device in the form of a box. When a researcher pressed the button, it made a crackling sound as it opened, and smoke billowed out.

“Ah…”

Jin-woo was confident that he wouldn’t be surprised no matter what he saw. But moving beyond surprise, his mind went blank.

When the smoke lifted, he could see the robot that had been inside the box.

* * *

As soon as Count Lear returned to the Kingdom, she locked herself up in her laboratory. Her expression had been one of devastation, so great her fellow researchers didn’t know what to do.

Lear brought out all the footage she scrapped from the pirate base before she left. After watching through all the videos, Lear could see how scary the Outer God was. Nightmares of what she had seen still plagued her. If such a being appeared in the Kingdom, could it be stopped? If she utilized the Kingdom’s newest battleship…

She shook her head. According to the data values ​​extracted from the video, the result would be an overwhelming defeat.

Lear grew obsessed with research, and eventually, she was able to come up with a blueprint.

“Humanity…”

She wanted to protect human dignity, so…

“I won’t lose.”

What she designed was a humanoid robot.