Chapter 19 All It Needed Was One Ship Girl
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Translator: JayM
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: All It Needed Was One Ship Girl*
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And these two kinds of people also held entirely different perceptions of their own lives.
Those who felt fear were, for the most part, satisfied with everything they currently possessed. They were afraid that the emergence of such a powerful force would affect their own interests. But those who felt elation had grown weary of the wealth and power they held — they craved a new kind of power, a power that could make them even more unstoppable.
Dark Gastronomes were, by and large, the latter.
Within the span of just a few short hours, an enormous wave, like an unknown undercurrent deep beneath the ocean, swept furiously through the entire world.
Of course, none of this had anything to do with Shen Yi.
If he had come to this world in pursuit of power and wealth, he wouldn't have minded playing along with these people for a while.
It was just a shame…
When the apocalypse arrived, no matter whether you were wealthy enough to rival a nation or powerful enough to shake the heavens, at most, it would only let you die a little later than everyone else.
Deep into the night, Shen Yi's figure appeared soundlessly high in the sky and soared upward, ascending directly into the cloud layer.
He was going to take a look at his grand new treasure.
With a single thought, a sky fortress many times larger than an aircraft carrier materialized high in the sky. The enormous anti-gravity reactors at its base emitted a faint luminescence, and the optical cloaking field enveloped the entire sky fortress, reflecting a soft halo in the moonlight.
It was breathtakingly beautiful.
Shen Yi fell completely in love with it the moment he laid eyes on it.
Whether its design or its capabilities, everything about it radiated a charm that was uniquely technological — uniquely man-made.
"Should I give you a name?" Shen Yi stepped onto the deck. Beneath his feet was smooth metal with a special matte texture that wasn't too slippery, and he walked forward step by step, as if he was wandering aimlessly through every section.
Residential quarters, rest areas, storage bays, flight deck...
The entire sky fortress was even more perfect than Shen Yi had anticipated. It truly possessed a level of technological sophistication that far surpassed anything Earth could imagine, and it was remarkably complete in every respect.
Shen Yi not only spotted more than ten large transport aircraft, but also over thirty autonomous combat units — drones — and beyond that, even maintenance robots and cleaning robots were all present and accounted for.
Except for crew members, it had everything.
It was a shame that even if Shen Yi could find crew members, there was no one to train them, and he certainly didn't have the time to wait for their training to be completed.
And so, he chose a different approach.
He went directly to the captain's bridge.
It was a vast space, with more than a dozen chairs arranged within it — which meant that it had originally required more than a dozen people to operate.
"Welcome, Captain." A gentle female voice accompanied a sweep of scanning light, making itself known.
It was the master control intelligence governing the fortress.
Without another word, Shen Yi went straight to the control console and spent eighty thousand points to purchase a Tier-II Artificial Intelligence Module Array from the shop.
This was his solution.
A sky fortress might require a large number of crew members — or perhaps... all it needed was one sufficiently capable ship girl?
As the nanoparticles flowed like water into the entire control console, every light in the bridge switched on in an instant.
"Taylor-Class Sky Fortress, reporting for duty, Captain." The female voice remained gentle, but it was already completely different from before.
"From now on, you'll be called Dingxiang**." Shen Yi sat down directly in the captain's seat.
He raised his head and looked at the large screen.
After a single flash, an entirely new image appeared on it.
It was a lady dressed in a white coat, her features exquisitely beautiful and coolly striking, carrying with her a faint air of mysterious allure.
From nothing more than a name, Dingxiang had determined her own anthropomorphic appearance.
"Dingxiang thanks you for the name, Captain." Dingxiang's tone also shifted slightly.
It became softer and more melodious, like the voice of a beauty from the Jiangnan region.
Carrying the flavor of flowing water.
And seeming to hold a faint trace of gratitude.
Had he not known the complexity of artificial intelligence evolution, Shen Yi would have wondered whether she had evolved into a Tier-III.
But that wasn't something he should concern himself with now.
"Are you capable of managing the entire sky fortress?" Shen Yi asked.
"As I am now, in addition to performing all operations within the bridge, I can also control all independent automated units — such as autonomous combat units, autonomous transport units, autonomous maintenance units, and so on. However, for functions that have no independent automated unit, I’m powerless. For instance, regarding the varied menu of the mess hall, I only know how to bake bread and make burgers." Dingxiang answered.
"Not bad." Shen Yi gave it a nod.
This was a sky fortress from an era of advanced technology, where automation covered the vast majority of its areas.
Including the bread toaster.
Only, originally these automated units had all required dedicated personnel to direct and oversee them — but now, it could be left entirely to the upgraded Dingxiang.
"Your core hardware appears to be a supercomputer-grade quantum computer." Shen Yi's gaze sharpened little by little as he fixed his eyes intently on Dingxiang on the screen. "And you also possess programming technology that far surpasses this era. I want to ask you — do you have the capability to breach every information channel in this world?"
This was Shen Yi's true purpose in checking the fortress.
In this world, information technology had already become capable of accomplishing a great many things.
When he had drawn the Artificial Intelligence Module Array in the previous world, Shen Yi had already been thinking about it.
If he could take control of the network — control every piece of information that people received — could it allow him to slightly impede the spread of the virus, letting more people prepare in advance, and thereby saving more lives?
It was just a shame…
By the time he had the module in the previous world, the virus's progression had already entered its terminal stage.
But in this world, it seemed as though there was still a chance for him to enact this plan.
And the appearance of the sky fortress had given him a powerful piece of hardware to work with on top of that.
Dingxiang didn’t answer immediately. On the screen, she adopted a contemplative expression, but Shen Yi understood clearly that she was running an attempt.
After some time had passed…
A trace of a confident smile appeared on her face as she said, "No problem, Captain. This world's information technology is quite primitive. With my powerful computational ability and the fortress’s hardware that’s capable of receiving all signals, there’s no information domain in this world that can stop me."
"That’s the best news I’ve heard since arriving in this world." Shen Yi genuinely smiled.
"It’s my honor to be of assistance to you." Dingxiang on the screen gave him an elegant bow.
Though she didn’t possess true emotions, her every word and action was already not so different from a human being's.
"Then remain on standby in the sky, and use the information channels to keep in contact with me." Shen Yi stood up.
His purpose had been accomplished. Whether he was here or not no longer mattered.
It wasn’t the time yet for the sky fortress to appear, but he could call upon Dingxiang's capabilities anytime, anywhere.
"I’ll await your every command." Dingxiang's gaze remained fixed on Shen Yi until he left the bridge, never once shifting away.
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*A term originating from Japanese naval-themed media (most notably, the game Kantai Collection) referring to anthropomorphized warships depicted as girls.
**It literally means "clove" (the flower). It's a poetic and elegant Chinese feminine name, which is why the AI chose the Jiangnan beauty aesthetic.
T/N - I have no clue why the author is so obsessed with Jiangnan. Is it really as beautiful as he hypes it up to be? 😅
Also, I seemed to have made a wrong assumption. Even though the MC’s previous world only has 2 million or so survivors, it doesn’t mean that he only has 2 million or so points. Since he could gain a point the moment he saves a life without caring if they die afterwards, then the MC could have farmed way more points initially. Now I wonder how many points he still has after his purchase of the Fortress…