Chapter 146
Chapter 146
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 146
Chapter Title: Surrender and New Ideas
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"I surrender, Captain."
It was a swift decision.
I nodded with a smile.
I checked on Gizz.
The barrier was still in an unstable state due to the crimson cannon.
If it had taken a second hit, localized collapses would have occurred in multiple spots across the front.
"First time seeing it, and damn, it's strong. So that's what you've been hiding all this time, Captain?"
Gizz's eyes sparkled with intense interest.
The others reacted similarly.
As the master of the Golden Fleet, my reputation was sky-high, but my abilities had always been a mystery.
Early on, since I hadn't shown any flashy powers outwardly, I was known as a pure physical fighter.
But with powerhouses like Rozena and Merdi under my command, people speculated that the captain's abilities couldn't possibly be that basic.
As my fame grew, those speculations turned into full-blown controversies.
"Something like that."
I answered and headed back to the podium amid cheers.
The battle I'd shown against the last two had captured their hearts.
I smiled, satisfied with the results.
*
Since so many applicants passed the final test, we filled all twenty spots we'd planned from the start.
There was still time before deployment to the front lines, so the muster was set for ten days later on York Planet.
Even so, nearly half the superhumans joined the schedule early.
Curious about the fleet's atmosphere, they'd requested early boarding and been assigned quarters. They all marveled at the unexpectedly top-notch facilities.
I understood their reactions.
The welfare provided by the Golden Fleet was on par with any official superhuman unit.
For them, newly minted superhumans, it must feel like a massive upgrade.
But while they were thrilled, my own worries deepened.
We were short on quarters to assign.
I'd designed with expansion in mind and built generously, but I hadn't foreseen adding twenty people all at once.
It was my greed for my own superhuman unit that led to rushing things without proper prep.
Ten more superhumans would join later.
To give them all superhuman-grade quarters, I'd need another solution.
'Should I add more support ships?'
The fleet's current lineup was one Murdoch-class battleship, one Sheila-class battleship, and three transport and special-purpose ships—a total of six vessels.
Excluding the two battleships, veteran captains from Horizon Space Academy would helm the rest.
'...Spent a fortune.'
The Sheila-class was a gift, but the Murdoch-class and the others I'd bought outright with my own money.
Astronomical sums.
The Murdoch-class was so pricey that even I gasped at the initial quote.
Without the extra income from energy amplifiers, I'd have thought twice.
But the money was already spent, so adding one more ship for housing was doable.
It wouldn't be a battleship, so it might be vulnerable to surprise attacks, but smart positioning could handle that.
"You're here?"
Lost in thought, we'd arrived at Terra Planet.
I'd ditched things midway due to the mess on Yumaha Planet.
Fontana's face looked haggard as a result.
"How's work?"
"Progress slowed without you, boss."
Fontana was busy inputting data without even glancing back.
In front of him floated a set of wings hovering in midair.
It was gear for inertia-free flight, still in development.
Born from analyzing the crimson body's structure, expectations were high.
"Put the helmet on quick."
"Got it."
I donned the helmet that let me send command signals to the wings, following Fontana's instructions.
As I stepped forward, his hands flew even faster.
"Starting?" I gave the okay sign and input the command.
The wings in the air began moving slowly, just as I'd envisioned.
"Okay. See? Things only move forward with you here, boss."
Fontana's face lit up.
This device was still in early stages.
He'd succeeded in building a prototype with the tech applied, but too many hurdles left the research stalled.
If commercialized, it could stir up another storm—such a shame on all fronts.
The biggest issue was poor command recognition.
The process for the wings to recognize and act on commands involved elements beyond current human tech.
They'd mimicked the crimson's nerve bundles almost exactly to make it work, but that made it hard even to boot up for Fontana and other normals.
They'd hit a wall.
Still, they hadn't given up.
It wasn't completely dead, so they'd tried all sorts of things to get the wings responding.
Responses varied by person.
Some signals got good reactions; others got nothing.
Then I arrived at the lab.
Intrigued by the wings, I jumped into testing right away—and that day, response rates hit record highs instantly.
By day two, it moved almost freely, so of course they'd been waiting eagerly for me.
Fontana explained it was because my wavelengths matched perfectly.
The wings needed custom wavelengths to drive, and I was the only one innately equipped for it.
More progress could lead to custom nerve sensors for other users.
"Faster now. Yeah, like that. Perfect."
"Want to try wearing them?"
"...Nah, can't. Still unfinished. Even you might not handle the strain yet, boss. Remember last time? The test dummy got totally warped."
I checked the data Fontana showed.
User strain during inertia-free flight was still over 20%.
More like inertia control than true inertia-free.
Even perfected, full inertia-free might be impossible.
Still, 20% was a dream tech from before.
"What about in space?"
"You want to advertise what we're up to? Eyes on us aren't just one or two these days."
"Just go far enough out. Deal with anyone tailing us as having bad intentions."
"That's a bit much..."
I chuckled.
Since founding Salmon Lab, Fontana hadn't left once.
He hated the outside like it was the plague.
After helping gather more data, I took off the helmet.
"Things are dragging more than expected."
"Won't be easy to finish. Better take it slow, build data over time."
"And the energy amplifiers?"
"Bumped efficiency to 60%. 70% should be no issue."
The basics of energy amplification tech were already public.
30% models were in military supply and hitting markets.
Confident corps had probably torn them apart.
By now, they'd grasped the tech roughly and were experimenting.
But I guaranteed it'd take them years to catch Fontana.
"We need more staff at the lab."
"Again?"
"Can't keep up."
Fontana groaned.
I knew why he'd say that.
Post-energy amplifier, Salmon Lab's stock had skyrocketed.
All eyes on us, and with products hitting shelves recently, focus intensified.
Naturally, more people hounding Fontana.
"Ugh, wanna quit being director. Can't I just be a regular researcher?"
"Yeah, no. I'll tell Sia, so prep for interviews."
Shot him down flat.
He'd been saying it more lately.
With time pulled from research to other stuff, the pressure was mounting.
Sia's abilities had vetted trustworthy folks and eased the load by upping their access—but rising attention brought it roaring back. Daily sighs.
'No way. Who else can I trust?'
But no one was as reliable as Fontana.
Sia might work as a strategic partner, but she handled Golden Fleet ops.
Fontana was stuck in work hell till retirement.
"Ugh, you're killing me..."
"Enough of that. Check this out."
"Huh? What's that?" I handed the groaning Fontana my memory stick.
He eyed me curiously, slotted it into his panel, and skimmed the contents casually.
But soon, his face grew serious, then fully engrossed.
"Hoo...?"
He kept murmuring admirations as he read.
After devouring the whole thing over two hours, he snapped his head up and asked me.
"What is this?"
"Good?"
"Good? It's a jackpot!!"
Fontana yelled.
"How'd you come up with this?"
"Just jotted down thoughts popping into my head."
"...Just stuff from your head? This? Too detailed for that. And way too broad."
What I'd given him wasn't much.
Through advice and feedback, I'd learned a ton.
Naturally, I'd gained deep insight into the lab's ongoing tech.
Combined knowledge from Fontana's guidance, what I'd absorbed via abilities, vast info I'd shaken and stirred in my mind—ideas born from that habit.
Mostly just concepts, but I was proud of their practicality.
"Especially this."
Fontana jabbed the first page.
Titled 'Pollution Neutralizer.'
"How'd you think of this?"
"Well..." I trailed off.
Explaining would drag on.
The pollution neutralizer was exactly that—a treatment to neutralize alien pollution.
Depending on details, it could shed pollutants not fully fused with cells yet, slow or halt progression.
Mutant Corp made similar stuff, but this blew them away.
Downside: only neutralized, couldn't heal already mutated or fused cells. Still, it'd massively boost soldier survival.
"Nearly perfect from design to composition. You wrote this without even one clinical trial?"
"...Kinda. Tried something similar."
A hundred-odd times.
That many sessions treating pollution in people—yeah, solid.
Right.
This came from pollution treatment data.
Via abilities, I'd directly, vividly experienced my own and others' pollution.
Not like reading or videos.
Deeper, fundamental.
How pollution affected bodies, warped normal cells—I grasped the process in detail.
That's where I got the efficient neutralizer idea.
Treatment fluid helped too.
"And this."
The page flipped.
'Emergency Treatment' followed.
'Both kinda similar, really.'
Among traits I'd gained, the most useful by far was treatment fluid.
Better than any modern trauma med, no side effects.
Too good to hog.
So I dug files.
Research on 'leech doctor' specimens granting treatment fluid traits was advanced.
Combined with my head knowledge, analyzing my own fluid—I got decent results.
Couldn't match the original fully.
Treatment fluid wasn't simple.
To replicate, needed unknown energy like ability use—beyond tech.
"How long since I started talking..."
Fontana looked shell-shocked.
He'd zone out thinking, then stare at me, repeat.