Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: The Steel Empire
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Unlike the Holy Nation, which slammed its borders shut and started growling the instant it detected the tin cans' existence, PATO had no need for such measures.
In fact, the Holy Nation might not have wanted to close its borders at all.
But nations must bear the penalties that fit their governing systems.
Democracies can enact garbage laws through majority rule,
monarchies can be ruined by a worthless king,
and a theocracy must absolutely adhere to its doctrines.
Thus, for the Holy Nation—a religious state that doesn't even recognize other faiths—it cannot tolerate the existence of a species that directly violates its teachings.
When a bizarre law is passed in a democratic nation due to majority rule, the minority might curse it out with rags stuffed in their mouths, but they don't deny the enforcement of the law itself.
That's the bare minimum line for being a 'democratic nation.'
Cross that line, and it can no longer be called a democracy.
Likewise, the Holy Nation, which bases its faith on the 'spirit,' cannot recognize beings without spirits as lifeforms at all.
From the tin cans' perspective, it'd be utterly baffling.
What's their deal, closing borders and getting mad the second they see our faces?
We can get mad too, you know?
But both species had carved out their territories in the galaxy through countless trials and built up their forces, so they didn't act rashly.
They knew each other posed a sufficient threat.
The Tin Can Empire was always ready to release the trigger and lower its gun barrels, but the Holy Nation was the problem.
The Holy Nation knew it in their heads too.
That they shouldn't pull the trigger.
But their hands—and the public's opinion—were egging them on to do it.
That was the root of the tense standoff at the Holy Nation-Empire border.
"No souls? Just looking at them makes me sick."
"Cursing others in a language only they understand—truly a species lacking even basic etiquette."
"Scrap metal imitating humans."
And naturally, this standoff was nothing short of good news for PATO.
The moment the Empire was confirmed, PATO dispatched an amicable delegation.
It was a shame the Empire's location was so remote—farther away than the Holy Nation, requiring an even longer journey.
That remoteness must be why it hadn't been discovered until now.
Another downside was that the Empire and PATO didn't share a border; they had to cross ungoverned space to reach each other.
Such areas were pirate havens, of course.
Delegations with warship escorts could pass safely, but that meant civilians of lower class couldn't trade.
Too far for a military alliance against the Holy Nation—practically meaningless.
Still, a useful counterweight had appeared, so ways to leverage it could be figured out later.
The Steel Empire's capital planet, Regium Sidus, was unequivocally one of the most advanced in the current galaxy.
True to its mechanical inhabitants, it was a barren world with almost no seas, yet towering steel spires rose so densely they obscured the terrain.
For machines, 'progress' meant eradicating organics, so depending on one's view, the landscape could feel desolate.
But define those machines as people outright, and it became the most populous, advanced city in the universe.
Near the imperial palace was a small sea—managed so impeccably that, unlike the barren surface, it boasted the cleanest, most vibrant ecosystem of any planet seen so far.
No citizens engaged in fishing, yet familiar sights like docks and breakwaters dotted the shore.
With no organic intake at all, perhaps fishing had evolved purely as a hobby.
After several protocols, they had an audience with the emperor in a positive atmosphere, agreeing to establish embassies in each other's nations.
Albarak of the Lushaka Kingdom diplomatic delegation now had to study court etiquette on top of diplomatic rhetoric.
Why did these tin cans have so many procedures? It felt like regressing to the medieval era.
Hearing "raise your head" for real was a first.
With the main goal achieved, the next was tourism.
You have to sightsee on a new planet.
Wandering Regium Sidus revealed the Steel Empire was a multi-species—er, multi-model—nation.
The machines strolling the streets came in incredibly diverse varieties, naturally.
Machines were factory-stamped, so tweaking the blueprint birthed a new type, right?
With such variety, lumping them all as 'machines' really irked the locals.
"Are you classifying these Task-Alpha models with us? Unlike them, we understand honor."
"Don't lump us with those Knight models wasting bandwidth on pointless ceremonies. Our model prioritizes output and durability—the most vital traits for survival."
Distinctions between machine models were subtle.
Less like white, black, yellow skin tones—more like classifying breeds or types.
Bipedal frames, circuit steel, humanoid necks, war frames, cavalry speed, Knight models.
Something like that.
Machines weren't biological, so they had their own taxonomy, but treating different models the same was like equating humans and orangutans.
The catch? Orangutans here had human-level intelligence.
Orangutans pride themselves on strength and stamina; humans on culture and honor.
So they hated comparisons.
Anyway, it was clear the machines had distinct personas and clear egos.
So how were they born?
Machines, so assembled, but how did they form egos?
Worried this question might offend, he asked a friendly-looking one.
Luckily, the answer came readily.
All egos were implanted at the palace.
The palace housed an AI facility endlessly pondering, culturing random ego factors. Register a new machine's birth, and it got one random factor implanted.
If true, astonishing tech.
Creating self-aware personalities from scratch was like building brains from zero.
But even that left unresolved questions.
Who granted emotions to the first machines?
The kind friend explained it was the emperor—the mother and father to all machines, hence revered as such.
Nobles were the emperor's founding meritocrats from the Empire's early days, hence titled with respect.
But who granted the emperor's?
This stumped the friend, but an unexpected clue emerged later.
"Database search. Steel Empire. No records."
The Steel Empire didn't exist in SI1-L0-K's database.
Like the Lushaka Kingdom, it was a nation unborn in SI1-L0-K's perceived world.
Thus, the Empire's origin—the emperor who created all machines—held some secret.
Maybe a machine intelligence controlling all like his hive mind, in hiding.
Or a survivor from ancient civilization?
But that didn't explain absence from SI1-L0-K's parallel worldline.
What figure couldn't exist in a parallel world?
Maybe the emperor was an Earthling like him?
His own existence was too absurd anyway, leaving only speculation about the emperor.
Plus, the emperor's true form seen in audience was unmistakably mechanical, unlike his case.
Though it might not be the real body.
Anyway, like the Holy Nation's exceptional prophet, the Empire seemed led by its extraordinary emperor.
Come to think of it, PATO was the same—a physically impossible hive mind as its head.
Proof the galaxy was that brutal?
No standout like that, and you couldn't survive this harsh world.
So PATO better treat him well. He basically saved them, right?
Whether the Steel Empire's emperor was an ancient super saiyan, regression protagonist, or whatever didn't matter.
What mattered: bad blood with the Holy Nation, a dynamic helpful to PATO.
He wanted a research pact for machine tech, but distance was too vast, and they had little to offer.
No organics, so biotech was useless.
No exchange meant stagnant relations.
Distance breeds emotional drift.
Mutual benefits bind ties tight.
But the route was too pirate-prone for civilian merchants, so PATO committed warships for escorts.
Gather all PATO merchant fleets eager for Empire trade, escort them en masse.
Limited civilian trade enabled.
PATO figured plenty to buy from Empire's amazing machines, but little to sell.
But what was PATO?
Five founding capitalist nations.
They found ways to squeeze coin from tin cans.
Psionics assembling nano-parts.
Nesepala metal decomposers (cheap).
They scouted Empire demands, prepped goods for next expedition.
Even raw metals would profit hugely—Empire guzzled minerals.
Thus, bypassing the Holy Nation, exchanges between the two nations continued.