Starting as a Mechanical Hunter

Chapter 911: Chapter 17: Star Thief Leader Vervi

Inside the Star Thief Ship——

While the standard configuration for spaceships is a sleep chamber, the standard configuration for a star thief ship is a body cultivation vat. In each of the upright high-tech glass cabinets, one dried body after another rapidly restores with blood, barely recognizable as a four-legged carbon-based species with features from different species. Its head sports a blue transparent brain, known as ’Blue Star Bloodline,’ with nerve currents like lightning surging through the transparent skull. Its forelimbs, however, are crimson red, devoid of fur, with five segments sprouting from the forearm to the upper arm, each segment naturally mastering a type of weapon.

As for its hind limbs, they are a pair of thick black-skinned thighs, covered with moving leg hairs.

The majority of star thieves are major players in body transformation; the cosmos is a complex and ever-changing environment, and to adapt to different environments, as well as to meet the needs of various clients, many star thieves have even forgotten their original races in their memories. In their world, there is only blood and slaughter.

Many star thieves don’t even wait for their bodies to fill with blood before smashing through glass strong enough to defend against energy beams and directly jump out. The sides of the ship open up, revealing an array of weapons. Some look like wild energy cannons, while others resemble a half-energy, half-melee weapon akin to an ax or hatchet. There are even biological weapons similar to the amputated limbs of other creatures.

Among them, the largest figure, a star thief leader standing five meters tall, emerges from the largest body cultivation vat, drenched from head to toe. As it moves, numerous blue scales squeeze out from its skin, while mechanical arms protrude from the ceiling, ending in various parts of technological full body armor. Several components are directly screwed onto flesh and bones, constituting a different kind of mechanization.

You can also tell this star thief leader is proficient in defense and equips with dual armor before even stepping out.

...

The previously empty hall of the star thief ship has suddenly filled with these interstellar pirates. On average, each star thief ship carries around four thousand star thieves, totaling approximately four hundred thousand.

Such numbers, on a typical planet, would equate to a country’s military or even a planetary regime’s defense force. But in the star thief profession, it is merely the scale of a small star thief group.

Before a target is found, these genetic star thieves are drained of blood, turned into a desiccated state to sustain life. Yet these dozens of star thief ships seem to be operated by an invisible commander, pursuing and surrounding the exploration ship marked on the star map, a routine for most star thieves.

The leader of the star thief group, Vervi, flexed his elephant-thick neck, with the veins bulging as if engorged with blood. The neck area is the most uncomfortable during blood draining and refilling, akin to hosting ten thousand Aite Star Ants, a specialty of the Four-Ring Stellar Vortex’s travel route. These star ants hide in energy ore, possess an intense craving for flesh, have sharp claws and teeth, can undergo partial energy transformation, and once biting, they don’t let go. Vervi has encountered them before and finds them quite disgusting.

Sometime later, the central screen on the star thief ship lights up, visibly showing a red dot swiftly diverging from its trajectory, seemingly preparing for an emergency planetary landing.

Vervi tapped the old mechanical keyboard and switched the screen, through cameras mounted on various floating cannons to clearly observe the spaceship encircled by them. Amidst the barrage of firepower, the ship staggers forward, with surrounding small star thief ships behaving like carnivores smelling blood, systematically intercepting and colliding. Many of the star thief group’s vessels possess short-term acceleration and cross-spatial collision capabilities.

Vervi watched expressionlessly for a while, a sizable mental wave emanating from his four blue eyes. The gripping organs on his wrist trembled a few times, and he suddenly spoke:

"Isn’t the thickness of this exploration ship a bit excessive?"

Not every star thief ship equips with onboard intelligence. Such ’Tier 3 High-tech’ onboard intelligence is too expensive for an average star thief group. Purchasing it normally from the interstellar black market bears a markup of hundreds of times.

Of course, you might connect through certain channels with star system civilizations, becoming a black glove for some civilization influences. But this privilege is only available to large star thief influences, participating in such games is impossible for small groups under Vervi’s command.

Therefore, ordinary hunting operations rely on the individual experience of old star thieves like him, rather than big data calculations.

However, as an adept star thief leader in the Five-Ring Stellar Vortex, he possesses means akin to onboard intelligence.

Thus, he has an inkling of unease. Typically, is an exploration ship’s thickness supposed to be this thick?

’Could there be an ambush?’

In the asteroid belt, black outweighs white, white consumes black; such affairs are commonplace.

"Activate the magnetic rail cannon platform, expand the magnetic field domain, ensnare it before it lands. If unable to net it, retreat immediately!"

Vervi ignored those behind clamoring for battle, filled with the desire for slaughter; he deeply understood one principle: to survive across the stars, the brain is far more reliable than the fist.

This is why, under his leadership of this small star thief group for tens of thousands of years, though not capturing big prey, they haven’t suffered any serious damage either.

The star thieves from his era, some have developed large star thief influences, but more, 99.99% have perished, beyond death.

This is one cautious star thief leader.

"A bit troublesome."

At this moment, behind a large gray rock in Zone 4, Gao Gong is watching with interest the interstellar war occurring a few hundred miles away from him.

Traversing the stars physically, for some Super Interstellar Warriors, isn’t all that difficult; it’s breaking the light-speed barrier that’s the real challenge.

Generally, only combat races within Ascended races can achieve light-speed in physical mode.

As for Gao Gong, in conventional mode, he can fly anywhere within a planet at supersonic speed.

In Great Serpent Mode, he can speed through a planet system, and if he’s not afraid of blowing up the reactor, he could travel back and forth between planets in a stellar system.

But even that round trip takes at least a dozen years.

If he enters Biomechanical Unity Mode, with sheer speed, Gao Gong estimates he might touch the edge of light-speed flight.

However, Gao Gong doesn’t intend to try. As an interstellar seasoned pilot, he deeply understands once entering light-speed mode, the test is not just on physical strength. Light-speed is linked to time; consciousness below 5000 can lead to rejuvenation or consciousness disintegration, which are minor effects. The worst is consciousness being swept into some space-time tunnel or spatial dimension, enduring the blessings of Eternal Hell for millions or even billions of years.

Even if the consciousness reaches 5000 and the body withstands the intensity of light-speed flight, it’s best to register a license at the Space-Time Administration Bureau. That’s right, physical light-speed flight requires a license.

Even in his last life, Gao Gong had only heard about it, since he had already become ’Mainframe AI’ and missed the joy of physical light-speed flight.

Back to the point, seeing the gravity field spreading not far away, Gao Gong furrowed his brows.

The enemy Star Thief is a seasoned pilot; is this meant to prevent the Exploration Ship’s landing?

According to Gao Gong’s plan, players were to showcase their expertise with reckless close combat to engage these Star Thieves, then crush them inside and out, leaving the opponent’s spaceship behind.

But the current situation hints at the prey slipping away.

"General, why not let me charge ahead and guarantee I’ll take them all down!!" Blood Spider’s eyes gleamed, excitedly.

Gao Gong glanced at the other, noticing this Decepticons Faction leader loved boasting. Take them all down? If they flee at light-speed, can you chase them?

If the opponent escapes, at most, only a dozen or so Star Thief Ships could be taken down, even if they perform exceptionally.

"Should we go for a decapitation strike?" Gao Gong muttered to himself.

If he takes action himself, there’s over a 50% chance he can eliminate the head of this small Star Thief Group, throwing the force into chaos. With his NPC lackeys, perhaps he could capture most.

But doing so loses the point of letting players fight mobs.

"Brother, shall I give it a try?"

Suddenly, Gao Yuanyuan’s voice echoed in Gao Gong’s ear.

"You want to try?" Gao Gong was surprised, knowing that without the network operating fully, Gao Yuanyuan couldn’t utilize half of her power.

"Yes, Brother, I can faintly sense there’s an advanced information source on the opponent’s ship. If we can capture it, perhaps we can manipulate their decisions."

Gao Gong thought for a moment and nodded; as long as the opponent doesn’t have a Planet-level Firewall, Gao Yuanyuan’s safety isn’t compromised. With that assurance, he let her go ahead and try.

Soon, Gao Gong felt a powerful information stream crossing space, enveloping the main ship of the Star Thief vessel, simultaneously perceiving another wave of information on the Star Thief Ship.

"Actually, there’s another way..."

Gao Gong indeed knows if using the ’Memory Mother,’ this wave of Star Thieves could be instantly annihilated.

But doing so would be meaningless.

Possibly due to Gao Yuanyuan’s maneuver creating a miraculous effect, the Exploration Ship soon found a node in the ’gravity field,’ forcibly crashing out and landing on the small dwarf planet below. Meanwhile, nearly a hundred Interstellar Pirate Ships followed suit, with many Star Thief Ships deploying chambers entering launch mode, their weapons adorned by various sinister and terrifying Alien Species, displaying bloodthirsty expressions. To them, the sight wasn’t a ten-thousand-meter-long Exploration Ship but prey that could be truly feasted upon.