He was still troubled over ordinary star-vessels for cosmic travel, and suddenly someone had shoved a planetary annihilation-class warship before him. Wasn't that too big a leap?
Judging by the materials of Nolan's clothing, Screwllum could infer that the industrial level of his world was quite decent.
With that, its cultural development shouldn't be too shabby either.
At times like these, storytellers from such worlds were often the first to imagine the starry seas. For Nolan to know of planetary annihilation warships wasn't surprising.
Screwllum gave a small nod.
"Next, Mr. Nolan, please follow me aboard the ship. As for luring away that Worm, that will be handled by the commander."
Although he had been dispatched by Lady Herta, it was not his role to directly fight the worm.
He was here merely to oversee things—just in case.
After all, the Great True Stinger Worm they observed was only a lower-tier transport within the swarm hierarchy. Who could know if it hid something more dangerous within?
Losing an annihilation warship just to kill it would hardly be worth it.
But when preparations were made to strike, energy fluctuations on this planet drew both his attention and the worm's.
That was why Screwllum had come down to investigate.
"Then I'll trouble you to lead the way, Mr. Screwllum." Nolan was about to put away Baron Bunny and his bow to follow, when he suddenly remembered—there were still many swarms left uncleared.
Once the annihilation ship destroyed the worm, he would have nowhere to grind for Adventure EXP for some time.
He couldn't waste the chance. So he said:
"By the way, Mr. Screwllum, these insects devour all things. If left unchecked, they may consume this entire planet.
"Allow me to leave some avatars behind to clean them up."
He summoned a dozen "Sword Gods of Lumine", sending them in all directions under his control.
"As you wish." Screwllum nodded.
In truth, the ship carried insecticide weapons especially effective against weaker individuals.
But since Nolan was so eager, Screwllum wouldn't trample on his good intentions.
Later, when leaving, if the ship's biosensors detected surviving swarms, they could still deploy the insecticide.
"Alright, let's go then."
Nolan followed Screwllum, teleporting into outer space.
With Screwllum guiding, they arrived directly beside the annihilation warship.
It resembled the cosmic warships Nolan had once seen in science fiction: entirely silver, rectangular in shape. Likely in standby mode, as no thruster flares were visible.
It stretched for more than ten kilometers—large, yet not among the biggest class of warships.
But as a planetary annihilation ship, meant only for short-term elimination missions, smaller size was a reasonable design.
The power consumption would be much lower.
"This is the White Star, a standard-model annihilation ship procured from the Company for Herta Space Station. Let us teleport aboard."
Seeing Nolan's curiosity, Screwllum gave a simple explanation.
"Huh, so annihilation ships can actually be purchased? Mr. Screwllum, how much would one cost?"
Nolan's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected such vessels could be bought in galactic society.
If the price was right, he could simply buy one—no need to wait for Teyvat to research it slowly.
"Hehe. The Interastral Peace Corporation welcomes guests from all corners, but a dangerous warship such as an annihilation ship cannot be casually sold to individuals.
"However, the Company does sell ordinary starships—cheap ones can be had for only tens of billions of credits."
Screwllum's teal eyes projected a holographic screen. It looked like a shopping site, with star-vessels of many shapes displayed like merchandise.
A quick glance showed that even a few-hundred-meter craft, using chemical propulsion for short-range travel within a single star system, cost at least thirty billion credits.
He didn't know how credits compared to Mora in purchasing power, but that "thirty billion" figure already sounded ominous.
Not to mention, ships limited to one star system didn't meet his needs at all. And besides, he didn't have a single credit to his name. For now, the pictures were just pictures.
Forget it. Buying a ship could wait until later. For now, he'd place his hopes on Teyvat's own research.
Even if they succeeded in building one, he might still lack the credits to buy even a local-range vessel.
And those with warp drives capable of crossing the galaxy cost astronomical sums.
If possible, he would want one. After all, Teyvat had no theoretical foundation for warp technology.
Elemental power wouldn't help—warp jumps crossed light-years at a time.
"Mr. Nolan's interest in vessels is understandable. But our current location..." Screwllum noted how fixated Nolan was on the shopping screen, and had to remind him.
"Ah, my apologies."
Nolan realized they were still in the void of space, and gave a sheepish look.
Speaking of which, he wondered at the workings of the "Synesthesia Beacon." How could voices carry in the vacuum of space?
Curious as he was, he held back the questions—asking too much might make him seem like a child pestering an adult.
Better to save the questions for later, at Herta Space Station. A station that docked annihilation ships surely had plenty of residents.
He could find someone talkative there and casually pick up knowledge about galactic society.
For now, he followed Screwllum, teleporting into the ship. They appeared in a corridor.
The corridor gleamed silver-white, likely forged from some alloy.
Nearby, soldiers patrolled. Startled at the sudden appearance, they relaxed upon recognizing Screwllum and hurried over.
"Mr—Mr. Screwllum! Why are you here? And this gentleman?"
The soldier glanced at Nolan. His concealed scanner failed to identify him—clearly not in the ship's database.
As a patrolman, encountering such a suspicious figure demanded questioning.
"Greetings, soldier. This gentleman is a human I discovered on Uninhabited Planet No.-712. He can freely enter and exit the cosmos with only his body.
"He is a rare talent. I wish to recommend him to the Space Station. Could you register a temporary identity for him?"
Screwllum understood the soldier's duties, so he didn't make things difficult—just offered a clear explanation.
"Of course, Mr. Screwllum." As a member of interstellar society, this soldier had even seen planet-destroying powerhouses online, so he wasn't overly shocked.
With Screwllum vouching, he had no reason to refuse.
"Sir, please look here for a photo." The soldier addressed Nolan.
Nolan naturally cooperated, also filling in his name, age, and other basic details.
The process was quick, only a few minutes.
Once uploaded, the patrol soldier left. As he said, the temporary ID would remain valid for three days.
During that time, if anyone questioned him, a scanner could display Nolan's temporary identity certificate—no need for suspicions.
"Mr. Nolan, come with me to the command room. I imagine you'd also like to see the power of a Starbreaker Cannon."
"Of course." Nolan smiled.
The mechanical gentleman led the way. On the path to the command room, they encountered many soldiers, all showing great respect to Screwllum.
Which made sense—anyone who could be a guest of the Space Station's master had to be prestigious.
Before long, they arrived at the command room of the warship.
Inside, many operators were at their stations. A middle-aged man in a white uniform, clearly the commander, looked up.
Seeing Screwllum, he greeted politely:
"Mr. Screwllum, the 'decoy' is prepared. We can commence at any time."
"Very good, Commander. Proceed as planned." Screwllum nodded.
Nolan had nothing to do here, so he curiously observed the surroundings.
The command room gleamed in silver-white alloy. He and Screwllum stood on the high command platform, overlooking the control stations below, where personnel were busy at work.
In midair, holographic screens floated. Several were large and lined up side by side.
The center screen showed the live image of the Great True Stinger. To the left seemed to be ship system statuses; to the right, a radar scan of the surrounding space.
Nolan couldn't fully make sense of them.
"Prepare to launch the decoy!" the commander ordered.
"Understood." An operator tapped the holo-panel before him. "Decoy ready for launch!"
Another virtual screen appeared above the worm's image, showing the launch bay.
There sat a capsule-shaped craft. Data readouts for its systems glowed green—all normal.
After a moment of inspection, the commander nodded. "Launch." A five-second countdown appeared.
Five, four, three, two, one—
The unmanned craft ignited and fired. Its virtual feed changed to a trajectory chart calculated by the ship's system.
It clearly wasn't aimed directly at the worm—the plotted course never intersected its coordinates.
The screen showed the craft accelerating to thirty kilometers per second. After flying at that speed for more than ten minutes, it began to decelerate, flashing with multicolored lights like those in a nightclub.
Curious, Nolan asked. Screwllum explained: the lights, pulsing at specific frequencies, mimicked pheromones that attracted the swarm.
Interstellar society had studied the True Stinger Worms deeply—such tricks were simple.
Sure enough, once it sensed the special signals, the massive worm near the gray planet began to slowly drift toward them.
Perhaps it wasn't especially fast in space. Nearly half an hour passed before it moved far enough from the planet.
That was the minimum safe distance for firing the Starbreaker Cannon without damaging the planet.
By then, the cannon was fully charged. When the worm entered the target zone—
FWOOSH!
A blue-white beam, traveling at light speed, struck it head-on. This was a weapon made to slay planets. Against a Great True Stinger Worm, the result was inevitable.
The beam wasn't even at full power. As expected, the worm's body split open, a massive hole blasted through. Around the wound, its form unraveled into dissolving light.
Whatever the principle, it was dead beyond doubt.
Unfortunately, since Nolan hadn't struck the blow, he received no Adventure EXP.
But at that moment, his dozen "Sword Gods of Lumine" had already wiped out the remaining swarms on the gray planet.
His character panel now displayed an unprecedented figure:
[Adventure EXP: 41,251,925]
Seeing the number, Nolan felt he could easily level up twice more. But in the crowded command room, he held off.
Screwllum turned to him:
"Next, the warship must recover the decoy drone and collect biological samples from the worm's remains. Estimated duration: more than ten hours.
"I'll arrange a room for you to rest. When it's time to warp back, I'll notify you."
"No problem. I'll trouble you then, Mr. Screwllum."
Nolan nodded.
It was nighttime back in Teyvat anyway—the perfect chance to rest and level up.
"Very well."
Screwllum had a soldier escort Nolan to a comfortable room, while he himself returned to the command deck to discuss further operations with the commander.
Nolan didn't mind. Once inside the room, he left a "Sword God of Lumine" behind, then returned to his Wonderland Space.
—Wonderland Space—
Because of his unexpected encounter with Screwllum, much time had passed. It was now deep night; everyone else was asleep.
Nolan sat on the sofa, opening his panel to level up.
As he poured Adventure EXP into his level, the familiar process repeated. He swiftly advanced two levels in succession, reaching Level 111.
[Your level has risen to Lv.110. Evolution has reached a new stage. You may select a new "Racial Specialty." Please choose.]
(End of Chapter)
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