Krauser wanted to become stronger. Mordred was clearly far more powerful than ordinary humans, and he wanted to know if he could reach that level of strength.
He wouldn't have thought this way in the past. Back then, he might have assumed that the other party wasn't human to begin with, and that such power wasn't something one could simply acquire.
But with Leon as a living example, he came to understand that 'ordinary people' like himself could also have the chance to become extraordinary. Leon had been just an ordinary person until he met some amazing people and was changed.
Mordred's answer had been very firm, which immediately led Krauser to make a decision: follow Mordred.
As for the whole "heir to King Arthur" thing, he didn't care whether it was true or not, as long as he could get what he wanted.
Although the others weren't as singularly obsessed with strength as Krauser, once they understood the kind of rewards they could potentially receive, no one stepped forward to refuse.
Mordred had already promised to take good care of them materially, which meant they didn't need to worry about money.
If Mordred truly had a vast empire waiting for her to inherit, then financial concerns were meaningless.
Even if it turned out to be a lie, with the strength she had demonstrated, earning money wouldn't be difficult. Not to mention there was a pharmaceutical company that was growing fast and obviously wouldn't lack the means to pay them.
More importantly, this was a path full of wonders. If they became stronger, even if they didn't earn money here, they would gain the power to earn far more elsewhere.
No matter how they looked at it, there was no downside. So none of them voiced dissatisfaction toward Mordred.
Of course, when it came to that whole "serve Her Majesty Mordred" line, they still had their doubts. Until she truly proved herself to be a king, no one would take such talk seriously.
What happened next made them nervous again. After initially suppressing the group, Mordred finally showed them more of what was aboard the Artemis.
For example, the ever-present intelligent system, Luna. Only then did they realize that their every move on the ship had been monitored by this AI. They also learned that if they had truly tried anything, they wouldn't even have had the chance to act before Luna eliminated them, because the ship had many hidden defensive mechanisms. If they tried to seize control, they would be neutralized before they even realized what was happening.
Moreover, the ship wasn't as empty as they had imagined.
There was a full crew, but these people were busy with their respective tasks and often scattered across different worlds. This gave the ship a spacious, empty feel and made it seem as though they were the only ones aboard. Coupled with the fact that some areas were restricted, they hadn't been able to explore the entire ship.
At this point, they finally met the ship's captain, Ethan.
They hadn't expected the captain to be a young man who looked to be in his early twenties, but no one underestimated him because of that. Who knew if he, like Mordred, possessed mysterious and powerful abilities?
Moreover, Ethan looked much more like a combat veteran than Mordred. At least his physique wasn't small or slender.
"I must say, you made the right judgment."
Looking at these dozen or so people, who were mostly combat specialists, Ethan could see that only White Ghost and Anna were slightly different. Anna wasn't even particularly special herself—she was here because Mordred had wanted to recruit Duke.
Duke's individual ability was decent, and more importantly, he was a capable commander. After recruiting a group of battle-hardened veterans, Mordred found herself lacking someone with command experience, so she specifically sought out Duke.
Her timing was excellent too. She had happened to save Duke. Otherwise, she might have missed out on this valuable asset and would still be wondering where to find a qualified leader.
Saving Duke and making him owe her a favor wasn't enough to convince him to follow Mordred into an unknown place and start over. What truly convinced him was her promise to cure Anna.
Duke's girlfriend Anna had been controlled by Cobra using nanites. Although they had been partially cleared, they weren't fully gone. Because of things she had done while under Cobra's control, her current situation was terrible. Many wanted her imprisoned for life, and despite Duke's best efforts, he couldn't silence the public outcry.
At this point, taking Anna to a new place and starting over seemed like the best option—especially with Mordred promising to completely remove the nanites from her body.
Mordred kept her promise, so Duke followed her.
Compared to Krauser, who pursued strength, Duke just wanted to repay his debt as quickly as possible. As for Mordred's talk about kings and empires, it actually made him uneasy. Was this just another Cobra in disguise?
He turned his head to glance at White Ghost beside him, who was silently playing with his throwing stars. Even though he had received advanced gear, he still hadn't abandoned his familiar weapons.
Duke also knew this guy had replaced his entire loadout with a snow-white color scheme. He was truly obsessed with white.
"You don't need to look at me. I don't care what this place is. Anyway, the one thing I wanted to do is already done."
White Ghost's only wish had been to find his master's killer. Mordred had helped him locate the murderer and even assisted him in taking revenge personally.
In return, White Ghost—an expert in infiltration, assassination, and close combat—joined Mordred's faction and became a rather unique member of the team.
Just like Duke and White Ghost, everyone had their own thoughts, so no one reacted to Ethan's evaluation. Ethan also had no interest in picking on these ordinary people. After a brief meeting and an introduction to life aboard the ship, he left the rest to Mordred.
The people Mordred had recruited still needed further training and screening. Only the most capable would be chosen as her "personal guard."
Ethan didn't interfere with how Mordred handled these things. He had his own tasks to take care of.
The Morningstar had been completed. Next, Ethan was going to retrieve it. After that, Tony would be in charge of transferring Luna over, and she would then take over all future testing of the new ship.
As before, the sea trials and testing of the new vessel would take place directly during live voyages. Ethan and his team weren't worried about accidents. The ship's nanite repair systems could handle most emergencies.
If a major problem did occur, Tony could come over at any time for repairs. If needed, he could bring the Stark. That industrial ship had more than enough equipment, tools, and materials to complete repairs even in deep space.
With that in mind, there was no need to conduct long testing phases in the Starship Troopers world. Ethan and the others could go directly to retrieve the ship.
Something amusing happened during the handover. Mordred brought along the group she had recruited, planning to take them out to "broaden their horizons." She also chose the Starship Troopers world, so she traveled with Ethan.
When this group of newcomers arrived in a futuristic world full of advanced sci-fi technology, they finally began to believe the "nonsense" Mordred had said before.
Mordred also showed them some combat footage of the military forces here fighting against the bugs, helping them understand that their current strength was nowhere near enough. That was why Mordred had been forcing them to learn new things all this time.
Next, they visited the secret Cherry Aerospace factory and finally saw the VF fighters that they had only encountered in simulators. Many of them hadn't expected these fighters to actually exist.
However, their attention quickly shifted. No one focused on the fighters for long. Their full attention was captured by the Morningstar.
A space battleship over 500 meters long was overwhelming to behold at close range. Everyone doubted whether something that massive could actually fly.
Although they knew this world had advanced technology, and that the military used warships over a thousand meters in length, they had only ever seen such things in videos or photos. Seeing one in person was a completely different experience.
"What's the deal with this group of people?"
Tony had stayed here for a long time, not just to oversee the construction of the Morningstar, but more importantly, to make constant adjustments to the Stark.
The Stark and the Morningstar had entirely different functions, and trying to meet all of Tony's requirements without drastically altering the internal structure was a tricky task.
Because of that, construction on the Stark was slow. It still wasn't fully finished and was undergoing various modifications.
"Mordred is getting ready to go home and claim her throne."
"Oh!"
That one sentence told Tony everything he needed to know, and he stopped paying attention to the group, instead continuing to go over related matters with Ethan.
He explained everything in detail, including how to transfer Luna's "main body" to the new ship.
"So, you're not coming with us this time?"
"This is a simple task. I don't need to go."
In Tony's words, once Luna completed the data transfer, she could handle the rest.
"How many fighters are currently loaded on the ship?"
"Only ten for now, but each one has three external pack configurations... What are you going to do with the Artemis?"
"Selene said she wants to keep it as a collector's piece."
Tony nodded in understanding and then mentioned one last thing.
"As for the teleportation device, I didn't install it ahead of time. You'll need to take care of that yourself. But I've already reserved the teleportation room for you."
"I know."
Once the handover was complete, Ethan boarded the newly completed Morningstar along with Mordred and the others, including Duke.
It was only at this moment that Krauser and the rest, who were still marveling at the Morningstar from a distance, realized that this massive space battleship was actually Captain Ethan's new ship.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)