Once Imu's consciousness was linked with the ship's soul, she could, through the Throne, communicate directly with Roya via thought.
After roughly docking the captured transport fleet to the Pluton—like stacking blocks—Imu relayed the report to Roya directly with her mind:
"Lord Roya, the propulsion systems of this fleet are rather strange."
Roya, having also received the full stream of data through the Throne, understood: the fleet's propulsion relied only on pulse engines, with a maximum speed below light.
Such speed clearly didn't suit a transport fleet—unless their assignments were limited to short-range deliveries where velocity wasn't critical.
A spark of insight flashed in Roya's mind. He felt he was close to some realization, but couldn't quite seize it. So he told Imu:
"Leave it for now. We'll revisit this problem later."
Imu no longer pressed the matter and asked instead:
"Please, my lord, set our new course."
On this issue, Roya felt at a loss.
Clearly, the starships of the Feerless Dynasty were all naturally integrated into a massive internal network that provided full spatial positioning. Once cut off, the Throne's navigation systems were effectively useless—even in Roya's hands.
The only clue was a holographic projection that seemed to be a star map, yet without enough reference points it was impossible to pinpoint their location.
It was as if everything was ready for a grand journey—except the driver was hopelessly lost. A bitter situation indeed.
"But I do have fuel…"
Another spark flashed. Roya suddenly recalled that the captured fleet's eighteen transports were fully loaded—packed with highly concentrated bio-energy.
With such a stockpile, the Pluton's warp engines could run at maximum output, carrying them to the very ends of the universe if need be.
"Then let's sweep across this sector first. We'll chart a localized star map, cross-reference it with the holographic projection, and only then confirm our position!"
"At once, Lord Roya!"
Imu complied, directing the Pluton toward the nearest star system.
Every star generally holds several planets in its gravity well, orbiting it as a system. With the Pluton's warp engines—capable of six times light speed without time dilation—interstellar journeys between systems took no more than a week or two, no longer than the long voyages once undertaken across the seas of Pirate Star.
The travel itself wasn't long, but it was dreadfully dull.
Fortunately, Vegapunk had foreseen this: the lower decks were stocked to the brim with wine and liquor, enough for the crew to drink themselves senseless.
Moreover, both pirates and marines were seasoned in long voyages, so morale and discipline didn't suffer.
With Imu commanding all, and Sengoku and Whitebeard keeping order, there was little chance of internal problems aboard the Pluto.
Roya, therefore, could immerse himself in the subspace realm, steadily drawing in energy while comparing the material universe to the holographic projection.
Without reference points, the task was indeed dull and uncertain, requiring immense patience and unmatched data-processing ability just to endure.
By the time the Pluton had scanned its third star system and prepared to head for the fourth, Roya found himself unusually weary. His consciousness blurred the boundary between the material world and subspace.
The small region of the star map he had just imprinted into his mind began to overlap with the subspace projection.
Roya jolted in sudden clarity—and then great delight.
"So that's it! It isn't one map, but two! And the scales don't match!"
In a stroke of inspiration, Roya uncovered the secret of the holographic projection.
What seemed to be a single image was in fact the overlap of two: a star chart and its subspace reflection.
Perhaps this was a unique encryption method of its creator—or perhaps the Necron's holographic tech simply wasn't fully compatible with this map.
In any case, it was never meant to be interpreted in the way they had been trying.
Immediately, Roya drew upon his formidable spiritual sense, scanning the entire section of the projection centered around the crimson mountain ranges and imprinting it into his mind.
Then, he separated the two layers: one remained as the subspace projection, the other as the star chart.
Next, he rescaled each independently.
And finally—countless dots of light converged upon planets.
That meant every subspace projection now corresponded to its true counterpart in the material realm.
He had successfully completed a local navigation chart linking both the physical and subspace dimensions.
Roya then exported this chart from his consciousness, overlaying it upon the holographic projection in the Throne.
With scaling adjusted, at last—a complete navigation map appeared!
"Now, all that's left… is to locate ourselves."
His spirit surged with renewed vigor. Roya immersed his focus into the subspace projections.
He directed his will to ascend—higher and higher—while simultaneously magnifying the subspace map.
The goal was simple: reach a vantage point with enough reference markers to fix their position.
As he ascended, Roya felt mounting resistance, like a taut rubber band stretched to its limit, aching to snap back.
Never before, in all his subspace journeys, had he felt such strain.
Which only meant he was pushing beyond the limits of his own spiritual reach.
Fortunately, he had risen high enough. Before his eyes, the scene of subspace gradually aligned with the map projection.
Coordinates and orientation finally matched.
Success!
At that instant, Roya hit his limit. His consciousness rebounded uncontrollably, collapsing back into its natural form: a small, unremarkable sphere of white light within subspace.
Yet faint threads of golden brilliance wove through it, marking its singularity and majesty.
For the first time, Roya beheld his own subspace projection—and realized that, through this extreme stretching, his mode of existence had undergone a qualitative change.
No longer confined to the limited first-person view—he now shifted naturally into a boundless, all-encompassing perspective.
The view of God.
Exhaling a long breath, Roya withdrew from subspace.
With their position now fixed, he quickly compared coordinates and confirmed the Pluton's location.
Through the Throne, he issued a simple command: on the star chart, one glowing marker was placed for the Pluto, and another for their destination.
It was the nearest marked world—and one of the very few singled out on the entire map.
Roya had once assumed those marks were left by the Seventh Overlord.
But now he saw otherwise.
These specially marked planets were anything but ordinary.
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