"This is just straight-up awesome..."
Captain Huck stood on the saline-alkali soil, reaching out to touch the newly replaced starboard armor plating on the Bull.
It felt cool and smooth to the touch, without a single burr. After the overhaul, the entire ship exuded a matte, high-class, premium texture.
And looking at the re-polished ramming prow—it was sharp enough to slice through the air itself.
Then there were the engine thrusters; the carbon deposits inside had been cleaned out completely, exposing the metal's original color.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
Huck walked a circle around his ship, clicks of tongue and exclamations of awe flowing non-stop from his mouth.
He hadn't enjoyed this kind of treatment once in his entire life!
Whether at Port Wander or on a Forge World, those toaster-heads would only slap a patch on for you and slap on a thick layer of sacred oil afterward.
They called it a "necessary maintenance procedure," but in reality, it was just another way to cover up defects!
Yet here, the people from Deep Space Industries directly cut away all the flaws on your ship and replaced them with superior materials.
"How is it, Captain Huck?"
Bauer walked over holding a datapad, his tone brimming with confidence.
"All metrics have been tested. The power output is stable, power indicators have increased by 1.5 times, and structural strength has been boosted by 35%."
"Satisfied?"
"Satisfied! Beyond satisfied!"
Huck clapped Bauer heavily on the shoulder, nearly sending the datapad in Bauer's hands flying.
"Your craftsmanship is absolute perfection!"
"From now on, my ship gets repaired only with you guys!"
As Huck spoke, he looked past Bauer's shoulder.
Aside from Gamma-9, who was over there directing workers to clear away equipment, he didn't see that familiar figure.
That big boss who wore bright yellow robes, had six mysterious little spheres floating behind him, and said little—yet every word hit right on the mark.
"Um... where's your boss?"
Huck couldn't resist asking.
"How come Andy didn't come? I wanted to thank him in person!"
Actually, thanking him was secondary.
Mainly, Huck found that guy very interesting.
On the fringes of this Expanse—filled with madmen, fanatical cultists, and serial killers—it was extraordinarily rare to come across someone so calm, rational, and able to sit down and talk business with you.
Furthermore, the technologies that guy held made Huck's heart itch with curiosity.
He always felt that Andy had many more secrets buried inside him. If he didn't dig them out, he was going to feel immensely uncomfortable!
"The Boss is busy."
Bauer didn't even raise his head, making checkmarks and scribbles on the datapad.
"You saw it yourself—we just absorbed a huge crowd of people and opened a new mining spot. The boss has to stay home and coordinate the big picture; he has no time to run around outside."
"Ah..."
Huck clicked his tongue in slight disappointment.
That single meeting last time might end up being the only meeting of this entire trip...
Had he known, he should have chatted a bit more back then—even if it was awkward small talk!
Huck sighed, pulled out from his jacket the standard calendar watch he had used for years, and prepared to check the date to calculate his return trip timetable.
He clicked the screen on.
Displayed on top was today's date: Koronus Calendar, Week 4, Day 3.
Huck's pupils shrank slightly in an instant.
Wait.
Day 3?
A bolt of lightning suddenly flashed through his mind.
Roughly several years ago, when he was still young and had just started running this trade route, a veteran predecessor had told him:
On this chaotic planet of Zais, though warlords fought endlessly and slaughtered people like cattle, there was an unwritten rule in the largest trade distribution center—the Kolembik Giant Ruin Belt.
The 3rd day of every month was [Grace Day].
On this day, in order to promote trade flow, attract foreign investment, and give those scavengers who usually hid in dark corners the courage to come out and trade...
The Kolembik Management Committee would issue an order: all transaction taxes halved, entry fees entirely waived, and weapons strictly forbidden within the market zone.
On this day, Kolembik was at its most prosperous, most fully stocked, and cheapest in all of Zais!
Huck slapped his thigh hard.
"Gah! How could I forget about this!"
His visit to Zais this time—aside from repairing his ship—was originally intended for picking up some goods along the way.
Now that the ship was repaired, he also had a massive sum of payment in hand given by Andy.
Though it was in the form of barter, those crossbow bolts were as good as cash on the black market.
If he didn't make a trip to Kolembik now, it would be an absolute disgrace to the Emperor's grace!
And besides...
Huck recalled Andy's previous demand.
Adamantite.
Andy possessed an almost obsessive craving for Adamantite.
Huck remembered that two or three years ago when he was in Kolembik, he had seen with his own eyes a big warlord auctioning off a batch of Adamantite armor plates stripped from a crashed frigate—a full five hundred tons!
At the time, because the price was too astronomical and the warlord demanded settlement in heavy weaponry, the batch went unsold.
If those goods were still there...
Huck turned around immediately and grabbed hold of Bauer, who was just about to leave.
"Brother! Wait!"
"What is it?" Bauer looked watchful. "Thinking of backing out on the tab?"
"What tab! I've paid in full, alright?!"
Huck leaned close to Bauer, lowered his voice, and assumed a mysterious expression: "I have a big business deal I want to discuss with your boss."
"Today is Zais's 'Grace Day.' There are good things over at Kolembik."
"I remember... your boss is really short on Adamantite, right?"
The moment Bauer heard the word "Adamantite," his eyes lit up too.
As the head of the Engineering Department, he had heard Andy nag about this stuff every single day lately, to the point where his ears were growing calluses.
"Wait here. I'll contact the boss right away."
Half an hour later.
Andy's order came back.
Approved.
Not only approved, but fully supported!
Andy was currently so desperate for materials that his eyes were turning red; hearing news of five hundred tons of Adamantite, he wished he could go himself.
However, he genuinely couldn't get away.
The operations at home were spread too wide, and the Gene-stealer locked in the cold storage had shown some fluctuations in its vital signs recently—he had to keep his eyes on it.
Therefore, Andy dispatched his number-one henchman in the commercial domain: Sisyphron.
And he equipped this procurement team with a luxurious bodyguard lineup:
Fifty heavy guard members wearing T-9000 heavy exoskeletons and carrying CBS-12 high-explosive crossbows.
This firepower was enough to fight a small-scale battle.
"I wanna go too! I wanna go too!"
Just as the squad assembled, a figure covered in oil stains squirmed out from the crowd.
Regan.
This former captain of the Scavenger was now the Director of Engineering Department Six at Deep Space Industries.
His past few days had been remarkably fulfilling; he spent every day immersed in the workshop repairing and modifying vehicles, enjoying himself so much he forgot his home.
It wasn't until he heard just now that Huck was going to Kolembik that he slapped his forehead, suddenly remembering today was Grace Day.
"I, uh... I have a few old friends running stalls in Kolembik."
Regan rubbed his hands together, looking expectantly at Sisyphron, who was leading the team.
"They have some blueprints and some bizarre condensate materials in their hands. I want to see if I can fetch them back."
"Didn't the boss always say he wanted to expand the sample repository for the Xenos Tech Analysis Station?"
Sisyphron glanced at the instructions sent by Andy.
There was no prohibition against employees going out.
Furthermore, as a local native, Regan was definitely more familiar with Kolembik than they were.
"Alright, we'll take you."
Sisyphron nodded, then pointed to a heavy shuttle nearby painted in dark grey.
"But there are rules."
"Everyone—including Captain Huck—must ride in our shuttle."
"You cannot drive your own vehicles, and you definitely cannot fly the Bull."
Huck listened from the side, a little displeased.
"Why? My Bull was just repaired, perfect timing to go show off a bit..."
"Because those are the rules of Deep Space Industries."
Sisyphron adjusted his glasses, his tone leaving no room for argument.
"Andy said: hide your wealth. The Bull is too large a target and easily invites trouble."
"Besides, our shuttle has... special communication equipment onboard, making it convenient for the boss to remotely command us at any time."
Huck twitched his lips. Though a bit bummed he couldn't show off his new ship, he was a smart man.
Talking back to his "biological mother" at a time like this was unwise.
"Fine, fine, fine, we'll do as you say."
Huck waved his hand, signaling a few of his first mates to follow.
"As long as we can buy the goods, it doesn't matter what we ride in."
The shuttle took off.
The interior cabin was very spacious; even with sixty or seventy people sitting inside, it didn't feel crowded.
Sisyphron and Huck sat together.
One of these two was a desperate chemist who came from the Underhive; the other was a Rogue Trader who roamed the sea of stars.
Though from different backgrounds, both were businessmen in essence—the kind of folks who would sell their souls to the devil for profit.
They had an immense amount of common ground.
"Say, Old Sisy," Huck handed Sisyphron a cigar. "Where on earth did that guy Andy come from?"
"I've traveled far and wide for so many years, but I've never seen anyone so... special."
"Those technologies of his—no matter how you look at them, they don't seem like things belonging to our Imperium."
Sisyphron accepted the cigar and brought it under his nose to take a sniff.
"Don't ask. If you ask, the answer is 'don't know.'"
Sisyphron smiled slyly like a fox.
"In Deep Space Industries, there are some things you don't need to know."
"You only need to know that following Andy means there's meat to eat—that is enough."
Huck chuckled, asking no further, though he grew even more curious about the mysterious Andy in his heart.
The shuttle swept across the wasteland skies at high speed.
Two hours later.
A massive shadow appeared on the horizon.
The Kolembik Giant Ruin Belt.
This place was vast beyond measure.
Though Fortress Horisen was big enough, compared to this place, it was like a small rural county town facing a megacity!
Countless collapsed skyscrapers were stacked together, forming rolling mountain ranges of steel.
Though the colossal alloy dome was damaged, it still covered an area several thousand kilometers wide.
Beneath the shadow of the dome, countless lights flickered, and innumerable ships landed and took off.
This was the most prosperous, peaceful—and most sinful—place on this wasteland planet of Zais.
The shuttle began to decelerate, descending toward the entrance.
At the entrance stood a mobile guard tower with several twin-linked anti-aircraft cannons mounted on top.
"Halt! Submit to inspection!"
A voice barked through the loudspeaker on the guard tower.
Sisyphron had long prepared the pass and gold coins meant for bribes.
Just as the shuttle hovered in front of the tower waiting to be cleared...
Huck squeezed up to the window and took a look outside.
With that single glance, his brow furrowed up.
"Huh? Something's not right."
Huck pointed at the flag atop the guard tower.
"I remember when I came last time, the red flag of the 'God-King of Ancient Terra' was flying here."
"How come it's changed now?"
Flapping atop the tower now was a yellow-and-black flag.
The design on the flag was a shattered sun; black cracks tore through the yellow sun, looking fierce yet filled with a certain eerie aesthetic.
"Yellow?"
Huck stroked his chin, muttering to himself inside.
Deep Space Industries' flag was yellow and blue; this one was yellow and black.
"What, is the yellow color palette trending on Zais lately?"
"Is this the trendy color released by the God-Emperor this year?"
Sisyphron remarked under his breath: "That statement of yours is a bit blasphemous..."
Just as Huck was still over there pondering the aesthetics of color matching...
Regan, who was sitting in the back, suddenly let out a bizarre screech like a chicken being choked by the neck.
"Ehh—!!"
Huck turned around to look, only to see Regan collapsed entirely in his chair, his face as white as a sheet of paper, his teeth chattering violently.
"What's wrong? Had a stroke?" Huck asked.
"The... the flag...!!"
Regan pointed a trembling hand toward that yellow-and-black flag outside the window.
"That's... that's the flag of the Dusk!"
"The Shattered Sun flag!"
"Aishi... that scheming woman... she... she won!"
Regan's voice was filled with sheer terror.
"The Western Front battle is over!"
"The Dusk defeated the fortress fleet of Fortress Odin!"
"She... she annexed Kolembik!"
Huck and Sisyphron looked at each other, both catching a trace of gravity in each other's eyes.
Fortress Odin was the strongest overlord on Zais.
And as for the Dusk, while also a major warlord, in terms of weight class, she should have been significantly behind.
She actually managed to win? And even seized a prime piece of meat like Kolembik?
"Now this gets interesting," Huck muttered to himself.
"Looks like the situation in this place is even crazier than I imagined."
Meanwhile, Regan was nearly shrinking all the way under his seat.
In order to escape with his life previously, he had dodged both the Dusk and the Fuck Your Grandma, fleeing all the way to Fortress Horisen by himself.
Now that he was on their turf...
If he got recognized...
"It's over, it's over... I'm a goner this time..."
Regan wailed in his heart!