Chapter Thirty-Two: The Discovery Aboard the Supply Ship

Sun Licheng looked up, and sure enough, this battleship was at the outer edge of the warship graveyard. Just three or four hundred meters more, and they could rush up to the mountain range outside, which towered like a Great Wall.

He examined the massive, sturdy hull—it was the fleet’s supply ship. One could only imagine how rich the supplies inside must be; surely, there would be many valuable things to find.

"Your Majesty, Lord of the Stars, how shall we get over there? There are plenty of monsters outside. Why not just cast a divine spell and wipe them all out?"

Sun Licheng withdrew his greedy gaze and turned to the Lord of the Stars.

The Lord of the Stars gave him a look of disdain—though whether a robot could roll its eyes was up for debate, Sun Licheng felt the contempt nonetheless.

"I'm still being hunted by many deities. Do you think these centipede monsters are here for no reason? This is one of the core strategic areas of the Goblin Empire, one of the forbidden zones for the gods. If I unleash a divine spell, the divine realm will immediately be alerted. They could send down a demigod or several archangels and crush us easily. Are you hoping we die even faster?"

The Lord of the Stars spoke with a pained expression.

Hearing this, Sun Licheng's face fell. He had thought that, with two deities by his side, he could roam this world unchecked—only to realize they were barely better off than himself.

"We’re all just unfortunate brothers," he lamented internally.

The Lord of the Stars glanced outside and said, "The enemies out there seem few, but most are hidden. Any disturbance will bring them swarming. We need a decoy to draw them away, then we make our dash."

He swept his gaze over the combat puppets and continued, "We'll send fifteen combat puppets charging into the graveyard, drawing most of them away. Then we head straight for that battleship."

"A classic feint," Sun Licheng thought.

With the plan settled, the first step was to create a commotion.

A grinding of wheels against the ground signaled Number 133 pushing out the magic crystal cannon.

Number 133 aimed the cannon at the largest centipede monster outside and loaded it with a centipede monster’s magic crystal provided by Sun Licheng. Centipede magic crystals were small and poor in quality—Sun Licheng treated them as expendables. Besides, using centipede magic crystals to blast centipede monsters held a certain dark amusement for him.

"Just thinking about it is thrilling," Sun Licheng cheered inwardly.

A muffled boom—the cannon discharged a thick, earthy yellow beam of light at the centipede monster. Number 133 had used up the entire crystal’s energy in one shot. The monster was struck; cracks appeared all over its body, light bursting forth, and then it exploded, juices spraying everywhere like a bullet-shattered watermelon. Every centipede monster touched by the beam died instantly, showcasing the cannon’s immense power. At the same time, the force of the blast pushed the cannon back several steps, clearing the entrance.

"Charge!"

The Lord of the Stars swung his war blade.

Fifteen combat puppets brandished a variety of weapons under Number 133's command and surged from the battleship’s breach.

It was Sun Licheng’s first time witnessing combat puppets in action. Over two meters tall, they plowed ahead like bulldozers, their multiple arms swinging weapons like death’s scythes, carving fifteen deep furrows through the monsters’ encirclement.

Blades flashed, blood splattered; the centipede monsters were thrown into chaos.

The puppets started strong, but soon a dense swarm of centipede monsters poured in from all directions—at least two hundred.

The Lord of the Stars nodded to Number 133. Number 133 quickly issued commands, instructing the puppets to turn and run deeper into the graveyard.

As they fled, countless centipede monsters gave chase, like moths to a flame. After a thunderous commotion, Sun Licheng and his companions found their path cleared.

With the monsters lured away, Number 133 pushed the magic crystal cannon forward again.

…

The Lord of the Stars swung his blade, and the magic crystal cannon roared once more, this time targeting the supply ship. Amid screams, the remaining monsters were swept aside, leaving a straight path.

"Charge!"

With a roar, the Lord of the Stars led the charge.

The Earth God, Number 133, the remaining three combat puppets, and Sun Licheng followed, pouring out from the breach and storming toward the supply ship.

The Lord of the Stars, at the forefront, crackled with electricity, four massive hands wielding blades, cutting down monsters with unstoppable force.

The Earth God swung four heavy weapons, smashing enemies like a beast, brains flying.

Number 133, relying on its powerful computing abilities, fired bolts from two strong crossbows, each arrow striking the monsters’ giant single eyes dead-on, never missing. Multiple hands made reloading, aiming, and firing seamless—Number 133 achieved a near-semi-automatic rate of fire.

Sun Licheng, the shortest and slowest, could only trail behind the steel behemoths, occasionally slashing down a centipede monster attacking from the rear, struggling all the way. Thankfully, three combat puppets guarded the flanks, greatly easing his burden.

Their attack was sudden, but the centipede monsters reacted swiftly. With shrill screams, swarms turned back and surrounded them anew; with fresh enemies, their numbers soon reached over a hundred.

The supply ship was just ahead, but there was no breach to enter—Sun Licheng grew anxious.

Just then, the Lord of the Stars let out a furious roar. The electric glow around him grew more intense, emanating a frightening aura.

He sprinted forward, rushing toward a crater—the spot hit by the magic crystal cannon, where thick rock had been blasted away.

With a giant thud, the Lord of the Stars smashed through the hull, creating a new opening.

Everyone rushed inside without hesitation.

Barely catching their breath, several centipede monsters screamed and pursued, launching an attack.

If they were outside, with wide terrain and a sea of centipede monsters, even the Lord of the Stars would be overwhelmed. But in the cramped space, Sun Licheng and his party held the advantage in numbers. They hacked down the intruders, who barely stirred the air before dying.

"Master, come help me activate the combat puppets!"

Number 133 shouted in Sun Licheng’s ear.

Sun Licheng quickly holstered his weapon and followed Number 133 up the gangway. After some searching, they found the spare magic crystal slot.

Sun Licheng took out a two-headed wolf magic crystal from his bag, disregarding its dark attribute, and slotted it in. Nearby, Number 133 found the control panel and gained control of the inner combat puppets.

A cacophony of sounds—large crates were shoved open, thunderous booms echoed, and a swarm of combat puppets appeared, walking or crawling nearby. Sun Licheng roughly counted—nearly twenty.

With these reinforcements, they sealed off the breach made by the Lord of the Stars. Any centipede monster poking its head in was swiftly torn apart. The pile of bodies soon blocked the entrance, and the other monsters gradually gave up their futile assault.

"These monsters look fierce, but they're really nothing special," Sun Licheng said, kicking a corpse dismissively.

"Don't underestimate them," replied the Lord of the Stars. "They played a huge role in past wars. Though their strength is average, every attack absorbs some magic or mana from their foes—very annoying. Plus, their numbers are overwhelming and hard to deal with."

“Enough ants can bite an elephant to death. Even gods find it troublesome to be swarmed by these things.”

Hearing this explanation, Sun Licheng suddenly understood. Seeing the piles of centipede monster corpses inside the supply ship, he felt a chill. He recalled the combat puppets in the battleship wreckage—fallen with barely a scratch. Now he knew why.

"These are indeed effective weapons against the Goblin Empire’s mechanical army," Sun Licheng sighed.

Outside, the sounds of battle ceased completely; the monsters had calmed. It seemed the combat puppets used as bait had all perished.

…

Number 133 led Sun Licheng to explore the supply ship—though "explore" was more like "tour."

Since gaining the artifact of parallel computing, Number 133’s abilities rivaled the goblin computer CPU of the control center; cracking ordinary CPUs was child's play.

The Lord of the Stars and the Earth God went off to find what they needed. For gods, cracking the battleship’s data was even easier—each had nearly three hundred CPUs in their heads, plus divine power. Nothing could stand in their way.

The supply ship held many things, but most were food and medicine, which had long since turned to dust. The energy crystals, after millennia of slow release, were now gray and useless.

Sun Licheng had a bundle of magic crystals, but not many. The largest batch, the two-headed wolf crystals, were dark-attribute and highly corrosive to these machines—using them was like drinking poison to quench thirst. So all he could do was drool over the cargo hold full of machinery and combat puppets. They even found ten large magic crystal cannons in a compartment, but their energy demands were terrifying and their size immense—helplessly left behind.

As he walked, Sun Licheng arrived at a small window and saw a special mechanical puppet toppled on the floor inside. Though not entirely clear, he realized it was likely a pilotable mech.

The thing Sun Licheng disliked most about his current body was his height. Even with great strength, fighting giant beasts with a short stick was frustrating—he couldn’t wield long weapons. But this mech solved his biggest problem.

With a few taps on the control panel, Number 133 opened the compartment. Sun Licheng rushed inside.

Parts and crates lay scattered everywhere—it was clearly a cargo bay. The mech was sunk in the midst of boxes.

He hurried over, and through the transparent cockpit saw a goblin corpse curled within. It was indeed a pilotable mech!

"Number 133, open the cockpit," Sun Licheng demanded, his eyes fixed on the mech.

A cable extended from Number 133, connecting to the mech. After a few seconds, the mech’s lights flickered—powered up.

Number 133 retracted the cable and pressed a button on the mech. With a click, the cockpit shield opened.

The shield was well-made; the goblin corpse inside hadn’t fully decayed, still frozen in its dying pose—a bit eerie. But Sun Licheng paid no mind, dragged the corpse out, and climbed in himself.

"This is a cargo puppet, called a semi-puppet by the Goblin Empire, mainly used for transporting important goods. It requires goblin operation, counts towards personnel quotas, so production was limited," Number 133 explained, rummaging through crates.

The mech was simple to operate—Sun Licheng quickly figured it out and began practicing in the cargo hold.

"Since its main purpose is cargo transport, this mech is extremely strong and made of tough materials. But it’s much slower than combat puppets—not really used for battle," Number 133 continued, finding a batch of gray crystals, apparently depleted.

Though slow, Sun Licheng was satisfied. Now he stood nearly three meters tall, with two thick arms—clenched fists could dent metal crates. The mech also had two tentacle-like auxiliary arms, quite nimble.

Despite its heavy appearance, the mech was agile to operate. After a brief practice, Sun Licheng could move forward, backward, carry heavy objects, and even swing weapons—mostly large clubs and rods.

Just then, Number 133 said urgently, "Master, Lord of the Stars requests us to hurry to the lower compartment for reinforcements. The monsters have launched another attack—there are many of them, and the situation is critical!"