Chapter 248

"For now, let's just shove every damn thing we can find into the hold. Like Ryza said, empty space is just wasted money."

Once the crew boarded the ultra-large transport—now officially christened the Virgin Queen—their first order of business was to dismantle and recover Eden itself. After that, they were heading straight for the Delta Star System, the Galactic Empire’s biggest economic engine, for a massive procurement run.

A Titan-class vessel was an absolute unit of pure mass; even flying empty, the fuel costs were eye-watering. There was no way they were going to pass up a chance to do some business along the way.

Besides, Rising Sun was already eyeing the purchase of a second Titan-class—slated to be named the Dicker Max—so cramming as much large-scale transport know-how as possible was vital for the company's future.

"Still, I didn't think a station could be taken apart that easily. It was kind of a shock to the system. Isn't that, like, incredibly dangerous?"

Taro voiced his concern to Marl, his mind flashing back to the sight of the station being gutted. Marl merely tilted her head with a look that said 'Why are you like this?'

"It’s no different from a ship," she replied nonchalantly.

"I mean, sure, when you put it like that. But don't things... you know, go boom? Accidents?"

"Hmm, I've never heard of that happening. In its normal state, the station is just drifting on inertia. Even if you dismantle it, the modules aren't going to suddenly zoom off into the void. You undo the locks, and they just float there. Now, if someone hits the gas afterward, that’s a different story."

"I see. So, if we didn't have that giant egg to deal with, we could've just used a normal transport for a few round trips."

"Pretty much. It’s just that the egg is a bit... excessively large."

Taro peered through the door of the Cargo Command Post, which offered a panoramic view of the hold. There, secured by a dizzying array of cranes and cables, sat the spherical metal mass.

From this distance, it looked like a simple, oversized lawn ornament. However, when contrasted against the height of the staff working alongside it, its true, mountain-like scale became terrifyingly apparent.

"By the way, what are we stocking up on at Delta? I'm pretty sure we can't fill this entire void with just porn."

Taro directed the question away from Marl.

"So the porn is a non-negotiable, then...?" Ryza sighed, rubbing her temples. "For now, I believe focusing on general daily necessities is our best bet. Supply is trailing behind the population boom, though if we over-saturate a single niche, we risk bankrupting half the local companies."

Taro nodded. Good point. He decided to scrap his plan of cornering specific markets. If he used this gargantuan ship to monopolize a single sector, he’d end up liquidating every small-time transporter in the region.

"And if I do that, they'll use it as an excuse to declare war on me from all sides. That sounds like a pain... Right, daily necessities it is."

Taro began checking off items on the product list sent from the Delta Star System market, but he paused when a flash of inspiration hit him.

"Adult media isn't a public utility, so the Antimonopoly Act doesn't apply. And it's not like we're new to the market... Let's just do it. We'll either absorb the rivals or pay them a little 'piss off' money to go do business somewhere else."

In the remarks column of the purchase list, Taro scribbled: [ERO: DEMAND LIMIT] and fired it off to his subordinates.

If this were Dingo, they probably would have just declared war, crushed the competition, and seized the market by force. But that was a far cry from the Rising Sun corporate culture.

"Oh, by the way, the credit rating for the Alpha Region Space just went up by two levels," Marl said, her voice bright with expectation. "Analysts think it might even go up another notch soon."

"Yes!" Taro pumped his fist.

"So we moved from an 8 to a 6... Let's see. Plus one for political stability and security after the war ended, and plus one for our partnership with Gigantech. Once the inner-territory development kicks off, it’ll go even higher."

The projected economic indicators from the major rating agencies—evaluated on a ten-point scale—were far more than just numbers. They were everything. Whether the data was accurate or not, a single-digit shift in the rating could add or subtract an entire zero from the end of a bank loan.

While the RS main branch—which operated almost entirely on its own capital—didn't care much, it was a matter of life or death for the companies under the Alliance umbrella and other local businesses.

"Enigma's profits are supposed to start rolling in soon, too. I want to ride this momentum and just go boom!"

Taro smirked to himself as he added even more checkmarks to the purchase list. Fortunately, they were flush with cash and had cargo space to spare. Even with a low-margin, high-volume strategy, the sheer scale would yield a mountain of profit.

---

Inside Ede Station, tucked away just off the main artery connecting Delta to Alpha, a lone man stood by the window of a room in the Living Quarters, letting out a heavy sigh at the view.

"They've really hit the big time. They're flying around in a monster like that now?"

The man watched a particularly titanic ship silhouette against the stream of endless traffic. Ede Station’s pier wasn't nearly large enough to accommodate a Titan-class, so its cargo was being spat out into the vacuum in containers to be ferried in.

"Hey! Be gentle with those containers! That's our VIP client you're handling!"

The man barked the command toward the window. Through his BISHOP link, a voice crackled back from a small transport ship: "Understood, President!"

"Is that the sponsor?" a woman's voice asked from behind him.

"Yeah," the man grunted, turning around with a shrug. A woman stood before him, but she was merely a holographic projection. As a typical Galactic Imperial Citizen, the man rarely felt the need to actually leave his room.

"They nearly gave me a heart attack when they showed up in a destroyer to pick up porn, but their rise since then has been even crazier. They're one step away from being a major conglomerate... You sure you don't want to say hi? If those guys knew a porn star was here, they’d be knocking down the door."

The woman laughed softly and shook her head. "I have a shoot to get to."

"Fair enough. Hard for a director to work with the investor breathing down their neck... Still, they’re a loyal bunch. Going out of their way to stop by here even though it’s off the main route."

The man turned back to the window. He imagined the faces of the man, the woman, and the AI who were undoubtedly aboard that massive vessel. He smirked, wondering what they had actually done with that first 50,000 Credits he’d paid them as a reward. He’d had chances to ask, but he never did. He preferred the mystery.

"Well, I'll be going now. Expect a masterpiece."

With that, the woman signed off, and a notification appeared on BISHOP indicating the hologram had deactivated.

"Righto," the man muttered to the empty room. He lingered at the window for a moment longer.

"If it were me, I’d have bought a woman. A top-shelf one."

He stretched and decided to get back to work. The shipment from Rising Sun was supposed to contain the latest high-tech Adult Goods. His job was to use them to film new porn holos and distribute them to the neighboring systems.

He was far busier now than back when he was just a middleman for shipping, but the pay was infinitely better.

"I bet that CEO is surrounded by a harem right now, enjoying a different girl every night... 'Virgin,' my ass. I’d believe it if someone told me he’d bedded a thousand women."

The man scoffed at the rumors surrounding the head of Rising Sun and stomped off to his workspace.

---

"Are you cherry?"

"Oh yeah, I'm cherry. You too?"

"Of course. YEAH!"

"YEAH!"

Taro and Alan exchanged a thunderous high-five. The surrounding Rising Sun staff stared at them with the disgusted look one might reserve for a particularly weird species of cockroach.

"...So, what’s the word, Boss? Did you get the goods?"

"You better believe it. This time, we’re talking the real deal—the 'Restricted to Mental Age 32 and Over' special. Totally uncensored. Ultra-extreme."

The two whispered conspiratorially, arms slung over each other's shoulders. Taro glanced around shiftily. Near the wall of the common room, Plum handed four chips to Alan, keeping them shielded from prying eyes.

"A four-disc set... Heh. This is going to be a grueling battle."

"Don't push yourself too hard, Alan. We’ve got some time before we crack the egg open, so go... enjoy yourself."

"I won't forget this, Boss... But wait, what about you?"

"It doesn't matter for me..." Taro looked away, his voice trembling. "All the playback devices on the Plum have been updated with mandatory authentication checks. If I even get close to one, the hologram probably auto-deletes."

"No... Was it the young lady's doing?"

Alan’s eyes widened in horror, his brow furrowed in sympathy. Taro shook his head.

"I wanted my first uncensored experience to be in the highest quality possible, so I upgraded every screen to the latest model myself... Heh. Pretty pathetic, right?"

"Boss... I get it. I’ll sear your share into my retinas for you."

With the solemn expression of a man going to his certain death, Alan clutched the four chips to his chest. He gave a sharp, military salute and sprinted down the corridor. Taro stood there until Alan vanished, gave a delayed return salute, and then pressed his hands together in a silent prayer.

"Alright, are you two done being idiots? Preparations are almost complete."

An exasperated Marl appeared, brandishing a wrench. Taro gave a casual "Righto" and started toward the bridge.

"Are you... um... sure you don't want to watch them?" Marl asked tentatively as they left the common room.

Taro blinked, then broke into a grin.

"Nah. I swapped the labels. Those are all gay workout videos."

"He’s going to cry. Alan is definitely going to cry."

They arrived at the bridge, gave a quick nod to Koume and Etta, and slid into their usual seats. The Plum was currently nestled inside the Virgin Queen’s hold, tethered to the Eden egg by a chaotic web of cables.

"Alright, let's do this. Open Sesame!"

Taro booted up BISHOP. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Marl frantically trying to hide a sesame dumpling for some reason, and then he began the unlocking sequence.

---

Author's Note: Thank you for all the suggestions for the ship's name! Based on your ideas, I've settled on the names used in the text.