"Lucia, combat mode."
The moment I spoke, the bridge lights dimmed, replaced by the glow of countless holographic windows. The walls and floor turned translucent as my field of vision synced with the Panoramic Monitor.
It felt as though I were suspended in the void of space, tethered to nothing but my command chair. This was my battlefield—a view I’d lived in for three thousand hours.
『Combat mode, activated. ...Master, are you certain?』
For once, a trace of panic colored Lucia’s voice.
『The enemy consists of twelve Corvette-class vessels. If they close in at this distance, they will slip into this ship’s blind spots. Do you really intend to swat down a swarm of flies without interception drones or carrier-based aircraft?』
She was right. Normally, a massive ship of this class is vulnerable to small, agile craft. A battleship’s rotation speed can't keep up with them, and its sheer size limits the firing angles of the turrets. Once an enemy gets "under the guns," the larger ship is helpless.
That was exactly why escort fighters and drones were considered mandatory, but—
"It doesn't matter," I said with a grin. "The Sperm Whale has a... generously indulgent body."
I tapped the console. Armor plates across the hull slid back, and hidden gun mounts reared their heads like cobras.
Anti-Ship Pulse Laser Turrets, Twin Plasma Machine Guns, Electronic Jamming Beams, and more. Behind them sat the currently silent Gauss Cannons, Multi-purpose Mass Drivers, and missile pods of every size.
While it might have looked slightly inferior to a dedicated military vessel, the sheer quantity was absurd. Turrets were packed along the top, bottom, and sides of the hull—an excessive array designed to saturate every conceivable blind spot.
Under normal circumstances, deploying this much hardware at once would either crash the reactor or melt the ship from the sheer exhaust heat. If they had been Kinetic Weapons, the ammunition bays alone would have eaten up the entire Living Quarters.
But as a "Player's Ship," this was a luxury build that flagrantly ignored the laws of physics and habitability. Now that it was a reality, I might have to pay the piper for those impossible specs one day—but for now, it was more than enough to deal with these pirates.
『All batteries, online. ...Operating rate at 32%, utilizing energy weapons only.』
"Perfect. Now then, it's time to cook."
I gripped the control stick. I partitioned the Fire Control System, pulling the main batteries and primary secondary guns under my direct manual control. Relying on the computer wasn't bad, but I didn't trust an auto-aiming system even with Lucia's help.
I decided it was time to show off what I could do personally.
『Wh-What?! That ship suddenly got all prickly...!』
The panicked voice of a pirate crackled over the open channel.
Too late.
"One order of Space SASHIMI... First course!"
My consciousness linked directly with the ship. The stat boosts from the 'Energy Weapon Enhancement' and 'Ship Combat Efficiency' perks I’d once earned in-game were now etched into my very nerves and muscles as pure technique.
My fingertips twitched.
The pulse lasers on the hull’s flank flashed.
Sizzle.
High-grade lasers, fueled by the Sperm Whale’s absurd generator output, overloaded the enemy shields in a heartbeat. The lead Corvette became—"two."
It didn't explode. Instead, the cockpit block and the rear cargo bay were severed cleanly, as if a hot knife had passed through butter.
『...Huh?』
"Next!"
I shifted targets in one fluid motion. The turrets rotated in sync with my thoughts, snapping onto the enemies with magnetic precision.
Sizzle. Sizzle. Sizzle.
Geometric lines of light traced themselves across the void. It wasn't a battle; it was surgery. The pirates didn't even have time to attempt evasive maneuvers. The moment they throttled their engines, their power lines were already severed.
Just then, several laser pods I wasn't even touching began to move on their own, targeting an enemy trying to flank us from the starboard side. A web of beams caught the Corvette, and the ship was lanced through the center as if it were being pulled into a trap.
"...Hoh."
『I will manage the enemies in the blind spots Master cannot reach.』
"I appreciate it. I'll leave the ones I miss to you."
She wasn't a high-function android for nothing. It seemed she was more than capable of handling the fire control duties I'd assigned her. This wasn't just some numerical game buff; she was showing me her true performance in action. It was incredibly reassuring.
"I’m taking your cargo, so I won't touch the containers. ...However,"
My lingering rage over that disgusting Space SASHIMI pushed my concentration to its limit. I’d slice them thin. I detached the cockpits, and then—
"You bastards inside are a different story."
I hammered a merciless follow-up laser into the drifting cockpit blocks.
A flash. Evaporation.
There was no point in letting pirates live, anyway.
『Hieee! I-I can't hit it! This ship has no blind spots!』
『Stop! We surrender! We surrender!』
The twelve Corvettes were neutralized in mere minutes. The cargo blocks drifted silently, while the cockpits that had begged for mercy were reduced to space dust.
The final survivor, a medium-sized ship, tried to turn and run.
"You're not going anywhere."
I opened the large-caliber gun port hidden at the base of the bow. The X-99 Prototype LS Pulse Laser 'Laevateinn'. I recalled it having some cringey name like that, but the name didn't matter. What mattered was that it was the highest-output energy weapon on the ship.
Since you've diverted all power to your thrusters to run, your back is wide open.
I aimed for the engine thrusters and the base of the bridge.
Flash.
The engine nozzles of the defenseless ship evaporated instantly. The following strike snapped the bridge right off the upper hull. The ship didn't detonate; instead, its systems died completely, leaving it to drift as a silent, iron coffin. I couldn't let it blow up—there might be valuable resources or food inside.
"...Phew."
I let go of the stick and exhaled slowly. The light of the Panoramic Monitor died away, returning the bridge to its usual state.
Silence reigned.
Lucia stood beside me, her mouth slightly agape as she stared at the wreckage.
"...Is this a joke?" Her blue eyes darted between me and the screen. "Complete manual control without my fire control system? And you disabled the armaments and propulsion of every single unit...?"
She whispered the words as if terrified.
"Damage rate to the cargo blocks is zero percent. ...This far exceeds my predictive calculations."
"The concept of this ship was always to dive into fleet battles, pick off ships with dropped shields, and snatch their loot. This was nothing," I said, shrugging.
It was good to know that the perks had transitioned into real skills I could feel. In the game, I could have just interacted with the wreckage to get resources, but reality wouldn't be that simple. In that regard, having no kinetic ammunition might have been a blessing in disguise—lasers were cleaner.
"Alright, Lucia. Deploy the drones. Let's salvage everything."
"...Y-Yes. Right away."
Lucia snapped back to attention and began working the console. Looking at her back, I noticed the way she looked at me had changed. It wasn't the "hopeless master" look anymore; it was the look of someone staring at an incomprehensible monster. And here I thought I’d been more restrained than I was in the game...
I sighed softly as I watched the containers being pulled in.
They were a large pirate group, but my expectations for the food were low. They probably ate garbage. Still, maybe, just maybe... there was something in there better than "clay."
"Please, let there be something real..."
My small prayer followed the salvage drones as they flew toward the pirate remains.