Chapter 42: Manipulating the 9 Sages of Kivior

At his signal, Szczesny proceeded with the briefing first.

"My Lord, I have conducted a carpet sweep of all decks; warriors of the Fourth Regiment are currently clearing out remote areas in squad units."

"In this battle, the Fourth Regiment suffered a total of 184 casualties, including 50 deaths from boarding accidents and 134 deaths in combat."

Ninglu was not surprised; the Fulao possessed considerable combat strength, and had they not scattered and fled, the casualties would have been even greater.

A cornered beast still fights, but once it loses its commander, it loses coordination and organization.

"King Ninglu, Sage Kivior-9 replies that the Xenos artillery has extremely high research value, and he will arrive after the battle concludes."

"Woyiqiehe and I have inspected the Xenos warship; although we cannot figure out all the controllers, we can confirm that the current condition of the warship is still sustainable."

After hearing the briefing, Ninglu issued his orders.

"Send a message to the ships of the Finde Family and the Kurnikova Family, attach the encrypted identification runes, and order them to find a way to control Boleslaw and capture Luobote."

"If they require assistance, you are responsible for leading a team to resolve it."

Before the fleet set sail, he had obtained the encrypted runes from Howard and Yelena; once the members of the two families received them, they would execute his orders accordingly.

After everyone withdrew, Ninglu went to the Fulao governor's quarters.

He had previously discovered that the governor's large bed was 3.5 meters long, made of purple alloy, and could barely accommodate him curled up to sleep.

Ninglu took a nap, and after his spirituality recovered, the communicator happened to ring.

"King Ninglu, Sage Kivior-9 has arrived; please proceed to the Bridge to discuss the details of the trade."

"Very well."

Ninglu strode back to the Bridge and saw Kivior-9, who was wearing red robes.

Like other members of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Sage could not suppress his curiosity about his physique, but through logical calculation, he realized more quickly that he lacked the ability to analyze the mysteries of the giant's body.

"The Xenos artillery has development value; I represent the Mechanicus of Mars to discuss cooperation on its development with you."

"Speak, what do you want?"

"In addition to cooperative development and sharing research results, I also want the star map data for all the altars in the Vostonia system."

To navigate the vast universe without being like a blind person swimming naked, a star map is an important reference.

Although, due to interference from the Warp and various other factors, a star map cannot be relied upon one hundred percent, having a reference is better than having none most of the time.

"Your request is denied; the Vostonia star map is the crystallization of wisdom from countless servants of the Omnissiah over thousands of years."

"Based on the principle of reciprocal trade, you can only obtain the star maps of the two neighboring systems."

"No," Ninglu rejected it flatly, saying with full confidence, "Such a trade is not reciprocal; the Xenos artillery is of higher value."

"It can fire a pulse of energy, and the Ether Field within the beam can ignore a ship's Void Shield and directly erode its hull; its side effect can also overload a ship's shields."

"The entire Adeptus Mechanicus does not have such advanced artillery technology; by studying it, the servants of the Omnissiah will gain theoretical breakthroughs due to new understanding."

Ninglu said with certainty; he remembered that in the future, Tech-Priest Xiluonuomusi Teziluo would boldly analyze a Fulao ship that crashed in the Tamaer sector, subsequently proposing his "Ether-Plasma" theory, thereby winning extremely high prestige.

That was just a crashed ship, while the Battlecruiser he had captured had a hull integrity of over 95%, and in particular, the Ether Pulse cannon had not sustained any damage.

Kivior-9 was silent for nine seconds before speaking.

"This unit requests to inspect the artillery first to determine its specific trade value."

"Please."

Ninglu said indifferently; compared to other races, the Fulao's greatest advantage was their Ether technology, which not only could not be resisted by human Void Shields, but even the Eldar's holographic fields could not defend against it.

Engaging in naval warfare against the Fulao was unwise; he remembered that shortly after, during the "Great Crusade," Kelun Efeng of the "Night Lords" Legion attempted to bravely command his ship to engage the Fulao while the fleet was retreating.

In the end, his ship, the Shalü Diyu, was destroyed, and his Company Captain forged the fragments of the hull into a combat shield named Blood Shield, covered with malicious ceramic-steel barbs.

The Blood Shield was both a mark of Efeng's brave mockery and shame, and a cruel joke.

The more Kivior-9 studied it, the more he would realize its value.

"Woyiqiehe, you are to draft the trade document immediately according to what I just said."

"Four copies of the document, two for each side, written in Vostonia Low Gothic and the language of technology respectively."

"As you command, my King."

Woyiqiehe moved immediately, but Luoxiji frowned.

As far as he knew, Ninglu had not even gone to the flanks to take a look, yet he was so certain that the Sage would accept the trade.

This was even more incredible than his judgment before the space battle; at least at that time, he had data as a reference.

One hour of ship time later, Ninglu received Woyiqiehe's contract; he used his "Lawyer" ability to peel back the layers and find three loopholes, and for the sake of further negotiation, pointed out one key modification.

"The subject of the trade is only the Ether Pulse cannon, not including this ship."

Luoxiji and Woyiqiehe were stunned, then reacted.

"My King, this will not deceive the Sage; what do you think?"

"It is fine, execute it as I said."

Woyiqiehe was a technical talent and did not understand negotiation techniques.

If all conditions were proposed at the beginning, it would likely lead to a breakdown in talks, but once the opposing party realized the value of the trade subject and became determined to obtain it, they would be willing to pay a higher price.

The agreement was modified ten minutes later, and just as it was ready, Kivior-9 returned with his subordinates.

"I agree to your terms; now let us discuss the details."

"I have already prepared the agreement; you may review it, and if there are no problems, we will sign it immediately."

At Ninglu's signal, Woyiqiehe handed the Data Slate to the Sage.

Kivior-9 took it with a mechanical tentacle and flipped through it quickly.

"This clause needs to be modified; the subject of the trade is the entire Xenos warship."

No artillery exists in isolation, especially the Ether Pulse cannon, which involves a whole set of complex systems, and other modules of the Xenos warship also have certain research value.

Once Kivior-9 and the Mechanicus realized the value within, they were determined to obtain the entire warship.

Luoxiji and Woyiqiehe showed expressions of "as expected"; a Logician would not overlook such an obvious logical loophole.

"You want the whole ship? Fine, satisfy my requirements."

"What do you want?"

"I offer one Battlecruiser in exchange for one; it is fair, is it not?"

Luoxiji and Woyiqiehe could not help but think at the same time: 【A one-for-one trade is certainly fair, the Adeptus Mechanicus even profits, but Ninglu also demanded the Star Map.】

Seeing Kivior-9 fall into hesitation, Ninglu said with a smile.

"The Star Map can be copied; the servant of the Omnissiah loses nothing. Trading a ship that can be mass-produced for a Xenos warship, and gaining new technology in the process, is worth it."

Ninglu's "extraordinary eloquence" led the Sage into another chain of logic.

After three seconds of silence, he spoke.

"I agree to your terms, but I also have one condition."

"You must resolve the Xenos Reavers abandoned in the Sea of Music within ten stellar days."

"I accept this condition."

(End of chapter)