Section 221: Mu’s Weapon
"Everyone, I believe it's time for you to leave," Ye Zhong said calmly.
Except for Meng Fei'er, whose expression was somewhat complicated, the other four were visibly relieved. All along, they had been worried that this aloof young man would silence them permanently, as he clearly did not seem like a merciful or soft-hearted person. Silencing witnesses was indeed a permanent solution, and how could Ye Zhong not have considered it? Ye Zhong was not afraid of killing, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it. He still remembered how, back on the garbage planet, he had desperately wished to find a fellow human.
Moreover, he had gradually discovered that there were many methods whose effectiveness was no worse than killing.
For instance, back on Blue Ocean Star, Shang had demonstrated a method called "threat." Ye Zhong considered this method to be ingeniously creative, though he had no idea that Shang had simply copied it from a movie.
Ye Zhong still employed this method. A good method isn't judged by how many times it's used, but by identifying the conditions required for its application.
Ye Zhong had Mu collect extremely detailed information about these five individuals through the virtual network. The data was so thorough that even they themselves were unaware of many details. So, when Ye Zhong recounted it bit by bit in his slow, cold voice, the expressions of the five shifted from initial astonishment to ultimate pallor—a truly spectacular transformation.
Ye Zhong probably never realized how perfectly his current expression and voice complemented his actions. The five looked at him with terror in their eyes, as if standing before them was a demon from hell.
The five were convinced that this young man must be from some major aristocratic family. In their minds, only such families could possess such terrifying intelligence capabilities. The power of these families was beyond their resistance. Before Ye Zhong even finished speaking, the five had already resolved to take the experiences of this period to their graves—they would never speak of it to anyone, even under threat of death. Otherwise, just thinking about the tragic fate that would befall their families and friends made their hearts race wildly.
When the Flower Gentleman reached the outermost inhabited planet in the Tappero Starfield, Ye Zhong decided it was time for them to leave.
This was, after all, the farthest edge of the Tappero Starfield. The war had not yet spread here, and the people continued to live their lives as usual. Only the occasional panic on their faces hinted at the traces of war.
Seeing the open hatch, everyone wished they could fly out immediately. However, to avoid displeasing the young man, they walked toward the hatch at a measured pace. Meng Fei'er turned back and gave Ye Zhong a deep look, biting her cherry-red lips, her eyes revealing an emotion he found difficult to understand.
"Fei'er!" It was Weisent's voice. He looked at the girl, who was almost the same age as his daughter, with pity, shook his head, and let out a soft sigh.
Weisent's call snapped Meng Fei'er out of her thoughts. She withdrew her gaze and turned to follow the others. As for Pa'er, he glanced back from time to time, though his eyes drifted toward Ye Zhong's metal laboratory, clearly still reluctant to leave behind this top-tier lab.
The departure of the five allowed Ye Zhong to tamper freely with the entire spaceship without restraint. To be honest, there were far too many things aboard the Flower Gentleman that couldn't see the light of day. However, the departure of the five also marked the beginning of Ye Zhong's work.
Ye Zhong had far too much work to complete. He had no idea what channels Mu had used to actually acquire a batch of quite rare metal materials. At a time like this, such things should have been under strict control. Ye Zhong could only once again marvel at Mu's omnipotence.
Delivered at the same time were some of the most advanced experimental instruments from the Five Major Star Domains that Ye Zhong had ordered previously. Due to their high price, these instruments were only manufactured after an order was received. They had just been completed a few days ago, so after contacting Mu, they were delivered directly. The escort for these instruments consisted of over a hundred mecha pilots. Such a luxurious entourage made Ye Zhong think he had encountered pirates at first.
With these instruments, Ye Zhong was like a tiger that had grown wings.
Mu finally produced his weapon design schematics. The joy of receiving the new instruments was immediately washed away, replaced by an immense headache. Ye Zhong had never seen any design schematic from Mu that was simple and straightforward; without exception, they were all as incomprehensible as a celestial text. This time was, of course, no exception.
Ye Zhong could only judge from the shape that it might be an energy gun, but the complex optical path design inside made him doubt – was this really just an energy gun?
Fortunately, Ye Zhong never lacked a studious spirit, especially concerning something he was very interested in – mecha. Mecha weapons were an extremely important aspect of mecha. Anything Mu could produce was definitely not some common goods, and what Mu was willing to use himself was the cream of the crop.
Ye Zhong couldn't remember how many days it took him to fully understand this design schematic. He had no time to dwell on that now. Completely absorbed, Ye Zhong at this moment resembled the old madmen from the Aurora group even more. Once he had fully grasped every part, Ye Zhong began the fabrication.
The fine manipulation skills Ye Zhong had mastered recently played a huge role this time. The internal optical pathways of this energy gun were extremely intricate and complex. Throughout the entire optical path setup process, Ye Zhong remained in a state of trepidation, as if walking on thin ice, not daring to be the slightest bit negligent. If there was even one error, all the previous work would be ruined, and he'd have to start over from the beginning. Fortunately, the whole process proceeded quite smoothly, all thanks to Ye Zhong's freakishly steady hands.
But this kind of pressure was truly suffocating. So, when the main optical path setup was completed, Ye Zhong breathed a genuine sigh of relief. However, a small mistake occurred during the smelting of the energy ore,毕竟 this was Ye Zhong's first time dealing with this stuff.
The metal ingots extracted from the mutated energy ore were breathtakingly beautiful. Some were like a piece of seawater, displaying wave-like patterns, with the entire ingot emitting a faint blue glow – this was energy-infused Blue Zinc. The Sand-Gold was no less impressive – golden square ingots containing countless dazzling golden specks. The light emitted by these golden specks was almost blinding. Every metal ingot refined from the mutated energy ore was this beautiful. Ye Zhong often placed these ingots randomly around the laboratory, making the whole lab look more like a jewelry store. This was probably the most dazzling laboratory in the world.
According to Mu, the performance difference of these metals before and after the energy-induced mutation was enormous. Ye Zhong naturally didn't know the rarity level of energy ore. In fact, energy ore was far scarcer than he imagined. The conditions for ore to undergo energy-induced mutation were extremely苛刻. Ye Zhong had stumbled upon a huge bargain this time.
No matter how beautiful something is, once you're accustomed to it, you might not marvel at it the same way as the first time. Ye Zhong didn't spare more than a glance at these art-like metal ingots and instead continued burying himself in his work.
When Ye Zhong finally completed his work, the finished product before him filled him with a sense of pride.
The Guifa Sniper Rifle. The entire gun was six meters long. Its slender barrel looked quite delicate, without any of the ferocity typically associated with a weapon. The whole gun was blue and white, matching Mu's own color scheme very well. However, the inner layer of the gun barrel was plated with a thin layer of golden Sand-Gold. The blue stripes combined with the natural wave patterns looked like the masterpiece of some artistic master. The large blue optical sight at the gun's tip, however, looked somewhat bizarre and incongruous.
But aside from that point, the entire gun body was very简洁. Ye Zhong didn't add any of the other decorative elements shown on the design schematic. He couldn't be bothered spending effort on unnecessary decorations for a weapon.
As a maker, Ye Zhong had absolute confidence in the power of the sniper rifle named Guifa. It featured ultra-precise targeting—though not through the blue optical scope mounted on the rifle. Instead, the Guifa sniper rifle’s locking system was connected to Mu’s holographic scanning system, enabling it to achieve ultra-long-range target locking.
The optical sight on the rifle had been added by Ye Zhong himself. Back on his home planet, he had discovered that when magnetic interference was extremely severe, the effective range of Mu’s holographic scanning system would shrink to a very small area, making it less useful than a traditional optical sight. Ye Zhong had installed the optical sight precisely to deal with such situations. Mu fully supported this modification.
In fact, Ye Zhong had another idea he hadn’t voiced. He realized that magnetic interference was extremely detrimental to mechas and warships. He was greatly surprised by how unfamiliar most pilots were with optical systems. Back then, he had thought that magnetic interference could be a highly advantageous environment for him. If he could artificially create such conditions, it would be extremely beneficial. Of course, this was still just a concept, and realizing it would be quite challenging.
The Guifa sniper rifle fired neither thermal rays nor laser beams, but a type of ray called Guifa particle waves. Ye Zhong had never heard of such waves before—the most powerful energy he had encountered so far was nanomagnetic waves. To be honest, if it weren’t for the fact that the rifle didn’t fire nanomagnetic waves, Ye Zhong would have been certain that this energy weapon was designed by the Pilots Association. The two styles were just too similar. Even now, Ye Zhong still suspected that it might be some kind of advanced mecha weapon from the Pilots Association. However, considering Mu’s unclear relationship with the Pilots Association, Ye Zhong guessed that even if he asked Mu about it, the response would likely be: “Based on available data, origin unknown.”
The Guifa sniper rifle could also fire Guifa particle cannons. What did that make it? A sniper cannon? The thought of Mu wielding Guifa and firing a terrifyingly thick beam that precisely struck a critical spot on an enemy warship, destroying it with a single shot, made Ye Zhong feel nothing but pity for Mu’s future enemies.
In addition to the Guifa sniper rifle, Ye Zhong had also created a close-range rapid-fire device for Mu. In Ye Zhong’s opinion, given Mu’s performance against the Iron蟒蜥, it would have been perfectly suited for a close-combat weapon like a combat dagger. However, Mu seemed to prefer shooting, and Ye Zhong’s suggestion was met with opposition.
Following Mu’s advice, Ye Zhong also selected an extremely hard energy metal—red titanium—as the material to craft a dagger. The design of this dagger was identical to the one Gu Shaoze had given him, but its performance was in a completely different league. Red titanium was naturally red, and after energy-based modification, it took on a dark blood-like hue. The dagger had an exceptional appearance, with a faint red glow and a blade the color of blood, making it clear at a glance that it was no ordinary weapon. However, Ye Zhong found it somewhat troublesome. Although energy modification significantly enhanced the metal’s properties, the glow was impossible to conceal, making it far too conspicuous.
Finally, all the work was done, and Ye Zhong could finally relax.
Mu was very satisfied with Guifa, as evidenced by how he immediately slung it over his back. Once Mu was fully energized, he would emit a peculiar luster. Paired with the blue-white glow of Guifa on his back, Ye Zhong believed the combination would be incredibly intimidating on the battlefield.
Along the way, they encountered several groups of pirates. However, intimidated by the massive size of the Hua Hua Gong Zi, none dared to provoke them, and the journey remained smooth. The Pilots Association’s control over the Tapello Star Zone was clearly still unstable. Although Ye Zhong had been worried about encountering Pilots Association warships, the few times they did, the ships merely passed by the Hua Hua Gong Zi in a hurry, paying them no attention.
To guide Ye Zhong in creating Guifa, Mu had spent a significant amount of time, even encroaching on Shang’s allotted time. As a result, Shang would now have an extended period outside—an outcome negotiated between Mu and Shang. When Shang mentioned this, his tone was downright smug.
According to the original plan, it was now time to head to the Farr Star Zone to investigate the matter concerning Old Man. This issue had always been a lingering concern for Ye Zhong, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it this time. Shang, brandishing Guifa, even boasted about “killing anyone who stands in the way,” a sight that left Ye Zhong both amused and exasperated.
Mu had already charted the course for Ye Zhong. While Ye Zhong was engrossed in creating Guifa, the Hua Hua Gong Zi had not been idle but continued to follow the planned route. They had now reached the region of the Tapello Star Zone opposite the Farr Star Zone.
The Tapello Star Zone and the Farr Star Zone were not adjacent; instead, there was a vast, empty expanse between them, devoid of any stars. The only way to reach the Farr Star Zone was through a space jump, and Mu had even calculated the precise jump point.
The Farr Star Zone—the star zone Ye Zhong knew best—was just ahead. Gazing at the scattered stars outside the window, Ye Zhong’s thoughts drifted.
“I’m jumping…” Shang cheerfully issued the space jump command.