chapter 127
POV: FH
“Well done FH.” The captain managed to get out before he collapsed from exhaustion. No wait, not from exhaustion, he was going through a breakthrough, barely conscious. Hopefully, that won’t mess anything up.
“You are free to keep firing,” I answered back the queries some of the turrets had in regards to some of the monsters that were still in range. Some of them were eager enough to actually fire through the holes in our defences at the fleeing monsters.
All of them were quite upset about the situation we found ourselves in. I myself was also so, as the devastation of protecting me was a lot to process. So many lost just to keep me safe. I don’t think I have ever felt so loved yet also so sad about all the loss.
All the other crew members also finally gave in and allowed their breakthroughs to happen. We had lost just under 70% of our fighting force in this battle. It was a terrible loss, with many AIs being lost forever as their cores were damaged beyond repair.
It was difficult to function properly, as I was feeling so overwhelmed, not just because of what happened and how many sacrificed themselves, but also because every part of me now felt alive. I could now feel the wind instead of just sensing it, and the atmospheric pressure, which was also there, not just as a number on a screen. I could actually feel it.
We still needed to do a job, so with my subordinate AIs, we started to coordinate the rescue and collection efforts. We had little manpower compared to before, but it was still larger than most will ever have.
The captain and the crew members were prioritised first, brought onto the ship and placed on the top floor for safety. Only Lola’s old body was recoverable and savable; everyone else was a total loss as they were destroyed in the battle.
The cargo area quickly became a second factory, as I was using the surviving parts of damaged droids and drones to quickly assemble new ones to increase our workforce.
The nimbler drones were already working on collecting the cores the captain managed to loot, with a lot of them having turned into skill stones. There was also plenty of valuable currency on the ground, but the captain commanded before the fight even began to leave it there.
We didn’t have much materials left to patch the damaged walls, so we used some weaker materials. All of it was going to come down sooner rather than later anyways. Now that everything was more stable, it was time to focus back on myself.
It was so strange to feel so alive, but even during that battle Lola still helped me. The captain wanted the rest of the bio-cybernetic neural network to be used around the place where my core would start to grow. We didn't know the exact location back then and wouldn’t know it before I was unconscious.
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Lola managed to find where it started to grow. It was in one of the fuel tanks that was just below the power core. Not the best, but not the worst location either. Fortunately, we had used up enough fuel that we could pump that section empty.
All the rest of the neural net was dumped into there after a hole was cut into the floor. Thanks to it surrounding the core and it being connected to the rest of my network, it allowed me a lot better control over my mana.
The captain always could think ahead like this, fixing problems before they even properly began. Mana itself felt quite weird, but I could also feel how much I would need to have a full mana pool. That amount eclipsed all the other crew members and the captain combined.
It made sense because my core—the third one I had, because I had my AI personality core, my power core, and now my mana core—which was easily bigger than the captain’s entire torso. I think the size is also why I have so many skills slots.
The disadvantage of this became apparent as some of the monsters that were still lingering around or were too injured to run away were killed. They were too weak to give me anything to help advance my rank. I think I need something stronger, and most likely that meant having to kill monsters that were a lot bigger than the ones around us.
That big monster that was pushing its way into this cave before I awoke would probably be something I would need to kill to start advancing. That, however, didn’t matter right now; there was a lot to do and I had no idea when the next attack might come.
After a few hours I had the battle report ready, and one thing was clear: we definitely needed more heavy hitters. This could be fixed with captain’s hard light weaponry, but only the core crew members could use such weapons.
But was that really the case? All the AIs underneath me that were a part of my body seem to be able to control mana if I send them some. This would need further testing, but I think we could upgrade my weaponry to use hard light. That would increase our capabilities tremendously.
As this idea was shared between us, a lot of the AIs got pretty excited. A bunch of them really liked destroying stuff, and being able to do that better was something that they dreamed of.
The same thing didn't work on the drones and droids unfortunately, but I believe the problem was me not being able to send my mana without the physical connection so they could manipulate it themselves.
There must be some skill that would make that possible. Bob would almost definitely do his best to find such a skill. Then the captain would really be close to unstoppable.
Actually no, that's not true—the higher ranks were truly in a different realm—but with the advantages we have, we should be able to reach that point faster than most expected.
It didn’t take too much longer after that for the captain to wake up.
“FH, report?” were his first words, and I immediately sent the prepared report. This report wasn't the tens of hours of long combat report or the full situation report. This report would give him all the necessary and relevant information he needed at this moment.
“Excellent job as always, FH. Before we start, how are you feeling?”
The question caught me a bit off guard. How was I feeling?
“A bit overwhelmed. The sensations are more real than I expected them to be, but I’m managing well enough.”
“Then let’s not let your mind wander too much. Tell me, do any of the stealth or hiding skill stones call to you? Can we hide the fact that you are alive?”
“Yes, captain, and I believe a combination of three of them would achieve our goal. Invisible Mana, Hidden Presence, and One With the Background should be enough to hide from anyone.”
“I don’t remember Hidden Presence and One With the Background being on our list of skills.”
“You remember correctly, captain. These are some of the skills that we got during the battle. One of the skills was from a monster that almost got past Lola. That was a really close one, as it could have done quite a lot of damage.”
Captain winced at that. “This whole battle was way too close, but we managed to pull through and are a lot stronger because of it. Did we manage to get an inventory skill?”
“Yes, captain,” I answered back, pleased that I could do so.
“Can you absorb it?”
“Captain, no, that’s for you. It should help you a lot more.” The quiet stretched between us and I finally answered, “Yes, I can.”
“Start by absorbing the three skills to hide your true nature from the world. We will see what we will do after that.”
“Yes, captain.”
I watched as captain walked out of the ship, looking at the destruction with solemn eyes. Many were lost, and the captain was honoring their sacrifice, standing vigil. He gave no commands, but all of us stopped what we were doing joining in to honor our fallen.