You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

Like the crew, he didn't know what had happened. He only remembered that he was looking at the clearly visible Nichirin from afar, looking like he was about to die... and when he opened his eyes, he was here!

"Don't be so serious, everyone."

Iori spoke, drawing his attention back to him. Then, raising an eyebrow, she smiled smugly and said, "At least I won't eat you like insects, so don't worry."

"Haha~"

"Well, actually, the [Bronze Clan] doesn't actually eat humans~"

The crowd burst into laughter, their tense shoulders and necks relaxing slightly. One of the red-haired female technicians looked around, blinked, and suddenly asked, "Where are we going next?"

"..."

Hundreds of crew members fell silent, looking at each other, none of them knowing what to do next.

"There shouldn't be any enemies on this planet for the time being, so you can stay here and rest for a while. As for the future... your spaceship wasn't destroyed, and it's with me now. Once you're ready to set off again, I'll give it to you..."

Iori chuckled softly, making no attempt to hide anything, and spoke directly.

"I'm very interested in interstellar travel. Could I study it for a while?"

Let the crystal fragments slip through your fingers; as they fall into the clouds, they suddenly explode like tiny fireworks.

Captain Reynolds, who was about to press for answers, opened his mouth but instinctively knew that handing over the warship, especially the central computer, to others was fatal—they were a bunch of pirates, and the computer contained records of illegal transactions.

But then he suddenly remembered what had happened before, and subconsciously touched the golden railing. He suddenly realized how foolish his idea was and couldn't help but laugh at himself.

He finally buttoned up his clothes one by one, like a soldier, and then bowed deeply to Iori.

"I have no way to thank you, Your Excellency."

……

Planetary synchronous orbit, Federation Seventeenth Fleet;

"Energy readings have been compared, showing a similarity of 11.7% with the gold group."

The staff officer in the holographic projection said in a trembling voice, "The wavebands are completely mismatched, which basically confirms that it is not a creation of the [Golden Race]. But its energy level... is a hundred times that of a warship's main gun."

"hundred times?"

A seemingly composed middle-aged man, with an incredibly complex gaze, repeatedly reviewed all the information he had collected. From energy wave patterns to physical appearance, everything he had discovered was different from the technological systems of the [Golden Race] and even all known races—the [Golden Race] did not actually decorate everything with gold.

But to say it's a completely new technology, from an unknown race... its expressiveness is simply too astonishing.

Destroying a Zerg hive is still within our comprehension, but humanity also possesses civilization-annihilating weapons, capable of destroying planets at any cost, and the Silver Race is no exception. Through years of war experience, humanity has reached an astonishing level in terms of firepower alone.

However, what the captain couldn't understand was that with such a massive amount of energy poured down... the planet only suffered damage to its continental shelf, with a destruction range similar to that of an asteroid collision, at most reaching the level of ecological destruction.

This is like using a Barrett rifle to shoot someone, but the target only suffers minor injuries, without even losing a hand or foot—it's illogical!

This at least demonstrates that the ancient sailing ship-style warship possesses a level of subtle control over energy far superior to human civilization; the effortless control it exhibits is something even the Silver Clan would find difficult to achieve.

"Don't rashly release surveillance satellites. They will be detected. If we provoke a major enemy for humanity, the consequences will be beyond what you and I can bear."

"Yes...but Sergeant Johnson sent a communication."

"what?"

The captain turned around in astonishment, "Is he still alive?"

"Yes, he has now been transferred to that golden warship... The owner of the warship has not restricted the personal freedom of him and the other survivors."

"Did they specifically save those pirates and our people?"

The captain paused for a moment, then fell into deep thought.

"What kind of race would do such a thing?"

"Vitality signs clearly indicate human, sir!"

"Humanity?!"

The fleet commander stared at the Egyptian-style golden barge on the observation screen, his fingernails digging into his palms, feeling as if his heart was about to stop—according to the vital signs monitor on his uniform, he was indeed experiencing that symptom.

"Humans... how could this be... could the prophecy be true?"

The commander suddenly turned around: "Send all information to the sector admiral... no, to the Supreme Council. Initiate the first contact protocol now, and raise the channel encryption level to S-level."

Also, prepare my shuttle.

"What! You want to do it yourself..."

"A being capable of vaporizing the Bronze Age mothership with a single ship deserves any form of courtesy—shouldn't we at least thank the soldiers who saved us?"

"That shouldn't be your responsibility to negotiate; we have experts who specialize in these kinds of cases..."

"No more words!"

The captain, who was middle-aged and even had quite a few gray hairs, was feeling an unprecedented excitement, with energy comparable to that of a young man.

"This could be a turning point in history, a momentous event that will be recorded in human history, even comparable to Gagarin's entry into space... First Mate, I'm entrusting you with full responsibility from now on. I'm going there myself!"

……

The Golden Boat floated freely in the atmosphere, just like a real sail. It didn't look like a spaceship at all. The people who were casually rescued by Iori didn't dare to explore it at will, and only moved around on the deck and upper level.

Although Iori told them not to be shy, they still cautiously avoided going to the lower levels.

In the space age, even ordinary people know the importance of "discipline," especially in interstellar travel, where the navigation laws of the old Earth era are used. Every ship is a mobile territory, and the captain, while not quite a king, at least has absolute authority on the ship.

According to the consensus among the stars on rescuing refugees, if they are rescued by a military ship, they cannot move around freely, and even leaving their rooms requires special permission.

...Of course, they had no way of knowing whether the ship was military or not.

Logically, with such powerful firepower, it must be a warship, but from their professional perspective, they couldn't find any relevant traces at all!

Deck, mast, statues, fountains... This doesn't look like a spaceship at all; it's more like a palace built on a ship!

Although it's somewhat unbelievable, some people still managed to express their true thoughts:

"It's like something out of a myth... I've seen similar reliefs in my ancient art history class..."

"Are you kidding me?"

Someone immediately retorted: "Human nation warships couldn't be like that; I didn't even see a shielding field!"

Do you know we're tens of thousands of meters in the air? But if you feel it, the wind speed and oxygen content are almost the same as on the ground. Generally speaking, this requires an extremely complex environmental reproduction system, but do you see anything like that around you?

In my opinion, this isn't science, it's magic!

"So the one who saved us must be a magician? Hehe~"

"Who knows... To a backward civilization, isn't the technology of an advanced civilization no different from magic?"

Everyone nodded in unison: humanity has a profound understanding of this.

When the Bronze Race attacked, the old Earth civilization was powerless to resist, and the Bronze Race was merely a vassal army of the Silver Race.

As for the Silver Clan... even a century from now, humanity has no chance of winning.

Otherwise, why believe in some vague prophecy and let that respected princess embark on an expedition...?

"correct!"

At that moment, someone had the same thought as the captain.

"Could this be related to the prophecy of the Golden Clan?"

"prophecy?"

"That's it—'Iron Race, set out, for here lies your chosen one'—according to the prophecy, before the Gold Race left this universe, they left us with hope of resisting the Silver Race!"

"Could it be... no way!"

……

Iori has no connection to the Golden Clan; the prophesied child is someone else entirely.

However, he doesn't care how he is viewed. Right now, he is analyzing the pirate ship Epimetheus with Athena in the world of "The Map of Mountains and Rivers".

Although Iori has the ability to survive in space, it is clear that wandering alone and starship travel are completely different concepts. Which boy hasn't fantasized about piloting a giant battleship or a cool Gundam?

He was very interested in the "Star Path" and engine technology in this worldview, and even wanted to modify his Golden Ark—this power was wide-area annihilation type, and in terms of speed alone, it was not even as fast as some aircraft.

'Finally, the day has come when you have to beg me!'

The slender, aloof, silver-haired goddess glanced at Iori, who was fiddling with the engine, and a playful smile appeared on her lips.

It's rare to encounter a field that Iori is interested in but lacks the relevant technical expertise in. As the goddess of wisdom, she can use the "brain in a vat" to conduct in-depth analysis, much faster than Iori. She has already figured out how to control this man!

"Cough cough~"

Athena coughed lightly and said leisurely, "This is different from the Greek machine gods of Chaldea. It is a completely technological product. You have never seen anything like it before, have you?"

The engine was damaged in the previous vibrations and now won't start. How can you repair the intricate electronic circuitry down to the nanometer level with just your hands?

"Uh-huh!"

Iori buried herself in her work, humming a couple of times casually.

"As expected... But even so, this is still within the realm of 'human intelligence,' and the goddess's power is invincible. As long as you're willing to ask me, it's not impossible—"

Bang!Bang!

Iori suddenly kicked it twice, creating a resounding vibration. The previously dim monitor and energy pipes immediately lit up, and the entire engine section began to operate.

"Phew! I knew this would work!"

Iori laughed happily, then turned to look at her servant.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

Athena: "..."

That damn idealist bastard!

Chapter 514 From now on, I will become a blacksmith.

When Iori emerged from the small world, she brought food and water to the survivors. In the eyes of others, Iori, who could conjure up a complete set of tables, chairs and food with just a wave of her hand, was practically a god.

They should be provided with rooms, but thankfully the Golden Ship has plenty of space, enough for their daily needs. After all, we're borrowing their warship, so consider it rent—Iori thought to himself.

Just as he was about to announce something to everyone, the sergeant he had casually rescued approached, saluted, and then relayed the news from the Federation fleet:

Captain Augustus wanted to personally visit the owner of the Golden Boat and express his gratitude for the rescue of the sergeant.

Iori naturally had no objections; he also wanted to see how the official forces of this world would treat him.

...When the shuttle landed on the deck of the Golden Boat, Captain Augustus took a deep breath, straightened the sashes and medals on his uniform, and then solemnly opened the hatch and walked down the ladder. Behind him were four armed guards, but out of respect, all automatic weapons were locked and put into standby mode.

"It's this person..."

He looked at the young man a hundred meters away, who was smiling and waiting for visitors, and found it hard to connect him with the person who could evaporate an insect nest with a wave of his hand.

Even though they were far apart, he was still touched by that gentle expression and couldn't help but relax. If before he felt like an investigator encountering something indescribable, now he felt like a local official receiving the emperor on his southern tour.

—I was nervous, but I was confident.

After all, Iori is someone you can communicate with, unlike the expressionless [Silver Clan].

"Nice to meet you. I am Captain Augustus of the Seventh Fleet."

He bowed slightly and then extended his hand, saying, "Thank you for your help earlier. Otherwise, with our firepower, it would have been difficult to destroy this anthill."

"It's nothing. Although I'm not from the same hometown as you, I'm still a human being, so it's natural for me to stand with my fellow countrymen when something like this happens."

Iori has always been carefree and did not adhere to formalities or put on airs. Instead, she gently asked the captain and his guards to sit down, and the rescued soldier also consciously returned to his unit.

"Please take a seat."

Iori raised her hand in a gesture, and golden particles gathered on the deck, transforming into chairs and a parasol, turning the place into a temporary open-air café.

The tea set appeared automatically. Iori snapped her fingers, and the space opened up automatically, from which various kinds of fine wines slowly floated out, including exquisitely packaged high-end champagne and otherworldly crystal bottles, all of which landed steadily on the table.

"I can hold my liquor pretty well, but it seems you're not really here as guests, so please make yourselves at home."

Iori smiled casually.

These items might be quite expensive in the secular world, but they are only considered average in Iori's collection, just right for entertaining guests she doesn't know very well.

He opened a bottle of pink beverage that emitted a sweet aroma, but it was not alcohol.

"Would you like to try some pomegranate juice? The ingredients are said to grow in Hades's garden."

Hearing these suspicious words, the guards became noticeably more cautious, constantly signaling to their superior with their eyes.