Chapter 147: Overlord of the Seas

Cloud Firmament Hotel, the banquet hall on the 23rd floor was resplendent and magnificent.

An NPC lady pushed open the main doors of the banquet hall, and Wu Hua strode inside. He had caught a glimpse of this place once before; it belonged to that category of multi-functional banquet halls, which, in addition to complete and sophisticated amenities, was specifically outfitted as a gathering venue for society's upper crust.

Although Wu Hua was still dressed in his plain civilian garb of a cloth vest, he was no longer the person he used to be. As he walked in, everyone present cast gazes of awe and respect toward him. Every single person stood up, including Mr. Iron.

Wu Hua was surprised to find that almost all the top-tier experts of the Southern District were gathered in the banquet hall today: Azure Firmament and her group of seven women, Mr. Iron, Tina, Boundless Sky, Bilow, the couple 1860, Squid, Shoot You Without Guilt, Uglily Handsome, Motorola, Flying MM, Tuber, and Finish It were all present, even Night Fragrance had hurried over, along with a few handsome men and stunning women he did not recognize.

Wu Hua could not help laughing: "Judging by this lineup, has some major event happened again?"

Mr. Iron patted him on the shoulder affectionately: "Brother, let me introduce you. This is the second-in-command of Sky Universe Corporation, Lin Er of Boundless Sky."

A stylishly and avant-garde dressed beauty stood up and nodded toward Wu Hua: "Hello."

Wu Hua found this woman to be astonishingly beautiful as well, giving off a fresh and ethereal vibe.

"This is Blood-Shattering Boundless Sky," Mr. Iron continued to introduce.

This was a red-faced, burly man with a very fierce build. Wu Hua estimated that he was ten to one in a hundred a warrior. The people before him were dressed in suits and ties, looking debonair. Azure Firmament and Night Fragrance were sitting on the sofa wearing sky-blue professional skirt suits, and actually even wearing black fishnet stockings, which caused Wu Hua to steal a few extra glances, making Night Fragrance chuckle involuntarily.

Mr. Iron smiled and said, "My friends, I believe everyone here knows each other, or at least has heard of one another. I also know that a few friends might still have some minor misunderstandings among yourselves. Today, since our friends from the Southern District can gather together under one roof, I hope those friends with misunderstandings can set aside their past grievances for the sake of old Iron here."

As soon as he said this, Wu Hua sensed that another major quest was coming. Moreover, this quest might be even more difficult than the previous ones. Mr. Iron gathering so many experts together this time was very likely an operation to face external threats unitedly.

Mr. Iron said, "President Lan, you should speak first."

Azure Firmament stood up and first glanced at the three leaders of Sky Universe Corporation: "My friends, whatever offenses there were in the past, little Lan apologizes here and now. I am truly sorry."

Boundless Sky chuckled: "President Lan is too polite. Everyone is just trying to make a living; there is no need to be so rigid."

Azure Firmament said in a deep voice to Fairy of Snowy Night: "Number Five, go and apologize to the Mad Sniper."

Fairy of Snowy Night was actually quite well-behaved this time. She obediently walked up to Wu Hua: "Brother Bao, I hope you won't hold past matters against me. I am here to say sorry to you." Wu Hua was secretly astonished. He had slaughtered the people of Azure Corporation, yet they were still offering apologies. This was simply too defying of conventional logic.

Wu Hua waved his hand dismissively: "Forget it, why bring up those old things? Let's get straight to the point."

Azure Firmament nodded, turned around, and said, "Bring over the laptops."

Dune Witch and Moonshadow Autumn Yarn each carried a wide-screen laptop forward and placed them on the central coffee table.

Azure Firmament said, "Please take a look at the map first."

The screen lit up, presenting the large map of the Radiant Federation. The entire continental landmass appeared in the shape of a rhombus, and the rhombus was evenly divided into five parts.

Moonshadow Autumn Yarn pointed to a flashing red dot map marker on the southernmost coast and said, "Everyone, this is our Dream Star City."

Wu Hua was taken aback. What surprised him was not the vast territory of the Radiant Federation, but rather that this rhombic landmass was surrounded by the sea on all four sides. Beyond that lay nothing but pitch-black areas, which meant the outer regions were entirely uncharted territories. What was even more mysterious was that this was not even the full map of the entire planet.

In fact, everyone present knew that Star Wars was a game sweeping the globe with billions of players. Official disclosures indicated that each country's region had its corresponding federation and continent. Because Chinese players were the most numerous, they were divided into the Radiant Federation and the Divine Federation. Although the map had not yet been fully explored and displayed, everyone knew through the forums that the Divine Federation was located in the eastern ocean. As for how far apart they were, that remained an unknown.

Boundless Sky asked with a half-smile: "Does President Lan mean to go and stir up some action out on the ocean?"

Azure Firmament nodded and said, "During the last Path of Survival quest, the Radiant Federation and the Divine Federation crossed paths on an isolated island in the ocean. Unfortunately, the underwater tunnel was closed by the system after the quest ended, making travel impossible in the short term."

Wu Hua suddenly asked, "Could it be that Azure Corporation has already developed an aircraft carrier?"

Azure Firmament praised admiringly, "An aircraft carrier still takes time, but our company has already developed a large warship."

When she said this, everyone was shaken.

Azure Corporation indeed possessed immense strength to have actually built such a thing; one had to tip their hat in respect.

Dune Witch operated the computer, and a warship blueprint appeared on the screen: "Shark-class large cruiser, manufacturing was fully completed three days ago. The hull length is 280 meters, hull width 30 meters, displacement 22,000 tons, speed 78 knots. The entire hull is cast from a sixteen-element alloy armor refined from S-grade crystals and advanced plastics, with a crew complement of 300. The weapons system configuration includes eight front and rear 100mm naval guns and flying-shark rocket-assisted torpedoes, among various other weapons, complete with shipboard radar, reconnaissance radar, meteorological radar, and sonar sensors. The entire cruiser can carry six helicopters..."

As she slowly introduced it, everyone present felt their blood boiling. As more and more players increased their levels in Star Wars, player intelligence began to manifest its power. Judging by the strength of the major organizations in the Southern District of the Radiant Federation at present, while this cruiser might be a bit old-fashioned, it was undoubtedly a well-deserved "overlord of the seas."

Wu Hua pondered and said, "Based on my understanding of warships, why doesn't your company's cruiser feature missile configurations?"

Dune Witch's face flushed slightly.

Azure Firmament stepped forward and said, "This is truly a helpless matter. In order to build this warship, our company has already invested tremendous financial and material resources. This is already the limit at the current stage, and I believe everyone can understand."

Far from just understanding, the crowd was practically in awe. Just how much money must it have taken to build such a massive behemoth, and how many outstanding mechanics had to be concentrated to achieve it?

Wu Hua also sighed inwardly. If Azure Corporation were to use this contraption against him, he would truly be blasted into smithereens.

Azure Firmament continued, "Therefore, the biggest problem for this warship at present is the lack of escort units." Having said that, she glanced at Mr. Iron.

Mr. Iron smiled and said, "Everyone, recently our company has acquired fifth-generation technological energy. I would like to express my gratitude here to Azure Corporation and all our friends for their cooperation. Our company has consequently developed a new product as well. Xiao Fei, go up and demonstrate it for our friends."

Flying MM also stepped forward, operating the laptop rapidly. Model blueprints quickly appeared on the screen as well, and then everyone dropped their jaws in shock. Following that, Wu Hua mentally cursed himself for taking such a huge loss:

"Selling that bottle of technological energy to Mr. Iron for just 1.1 million credits was a colossal failure! Qimen Corporation actually managed to build such a powerful guy with it. But there's no helping it; that bottle of my energy was only used to build a new gun, new bullets, and Yiyi's equipment. The gap between a large corporation and an individual is still huge. Making a profit at all is already pretty good; looking on the bright side is the ultimate truth," Wu Hua comforted himself.