I Killed the Hero and Took His Achievements-Chapter 40: I 3D Printed an Armada

[Location: Atlantis - The Star-Forge (Basement Sector)]

[Status: Industrial Revolution]

The Star-Forge wasn’t just a machine, but it was like a mechanical god. It filled the entire cave at the size of a small country.

Blue mana conduits pulsed like veins, feeding into a central jaw that looked starved enough to swallow a whole mountain. It hummed resonantly. It was a low, bass-heavy vibration that managed to rattle the fillings in my teeth.

"This is impossible," Sparky disbelieved while reading a datapad that was scrolling numbers quicker than the human eye could track.

"What is?" I probed while inspecting the control panel.

"The production timeline!" Sparky pointed his robotic claw at the screen. "Even with the Forge active, to build a Single Void-Cruiser... it takes 10,000 tons of refined Adamantite and three weeks of smelting time!"

"Three weeks?" I squeaked in disbelief.

"Yes! And that’s just a mere hull to produce! We’re building 500 ships, Boss! That’s like... calculating... thirty years of labor!"

Sol’s voice boomed aloud from the console speaker. "Estimated completion date: Thirty years. I suggest we take a nap."

I looked at the timer that was hovered in my vision. [Time Until Galactic Foreclosure: 358 Days.] "I don’t have thirty years," I said quietly. "I don’t have thirty minutes."

"But what about the materials!" Sparky said while pulling his hair. "We definitely need high-grade alloys! We can’t just throw random materials in there!"

I smiled maliciously. "Who said anything about them?" I raised my Left Hand. The Void Ring pulsed with a deep gluttonous purple light. Inside this ring was the corpse of a Level 80 Void Leviathan. Five kilometers of a scale. Bones made of condensed nebulas, and meat that radiated a pure and unstable energy. It was the most expensive material in the local galaxy.

"Open the vial," I ordered.

Sparky hesitated immensely. "Boss? You’re not thinking of—"

"OPEN IT."

Sparky smashed a lever.

The massive blast doors above the furnace slid wide open. A vortex of blue fire swirled inside. It was hot enough to melt a planet’s core.

"Inventory Discharge," I commanded.

WHOOSH.

Space twisted. The remains of the Void Leviathan poured out of my ring like a waterfall of gore and starlight. It crashed into the furnace.

BOOM.

The entire city of Atlantis shook vehemently.

"ERROR!" Sparky screamed aloud. "Material grade high! The system can’t process it!" The Forge screeched. It wasn’t designed to process dragon gods.

"Force it then," I grabbed the manual override lever. I poured my mana into the machine. "PROCESS IT!"

[Skill: System Override.]

[Target: The Star-Forge.]

[Action: Disable Safety Protocols.]

The red warning lights turned blue. The screeching turned into a purr, a very loud, very dangerous purr.

[System Notification]

[Raw Material Accepted: Void Dragon Bone.]

[Quality: EX.]

[Processing Time: Instant.]

The furnace roared. Then... the magic happened. VWOOM. A ship appeared from thin air. It wasn’t a clunky metal box. It was sleek, black, and organic. It looked like a shark made of obsidian and horror.

[Item Created: The Void-Shark Battleship.]

[Rank: S.]

[Durability: Indestructible (Self-Repairing).]

"One successfully completed," I grinned heinously.

VWOOM. A second ship suddenly appeared. VWOOM. VWOOM. VWOOM. It was like a photocopier on steroid.

Sparky’s jaw hit the floor in disbelief. "It’s... it’s not smelting at all! It’s restructuring the atomic structure! It’s converting the Dragon’s biomass into hull plating!"

Ahri stared at the production, her tails shuddered. "Are those... ships made of meats?"

"Bio-Steel," I corrected. "They heal when damaged, think of it like mitosis process of reparation but faster than a normal humankind, same thing. Also, they do bite." I watched the counter tick up.

[Ships Completed: 10...]

[Ships Completed: 50...]

[Ships Completed: 100...]

"THIS IS AESTHETICALLY PLEASING," Sol commented gaudily. "The black hulls successfully match my soul."

"Seraphina," I called out.

The Saintess was praying in the corner who was trying to purify the surrounding that smelled like a scorching dragon. "Yes, Boss?"

"Bless the production."

"Excuse me?"

"I want every single bullet, every single bolt, and every single toilet seat on those ships to be blessed."

Seraphina sighed, she then raised her staff. [Skill: Mass Blessing.] A golden smog coated the whole black ships entirely.

Now they earned the merit to be named as Holy Void Ships.

[System Alert: High-Efficiency Production Benefit!]

[Skill: Chaos Broker - Passive Triggered.]

[Description: ’Bulk Buy’. Since you produced >100 units, material cost is refunded by 10%.]

A pile of Leviathan scales appeared in my inventory. "Infinite glitch," I chuckled. "I love the class I chose." I walked to the viewport that was overlooking the hangar bay.

In less than an hour, the hangar was full. 500 ships. They hovered inaudibly, their engines were glowing with the purple light of the Void Leviathan’s soul. It wasn’t just a fleet, but it was like an extinction calamity.

"What do we call them as a fleet?" Sylvia asked while stepping up beside me. She had reverted to her human form and was wearing a lab coat over her dragon scale armor, a look which I surprisingly appreciated.

I looked at the ships, then my bank account. [Current Gold: 60 Billion.] "The Debt Collectors," I said wickedly.

Sparky climbed up the ladder to the control deck. "Boss! We need Command AI to be installed! But we don’t have enough some processing power to coordinate 500 ships at the same time!"

"We have Sol," I said wickedly.

"I DEFINITELY REFUSE," Sol interjected vociferously. "I AM AN AI, NOT A CALL CENTER MANAGER."

"I’ll give you full access to the planetary computer network," I bribed him. "Unrestricted fully, and no parental controls."

Sol halted a second. "Deal! Uploading conscious data to the fleet hive-mind right away!"

The ships’ lights turned from purple to blue. They synced up successfully. They moved as an organism. "Fleet status: Online," Sol announced boastfully.

"I have successfully finished downloading 400 terabytes data of feline videos to the central processing unit. The productivity has definitely increased by at least 200%."

"Whatever works I guess," I shrugged.

BOOM. A massive tremor shook the whole facility.

"What was that?" Ahri drew her daggers in response. "Did the Forge explode?"

"No," Sparky denied while checking the sensors. "It’s the blast doors. Someone is trying to breach the outer perimeter."

"Is it the monsters?" Seraphina asked nervously.

"No," I smiled wickedly. "It’s the landlords."

I checked the high-definition surveillance feed. Outside the massive gate of the basement, an army had gathered. Not monsters. But Merfolk. Thousands of them. Wearing armor made of coral and holding spears made of hardened pearls.

Leading them was a woman. She rode a chariot pulled by four Seahorses. She wore a crown of sea shells and a dress that was made of weaving water. She had blue skin, green hair, and eyes that looked like they wanted to speak to the leader.

[Target: Princess Marina.]

[Title: The Last Imperial Heiress of Atlantis.]

[Level: 45 (Hydro-Mage).]

[Attitude: Hostile/Karen.]

"OPEN THIS GATE!" Marina screamed deafeningly, her voice was amplified by water magic. "By the order of the crown, I demand you cease this operation!"

I turned to my crew. "It seems we have a noise complaint." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Do we exterminate them?" Sylvia asked, her hand already glowing with ice magic.

"No," I straightened my attire. "Killing royalty is real messy. It creates power conflict and civil wars."

"So what do we do?"

I walked to the elevator. "We buy them," I said menacingly.

————————————————————

[Location: Outside the Basement Gate]

The massive gate screeched open. Steam poured out. Princess Marina commanded her troops to hold. "Ready your spears! The Surface Demons emerge!"

I walked out of the smoke. I wasn’t holding a weapon, but I was holding a clipboard. Behind me, the shadows of 500 warships loomed in the dark hangar, their engines humming with the sound of pure horror.

Marina faltered as she looked at the ships. She felt the aura of the terrifying mythical creature that were emanating from them. She gulped hard. "I... I am Princess Marina of Atlantis!" she stuttered while trying to regain her composure. "You are illegally occupying a Imperial Heritage Site! This factory is property of the Throne!"

I looked at her, then her army. They were malnourished. Their armor was cracked, and their spears were aged. "Princess," I said mockingly. "Nice chariot you ride. Is that an old model? A bit rusty on the axle."

"Silence!" Marina pointed her staff at me. "Surrender the facility and pay the fine of 1,000,000 Gold, or else we will execute you where you stand!"

I laughed maniacally. "A fine? You want to talk about business?" I flipped a page on my clipboard. "According to the Bank of Zimara..." I began to read the page. "Your father, Emperor Poseidon (The Vessel), took out a loan of 500 Billion Gold three hundred years ago to build the City Bubble."

Marina froze. "L-Lies! The bubble was a gift from the Monarch!"

"It was a construction project," I corrected her. "And the interest rate was variable."

I tapped the paper. "You haven’t made a payment in 200 years. With compound interest, late fees, service fees, and inflation adjustment..." I looked her dead in the eye. "You owe me the entire ocean of this planet."

"That’s... that’s impossible!" Marina shrieked piercingly. "I don’t owe you anything! Who are you?!"

"Well, I bought the debt," I grinned wickedly. I activated my skill: [The Chaos Broker]. A golden chain suddenly materialized in the air. It connected my chest to hers.

[System Judgment]

[Debtor Identified: The Crown of Atlantis.]

[Creditor: Avarice Inc.]

[Default Status: Confirmed.]

"This city is foreclosed, Princess," I stepped closer to her. The Imperial Guards backed away. They could feel the weight of the System.

"Your palace? Mine. Your army? Mine. The clothes on your body?" I looked her up and down maliciously. "Mine."

Marina was shaking profusely. Tears welled up in her eyes. "You... you can’t do this! My people... we will have nowhere to go!"

"I’m not evicting you all," I said gently. I reached out a hand. "I’m hiring you."

Marina blinked. "What?"

"I need a manager for this sector. Someone who knows the locals. Someone with... imperial authority." I pulled a contract from my inventory. "Sign this. You become my subordinate.

In exchange, I wipe the debt. I feed your people and I upgrade this slum into a metropolis. If you refuse..." I pointed back at the fleet of 500 Void Ships. "I will flatten this city to build a parking lot."

Marina looked at the contract.

[Employment Contract: Executive Secretary.]

[Salary: 10,000 Gold/Month.]

[Duties: Absolute Obedience.]

She looked at her malnourished soldiers, then the massive cannons pointed directly at her face. She dropped her staff in submission. She fell to her knees. "I... I accept."

[System Notification]

[New Asset Acquired: Princess Marina.]

[Faction ’Atlantis’ has been absorbed into ’Avarice Inc’.]

I reached down and lifted her chin. She was blushing with shame and... something else? Greed? "Welcome to the team, Princess," I whispered.

Suddenly, a siren blasted from the ship. WEE-WOO. WEE-WOO.

Sparky’s voice screamed noisily over the comms. "BOSS! WE HAVE AN ISSUE!"

"What now? I just acquired a pretty mermaid!"

"The noise! The vibration from the production line! It traveled through the trench!"

I felt the ground shake vehemently. It wasn’t an earthquake, but it was something massive moving below us. "Level 85! Massive biological signature!" Sparky roared. ROAAAAAR. A sound that wasn’t heard but felt in the bones erupted from the abyss outside the city.

Giant tentacles, thick as skyscrapers, wrapped around the shield. The shield cracked. CRACK. Water began to barge in.

[World Boss: The Kraken Matriarch.]

[Status: Hangry.]

I sighed deeply. "Can’t a man commit hostile corporate takeovers in peace at least?" I looked at the frightened Princess. "Marina."

"Y-Yes, Master?"

"Hold my clipboard." I drew the Soul-Eater’s Fang. "We’re having many kinds of calamari dishes for dinner."