Book 10: Chapter 16: Preparations

“Apostle 70053, you have entered Gospel World. Simultaneously triggered is this world’s Guidance Mission ‘Assist in Capturing Base X-352’.”

“Assist in Capturing Base X-352 (Lieutenant Level – Lieutenant Colonel Level): Assist the Gith in capturing outpost base Asteroid X-352.”

“Mission Hint: To counter the Jannamer invasion, the Gith have dispatched a fleet led by the Faith to the edge of the Scorpius Galaxy. Apostles are required to assist the Gith in achieving their objectives in their own ways.”

“Hint: After capturing Asteroid X-352, Apostles will receive intelligence regarding the Main Quest. Based on the Mission Completion Rate of the Guidance Mission, there is a chance to extend the stay duration.”

“Guidance Mission Reward: 15,000 Shattered Crystal, 100 Exchange Voucher, 7 Contribution Points. Mission Failure: Deduct 50 Soul Lifespan, with a probability of lowering mission evaluation and Soul Life Limit.”

Qin Lun scanned the Guidance Mission details in the Death Notice again. After some thought, he spoke, “Honestly, we don’t really have a choice. We all understand the content of the Guidance Mission well. Although the mission vaguely requires assistance to the Gith, it also has that hint about ‘updating the stay duration based on mission completion rate’. I believe this is Star Void indirectly warning us that we must actively participate in the Guidance Mission, otherwise things will become increasingly difficult later.”

“Sir, precisely because of that, shouldn’t we be even more cautious? The purpose of forming this team was to avoid pursuit by Apostles from the other two alliances. If we can avoid them, abandoning the Main Quest of this mission world doesn’t seem like such a terrible choice,” Balin asked calmly.

Hearing the expected reply, Qin Lun chuckled softly and shook his head. This Silver Team he was in consisted of elite Apostles who didn’t mind minor mission penalties. The Apostle teams from the other two alliances remained their biggest hidden worry, and this was the main reason they had differing opinions about the reconnaissance mission.

However, for Qin Lun, the opportunity for a clash with elites from the other alliances intrigued him. He wasn’t keen on giving up just like that.

Qin Lun carefully chose his words, “Your concerns are valid, but they are unnecessary at this stage. Although Gospel World lacks a fixed Historical Plot for reference, Star Void’s projections for this Guidance Mission shouldn’t deviate significantly yet.”

“Even though we’ve lost our equipment and skills, with the Bingren Mecha, our actual combat power has increased compared to our previous Law Bodies. And the mission difficulty, at most Lieutenant Colonel level, suggests that in Star Void’s projections, Asteroid X-352 isn’t a major base for the Gigius Insectoid; it might just be an outpost.”

“Furthermore, Captain Marx’s reconnaissance request is very broad. Perhaps after that exercise earlier, this is another probe into our strength. He didn’t even insist that we must enter Asteroid X-352’s atmosphere. But having an independent small warship and the autonomy to act is exactly what we need. So why not agree to it?”

Qin Lun’s words plunged everyone into thought. It wasn’t that they hadn’t considered this possibility. It was just that, unlike Qin Lun, the pursuit by the other two alliances made them overly sensitive, leading them to instinctively avoid risk.

Qin Lun exchanged a glance with Robin. The female Leader spoke coolly, “Qin Lun makes a good point. Also, we’ve been viewing our opponents as too powerful. This world’s combat system has blurred the lines between Apostle ranks, narrowing the gap between us and our pursuers significantly. If we just give up without even daring to test them, we’ll only make them look down on us.”

The team’s Leader and Deputy Leader (Robin and Qin Lun) singing the same tune finally dispelled some members’ worries and barely unified the group’s opinion. They decided to accept Captain Marx’s request to temporarily leave the Faith and head independently to Asteroid X-352.

“Robin, handling the communication with Marx falls to you. Make sure you secure that item for us!” Walking out of the meeting room, Qin Lun grinned at the female Leader and waved.

Robin shot Qin Lun another scornful glare, couldn’t be bothered to reply, and strode away in her high heels. Actually, these two had already agreed a couple of days ago to accept Captain Marx’s suggestion. They were just collaborating now to persuade the rest of the team. After all, they were temporary members; it wasn’t feasible to rule with an iron fist.

However, Robin’s glare wasn’t her being proud or tsundere now. It was because Qin Lun had presented them with a huge problem. Specifically, he had given her and Captain Marx a joint headache.

It was clear to everyone that the abilities Apostles had swapped into weren’t all suitable for piloting the Bingren Mechas. For example: Bobby’s particle bio-state, Sawa’s medical support capabilities, even Robin’s Spirit Summoner class weren’t suited to cosmic combat.

This meant they could only remain on the small warship afterwards, which felt like a waste given their strength.

Therefore, Qin Lun had a daring idea: since the swapped abilities of Descendant Apostles could be used on Jannamer biological tissue, why must they be limited to single-person mecha? Could the scope be expanded, using Jannamer biosamples to build entire small warships?

Bobby’s particle bio-state wasn’t suitable for mecha close combat, but applied to a small independent starship, its utility could be quite remarkable. Combined with Sawa and Robin’s abilities, it could greatly enhance the effectiveness of the independent vessel. Even if not used offensively, the logistical support of having their own ship would allow other Apostles’ Bingren Mechas to operate much more efficiently.

Yet, even a small independent ship is still a starship. Its size is in no way comparable to a mecha. Just constructing the outer hull using Angel Clones as the core and Jannamer bio-material as components would consume vast resources – likely exceeding the total spent on all ten of the Apostles’ current Full-Bio-Mechanism fighting suits.

No matter how Qin Lun crunched the numbers, he felt Captain Marx agreeing was improbable—maybe less than a 50% chance—it all rested on Robin’s negotiation skills.

When Qin Lun proposed this idea to Robin two days earlier, the beautiful Leader’s sense of grievance rose sharply. As a result, she still didn’t look favorably upon him now. From Robin’s perspective, Qin Lun should have brought this up much earlier, making it easier to plan. Bringing it up now was purely creating trouble for her.

The key was that Robin was a classic member of Lost, possessing an extremely strong sense of responsibility for her team. Especially after the disastrous blow the Lost Novices received in the Toril World, she had blamed herself deeply and even briefly lost confidence in leading.

In this regard, Qin Lun actually had some responsibility. If he hadn’t concealed his identity early in that mission, indirectly harming the Lost Novices several times, perhaps so many newbies wouldn’t have died.

Before this World, Kelly deliberately paired her with Qin Lun again, undoubtedly hoping she would get back up where she had fallen. Qin Lun saw the Jannamer Bio-Ship as something useful if they got it, but no big loss if they didn’t. Robin, however, saw it as essential equipment the team absolutely must acquire.

…

“Boss Qin Lun! Sir! How effective is this thing?” Sherlock shouted towards Qin Lun inside the testing chamber.

“Sherlock! You’re a true genius! This thing is fantastic, you actually managed to design it!” Qin Lun stared at the four spherical weapons orbiting the Bingren Mecha, feeling immensely satisfied.

Captain Marx remained hesitant about the bio-ship request. However, regarding the request for custom-built weapons and equipment for the Descendant Apostles, he had granted them all.

In fact, after the Faith’s Ordnance Officers carefully listened to the Apostles’ requirements, most designed corresponding gear within a day or two. Everything was tailor-made for the Apostles’ unique abilities.

Actually, it was quite simple. Apostles of Star Void generally disliked weapons with overly advanced technology due to their limited applicability. Especially Professional Apostles: Low Magic Worlds were one thing, but Mid-Magic Worlds were predominantly fantasy settings, with sci-fi worlds being rare.

Apostles favored World Treasures endowed with high spiritual energy the most, followed by magical gear. Tech equipment was least valued. Qin Lun’s team was no different; their original gear mostly had low technological content. Given the technological prowess of the Faith’s Ordnance Officers, designing such new weapons for them was trivial.

Maximizing the combat efficiency of these weapons was up to the Apostles. As long as the gear was compatible with their swapped abilities, these weapons—useless to ordinary Gith—could unleash formidable power in the Apostles’ hands. Exactly like the four spheres now orbiting the Seventeenth Fallen Angel.

The spherical weapons had front sections resembling the cross-section of a honeycomb, densely packed with hexagonal barrels that looked like extended-barrel Gatling guns. The four spheres formed a three-dimensional tetrahedral phased array, protecting the Seventeenth Fallen Angel at its core.

The weapons had two control methods. One utilized the Bingren Mecha’s magnetic field devices, making the spheres rotate around the mecha like satellites. This not only enabled rapid steel-pellet cannon fire but also allowed the conical triangular planes to form an APB force field plane, overlaying an additional protective layer on the mecha.

The second method relied on Qin Lun’s clone’s psychic power. In this mode, Qin Lun could deploy the tetrahedral phased array at long range, positioning it extremely close to the target for significantly increased firepower. This was countless times more powerful than the original Gauss Steel-Pellet Gun.

Naturally, this mode was utterly impossible for any other Gith. Apostles entering Gospel World had their equipment and skills swapped, but their base physical attributes were faithfully replicated in their clones. Further amplified and augmented by their Full-Bio-Mechanism suits, each one was essentially a superhuman.

During this period, the Faith’s Ordnance Officers, based on each Apostle’s unique abilities, created flight simulators, allowing the Apostles to train thoroughly without having to enter space.

After several days of simulation training, especially once equipped with their custom weapons, the Apostles finally revealed their true combat potential. If their combat power when encountering the “Black Crabs” was rated as 1, it was now easily a 7 or 8. Their fighting capacity hadn’t risen just a little; it had surged significantly.

This development brought another pleasant surprise: as their combat power grew, these elite Apostles regained their confidence. The fear of facing a direct confrontation with Apostles from other alliances vanished.