The name of the cannon had been chosen by Lin Yi after asking people online.
Apparently, the person who suggested it was some kind of ranger.
"Beauty!"
"This is pure beauty!"
"By Idrila above—this is the most beautiful weapon I have ever seen!"
Argenti exclaimed with shining eyes.
In the end, only thirteen heavily wounded Doomsday Beasts remained.
The reason the attack had been so devastating was simple:
There had been too many Legion creatures packed together.
If there had been only a single Doomsday Beast present, the electric arc would have merely tickled it.
But the Legion had advanced in dense formation.
Even the Doomsday Beasts clustered together like animals seeking warmth.
That tight formation created the perfect conditions for the Arc Cannon's chain reaction.
Argenti eagerly turned his attention to the next weapon.
"Heavenly Rainbow Pulse Beam."
He read the first line of the manual.
"Equipped with scope.
Can aim.
Single-shot.
Extremely powerful.
One-shot kill.
It's basically a sniper rifle."
Argenti blinked.
"…What does that mean?"
He continued reading.
"Use the telescope-looking thing to aim.
Then fire.
That's it.
Foolproof operation.
Auto-aim is heresy!"
The next line read:
"To fire: press the red button and shout 'Activate!'"
Argenti followed the instructions carefully.
He aimed at the Doomsday Beasts.
"Activate!"
The main cannon slowly opened and lifted.
However—
The angle seemed slightly off.
A beam of pure white light fired into space.
Straight toward the nearby star.
That's… wildly off target.
A crew member on Dongfang Qiqing's ship thought silently.
But the moment the beam touched the star—
The star's light dimmed.
The beam changed color.
Yellow.
Red.
Purple.
The color deepened rapidly—
Until it became white again.
But this time, the white light was blinding.
A massive arc-shaped light screen appeared, covering nearly half the star.
Now it was impossible to tell—
Whether the beam was being fired from the cannon into the star
Or from the star into the cannon.
Energy built up to an extreme level.
Suddenly—
The beam refracted from the cannon's barrel and struck the Doomsday Beasts.
The geometry formed an obtuse angle:
Star → Idrila's Rare Vessel → Doomsday Beasts.
But even that was not enough to release the accumulated energy.
So the excess energy burst outward in pulses.
Guided forward from the cannon.
Spreading into a massive cone-shaped wave.
Everything in its path—
Was disintegrated.
"Beauty!"
"This one is beautiful as well!"
Argenti's aesthetic standards were beginning to drift in a rather strange direction.
The beam and energy pulses continued for a long time.
Eventually—
The star itself appeared noticeably dimmer than before.
As for the Doomsday Beasts—
Not even ashes remained.
The shockwave shattered several nearby asteroids.
Actually—
Not shattered.
They had simply been melted entirely into lava.
Idrila's Rare Vessel itself was nearly destroyed.
Mounting a weapon equivalent to the main cannon of a star-destroyer onto such a small ship—
And firing it without the vessel disintegrating—
Was already proof of incredible engineering.
Argenti cleared his throat slightly.
"My friend… this is somewhat embarrassing, but…"
"May I ask whether the distress signal was successfully sent?"
A crew member replied awkwardly.
"We sent it… but the signal cut off before we received a response."
"The earlier lightning storm interfered heavily with transmission."
Now they were in trouble.
Just like the classic story of "the gourd brothers rescuing their grandfather one by one."
Now Idrila's Rare Vessel was disabled as well.
Argenti looked slightly embarrassed.
"Well… since we must wait anyway…"
"Perhaps I could share some stories about Beauty to pass the time?"
"Please don't!"
Someone immediately protested.
"Maybe we should look for anything on the ship that still works!"
"That cannon was ridiculous."
"The power was almost on par with a star-destroyer's main gun."
"How can such a tiny ship even support something like that?"
"Even if it used the nearby star to amplify the shot… how was the cannon even installed?"
Even Dongfang Qiqing found herself curious.
"Sir Knight, forgive the strange timing…"
"But I'm also curious."
"Where exactly was this cannon installed on your ship?"
"At Pier Point," Argenti answered.
"The scholar there was a refined individual."
"He listened attentively to stories of Beauty and yearned for the radiance of Lady Idrila."
Dongfang Qiqing frowned.
"The IPC has technology like that?"
"How come I've never heard of it?"
"Most of these weapons were gifts from a dear friend of mine."
"The installation itself was performed by scholars from the Intelligentsia Guild, who possess remarkable knowledge and wisdom."
"Wait… your friend…"
Dongfang Qiqing suddenly saw the name in the system log.
Her eyes widened.
"The Traveler?!"
"The Lone Star Traveler of the Genius Society — Lin Yi?!"
Argenti nodded calmly.
"Yes."
"We first met during the tragedy at Lindegano."
"Through various coincidences, we encountered each other several times afterward."
"In our interactions, I discovered his noble character."
"And thus we formed a deep friendship."
"I consider it a great honor."
After some casual conversation, the inspection of Idrila's Rare Vessel was finally complete.
Out of the entire ship—
Only three independent self-powered systems remained operational.
They had survived because they were isolated from the cannon's power surge.
Dongfang Qiqing looked at the system panel.
"What is this Decay Engine?"
"And this Hunt Beacon?"
Xiaoyou spoke on behalf of everyone.
"How are you saying 'I don't know' so calmly?"
Dongfang Qiqing added another complaint.
"And isn't this your ship?"
Argenti flipped through the small instruction booklet.
"Decay Engine is complicated.
Just remember it's for escaping when death is certain.
If you want details, check the electronic manual.
Or just use the preset program. Foolproof mode."
Another note read:
"Use it like warp.
Hunt Beacon is limited by external conditions and hard to control manually.
Just follow the preset coordinates."
Both instructions basically said the same thing:
Use the automated program.
Nearby, several IPC technicians were chatting about the cannon.
"Unbelievable."
"That cannon still works."
"Are genius inventions always this ridiculous?"
Another technician replied:
"Even if the cannon works, would you dare fire it again?"
"The cannon might survive."
"But the ship definitely won't."
"Well, it's not my decision."
"But if it were…"
"I'd fire another shot just to see the visual effects again."
Suddenly—
Three holographic choice screens appeared in front of everyone.
[Beauty! Fire again!]
[Curious? Fire again!]
[Aha wants to see!!! Fire again! 10…9…8…]
The third option even had a countdown timer.
A sharp-eyed employee shouted in panic.
"Joy!"
"It's the Aeon of Elation!"
"Oh my god!"
"Did we just encounter an Aeon?!"
"We're going to be rich!"
Another terrified employee groaned.
"You idiot!"
"Have you lost your mind?!"
"This isn't about money!"
"We're about to die!"
"You're the idiot!"
"Elation doesn't enjoy killing people!"
"What do you think Aha is?"
"They're not interested in such low-level entertainment!"
"And do you know how many credits we could earn from witnessing an Aeon?!"
"That's an astronomical fortune!"
"It doesn't matter how we encountered them or which Aeon it was!"
"If this is really Aha…"
"We'll never have to worry about money for the rest of our lives!"
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