Chapter 256: City of Sin
Paradise Island is located on an asteroid with a diameter of 750 kilometers. Due to its large size, the celestial body has coalesced into a perfect sphere under its own gravity.
Humans of the golden age hollowed out the asteroid's hot core, then allowed the remaining parts to cool down, building various mining facilities within to excavate precious zero element.
First-time visitors to this place are often amazed by the unique structure of the Paradise Island star system.
This asteroid and the wormhole leading to it form a binary star system, revolving around each other at a distance of less than 1,000 kilometers, far less than the effective range of laser and kinetic weapons.
This allowed Paradise Island to build defensive facilities on the asteroid's surface, ensuring that all ships entering and exiting the wormhole Jump Point were constantly under the 'protection' of its gunfire, making it a formidable fortress itself. Over 300 years, the fortress was continuously managed, and defensive facilities were constantly added, eventually reaching an astonishing number.
Because of this, most Star Alliance travelers believe Paradise Island is the safest trade port, if not the safest, an 'Urban Desire of the Universe' that is absolutely impossible to conquer.
The asteroid itself, which carries the space station and defensive facilities, is also a great wonder in the universe.
Even before the apocalypse, it had already been mined to the point of being riddled with holes. The exits of the 4 funnel-shaped main mining tunnels were all over 100 kilometers wide, leading directly to the asteroid's core, allowing the space station deep inside to be seen directly from orbit, as if the asteroid had a skylight.
Narrower tunnels, moreover, were densely spread like a spiderweb, and no one could count how many there truly were.
The asteroid's core is a flat mining cavern space with a diameter of tens of kilometers. Paradise Island used exclusive technology to create artificial gravity here, thus dividing the space station into two parts.
The lower part, with gravity and air, is a bustling city built within the various mining-formed abysses, where wealth and poverty coexist, filled with pleasure, violence, and crime.
The upper part, the zero-gravity vacuum zone, is the port.
Various docks, storage facilities, and shipyards are densely built on the cave walls, or even suspended upside down from the cave ceiling. Countless ships come and go, occasionally sweeping close to the super-tall buildings in the city below, creating a magical and shocking scene.
Prime Minister Nadi's yacht finally docked on the middle terrace of a giant Gothic building named 'Tower of Original Sin'.
This is a helipad exclusively for premium customers.
Nadi took a few deep breaths, then opened the cabin door and stepped off the yacht.
At that moment, he heard gunshots, shouts, and curses constantly coming from the streets several hundred meters below.
Nadi entered the Tower of Original Sin and, led by a waiter, took an elevator to the upper levels of the building.
Paradise Island is a free trade port, and even more so, a criminal empire that adheres to a mafia oligarchy and anarchist tendencies. The Tower of Original Sin, located in the city center, can barely be considered its administrative center.
Of course, its more important designation is a 'paradise of pleasure' meticulously crafted for all the city's crime lords.
"Please follow me, Prime Minister, the elders are already waiting for you."
The waiter led Nadi through the 'Hall of Joy', which is the city's top entertainment venue.
Along the way, Nadi admired many scenes not seen elsewhere.
He saw a gladiatorial arena that looked like a sacrificial pit.
Inside, a group of beautiful female slaves, abducted from who knows where, wore revealing clothing, holding various cold weapons, trembling as they were forced to challenge two muscular, chainsaw-wielding mutant strongmen.
The losers were either dismembered on the spot or suffered hours of torment amidst the wild laughter of the surrounding audience, with a tragic death as the inevitable outcome.
The ground of the arena was almost completely stained red.
On the other side, three replica doll-like delicate young girls were suspended by silk ribbons above a red carpet stage.
To satisfy certain perversions, their mouths were gagged, their prosthetic limbs removed, and their eyes were filled with tears.
In the distance, a large man with lewd eyes continuously swayed his hips amidst the screams of men and women below the stage.
"After you finish your business, Prime Minister, you are welcome to stay here and enjoy yourself for a few more days."
The waiter understood Nadi's gaze, which was full of primal desire, and suggested with a smile.
"We will upgrade your 'Hall of Joy' membership level for free based on the contract amount you finalize, unlocking more special services."
"That's truly wonderful!!!"
After taking another, heavily guarded private elevator, Nadi arrived at the circular hall at the top of the tower and met with the seven elders who ruled the city.
The seven sat in their respective chairs and did not rise when they saw Nadi.
It is said that these seven elders, in addition to being strong-willed and ruthless, also possessed noble family backgrounds, with their bloodlines traceable to the continent where the industrial revolution first began on Earth.
It was precisely because of this historical origin that the seven adopted codenames based on the ancient 'Seven Deadly Sins' legend from that continent, and they were quite proud of it, almost never using their real names anymore.
"I'm here to buy a special-grade warship! Name your price!"
The disguised Nadi threw off his hood, getting straight to the point, his voice loud, trying his best to maintain his dignity as the Prime Minister of a 'great nation'.
"Misunderstanding! You've misunderstood!"
Arrogance, sitting cross-legged in the middle of the seven, spoke with a smile.
"The warship rental service we provide is not for sale! Did you mishear?"
"What?! But you clearly said 'for sale' in the superluminal communication before!"
"Before was before, now is now."
"Prime Minister Nadi, as the saying goes, it's better to buy than to build, and better to rent than to buy," Sloth said in a gloomy tone, "I thought you Galan would understand this simple truth best."
"You—you're going too far!"
Nadi was asking for a favor and was on someone else's territory without bodyguards, so he naturally dared not vent his anger.
And this was Paradise Island; what good would bodyguards do? He'd be caught in minutes and turned into consumable NPCs in the Hall of Joy.
"Alright, what's the rental fee?"
Greed gave the quote with a fake smile.
"Destroyers, 5 billion star alliance credit points every six months; frigates, 3 billion."
"That's more expensive than buying!"
Nadi thought, why don't you just rob me directly?
"Because what you bought before were first-grade ships, and these are special-grade ships. The reactor power difference is at least tenfold, so a price difference of tenfold or more is very reasonable," Greed explained.
Arrogance continued, "You know very well, Prime Minister Nadi, if Galan doesn't get these warships, you will surely lose the war, your political career will end, and your fate will be extremely miserable!"
"Your most important task now is to give an account to your domestic citizens. Does it really matter to those lowly commoners whether the warships are bought or rented?"
"Compared to the expectation of defending the country from the humiliation of defeat, what are a mere few hundred or even thousands of billions of credit points? Don't tell me your Galan treasury can't afford this money!"
Nadi was silent for a moment.
"Provided your special-grade ships can really win. That's Cangyuan! Cangyuan Future Technology!"
"Hmph—" Envy sneered.
"Of course. I think you're scared witless. In fact, from Cangyuan's choice to use electromagnetic main cannons, their technological level isn't as high as most people previously predicted; furthermore, Cangyuan's two previous procurement plans also indicate that the company is in its early stages, with severe production capacity shortages, so the number of warships won't be very large."
"That's meaningless! In the two previous naval battles, we only acted after confirming we had a numerical advantage!"
Nadi's voice trembled.
"Ha! When have you Galan ever not been like that? Has no one told you that cowards will always lose battles?"
"Enough! Just tell me, do your special-grade ships have kinetic shields like Cangyuan's, can they achieve infrared stealth, and can they reflect lasers?"
Arrogance shook his head with a contemptuous smile.
"My answer is no, they cannot, and they cannot. But don't worry, Prime Minister, relying on Paradise Island's unique technology, our special-grade ships can ensure they detect Cangyuan warships from a long distance and quickly sink them!"
"Why? What mechanism?"
"You don't need to know too clearly, Prime Minister. You just need to remember that this is a great legacy left to us by the golden age humans!"
After a long period of thought, Nadi nodded.
He actually had no choice.
"I'll trust you for now. So, let's start discussing the specific rental quantity!"
"Before that, Prime Minister—" Gluttony interjected, "We hope Galan can accept some strategic guidance from us and actively test the performance of these special-grade warships in actual combat, and at the same time, help us Paradise Island restore our military sales reputation."
"If you can do this, we will gradually increase the upper limit of warship rental quantity for Galan until you are satisfied."
"Actual combat?!"
Nadi heard this word and immediately triggered a traumatic stress response, bristling instantly.
"No! Absolutely not! I will not send military forces to Cangyuan's home territory, or to any star system between Li Star and New Hope, absolutely not!"
"Don't be nervous yet—"
Arrogance raised a hand, maintaining a slow, relaxed tone.
"Who asked you to send troops to Cangyuan's lair? It's just a small test on certain routes far from their sphere of influence."
"We will equip each rented warship with an instructor team to teach operational skills to the Galan navy, and when it comes to critical combat moments, they will personally take charge, replacing your poorly trained garbage crew members in important positions."
Hearing his own countrymen disparaged as garbage, Nadi was not only not angry but quite in agreement.
It was that group of trash that got me into my current predicament!
And they say I deceived the soldiers?
If I didn't lie, would their tactical level suddenly improve? Ridiculous!
"Good! Deal!"