Chapter 27: Upgradable Spaceship, Armor, Main Cannon, and a Glitch

Within the upgrade options, there was indeed an entry for enhancing the Pedan starship. It could be upgraded six times, though the costs were astronomically high. The first upgrade required 3,000 system coins, the second 10,000, the third 30,000, the fourth 100,000, the fifth 200,000, and the final, ultimate sixth upgrade demanded a staggering one million system coins.

Once fully upgraded to its final form, the ship would transform into a terrifying space fortress the size of a small asteroid, spanning hundreds of kilometers in diameter, capable of traveling through the cosmos at faster-than-light speeds. It would possess the immensely powerful Pedanium main cannon and, most importantly, be equipped with hundreds of King Joe combat robots. With sufficient materials, it could even self-produce King Joe units and various models of Pedan spacecraft.

Now, this was what a proper alien capital ship should look like! A tiny flying saucer and a single King Joe invading Earth? That was just too low-level. Hundreds of King Joe robots and a fearsome space fortress—that was the true display of power for an alien fleet! However, that one million system coin price tag for the ultimate form meant I would have to spar with the adorable Tyranids for quite a while. From now on, I, Rod, am duty-bound to confront the Tyranids! Wherever there are Tyranids, there I shall be.

Currently, I have enough system coins for one initial, low-cost upgrade. Each enhancement provides a comprehensive boost to the ship's size and performance, and the Pedan ship can also provide support for the King Joe in battle. Furthermore, there are upgrades for the Pedanium main cannon and the King Joe’s armor plating—one enhances the robot's long-range firepower, while the other bolsters its defense and melee capabilities.

The King Joe armor can be reinforced five times, fully strengthening the chassis and increasing the robot's tonnage and height. The costs are 1,000, 2,000, 4,000, 8,000, and finally 16,000 coins for the ultimate upgrade, which turns the King Joe into a terrifying 120-meter-tall war machine with combat power that crushes standard models—a true ultimate weapon designed by the Pedan people.

Yet, this likely isn't the limit for the King Joe. I recall in one tokusatsu series, the Juda siblings possessed a terrifying 960-meter-tall King Joe spacecraft—the Monster Battleship King Joe Storage, weighing 14,800,000 tons. It served as the flagship for the Gua Army’s Great Monarch, Mold. That, however, clearly wasn't a Pedan product, but I didn't dwell on it; at least the Pedan ultimate mothership would be even more formidable.

Next is the Pedanium main cannon, which can be upgraded four times. The pricing follows the same structure as the armor, with the final fourth upgrade costing 10,000 coins. The first upgrade adds a rapid-fire function, the second introduces a charged attack mode for increased power, and the third allows the separated components of the King Joe to each mount a cannon, transforming into four independent turrets. The fourth upgrade moves the Pedanium cannon to the King Joe's chest, further increasing its caliber and firepower to a level capable of destroying an asteroid in a single shot. However, this fourth upgrade requires the King Joe's armor to be at level five—meaning the robot must reach its 120-meter size to wield such a super-cannon.

How should I put it? This King Joe robot is absolutely a trump card! At its final form, with its 120-meter stature, terrifying beam attacks, and melee prowess, it could easily crush a rare-tier Emperor Titan!

For now, however, what I need most is the spacecraft. I’ll upgrade the ship once, then spend the remaining coins to upgrade the armor and the main cannon once each, perfectly exhausting my remaining 5,000 system coins. But before upgrading, I pondered one thing: when reinforcing monsters, the system fully repairs all injuries and restores stamina. Would upgrading the ship similarly restore all the items inside? This seemed like a promising theory, worth testing.

I immediately emptied all the Pedan armor and weaponry from the ship, keeping only the most important item—the Teleportation Bracelet—on my wrist. To avoid any shocking spectacles, I retracted the Pedan spacecraft into the system storage before initiating the upgrade. After a flash of golden light, the upgrade was complete.

The upgraded Pedan ship had transformed into a disc-shaped craft about ten meters in diameter, now comparable in size to the King Joe. It could no longer hide inside the King Joe's chest cavity, but it could now attach directly to the robot's back while in flight, with its main cannon even assisting the King Joe in combat.

I summoned the new Pedan ship and nodded with satisfaction at the craft, which had grown several times in size, before stepping inside. The interior now spanned three levels, marking it as a medium-sized vessel within the Pedan fleet. The space had expanded significantly; the first level’s circular seating area now held two rows of one hundred seats, capable of carrying two hundred soldiers. There was a captain’s seat, two officer stations, and five control consoles—though these were largely redundant, as with the system’s help, I could operate the ship entirely through my thoughts. (Being forced to recruit crew members would have been a real headache.)

The middle level served as a soldier rest area, food storage, and an auxiliary armory stocked with spare gear, such as standard-issue Pedanium ray rifles. The third level contained the engine room and a large cargo hold. The ship also featured gravity regulation and oxygen generation systems.

As I had hoped, the upgrade refreshed all the soldiers' armor and weapons. The captain’s station had generated another Teleportation Bracelet—I now had two—along with a set of high-grade captain’s armor. Could this be considered a bug? Next time I upgrade the ship, I’ll empty it out again; it’s all about exploiting the system for free loot.

With the third-level cargo hold and second-level rest area, I could easily squeeze in hundreds of people. Combined with the space inside the King Joe, moving my force of over a thousand should be no problem at all. I summoned the massive King Joe robot once more, picked up the Pedan weaponry, and prepared to test its true power.