No one could have expected this.
Before the blueprints of the Pluto Battleship had even been fully deciphered, an even more outrageous technology—one overflowing with pure science-fiction flair—had appeared first:
The Solar Matrix.
At this point, Pluto almost seemed unnecessary.
Even without it, they already possessed access to near-infinite energy—along with a theoretical perfect fusion furnace.
However, the problem God had placed before them was not how to build a fusion furnace.
It was—
How to perfectly integrate the solar matrix into the human body.
In truth, once the Mechanicus obtained the design schematics, they quickly realized something important.
The solar matrix did not need to be directly fused with the body's internal energy channels.
Instead, it could be imprinted directly onto the skin, then linked to every cell through raw energy conduction—achieving the same effect envisioned by the Omnissiah.
Yet this revelation only solved half the problem.
Installing the solar matrix itself was not difficult.
Controlling it was.
At their current technological level, even the fusion furnace had not been fully perfected—let alone the ability to absorb, regulate, and convert stellar energy as freely as Xiao did.
Nor did they possess a dimensional space capable of safely dumping excess energy at will.
If the solar matrix were implanted recklessly, the result would be immediate—
The body would explode.
This was precisely why, despite existing for tens of thousands of years, solar matrices had never been used beyond the form of solar sails.
A sail could be furled.
When energy was needed, it was deployed.
When not needed, it was folded away—cutting off contact with starlight and avoiding catastrophic backlash.
After countless generations, the Marty Ringer Empire had already refined solar sail usage to its absolute peak.
They had long discovered the cruel truth:
The only reliable way to control a solar matrix
was to prevent it from touching sunlight.
The energy released by the solar matrix was so violent that not even imperial machinery could store it safely for extended periods.
This was precisely why they were forced to develop artificial Arcturus Crystals—to act as controllable intermediate energy reservoirs.
In short—
The solar matrix itself was not the problem.
Control was.
Without an effective regulation mechanism, any attempt to integrate a solar matrix directly into equipment—or the body—ended the same way:
Failure.
Self-destruction.
Forced dismantling.
To make matters worse, the Mechanicus currently lacked sufficient quantities of Arcturus Crystal for large-scale experimentation.
If the technology for manufacturing artificial Arcturus Crystals could be obtained, their research would advance at an explosive pace.
Unfortunately, even Xiao himself did not yet fully grasp that technology.
The entire production chain was firmly monopolized by the Marty Ringer Empire's home star—a forbidden zone guarded by the imperial navy.
Only royal bloodlines and select elite guards were permitted access.
This single technology was one of the core pillars that allowed the empire to dominate a vast, multi-stellar civilization for tens of thousands of years.
…
…
Led by the Divine Soldier Commander, Xiao finally stepped into the fully excavated lunar ruins.
The air was thick with the weight of time.
Ancient walls were covered in vividly colored murals, silently narrating the rise and fall of the Moon People.
Xiao couldn't help but think:
"This really is just like the manga."
As depicted in the comics, the Moon's energy had long been on the brink of exhaustion.
In order to survive, the Moon People launched a migration toward the One-Piece planet.
However, what the comics never mentioned—
was that this migration was not peaceful.
The Moon People descended with the ambition to conquer the world.
The Moon itself was designated as a final refuge, its inheritance sealed away as a contingency plan.
They even left behind meticulously crafted service robots, tasked with guarding the lunar base—a fallback sanctuary in case the conquest failed.
And fail it did.
Xiao didn't know the exact details, but he did know the outcome:
The Moon People transformed into what later became known as the Sky Island People.
They abandoned the Moon forever, rooted themselves on the planet, and never returned.
As for the robots left behind—
Cut off from their masters, starved of energy, and unable to act—
They sealed the ruins completely, burying both themselves and the Moon People's legacy beneath the surface.
They waited.
Silently.
For centuries.
Following the mural guidance system, Xiao soon located the central control computer and the main energy core of the lunar base.
The structure resembled a power station straight out of Red Alert.
Yet the core was empty.
No energy.
The entire base was dead.
Xiao acted immediately.
He ordered the Divine Soldiers to erect a tall mast and hoist a small solar sail.
With a thunderous mechanical hum, the sail unfurled.
Stellar energy poured in violently, surging through the generator.
In an instant—
The entire ruin lit up.
Power flooded the system.
Tens of thousands of dormant service robots awakened simultaneously.
Even after more than eight hundred years of dormancy, the central computer booted flawlessly and immediately reclaimed control over the entire base.
Moments later, a small service robot approached Xiao.
It was less than a meter tall, with a compact frame and a pair of delicate wings on its back—eerily similar to those of the Sky Island People.
Its voice was clear and mechanical:
"Master.
The lunar base has been reactivated.
Core protocols have been rewritten.
We hereby recognize the one who awakened us as our new master."
Xiao glanced at the robot.
Small.
Efficient.
Almost… cute.
From this alone, it was clear how strained the Moon People's resources had been near the end.
Even their servants were designed with minimal mass.
Yet despite that—
They still insisted on giving every robot wings.
Clearly, to the Moon People…
Wings were not optional.
They were an intrinsic part of their identity.
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