I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship, so I Became a Space Mercenary

br>But if they did manage to find some, the stuff would be worth a ton.

“Are adventurers and explorers also attacked by pirates?”

“Only if there are no other suitable prey or if the other targets are too tough to attack.
However, their ships are typically more armored and armed compared to the transport ships used by merchants, so they are risky opponents for space pirates.
Because they are active in places that are not under the management of the imperial navy or a star system garrison, they make sure they have ample means of self-defense.”

In some cases, they not only needed to contend with space pirates but space monsters as well.
Adventurers and explorers typically had better equipment and combat skills compared to rookie mercenaries, so they were relatively tough.

“However, there are pirates who make it a point to specifically hunt guys like them in order to plunder their equipment in the frontier.
That’s why the pirates active here are mostly higher in quality compared to those we’ve faced before.”

“I see.
We also need to watch out for enemy reinforcements, right?”

“Oh, you remembered that huh? That’s right.
If we get caught up in a prolonged battle in the frontier, its very unlikely to get reinforcements from the imperial navy or the system garrison.
That’s why pirates active in the frontier are tough opponents for mercenaries.
In some cases, they might call their comrades in order to crush their prey with overwhelming numbers.”

If this was a star system with a high security level, the imperial navy or system garrison will quickly rush in at the sign of trouble, but that’s not the case in the frontier.

“If that’s the case, then we’re facing a lot more danger compared to before, right?”

“That would be true if it’s just us.
But we also have Col.
Serena’s Mobile Independent Anti-Pirate Fleet with us, plus a good number of fellow mercenaries.
So we don’t need to worry too much about being overwhelmed with numbers.”

“I see.
Then, how should we proceed from tomorrow onward?”

“Usually, we just fish for prey in asteroid belts using the Black Lotus.
This time, I think it would be better to put up a net near the hyperspace entrance.”

After saying so, I marked the areas around the hyperspace entrances leading to the unexplored star systems.

“We’ll pretend to suffer a hyperdrive malfunction, attract pirates, and then sortie out from Black Lotus after they get baited.”

“It’s like a peak-a-boo tactic, right?”

“Peak-a-boo tactic huh.
Sounds good.
And if they try to escape, the Antlion will get in their way.”

It might get dangerous if enemy reinforcements came before our allies did, but I think we can manage with the firepower of Krishna and Black Lotus.
However, if the pirates are equipped with anti-ship reactive torpedoes, Black Lotus would be in danger, so I’ll have Mei exercise maximum caution.
In any case, no matter how high-quality the pirates are, I still think it would be difficult for them to fire a torpedo head-on against the Black Lotus.

“Can you come up with a strategy of your own, Mimi?”

“Me? Umm……”

Mimi placed a hand on one cheek as she pondered about my question.
Thinking about ways to effectively deal with pirates like this was an essential step toward becoming a first-rate mercenary ship operator.
That’s why I’ll ask Mimi to come up with strategies like this from time to time.

While listening to the faint sounds of Elma and the rest drinking happily, I continued to stare at the star system map together with Mimi for a while.