Chapter 316 |
Josh had originally agreed to go to Kalai’s tribe on a whim. Under normal circumstances, such a tiny alien tribe with only a few hundred extremely poor people would not be worth his attention at all.
But sometimes, luck is just that strange.
Kalai’s tribe was located in a small oasis deep within a desert canyon, and at the far end of this canyon was a ruin similar to the teleportation array they had passed through when they arrived.
However, compared to the ruins they had come through, this ruin was clearly completely dilapidated; the entire external structure had basically collapsed, and nobody knew what the interior was like.
“You mean that temple? I’m not very sure about the details. The elders who have passed away said it was our sacred site, but with the passage of time, the sacred site disappeared, and our tribe declined as well. Now, no one in our tribe really cares about it anymore!” Kalai replied immediately when Josh asked about the ruin.
Josh then released his divine power to sense it and found that there was indeed no energy fluctuation in the ruins. It seemed there was either no teleportation array or it was broken, or the energy core that served as the teleportation array’s heart was gone.
But to know for sure, they had to go inside.
Upon entering the tribe, unlike Kalai’s enthusiasm, the people here obviously held a great deal of suspicion toward Josh and his group.
They dared not act rashly only because Josh and the others had arrived in two huge mechanical vehicles.
This was normal. In such marginal areas, as a group of marginal people, if their vigilance was not high, they would have been wiped out long ago.
Understanding them did not mean accepting them.
With Josh’s status, it was even less likely he would take the initiative to help this tribe.
However, Kalai’s two younger siblings seemed very happy to have guests at home.
“Kalai, it seems like the people in this village have some rejection toward you?” That night, in Kalai’s drafty earthen house, Josh took a small sip of the delicious sand eel soup and asked.
The sand eel wasn’t the one from yesterday — although dangerous, one sand eel only yielded a few pounds of meat, which had all been eaten during the barbecue yesterday.
This time, the soup was made from five sand eels that Bursta had specially hunted.
When Bursta returned to the tribe with five sand eels, the tribe’s people nearly popped their eyes out.
Though sand eels weren’t completely unbeatable ferocious beasts, normally only very experienced and well-armed hunters could catch one or two.
But Bursta? He was only gone less than fifteen minutes and came back with five. Wholesale at the trade market wasn’t that fast.
This made the tribe realize the danger the people Kalai brought with him posed and made them even more cautious.
“Yes... because of my parents...” Kalai’s expression immediately darkened when he heard Josh’s question, but just as he was about to explain, Josh stopped him.
“I’m not interested in your past, but since we know each other, have you ever thought about leaving here and changing your life?” Josh waved his hand. He had heard too many sad stories like this and really had no interest.
Hearing Josh’s words, a flicker of temptation flashed across Kalai’s face, but then he thought of something and looked troubled.
“Don’t worry, you can bring your younger siblings!” Josh could tell what he was thinking.
Bang! As soon as Josh finished speaking, Kalai knelt down and performed a full kowtow to Josh.
“Alright, from now on, you will follow Mike. As for your younger siblings, someone will take care of them after we return. Regarding the details, let Mike arrange it for you!” Josh said casually.
“Ah? Me?” Mike was stunned when he heard Josh’s words.
“When we get back, I’ll inform Vito to transfer all relevant industries in Sulawesi to you. Your sister is already working so hard; it’s time for you to adapt early. Also, not just Sulawesi, but future affairs on this planet might be handed over to you...Don’t forget, you are the older brother!” Josh glanced at him.
“Uh...okay!” Mike scratched his head. He actually wanted to refuse since he wasn’t done having fun yet, but his dad’s earlier look made him feel danger, so he could only grit his teeth and agree.
Done — school girls, looks like your big brother really might leave you this time!
Suddenly, Mike felt a bit melancholy.
Howard Duck, watching from the side, chuckled.
The next morning, accompanied by Kalai, the group went to the ruins to inspect the situation.
Just as Kalai said before, the tribe members did not care about the ruins and appeared indifferent when Josh and his team entered.
But Josh’s team quickly understood why they were so indifferent.
Most parts of the ruin had completely collapsed, and all passages were thoroughly blocked.
Judging from the situation, it had been at least a hundred years.
Judging by the size of ruins seen before, even tens of thousands of people without large machinery would find it very hard to excavate it again, let alone a small tribe of a few hundred.
But for Josh and his group, this was nothing!
After sending a signal, a spaceship soon descended from the sky.
It was an exploration ship Josh secretly dispatched last night. Its purpose was to explore the surrounding area of this planet and map the stars.
Though only an exploration ship, its specifications were not small. It was equipped with many industrial robots and many Transformers, including some excavator-like machines Josh had modeled, instantly turning the entire ruin into a large construction site and starting excavation on this long-abandoned ruin.
“Commander, several ships belonging to two powers are approaching us. They should be from the Thern Federation and the Helium Kingdom!” Shortly after excavation began, a subordinate Transformer reported.
Previously, these strange ships couldn’t be tracked because the Thern crystals used on this planet emitted a peculiar particle that made the ships “invisible,” giving a GN particle-like effect reminiscent of Gundam.
But this “invisibility” was only relative to external technological civilizations’ first contact.
Once one obtained and analyzed Thern crystals, they could easily manufacture corresponding detection devices.
So now these ships were no longer “invisible” to Josh’s detection devices.
This, to some extent, increased Josh’s emphasis on Thern crystals because if one could monopolize these crystals, it might achieve surprise effects against other civilizations in the future.
According to intelligence previously obtained in Sack City, the Thern crystal reserves on this planet might already be scarce—though it was also possible the planet’s civilization had only mined surface deposits. Specifics would need detailed future surveys.
Likewise, it was unknown whether other planets in this star system had such Thern crystals.
“Prepare the air fleet for combat. Ignore them unless they enter the alert zone. If they cross the boundary, eliminate them immediately!” Josh ordered calmly.
Josh didn’t care about war. In his heart, he had long regarded this planet and even the whole star system as his territory. Conflict or full-scale war was only a matter of time.
As he predicted, the two countries’ ships did not dare approach Josh’s exploration ship and the hybrid air fleet composed of Transformers and robots surrounding it.
They weren’t fools. Although their ships were large, over two hundred meters, compared to Josh’s over one-kilometer-diameter circular exploration ship, they were in a completely different league. Only someone crazy would rush in to fight.
They kept sending signals to attempt contact with the exploration ship, but following Josh’s orders, the ship completely ignored them.
Seeing this, they dared not approach but were unwilling to withdraw, so they could only continue this standoff.
“Commander, after preliminary excavation, we found that although the style of this ruin is consistent with that of Sulawesi and the ruins we came through, many previously undiscovered statues, murals, and carvings have been found here. Most are severely damaged and will take considerable time to analyze!” the responsible Transformer soon reported.
“Then do it. We have enough time!” Josh waved his hand.
“Commander, we’ve translated a portion!” Half an hour later, the person in charge reported.
“Speak!”
“The murals and carvings mentioned should be mythological stories — a male deity named Keytli and a female deity named Sharla combined to create countless races... among them XX, XX, Xia, XX...” The person in charge recited the translated content.
“Wait, what did you say? Xia?” Josh interrupted decisively upon hearing one of the terms.
“Uh... according to our results, in English pronunciation, it is this word!” the person in charge confirmed.
“Is there more detailed information about this race?” Josh asked. This should just be a coincidence, right? After all, the Xia people are so developed and powerful, how could they be related to such a remote planet? Besides, he had found no sign of the Xia people in the mayor’s memories before.
“Sorry, Commander, the relevant documents we obtained and decoded only contain what I just said. As for these races, apart from the names, there is no further information!” the Transformer shrugged in reply.
Hmm, it’s probably just a coincidence of names, Josh thought wryly.
“Commander, we’ve broken through!” At this moment, another vehicle-mode Transformer sped over, transforming not far from Josh, and reported, “Also, our scout team has found a teleportation array at the deepest part of the ruins. Except for the loss of the power core, the teleportation array is not damaged!”
“Let’s go see!” Josh, who had been leisurely drinking tea, stood up immediately upon hearing the news.
“But, sir, the lower area has been sealed for too long. There is a lack of oxygen and excessive toxic gas. Ventilation is required to...” the reporting Transformer hurriedly said.
“What do I need those things for? You all stay here. I’ll go!” Josh glanced at the Transformer, then instructed Mike and the others nearby. With a flash, he disappeared from the spot.
Within seconds, he appeared at the deepest part of the ruins where the teleportation array was located.
“Just as expected!” Josh exclaimed upon seeing the teleportation array in front of him, but the spot where the crystal should have been placed was empty.
Thinking this over, Josh produced the crystal taken from the previous teleportation gate in his hand.
However, after a brief hesitation, Josh put the crystal away again.
“You must guard this place. Wait for me! Anyone daring to invade the ruins’ area, shoot them immediately!” Josh called out to the Transformer commander beside him.
“Yes, Commander!” The Transformer commander responded solemnly.
Josh then directly activated a magical teleportation portal.
Passing through the magical portal, Josh arrived at their original arrival point at Ruin One, and then reopened the interstellar teleportation gate connecting to Earth, returning home.
Before long, countless robot armies poured out in perfect formation from the teleportation gate.
From the excavation of Kalai tribe ruins, Josh had already confirmed that the secrets of this planet far exceeded his expectations. There were multiple similar ruins and interstellar teleportation gates!
This meant it was very likely that other people or forces could arrive on this planet via these interstellar teleportation arrays.
Moreover, many of the planet’s current races and forces might not even be native to this planet.
But many things had already been covered by time.
Captain America had once appeared on this world and then disappeared again. Josh suspected that he too had traveled to another planet through some interstellar teleportation array.
So, to avoid uncontrollable situations, Josh decided to mobilize the army to take control of this planet and the entire star system it belonged to as quickly as possible.
However, obviously, the energy of the previous Thern crystal was limited, and the size of the ruins and teleportation arrays was not very suitable for transporting large-scale troops.
After assembling nearly 800,000 mechanical legion troops, the interstellar teleportation array began showing signs of instability.
Seeing this, Josh immediately stopped transmitting more troops. In case of an accident, he had to reserve some energy for himself and the children to return home.
Actually, if Josh used the system space for transport, he could move even more. But because of years of continuous dimensional trade, his system space was already filled with a large amount of valuable goods, greatly reducing the available space. Plus, due to laziness, besides loading various vehicles for the army and a small part of the troops, he didn’t bother with much else.
Even so, combined, the troops transported this time exceeded one million, and various vehicles numbered in the hundreds of thousands, enough for several interstellar battles.
With these legions, they could control several large Thern crystal mines and find subsequent energy sources to sustain reopening the teleportation gates.