Chapter 322: Level 200 Era! |
For years, the Zerg Civilization had been constantly waging war, while the Kasa Civilization focused on steady development. This had long become an unspoken secret.
Although no one had ever bypassed the Zerg Civilization to investigate which civilization they were fighting on the other front.
Almost everyone knew that the Zerg Civilization was in a state of war with another entity.
However, no one knew the truth.
The civilization fighting the Zerg Civilization was also a Zerg Civilization.
Originally, these two Zerg factions had been fighting a bitter, life-and-death struggle over the title of orthodoxy. But the forced intervention of the Kasa Civilization created an external conflict that compelled both sides to temporarily set aside their hatred and launch a joint, all-out offensive against the Kasa Civilization.
Now, the problem had escalated dramatically.
Initially, the Kasa Civilization had been in a position to watch the fires burn from across the river, waiting to reap the benefits of the two factions destroying each other.
Yet, because of Commander Li's actions, they were suddenly thrust into a desperate situation of fighting two enemies at once.
Fighting two-on-one...
It was basically impossible to see any hope of winning.
...
Chen Mang silently stared at the second half of this headline in the Kasa Daily.
"We need everyone's united effort. All civilizations must gather every possible resource within three days and hand them over to the Kasa Civilization. Violators will be executed."
"Upon victory, the Kasa Civilization will return double the amount."
"Please believe that the final glory will undoubtedly belong to the Kasa Civilization Federation. As long as we stand united, we will eventually see the day of triumph."
"I'm afraid that's going to be very hard to achieve," Chen Mang muttered.
Xiao Ai's voice echoed through the train. "The Kasa Civilization never treated the people of other civilizations within the federation as humans in the first place. They casually destroyed civilizations within the federation, and no one cared."
"The federation has always been controlled through violence."
"There is absolutely no cohesion or sense of honor."
"Not a single civilization feels any pride in belonging to the Kasa Civilization Federation. It's impossible for them to willingly hand over all their resources. Most likely, this will end with the Kasa Civilization slaughtering hundreds of civilized planets, making an example of them to forcefully collect everything."
"And then, they will initiate an unprecedented final battle with the Zerg Civilization."
"The scale of this war will be even grander than the one between the Zerg Civilization and the Mechanical Civilization. The expected duration will be much shorter; it might even end within three years."
"A final battle?"
Chen Mang narrowed his eyes. After a long silence, he whispered, "The rising wind forebodes the coming storm. No one can say for sure how things will develop from here. Let's focus on our own growth first. That way, no matter what we face, we'll have enough confidence to handle it."
At the very least—
Right now, he already had a great deal of confidence.
The Universe Level Extraordinary Effect of the Level 500 Spider Legs allowed him to freely enter and exit the Pseudo-Fourth Dimensional Space. By attacking from a direction the enemy couldn't even perceive, he was nearly invincible.
However, one could not truly survive inside the Pseudo-Fourth Dimensional Space.
He couldn't stay there for long.
Furthermore, remaining there required a constant drain of resources.
The main purpose of this headline wasn't to report on the war situation, but to warn the leaders of all civilizations to quickly gather their resources, or else their civilization would be the next to perish.
It was a naked, glaring threat.
A completely unreasonable threat.
Meanwhile, Chen Mang, situated within the Stellar Train, remained unaffected by the outside world. He was practically invisible within the Kasa Civilization Federation. No one knew him, even though the news of the Level 2 Human Civilization advancing had already reached many ears.
But—
No one had discovered where this civilization's planet or territory was located.
Naturally, no one knew about him either.
And no one knew that he, Chen Mang, was the leader of this civilization.
At this moment, he was resting peacefully inside the train, upgrading all of its components. Today was a massive undertaking; he was going to upgrade every single component to level 200!
Useful or useless, as long as it was a component present in the train, it was going to hit level 200!
He still had twenty-eight trillion units of iron ore, which was more than enough.
The first thing to upgrade was...
The Built-in Fire Control System.
A green-grade component, requiring an expenditure of eight hundred million units of iron ore.
For a long time, this component had kept excellent order within the train. When Xiao Lu was still a juvenile, it had a large number of tripod heavy machine guns inside its mouth. That was one of the functions of the Behemoth Carriage itself—to grant a Star Devouring Beast a certain amount of combat power during its infancy.
Once Xiao Lu formally reached adulthood...
This effect became obsolete. There were no more heavy machine guns in Xiao Lu's mouth. After all, with Xiao Lu's current offensive capabilities, it absolutely didn't need any machine guns to make up for lacking damage.
-
"Built-in Fire Control System Level 200 Divine Level Extraordinary Effect: Profound Simplicity."
-
Just two words.
Inside the train car, the one hundred tripod heavy machine guns originally embedded in the ceiling had completely vanished. He had thought the number would increase to two hundred, but instead, they all disappeared, leaving only the phrase Profound Simplicity.
After fumbling around for quite a while...
He finally understood the meaning behind those words.
Actually...
The number of heavy machine guns had indeed increased to two hundred, but they were hidden, only extending when needed. The Level 200 Divine Level Extraordinary Effect was simply... an invisibility effect.
It sounded rather mediocre.
He shook his head and decided not to upgrade them one by one anymore; it was too much of a waste of time. Instead, he quickly checked the boxes for nearly all the components on the control console screen. Once he confirmed there were no issues, he selected them all and pressed one-click upgrade!
Every component inside the train was upgraded to level 200!
Whether green-grade or red-grade, all reached level 200.
Total resources consumed...
981.6 billion units of iron ore.
Less than a trillion. This amount of iron ore wasn't even a fraction of what was needed to upgrade the armor.
A trillion units of iron ore was actually an astronomical figure.
It truly was a massive amount.
Completely strip-mining an entire Ore Star would only yield a few trillion units of iron ore. It was just that the resources consumed to upgrade the armor were so absurdly high that a trillion iron ore felt like a mere drizzle, tossed out casually.
At this moment!
The Stellar Train had finally officially entered the Level 200 Era!
Almost all components had reached level 200, each gaining a Level 200 Divine Level Extraordinary Effect.
Admittedly.
Not every Level 200 Divine Level Extraordinary Effect was powerful. Some were genuinely of little use, like the Built-in Fire Control System's effect, while others had special uses that simply hadn't been discovered yet.
For instance, the Level 200 Divine Level Extraordinary Effect of the Single Bed could absolutely purify the mind. It had excellent utility in Cultivation civilizations. He had gifted a few to the pavilion master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion and the others, vastly increasing their cultivation speed.
Sitting in his chair, he carefully scanned the Divine Level Extraordinary Effects of all the components, eventually focusing his gaze on a few specific effects he had singled out.
These particular component effects were either quite strong or somewhat intriguing.
-
"Drill Level 100 Overlimit Effect: Harder and faster rotation."
"Drill Level 200 Divine Level Extraordinary Effect: Harder and faster rotation."
-
This component had accompanied him for a very long time, leaving a deep impression. It was a purely numerical component, only increasing stats without any special mechanics. He just hadn't expected that even with the Level 200 Divine Level Extraordinary Effect—a point where there should theoretically be a qualitative change—this component would still solely boost raw numbers.
He had expected some exaggerated effect, like shattering the void.
Refusing to accept this outcome...
He took out 237.5 billion units of iron ore and upgraded the white-grade component Drill straight to level 500 in one go!
Once again, he received a special effect.
-
"Drill Level 500 Universe Level Extraordinary Effect: Harder and faster rotation."
-
Every time the Drill was leveled up, the upgrade effect was always just becoming harder and spinning faster. And now, all of its extraordinary effects merely deepened those base numbers. He was now highly suspicious of one thing.
The Mechanical Civilization must have manually calibrated the extraordinary effects of the Drill.
After countless attempts, they had ensured that every randomized effect landed on this exact trait.
Otherwise, logically speaking, under Universal Empowerment, the Drill should have had a chance to gain various different effects. How could it coincidentally always be this exact same one? The real question was... what exactly did the Mechanical Civilization intend to do by spending so much effort and resources to create such an impossibly hard drill?
If the Mechanical Civilization had truly interfered and manipulated it...
Then—
It also meant that during the calibration process, the Mechanical Civilization had repeatedly upgraded this component's blueprint to level 500. The amount of Murphy Stones required for that would be astronomical, far exceeding the resources consumed for Princess Tuotuo's Level 200 AI.
"This Mechanical Civilization... I always feel like the more I learn about them, the more mysterious they become,"
Chen Mang murmured, his expression slightly dazed. He didn't know what the Mechanical Civilization had been trying to do, nor did he know if their plan had succeeded. However, he felt confident that this drill would see a lot of use in the future. After all, even he had no idea just how hard this drill currently was.
He would have to find an opportunity to test it out next time.
Additionally, there were many other Level 200 Divine Level Extraordinary Effects.
For example-
"Oxygen Generator Level 20 Overlimit Effect: Consumption halved."
"Oxygen Generator Level 50 Overlimit Effect: Can create differentiated oxygen environments based on different races and living habits."
"Oxygen Generator Level 100 Overlimit Effect: The produced oxygen will have a certain purifying effect on the body."
"Oxygen Generator Level 200 Divine Level Extraordinary Effect: Can repair body organs to a certain extent, thereby extending lifespan."
-
These were all components he had previously upgraded to level 10 and then ignored. The early extraordinary effects were fairly normal, representing a steady climb. But once they hit level 200, it was like suddenly riding a roller coaster as the power spiked drastically.
Even an Oxygen Generator could now extend a person's lifespan.
How incredibly bizarre.
It was a good thing the people of the Kasa Civilization didn't know about the Oxygen Generator's Level 200 effect, or else everyone would absolutely be clamoring for one. While it certainly wasn't as effective as a Medical Pod, it was incredibly cheap.
Oh, he almost forgot.
The Murphy Stones required to reach level 200 were by no means cheap for other people.
But for him...
It was just a drop in the bucket.
"Xiao Ai, manufacture a few more Level 200 Oxygen Generators. Ensure every city on Water Blue Star has a few units to cover all the residents. The local population of our Water Blue Star is still too small. While extending their lifespans, encourage them to have more children. Institute rewards for childbirth."
"We'll cover housing, jobs, and retirement care."
"There's no need to do the same for Xuanwu Star; their lifespans are naturally long anyway."
Even though, on the civilization status panel...
Everyone was classified as a resident of the Human Civilization. However, in practice, he subconsciously held a slight bias toward Water Blue Star. After all, he had come from Water Blue Star.
Aside from that, there were many other interesting components.
-
"Telescope Level 50 Overlimit Effect: Extended viewing distance."
Very normal. It was level 50; seeing a little further was to be expected, wasn't it?
"Telescope Level 100 Overlimit Effect: Can be used as an astronomical telescope."
Extremely normal. It was level 100! A level 100 telescope used for stargazing—who could possibly complain about that?
"Telescope Level 200 Divine Level Extraordinary Effect: Can rewind time to observe events that occurred in a specific area within the past 24 hours."
Oh, fuck off!
You're a fucking telescope!
If a mere telescope can rewind time, what the hell are you even trying to be?!
-
"This thing..."
Holding the Level 200 Telescope, Chen Mang stood inside the train car and peered at the scenery outside. The scenes unfolding before his eyes were all events that had happened yesterday.
Upon reaching level 200, it had directly acquired a rule-bending ability.
This item had countless uses.
For instance...
If some big shots in the next room discussed highly classified information in a meeting hall, he could simply stroll over the next day with his telescope and effectively eavesdrop on their conversation firsthand.
It was an absolute master tool for stealing information.
"It's a good thing the crime rate on Water Blue Star is so low, otherwise, with this thing, the case-solving rate would absolutely hit one hundred percent."
The crime rate on Water Blue Star was so staggeringly low that several weeks would often pass without a single violent crime.
Society was incredibly stable.
This was due to many reasons, primarily because the people had just survived the apocalypse. Being able to eat their fill, dress warmly, and have a roof over their heads left them profoundly satisfied with their lives.
He shoved the Level 200 Telescope into a drawer, intending to keep it as a frequently used component for the future. But... looking at the telescope in the drawer, he hesitated slightly. Should he upgrade it to level 500 just to see what happens?
Upgrading a white-grade component to level 500 only required 237.5 billion units of iron ore.
That wasn't much.
The train still had twenty-seven trillion units of iron ore in reserve.
The problem was...
He couldn't just upgrade every component with a decent effect to level 500 just to see what happened. He needed to keep some resources in reserve.
A few breaths later.
Inside the train, 237.5 billion units of iron ore crumbled into dust, transforming into countless wisps of white light that drifted into the telescope in the drawer. At this point, the cost of this telescope had become astronomically high—more expensive than the entire Stellar Train back when it first left Water Blue Star.
It was an absolute fortune.
And he finally got his wish, obtaining a brand-new extraordinary effect. In the end, he simply hadn't been able to resist taking a peek. He would allow himself this one indulgence.
-
"Telescope Level 500 Universe Level Extraordinary Effect: Observable Universe."
-
...
Chen Mang furrowed his brow slightly. He had thought that upgrading to level 500 would allow him to see the future. Now, it seemed he had overthought it. Seeing the past might be an easy feat, as the past was already firmly set in stone. But peering into the future was far too difficult; countless variables could branch into vastly different outcomes.
However...
Observable Universe.
He picked up the telescope and gazed at the starry sky above, yet he didn't notice anything special.
He pondered over it for a long time.
More than ten minutes later.
He gave up.
It was completely useless.
At the very least, he hadn't discovered what the words 'Observable Universe' actually did. It felt like a completely useless extraordinary effect.
"You're supposed to be a Level 500 Universe Level Extraordinary Effect. You can't be this useless..."
The entire Kasa Civilization didn't possess a single level 500 component.
A component of this caliber was something even a third-level civilization wouldn't be qualified to possess unless they were willing to pay any price.
And yet, it gave him such an utterly useless extraordinary effect?
It was a little disappointing.
Just then—
Xiao Ai's voice sounded in the train car again. "I might have an idea. In the Mechanical Civilization's database, there is a theory stating that the universe must be kept in an observed state in order to function normally."
"The moment no one is observing the universe, it will instantly collapse into nothingness."
"Everything in the universe changes under observation."
"Or rather, once anything perceives it is being observed, some kind of change will occur."
"To give a very simple example:"
"You are a student, sitting in your room earnestly doing your homework. The moment you realize your mother is watching you from the doorway, you will subconsciously lose focus and alter your behavior."
"Take a classic quantum experiment, for instance. The act of observation causes the wave function to collapse, forcing a particle to shift from a probability cloud into a definite state."
"The exact mechanism remains unclear."
"We only know that when in a state of being observed, a corresponding change will manifest."
"From this perspective,"
"The words 'Observable Universe' absolutely represent an overwhelmingly powerful extraordinary effect. It's just... perhaps our Civilization Level is too low and our exposure too limited. We don't yet understand what these words truly signify. Logically speaking, a component of this level shouldn't be something a civilization of our rank is even allowed to touch."
...
Chen Mang picked up the telescope again and looked out at the universe. "Although I don't see anything special, the universe can now feel that I am observing it?"
"It won't suddenly glance back at me, will it?"
"No. There are countless beings across the universe observing it simultaneously. Even if the universe were truly alive, it would be very difficult for it to notice you."
"Following your earlier theory, if all living beings closed their eyes at the exact same moment, the universe would collapse. Although the probability is astronomically low, it's not impossible, right?"
"Visual sight isn't the only form of observation. Skin contact and perception also count as observation. Such a scenario would never occur unless every living being in the universe died in an instant, but that would essentially be the Big Bang."
"Anyway—"
Chen Mang paused for a moment before tearing his gaze away from the telescope. "This extraordinary effect is very powerful; we just don't know how to use it yet."
"Is that right?"
"Correct."
To put it bluntly:
They had obtained a divine artifact meant for the next patch before the game had even updated, leaving them utterly clueless on how to wield it. If he ever got the chance to interact with higher-level civilizations in the future, he would finally understand exactly what this extraordinary effect could be used for.
'Should I try level 1000?'
This thought suddenly popped into his mind.
But when he saw the resources required to upgrade to level 1000, his mouth twitched slightly, and he immediately abandoned the idea. He was now certain: level 500 components were intended for at least level-five civilizations, and level 1000 components were strictly reserved for level-seven civilizations or higher.
As a Level 2 civilization forcefully acquiring one, the inevitable result was that he most likely wouldn't even comprehend its purpose.
The Drill was much more suited to his current Civilization Level.
Pure numerical stats.
Pure upgrades.
Incredibly clean and straightforward.
However, he suddenly realized something. For certain components with special mechanics, he could absolutely upgrade them to level 500 first just to test the waters. For example—
The Refrigerator!
If the Stellar Train were to rank its greatest contributors, the Refrigerator would undoubtedly take a spot in the top three!
In the early stages, it had served as a dormitory and a warehouse, massively expanding the train's capacity.
In the middle stages...
It acted as an oversized, portable Space Bag, making resource collection unbelievably simple. It could also transport troops and serve as an indestructible defensive shield.
Now, in the later stages...
It directly replaced Wormholes, becoming an incredibly cost-effective, permanent inter-dimensional gateway.
Its entire existence was a treasure.
It had been overpowered from beginning to end. Some components had strong early-game extraordinary effects but became useless or gained nothing later on, while others were absurdly strong in the late game but practically useless early on.
Only the Refrigerator remained consistent, staying powerful throughout.
This component was absolutely worth upgrading to level 500 just to see what its Level 500 Universe Level Extraordinary Effect would be. The term "Universe Level Extraordinary Effect" was one he had coined himself, just like "Divine Level Extraordinary Effect," to distinguish the qualitative leaps at levels 200 and 500.
After consuming another 237.5 billion units of iron ore, he upgraded the Refrigerator straight to level 500 in a single breath!
A Level 500 Refrigerator!
-
"Refrigerator Level 500 Universe Level Extraordinary Effect: None."
-
"None..."
That single word left Chen Mang in absolute silence, completely shattering his resolve. It seemed the legend of the Refrigerator had to end here. What a tragic end to an illustrious reputation.
But it didn't matter.
The Refrigerator was only a white-grade component. Crafting a new Primordial Blueprint for a Refrigerator shouldn't be too difficult.
He would just have Qi Ke Xiu make one later.
He could try randomizing it a few more times and aim to roll a useful extraordinary effect for level 500.
After all, his randomizations were completely free.
It was practically infinite rerolls.
Afterward, Chen Mang looked over the other extraordinary effects. Once he had memorized every effect he possessed, he stretched lazily and leaned back in his chair, feeling somewhat exhausted. Following this round of upgrades, the Stellar Train's overall strength was essentially maxed out.
There were zero weak points left.
He still had twenty-seven trillion units of iron ore remaining.
But—
He still felt like he was running short on resources. If he had enough, he could obtain Level 500 Armor.
When it came to armor...
Level 200 just didn't feel secure enough. Level 500, however—level 500 would definitely be enough. Even if the sky collapsed, he felt a Level 500 Armor could endure it head-on.
At this moment.
Xiao Ai's voice echoed through the train once again.
"Captain, regarding the information you asked me to investigate last time—the Prismatic-grade firepower component blueprint that consumes copper ore—I've acquired concrete intel."
"That's great news."
Chen Mang let out a breath of relief. The strongest weapon on the train was the Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon. Its biggest flaw was that it consumed iron ore. Iron ore was incredibly precious to begin with, so he couldn't spare too much of it for ammunition.
With a firepower component that consumed copper ore...
His nearly one hundred trillion units of copper ore would finally have a use.
"It will be up for bid at the upcoming Noble Auction House on Gemini Star."
"Noble Auction House... That name sounds a bit familiar," he muttered.
"It's the exact same auction house you robbed last time, Captain."
"Must be fate. They've reopened?"
"Yes."
"Then let's pay them another visit."
Kasa Civilization, Gemini Star. Following the previous incident, the entirety of Gemini Star had been placed under strict martial law. Every single train arriving near the planet via Wormholes would be boarded by border guards for a meticulous inspection.
But—
Chen Mang still managed to appear on Gemini Star with absolute ease, completely undetected.
He had his Refrigerator stationed on Gemini Star.
Why would he need anyone's permission to go wherever he pleased?
He could go wherever he wanted.
He appeared in Polar Night City, sitting beside that familiar café, gazing at the familiar list of auction items in his hand. This auction house had deep pockets; despite being robbed blind once, they had still managed to reopen.
It was as if they hadn't been affected in the slightest.
The building had already been fully reconstructed on its original site.
"Still at the old place, huh? Then there's no issue."
Three minutes later.
Chen Mang appeared on the Barren Plains just outside Polar Night City. Without hesitation, he deployed his Spider Legs and directly entered the Pseudo-Fourth Dimensional Space. Undetected by anyone, he walked straight to the entrance of the auction house in Polar Night City.
He passed right through solid walls along the way, yet not a single person noticed him.
This was the charm of the Pseudo-Fourth Dimensional Space. If the enemy lacked corresponding countermeasures, they could spend a lifetime and still never detect him.
Soon after.
He didn't pause for even a second.
He tossed Xiao Lu straight through the thin membrane resembling a dimensional barrier. Xiao Lu instantly left the Pseudo-Fourth Dimensional Space, appearing in the real world. It rapidly expanded to the size of a football stadium, swallowing the entire auction house in a single gulp.
Then, it shrank back down and shot off into the distance like a bullet.
In the blink of an eye, it disappeared without a trace.
The entire process was as smooth as flowing water.
"Very nice."
Watching the scene unfold, Chen Mang chuckled gleefully. From within the Pseudo-Fourth Dimensional Space, he piloted the Stellar Train alongside Xiao Lu, racing parallel along the dimensional barrier. Only when they stopped in a desolate, secluded area did Xiao Lu spit the auction house back out.
...
Chen Mang, whose eyes were previously filled with anticipation, watched the scene before him as his smile slowly froze.
The auction house Xiao Lu spat out had already been reduced to a pile of rubble, thick smoke rising from the ruins.
The entire auction house had surprisingly been rebuilt using pure explosives! It had detonated the very instant Xiao Lu swallowed it. Having already completed a scan, Xiao Ai reported, "Captain, every living being within the ruins was killed in the blast. No valuable items were detected. There's nothing but rubble and bricks."
"It seems we were set up."
...
Chen Mang remained silent. Initially, he hadn't planned on doing anything extreme. He had just wanted to honestly rob the auction house and leave. But now that someone was scheming against him, that changed everything. If he didn't retaliate, he'd look like a fool for falling into such a trap.
If Xiao Ai hadn't informed him about the blueprint...
He would have even suspected that the informant had deliberately tried to get him killed.
"Find out which faction controls this auction house. We're going to pay them a home visit."
"Since I'm already here, they can't expect me to leave empty-handed, right?"
"Understood."
Meanwhile—
In a high-rise office building located in Polar Night City on Gemini Star, several men sat around a long table. They stared silently at a holographic projection suspended in the air, unable to speak for a long time.
The scene depicted was precisely the moment Xiao Lu swallowed the auction house.
It had been replayed several times already.
But every time they watched it, a fresh wave of shock washed over them.
The Noble Auction House was the largest auction house on Gemini Star. A few days ago, a mysterious figure had uprooted the entire building. This should have been groundbreaking news, yet it had been completely overshadowed by the concurrent theft of strategic warehouses across seventeen cities on the planet.
No one paid it any mind.
The government didn't even care.
Naturally, they were unwilling to swallow this bitter pill in silence. They believed this was definitively an organized, premeditated operation. Seeking revenge, they devised a plan: they loudly broadcasted to the entire world that the Noble Auction House had been rebuilt and was preparing to host another auction, heavily publicizing highly attractive lots.
They were certain that the perpetrator would return for a second round.
To that end, they rigged the auction house with a massive quantity of high-grade explosives possessing utterly terrifying destructive power.
And yet...
In the holographic footage...
A gigantic, green, furry monster appeared out of thin air without any warning, swallowing the entire auction house whole. In that split second, they saw a flash of fire—the telltale sign of the auction house detonating.
But the green, furry monster merely shrank down again and vanished from sight at a speed that security cameras couldn't even process.
From start to finish, the cataclysmic explosion seemed to have caused absolutely zero damage to the beast.
"That is absolutely a Star Devouring Beast."
After a long silence, the leading man finally spoke up. "I raise a Star Devouring Beast at home, so I have a fair understanding of them. Furthermore, that was an adult Star Devouring Beast, though its exact level is unknown."
"Its level is definitely far higher than the one I keep."
"We haven't provoked anyone recently, have we?"
"With so many top-tier auction houses in the Kasa Civilization, why did they specifically target ours twice?"
The situation was already incredibly bizarre.
Their initial auction house had been robbed at the exact same time as the strategic warehouses of seventeen cities. This was clearly the work of a highly organized violent syndicate. However, higher-ups had classified the incident as an inside job designed to destroy evidence and balance the books.
Left with no choice, they could only hold their noses and endure it.
But now, those scapegoats had clearly all been arrested, yet someone was still out here robbing them. This proved that it was never an inside job at all—the Kasa Civilization had legitimately been robbed by an outside party.
"Could it be the Android Pirate Group?"
A man sitting at the side of the table asked hesitantly.
The Android Pirate Group was the most powerful pirate faction within the entire Kasa Civilization Federation. Without a stable resource base, they possessed a staggering bounty. The combined bounties of the second to tenth ranked pirate groups still fell short of the Android Pirate Group's bounty.
This pirate group had originated from defectors of the Kasa Civilization.
Rumor had it...
The leader had once been a citizen of the Kasa Civilization. One day, while heading home from work, he discovered two gangs brawling in an alley. Overcome by a sudden, inexplicable surge of righteousness, he shouted and stepped forward to stop the fight.
However...
As a single, unarmed man, how could he possibly intimidate two entire gangs into backing down?
So, being rather adaptable, he pretended to be a police officer and successfully halted the brawl. Unluckily for him, the legal system of the Kasa Civilization wasn't particularly sound at the time. When the real police arrived, they found that the two gangs were all bark and no bite.
No real casualties had occurred.
Both sides were given a stern verbal warning and released.
Meanwhile, the man who had stopped the fight was convicted of impersonating a police officer—a felony—and sentenced to ten years in prison.
Ten solid years, no parole.
A decade later.
The man walked out. Armed with just a single knife on a rainy night, he hunted down the members of those two gangs and slaughtered them one by one. Then, he found the officers who arrested him, the judge who sentenced him, and the jury members who convicted him.
One slash per person.
He sent them all to the grave.
Afterward, he followed the boss he had acknowledged while in prison and directly became a pirate. Over the years, he gradually rose to become the leader of the strongest pirate group within the Kasa Civilization Federation. Ironically, his brutal revenge had also largely accelerated the reform of the Kasa Civilization's legal system.
The continuous perfection of a legal system always required sacrifices.
If someone was unlucky enough to become that sacrifice, they would personally experience just how suffocating and powerless it felt to have the heavy weight of an era crashing down on them.
Filled with an intense hatred for the Kasa Civilization, the man exclusively robbed Kasa merchants, completely ignoring the trade vessels of other civilizations.
"Rumor has it that he raises a terrifyingly powerful Star Devouring Beast. Could it really be him?"
"That shouldn't be possible."
In the conference room, the leading man shook his head, his expression looking somewhat grim. "If it were him, and he knew we had set a trap, he would have already kicked our door down to slaughter us by now, instead of..."
In the next second—
Crash!
The conference room door was violently kicked open.
Chen Mang, leaning on a cane and wearing a bowler hat, strode confidently into the room with Biao Zi and his heavily armed security squad following closely behind. He casually pulled out a chair, sat down, and propped his legs onto the table. Gazing at the men in the room, he spoke in a calm tone.
"Fill in the blank."
"How many resources are the combined lives of you lot worth?"
"Answer correctly, you live. Answer wrong, you die."
"You only have three chances to answer."
"Please answer within ten seconds."
Inside the conference room.
The men, who had just been holding a meeting, sat frozen in their chairs, their expressions shifting unpredictably. They exchanged glances but ultimately decided against pressing the panic buttons hidden under the table. They could already smell the thick stench of blood wafting in from outside. Their entire security detail was likely already dead.
There were no guards left to call for help.
At this point, the only things that could save them were the special utility items they carried on their persons.
But since the intruders had clearly come prepared, whether their special items would even work was up in the air.
The leading man, having weathered many storms in his life, stood up quite calmly and looked at Chen Mang. "Might... Your Excellency inform us of your name?"
"Wrong answer. You have two chances left."
Chen Mang pulled a cigarette from his pocket and tossed it into his mouth. He tilted his head slightly, and Ji Chuchu, standing by his side, gracefully cupped her hand and lit it for him.
Ji Chuchu observed her surroundings with eyes brimming with curiosity and faint excitement. She hadn't left the Stellar Train in a very long time. She hadn't expected Lord Mang to specifically request her presence on this mission.
'Is this the Kasa Civilization?'
She gazed out the window. The prosperous and dazzling city certainly looked far more magnificent than the cities on Water Blue Star, boasting a much stronger sense of advanced technology.
Greedily, she drank in every sight.
Who knew when she would get another chance to come outside?
The man's expression grew exceedingly ugly as he glared at Chen Mang. The enemy was highly aggressive, but if they thought sheer intimidation would force him to surrender his life's accumulated wealth, they were severely underestimating him.
"Name your price. We'll admit defeat this time. But if your demands are too high, we'd rather die and leave our resources to our children."
"Wrong answer. You have one final chance."
Chen Mang looked up at them, flashing a rather gentle smile. "If you truly prefer death just to leave your fortunes to your children, that genuinely moves me. I'm very easily touched by such sincere affection."
"After I kill you all,"
"I'll turn around and leave right away. I absolutely will not hunt down your children."
"Six seconds left to answer."
"Five hundred billion." Before the countdown ended, the leading man spoke through gritted teeth, his voice low. "Five hundred billion units of iron ore. That's our absolute limit. It's all the liquid capital the Noble Auction House can produce without halting our normal operations."
"If you want more than that, you might as well strike now."
"Very nice."
Leaning against his chair, Chen Mang chuckled and was just about to say something else when a gunshot abruptly deafened the room. The leading man had suddenly sprung up, whipping a pistol from his coat, aiming straight for Chen Mang's head, and pulling the trigger.
However...
The moment the bullet struck Chen Mang's forehead, it flattened into an iron disc and clattered uselessly onto the floor.
He was completely unscathed.
By now, Biao Zi and his men had fully reacted. Enraged, they swiftly pulled their triggers. In the blink of an eye, the executives collapsed into a pool of their own blood, leaving only Chen Mang's crew alive in the conference room.
"Are people really this brave nowadays?"
Chen Mang looked a little bewildered. He waved his hand. "Xiao Ai, infiltrate their company database and extract all their details. Confiscate every resource available."
Then, feeling slightly eager, he pulled the telescope out of his coat and scanned the conference room, intending to see exactly what these dead men had been discussing earlier.
His arrival this time...
Had another paramount objective, which was...
Robbery.
Yes, it was incredibly simple and crude.
The Kasa Civilization had forcefully confiscated the resources of every civilization within the federation. His goal was straightforward: if he could steal even a fraction of those gathered resources, his power would explosively surge once more, allowing him to single-handedly dominate the entire battlefield.
He would let them fight a one-versus-three.
There was no need for anything overly complicated.
This auction house was just an appetizer. But these men seemed to hold high status, so perhaps he could glean some valuable intelligence from their past conversations.
Three hours later.
Chen Mang rubbed his sore eyes and lowered the telescope. This damn thing couldn't fast-forward, which was a massive problem.
He really had to find a way to fix that.
Otherwise, watching it in real-time was simply too exhausting.
He had actually managed to extract a few critical pieces of intel from their past discussions.
First: the strongest pirate faction in the Kasa Civilization Federation, the Android Pirate Group, had reportedly left traces of activity near Gemini Star in recent days.
Second: this group was preparing to hijack the massive stockpile of resources recently collected by the Kasa Civilization.
In other words...
This pirate group most likely knew the transportation routes the Kasa Civilization was using for the supplies, and might even have discovered hidden vulnerabilities.
He wanted a piece of the pie.
To do so, he had to find this pirate group first in order to acquire the Kasa Civilization's supply routes.
He turned his head to look at Pluplu beside him. "Do you know the guy leading the Android Pirate Group?"
"I know of him, but he doesn't know me. We have no history," Pluplu shook his head.
"Hmm..."
Chen Mang said no more, sinking into deep thought. He was absolutely going to claim his slice of this pie. With his current capabilities, not snatching a massive haul would be a reckless waste of God-given gifts. It would render all his Divine Level Extraordinary Effects useless.