Flying Out of the Atmosphere

"Babata, we've reached the final step. I hope you can thoroughly scan it. I mean, is it possible this spaceship has programs like a self-destruct system?" Jin Yu suppressed his fiery temper and spoke word by word.

If things followed the original plot, they would end up forcibly cracking it open and then waste another year on repairs. He did not want to squander such precious early time.

"Uh, isn't it just a small spaceship? You're making a mountain out of a molehill." Babata was affected by Jin Yu's serious expression and muttered innocently.

To be honest, he truly did not think much of it. Even if there were such measures, they would at most run into a little trouble. He believed he had the ability to solve it all. At worst, it would waste some time, but it would not affect Jin Yu's training.

That was how it went in the original plot. An accident happened, and Babata still forcibly resolved it with brute force.

But Babata did not slack off in his actions. He took out the detection equipment from the Yun Mo Star and began investigating carefully.

"Damn, what a freak! Who the hell installs so many self-destruct devices on their own spaceship? Is he trying to get himself killed? What a lunatic!" After scanning it, Babata could not help cursing.

The Black Dragon Mountain spaceship's former owner had actually installed self-destruct devices throughout the ship. If Jin Yu had not reminded him and he had rashly cracked it, the spaceship's intelligence might have triggered self-destruction, leaving them with nothing.

But now that he knew the other party's arrangements and had sufficient time to prepare, Babata, as a top-tier Intelligent Life, had plenty of methods.

"I need an hour to deal with it. Otherwise, if the intelligence inside retaliates, one mistake could trigger self-destruction," Babata said seriously to Jin Yu. Countless streams of data began flowing through his eyes.

Since they had plenty of time, Babata constructed a world that imitated the spaceship's virtual world. Then, through guidance and deception, he lured the spaceship's original intelligence into the virtual world he had created and imprisoned it.

"Jin Yu, it's done. Insert the Signal device into the green slot on the left side of the control console," Babata said. "As for the spaceship's intelligence, I've already imprisoned it. Right now, it's like a naked woman tied up..."

Within the wrist intelligence's virtual space, Babata continued with a vicious grin, "Now I'm going to have my way with her. She actually dared to scheme against Lord Babata~~" He bared his fangs as he spoke.

Jin Yu shook his head helplessly. He had no interest in what happened to that intelligence. It was just a pile of data. What was there to have one's way with? Could it even have children?

He then directly inserted the Signal device into the green slot. Massive amounts of characters and data streams rapidly appeared on the control console's screen.

Babata had already begun a full-scale invasion, taking over the entire spaceship's control system!

Inside the Black Dragon spaceship's control room.

"Jin Yu, Demon Babata is at your service!" A crisp, smug voice echoed throughout the control room, while Babata's portrait appeared on the screen of the control console ahead.

Jin Yu grinned excitedly. "Wonderful! Hahaha! We finally have a spaceship of our own!"

"Then, Jin Yu, according to the original plan, Mars should have advanced metals for you to devour. Are we going now?" Babata asked excitedly.

"Let's go take a look at Mars!" Jin Yu nodded impatiently.

"Alright." Babata chuckled. This had long been their planned destination. It contained resources needed for the Golden Horned Beast's evolution.

The spaceship still needed time for repairs, so it could not enter the universe for now. But Sub-light speed flight was not a problem.

Hum!

The sound was extremely faint. Even though Jin Yu had reached the Planetary level, he could barely sense the slightest tremor within the ship. This was far, far more comfortable than any luxury sedan from his previous life.

In just a few seconds, they broke through the atmosphere. But because stealth mode was activated, no one on Earth knew of this breathtaking sight.

"Would you like to activate Exterior simulation?" Babata asked. "The simulation level can be anywhere from 10% to 100%."

"Exterior simulation?" Jin Yu's eyes lit up. "Activate it. One hundred percent."

"Got it." Babata replied excitedly.

Whoosh!

The control console, seats, and floor in the entire control room all vanished.

A hazy atmosphere surrounded them.

"The Black Dragon spaceship is flying through the atmosphere. It will soon completely leave Earth. It has left!" Babata's voice echoed around them. Jin Yu immediately saw the boundless expanse of space in the distance.

He turned to look behind him.

A massive azure planet appeared in his field of view.

"Earth!" Jin Yu could not help holding his breath. He had often seen this image online and on television before, but when he truly left Earth aboard a spaceship and saw it with his own eyes, that sense of awe... it reached straight into his soul.

So, so beautiful!

The azure planet continued shrinking!

The Black Dragon spaceship grew farther and farther from the azure planet.

"Earth. The Sun." Jin Yu looked beyond Earth. Far away was a planet that seemed to burn with flames—the Sun.

"The spaceship has accelerated to 290,000 kilometers per second. It will now travel toward Mars at a constant speed. We will arrive in approximately twenty minutes," Babata's voice sounded.

Jin Yu turned his head again and looked in another direction.

"Truly dreamlike!" Jin Yu could not help sighing.

In the distance, a massive chunk of ice surrounded by gas was flying through space, and the Black Dragon spaceship easily overtook it.

"That is what you Earthlings call a comet," Babata said.

Jin Yu looked around.

The mysterious yet boundless starry sky contained the occasional planet in the distance, as well as some asteroids, cosmic dust, and more.

"It's so beautiful," Jin Yu praised. Although the original novel had described it briefly, after experiencing it himself, that overwhelming feeling was simply impossible to describe.

"It is beautiful, but once you see too much of it, you'll find it bleak and cold," Babata said.

"Set it to 10% simulation," Jin Yu said. He was only awed because it was his first time seeing it. After seeing it more often, the novelty would indeed fade.

Whoosh!

The surrounding starry sky instantly became faint, like a layer of phantom imagery. However, Earth and the Sun could still be seen behind them, only much blurrier and dimmer. Meanwhile, the control room's floor, chairs, control console, lights, and everything else reappeared.

"Jin Yu, we're approaching Mars. The spaceship is beginning to decelerate," Babata's voice sounded.

Jin Yu hurriedly looked over.

With the Exterior simulation at 10%, Jin Yu could see the red planet ahead in the distance! It was red with an almost orange-yellow tint. Clearly, it did not look as beautiful as Earth.

Whoosh!

The spaceship quickly passed into Mars's atmosphere, which was obviously much thinner than Earth's.

"Babata, prepare to open the hatch."

Jin Yu flew directly toward the exit hatch in the spaceship's middle section. As he flew, the Cloud-Soaring Battle Armor over his body rapidly extended, soon covering him completely. He also wore a battle helmet, with only his eyes exposed.

He had not yet reached the Stellar level, so he could not survive well in space. Various radiation and rays could potentially harm his body.

The black saucer-shaped spaceship slowly descended, and its hatch opened directly during the descent.

Whoosh!

A figure flew straight out, wearing blood-red battle armor from head to toe. A pair of eyes looked down below.

"Hmm? Mars's gravity is so weak." Jin Yu immediately saw towering, massive structures that seemed weathered and decayed on the vast sandy ground below—Pyramids! One, two, three...

"These are the mining bases mentioned in the original novel—the Black Iron Cities." Jin Yu gazed below with shining eyes.

Beneath the nine towering Pyramids was a city that retained only its rough outline. One could vaguely make out some roads and the foundations of certain buildings.

Jin Yu flew straight over, then rapidly descended and landed on the sandy Martian surface.

"Babata, scan for mineral deposits," Jin Yu said to the intelligent wristband.

"Activating mineral deposit scan."

The Black Dragon spaceship floating in midair immediately activated its "mineral deposit scan" ability. In only a moment!

"Jin Yu, Mars has extremely abundant Black Iron ore deposits," Babata said. "Black Iron is an A8 grade metal in the universe. It has excellent hardness and sells very well in the universe."

"This is exactly what I was looking for." Jin Yu smiled faintly. His breakthrough to the Stellar level depended on these metals.

Moreover, large quantities of Black Iron ore would produce Profound Iron Essence and even Profound Iron Mother. Black Iron was A8 grade, but Profound Iron Essence was B8, while the exceedingly rare Profound Iron Mother was C8 grade!

For example, the Yun Mo Star spaceship's hull was almost entirely made of Crimson Chaos Copper Mother. Crimson Chaos Copper itself was D9 grade metal, Crimson Chaos Copper Essence was E9 grade, and Crimson Chaos Copper Mother was F9 grade!

In a large Black Iron mine, it would already be impressive if Profound Iron Essence accounted for one ten-thousandth of the ore. As for Profound Iron Mother, it would be impressive if it amounted to one ten-thousandth of the Profound Iron Essence.

"Jin Yu, these nine Energy Towers can block detection. Anything within the range they cover cannot be scanned."

"However, beneath the Energy Towers is a Steel City. I can barely scan a tiny portion of it," Babata said. "Enter through the cave on the surface twelve kilometers to the left, and you'll find the underground Steel City."

On Mars's surface, there was a massive cave that looked as though it had formed from a natural collapse, with a diameter of several hundred meters.

Whoosh!

Jin Yu dove straight into the cave, continuously descending deeper underground.

"Where's the city gate?" Jin Yu released his Mental power. As a Planetary level Mental Master, once he released his Mental power, it could spread across a range exceeding one thousand meters.

"Hmm? Here."

Jin Yu landed on the ground. Before him were dirt and dust, but beneath the soil covering the massive cave, black metal could faintly be seen. Through his Mental power, he discovered the massive city gate hidden behind it.

"Babata, have the robot push it open." With a thought from Jin Yu, he immediately floated upward and moved far away.

A Black Yttrium Metal Robot appeared out of thin air.

In terms of strength, Planetary level 1 Jin Yu was far inferior to this Black Yttrium Metal Robot.

"Rumble rumble~~" The Metal Robot's powerful palms slammed against the massive iron gate. As it exerted force, the gate slowly opened with a rumble. Large amounts of dirt also came raining down, filling the area with sand and dust.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"

Dazzling beams of White light shot out fiercely, almost covering the entire range of the iron gate. Seven or eight brilliant laser beams struck the Metal Robot, blasting it into the cave wall beside it and causing large amounts of dirt to collapse. Jin Yu, however, had long since moved away to a distant spot above.

Babata said, "Jin Yu, go inside. This hastily constructed Steel City does not have particularly strong defenses. Besides, we have Flowing Silver Guards."

Babata then controlled one Flowing Silver Guard to wrap around Jin Yu, while another Guard led the way ahead.

"Quick, sever the energy supply first. We need to prevent attacks from important locations within this underground Steel City."

Guided by Babata, Jin Yu was quickly brought to an area dense with thick metal pipelines.

"Good thing I borrowed the Crimson Chaos Copper Mother fragment from Luo Feng in advance. Jin Yu, hurry and cut them off. Cut them all off," Babata shouted.

Wearing blood-red Cloud-Soaring Battle Armor, Jin Yu looked at the pipelines a hundred meters ahead. With a thought—

Whoosh!

A streak of blood-red afterimage swept through the distant pipelines. With Jin Yu's Planetary level 1 Mental Master abilities and his powerful domain control, a full forty-two strands of resilient Mental power, like steel wires, were attached to the Crimson Chaos Copper Mother fragment. Crack! Crack! Crack! Slightly grating sounds rang out in succession.

Sparks burst everywhere, followed by a "Boom~~" as nearby metal exploded.

"There are still eight Energy Towers," Babata said.

"Babata, lead the way." Jin Yu flew rapidly.

This was merely a mining base.

In only a few minutes, Jin Yu had severed the entire energy supply of the Steel City.

"Haha, it's all done. Jin Yu, if my guess is correct, the 'Profound Iron Essence' those miners excavated later must have been carefully stored away. Let's begin a thorough search. Take everything valuable we see," Babata said repeatedly.

Jin Yu immediately flew through the underground Steel City and began a thorough search!