"Bang!"
Yuan kicked open the battered, warped door and strode out with a dark expression. Behind him, the Taotie exchanged glances, then hurried out of the warship after him.
"Qiming, scan the surrounding environment."
"Yes, Master. Launching probes."
"Buzz!" A black spherical device sprang from Yuan's armor and shot into the sky. After reaching an altitude of over a thousand meters above him, it began hovering as invisible waves of energy radiated from it.
Before long, a projection of Dobilun Star appeared before Yuan.
"Hmm, the atmospheric composition is stable. No life signs. Damn, this place is poor? There aren't any resources at all."
After reviewing the data on the projection, Yuan felt a headache coming on. Was this even a planet? Even some large comets had more resources than this.
"No, it must have been mined." As one projection after another was scanned, Yuan discovered that the planet's rich mineral deposits had simply vanished.
The remaining resources were basically worthless. To put it plainly, they were not even enough to cover the cost of extracting them.
"Your Excellency, what should we do now?" Bruis stamped on the ground beneath his feet. It had nearly weathered into yellow sand. It was obvious that this planet had been ravaged badly.
Bruis's question plunged Yuan into thought. Wu Daozi had gone through so much trouble to bring them here. He could not have done it just to show them this wasteland of yellow sand.
With that thought, an idea immediately formed in Yuan's mind.
"Qiming, connect to the warship's probes and increase the scanning power. Build a complete map of the planet, and mark all areas where the probe waves show abnormalities."
"Yes, Master. Connecting to the central system." Then, the Stellar Furnace, which had gone dormant when the warship shut down, started up once more.
The large scanning device on the armor activated, and the system launched every small probe into the air. Only then did Yuan begin answering Bruis's question.
"Wait here for the scan results. We don't have enough information yet. Leaving the warship blindly would put us at a severe disadvantage without its weapons systems.
"Wu Daozi is an instructor at the Super Seminary. Whether or not he is a god, he must be capable of accessing the Dark Dimension and using Dark Energy and Dark Matter.
"The warship's probes cannot detect Dark Matter or Dark Energy. But as long as something exists in the material world, unless it is completely concealed through spacetime abilities or other advanced technology, there will definitely be something that does not fit."
Hearing that, Bruis nodded vaguely, as if he understood.
"You mean there should be ruins or some kind of large laboratory on this planet, and the probes cannot detect them?"
"Exactly. As long as we map out those blank areas, we will basically know where he wants us to go."
"But Wu Daozi and the others possess advanced god-making knowledge. Their technology far exceeds ours. What if those ruins or laboratories absorb the probe waves and disguise themselves as normal areas?"
Listening to Bruis, Yuan turned back and looked at him in surprise.
"Your Excellency, did I say something wrong?" Bruis scratched his head, finding Yuan's gaze rather strange.
"It's nothing. You made a good point. As for what we do then? There is nothing we can do. This is the only method that can give me any data. If he ignores the rules and uses god-making-level technology, then so be it.
"Anyway, while this place does not have many resources, its stellar resources are quite abundant. At worst..."
As he spoke, a fierce light filled Yuan's eyes. Bruis understood the words Yuan had left unsaid.
Blow up the planet!
Yes, blow up the planet. If they truly had no other choice in the end, they would use the main cannon and bulldoze their way through. Yuan refused to believe that the so-called laboratory could leave no trace at all by then.
There was no life on this planet anyway, so Yuan did not feel burdened by the idea. Destroying the planet was the most direct solution, but he could not use it yet. In the end, the star at the Great Worm Bridge had intimidated him.
Unless he had no other choice, Yuan did not want to use such a table-flipping method.
His thoughts drifted farther and farther until Qiming quickly finished organizing the scan data.
"Ding! Master, an unknown structure has been detected."
Qiming's voice made Yuan's heart jolt. He hurriedly opened the holographic display. Qiming projected an enormous structure, situated prominently in the central region of the planet's continent.
"This old man is not even pretending anymore. He just put it right out in the open." Enlarging the projection, Yuan could clearly see the massive palace complex.
It sat squarely on the surface, with nothing but empty space around it. Forget defensive equipment or offensive weapons—there was not even a single hair in sight.
"Your Excellency, it looks like this is our destination. Shall we depart now?"
"Make some preparations first. The situation is unclear, and I do not know what kind of trouble is waiting there. The warship can still barely move, so bring it closer. With the warship, we will at least have some ability to resist."
"Your Excellency, forgive my bluntness. Although the star in outer space did not directly destroy the warship earlier, the damage cannot be underestimated. Would it not be better to repair the warship first?"
"No! Take it over there directly." After pondering for a moment, Yuan rejected Bruis's suggestion and continued:
"I have had doubts about your warship from the beginning. Cole's repeated changes have made me uneasy. This warship cannot be used anymore!" Yuan's voice was resolute.
"Take the warship there and abandon everything else. Send some engineers to move all the supplies from the cargo bays. I will give you a design blueprint to build a new small warship."
"Are we really abandoning it?" Bruis looked reluctantly at the warship parked beside them. The scars across its hull seemed to sing of yesterday's glory.
"Yes, we must abandon it. Don't worry. Out of humanitarian concern for Divine River Bodies, I will not destroy it. Once the supplies have been moved out, you can find a place to store it for the future."
Bruis nodded, then quickly said, "There is no need, Your Excellency. Though I am reluctant to part with it, the greater situation comes first. The supplies aboard are limited, after all. Rebuilding without the warship's wreckage would consume too much."
"Haha, you are finally starting to look like a commander. But that is exactly the result I want. Use only raw materials. Build the new warship entirely from scratch. Only then can I rest easy."
After saying that, Yuan patted Bruis and signaled for him to take the Taotie back to the warship.
What Yuan did not say was that Cole was merely a test subject. If they still lost control after reaching the new warship, it would prove that something was truly wrong with the Taotie's genes.
If that was really the case, Yuan had no solution. Either he would give them some technology in return and wander the universe alone, or he would solve their problem and let them continue following him.
Yuan could not accomplish the latter in the short term. As for the former? A sharp glint flashed through his eyes. He shook his head and cleared his thoughts.
"Wandering is lonely. Perhaps this place will be the key to breaking the deadlock? Sigh... just do good where I can."
Before you continue