'Lively' Star Lake

The datafication of starships is far more complex than it appears.

Among its functions, upgrading is a crucial one.

Starships of any class can be further improved. By integrating the appropriate materials and Star Points, a T8 ship can be upgraded to a T7 ship.

However, due to differences in their base classes, there will be disparities in their strength and potential after upgrading.

In terms of cost-effectiveness, Qingyang believes that aside from the Chichen Type, Shining Moon Type, and Long-range Type cruisers, it's more practical to directly purchase or build other starships rather than investing resources in upgrading them.

He feels there's no point in upgrading high-end or mid-tier starships that perform only moderately.

"This quest has no fleet-level restrictions, excellent." Qingyang's interest grew.

The Moro Metal will undoubtedly be useful later, and the quest rewards include thirty thousand Star Points. Furthermore, accepting the quest grants a map to the Moro Metal production area.

It's a win-win situation no matter how you look at it.

The biggest challenge is finding the Moro Metal, but that's not an issue for the Eternal Fleet, which has a mascot.

Gu Xing noticed Qingyang's gaze and asked with some confusion, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing, hahahaha." Qingyang waved his hand.

Gu Xue glanced at Qingyang, then at her confused older brother, and suddenly understood.

"Brother Qingyang probably needs your luck, brother! The fleet mascot, hahahaha!"

"."

Faced with Gu Xue's unrestrained laughter, Gu Xing chose to remain silent.

Seeing this, Gu Xue's laughter grew even louder.

The Eternal Truth Fleet didn't stay at the Star Port for long, only a few hours for a simple refit before departing.

They headed straight for the boundless Star Lake ahead.

"Moro Metal is produced in many locations within the Star Lake, so we'll head to the nearest area, which is over five hundred light-years away."

Qingyang studied the star chart sector provided by the quest giver, quickly noting down dozens of production sites.

The vast Star Lake surely had more than just a few dozen Moro Metal production zones, but the quest giver wouldn't give him all of them.

Providing dozens of locations was simply to make it easier for the fleet accepting the quest to complete the collection task quickly.

A mere fleet of twenty starships boldly entering the Star Lake immediately drew a lot of attention.

T8 fleets rarely ventured into the Star Lake alone; they usually either followed powerful starfleets or traveled in groups.

The fact that they dared to enter alone clearly indicated they had some backing.

And Qingyang's backing was the Yuan Sha Main Cannon.

With a lethality level of twenty thousand, it was comparable to the main cannons of ordinary or mid-tier T7 battleships.

Combined with various enhancements, it should be sufficient for navigating the fringes of the Star Lake without major issues.

Upon entering the Star Lake region, the Eternal Fleet immediately engaged in subspace travel, heading directly for their destination.

Although the dark space route was faster, it was more likely to attract the attention of certain special creatures. To be safe, Qingyang decided to play it safe.

"It's so beautiful."

Not long after entering the Star Lake region, Gu Xue exclaimed in surprise as she gazed at the Star Lake scenery, composed of dozens of mixed energies in pink, blue, yellow, and other colors.

Occasionally, they could see colorful planets enveloped by large masses of energy.

Liquids condensed from high-purity energy formed oceans on the surfaces of these planets, and energy storms would sometimes form above them.

Fiercely, they would stir up massive energy tsunamis in an instant.

Even so, Qingyang and the others could occasionally glimpse a few faint, colossal figures emerging from the energy oceans on the surfaces of these planets.

Dreamlike and deadly.

[Alert! An exotic space rift has appeared ahead, expected to generate a Level 3 energy storm.]

An alert from the Star Lake's local Star Net suddenly sounded within Taiyi.

It startled everyone who had been lost in the Star Lake scenery.

Changxi reacted instantly, simultaneously controlling all twenty warships to disengage from subspace travel and warp to the upper left.

The next moment, a pale purple particle storm, capable of covering several light-days, instantly spread across the area where the Eternal Fleet had just been!

Dozens of giant planets offered no resistance whatsoever and were instantly reduced to fragments.

Then, under the convergence of a special force field, these planetary fragments slowly began to reassemble.

Under the influence of this powerful force field, it was estimated that they would become planets again in just a few decades.

Several light-days away, Qingyang and the others watched this spectacle with awe.

"Did you record it?" Qingyang murmured to Changxi.

She smiled, "Yes, Commander."

Even the Gu siblings rarely witnessed such a violently beautiful spectacle.

The Eternal Truth Fleet remained for a moment before setting off again.

However, this time, the fleet sailed with increased caution.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

The Eternal Fleet avoided a storm generated by an interdimensional space rift, for the umpteenth time.

Gazing at the massive, colorful vortex in the distance, capable of spanning several light-years, Qingyang wiped away non-existent sweat.

"If we hadn't avoided it, even a gold-tier T7 fleet wouldn't be able to withstand this kind of cosmic disaster, right?"

This was truly thrilling.

ROAR!

Suddenly, a furious roar echoed from behind the Eternal Fleet.

Intense overclocking sounds reverberated in everyone's minds.

BOOM!

Then, Taiyi shuddered violently, and the Joint Shield actually dropped by 2%!

Everyone's expression shifted slightly. The Yuan Sha Main Cannon locked onto the source of the attack, and dazzling light condensed.

A crimson beam directly hit the target. At this distance, unless the opponent could instantly enter subspace or dark space, they wouldn't be able to dodge the Yuan Sha Main Cannon's bombardment!

Explosion waves rippled through space, and thousands of kilometers around were covered by the energy blast.

The crew did not relax; the Eternal Fleet quickly entered near-light speed travel, moving away from the explosion zone.

Judging by the fact that the attack had depleted the entire fleet's Joint Shield by 2%, the Yuan Sha Main Cannon couldn't have instantly killed the target.

As expected, less than ten seconds after the Eternal Fleet departed, a colossal creature thousands of meters long burst out of the explosion zone. It had an irregular crystalline body, a ferocious head, and dozens of blade-like limbs.

Despite its incongruous appearance, it exuded an incredibly oppressive aura as it pursued the Eternal Fleet.

"Crystal Shard Blade Worm, a Class 6 Star Beast at the very least!"

"I remember there's a kind of Shard Crystal inside its body, and it's quite expensive, isn't it? Eighty thousand Star Points per ton?"

Guxue pondered for a moment before revealing the origin of the massive star beast behind the fleet.

Qingyang's mouth twitched. He said helplessly, "The problem isn't whether it's expensive or not, but whether we look appetizing to it.

With the fleet's current strength, eighty thousand Star Points per ton is useless!"

"It's okay, though. Due to its unique characteristics, the Crystal Shard Blade Worm cannot enter subspace for travel," Guxue said with a smile, completely unconcerned.

Qingyang was stunned, then relieved.

Unable to enter subspace?

Then there was nothing to worry about.

The Eternal Fleet immediately prepared to enter subspace to escape the rampaging Crystal Shard Blade Worm behind them.

However, the next moment, the space rippled silently.

Then, a disc-shaped warship, one hundred thousand meters in size, appeared in front of the Crystal Shard Blade Worm.

[Mingyue Star Beast Park - Wild Star Beast Capture Ship]

A synthesized voice echoed in the control room. Following that, the capture ship fired five Space Containment Beams, instantly locking the Crystal Shard Blade Worm in place.

It was then loaded into the warship, and the ship gracefully departed.

The entire process lasted only about twenty seconds.

"..."

After a moment of silence, Qingyang finally commented, "The 'liveliness' of Qian Sen Star Lake is truly well-deserved."

To casually encounter a powerful warship capturing a star beast.

The warship from earlier was clearly not a Starship.

However, its power was undeniable. Those containment beams could at least lock down a high-tier T7 Battleship.

The Eternal Fleet continued its journey, and no unusual situations were encountered until they reached the Moro Metal collection area.

Yes, they encountered one upon arrival.

"Is that... the Lost Mecha Fleet?" Qingyang's gaze shifted from helplessness to solemnity as he looked at the numerous red dots marked on the Star Chart from afar.

What were the Mecha doing collecting Moro Metal?

The second update will be a bit late today. The Lunar New Year is approaching, and I haven't bought any New Year's goods yet.