Fire Sunflower Soldier Figurines, Small Fragment Belt

More than half an hour passed quickly. The light in Song Chi's eyes gradually dimmed, and his face turned pale.

Could I really be this unlucky? Was I dropped into a Star Sea Void Belt on my very first starfield exploration?

The great shattering of the multiverse millions of years ago had indeed left behind countless fragments of various universes. However, the Shattered Star Sea was simply too vast—so vast that it could not be measured in light-years. As a result, the scattered continental fragments could not completely cover it. Star Sea Void Belts were born under such circumstances.

Generally speaking, the various Star Sea civilizations referred to starfields with a diameter exceeding ten thousand light-years, containing no floating continents, asteroid belts, small fragment belts, or other celestial structures—or only an extremely small number of such structures—as Star Sea Void Belts.

Such regions were often places all Star Sea civilizations were unwilling to enter, because the absence of celestial structures also meant an extreme scarcity of all kinds of resources.

If Song Chi had truly been dropped into such a starfield, then he could only consider himself unlucky.

However, that was not the case. After the Cangqiong had cruised at light speed for over an hour, the Sky-Patrol Radar finally detected a sizable fragment belt.

Seeing this, Song Chi hurriedly turned the shuttle and headed straight toward the fragment belt.

Even though small fragment belts were the least valuable among resource sites—not to mention compared to floating continents, they were far inferior even to asteroid belts—Song Chi was already extremely excited.

According to the authoritative data released by Kindling Human Civilization, although the death rate for Kindling Starships exploring foreign starfields for the first time was only 5%, among the remaining 95% that successfully returned, over 70% had gained nothing at all.

Therefore, Song Chi knew very well just how precious this fragment belt was.

Although he knew perfectly well that wherever a fragment belt appeared, there had to be a Star Sea Floating Continent somewhere nearby, Song Chi had no intention whatsoever of searching for that unknown floating continent. His goal was clear: this fragment belt.

As a Kindling Starship that had only fused not long ago, even with his parents' support and a round of upgrades beforehand, the Cangqiong was still merely a drop in the bucket within a Star Sea where distances began in light-years.

He had to understand one thing. The phrase from past textbooks—"there will definitely be a Star Sea Floating Continent not far from small fragments"—was only relative. In reality, that "not far away" was basically a distance a Psionic Shuttle could not reach within twenty-four hours.

If he truly went to investigate that unknown floating continent, the exploration period of twenty-four hours would most likely end before he even obtained its exact coordinates.

Even if he was lucky enough to reach that unknown floating continent, so much time would have been wasted that there would not be much left for him to gather resources. He might as well explore the fragment belt in front of him.

Although the resources within a fragment belt were indeed less rare than those in asteroid belts and floating continents, this was something Song Chi could actually get his hands on.

Besides, he must not forget that the Market Ruins still contained a Raging Tiger I Mining Vehicle. If the price per unit could not compare, then he would make up for it with quantity.

Soon, the Cangqiong successfully arrived at the edge of the fragment belt. After confirming that it was indeed the small fragment belt described in past textbooks, Song Chi suppressed the urgency in his heart.

He first took the Basic Duchy Civilian Exoskeleton from the shuttle's storage hold and put it on. Then he activated the Cangqiong's sole special component, the Fire Sunflower Soldier Tree.

After consuming a full thousand Dark Energy Points from the Psionic Pool, ten Fire Sunflower Soldier Figurines over two meters tall and entirely crimson red were summoned.

Looking at the ten soldier figurines standing neatly before him, radiating an aura as scorching as fire, a trace of satisfaction appeared in Song Chi's eyes.

These ten First Rank Fire Sunflower Soldier Figurines would be the foundation of his confidence for exploring this small fragment belt. Though they had only just entered the First Rank, they were more than enough to ensure the Cangqiong's safety even if they encountered five or fewer First Rank alien creatures.

Name: Fire Sunflower Soldier Figurine

Quality: White

Rank: First Rank (maximum Second Rank)

Level: lv10

Active Ability: None

Passive Ability: Scorching as Fire (as fire-attributed soldier figurines, their attacks deal additional burning damage)

Description: A product of some lost civilization. Its quality is rather ordinary.

After ordering the ten Fire Sunflower Soldier Figurines to spread out evenly around him as guards, a dark glow flashed between Song Chi's brows. The Cangqiong beneath his feet suddenly vanished in the next second, stored within his Kindle Ancestral Aperture.

The next second, Song Chi and the ten Fire Sunflower Soldier Figurines were all exposed to outer space. A wave of discomfort instantly swept through his body, and he instinctively held his breath.

As a Star Sea human whose Guiding Technique was only lv4 and whose life level was still Zero Rank, Song Chi could not adapt to the special environment of outer space. Only those whose life level exceeded the First Rank could remain in space for extended periods.

Fortunately, there was no gravity in space, and prior scans had shown no trace of unusual spores or airborne viruses. The eleven figures simply floated quietly in place.

After ordering the Fire Sunflower Soldier Figurines to wait where they were, Song Chi's figure soon vanished silently. Two minutes later, when he reappeared, he summoned the Cangqiong again.

However, several large objects had clearly appeared inside the Cangqiong's cabin.

Inside the cabin, Song Chi and two Fire Sunflower Soldier Figurines installed the Mining Vehicle Prospector onto the Raging Tiger I Floating Land Mining Vehicle. Then, he controlled the Cangqiong as it slowly entered the small fragment belt ahead.

This fragment belt stretched for tens of thousands of kilometers, filled with celestial fragments of all sizes. A collision could occur with the slightest carelessness, so light-speed cruising as before was naturally impossible.

Fortunately, there was no need to inspect every fragment one by one. The onboard intelligence of the Raging Tiger Mining Vehicle, now equipped with the prospector, would automatically conduct scans. As long as special mineral resources were found in any fragment within ten kilometers of the Cangqiong, the onboard intelligence would immediately issue an alert.

As they advanced slowly, alerts from the onboard intelligence came from time to time, yet Song Chi did not order the Cangqiong to stop.

"Radiation signature of 'black copper' detected on a fragment at coordinates xxxxx to the left. Preliminary estimate: approximately one hundred kilograms."

"Radiation signature of 'refined iron' detected on a medium-sized fragment at coordinates xxxxx ahead. Preliminary estimate: approximately fifty kilograms."

"Radiation signature of 'gold' detected at coordinates... to the left. Preliminary estimate: approximately two hundred kilograms."

Although the onboard intelligence issued quite a few alerts, they were basically all ordinary resources, and their reserves were pitifully small. There was not even a single deposit exceeding three hundred kilograms, much less one at the ton level. They were simply not worth mining.

One had to know that every time a Psionic Shuttle stopped and deployed the Raging Tiger Mining Vehicle for excavation, it would take at least half an hour, and taking over an hour was not unusual. Spending so much time mining one or two hundred kilograms of ordinary minerals not even worth a single strand of Zero Rank Floating Continent Essence was far too inefficient.

As for directly towing the fragment containing the ore back to the shuttle, sorry—that was a function only available to Kindling Starships at the Psionic Starship level or above.

(Psionic Shuttle, Psionic Airship, Psionic Starship...)