Harvest

Wang Dong knew that the gains from this raid had already been nearly maximized.

Thirteen hours of the twenty-four-hour Otherworldly Space battlefield had passed.

They would not be able to leave for another eleven hours.

Facing the Yatai civilization fleet, which was on high alert, War Axe did not charge headlong into it as it had the previous few times.

Instead, it changed course, avoided the orbits of the two militarized fortress planets, and slowly retreated toward the edge of the star system.

The Yatai civilization reacted immediately. A large fleet of five motherships and five hundred warships surged out in a concentrated formation and attacked War Axe.

The remaining nearly two thousand warships formed a second line behind them, advancing slowly in an arc.

"Very decisive. They understand that, given the combat strength War Axe has displayed, a defensive line made up of a small fleet simply can't stop it from breaking through.

"So they've simply abandoned the planets' defenses and sent all their main forces to drive off and surround War Axe."

Wang Dong silently gave the Yatai civilization's commander a thumbs-up.

Wang Dong had no interest in charging into such a dense formation.

At the height of War Axe's strength, it might have been able to tear through the enemy three times and back, with the cost perhaps limited to minor damage to its armor and hull structure.

But War Axe was now out of ammunition and had no means of fighting back.

Wang Dong had no intention of starting another battle. The gains were already substantial enough. Perhaps a few more charges, relying on War Axe's speed and the rapid fire of its secondary guns, might bring down a few dozen more warships.

But Wang Dong no longer cared about the mere dozen or so Source Points he might gain after the reduced returns.

Once you'd eaten your fill, it was time to go home and sleep.

Faced with the Yatai civilization fleet's might, War Axe gradually increased its engine output and continued to accelerate. Three hours later, it left the Yatai star system.

The Yatai civilization fleet remained within the star system. It sent out only a few dozen warships to trail War Axe from a great distance, until they were left beyond radar range.

There were still eight hours before they would leave Otherworldly Space, and no enemy traces remained nearby.

Only then did Wang Dong relax.

A level-one interstellar civilization had no means of pursuing War Axe.

As for whether the Yatai civilization might seek help from a more advanced interstellar civilization, he didn't need to consider that possibility in the short term.

The vast sea of stars and the endless distances between them were the greatest constraints on all interstellar civilizations.

The battle had lasted more than ten hours. It hadn't been particularly intense, but operating a warship alone had forced Wang Dong into High-speed Human-Machine Data Interaction mode, which still consumed a great deal of his physical and mental energy.

The battle was finally over. Now that he had let his guard down, Wang Dong felt almost completely drained.

At the same time, a fierce hunger gnawed at his stomach.

Since entering the "Otherworldly Space battlefield," he hadn't had so much as a sip of water for more than ten hours.

Fortunately, War Axe had ample supplies on board. After he made a request to the Shipborne Optical Computer, a sumptuous breakfast was laid out before him just a few minutes later.

Breakfast. Nothing wrong with that.

Wang Dong had entered Otherworldly Space at around one o'clock in the afternoon on June 22, 10105, Star Calendar.

Sixteen hours had passed. It was now around five in the morning on June 23, so it could just about count as breakfast time.

After leisurely finishing his sumptuous meal, Wang Dong wiped his mouth and strolled around the command cabin.

He adjusted the light-filtering mode. Starlight streamed through the portholes, making Wang Dong feel as though he were immersed in a sea of stars.

He gently tilted his head back and closed his eyes.

Wang Dong smiled with easy confidence.

His first Otherworldly Space battlefield, a full six months earlier than in his previous life, was complete.

To his former enemies: the noose of fate had bared its ferocious fangs. Were you ready?

He waited patiently until the twenty-four-hour Otherworldly Space battlefield came to an end.

There were still several hours before this Otherworldly Space battlefield would be over.

With nothing else to do, Wang Dong took a lap around War Axe.

Because he had needed to pretend that nothing had happened and that he had simply gone out to mine as usual, his last visit had been rather rushed. He had been in a hurry to mine and hadn't inspected the ship in detail.

Although he had spent more than ten years with War Axe in his previous life and knew it very well,

that had been then, and this was now.

Without using the magnetic levitation platform, Wang Dong once again strolled around War Axe on foot.

"Pond" was a Scout-class Destroyer.

The ship was 323 meters long, 70 meters wide at its broadest point, and up to 75 meters tall.

Its main functional areas were divided into four levels.

It had one command cabin, several operation cabins, dozens of crew quarters, one medical cabin, one reception cabin, and three cargo holds located at different points along the hull.

There were also more than twenty other functional cabins, including an entertainment cabin, a conference cabin, and spare cabins.

For Wang Dong, who was currently alone, it was simply too vast.

In fact, under normal circumstances, a Kindling Warship couldn't be operated by its captain alone.

After finally returning to the command cabin, Wang Dong let out a satisfied breath.

Time to tally the gains.

Remaining Source Points: 1876!

A beautiful number, gleaming like gold in Wang Dong's eyes.

His Source Points had risen from 12 to 1876.

An increase of 1,864 points!

What did that mean?

Based on Wang Dong's experience from his previous life, an ordinary Kindling Warship gained anywhere from a few dozen to a few hundred points in each Otherworldly Space battlefield.

On average, the gains from one Otherworldly Space battlefield amounted to around a hundred Source Points.