Yuan's consciousness had reached the Flying Star Rank (Star Rank), so he tried again to wear down the Spiritual Imprint on the Space Ring.
The Spiritual Imprint that had clung on like chewing gum now melted away as quickly as a snowman under the sun.
With a thought, Yuan sent a thread of Spiritual Force into the Space Ring. It guided him automatically, leaving a Spiritual Imprint inside the ring.
Soon, he found the sensation familiar, much like with the storage pouch he'd used before. He didn't need to send his Spiritual Force into the ring to know exactly what was inside, and he could take items in and out at any time. It was a very strange feeling.
Before him lay a space about the size of a small plaza. "This ring's storage space is enormous! Are Shenghui and Sijian's rings as big as mine?"
Yuan was so astonished that he couldn't estimate its size at first. Finally, judging by eye, he figured it was over three hundred meters long and more than a hundred and fifty meters wide and tall.
It was filled with all kinds of treasures. Yuan recognized only a small fraction when he scanned them with his Spiritual Force, but even those few were valuable enough to astonish him all over again!
Before the hunting party had set out, Yuan had copied some treasure records and reference materials from the Starship Humans' database onto his wristwatch, just in case he came across a treasure without recognizing it. Now they would come in handy!
He took off his Smart Wristwatch and secretly put it in the Space Ring, using his Spiritual Force to make it float inside.
Then Yuan gave an order. "Tuya, start scanning. Identify these treasures and list them in order of value!"
Tuya, now equipped with basic intelligence, replied in a pleasant simulated female voice. "Of course, Master!"
"Wow, Master! When did you get all this wealth?" Faced with so many treasures, even an intelligent life couldn't help exclaiming.
"I found the Space Ring and everything inside it. Honestly, I feel like I'm dreaming! This kind of thing only happens in novels, doesn't it?" Yuan couldn't help marveling too.
"Even novels couldn't come up with a plot like this!"
Tuya replied with conviction, "In the conventional novels of the Isis Race that I've read, most treasures are acquired through a series of twists and struggles..."
"Finding a treasure for nothing is the kind of trash plot only written by third-rate novelists..."
Yuan: "..."
The Smart Wristwatch that housed Tuya began to work under Yuan's control...
On one side of the plaza stood a shuttle-shaped spaceship, over a hundred meters long and wide, and more than thirty meters tall. Its hull was made of an unknown metal, and the energy circuits on it glimmered with a dangerous light. This spaceship was clearly extraordinary!
After scanning it, Tuya spoke up. "D9-Grade Alloy Spaceship. Specific performance data unavailable."
"According to the Starship Humans' records, as long as its reserve energy supply is sufficient, the energy shield aboard this ship can withstand a full-power attack from a Domain Lord Ninth Stage! Its value is impossible to estimate!"
"Can you pilot it?" Yuan suddenly thought of something.
"The ship is locked. Without the corresponding key, I can only try to force my way in, but my computing power isn't sufficient to carry out such a complex attack!"
Yuan had even considered taking this ship straight back to the Yisi Kingdom! Even if a powerful expert might claim it afterward, at least he could get home safely first!
He had no choice but to put the idea aside for now...
The other side was piled high with all kinds of treasures. Crystals and energy blocks, all cut to exactly the same size, were stacked seventy or eighty meters high.
"High-grade energy blocks. Suitable for use in a spaceship's main drive reactor... Value unknown."
"Flowing Wind Marrow. Suitable for Domain Lord Rank cultivators of the wind-attribute Genetic Origin Energy... Value unknown."
Labels covered the containers and boxes, marked with unfamiliar writing. They filled one corner, and Yuan guessed they held all kinds of precious raw materials.
"These are Northern Rock Race characters. I've translated them for you and listed them..."
"The Northern Rock Race? Weren't they wiped out? Does that mean the owner of this ring is long dead too?" Yuan thought happily. "Well, maybe not. There could still be survivors. I'd better be careful!"
Tuya compiled a list for Yuan. It included all kinds of manuals, high-tech weapons, small vehicles, seeds of unusual plants, Desolate Beast materials, and various unfamiliar special medicines.
For most of them, even their names and properties were unknown, and every value was listed as unknown!
There were also all kinds of Origin Energy weapons and Origin Energy armor of unknown ranks, arranged on rows of racks made from a special kind of wood. Many of the weapons looked a lot like those used by the Starship Humans, but they were much larger.
Although Origin Energy weapons could be adjusted to some extent, their size suggested that their users were quite large.
"They'd suit the Northern Rock Race, who are said to stand seven or eight meters tall!"
Tuya could identify only a handful as Tier 1 Origin Energy Weapons, let alone determine their value.
Yuan was already numb with shock. Even the Starship Humans' database couldn't identify everything, and for now, he couldn't take a single item out!
If the Starship Humans around him recognized anything, there was no way he could explain it.
He was sitting on a mountain of treasure but couldn't touch any of it. Yuan felt a little frustrated.
He thought that once he got back to the Starship Humans' village, he'd secretly take some high-grade energy out of the ring and see if the Purple Crystal in his mind could absorb it!
The scan was nearing its end when Tuya suddenly let out a shriek. Even she couldn't hide her delight. "Master! Master! Look, these are Smart Optical Computers!"
Yuan turned his attention to them. Several metal armors resembling bracers lay there. "Are these the legendary Smart Optical Computers, with computing power comparable to a massive central computer?"
"Could you give me one to inhabit?" Tuya's voice brimmed with longing to become a higher-level intelligence!
"Of course, but I can't take this Optical Computer out and use it right now," Yuan explained.
"That's all right!" Tuya was delighted by his answer. "I'll set up a sub-intelligence in your wristwatch. With the connection between them, it'll be just like using the bracer Optical Computer directly."
Following Tuya's instructions, Yuan then claimed one of the bracer Optical Computers, making it easier for Tuya to take over.
The bracer's original intelligence knew what was going to happen to it, and asked to be transferred into another, ordinary intelligent device.
Yuan hadn't even had time to react before Tuya firmly refused! They absolutely couldn't leave this intelligence behind!
Only after Tuya explained did Yuan understand why. For safety, all artificial intelligences had absolute loyalty to their masters written into their core protocols when they were created.
The supplementary protocols governing how they treated their masters' kin were also written in great detail. But since they lacked the permissions granted by the core protocols, there were always loopholes to exploit.
In short, an alien intelligence would certainly be absolutely loyal to Yuan, but its attitude toward the people around its master was another matter. After all, even intelligences had their own likes, dislikes, and moods.
That was a necessary part of their evolution into true intelligent life!
That was why many people, even after becoming peerless experts and gaining more powerful intelligences that could cause no trouble, still remained loyal to the intelligence that had followed them from the beginning.
At last, the bracer Optical Computer's original intelligence dropped its act. It cursed viciously in an unfamiliar language. Though Yuan couldn't understand it, he could still feel its deep resentment.
"Damn it! Damn it! All aliens deserve to die! Every last Light-Deriving Snake should be torn to pieces! Master, why won't you listen to me? Why?!"
"What did the Northern Rock Race ever do to you? My poor old master! Why did they have to be wiped out? Why?! There were countless lives—so innocent! Was it wrong for us to want to survive? $*&^@*...(Note: Northern Rock Race profanity)"
A strange light shone in Yuan's eyes. Would the humans of the Isis Race one day suffer the same fate?
He didn't dare think about it, yet he couldn't help himself. He thought of those smiling faces, his parents, Autumn and Doris, his best friends, and all the friends who crowded around him, constantly bickering and making a racket...
And the group of new friends he'd made among the Starship Humans. How many of them would still be around a year from now? Ten years? A hundred?
"No! I'll never let something like that happen!"
Yuan stared silently at the bracer Optical Computer for a long time, then said to Tuya, "Translate what I say for it. What's its name?"
The intelligence in the bracer Optical Computer fell silent, then spoke in fluent human language of the Isis Race. "There's no need. My name is Kato. My master, my database contains the language of the Isis Race."
So it had been pretending all along. As expected of an alien intelligence!
Yuan continued, "Then you should know that I'm from the Isis Race, and you should know about the feud between the Isis Race and the Light-Deriving Snakes."
"The Northern Rock Race had nothing to do with me, but I've received so many of their treasures. I promise you: when I'm strong enough to do something about it, I'll make sure the Light-Deriving Snake Race pays!"
By the end, Yuan's expression was fierce and his voice full of force!
Kato seemed happy, or perhaps its core intelligence had become confused.
It began rambling. "That's good. That's good. You're my master, and you wouldn't lie to me! Old Kato looks forward to that day..."
"...Though old Kato won't live to see it... My old master would be happy too... Though his children died alongside him, so I suppose there isn't much to be happy about..."
"Kato will leave now and make room for your intelligence. Executing the core shutdown protocol. Clearing the permission codes. Master, please confirm!"
"No need, Kato! Upload yourself in full to this device, and don't do anything else!" Yuan said as he dug a small, strange-looking instrument out of the pile of high-tech items.
"Yes, Master." After receiving the command, Kato once again seemed like a true intelligence, replying without emotion.
"Tuya!"
Without any further explanation, Tuya understood what Yuan meant. She quickly took over the bracer Optical Computer, and her computing speed surged. She was overjoyed.
Yuan gave his new-housemate Tuya her first command: "Cut off all external communication channels to this instrument."
Cutting off its external communication channels was the same as locking it in solitary confinement. It couldn't cause any trouble that way. Tuya did as instructed. "Yes, Master!"
Kato could do nothing and sense nothing, but it could still maintain the barest level of thought.
For an intelligence, this was an extremely terrifying punishment! Yet Kato didn't say another word. It silently let it happen.
Afterward, Tuya asked in confusion, "Master, why did you save it like this?"
Yuan carefully set the small instrument aside. "I hope it can survive long enough to witness the day I fulfill my promise..."
Before you continue