Descent

Outside the azure Gold Soul Planet, a spaceship hovered in the pitch-black void of space.

"What a beautiful planet. Even among the life-bearing planets under the Captain's command, not one can compare to this."

"Haha, if this is a top-tier planet, we're going to be rich."

In the spaceship's control room, Captain Mikita, clad in a black combat suit, looked at the planet before him with satisfaction. His crewmen were right; most of the life-bearing planets under his control had harsh, unforgiving environments.

Only the planet housing his main base had pleasant scenery, but a planet of this caliber was something he couldn't easily acquire—even if he could afford the price, few would sell unless he paid a massive premium.

"Keep the anti-detection systems active, engage 'stealth' mode, and descend slowly toward the ocean, far away from the landmasses."

"Understood, Captain."

Timas, the ship's AI, received Mikita's order. After engaging stealth mode, it guided the ship down toward the sea, moving like a ghost under the shroud of twilight.

Hm? Something has descended from the stars? Qi Tianshou, sitting in meditation within the Gold Soul Clan Sacred Hall, suddenly sensed a disturbance on the planet.

Qi Tianshou's consciousness and spiritual force could cover the entire Gold Soul Planet, even extending slightly beyond its atmosphere, but at maximum range, he could only perceive vague shadows.

Just like now, with the spaceship arriving, Qi Tianshou only vaguely sensed an external object entering the planet and a cluster of several energy fluctuations.

This energy signature doesn't feel like a meteorite or anything of the sort. Could it be extraterrestrials? Curiosity piqued, Qi Tianshou decided to rise and investigate.

Within his sea of consciousness, the Soul-Suppressing Buddha Bead protected him, preventing his aura from leaking out. If the intruders weren't too powerful, they would be unable to detect his presence.

If the visitors were powerhouses like the Blood Cloud Palace Master, then even the Soul-Suppressing Buddha Bead would be useless; he wouldn't be able to escape anyway, so he might as well go and see for himself.

Flying at full speed, Qi Tianshou reached the vicinity of the target in mere tens of seconds, observing from a distance of one hundred kilometers.

A spaceship? It really is extraterrestrials.

In the spaceship's bridge, the female avatar of the AI Timas appeared on the screen, reporting the preliminary findings of the planet to Mikita.

"Based on projections, this planet is nearly spherical with a radius of nearly 27,000 kilometers. The surface area is 9.16 billion square kilometers, of which 31.3% is land and 68.7% is water."

"The surface gravity is approximately 0.48 standard cosmic gravity units. The atmospheric composition is..."

Hearing the data reported by the ship's AI, Mikita was quite satisfied. A planet like this was perfectly suited for the Human Race to thrive, and the massive wealth he had spent on this expedition would be well recouped.

After Timas finished the report, the crew members logged into the Virtual Universe to confirm once more. Official records showed no life-bearing planets in this sector, meaning this was indeed an unclaimed world.

"Excellent."

Hearing the crew's report and looking at the simulated image of Gold Soul Planet on the screen, Mikita already considered this planet his own.

"An unclaimed life-bearing planet symbolizes wealth, but it also represents unknown dangers. No one knows if there are powerful indigenous inhabitants."

"Go to the lower deck, pick a few slaves, and bring them up. Let them scout the path first."

The crew members agreed with the Captain's order. For adventurers like them, caution was the key to longevity.

Besides, falling into a trap was not unheard of.

The Universe Mercenary Alliance was filled with such stories: adventure squads discovering indigenous planets, only to be killed by the planet's powerful natives due to their own carelessness!

"The Captain is right. Not long ago, I heard a piece of news at the Ofta Tavern: the Ganwu Universe Kingdom, which borders our Noah Universe Kingdom, recently discovered a powerful indigenous planet."

"Rumor has it that the planet has one Domain Lord and twelve Universe-level powerhouses, and the natives reach Planet-level as soon as they reach adulthood."

A crew member who had just heard this news couldn't help but express doubt.

"Really? How come I haven't heard such explosive news?"

"Tch, that happened within the Ganwu Universe Kingdom and is information circulating among mercenaries. How would a guy like you, who only cares about finance, know about it?"

Mikita had been busy preparing for the exploration of a secret realm during this time and hadn't heard the news, so the crew's revelation surprised him.

At the same time, it reinforced Mikita's intention to proceed with caution. With an unclaimed planet about to be harvested and the massive opportunity of an unknown secret realm ahead, he couldn't afford to fail due to carelessness.

"Alright, arrange for the slaves to go and explore the land immediately," Mikita's authoritative voice rang out, silencing the discussing crew members.

A few minutes later, under Qi Tianshou's silent gaze, the ship's hatch opened. Several aliens with varying appearances flew out, stepped onto hoverboards, and sped toward the land.

Watching the figures depart, Qi Tianshou's eyes narrowed slightly. He looked at the spaceship still hovering in place and decided to remain where he was, while simultaneously sending a telepathic message to Qi Jingshi and Qi Shixuan.

"Jingshi, outsiders have entered our Gold Soul Planet. Ensure the safety of the clansmen within the Sacred Land."

"Shixuan, there is an alien invasion. Organize the most capable clansmen to garrison the other cities, but do not reveal specific details."

Qi Jingshi, who was meditating in the Sacred Hall, heard Qi Tianshou's telepathic message and immediately called out to Qi Tianshou and Qi Shangye, relaying the message.

At the same time, his consciousness and spiritual force expanded, shrouding the city where the Gold Soul Clan Sacred Land was located, waiting for the outsiders to arrive.

Qi Shixuan, the Patriarch of the Gold Soul Clan, who was inspecting affairs in other tribal cities, heard the telepathic message at the same time, his expression changing abruptly.

He immediately called the inspectors traveling with him, telling them to depart for the furthest towns first, while he himself rushed back to the Sacred Land to organize others to head to the remaining towns.

Under Qi Tianshou's instructions, the Gold Soul clansmen acted quickly, yet maintained a policy of inaction, merely stationing themselves within the major cities.

The slaves on their hovercrafts made no aggressive moves; their orders were to carry micro-detectors to gather information on the indigenous humans at close range.

Because the detectors installed on Mikita's ship were designed to detect energy fluctuations, they could not directly detect biological entities that were not engaged in combat.

After several hours of scouting, the information gathered by the detectors carried by the Planet-level slaves was rapidly integrated by the ship's AI, Timas, and presented before Mikita.