Expansion

Ning Chuan stood where he was for a long while before his pounding heart slowly calmed.

He looked at the robot lying on the ground, completely silent after being forcibly suppressed by silver chains of light, its body even more twisted and ruined. His expression was complicated and unreadable.

The killing intent had been real. Those cold, mechanical, precise assassination movements had definitely not been an illusion.

But... that trace of sorrow had also been real.

What sort of past did this contradictory creation conceal?

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

His risky attempt had come at a price, but it had also yielded valuable information. Soul Power could activate it, but it would also trigger its dangerous Defense Protocol.

Before he possessed absolute control and the ability to repair it, he absolutely could not try again so casually.

His gaze fell upon the robot's body, which was no longer curled up but had been forcibly stretched out by the chains of light. Only then did he notice that, although its overall lines were hard and angular, it possessed a peculiar grace and slenderness. The construction of its waist, abdomen, and joints especially differed from the rough combat robots he had imagined. It was closer to... a female body shape?

A killing machine with a female appearance, high intelligence, and emotions?

Ning Chuan shook his head, casting aside that unimportant thought.

Whatever it had once been, it was now merely a pile of trouble that needed handling and... a potential treasure.

"Right now, I'm still too weak." Ning Chuan clenched his fist and felt the Level 20 Soul Power within him.

In this Heavens Junk Yard, that little strength was like dust.

Forget repairing this robot—he could not even safely explore beyond the platform. He could only rely on a four-meter-long rake to barely hook trash from the edges.

His exploration range only extended four meters outward from the platform's edge.

That was far too limited!

As he looked at the mountains of discarded objects just beyond the platform, an intense unwillingness surged in his heart.

A treasure mountain was right before his eyes, yet he could only scrape off a few scraps from its edges!

"I have to expand the range!" A thought naturally arose. "What if... I clear out the area around the platform that I can reach? Will something change?"

The Station had only said that the platform was absolutely safe. It had never said whether the platform could change due to the Stationmaster's actions.

It was worth a try!

At present, repairing the robot was a distant prospect, while exploring the unknown carried too much risk. The most practical and safest goal was to thoroughly clean up this little patch of territory first!

He got to work immediately!

Ning Chuan gripped the Soul Power Rake again, temporarily casting aside the earlier danger. His gaze became firm and focused.

Rather than ambitiously trying to hook things from farther away—those flashy-looking objects that might contain high energy or high risks—he fixed his target firmly on every piece of relatively "safe and harmless" trash within four meters of the platform that he could reach.

First came the scattered metal fragments, broken fossilized bones, dried remnants of energy blocks, and unknown chunks of rock...

Ning Chuan carefully raked and hooked them over, dragging them back onto the platform and feeding them into the Decomposition Beam.

"Obtained: Inferior Iron Ore x3"

"Obtained: Weathered Beast Bones x2"

"Obtained: Discarded Energy Battery Casing x1"

"Reward Points: 5"

The gains were meager, and his points increased slowly, but Ning Chuan was not discouraged.

Next came several larger objects that were half-buried.

There was a rusted giant gear, a broken stone pillar, and even half of a damaged, heavy metal panel that looked like a spaceship hatch.

These things were incredibly heavy. Dragging them took great effort and consumed no small amount of Soul Power. Yet Ning Chuan gritted his teeth and persisted, prying them out of the garbage heap bit by bit and dragging them onto the platform.

"Obtained: Crude Bronze Ingot x1 (Large)"

"Obtained: Granite Fragments x1 (Unit)"

"Obtained: Aerospace-Grade Aluminum Alloy Plate x1 (Damaged)"

"Reward Points: 18"

The process was tedious and exhausting.

He mechanically repeated the actions of raking, dragging, and decomposing. Whenever his Soul Power ran out, he meditated to recover; whenever his mind grew tired, he rested briefly.

But Ning Chuan's will was firm, and he did not slack off in the slightest. Like the most patient Scavenger, he gradually gnawed away at the trash surrounding the platform.

Time slipped away quietly amid his work.

Finally, after he raked out the last black, charcoal-like substance wedged in a crack and dragged it onto the platform to decompose it...

Ning Chuan stopped, panting as he looked around.

With the platform where he stood as the center, all the piled-up, uneven trash within a four-meter radius had been completely cleared away!

What remained was relatively level ground covered in dark dust and scattered gravel.

This area formed a stark contrast with the garbage still piled like mountains beyond it, like a stretch of shore exposed after the tide receded.

He had done it!

Just as Ning Chuan thought the only change was that the place looked cleaner and began to feel slightly disappointed that nothing else had happened...

Bzzzz!

The entire metal platform suddenly shook violently!

It was not a dangerous tremor, but a deep, powerful hum, as though some sleeping giant beast were awakening!

The silver patterns at the platform's edge, which had previously only glowed faintly, suddenly burst forth with dazzling brilliance!

The light flowed and gathered like a living thing, becoming brighter and more complex than ever before!

Then, under Ning Chuan's astonished gaze, those glowing patterns seemed to come alive and began spreading beyond the platform, toward the newly cleared empty area!

Like golden ink dripping into clear water, or an invisible brush outlining new territory.

Starting from the platform's original boundary, the silver light patterns rapidly extended, interwove, and imprinted themselves precisely along the edge of the cleared four-meter-radius area!

They inscribed patterns upon the ground that shared the same origin as those within the platform, yet were simpler. Streams of light flowed and connected, forming a brand-new, larger circular boundary!

Within a few breaths, the boundary of a new platform with its radius expanded by a full four meters took shape!

The humming gradually subsided, and the light of the newborn silver patterns slowly withdrew, becoming stable and gentle. Yet they truly existed, clearly marking a completely new safe zone several times larger than the original!

"Detected that the Stationmaster has cleared and stabilized the area surrounding the Station."

"Platform safe range successfully expanded!"

"Current safe area radius: +4 meters."

"Stationmaster's effective operating range increased."

"Reward: As this is the first platform expansion, additional reward of 100 points."

"Current total points: 166."

The notification sounded at just the right moment, bringing astonishingly good news!

Ning Chuan looked at the platform's new boundary beneath his feet, now extending deep into what had once been the garbage heap. He looked at the land outside that had just been covered in trash but was now within the absolute safe zone. A tremendous sense of accomplishment and excitement rose within him!

The radius had expanded by four meters!

That meant the explorable area had increased severalfold!

Many garbage heaps that had just been barely beyond the rake's reach, forcing Ning Chuan to sigh helplessly at them, were now right before his eyes!

And there was also the additional reward of 100 points!

Sure enough, hard work clearing up trash was rewarded!

This junk yard encouraged Stationmasters to expand their territory!

Ning Chuan was reinvigorated, and his exhaustion vanished completely. He hoisted the rake onto his shoulder and strode toward the edge of the newly expanded platform.

Standing at the new boundary and looking toward the places that had previously been beyond his reach, his eyes immediately lit up.

Not far ahead, a pile of discarded objects that had previously been buried beneath other trash had been exposed. Among them, several objects seemed to emit a faint gleam unlike that of ordinary metal...