Star Point Acquisition—"Alternate Universe"

After ending the Star Net call, Feng Xiao watched the robots continuously transport and install essential equipment inside the starship, feeling somewhat depressed.

"They really gave me no face at all. They weren't surprised in the slightest. They could've at least pretended."

Thinking of Feng Xue'an's utterly calm expression when he saw some of Star Origin's attributes, Feng Xiao shook his head regretfully.

He was not a flamboyant person, but he would never pass up such a once-in-a-lifetime chance to show off to his father.

Yet it had actually failed.

Looking at the gleaming Star Origin, Feng Xiao's expression gradually turned serious.

"According to procedure, I have to enter an alternate universe next and acquire Star Points for the first time. Otherwise, once the initial Star Points are used up, the starship will shut down."

That was right. Upgrading a starship required vast amounts of foundational rule energy known as Star Points, and all energy consumption also required burning Star Points.

If the Star Points dropped to zero, the entire starship would cease all operations. There would be no solution except borrowing from another starship captain.

At present, the only way to obtain Star Points was to enter an alternate universe. As long as one caused any form of destruction to a civilization within an alternate universe, one could receive varying amounts of Star Points.

Other than that, plundering treasures and rare items from alternate universes, or completing missions issued by civilization rules, could also earn Star Points and even Star Weapons.

As for alternate universes, there was only one highly credible theory—alternate universes were companion universes of the Main Universe, and were most likely smaller in size.

Their minor rules also differed, but most physical constants were the same.

Feng Xiao was a little curious. "How did alternate universes offend the Main Universe? Why can I gain benefits just by damaging any civilization inside one?"

The method of entering an alternate universe was simple. The starship core had four chances every month to capture alternate-universe signals, and success allowed entry.

The cost of traversing into an alternate universe was borne by the civilization rules.

However, the chance of capturing an alternate-universe signal was below thirty percent. Most commonly, one could only enter an alternate universe two or three times a year.

If the alternate-universe faction in the arrival area was too powerful, not only would one lose everything, one could even die.

Furthermore, entry into an alternate universe lasted only five days. Even higher-grade starships were no exception.

Unless one possessed a relevant Star Weapon.

"I wonder if I can capture a signal on my first try. I should head into an empty region of space first. I heard the chances are slightly higher than in busy areas."

Feng Xiao felt somewhat worried. With a thought, the enormous starship swiftly rose into the air. A crisp, faint hum sounded, completely unlike the thunderous roar of an ordinary interstellar warship.

Telan Starport was actually a transportation hub fifty kilometers in diameter, with hundreds of massive ship hangars and extensive commercial districts.

It handled trade from more than ten planets, forming the foundation for Telan Planet's status as one of the Blue Crystal Federation's top ten commercial planets!

Even so, it was not unusual to go ten days or half a month without seeing a single starship arrive.

Until today...

In a commercial district near the warehouse area, the bodyguards behind more than a dozen businesspeople who were in discussion suddenly looked up.

"What is it?"

"A starship is leaving Telan Starport. Its energy level is very high!"

"What?!"

The expressions of the many business owners changed as they began calculating inwardly.

They were wealthy, but they still could not afford to provoke any starship. After all, they had no starships of their own and simply could not fight one.

If they did, they would have long since gone to the capital planet to develop their trade. Why would they remain here?

"Go investigate. Is it an outsider's starship, or a local Telan Planet starship?"

"..."

"Yes!"

If it was a local starship, they would have to treat it seriously. At the very least, paying a visit would be unavoidable.

Completely unaware of this, Feng Xiao watched Star Origin gradually accelerate to twenty percent of light speed, gaining a clearer understanding of the starship's power.

There were fewer than two hundred warships in the Blue Crystal Federation capable of sublight speed, and all of them were products of the Blue Crystal Federation's conventional technology.

Yet any ordinary initial starship could actually reach such a speed.

A legendary hull would not enhance travel speed, and even if it did, it could not possibly be an initial starship.

Five minutes later.

Amid countless asteroids and meteors, Star Origin slowly came to a stop.

Feng Xiao, meanwhile, prepared to detect alternate-universe signals with slight nervousness.

[Heart of Dawn (Repair: 5%)

Scout: Target not selected

Lock: Anchors locked (expand)

Analysis: Target not selected]

Hm?

Feng Xiao stared blankly for several seconds as the Heart of Dawn, which had remained inactive for so long, suddenly appeared.

Then he silently chose expand.

[Lock: Three anchors

Anchor One: Level-one technological civilization (unstable)

Danger level: Moderate

...

Anchor Two: Level-one individual civilization

Danger level: Moderate

...

Anchor Three: Level-three technological civilization

Danger level: Extremely dangerous]

"Just as expected..."

Feng Xiao smiled as though he had anticipated this long ago, then frowned.

An individual civilization?

Could it be a cultivation civilization?

The Star Sea Human Alliance also had systems of individual power, including superpowers, ancient martial arts, and genetic cultivation. They were divided into levels one through one hundred and twenty, with every ten levels forming a threshold.

However, even individuals with peak-level power could not defeat a medium-level starship. Combined with the high difficulty of cultivation, which placed even greater emphasis on talent than starships did, it was not part of a civilization's strategic system.

Moreover, as a starship's level increased, its captain's personal combat power also soared. Captains of high-level starships were no weaker than peak individual powerhouses.

Genetic warriors, on the other hand, were fairly common. Anyone could get started, but they were completely weaker than superpowers and ancient martial arts at the same cultivation level, and they required enormous wealth as the foundation for advancement.

Most genetic warriors were trained by starship captains as assault squads, used to break into enemy starships to seize supplies or carry out decapitation strikes.

Feng Xiao muttered, "With my current strength, facing a cultivation civilization isn't safe. It would be no fun if they carried out a decapitation strike.

I should choose target one instead. By the way, what does 'unstable' mean?"

Feng Xiao could not even be bothered to look at target three. That meant the same thing as the end of the whole story.

[Anchor confirmed!]

[Alternate-universe signal captured!]

The instant the Heart of Dawn confirmed it, the starship core sounded as well.

The next moment, Star Origin vanished instantly.

Alternate universe...

Boom!

Within a vast mountain range, a thousand-meter-long black streamlined warship suddenly appeared, hovering a hundred meters above the ground.

After recovering from the shock, Feng Xiao first looked toward the starship interface. According to the experience of his predecessors, the civilization rules would provide rough information about the forces in the alternate universe.

[Intelligence Description:

Earth Star is a standard medium-sized life planet. Human civilization evolved and multiplied upon it, eventually entering the information age.

However, a sudden meteor shower plunged it into the abyss. Invisible electromagnetic pulses covered the entire planetary atmosphere.

No signals could break through the atmosphere. Missiles, nuclear weapons, satellites, communications, and other information equipment instantly lost most of their function.

At the same time, mysterious substances brought by the meteors caused a large number of ordinary animals to evolve, even giving rise to colossal beast-class creatures!

Sixty percent of humanity also mutated, becoming demonic infected beings!

Under the ravages of colossal beasts and infected beings, Earth Star's civilization instantly collapsed.

After countless bloody battles, humanity formed numerous safe bases in an attempt to resist the disaster!

A new wave of colossal beasts is about to arrive!

Current time: One day before the colossal beast wave

Threat level: Moderate

Hint: The meteor source was not natural.

Mission: Collect body tissues from ten different types of top-tier colossal beasts.

Reward: Five thousand Star Points

Note: Mission acceptance is optional. In addition, killing any creature or damaging any valuable creation of civilization can earn Star Points.]

After closing the screen, Feng Xiao thought for a moment and decided to bring a squad of war machines into a human base first to assess the situation.

Before confirming the enemy's circumstances, it was better not to move the starship recklessly. After all, this meteor shower did not seem simple.

A transport craft with optical camouflage activated flew out of Star Origin and swiftly headed toward a safe base on the radar.

In a ruined town.

Heavy artillery fire and dense gunfire rang out one after another. Billowing smoke could be clearly seen even ten kilometers away.

More than eighty soldiers in field gear relied on the terrain as they fired frantically. Five enormous steel beasts—tanks—were mixed among them!

Their targets were more than ten thousand ugly, agile infected beings!

"Damn it, didn't they say this town had been cleared?"

The leading officer looked grim.

If the terrain they occupied had not been a high-ground factory with tall concrete walls and steep slopes, they would likely have already been devoured by the mutants.

"This can't go on. Reinforcements won't arrive for another hour!

But we have to get Mr. Wang Hao out now. His danger-sensing ability is extremely important to the base..."

Roar!

A huge roar suddenly interrupted the officer's words. The ground shook violently, and everyone's expressions changed drastically.

"Aberrant!"