On the third day after finalizing the extermination war plan against "Steel-Skin Folk" with Interior Minister Amelia, Ian's figure appeared without warning in Pheobe·Delacour's private Mage Tower.
The tower is located in a freestanding Subspace south of France, surrounded by ever-blooming Veela Flower.
At this time, Half-Veela, who has a peerless appearance, is wearing a white coat stained with some medicine, and is staring at the slide under the microscope with concentration. She is researching a high-level medicine that can purify the blood of ancient creatures. Regarding Ian's sudden visit, she just raised her eyelids slightly, with a trace of laziness and displeasure at being disturbed in her blue eyes.
"What a rare visitor. What brought our Archon Majesty, who is busy planning interstellar wars and has many things to do, to come here?"
Ian ignored her teasing, stepped forward, gently hugged her waist from behind, and whispered in her ear, "Stop being busy, my dear. I will take you to a good place for a vacation."
"Now? I have three experiments in a petri dish..."
"Believe me, it's definitely worth it. There are biological samples there that you've never seen before."
Half an hour later.
A private spacecraft with a very streamlined shape and dark gold Arcane Runes flowing on its surface rushed out of the earth's atmosphere Silencio.
This is the exclusive car of Ian - [Voidwalker]. It combines the mystery of Alchemy with the precision of technology, and is currently the fastest spacecraft of the Empire.
"Target locked: Epsilon Star Cluster. Distance: 300,000 light years."
The spacecraft's main control AI made a cold electronic sound, "Calibrating space coordinates... Start the Void Jump engine."
The starry sky outside the window instantly stretched and turned into countless gorgeous light strips, as if time and space had been smeared by an invisible hand. The next second, a sense of weightlessness across dimensions struck, accompanied by slight dizziness. When the vision returned to normal again, they had arrived at a strange star field full of chaos.
Pheobe looked out the window in surprise.
In the dark space filled with meteorite belts, there is a huge space fortress suspended, made up of countless metal modules, abandoned battleship wreckage and asteroids. It is like a steel behemoth dormant in the void, with colorful neon lights and warning lights flashing on its surface, exuding a depraved, chaotic and dangerous atmosphere full of life.
"Where is this?" Pheobe asked curiously.
"Arcadia Bar(Acadia Bar)."
Ian introduced with a smile, a trace of nostalgia flashed in his eyes, "Or to be more precise, this is the largest mercenary guild, intelligence center and black market trading hub in the outer ring of Milky Way Galaxy."
The spaceship slowly sailed into the fortress's landing pad, which looked like the mouth of a giant beast.
[Dip! Welcome to Arcadia. Unknown model of spacecraft detected. Parking fee: 500 Cosmic Currency.]
[Please select payment method: universal currency / high-energy magic stone / precious metal conversion.]
"Debit from my Cosmic Central Bank anonymous account." Ian said skillfully into the communicator.
"Payment successful. I wish you a pleasant stay, distinguished VIP customer."
Pheobe raised his eyebrows and looked at Ian in surprise. "You seem to be very skilled? And...Cosmic Central Bank? Do you have so much foreign exchange?"
"Of course."
Ian shrugged and said in a relaxed tone, "In this universe, although there are many civilizations and races, there are always only two types of hard currency: credit and energy."
"The former is Cosmic Currency issued by the mysterious 'Cosmic Commerce Alliance', and the latter is a magic stone containing high-purity energy."
"As for where my money comes from..."
Ian hit the Snap, and a heavy gold brick appeared out of thin air in his hand. This gold brick was not ordinary gold, but a special metal with a lavender halo on the surface.
"For me, who owns Philosopher's Stone, ordinary gold is just a cheap building material. But in the universe, the magic gold purified by Alchemy is a hot commodity for manufacturing high-precision instruments and magic circles."
"Coupled with some artificial high-purity magic crystals that I sold privately through black market channels (that is, Philosopher's Stone that has removed soul impurities and is purely condensed by magic power), I can barely be considered an invisible rich man in the universe now."
"Upstart." Pheobe commented with a smile, but a hint of admiration for Ian's foresight flashed in his eyes.
The two stepped out of the spacecraft without wearing any translation equipment.
As Fifth Tier Arcanist, [Language Comprehension] this rule-level spell has long been constant in their souls. Moreover, with the popularization of interstellar education in the Empire, Universal Cosmic Language (a language based on the resonance of mental fluctuations) has long been included in the required courses of Hogwarts.
But this does not prevent Ian from being wary of this so-called "Universal Universal System".
It is possible for countless creatures of different races, different civilizations, and even different dimensions to use the same currency and language. The driving force behind this-the so-called Cosmic Commerce Alliance and the central bank is absolutely a behemoth.
There may even be a Divine Grade civilization at a certain galaxy level (Level 8) or higher that is behind the scenes.
"Ghost Legion must investigate the details of this group of people in the future." Ian secretly noted it down.
Pushing open the door decorated in a retro tavern style and actually engraved with a powerful defensive circle, a wave of noise mixed with alcohol, sweat, engine oil and various strange pheromones rushed in.
The interior of the bar uses extremely high-level technology Space Folding technology. Its interior space is as large as a football field and is divided into countless floors and boxes.
Pheobe's eyes lit up instantly, as if he saw a huge treasure house.
This is simply an alien biological expo.
There are two-meter-tall orcs with green muscles all over their bodies, who are gulping down drinks for fun; there is a short, unshaven space creature named Dwarves who is carrying a mechanical backpack and is selling illegally modified plasma weapons; there are even energy creatures with glowing skin and transparent wings floating in the air like elves.
"This is the universe..." Pheobe sighed, his fingertips trembling slightly.
As a bloodline scholar, she wanted to take out her scalpel immediately, capture these creatures, slice them up, and study them to see their genetic maps and magic circuits.
Ian caught her with quick eyes and hands, and reminded her in a low voice, "Don't be impulsive, my dear. Although this place is called a bar, it is actually a mercenary guild. Everyone sitting here is a desperado who licks blood from his knife edge. Although I am not afraid of them, we are here to do business today and don't want to cause a commotion."
He turned on [Eye of True Sight] calmly and scanned the entire venue.
The strength of most people is between level 0 and Tier 3, and they are cannon fodder and thugs. There are dozens of people at level 4 (capable of physical flight and energy shield), who can be regarded as the leaders of various small groups.
As for Tier 5 (tactical nuclear weapons level)...
Ian sensed four obscure and powerful auras, occupying four luxury boxes on the top floor of the bar. They did not show up, but the coercion they exuded was enough to intimidate the entire audience.
"Fortunately, there are no old monsters (Tier 6 or above) that we can't afford to offend."
Ian breathed a sigh of relief and led Pheobe through the crowded crowd and went straight to the bar.
"Two cups of 'Stardust Tears', plus the latest information."
Ian sat on the high stool and flicked a gold coin engraved with Arcane Runes to the bartender - an octopus man with three eyes, four arms and slippery skin.
"Information? About what?" The bartender skillfully caught the gold coin with one tentacle. The other three hands were mixing drinks and cleaning glasses at the same time. The three eyes narrowed at the same time, revealing the shrewdness of the businessman.
"About...Steel-Skin Folk."
Ian's voice was very low and was masked by the surrounding noise, but every word was clearly transmitted to the bartender's ears through fine Divine Power.
"I want to know, is anyone buying their skins at a high price recently? Or, is anyone secretly funding their expansion? For example... providing hyperdrive technology?"
This "vacation" is of course not just for drinking.
As a qualified ruler, before launching a war, you must understand the details of the target, and--
Is there anyone supporting the prey from behind?