In the Terrarium Star Cluster, the spaceship hovers in the outer space of an asteroid designated "51687," a barren planet marked as a resource planet in the database.
"The atmosphere has a low oxygen concentration and an average temperature of 60 degrees Celsius, making it unsuitable for human survival. However, it is home to a large number of heat-loving plants, with extensive vegetation cover and soil rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, ideal for plant growth..."
Han Xiao glanced through the planet's data, then pointed to a coordinate on the map—a towering forest—and said, "This location is the secret base of a small group of scavengers, and also our target. They have something I need."
His goal for this trip was to obtain a trigger item that could be used to complete high-rated missions, and it was in the hands of this scavenger team.
"You've decided to attack? What's the enemy's strength?" Melos asked.
"Not strong, only one Grade B. The main problem is that the base's defenses are quite tight, and the enemy has a secret passage leading to the underground spaceship hangar. The exact location is here." Han Xiao drew another circle on the map.
"How did you even know this information?" Melos asked in surprise.
Han Xiao pointed to his eyes, the meaning of which was self-evident, and continued, "The plan is simple. I'll kick down the door and go on a rampage. You go to the hangar and stake out everyone, making sure no one escapes. The rest of you stay on the ship and wait."
The plan was quickly finalized, and the spacecraft launched two egg-shaped drop pods, which broke through the atmosphere and fell towards the forest like two fiery meteors.
The landing was shaky and bumpy.
Boom!
The airdrop pod smashed several trees and embedded itself deeply in the ground, sending mud and wood flying everywhere, leaving a scene of utter chaos.
The hatch opened, Han Xiao strode out, quickly assessing the situation. "The landing site is 400 meters from the enemy base. There are many defensive machine gun traps ahead. Hmm... there's not much oxygen; breathing is a bit difficult."
The bone-white Void Dragon Mechanical Suit materialized, filtering the air and taking a deep breath of oxygen. With a flash of Mechanical Force, compressed spheres landed, and mechanical components clattered and unfolded rapidly, transforming into thirty Black Panther Mechanical Beast that surrounded him like wild animals protecting their master.
"Go."
Han Xiao snapped his fingers, and the group of mechanical beasts charged forward in unison, entering the base's perimeter. The ground quickly cracked open, revealing more than a dozen self-defense machine guns that began firing rapidly. Crimson bullets struck the mechanical beasts' armor, scattering sparks and creating a continuous clanging sound.
This level of loss was negligible to the enhanced Black Panther Mechanical Beast. The thirty mechanical beasts scattered and pounced, their sharp tails swiftly severing gun barrels one by one. The gunfire quickly ceased, and all the defensive machine guns were reduced to scrap metal.
Another advantage of the hound strategy is that mechanical beasts can be used for scouting.
After Han Xiao learned advanced-level AI technology, he replaced the AI chips of the mechanical beasts. Originally, only four mechanical beasts could form a team for tactical coordination, but now the number has increased to sixteen, and the flexibility of coordination has increased exponentially.
Passing through the machine gun emplacement, Han Xiao activated the metal detector on his helmet. The analysis screen displayed the entire underground base. He found the gate on the surface, ripped it open, and below was a dark passage leading into the base's interior. A faint buzzing sound could be heard from within—it was the alarm.
"It seems the people at the base already know I'm here."
He twitched his finger, and his arm armor sprang open, releasing three miniature mechanical flying insects that entered the passage. These probe insects were equipped with various spectral detection methods to locate traps, among other functions.
"A laser corridor, a self-defense machine gun, and... well, a movable crushing wall and a vacuum seal. There are quite a few defensive measures. The main door is made of high-strength alloy, a full meter thick, and it needs to be opened electronically."
The analysis screen switched to the perspective of detecting flying insects. The insects were small and equipped with various shielding coatings, allowing them to safely pass through the infrared detection of the corridor and arrive at the door. Next to the door was a device for entering a password.
Han Xiao issued a new command, and two flying insects suddenly attached themselves to the edge of the input device, popping out miniature rotary saws that pried open the input device's casing along the gap. Another flying insect popped out a chip plug from its tail and clicked into the input device. This set of flying insects was a cute little thing he had created using another Advanced Knowledge he had purchased during his nine-month mission: [Micro Mechanical Modification]. It was feature-rich, capable of detecting and remotely hacking into systems.
The data stream of the base system appeared on the analysis screen, and Han Xiao began to crack it, always on guard against the enemy suddenly attacking. However, no enemy appeared until he cracked the gate program.
Just then, Melos's communicator arrived, his tone exasperated. "I've arrived at the hangar, but there are no ships here. Don't bother, there's no one at the base."
Han Xiao's eyelids twitched. In his previous life, players had to break through this scavenger base to obtain the quest items, but he was lucky; none of his enemies were home.
No wonder, we've already fought our way to the door and can't see a single person.
"That's quite a perfect timing..."
Han Xiao was speechless. It turned out he was outsmarting thin air. He suddenly stood up and swaggered down the corridor. He had turned off all the defenses. After entering the base, there was indeed no one there.
Although the base was not large, it was fully equipped. Han Xiao spent some time completely breaking through the system firewall, gaining control of the base, and went straight to the warehouse.
The warehouse was filled with things collected by scavengers, mostly scrap metal. Han Xiao was mainly looking for quest trigger items, and after searching for a while, he found his target without any surprises.
It was a small, exquisite statue, seemingly made of some kind of brown wood, but incredibly tough, no less so than a high-strength alloy. It depicted a bizarre creature; if one had to describe it, it resembled a praying mantis with its body twisted into a pretzel. Han Xiao picked it up, and a soft, indistinct whisper suddenly echoed in his mind.
You have obtained the [Mysterious Statue]
[Item Description: This is a statue you've never seen before. You don't know its meaning, but when you touch it, you vaguely hear someone whispering in your ear. When you listen carefully, the voice disappears.]
[Note: This item seems to contain some secrets about occultism; certain individuals may be interested in it.]
"This is it." Han Xiao's eyes lit up. This item was a quest trigger item, and he knew its origin. This statue was one piece of a set of items from the Arcane Church, thrown from a distant star field through a wormhole in the center of the Shattered Star Ring and ending up here. Players had two ways to obtain the related quest: first, they could obtain the item and then coincidentally encounter the triggerer; second, they could hear clues from the quest triggerer before finding the item and triggering the quest. In short, both methods required a certain degree of luck, but Han Xiao didn't need to go through all that trouble. He knew the process perfectly and could go straight for the key item.
This ability to create the illusion of whispering is one of the characteristics of the Psionic Undercurrent. The Psionic Undercurrent is a special thing with many causes. For example, the intentions of many beings are focused on a single goal. Over time, the object accumulates enough intentions to create Psionic Undercurrent, like an aggregate of intentions. The most famous example is self-evident—sacrifice and prayer, and this statue is a sacrificial object.
"I've got the goods," Han Xiao said.
"So soon? Shall we leave now?" Melos asked.
Han Xiao was about to answer when he suddenly paused, looked around, and a bold idea popped into his head. A smile played on his lips. "Don't rush, there's no one here. We have plenty of time."
Since we unexpectedly raided their base, we should definitely loot as much stuff as possible...
No, that's too narrow-minded.
Let's just move out!
Without saying a word, Han Xiao called Melos over to help the group of scavengers "move".
A base system chip? Good stuff, I'll take it!
Defense equipment? You can disassemble it and take the parts!
Alloy walls? They can be made into armor. Take them!
After a long period of clanging and banging, everything that could be dismantled in the entire base was taken down and filled with more than a dozen supply boxes. Han Xiao, a mechanic of this caliber, could demolish things at lightning speed.
He roughly estimated that these scrap copper and iron could be recycled and converted into mechanical parts worth more than two thousand Enas.
Looking back, the scavenger base was an empty shell, the gate wide open... Oh no, the gate had been demolished, the floorboards had been pried off, all the electrical wires underneath were exposed, and the base's main unit and energy core had been removed. The huge base was now just bare load-bearing walls, barren and desolate, just a rough shell.
"This is a true home raid."
Han Xiao smiled with satisfaction, ordered the flying and Tu Shu ship to land, and the group loaded more than a dozen full supply boxes into the spaceship. Then, they dusted themselves off and sped away.
A few days later, the scavenger spaceship finally returned to the planet. This time, their scavenging trip near the wormhole cluster was quite fruitful, and they returned home laden with their loot. The group was overjoyed.
However, upon returning to the base, the scavengers were stunned by the desolate, empty scene inside the open gate. They were all dumbfounded.
Holy crap, where's our base?!
The scavenger leader rubbed his eyes, confirming he wasn't hallucinating, and his face immediately turned ashen. He roared, "Who destroyed my base?!"
This planet is deserted and remote. They spent a lot of resources to establish a secret base here and never revealed its location. How could anyone know about the base's existence!
In the Terrarium Star Cluster, they were just a small group of scavengers. Who would go to such lengths to deal with them? It must have been some random petty thief who even raided the base!
"Investigate! Find out which thief stole from me!" the commander roared, deeply regretting that he could have prevented this from happening if he had been at the base.
After contacting an intelligence broker and managing to scrape together the necessary funds, they discovered that only one spaceship had visited the planet during this period. Upon learning the identities of the passengers, the scavengers' anger vanished instantly, leaving them speechless with astonishment.
"Black... Black Star?!" The scavenger leader nearly stammered, "Why would a space mercenary of that caliber come here?"
The group exchanged bewildered glances, immediately deflated like wilted eggplants, and felt a lingering sense of unease, thankful they weren't at the base at the time.
If we were to run into Black Star head-on, we'd be dead already.
For a moment, the scavengers felt that losing a base wasn't so unacceptable.
What a close call!
Just as the scavengers whose homes had been "robbed" were feeling relieved, Han Xiao and his companions boarded a spaceship and, through an inter-cluster teleportation stargate, arrived in the Ryan Star System of the Colton Star Cluster. The mission trigger was here... or rather, temporarily here.
The ruling civilization of the Ryan Star System, the New Feilan Alliance, invited a highly popular interstellar star from the Shattered Star Ring to tour. The interstellar entertainment industry is also very developed. With no shortage of material enjoyment, spiritual needs naturally follow suit. Singers, dramas, literature, and other cultural industries make the characteristics of each civilization more diverse and colorful.
Many different entertainment programs can be found on the pay-TV channels of the interstellar communicator. Although Han Xiao doesn't watch them much, many interstellar citizens spend their daily lives watching television, whiling away the days. After all, given the level of development of some civilizations, most people no longer need to work, unless they desire a higher status and a better life.
The one who triggered this mission is rather special; it's this invited interstellar star.