After giving Bennett his instructions, Han Xiao withdrew from the Quantum Network Vision and returned to reality to oversee the exploration work on Planet Pangurid.
The engineering vessel plants a stargate in outer space, while a small Detection ship enters the planet's atmosphere and travels around the globe at high altitudes, sensing surface conditions through its detection devices.
Soon, intelligence reports came back one after another. The 3D projection on the bridge turned into a map of Planet Pangurid, with details being improved rapidly. Han Xiao and a group of officers silently watched the increasingly detailed 3D planet projection.
Before long, all the Detection ships returned to the fleet, completing the first phase of reconnaissance.
The map shows detailed parameters of the planet, including gravity level, atmospheric composition analysis, climate, surface area, land-to-ocean ratio, vegetation cover, and other data, providing a comprehensive overview.
In addition, the three-dimensional planetary map also marks areas of different colors, representing various resources initially detected, as well as areas where life signals are concentrated.
Aurora read the report from the Detection ship:
"This planet, www. hetushu. com, contains abundant common resources. In addition, its underground contains many rare resources, such as black gold veins, purple silver veins, and elemental crystal veins, among more than a dozen other rare materials... These are important raw materials for some magic-type star system-level civilizations' technological systems, costing no less than 60 Enas per 10,000 tons—this is the common price on the interstellar market. This planet likely has reserves of trillions of tons..."
In the massive mountain ranges at the planet's north and south poles, we detected rare Mountain Essence, with reserves estimated at around 800,000 tons, priced at around 6,000 Enas per ton. We also discovered some Soul Ingot and Essence containing psionic energy, in small quantities, worth approximately 1.2 billion Enas...
Han Xiao listened for a while, nodded, and said, "Tell me the overall value assessment of the planet."
"Based on the Detection results, the planet is initially valued at around 18 billion Enas. Its value will increase if more rare resources are discovered deeper underground."
"It's quite valuable." Han Xiao smiled.
In the standards of resource planets, this valuation is considered to be in the upper-middle range. Valuation is only one aspect. Different resource planets produce different materials, and some rare materials have additional advantages, such as Mountain Essence, Soul Ingot, Essence, all of which are quite rare materials.
However, despite the promising valuation, actual mining would require decades or even centuries to realize the full benefits.
In the universe, resource planets are private reserves that each civilization holds firmly in its hands, unlike barren planets which are sold off.
Civilizations will gradually explore resource-rich planets, pursue sustainable development, and gradually extract profits.
Even advanced civilizations, unless faced with an emergency, will not engage in destructive mining or depleting resources.
Resource planets are an important source of economic income for interstellar civilizations, and the profits are substantial.
Private miners can only make a living by mining in the corners of barren planets. Civilizations don't value the cost-effectiveness of barren planets, so they occasionally sell them to private forces. Obtaining mining rights to resource planets, like the Black Star Army, is already the limit for normal private forces.
Developing the Shattered World presents an excellent opportunity for growth. Although the Empire's allies will notify the Empire after discovering a resource planet so that the Empire can take the lion's share, the exploration team will also gain mining rights for a certain period and share a portion of the profits.
The Black Star Army discovered Planet Pangurid and was therefore qualified to leave troops there to mine resources.
A star field contains a vast number of planets, representing immense potential profits. For non-civilized forces, this equates to the right to exploit countless resource-rich planets.
Furthermore, discovering and reporting a certain number of resource planets will earn you additional rewards from the Empire.
However, Planet Pangurid's advantages are not limited to its resources. Its superior geographical location, making it one of the gateways to the Gaolu Star Cluster, will transform it into a trade hub. With this added value, Planet Pangurid is not just an ordinary resource planet; it also possesses significant potential for appreciation.
Seeing that Han Xiao didn't speak, Aurora continued, "We detected a large number of life signals on this planet, spread across the entire globe. The vast majority are wild animals, and it's unclear how many species there are. Only one intelligent species shows signs of civilization."
As he spoke, a life-size biological projection appeared before everyone; this was a simulation generated by the Detection ship after scanning the biological structure.
This creature was three or four meters tall, quite large, and humanoid. Overall, it looked somewhat like an elf from outer space, but there were many subtle differences. It had a slender and robust physique, wore animal skin clothing, and looked quite primitive.
Aurora: "Based on observations, this intelligent species is an indigenous civilization of this planet, at a tribal stage of development. They have settlements in various regions around the world, living by hunting. Our Detection ships have not yet made contact with them."
Han Xiao nodded.
He already knew that Planet Pangurid had a rather backward indigenous civilization that called itself the "Children of the Forest"—to be honest, this title was already commonplace in the Galaxy. There were at least eight hundred to a thousand intelligent races in the entire universe that called themselves the Children of the Forest, along with other titles such as the Children of Rocks, the Children of Mountains, and the Children of the Ocean.
In their previous lives, others were accustomed to using the name of the planet as a prefix to refer to the natives, and this race was also known as the Pangurid Giant Elves.
"Send out a ground exploration team to make contact with them first," Han Xiao said.
In the process of exploring new galaxies, there is a universally acknowledged sensitive issue: how to deal with the indigenous population. Throughout history, there have been too many negative examples. When advanced civilizations want to exploit resource-rich planets, they are easily regarded as invaders and encounter resistance from the natives.
Maintaining the diversity of species in the universe has always been a rule of conduct for advanced civilizations. A cosmic-level civilization like the Crimson Dynasty would not slaughter natives for the sake of mining. Commander-in-Chief Tarrokov's code states that when encountering native civilizations, the primary approach should be communication and education, and violence should not be abused.
In this situation, it is naturally easier to deal with the weaker the natives, and the discovery of native civilizations is also an exploration achievement that rewards mission points.
Planet Pangurid, Forest of Azure Streams.
This is a dense forest, filled with Daigo that are fifty or sixty meters tall. Their leaves form a sea, swaying in the wind. Sunlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves is cut into patches of golden light, like golden leaves. These patches of light sway and move with the swaying of the canopy on the humus-rich ground.
A clear stream flows through the forest, dividing it into two sections. Hundreds of animal-hide tents, six or seven meters high, sit on the shallows of the stream, arranged horizontally along the river. Strings of golden-red dried fruit hang outside the tents like decorations, simple and primitive. The smoke from the Bonfire rises like white snakes ascending into the air.
This is a Pangurid Giant Elves tribe, primitive yet full of life. Some people are picking fruit from the trees with baskets on their backs, some are waving bare branches to drive livestock, and some are carrying spears and wooden shields to prepare for a hunt.
"Hunters, the tribe is running low on food. You need to hunt more this time."
At the entrance to the tribe, the chief, along with some villagers, surrounded a dozen hunters who were about to set off, their faces filled with hope.
"Haha, just wait for us to return laden with spoils!" The elderly hunter captain laughed heartily.
The chief sighed, "Alas, half a year ago we were attacked by other tribes, and our young men suffered heavy losses. Now we can only rely on you old hunters to hunt. You are getting older and older, and I don't know what will happen to you in the future."
The hunter captain patted a young man on the shoulder and praised him, "Don't worry, we're training young people. Duki is the fastest learner among the hunters; he's already hunting with us. Maybe he'll take over my job someday."
Duki puffed out his chest, looking proud; he was muscular and looked very tough.
"What a remarkable young man!" "We're counting on you all." A group of villagers surrounded the hunters, praising them with respect.
Listening to the villagers' praise, Duki looked proud and confident, taking pride in being a hunter.
Suddenly, his gaze pierced through the gaps in the crowd and caught sight of a young man gazing longingly at him from beside a Bonfire in the distance, his face filled with yearning and envy. It was none other than his good friend Rosso.
Duki raised his arm, showing off his arm muscles to Rosso from a distance, and winked smugly. They both laughed.
"Let's go," the hunter captain called out, leading his men away.
Seeing this, Duki casually waved goodbye to Rosso, then hurriedly turned around and followed the group of hunters into the forest, disappearing from everyone's sight. The villagers who had gathered at the village entrance sighed for a moment and then dispersed.
Rosso watched his good friend leave, his smile fading as he silently fiddled with the food in the Bonfire, then suddenly sighed.
"Hunter... sigh."
Hunters bear the responsibility of hunting and fighting, and are respected in the tribe. Almost every young man aspires to be a hunter, but Rosso is an outlier.
He had no interest in hunting or fighting, nor any talent for it.
Rosso preferred to do things that others considered meaningless, such as writing and thinking. However, this made many people in the tribe dissatisfied with him, who thought he was a lazy coward who only wanted to be protected by others.
He wanted to be respected like his good friend, so he worked even harder picking fruit, sewing clothes, and doing everything he could. But these jobs were done by the elderly, children, and women left behind, and it didn't change other people's opinions of him.
Although Rosso cares about what others think, he doesn't want to go against his conscience and become a hunter, something he's not good at, just to change how others perceive him. He hopes to contribute to the tribe in other ways... But in the tribe, it seems that becoming a hunter is the only pursuit that everyone thinks a young person should have.
Just then, a strong gust of wind suddenly blew in.
whoosh whoosh--
Ripples spread across the stream, dispersing the smoke from the Bonfire. The wind blew up the fine sand and pebbles on the shallows, raising dust. The animal-hide tents around them swayed and creaked.
"What's going on?!" Rosso looked up in astonishment, his eyes widening in disbelief.
He had never seen this thing before!
A long, black box slowly descended from the sky and hovered above the tribe, casting a huge shadow over the entire tribe.
The Pangurid Giant Elves's expression changed drastically.
"God of the Forest! What is that?!" "A flying monster?!" "Run!"
This incomprehensible scene alarmed many people.
Suddenly, a small hole appeared in the belly of the black "monster," and a group of creatures covered in strange metallic clothing flew down and landed in the center of the tribe.
The dozen or so warriors who remained in the tribe roared and charged forward, brandishing their wooden spears and stabbing them viciously at the creatures that had fallen from the sky.
Click, click, click!
The wooden spear broke off on the armor surface, sending wood chips flying.
After removing their armored helmets, half of them were Legion warriors, and the other half were players with IDs above their heads. Among them were Frenzied Saber, Hao Tian, and others, most of whom were core members of the Sky Domain.
The players accepted the mission to make contact with the natives without causing harm.
Frenzied Saber pressed the interstellar language translator and spoke in a sincere tone:
"%*￥∑..."
"What are you talking about?!" The Pangurid Giant Elves, looked completely bewildered.
Unfortunately, this was my first time encountering the Pangurid Giant Elves, and their language wasn't yet in the database, so it couldn't be translated.
"Monster! Monster!" many women screamed, their faces filled with terror, picking up stones one after another and hysterically throwing them.
The stones hit the armor, making a thud, but naturally had no effect.
The players looked at each other, bewildered. They couldn't even communicate, let alone calm the agitated natives; they had no experience with this.
The NPC squad leader, who was smoking a cigarette, was quite adept at the task. He raised his Legion-issue blaster and fired a shot into the nearby woods.
Whoosh! A blue laser shot out, passing through dozens of trees and leaving holes melted through them.
Immediately afterwards, a violent explosion occurred in the forest, creating a large crater with a deafening roar. Trees fell one after another, the commotion was astonishing.
This scene terrified all the natives. They stared blankly at the result of the attack, their faces filled with disbelief and immense fear. They stopped their attack and trembled.
"Hoo..." The squad leader exhaled a puff of smoke, turned to the player next to him and said, "Brother, you see? When dealing with natives who can't communicate, intimidation is enough."
Just as the atmosphere was tense and all the Pangurid Giant Elves were filled with fear, Rosso tried his best to remain calm, carefully observing these strange creatures of unknown origin that had appeared in such an inexplicable way. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him:
These creatures don't seem hostile?
Although I couldn't understand them, they seemed to be talking just now. Do these creatures possess intelligence?
"That should be right, they also want to communicate with us!" Rosso's eyes changed, he hesitated for a moment, took a deep breath, and suddenly stepped forward.
His actions instantly attracted the attention of both sides, and everyone's eyes were focused on him.
Swallowing hard, Rosso turned to his people and shouted, "Don't panic! We're no match for them, but they don't seem to want to kill us. Don't provoke them!"
As he spoke, Rosso approached Frenzied Saber, looking down at the group of "little guys" who only reached his waist. Suppressing his fear, he knelt down to be at the same height as them, pointed to his mouth and ears, hoping these creatures from the sky would understand what he meant.
Frenzied Saber understood, took out a spare interstellar language translator and threw it out, making a few gestures to show how to wear it.
Russell understood and hurriedly put it on; the translator immediately picked up his thought signals.
"Can you understand now?"
Russell's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly.
The squad leader chuckled, "This guy's pretty smart; he knows how to communicate with us. We've chosen him as the tribe's representative."