https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-9-The-Interstellar-Domain-Market-Test/12833185/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-11-The-High-Efficiency-of-the-Raging-Tiger-Type-1-Floating-Land-Mining-Vehicle/12833187/
Chapter 10: Fire Chrysanthemum Soldier Drones and the Small Fragment Zone
Chapter 10: Fire Chrysanthemum Soldier Drones and the Small Fragment Zone
Half an hour quickly passed, and the light in Song Chi's eyes gradually dimmed, his face turning pale.
"Could I really be this unlucky? Did my first star domain exploration really land me in a star sea void zone?"
Millions of years ago, the great fragmentation of the multiverse left countless fragments of various universes. However, the broken star sea was vast, so vast that it couldn't be measured in light-years. As a result, the scattered land fragments and asteroids couldn't fully cover the entire expanse, leading to the creation of star sea void zones.
Typically, star sea civilizations refer to regions with a diameter exceeding ten thousand light-years, and containing no floating lands, asteroid belts, or small fragment zones, or only a minimal number of such structures, as star sea void zones.
These areas are often avoided by all star sea civilizations because the lack of celestial structures means an extreme scarcity of resources.
If Song Chi had indeed been placed in such a star domain, he could only consider himself unlucky.
However, that wasn't the case. After over an hour of high-speed cruising, the Celestial Sphere finally detected a sizable fragment zone on its radar.
Seeing this, Song Chi quickly adjusted the shuttle's course and headed straight toward the fragment zone.
Even though small fragment zones are the least valuable among resource points—nowhere near as valuable as floating lands or even asteroid belts—Song Chi was still incredibly excited.
According to the official data from the Ember Human Civilization, the death rate for first-time explorations of alien star domains by Ember shuttles is only 5%. However, behind this small death rate, over 70% of the 95% that successfully return do so without any resources.
Therefore, Song Chi was very clear about how precious this fragment zone was.
Even though he knew that the presence of a fragment zone usually indicated that a floating land existed nearby, Song Chi had no intention of searching for this unknown floating land. His goal was clear: to focus on the fragment zone.
As a newly integrated Ember shuttle, even with the support of his parents and a round of reinforcement upgrades, it was still a drop in the bucket in the vast star sea, which is often measured in light-years.
It's important to understand that the phrase "nearby" in the textbooks, which states that "a star sea floating land usually exists nearby a small fragment zone," is relative. In reality, the distance is often beyond what an etheric shuttle can reach within 24 hours.
If he were to investigate the unknown floating land, he would likely run out of exploration time before he could get its exact coordinates.
Even if he were lucky enough to reach the unknown floating land, the delay would leave him with little time to gather resources. It was better to explore the fragment zone in front of him.
While the resources in a fragment zone are indeed less valuable than those found in asteroid belts or floating lands, this was something Song Chi could actually obtain.
Besides, he shouldn't forget that he had the Raging Tiger mining vehicles in the market. If he couldn't match the value with a single unit, he could make up for it with quantity.
Soon, the Celestial Sphere successfully reached the outskirts of the fragment zone, confirming that it was indeed a small fragment zone as described in the textbooks. Song Chi suppressed his eagerness.
First, he took out the "Basic Civilian Exoskeleton" from the shuttle's storage and put it on. Then, he activated the Celestial Sphere's only special component, the "Fire Chrysanthemum Soldier Drone Tree."
After consuming a full thousand etheric points from the etheric pool, ten soldier drones, each over two meters tall and entirely red, were summoned.
Looking at the ten neatly arranged soldier puppets in front of him, each radiating a fiery, scorching aura, Song Chi’s eyes lit up with satisfaction.
These ten first-stage Fire Chrysanthemum Soldier Puppets would be his confidence in exploring this small fragment zone. Although they were just at the beginning of the first stage, they were more than enough to ensure the safety of the Azure Sky if they encountered up to five first-stage alien creatures.
Name: Fire Chrysanthemum Soldier Puppet
Quality: White
Rank: First Stage (Maximum: Second Stage)
Level: LV10
Active Abilities: None
Passive Abilities: Scorching Flame (As a fire attribute puppet, attacks deal additional burning damage)
Description: A product of a lost civilization, of fairly average quality.
Commanding the ten Fire Chrysanthemum Soldier Puppets to evenly guard around him, Song Chi’s brow flashed with a faint light. In the next second, the Azure Sky beneath his feet vanished, absorbed into the Flame Ancestor Acupoint on his forehead.
The next moment, Song Chi and the ten Fire Chrysanthemum Soldier Puppets were exposed to the outer starfield. An immediate wave of discomfort swept over him, and he instinctively held his breath.
As a Star Sea Human with a mere LV4 Guidance Technique and still at the zero-stage life level, Song Chi was unable to adapt to the unique environment of the starfield. Only those with a life level exceeding the first stage could remain in the starfield for extended periods.
Fortunately, there was no gravity in the starfield, and the preliminary detection showed no presence of special spores or floating viruses. The eleven figures floated quietly.
Ordering the Fire Chrysanthemum Soldier Puppets to wait in place, Song Chi’s figure soon vanished. Two minutes later, he reappeared, once again summoning the Azure Sky.
However, inside the Azure Sky’s cockpit, several large objects had already appeared.
In the cockpit, Song Chi, along with two Fire Chrysanthemum Soldier Puppets, installed the "Specialized Mining Vehicle Exploration Instrument" onto the "Raging Tiger Type 1 Floating Land Mining Vehicle." Then, he maneuvered the Azure Sky slowly into the nearby fragment zone.
This fragment zone stretched for tens of thousands of kilometers, with various sizes of star fragments mixed together. Even a slight misstep could cause a collision, making it impossible to continue the previous high-speed cruise.
Fortunately, there was no need to inspect each fragment individually. The onboard AI of the Raging Tiger Mining Vehicle, equipped with the exploration instrument, would automatically detect any special mineral resources within a ten-kilometer radius of the Azure Sky and provide immediate alerts.
As they moved slowly forward, the onboard AI’s alerts came in periodically, but Song Chi did not stop the Azure Sky.
"Radiation reaction detected from 'Black Copper' on the fragment at coordinates xxxxx. Preliminary estimate: about 100 kilograms."
"Radiation reaction detected from 'Refined Iron' on the medium-sized fragment at coordinates xxxxx. Preliminary estimate: about 50 kilograms."
"Radiation reaction detected from 'Gold' on the fragment at coordinates xxxxx. Preliminary estimate: about 200 kilograms."
...
Although the onboard AI’s alerts were frequent, they mostly indicated common resources with pitifully small reserves. There wasn’t even a ton of any resource, let alone 300 kilograms, making it not worth the effort to mine.
It’s important to note that each time the Azure Sky docked and deployed the Raging Tiger Mining Vehicle for mining, it took at least half an hour, sometimes even over an hour. Spending such a long time to mine a few hundred kilograms of common resources, which weren’t even worth a strand of zero-stage floating land essence, was simply not cost-effective.
As for directly pulling the entire fragment containing the minerals back to the shuttle, that was a capability exclusive to Flame Ancestor Ships and above.
Flame Ancestor Shuttle, Flame Ancestor Airship, Flame Ancestor Ship...
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
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