https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-160-Further-Enhancement-of-the-Azure-Sky/12833701/
Chapter 161: Target, Skybound Ascension Success Rate 90%!
Chapter 161: Target, Skybound Ascension Success Rate 90%!
After making all the necessary preparations, Song Chi summoned ten Void Shadow Assassin puppets, each already at the third tier in strength. He sent them ahead as scouts to rush into the asteroid belt that lay before them.
In such a dense asteroid field, any hidden dangers could pose a significant threat to the Skybound. It was easy to be ambushed, and once an enemy got close to the hull, the dark matter energy shield would be rendered useless.
However, Song Chi soon realized he had overestimated the risk. The "Silver III Ultra-Wave Mana Detector Radar" was even more powerful than he had imagined. Within its detection range, it could identify most energy fluctuations.
It wasn't just the energy emitted by living beings; the radar could also detect the energy contained in the mineral resources on the asteroids.
More impressively, it could penetrate the surface and delve deep into the core of the asteroids, transmitting detailed results back to the ship. It even provided detailed speculations on the nature of the detected energy sources.
For example, a small asteroid about sixteen meters in diameter, located a kilometer ahead of the Skybound, was detected by the radar. The radar identified a special energy fluctuation in the left side of the asteroid and provided a corresponding speculation.
[Mild energy fluctuation: 92.1% purple copper, 7.8% yellow copper, 0.1% other minerals.]
If this were the only capability, Song Chi wouldn't have been surprised. After all, the mining vehicle's onboard exploration instruments could do something similar, though with much less accuracy compared to the "Silver III Ultra-Wave Mana Detector Radar." Overall, they were quite useful.
The key difference was that the onboard exploration instruments, which could be mass-produced, had a very limited detection range of only a few kilometers. Beyond five kilometers, the accuracy of their results was almost unbearable.
In contrast, the "Silver III Ultra-Wave Mana Detector Radar" could provide precise detection within its entire range. While the accuracy did decrease with distance from the Skybound, it was still far superior to the onboard exploration instruments. The difference was like comparing the heavens to the earth.
Song Chi multitasked, carefully controlling the Skybound as it continued forward while quickly reviewing the various detection prompts on the star map.
Twenty minutes passed, and the Skybound continued to navigate through the asteroid belt without stopping. This wasn't because the mana detector radar had failed to detect resources. On the contrary, the radar was picking up so many resource signals that Song Chi had to focus even more on reviewing them.
At its current level 27, the "Silver III Ultra-Wave Mana Detector Radar" had a detection range of 790 light-hours, an incredibly vast distance that covered an almost uncountable number of asteroids. It was impossible not to find various resources.
The reason the Skybound hadn't taken any action was that none of the detected resources met Song Chi's standards. Each monthly market transaction brought in over ten thousand strands of zero-grade floating land essence, so ordinary resources worth only a few dozen or a few hundred strands were not worth his attention.
Of course, there was another important factor: his stay was limited to 24 hours. Without this time constraint, he wouldn't have overlooked the scattered resources.
As the saying goes, even a mosquito's leg is meat.
The asteroid belt they were navigating had a diameter of several light-years, and the total amount of scattered resources within it was enough to make anyone's eyes pop out.
However, with only 24 hours to spare, Song Chi couldn't afford to waste his time on ordinary resources.
Another hour passed, and the Skybound suddenly paused, then turned to the left and darted forward.
In the command room, Song Chi's face showed a faint smile. After so long, he had finally found a resource that was worth the effort.
[High energy fluctuation, coordinates xxxxx, estimated 94% iron ore, 5.9% black iron ore, 0.1% other, reserves not less than 50 tons.]
Iron ore, while not particularly useful on its own, could serve as a precursor to ten-thousand-year volcanic iron ore, significantly reducing the time required for its formation.
Moreover, if there was a volcanic secret realm, the accelerated conditions within the realm could enable the stable mass production of ten-thousand-year volcanic iron ore using ordinary iron ore, thus gradually increasing its value.
Now, a ton of ordinary iron ore can fetch 10 strands of First-Stage Floating Land Essence. The 50 tons in front of him would yield at least 500 strands, which would certainly be a decent haul.
Fortunately, this resource was not far from the current position of the Azure Sky, otherwise, at its current speed, it would have taken an unknown amount of time to reach it.
Two hours later, Song Chi successfully extracted the 52 tons of iron ore and hurriedly set off for the second coordinate he had marked.
During the journey and the extraction process, Song Chi did not idle. He marked several more resource coordinates that were within a suitable distance and had considerable value.
Thus, nearly ten hours passed quickly, and the total value of the resources he had gathered was around 3,000 to 4,000 strands of First-Stage Floating Land Essence.
Just as Song Chi thought his exploration of this alien star domain would end in such a manner, a new piece of marked information caused a slight shift in his plans.
【Second-Stage Biological Energy Fluctuation, Coordinates: xxxxx.】
The magical energy detection radar could only determine the specific energy level and direction of the energy field emitted by living beings, but it could not provide an estimate of the species.
The reason was simple: the energy fields emitted by minerals and other items were fixed and had specific frequencies.
However, the energy fields of living beings varied with their state, and even within the same species, the energy fields could be entirely different. Therefore, it could not provide a specific species identification.
Although Song Chi felt a bit disappointed, he could generally accept it, as the previous Sky Eye Radar did not have this function at all.
"Second-Stage biological energy field, huh..."
Muttering to himself, he did not rush into action. Instead, after a brief contemplation, he continued to examine the various markings on the radar map.
Although the blood of Second-Stage alien races could improve the Azure Sky's promotion success rate, if there was only one, it would not be worth the trouble for him to travel there.
Currently, the Azure Sky's promotion success rate was only 51%, and he needed to kill over 400 more Second-Stage aliens to reach a satisfactory success rate.
However, the amount of information marked on the radar map was overwhelming, and it would take a long time to go through it all. Adding to that, the mental effort he had put into searching for suitable resource points earlier, Song Chi felt a headache coming on.
After a moment of thought, he turned to the semi-automatic shipboard AI on the Azure Sky, hoping it could provide some assistance.
Soon, he praised himself for this decision, marveling at how he had not thought of this earlier.
In information gathering, searching, and categorization, the AI was unparalleled. This was a common fact in the fragmented star sea.
Although the semi-automatic shipboard AI on the Azure Sky was not as advanced as the bug-like AIs, its computational speed was still much faster than that of the ship's captain.
With the specific goal of "markings for Second-Stage and above biological energy fields," the shipboard AI quickly identified over a hundred red dots on the radar map within just a few minutes.
What made Song Chi even more excited was that among these red dots, there were nearly ten Third-Stage biological energy fields.
This result greatly invigorated Song Chi, not only because it would improve the Azure Sky's promotion success rate but also because, with the help of the semi-automatic shipboard AI, he would no longer have to worry about the energy field coordinates marked by the 【Silver III Generation Hyperwave Magical Energy Detection Radar】.
Soon, Song Chi shifted his entire focus to the red dots on the radar map.
"These unknown creatures emitting energy fluctuations are mostly active in the same area, so they must be of the same species..."
"The distance is a bit of a problem, though..."
As he muttered to himself, Song Chi glanced at the 【Brainwave Remote Control System】 component, frowning slightly.
The current reinforcement level of the 【Brainwave Remote Control System】 was LV23, with a control distance of only 1.6 light-years.
However, the activity range of the unknown creatures was mostly between 1.8 to 2 light-years away, which was beyond the reach of the 【Brainwave Remote Control System】. He would need to either perform a jump with the Azure Sky or...
A moment later, Song Chi spent 57 strands of Second-Stage Floating Land Essence and 9 titanium crystals to reinforce the 【Brainwave Remote Control System】 to LV25.
At Level 25, the maximum control distance of the Brainwave Remote Control System increased from 1.6 light-years to 2 light-years. He then turned to the Fixed Deployment Platform.
With the final titanium crystal and 188 strands of second-stage floating land essence secured, Song Chi activated the Brainwave Remote Control System. He embedded a brainwave beacon in one of the four newly summoned Void Shadow Assassin puppets. The four puppets then stepped onto the Fixed Teleportation Platform.
Song Chi wished he could send more puppets, but the platform's limited area allowed only four at a time. They had to stand back-to-back, tightly pressed together, to fit.
Humming softly, the energy fluctuated, and the four third-stage Void Shadow Assassin puppets vanished from the Canopy.
1.9 light-years away.
The four puppets materialized in the starry sky. Following Song Chi's brainwave beacon commands, they swiftly used their "Rift" ability to vanish into the void.
Soon, a third-stage alien creature, radiating with third-stage energy, appeared near a small asteroid belt. It seemed to sense the faint spatial ripple from the puppets' teleportation and searched the area for a while. Finding nothing, it turned to leave.
However, the moment it turned, the four puppets emerged from four different directions. Four void blades sliced through the starry sky, cutting across the alien's neck, forehead, chest, and navel.
Gurgling, the third-stage alien began to spew blood from its mouth and nose. It tried to speak, but only choking sounds emerged.
Under the simultaneous attack of the four soul-shattering daggers, its mind was torn apart. It couldn't even muster the strength to activate its third-stage power to warn its kin.
Song Chi, monitoring everything via the brainwave beacon, was not surprised. These were Void Shadow Assassin puppets, and four of them, at that. In an unguarded moment, they would never give their enemy a chance to fight back. If he had any doubts, he wouldn't have set the teleportation coordinates near several red dots emitting third-stage energy fields.
Now, let's look at the Canopy's ascension success rate.
It had been 51.2% a short while ago, but now it was 56.2%.
This unknown third-stage alien, not recorded in the Flame Civilization's comprehensive list of species, didn't provide as high a success rate as the third-stage sandworm. It only contributed 5%.
Song Chi understood. The third-stage sandworm was at its peak and had an impressive size. This unknown alien, though also third-stage, was only about five meters tall.
While he didn't know if it had any berserk, avatar, or rage abilities, it was undoubtedly weaker than the peak third-stage sandworm. The sandworm wouldn't have been taken down so easily by four third-stage puppets.
Ignoring these thoughts, Song Chi focused on hunting these unknown aliens. If he could eliminate all the third-stage aliens marked on the star map, the Canopy's ascension success rate would be secure.
Of course, while monitoring remotely, he also directed the Canopy to the next resource point. Killing enemies and gathering resources simultaneously was the mark of a competent Flame Captain.
Time passed quickly as the four puppets continued their hunt. Eight hours later, they had taken down four third-stage aliens, increasing the Canopy's ascension success rate by 20%.
There were more second-stage aliens, over forty, which contributed an additional 2% to the success rate.
The Canopy's ascension success rate was now at 73.2%, a number that would be unimaginable for most first-stage Flame Captains in the Flame Human Civilization.
However, Song Chi was not content to stop there. With six hours left before returning, and four third-stage aliens remaining, he wanted to see if he could eliminate all of them. If he did, the Canopy's ascension success rate would exceed 90%.
This was his ideal success rate.
Nearly two light-years away, the four puppets used their "Void Flash" ability to travel quickly, heading toward one of the remaining four third-stage energy fields marked on the star map.
They arrived at their destination soon. However, when they did, they found that the third-stage alien's energy aura was at its peak, far more formidable than the previous four.
(End of Chapter)
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