Chapter Thirty-Two: The Second Expedition into Alien Space

Next, he opened the local area network trading market with great anticipation. It was, after all, a regional group chat for the entire White Tower Floating Land; the sheer volume of members ensured that the trading market was stocked with a dazzling array of goods. Minerals, genetic agents, military-grade individual exoskeletons, first and second-tier floating land origins, and even Star Sea curios were present in no small number.

After scanning through the items, Song Chi felt a bit dizzy. There were simply too many listings, and many of them made his heart race with desire. Unfortunately, he lacked the funds to act on any of them and could only watch with longing.

There were many Star Sea curios on display, but they were all of white quality. There were only a few blue-quality curios, and their attributes were largely redundant, such as:

[Curio: Tree of Green Ivy]
[Quality: Blue]
[Can Evolve: {Green Ivy Internal Circulation System}]
[Note: A blue-quality curio that promotes air circulation, making your future interstellar life feel fresh every day.]

It was common knowledge that a Fire-Seed Starship came equipped with its own internal circulation system. While the Tree of Green Ivy might provide a slightly better effect, what was the point? It neither increased combat power nor provided defensive bonuses. Why spend a significant amount of resources just to make the air in one's Fire-Seed Starship feel fresher?

...

Half an hour later, the novelty finally faded from Song Chi’s heart, and the curiosity in his eyes returned to a calm state. He pondered the anonymous function of his account, wondering if he could leverage it to mask his frequent sales in the future. However, he quickly dismissed the idea as unwise. The special permissions for his account had been granted by an auxiliary activation officer from the Jiangyuan Fire-Seed Branch. If such a thing could be done by a mere rank-and-file officer, did that not imply the confidentiality was likely quite low? For the sake of prudence, he abandoned the thought.

Disconnecting from the Fire-Seed network, Song Chi returned to the Heavens Ruins Market to continue his daily routine of practicing the Psionic Guidance Technique and meditating on the projection of the mythical mecha in his mind. Time flowed by day after day in this simple routine.

Over the next ten days, Song Chao was rarely home, busy outside from dawn till dusk. This led to multiple complaints from his mother, Chen Lixia. Song Chi, knowing exactly what his father was busy with, did not ask too many questions. Since it concerned titanium crystals, he was still too new to the path of the Fire-Seed to get involved, and Song Chao would not have allowed it anyway.

On this day, accompanied by his mother, Song Chi headed to the outskirts of the city once more. The *Firmament* had completed its one-month cooldown, and today marked his second exploration of an alien star field. Of course, he could have delayed it, or even chosen never to explore again, but that was never an option for him.

With the orange-quality component, the "Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator," he was impatient to test the effects of this glorious piece of equipment. As long as he wasn't incredibly unlucky—encountering black holes, star sea storms, or void rifts—his safety was essentially guaranteed. Even against the White-Winged race he had encountered before, the *Firmament* could remain motionless for ten minutes while they attacked, and they would likely fail to break its shield.

The energy shield generated by the Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator provided far more than just shield points compared to the previous psionic shield; it offered superior defense itself. The damage from those first-tier White-Winged attacks would be significantly reduced compared to what the psionic shield had faced. Combined, the difference was far greater than he had imagined.

...

In the outskirts of Jiangyuan City, it was the same alien star field deployment platform as before. This time, however, the participants were not just students from various academies, but many civilian Fire-Seed captains from Jiangyuan. In a city with a population of over twenty million, even if only a few dozen citizens managed to awaken a Fire-Seed each year, the cumulative number of Fire-Seed starships over decades or centuries was staggering.

More than ninety percent of these ships would remain at the Psionic Shuttle stage for their entire existence. The lowest-level Psionic Shuttle-class Fire-Seed starships could only rely on ultra-long-range alien star field deployment platforms for exploration. Only by strengthening the ship's hull to Level 10 or higher and advancing to the first tier—a Psionic Airship—could a captain conduct independent exploration without the assistance of a platform. This was why the crowd was so immense, far exceeding the turnout during the academy deployments.

Not long after Song Chi arrived, Sun Hao approached. As Song Chi glanced at him, his eyebrows rose slightly. It was clear Sun Hao hadn't been idle this month; his Guidance Technique level had broken through from Level 3 to Level 4. Combined with his naturally imposing stature, he exuded a sense of heavy pressure.

"Brother Chi, you’ve actually broken through too."

After his surprise, Sun Hao paused. Just as Song Chi wondered what he was going to say, Sun Hao blurted out a line that was cringingly dramatic:

"Alas, why must Heaven create a Zhou Yu, only to also create a Zhuge Liang!"

Song Chi’s eye twitched; he was at a loss for words. This guy always managed to do things completely at odds with his hulking frame. The kicker was that he had learned this line from a book Song Chi had published previously, *The Romance of the Three Kingdoms of the Dahan Floating Land*. One could only imagine how speechless Song Chi felt at that moment.

Prying the bear-paw-like hand off his shoulder, Song Chi quickly put some distance between them. It was just too embarrassing—he felt as though he were dying of cringe. Sun Hao, completely oblivious, leaned in again and wrapped his thick arm around Song Chi’s neck once more.

Song Chi’s face darkened visibly, but fortunately, the hundred people ahead of them had finished their deployment, and the Fire-Seed Bureau officers were calling for their batch.

The hundred individuals stepped onto the platform one after another. After taking their positions, they summoned their Psionic Shuttles. Once all one hundred ships were ready, the officers activated the ultra-long-range Star Sea deployment platform. A pillar of light soared into the sky, and in an instant, all one hundred Psionic Shuttles vanished without a trace.

The familiar sensation of weightlessness swept over him. Compared to a month ago, Song Chi’s recovery was much faster this time. His breakthrough to Level 5 in the Guidance Technique had slightly improved his physical fitness, which naturally increased his resistance to negative states.

Once he stabilized, Song Chi did exactly what he had done last time: he activated the *Firmament's* energy shield. As the pitch-black, dark-matter energy shield generated by the "Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator" enveloped the ship, he finally felt a sense of relief. The sense of security brought by an orange-quality energy shield was truly immense.