Suspended deep within the Bermuda Sea lies a colossal silver-white pyramid, towering 1200 meters high. Despite having remained here for tens of thousands of years, time has left not a single trace upon it!
“This… this is a spaceship of the Mechanical Race!!!”
Pra was ecstatic.
The Mechanical Race!
Though humanity prides itself as one of the supreme races across the vast cosmos, there are still other races capable of rivaling human power. The Mechanical Race is one such example. To be precise, every member of the Mechanical Race is an ‘intelligent lifeform,’ and their entire civilization has advanced technology to an unfathomable degree!
Moreover…
Every individual of the Mechanical Race is an unparalleled powerhouse!
Unlike humans who must gradually cultivate their strength, intelligent lifeforms instantly become peerless warriors as long as they possess a powerful enough physical body to unleash their potential and carry within their consciousness sufficient ‘combat techniques.’ In theory, no matter how strong an intelligent lifeform becomes, they cannot achieve immortality. However, the Mechanical Race has shattered this curse, possessing indeed beings comparable to the immortal within their race!
Like the one who once perished aboard the Star of Yimo!
“The Mechanical Race, the most technologically advanced Mechanical Race,” Pra’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “Much of the technology of humanity across the universe was originally obtained from the Mechanical Race.”
“The spaceships of the Mechanical Race are generally at least Class C. I suspect this one might be Class D or even higher,” Pra couldn’t determine. Unlike humans, who use metals and alloys more superficially and can easily identify what metals or alloys are used, spaceships and other constructs of the Mechanical Race are completely beyond human understanding—they couldn’t even begin to analyze how they were built.
It felt… as if it were made from an entirely new form of matter.
Therefore, a Class D ship from the Mechanical Race is usually directly classified by humans as ‘Class D9’—the highest grade within that level. A single ship of the Mechanical Race is extremely expensive, far more costly than a human-made ship of the same level.
“Where is the entrance? Where’s the entrance?” Pra exclaimed urgently.
“Lord Pra, the entrance is over there! However, the entrance is extremely dangerous. We threw in some damaged weapons, and they were instantly shredded into nothingness.”
“That’s great news!”
Pra excitedly darted forward.
The entrance to the pyramid-shaped spaceship was located near its base, a beautiful, seemingly mystical triangular passage. The outer hatch had already been opened, yet no one could enter.
“Testing the attack strength,” Pra flipped his hand, revealing a spare weapon he once used—a long rapier.
He casually threw it into the triangular passage.
“Zhi~~” A dreamlike tri-colored glow extended from the three walls of the triangular passage, sweeping instantly across the rapier. The blade, though extremely sharp and durable, barely emitted a ‘zhi’ sound before disintegrating into countless particles and vanishing completely.
“Excellent!” Pra shouted in delight, “Even a weapon of C2 hardness was effortlessly destroyed!”
What did that mean?
It meant that even a second-stage Cosmic-level warrior would be unable to withstand this attack.
“The stronger, the better!” Pra’s eyes gleamed as he threw in a second spare weapon—a similar rapier. These spares were not valuable—previously they were primal energy weapons and mental force weapons.
“Zhi zhi~~”
This time, the rapier was slightly affected by the tri-colored glow. It vibrated faintly and began to crack, though the destruction proceeded very slowly.
“Class C5 is difficult to destroy?” Pra nodded slightly, his smile widening. “Very good, excellent.”
The strongest attack of a spaceship would never be its passive entrance defense, as such defenses must be constantly maintained and occur only within the entrance corridor, thus they are inherently not meant to be extremely powerful.
For example, the entrance attack of the Black Dragon Mountain’s X81 could only kill an average Star-level warrior of second or third stage. Yet its laser cannon was B6 level.
“The attack power of the entrance corridor is already this strong!”
“This spaceship is at least Class D! It might even be Class E!” Pra’s eyes gleamed with excitement.
“If it’s Class D, a Class D Mechanical Race spaceship would be comparable to a human Class D9 spaceship!” Pra was thrilled. The leap between each level of these ships was incredibly significant.
A hundred-meter-diameter ship, like the Black Dragon ship, was Class C5.
An affordable Class C5, spanning a hundred meters in diameter, would cost several billion. A Class C9, even if constructed purely from alloys, would demand nearly a hundred billion Black Dragon Credits! After all, the defensive capabilities of a C9 are dozens of times superior to those of a C5.
As for Class D!
Cosmic-level warriors and Domain Lords typically command vessels of this caliber. The founding patriarch of the Norlams family, Norlams himself, once piloted a D5-class starship—a staggering investment of 20 billion Qianwu Credits in its era!
D1 would already cost hundreds of billions of Black Dragon Coins.
D9, even if made purely of alloys, would be nearly a thousand times more expensive than D1! In other words, it would take the sale of dozens or even hundreds of life-bearing planets to afford one. Thus, even for a ‘Domain Lord,’ it would be extremely expensive. Of course, these prices refer to ships a hundred meters in diameter. As for this 1200-meter-tall pyramid, which is comparable to a D9 in level and much larger in volume and material usage, the price is even more outrageous!
In fact…
Most Domain Lords couldn’t afford it!
“A D9, a hundred meters in diameter—we could afford it if the Norlams family went all out. But a 1200-meter-tall ship… the entire family’s assets combined wouldn’t be nearly enough.” Pra’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “If this pyramid is Class E…”
…
Five minutes later.
In the virtual universe, on the Black Dragon Mountain island.
In a grand hall.
Eight favored disciples stood shoulder to shoulder. Before them, a screen displayed the current patriarch, ‘Yuke Norlams.’
“Teacher!” Pra was brimming with excitement. “We have discovered a spaceship of the Mechanical Race in the Earth’s seas.”
“The Mechanical Race?” The patriarch on the screen was momentarily stunned.
“Yes, teacher. Moreover, this Mechanical Race spaceship is 1200 meters tall and at least Class D.” Pra quickly added.
Class D was the typical spaceship of most Domain Lords! Its exorbitant price was unimaginable.
And it was a spaceship of the Mechanical Race, the most popular and expensive in Class D, and 1200 meters tall!
“This, this…” Yukе Norlams’ eyes also gleamed.
“Teacher,” another handsome young man spoke up. “Not only that, we discovered on Earth… Earth was recently attacked by a ‘Devouring Beast.’ This Devouring Beast is actually one of the extremely rare and precious Star Beasts of the cosmos, known for its ferocity and bloodthirst—the Golden-Horned Beast! Of course, this Golden-Horned Beast was only at the first stage of the Star level, a juvenile.”
“A juvenile Golden-Horned Beast?” Yukе Norlams was stunned.
A juvenile Golden-Horned Beast, if alive, would be worth many times more than a Class D spaceship of the Mechanical Race!
Perhaps only a Class E Mechanical Race spaceship could rival the value of a juvenile Golden-Horned Beast.
However…
For the Norlams family, both were enormous treasures!
“However, the juvenile Golden-Horned Beast was reportedly killed, and we are searching for its corpse,” the handsome young man said.
“Killed?” Yukе’s eyes widened. He quickly inhaled deeply, realizing his own loss of composure, then fixed his gaze on Pra. “Pra, how is the data sampling going?”
“I was just about to report. The data sampling and everything else have already been completed,” Pra said.
“Excellent!”
Yukе’s eyes gleamed. “Immediately dispatch a small spaceship carrying this data, the samples, and your interstellar coordinates to Biyan Star and apply to purchase this planet. This planet belongs to our Norlams family! Absolutely, absolutely cannot be taken by others. Also! Everything about Earth must be kept secret. Implement the highest level of secrecy.”
“Yes!”
The eight favored disciples responded loudly.
“On Earth, there are likely other treasures. The ones who know Earth best are the Earth-born humans. You must control the Earth’s humans as quickly as possible. Use a soft strategy,” Yukе instructed.
“Understood.”
The eight favored disciples responded in unison.
“Very good, very good!” Yukе was obviously excited.
…
Huaxia Nation, Tianjin City, the Capital Base of the Kyoto Region.
Although fleets from alien worlds had descended upon Earth, ordinary life continued as usual.
“Hello, humans of Earth!”
“We are from the Norlams family of the cosmos, and we come bearing friendship! Do not doubt our strength…” Televisions, computers, and other devices in every household suddenly displayed the same image. A handsome man with pointed ears, resembling the elves of legends, spoke in an alien tongue, while Chinese and English subtitles automatically translated his words.
“Look, this is your Earth’s Australian continent.”
“With just one punch, this mountain range is destroyed.”
“With just one punch, this island disappears.”
The screen continuously switched scenes, showing nine Star-level ninth-stage warriors ‘performing.’ Watching a Star-level ninth-stage warrior punch down a mountain, with the resulting shockwave affecting areas hundreds of kilometers away, left all of Earth’s population stunned… This was absolutely more terrifying than the previous peak battle—
Hong and Lei Shen’s battle against the Devouring Beast!
A punch with a shockwave spanning hundreds of kilometers!
It was practically the equivalent of a massive nuclear bomb!
“Of course,” Pra, the handsome man resembling an elf, smiled as he addressed Earth’s entire population. “We come bearing goodwill, so we will not attack any city! There are five major nations and 23 base cities on your Earth. In one hour, we will drop ten King-level monster corpses in public squares and streets of each base city!”
“If we wanted to!”
“Earth could be destroyed in an hour.”
Pra smiled. “However, we come bearing goodwill, but your Earth’s upper echelons, the so-called elites, are hiding in their steel fortresses. This displeases us greatly!”
“I hope your Earth’s leaders can engage with us, the Norlams family, in a friendly manner and show some respect to us from the cosmos, the so-called ‘aliens’ you humans speak of!”
“If your Earth’s leaders are too stingy to show even the slightest respect and refuse our goodwill…”
“Then we won’t mind conquering you by force!”
Pra smiled. “We give your Earth twelve hours to deliberate. If, after twelve hours, we do not see your Earth’s leaders or receive even the minimum respect, we will resort to ‘forceful measures,’ destroying one of your so-called base cities every hour.”
…
Boom!
Pra’s televised and online address was like a hydrogen bomb with a trillion-ton yield detonating on Earth, leaving the entire human population of Earth stunned.
Twelve hours!
Earth’s humans had only twelve hours to prepare for negotiations. After that, every hour of delay would result in the destruction of a base city! Each base city generally had a population of over a billion people. When they saw those ‘aliens’ frequently flying overhead, occasionally displaying unimaginable power, and saw those King-level monster corpses being tossed like ants into the streets and squares of each base city.
Humanity was thrown into chaos!
The Earth’s upper echelons in their survival bases also began to panic!
“You’re betraying us!”
“Betraying humanity! Sixty billion people! Are you willing to let them perish for the sake of a few elites? You’re abandoning the lives of sixty billion people? Luo Feng? Hong? Lei Shen? Who knows when they’ll return? I oppose this! I oppose this! Not all aliens are cruel!”
…
“Stay calm, don’t be deceived by the Norlams family’s false benevolence! That’s just pretense. Once our survival bases open, if they rush in, we’ll regret it too late!”
…
“They are incredibly powerful! Destroying Earth would be effortless for them!”
“Do they even need to feign benevolence? What significance could we Earth’s elite have to them?”
“Did you see? They said that if we don’t come out and engage with them, they’ll destroy a base city every hour! Billions of human lives will be lost!”
…
“Please think carefully. Once more than two-thirds vote in favor, we will proceed.”
…
“I urge all attendees to vote carefully!”
“Each of your votes determines the fate of over sixty billion people outside! Yes, over sixty billion!!!”
…
“Please wait a little longer! Luo Feng and the other two are on distant planets, working hard for us! These survival bases were brought to us by them. Please believe in them! If we bow our heads and make a mistake, the entire Earth’s human race will fall into endless darkness.”
…
“I can’t just stand by and watch as over sixty billion humans are slaughtered! Sixty billion! This number is crushing me!”
…
As the Earth’s survival base leaders were in turmoil.
Outside, chaos was erupting in major base cities—protests! Demonstrations! Sit-ins! Some half-crazed individuals began looting and smashing shops… Thousands upon thousands of people knelt down, begging Earth’s leaders to save them and negotiate with the aliens.
Others shouted that it was an alien plot!
In short, it was utter chaos!
“Luofeng, Luofeng, please answer the call,” Xu Xin was sending a communication request to Luo Feng. Around her stood Luo Feng’s parents and other national leaders.
Many were waiting…
For Luo Feng and his companions to bring good news from distant stars.
…
Biyan Star, the Imperial Office.
“3 hours and 29 minutes, everything is settled. I have not disappointed Mr. Luo’s expectations,” the official smiled as he stood up, his face still glistening with sweat from previous anxious efforts. “Congratulations, Mr. Luo Feng, from this moment on, you are the Lord of this planet—Earth. Oh, I should address you as ‘Lord’ now. Congratulations, my Lord.”
“Thank you!”
Luo Feng smiled, though his heart was roaring with excitement. Beside him, Hong and Lei Shen also couldn’t hide their joy.
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