Li Zixuan took a deep breath and looked toward the three holographic projections.
How did he get his hands on the super-sized starship blueprint that the Western District Federation had spent so much effort acquiring?
Li Zixuan had been involved in the project herself.
The blueprint had been a gift from the spawns, granted after a series of missions and agreements made with them by the Western District Federation.
At the current stage, due to a lack of contribution points to exchange for materials, the Federation had deemed it unsuitable to construct the large starship. It was considered more efficient to build medium-sized starships to boost combat strength.
This blueprint was supposed to be classified and stored in the central warehouse of the Western District Federation.
"What do you think? With this, can we leave this place on our own strength?"
Li Zixuan stared at the projection for a long time before finally regaining her composure. She nodded and said, "If we want the starship to launch, several key components must be in place: a complete ship, sufficient energy, a functional Star Map transition system network, the spawns’ Star Map, and positioning coordinates."
"The Star Map transition network system can be exchanged from the internal spawn system. A complete Star Map network is the target of my current mission. I’ve memorized it, and in a few days, I can find a way to replicate it."
"We already have the energy prepared. All that’s left is to finish building the starship and find a suitable transition point..."
Li Zixuan calculated silently, then slowly looked up at Fang Heng beside her.
She suddenly had a feeling.
Could it be that Fang Heng had planned all of this in advance?
Li Zixuan withdrew her gaze from Fang Heng and said, "Ship construction requires a massive investment of time and energy. I’ll need assistance. For some of the more complex precision parts, I recommend directly exchanging through the spawns’ system..."
"What do you mean we can’t go in?"
Arkley stood blocking the entrance of the newly constructed underground passage, grinning at Vionne and the other, saying, "Mr. Fang said this is our newly established mining zone—can’t let anyone else in."
Vionne frowned and asked, "Including us?"
Zaka thought to himself: Can’t you get a clue?
He’s clearly talking about you!
"Mr. Fang made it clear: until a proper cooperation plan is reached with your Western District Federation, we won’t proceed with deeper collaboration. It’s to avoid any future disputes."
"But our researchers are in there!"
Zaka shrugged with a shameless look, "Is that so? Then I wouldn’t know. Maybe they’ve got a private agreement with Mr. Fang. Either way, I can’t let you in."
Vionne felt his anger rising.
On their Federation’s territory, and someone dared block them?
Did they really not know who was in charge?
Vionne turned to glare at Collete and shouted, "Collete! Is your military department really going to allow this to happen?"
"The military was only tasked with assisting in ore collection and remaining on standby. The researchers’ current mission has nothing to do with the military, Vionne."
"Fine, fine, fine. So you’re with them, huh? I’d like to see how you explain this to the council!"
Vionne didn’t dare force his way in and stormed off furiously.
Collete nodded briefly to Arkley and the others, then returned to the ship as well.
Vionne was extremely frustrated.
Part of it was Fang Heng’s attitude, but more so, it was that someone dared defy the presidential expert group and push back against them.
Days passed, and Fang Heng’s group showed no signs of backing down. If anything, their stance became firmer, clearly saying, "Bring it on."
Unfortunately, due to the electromagnetic interference in this world, communication systems were unstable. Sending a message back and forth took a very long time.
Even worse, the military didn’t side with him!
Whose side were they on?
At the underground passage entrance, mutant worm creatures guarded the area. He only had a few people; forcing their way in was out of the question.
Vionne returned to the temporary base’s main control room. Through the surveillance monitors, he silently watched Wayne and his players making trip after trip, hauling crates of materials into the underground passage.
Earlier it had been research equipment. Now it was materials?
Vionne asked, "What’s going on with those materials? Those are supplies for our ship. Why are they being taken out?"
The control personnel replied, "Those are supporting research materials. I heard they’re planning to set up a research base underground for better access to the spawns’ Star Map base."
He knew the conditions of this world better than anyone. In such a harsh geological environment, they couldn’t construct any facility outside without the Federation’s support.
This quicksand terrain would collapse any tunnel immediately!
So what were those materials really for?
And the military—they were crazy too! Following Fang Heng in this madness!?
Vionne clenched his jaw as he stared at the surveillance monitors.
Three hours quickly passed.
Wayne gradually calmed down.
But as time passed, he felt a rising unease. Cold sweat began to drip from his forehead.
He had stood here for over three hours, watching the whole time, and he could say with certainty—not a single researcher had come back out!
In this world’s harsh environment, researchers needed protective suits to move safely.
Theoretically, after two hours, the defensive barrier energy would run out, and they’d need to return.
Vionne’s fists clenched.
Had they really built a more advanced shelter down below?
"Let’s go! Take me to the laboratory!"
Entering the temporary base’s laboratory domain, Vionne immediately sensed something was off.
The lab usually had military personnel guarding it.
Why wasn’t there a single person here today?
He hurriedly pushed open the lab’s main door and was instantly stunned.
The entire lab looked like it had been looted—every piece of research equipment and data was gone.
So the items being moved earlier were all lab supplies and research tools?
Beyond anger, Vionne now felt deep concern.
He was beginning to realize the situation had slipped beyond his control.
The lab housed highly sophisticated instruments. Just minutes of exposure to the outside environment would completely destroy them.
Fang Heng and the military weren’t fools. If they agreed to move them, that meant Fang Heng had likely built a secure zone outside!
At the very least, a temporary safe storage zone!
What kind of advanced tech system did they possess to pull that off?
Vionne felt a creeping horror growing in him. He didn’t even dare to think further.