Li Ming’s expression changed, and he finally asked, "Teacher, what exactly is inside that civilization relic?"
Wu Yanqing hesitated for a moment before responding, "The Ascender Civilization once almost became an Empire-level Civilization. It’s rumored they possessed several interstellar treasures, all of which are masterpieces at the pinnacle of a certain technological pathway."
"For example, the ’Eternal Energy Core’ that the Star Abyss Empire found. These civilization relics are actually fortresses built by the Ascender Civilization at the end of their era, hoping for a resurgence. They hid many valuable items and possibly existing interstellar treasures."
It sounded quite impressive, interstellar treasures...
"Keep what you’ve heard to yourself, and don’t let it leak out," Wu Yanqing cautioned again.
Li Ming nodded vigorously. He was already fixated on the idea, how could he possibly let it leak.
After giving his warning, Wu Yanqing hurriedly left.
Not long after, the main ship of the Wing Shadow Fleet, along with most of its ships, passed through the star gate and left the area, leaving only ten escort ships hovering in low Earth orbit.
On clearer days, the citizens below could look up and see them.
Seeing how urgently Asmara reacted, the attacked research base might be of considerable importance.
Li Ming seriously suspected that the coordinates were leaked by Old Wu.
However, Princess Asmara seemed to have no suspicions about him; otherwise, she wouldn’t have allowed him to come back and say goodbye.
About half an hour after Asmara left, Ya Ro hurriedly located Li Ming and brought him to Luo Chuan, blurting out:
"Old Luo, we’re leaving. Prepare some resources for us; this trip won’t be short."
"Leaving?" Luo Chuan was still unclear about what was happening and looked up, "What do you mean you are leaving?"
"Me and Li Ming," Ya Ro said as a matter of course, then added, "Didn’t the teacher tell you?"
Luo Chuan furrowed his brow, "Where are you taking Li Ming?"
"To the Land of Stars, of course."
"Don’t be ridiculous," Luo Chuan’s face darkened, "Go wherever you’re supposed to go, and leave Li Ming out of it."
"Who’s being ridiculous? Ask Li Ming," Ya Ro discontentedly let Li Ming speak.
"Senior Brother, it’s true, the teacher asked me to leave with Senior Brother Ya Ro," Li Ming explained.
Luo Chuan looked hesitant, "You’re not deceiving me? It’s not him coaxing you to go? Why did the teacher ask you to go to the Land of Stars?"
"It’s a complicated matter; if I go to the Yitelan Civilization, I may face a lot of trouble. Princess Asmara is not a good person," Li Ming stated succinctly.
"Princess Asmara is not a good person?" Luo Chuan, massaging his temples, clearly unaware of the hidden details.
Li Ming broadly explained the situation to Luo Chuan but omitted some details.
"Is that so? The teacher, is actually a test subject?" Luo Chuan was greatly shocked, "Why has the teacher never mentioned this before?"
The stunned Ya Ro shook his head, responding quicker this time, "Why tell us this? It’s of no use to us knowing."
"I thought it was some tragic love triangle between the teacher, Chen Jinglong, and Princess Asmara, but it turns out to be a harsh story of a woman manipulating feelings," he muttered.
"You are leaving now?" Luo Chuan was still somewhat flustered, his mouth moving faster than his brain.
"No rush," Ya Ro was about to speak but was interrupted by Li Ming.
"Hmm?" Ya Ro looked at him, "The teacher told me to take you away as soon as Princess Asmara left."
Li Ming explained, "I still have unfinished business, and Princess Asmara likely won’t be back anytime soon."
Ya Ro murmured something indiscernible and finally said helplessly, "Junior Brother, it’s not that I don’t understand, but the teacher asked me to take you away immediately."
"It’s alright; if the teacher blames anyone, just say I didn’t want to leave," Li Ming responded.
"The teacher will definitely scold me harshly. If you don’t want to leave, I can take you away by force," Ya Ro sighed, appearing flippant but showing considerable respect for Wu Yanqing.
"Take me away by force?" Li Ming’s mouth twitched, and Luo Chuan also had a half-smile.
"What’s wrong?" Ya Ro was puzzled, "You think I can’t do it? Junior Brother, despite my unserious demeanor, those who have died by my hands..."
He hadn’t finished speaking when his pupils suddenly contracted; Li Ming raised his hand and threw a punch. At such a close distance, Ya Ro couldn’t react in time.
His chest took a heavy blow, his eyes widened as if they were about to bulge out, and his whole body was directly blasted away, his vision receding rapidly, making the nearby Li Ming seem unreachable.
The metal wall was torn apart, and Ya Ro’s upper body was embedded in it.
Ya Ro’s face was full of confusion, his expression blank, only feeling a burning pain in his chest, disbelievingly staring at Li Ming’s fist and then looking down at his own miserable state, his worldview shaken to its core.
"No, no..." he struggled to jump out from the hole in the wall, staggered to his feet with a sense of falling into a dream.
"Senior brother, you can now explain to the teacher." Li Ming said with a smile.
Luo Chuan timely interjected, "Forcing him to leave, you really dare say that. Even I have no confidence in being able to force him away."
"You, you are a C-level life form?" Ya Ro glared eyes, rubbing his chest, "Impossible, the teacher said you were still a D-level life form."
"Stop saying it’s impossible. He knows what he’s doing, he’ll decide when to leave." Luo Chuan shook his head.
Ya Ro grimaced, circling Li Ming continuously, then as if thinking of something, he couldn’t stop sneering sleazily.
After settling this matter, Li Ming returned to his room and continued tinkering; he wanted to create a Mechanical Guard to see what it was exactly, as he was quite curious about it.
However, the energy consumption of the Mechanical Guard was too high, turning ordinary Controlled Objects into intelligent mechanical bodies required three to five times the metal energy needed for Control.
This consumption was reasonable. He had experimented a few times, and the combat type possessed combat power at its own rank.
For example, an E-level Controlled Object, once transformed, would have the combat power equivalent to an E-level life form, depending on the specifics of the Controlled Object itself.
But overall, it was more than 50% at the same level.
However, the Mechanical Guard needed ten times the metal energy to construct, which was prohibitively expensive.
He still needed to save three million units of metal energy for that Space Ring, hardly having any to spare, so he had to hold back for now.
Thinking about this, Li Ming’s eyes unconsciously narrowed again.
Old Wu told him to leave as soon as possible and not to dwell on the C-level gene seed.
What Old Wu didn’t know was that his development progress was far higher than the others imagined, with 100% almost within reach.
Not taking that C-level gene seed felt really unsatisfying to him.
Obviously, the Space Ring was also good, Space Blink, a magical escape tool; as for how to get these things, he was still considering it.
Directly killing Isus involved too high a risk since that B-level life form was almost always by his side, making it very difficult to accomplish.
As much as those things made him drool, they were not worth more than his own safety; if it were really unattainable or the risk was too great, there was no need to bother.
Lying in bed, Li Ming pondered this matter until dawn,
He went to the cafeteria for breakfast, and Ya Ro was devouring his meal.
"Is life that hard in the Land of Stars?" Li Ming asked leisurely as he ate.
"It’s alright, just that everything is quite expensive." Ya Ro chewed on a juicy chunk of meat,
"I usually drink nutrient solution. These flavorful dishes, although not highly nutritious, involve various ingredients which makes them quite expensive."
"Who would bother eating those."
Before he had finished eating, Isus’s people hurriedly came to fetch Li Ming.
The specific reason, the notifying soldier didn’t know, as per Isus’s request, they urgently needed him to come over.
Ya Ro, somewhat uneasy, called Luo Chuan to accompany him.
The Guard soldiers seemed unsure how to handle it, but after consulting their superiors, they led them over.