"No clues about Seraad yet?" Sandro couldn’t help but ask.
"He deliberately hid himself, and the Land of Stars is not a civilization of order," Theo shook his head.
"Your vigilance is too low; such an important thing was actually stolen by a B-level life form," Sandro couldn’t help shaking his head.
Theo stayed silent, seemingly too lazy to explain.
Li Ming pondered, considering whether he had overthought the situation. Seraad had not yet been confirmed dead, so he remained the primary target.
Ulrich sighed, "The Star King has been missing for over forty years, and the Land of Stars can no longer be preserved."
Sandro spoke nonchalantly, "Aren’t you being too pessimistic? The Silver Star Cluster, Rasos Star Cluster, Perle Star Cluster, these nearby star clusters are not organizing the United Fleet for the first time."
"The Land of Stars will eventually make a comeback; it’s just about taking risks by diving deep into the Red River Star Stream and hiding for a while."
With Saber, who had followed the Star King, Li Ming’s understanding of the Land of Stars was no longer superficial.
The current Land of Stars had far fewer Floating Islands than at its peak, many of which were shattered when facing encirclement by retreating deep into the Red River Star Stream.
Ulrich scoffed, "If the United Fleet is purely for the Torch Organization, casually wiping out the Land of Stars, then naturally, there’s no need to worry."
"Is that not the case?" Sandro frowned.
"Only partially," Ulrich said somewhat annoyed, "A bigger part of the reason is the Ascender Civilization Relics."
Ulrich wasn’t stupid, Li Ming mused silently. Theo seemed to understand it too, while Sandro seemed to have an epiphany and quickly added, "You mean to say that the United Fleet won’t leave easily this time?"
"Exactly," Theo added, "They definitely will not leave easily, which is why they are so thorough in cleaning out the Silver Star Cluster."
"Coming this time, no one knows how long they will stay or what scale of battle will break out."
"They found a way to get in?" Sandro puzzled, "Doesn’t that relic have genetic verification?"
"Why do you think the Torch Organization is looking for the Mechanic?" Ulrich said rather resignedly.
Sandro frowned deeply, although he knew about this matter, he had not thought much about it: "Is the Torch Organization creating some kind of device, a key to entering the Ascender Relics?"
"Exactly, you finally have a bit of a brain," Ulrich sighed, as Sandro glared and huffed.
"You underestimated the Torch Organization, thinking their search for the Mechanic was just to make some powerful destructive weapon; they really are quite capable."
"It has little to do with the Torch Organization," Theo shook his head, "The Torch Organization attacked Asmara a few months ago, a certain laboratory under her command, it seems they seized critical technology from there."
"Asmara? Princess of Yitelan?" Sandro’s eyes showed some shock, "I remember, she seemed to have gone in?"
"Exactly, seven or eight years ago, an unprecedented eruption of the Red River Starfall spewed out an Ascender Civilization Relic," Ulrich recalled:
"Asmara and her subordinates were the first discoverers, and at that time, caused a huge uproar in the Land of Stars, leading to great chaos and many deaths."
"They didn’t reveal how they got in, but it couldn’t be replicated, interstellar treasure, the crystallization of civilization..." Ulrich’s eyes sparkled, then dimmed:
"Sadly, the main species of the Ascenders had been almost wiped out by the Star Abyss Empire, making it impossible to enter through normal ways."
"Solving this will require a massive cost, doomed to be unreachable for people like us, only the major advanced civilizations are fighting over it."
Hearing this, Li Ming thought of his "Tanluo Monarch Biological Sublimator" collecting dust on the control page; others might not, but he could.
"Where exactly is this civilization relic?" he suddenly asked, catching the attention of the three.
Ulrich didn’t hide it: "It’s inside the Red River Star Stream, but we don’t know the specific location; apparently, Princess Asmara has a special method to find it."
"As you said, interstellar treasure, the crystallization of civilization, who could ignore that?" Li Ming blandly stated.
"True," Ulrich conceded and with a bit of sorrow added, "Eight years ago, someone named Wu Yanqing came to me carrying some shattered armor to sell, and I didn’t realize then, it was brought out from the Ascender Relics."
Old Wu? Li Ming looked bemused.
Ulrich continued, "Lord Azure Dragon should know this person; he was the teacher of your student, back then a C-level life form."
It really must have been heartbreaking for Ulrich to remember it for so long.
Li Ming’s interest piqued, he said: "You are probably talking about the Philos Battle General Armor, right?"
Ulrich had a moment of confusion, straightening up.
Li Ming continued, "I indeed saw it, more precisely a photograph, severely damaged, almost nothing but a small part left, it is very normal for you to have misunderstood."
Ulrich seemed astonished, all information related to Ascender Civilization, almost entirely lost in the interstellar stream of history, even on the Black Hole Network there was not much record.
That Lord Azure Dragon could directly name it indicated a keen understanding of the Ascender Relics.
"What exactly was the level of that armor?" he couldn’t help but ask.
Li Ming pondered and said: "If it could be properly repaired, it would be A-level armor."
Ulrich’s long red fingers clenched and then released, he let out a deep sigh and shook his head, "Never mind, it’s all in the past now."