Starting as a Mechanical Hunter

Chapter 937: Chapter 43: Golden Hall

Xiao Yu had been excited and eager to study the appearance of aliens since she had recently binge-watched many sci-fi movies where aliens were depicted in the most bizarre ways of all kinds. However, on this planet, she only saw various ’humans.’

The Lobster Spirit explained:

"This is because of the aesthetic influence of civilizations. Around our star domain, whether it’s the Galen Republic or the Mirta Federation, their racial compositions are humanoid creatures. This affects the species aesthetics of the Holt Inner Star Spin, causing different racial aesthetic views to incline towards humanoid species. But if you look closely, their biological forms are actually different."

Xiao Yu widened her eyes and looked over, sure enough, these ’humanoid creatures’ were all knockoffs. Either they had prosthetic limbs installed, or their entire body was wrapped in humanoid civilian exoskeletons, and the few from which facial features could be seen showed traces of cosmetic surgery.

Xiao Yu widened her eyes, as she saw a humanoid figure passing by. The area that looked like an eye suddenly twitched, and the ’eye’ suddenly grew black needle-like limbs that directly crawled into the eye socket.

Another ’humanoid’ moved its neck, and two long antennae suddenly popped out from its forehead, with its skin instantly turning pink and emitting some strange sense of smell.

"This is a life form from Dragonfly Star. They call themselves Dragonfly People, with both insect and butterfly forms. The biological fluid oozing out during the transformation process is very useful for cosmetic surgery repairs."

"That’s the Black Star People, a civilization species with unknown coordinates and life form. They only operate externally through mechanical bodies and are called Black Star People because of their powerful hacker technology, capable of interstellar zone level information intrusion."

"These are the Three-Body People, a near-extinct civilization species. The remaining people are under the protection of the Collector, now responsible for maintaining our Mechanical Serpent Constellation."

"That is the Crawling Toad Species. Their home planet was destroyed by a supernova explosion, so they came here, receiving the protection of the Collector."

"And there’s the Helder Activated Metal. This mechanical body has been listed as a level 5 protected species on the Civilization Council’s protection list, discovered by the Collector at a cosmic relic."

Gao Gong looked over. As a fellow mechanical lifeform, this creature was neither humanoid nor animal-shaped but rather insect-shaped. Through its mechanical mouth, it was evident that its abdomen was empty, without a power system or computational module, as if it was just an iron hide shaped into a bug form.

Gao Gong understood a bit why this creature became a protected species.

This kind of life-level ’activated metal’ carries anatomical attraction for any civilization engaging in scientific research.

"Are there a lot of rare species here?"

Interstellar cowboy Jack Klein followed at some point, and at this moment was curiously asking.

He had been to many black markets, but this particular market gave him a special feeling.

The ’Lobster Spirit’ proudly stood taller.

"On our planet, we shelter a total of 1016 endangered civilization species from the Robert Star System, among which 14 are on the Civilization Council’s protection list."

"Why does your Collector do this?" Qin Zhenzi asked skeptically, wondering if it was to exploit the technological heritage behind these civilization species.

The ’Lobster Spirit’ seemed to see what the other party was thinking, shook its head, and said:

"The vast majority of intelligent life here arrives in a state of destitution, and their civilization level is not high, at most only at the primary stage of a level 2 civilization, without much value to the Collector."

The primary stage of a level 2 civilization is probably just barely beginning extraterrestrial exploration, while the two overlord-level civilizations near the Mechanical Serpent Constellation are about to move into level 3 civilization, so what the other party said was indeed correct.

And ’Lobster Spirit’ was not lying. After all, their species also came here as refugees, so they understood the state of these refugee species better than anyone.

"This Collector is not bad, I like them!" Jack Klein exclaimed with feeling.

"They’re a cosmic justice cowboy!" Xiao Yu’s eyes sparkled brightly.

"Indeed, that’s why we, the Mechanical Serpent Constellation, are also known as the ’Civilization Relict Sanctuary’!" The ’Lobster Spirit’ looked proud.

Gao Gong smiled slightly without saying a word.

Qin Zhenzi noticed Gao Gong’s expression, took a quiet step back, and communicated in an encrypted manner with Gao Gong through the communicator.

"Boss, do you think there’s something wrong with this Collector?"

"There’s naturally nothing wrong with doing good," Gao Gong said lightly, "just think about it, an interstellar black market itself exists in the gray areas of civilization, and many of these destroyed civilizations might have been the work of nearby overlord regions. Why would the Collector do such a thankless task?"

Qin Zhenzi, as a ’business negotiation expert’ from Du Gao Technology, only had to think briefly to understand.

"Ransom?"

"Yes, ordinary endangered civilization species are one thing, but those on the Civilization Council’s protection list draw a lot of attention, and nearby civilizations, wanting to target this cosmic black market, would naturally proceed with caution. After all, civilizations that haven’t ascended are, at most, reserve members of the Council with probationary periods."

"So that’s how it is."

Qin Zhenzi didn’t believe that a black market manager would be so kind-hearted, even in the cosmos; as long as they are intelligent species, they cannot escape the laws of human nature.

The planet before their eyes was prosperous and developed, with various rare species coexisting peacefully. After going around, Qin Zhenzi hadn’t even found any tools like modified police or mechanical eyeliner, but this was supposed to be a black market — a paradise for star thieves, underground traders, species smuggling, interstellar terrorists. How could it possibly be called a ’Civilization Relict Sanctuary’?

"But where is your trading location?" Fat Xiang twisted his thick neck. After the teleportation was completed, they were placed on a sightseeing hovercar to tour various parts of the planet.

There is a saying that a planet’s technological level can be showcased through civilization architecture, while economic levels can be proven through infrastructure.

Even with a simple tour, Fat Xiang noticed that the planet’s infrastructure was much better than the Mechanical Split Star, with no radiation zones or isolation belts; mountains were conquered, seas filled in, skyscrapers rising into the stratosphere. In the unique architecture under the sea, various marine life could be seen, and suspended magnetic suspension channels extended from the Southern Hemisphere all the way to the Northern Hemisphere, making the entire planet feel like a high-tech city, so clean and advanced.

This level of super infrastructure was something he had only seen in the Mother City.

The ’Lobster Spirit’ was just about to say something when its expression suddenly changed, turning serious and saying, "Everyone, I’m afraid I can’t take you to the nearest black market. The Collector wishes to see you."

"Where is he?" Gao Gong asked.

"He is at the 10th Mechanical Serpent Constellation."

"10th? Does this type of planet have ten of them?" Qin Zhenzi couldn’t help asking.

The ’Lobster Spirit’ shook its head, "You’ll see soon."

Gao Gong looked out the window suddenly, only to see the seawater suddenly light up, with a massive amount of blue light spilling out from the waves, stretching from one end of sight to the other toward the horizon.

Jack Klein also raised an eyebrow.

"Boss, what a powerful force!" Xiao Yu seemed to sense something and exclaimed in shock.

"Has the earth core been transformed into an energy source?" Gao Gong exclaimed in amazement. "I originally thought your boss merely bought a planet modification module from a level 3 civilization, but I didn’t expect you mastered energy technology of this level."

’Planet modification module,’ doesn’t include transforming the earth core.

Then Gao Gong’s expression grew increasingly strange. In his ’eyes,’ a massive amount of space strings emerged from the void and then faded away again; the visibly perceptible world started wrinkling. Both the magnetic suspension channels and giant underwater constructions began fading, and the planet-level city slowly disappeared, being replaced by a planet-level palace, entirely made of gold, enveloping the whole planet.

And Gao Gong and his group stood before the entrance of the Golden Palace.

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