Starting Cultivation in Wasteland

Chapter 1030: Chapter 896: Too Fast

Ping’an Trading Group has over twenty people, two A-levels, and also B-levels.

They can’t be certain of this old lady’s cultivation level—at least a veteran A-level.

But with a casual remark from Granny Jia, everyone tucked away inappropriate thoughts.

Some things are hard to describe in words; the old lady’s lazy attitude is part of it, but definitely not all.

In the stone chamber, everyone fell silent, quiet enough to hear a pin drop, the atmosphere extremely oppressive.

Fortunately, most of these people are long-time space runners, with much stronger mental endurance than ordinary people.

Everyone was immersed in this eerie silence for who knows how long until a very low, muffled sound was heard.

They turned to look and found the stone door had opened, and the four who had left earlier walked back in.

"Alright," Flower Scorpion raised a hand pointing at Kading and Old Seven, "You two, come and help tidy up."

Duoduo stood up at this sight, "Master, how did it go?"

She mainly worried that they’d want to take their only two A-levels; if something happened, how could they resist?

"Just two armed merchant ships," Flower Scorpion answered nonchalantly, "But there was a Supreme."

Ping’an Trading Group’s people froze in disbelief, though they had hoped for victory, this was... too fast?

Upon hearing this, Duoduo hurriedly bent down to grab a spacesuit, "Can I follow and take a look?"

"Suit yourself," Flower Scorpion answered dismissively, "By the way, is there anyone who can’t keep their mouth shut about today?"

She really didn’t want to emphasize this, but it couldn’t go unsaid.

Kading originally harbored a bit of doubt but now is completely reassured.

The logic is right there; if they were really in cahoots with the pursuers, more than these few would have entered.

The three followed them out of the residence area, and at a glance, were taken aback.

Duoduo’s mouth was quick, "Two armed merchant ships... this intact?"

There were five starships parked on the vast wasteland outside.

Three were Ping’an Trading Group’s starships, while the other two were the pursuing armed merchant ships.

The two armed merchant ships bore skull emblems at a glance, clearly belonging to the Star Thief influence.

These two starships both had entrance and exit hatches blown open.

Human remains were scattered across the wasteland, strewn as far as the eye could see.

It’s evident that battle occurred, but no attack ships were deployed, looking somewhat peculiar.

Kading and Old Seven boarded the starships, finding human remains scattered throughout, but no intense fight was discernible.

Their task was to clean the inside of one merchant ship, but they didn’t handle ammunition or supplies.

Yet for A-level warriors, this task seemed somewhat degrading.

After working for a while, Kading approached Flower Scorpion, identifying them as the main contact responsible.

He suggested calling others to help; even working in spacesuits would be slower, but strength in numbers.

Flower Scorpion agreed to his request, and soon, more than a dozen people joined in.

After a while, Duoduo returned to Flower Scorpion, asking if the other starship needs cleaning.

Flower Scorpion shook her head, "No need, that starship’s for dismantling to repair the existing two."

"Dismantling... repair?" Duoduo was a bit doubtful, could starships be repaired here?

Upon receiving confirmation, she returned to her group, spreading the news.

"That’s truly impressive!" Old Seven couldn’t help but give a thumbs up, "No wonder they’re into scientific exploration."

Previously, hearing them claim to be doing scientific exploration, everyone was half-believing.

Even seeing them handcrafting an energy block extractor, they only thought of them as somewhat skilled.

After all, the extractor’s principles are quite simple.

But repairing starships under these conditions truly sets them apart as exceptional.

Using a day’s time, the starships were cleaned thoroughly, and back at the base, discussions erupted.

Despite the attack ships still being aboard the merchant ships, the battle ended—how did they pull it off?

However, the starships being repairable was great news.

Ping’an Trading Group’s armed merchant ship was severely damaged, losing its warp capability.

If it couldn’t be repaired, a long-term journey through space would take several years to find a habitable star to land on.

During this journey, numerous energy blocks would be required for survival, along with facing many potential dangers.

The vastness of space harbors unforeseeable risks.

That’s why they considered replenishing energy blocks; it wasn’t merely for combat necessity.

Everyone excitedly discussed for a while, and Duoduo approached Granny Jia again, asking how long the starship repairs would take.

The old lady shook her head, "That depends on them, I don’t understand much about this."

Several days passed, with everyone staying in the stone chamber, doubts began to surface.

Only this old lady remained here, where did the others go?

However, during this period of contact, everyone felt the old lady was definitely an incredibly formidable presence.

Thus, others didn’t dare casually ask questions, leaving Duoduo to communicate.

She expressed feeling cramped staying inside the stone chamber long-term, wondering if they could go out for some activity?

This small request is something Granny Jia can fulfill for them.

As they walked out, they saw a merchant ship belonging to the Star Thieves had already been dismantled into pieces.

Their own merchant ship was waving its mechanical arms, repairing another starship.

As they tried to get closer for a look, Flower Scorpion stopped them, "Go elsewhere to unwind, but don’t go too far."

Duoduo gathered her courage to ask, "Do you have other residences?"

She wasn’t trying to pry; she mainly hadn’t seen the leader for a long time and wondered how to "seize the opportunity."

Flower Scorpion nodded, "Yes, but don’t inquire about it."

Duoduo was taken aback, then asked what everyone was most concerned about, "How long will the repairs take?"

"About three months," Flower Scorpion was also quite concerned about this and discussed it with the boss.

"First, we’re repairing this Star Thief ship because it’s less damaged."

Three months... not long at all, obviously another piece of good news.

In the days that followed, members of the Ping’an Trading Group completely relaxed.

Although it’s unusually desolate here, the pursuers have been eliminated, the schedule for going home is clear, what’s there to be dissatisfied about?

The only slight regret was that apart from Granny and Flower Scorpion taking turns guarding them, they couldn’t interact with anyone else.

Three months later, both starships were completely repaired, during which Qu Jianlei made three Extractors.

But even with this, the accumulated Energy Blocks totaled less than thirty million.

The main reason was that dismantling and repairing the starships consumed a lot of Energy.

On this day, Qu Jianlei finally appeared before them, "Alright, pack up and get ready to leave."

Members of the Ping’an Trading Group approached the starships, surprised to find there were not just five people but seven!

However, by this time, everyone was not in the mood to fuss over this—when out in the open, it’s normal to keep some cards up one’s sleeve, right?

In earnest, partnering with these people can’t be simple, their return trip would be safer.

Qinghu and Xiao Moshan boarded the armed merchant ship of the Star Thieves, presumably to take control and pilot the starship.

Xiao Moshan had only broken through to A-level a month ago, his aura was still not stable, so it’s good to dodge a bit.

Both starships took off one after another, leaving the star body behind.

Watching the star body gradually shrink and move farther away, Qu Jianlei couldn’t help but sigh, "Can’t believe we’ve been stuck here for so long!"

Granny was in good spirits, replied with a smile, "Coming out alive isn’t too bad."

Flower Scorpion went to communicate with them about subsequent matters.

Interstellar travel offers plenty of free time, and soon enough most of the details were discussed.

In the end, they insisted on discussing certain matters directly with Qu Jianlei for confirmation.

Kading and Duoduo came to negotiate, hoping the team would stay temporarily at the Ping’an Trading Group.

In the past three months, there wasn’t much interaction between the two sides, and neither Flower Scorpion nor Granny were talkative.

However, the actions of Qu Jianlei’s group had shown they were not ruthless but rather very trustworthy.

Regarding the pay, Ping’an Trading Group offered thirty million annually.

If there were any Supreme in the team, the offer could increase to fifty million.

Of course, this was just an initial proposal; if the other side was dissatisfied, further negotiations were possible.

Additionally, they hoped Qu Jianlei’s team would collaborate on developing that star body rich in Energy Stone.

Ping’an Trading Group would handle all the extraction, refining, and transportation, taking only thirty percent of the profit, seventy percent going to Qu Jianlei’s team.

But they hope to open Imperial channels for legitimate extraction.

Legitimate extraction procedures are complex and highly taxed, whereas private extraction, if discovered, could have severe consequences.

The resulting fees would be shared proportionally by both parties.

Ping’an’s request for thirty/seventy split isn’t much; they aim to strongly woo this team for a reason to maintain a long-term partnership.

Qu Jianlei has always been reluctant to engage in industry, but this opportunity... it’s really hard to refuse.

Energy Blocks are a necessity for the team and even though the star body wasn’t discovered by them, they arrived first.

Should the team leave, leaving it to Ping’an Trading Group to mine, he would feel uncomfortable.

So establishing another base in the Celestial River Star Realm is worth considering.

The main reason is that this profit distribution is quite sincere; he didn’t even bother to haggle.

Since the decision to cooperate had been made, the Supreme in the team... was worth explaining.

"Rest assured, among the seven of us, there are more Supreme than non-Supreme."

Upon hearing this, both Duoduo and Kading were stunned.

They had imagined there being Supreme in the other team, but at most one or two, three at a stretch.

The main guesses were the boss being one, and Granny being the second—after all, she dared to watch over them alone.

If there was a third, it might be the Paranoid or Mu Yu, since Flower Scorpion clearly wasn’t.

Now that they say there are at least four Supreme, alongside the celebration, there’s also some fear.

At first, they almost had a falling out with the other side—seems while outside, a little honesty is better.

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