A speck of blue light grew larger and larger until it came to a stop near Thor. It was Zeus Two.
Thor returned. A moment later, Zeus Two was hovering over the corpse of the creature. A beam of silver light fell from the sky and enveloped the creature. In the blink of an eye, the corpse was gone.
In order to carry more resources, the Zeus series of ships were equipped with a storage array made from the best storage gems in the world. It could store large amounts of resources, and this was the perfect time to use it.
Of course, this array couldn't store living things.
It was best used to store resources, ores, and even mechas.
It was also the best way for small to mid-sized ships to carry mechas.
Of course, the value of this storage array was so high that it was equivalent to the value of a battleship. It was not something that just anyone could afford.
This creature was capable of flight and possessed considerable combat power. It was different from the one they'd seen on Taihua. Although it wasn't as strong as the progenitor, it wasn't by much.
If they could find these crystals on its body, they'd be able to study the aliens.
Zeus Two continued on its journey. With this experience in mind, Lan Jue was more careful than ever. She stopped cultivating and instead kept an eye on what was going on in space.
According to her speculations, the creature they'd just seen was likely one of the home worlds' scouting beasts. It had a certain level of combat prowess and the ability to fly at high speeds.
It was used to spy on other planets and relay information back to the alien planets.
This was only a temporary estimate. As for the specifics …
More research would be needed to find out.
It was important to know.
This was a planetary system that belonged to the human world.
Now that they could see them, it meant the alien planets were getting closer and closer to humanity. They also had a way to slip past humanity's defenses and sneak into the inner reaches of the planetary system.
After all, the universe was vast. It was impossible to completely lock it down.
These aliens were likely to be highly intelligent.
This was a theory.
Lan Jue couldn't help but think back to the battle between the Seventh Fleet and the aliens in the Major League Sports Center on Luo.
The home worlds were terrifying in their own right. Add to that the horde of aliens, and the sheer number of them, and it was frightening!
Still, it didn't seem like humanity was going to be forced into a passive position. From what they'd seen, aside from the main cannon being devoured by one of the alien planets, the rest of the aliens were easy to kill.
Furthermore, the human race had quite a number of powerful weapons.
It wouldn't be easy for the alien planets to wreak havoc in the human realm.
The Major League's Bastion ships were a force to be reckoned with.
For the rest of the journey, he continued to work on his modification plan for Thor. It was not easy to modify a top-level mecha.
The design had to be completely reasonable.
After confirming that it met his requirements, the AI carried out a virtual synthesis.
Only then would they be able to find suitable materials to carry out modifications. This way, they would be able to achieve the most economical.
Zeus -2 flew for another three days. Off in the distance, a pale purple planet came into view.
It wasn't large, in fact some of the larger asteroids were larger than it. But it hung in space like a jewel, bathed in the light of the distant stars. It glowed with a faint purple hue.
Planet Ziluo, an administrative planet belonging to the Eastern Alliance.
It was about a sixth the size of the Mother Planet, a very small planet.
Ziluo had all the fresh water the human body needed. It wasn't rich in resources, but it did have one thing special about it. Every year, it suffered from a powerful energy storm from the universe.
These storms made Ziluo's magnetic field different from that of other planets. The planet itself was rich in all sorts of atmospheric energies.
To the average person, this was harmful radiation. They couldn't survive directly, so they had to live in protected cities.
But to Adepts, it was a great place to train.
Therefore, many elemental ability users liked to train here.
Although Ziluo wasn't rich in resources, there were still a few energy gems unique to the planet.
There were a total of thirteen cities on the planet. Each of them was large and had been artificially protected to ensure that the citizens could live there.
It was also publicly recognized as the planet with the highest density of Adepts in the Eastern Alliance.
Other than Skyfire Avenue on Skyfire Planet, the Adepts of Ziluo were also the strongest among all the planets in the Eastern Alliance.
Although it lacked top-tier Adepts, the number of mid-tier Adepts was quite high.
It was also a famous research and manufacturing base for Mechs.
"Permission to land!" A crisp female voice rang out. Zeus -2's identity had been confirmed, and he was allowed to land.
With a dazzling blue hue, Zeus -2 entered the atmosphere of Ziluo, flying towards the capital of the planet, Ziluo City.
Ziluo City was the largest of the thirteen cities on Ziluo. It was also the most famous Mech Research Base in the Eastern Alliance. There were many scientists and a large number of people here, dedicated to researching various Mechs.
Many God-class Mechs were produced here, and every year, the government would invest a large amount of money into this place.
Therefore, the most popular occupations here were God-class Mech Pilots, Mech Designers, Manufacturers, and other related professions.
Zeus -2 docked at Ziluo City's Civil Spaceship Base. Lan Jue controlled it to glide familiarly to a dark blue warehouse in the VIP parking area. This warehouse was very similar to the one he had on Skyfire Avenue, but it was much larger.
Lan Jue's expression was a little strange, as if he was feeling homesick.
The spaceship slowly glided into the warehouse, and a guide robot immediately guided it to a suitable location.
The warehouse was not empty. A completely blue spaceship, about three times the size of Zeus -2, was parked there. The streamlined shape of the spaceship was very similar to Zeus -2, but it looked deeper, as if it was made entirely out of crystals, reflecting a magnificent light.
Lan Jue took a deep breath. This had to be Jue Di's new creation.
Disembarking from Zeus -2, Lan Jue couldn't help but walk up to the ship's side to take a closer look. After a while, his face changed, and his eyes filled with awe.
"You're back?" A deep voice called out to him.
Lan Jue instinctively spun around, and when he did he froze like a statue.
A man walked out from the corner of the warehouse.
He looked to be in his forties, about the same age as the Gourmet. He was tall, with tanned skin and a pair of black eyes that shone brightly. He wasn't particularly handsome, but there was something masculine about him. His short, black hair stood up like steel needles.
He was wearing a somewhat worn-out work uniform. Both sleeves of the uniform were gone, revealing two strong arms with almost perfect muscle lines. The trousers of the uniform were also full of stains. It was obvious that he had not washed them for a long time.
Between the index and middle fingers of his right hand was a thick cigar. He took a drag, then slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke. His eyes were calm as he looked at Lan Jue.
"Come with me!" He beckoned to Lan Jue, then turned and walked toward the warehouse.
Lan Jue, who'd been frozen like a statue a moment before, immediately sprang into action. He strode after him, following close behind.
From beginning to end, Lan Jue hadn't said a word. His body was stiff, and his hands were trembling. It was clear he wasn't calm.
When they reached the warehouse, the man lifted a hand and pressed it against the wall. There was a flash of light, and a metal door slid open to the side. He was the first to step inside.
Lan Jue hurried to catch up. He was as obedient as a child.
The middle-aged man continued onward, the path sloping downward. After about fifty meters, a large elevator appeared in front of them. The man led Lan Jue inside and pressed a button.
The elevator door closed, then shook. A sense of weightlessness washed over them.
The man didn't say anything more to Lan Jue. He just stood there quietly. Lan Jue stood behind him, watching the man's strong back. Her eyes grew more and more complicated.
After a minute, the elevator came to a stop. The metal door opened once more, and a cacophony of voices filled the air.
It was a huge open space, with a dome that was more than 200 meters high. Looking at it, there was a feeling that one could not see the end of it. All kinds of metal machinery filled the space, and it was simply a huge processing plant. In fact, it was indeed a huge processing plant.
Lan Jue followed the middle-aged man in a certain direction.
"Uncle Chi." Some of the staff members he met greeted the black-haired middle-aged man very politely.
The black-haired middle-aged man also smiled and nodded at them. Although he was dressed very ordinarily, it could be seen from the respectful gazes of those people that Uncle Chi's position in this underground factory was quite high.
He led Lan Jue to the side of the underground factory. He opened another metal door.
The two of them walked in. The metal door closed, and the noise outside was cut off.
It seemed to be an office. There were only simple metal tables and chairs. There were no decorations.
The middle-aged man walked to the desk and sat down. He pointed to the chair beside him. "Sit."
"Dad!" Finally, Lan Jue spoke, his voice hoarse.
Hearing his call, the middle-aged man narrowed his eyes. "So you still recognize me as your dad. I thought you wouldn't come back for the rest of your life.
(To be continued …)