Chapter 101: Dung Beetle

"It's Zhan Shen crystal stone, a type of crystal unique to Zhan Shen Continent," Qi Qi Xinyue replied.

Zhan Shen crystal stone? Ding Huan frowned. If he wanted to use this ship to leave Earth, where would he get Zhan Shen crystal stones?

"There's a reserve of these crystals on the Find God, and quite a lot of them," Qi Qi Xinyue hurriedly said.

Ding Huan was overjoyed. "Quickly open the hatch—I want to see."

Qi Qi Xinyue shook her head. "I can open the hatch, but I can't take out the crystals. My clearance level on the Find God is the lowest."

As she spoke, Qi Qi Xinyue leapt lightly as a swallow and pressed her hand against the hatch.

A flash of light appeared on the hatch, then it opened automatically.

Qi Qi Xinyue stepped inside.

Ding Huan and Zhong Chi also leapt in, landing within the cabin.

The interior was fairly spacious, with a ceiling over two meters high; Ding Huan stood inside without feeling any sense of oppression.

Zhong Chi had been here once and found nothing worth seeing. Qi Qi Xinyue had lived here for months and found nothing unusual.

Ding Huan had already scanned the layout with his divine sense.

"Big Brother Ding, this is where the Zhan Shen crystal stones are stored, but there's a destruction program inside."

"If you force it open, the Zhan Shen crystal stones' energy will be completely drained, and the Find God might even explode."

Qi Qi Xinyue warned Ding Huan—he was the one she most feared would smash open the energy cabin.

Ding Huan's divine sense seeped into the energy cabin. Though locked by program, it could still be activated from within.

Like a door locked from the outside.

But since the energy cabin was sealed, no one could enter, let alone activate it from inside.

Ding Huan never intended to activate it from within—he had already scanned and knew there were no Zhan Shen crystal stones inside.

"You're sure there are many Zhan Shen crystal stones in here?" Ding Huan asked Qi Qi Xinyue again, puzzled.

Qi Qi Xinyue nodded. "I'm certain."

Ding Huan shook his head. "There isn't a single Zhan Shen crystal stone inside. Though I don't know what they look like, since they're energy sources, they must emit energy fluctuations… hmm…"

Ding Huan suddenly fell silent—he sensed an energy fluctuation, somewhere else.

Not inside the locked energy cabin, but in one corner of the living quarters.

Ding Huan went straight there and slashed down with two wind blades.

He wanted to cut open the floor, but it was extremely tough—his slash left only a white mark.

Ding Huan pulled out the Star Sky Blade, gathered his true energy, and slashed down with one blow.

Even the Find God's floor cracked open under Ding Huan's strike.

Ding Huan slashed a few more times, tore open a gap, and pulled out a wooden box.

Inside the box lay five translucent, glistening stones.

"These are Zhan Shen crystal stones, right?" Ding Huan asked.

"Yes, these are Zhan Shen crystal stones. How did you know they were here?" Qi Qi Xinyue asked in astonishment.

Ding Huan took one and placed it in his palm. A torrent of heavenly qi—far denser than that of Qi stones—flooded toward him. He felt that if he wished, he could instantly ascend to Level Six Gene Cultivator.

"I sensed it. I can swear to you, there are no other Zhan Shen crystal stones in the energy cabin," Ding Huan said.

"How is that possible? There were ten thousand Zhan Shen crystal stones stored here as backup power—the Find God's energy crystals were gathered over many years," Qi Qi Xinyue immediately replied.

Then she realized Ding Huan wasn't lying to her.

Ding Huan could sense Zhan Shen crystal stones—he said there weren't any, so there weren't any.

"This stuff seems to contain more heavenly qi than Qi stones," Zhong Chi said, though he hadn't touched the crystals—he could still feel it.

Ding Huan had no intention of giving the Zhan Shen crystal stones to Zhong Chi; Zhong Chi was in the Innate realm, and even if he received them, his power wouldn't improve much.

But he himself needed them—he had to cultivate to Level Nine Gene Cultivator as soon as possible, ideally achieve Gene Foundation Establishment here.

He put the five Zhan Shen crystal stones into his bag, then suddenly asked, "Miss Qi, how many people were originally on the Find God?"

"Including me, five: the captain and first mate, the Find God Guardian, the Find God Life Steward, and me as the Find God Crewmember," Qi Qi Xinyue said.

Ding Huan turned to Zhong Chi. "Miss Qi says there were originally five people on the ship. How many did you encounter?"

"That doesn't add up…" Zhong Chi suddenly spoke up.

Ding Huan asked, "What doesn't?"

Zhong Chi explained, "There were only four people on the ship. We killed three and captured one. Where's the fifth?"

"Besides Miss Qi, describe the other three you killed," Ding Huan said.

After the ship was seized, Zhong Chi, as China's strongest, had naturally been invited here.

His memory was vivid: "A bearded man—he claimed to be the captain. He was very powerful. He was killed on the spot by Old Qu from the Martial Alliance."

"A woman, very beautiful, but no strength. She looked like she wanted to resist—she was shot dead by a Federation officer."

"The third was a tall guy, the strongest among them. I teamed up with Shi Chang to take him down. I got injured before capturing him—he was later executed by the Federation Military Court."

Ding Huan relayed Zhong Chi's account to Qi Qi Xinyue, who frowned. "You're missing one person. His name is Hei Chong Qiu."

"Hei Chong Qiu?" Ding Huan looked at Qi Qi Xinyue, puzzled. A name like that?

Qi Qi Xinyue nodded firmly. "Yes. Officially, his rank was slightly higher than mine. But in reality, he was the lowest-status person on the Find God."

"He was the Life Steward—he cooked for us. And every time, he could only eat the leftovers. He was the most humble person on the Find God."

"Everyone except me bullied him. He had no real name—the captain thought he was dark and greasy, like a dung beetle, so he just called him Hei Chong Qiu."

"He had a good nature. Whenever someone called him Hei Chong Qiu, he'd just laugh happily, as if he liked it. He always addressed everyone as 'Big Brother' or 'Big Sister.'"

Ding Huan nodded—he could understand. Qi Qi Xinyue had a mission: to find the Divine Clan's habitat.

Hei Chong Qiu just cooked. He had no real ability, so everyone looked down on him, living in utter humility.

Hei Chong Qiu? Actually, he was just a dung beetle.

"Does he also have concealment and teleportation abilities?" Ding Huan asked again.

Qi Qi Xinyue shook her head. "I don't know that."

Ding Huan said, "I have a question I can't understand: even if you knew Earth's distress signal, why come straight here? Didn't you take any precautions at all?"

This was the most confusing issue for Ding Huan. Logically, a spacecraft searching for life-bearing planets in the universe shouldn't be this reckless.

Qi Qi Xinyue also furrowed her brow. Where the spacecraft was headed was none of her business, but the fact that it had come directly to Earth and been shot down did strike her as odd.

She hadn't thought about it before, but now that Ding Huan mentioned it, she gradually realized something was wrong.

"Describe what happened at the time," Ding Huan said.

Qi Qi Xinyue thought for a moment and said, "The Black Bug Ball…"

"Call it Shit Beetle. 'Black Bug Ball' is too awkward," Ding Huan waved his hand. He felt the problem likely lay with Shit Beetle.

Qi Qi Xinyue paid no mind and continued, "Shit Beetle, though a household manager, was responsible for receiving some unusual signals."

"That day, he suddenly said he found the distress signal and immediately reported it to Captain Wu of the Xunshen."

As Qi Qi Xinyue spoke, she sensed something was off—she thought she'd heard Captain Wu say they should change course and leave.

She hadn't heard clearly, and had never paid attention to it.

Until the spacecraft was forced to land after being attacked by Earth's weapons, she had always assumed Captain Wu meant to change course for support.

Now that she was safe and had time to think, she realized it was impossible: how could Captain Wu possibly support a random distress signal?

The problem was, if Captain Wu wouldn't support it, how did the Xunshen end up on Earth?

Ding Huan didn't interrupt Qi Qi Xinyue's thoughts. Once she had sorted it all out, she told Ding Huan everything without hiding anything.

Ding Huan fell silent for a long while before saying, "If I'm not mistaken, that Shit Beetle is deeply suspicious. He not only excels in concealment, but also in modifying spacecraft programs."

"He likely altered the ship's navigation and piloting systems, causing the Xunshen—which should have left—to do the exact opposite, and end up on Earth, where it was shot down."

"This…" Qi Qi Xinyue found it hard to believe.

Shit Beetle was simply too inconspicuous—not only short, but always indecisive, needing to ask others for opinions on everything.

Since she met him, he had always bowed his back while speaking to everyone.

As for his cultivation, he had none at all—he was merely someone brought along to serve others.

"If this is true, then the one who escaped is Shit Beetle. From the moment he received Earth's signal, he began his plan."

"The Zhan Shen crystals in the energy chamber were probably taken by him too. What a schemer—he eliminated all four of you and stole ten thousand crystals…"

As Ding Huan spoke, he seemed to recall something and immediately returned to the spot he had torn open with the Starry Knife, his spiritual sense seeping in to examine it closely.

After a long while, he sighed. "This guy is truly talented. These five crystals were planted by him too—they control the modifications he made to the Xunshen's programs."

"It seems he's been planning this all along. What a cunning bastard."

After saying that, Ding Huan walked to the cockpit, took out the Starry Sky Blade, and slashed down directly.

The cockpit was reduced to rubble within moments by Ding Huan's blows; every component inside—crystal chips, circuits, and all—was destroyed.

"Young Brother Ding, what are you doing?" Zhong Chi asked, puzzled.

Ding Huan said, "We can't repair this ship. Even if we could, I don't have Zhan Shen crystals to power it."

"I'm certain Shit Beetle can fix it—he'll definitely come back. So I'll destroy it first."

(Today's update ends here, friends! Goodnight! Please support with monthly votes!)