Chapter 557: The big shot forces his way aboard, completely ignoring martial ethics!

Move aside! Move aside! The Black Gold Chamber of Commerce's cargo has arrived!

All that could be seen was a group of guards in regulation armor roughly pushing the crowd aside.

A black, coffin-shaped spaceship slowly descended.

The spaceship hatch opened, and no cargo was unloaded.

Instead, a group of tattered, expressionless humanoid creatures emerged.

Each wore a collar that flashed with dangerous red light, constantly suppressing the energy within their bodies.

"They are cosmic-level wanderers."

Qin Hao saw through their backgrounds at a glance: "They were originally the overlords of some universe, survivors who fled after its destruction."

In their homeland, they were gods, they were Overlords.

Here, they are slaves.

"This batch of goods is high quality—whether used as miners or as experimental consumables, they are extremely durable!"

The auctioneer stood on the platform, spewing spit as he spoke.

Qin Hao watched coldly from the sidelines.

He neither acted nor grew angry.

He was merely taking note.

He noted down the rules and the distribution of power here.

Weakness is the original sin.

This is the only truth here.

"Boss, how much for this?"

Qin Hao suddenly stopped before an inconspicuous stall, pointing at a pile of dark stones and asking.

The stall owner, a one-eyed giant, glanced at Qin Hao and said: "That's void waste; it has no energy—why do you want it?"

"I have a use for it." Qin Hao casually tossed a scrap of universal currency he'd scavenged from the salvagers.

The one-eyed giant blinked—this waste is normally used for paving roads, yet someone actually wants to buy it?

"Take it, take it, it's all yours."

Qin Hao gathered up the pile of waste and turned to leave.

"Dad, what do you want that pile of junk for?"

Qin Wu was puzzled.

"Those are fragments of a boundary stone."

Qin Hao sent a mental transmission, and finally a merchant's cunning appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Although its energy is exhausted, this is top-grade material for constructing a spatial labyrinth. These fools only recognize energy, not structural rules."

"Furthermore..."

Qin Hao glanced back at the bustling market.

"I've already had Lao Si record the coordinates here. Once we've grown stronger, I don't mind coming back to turn this slaughterhouse into our cafeteria."

Leaving the noisy D-4 docking berth behind, the massive, bloated form of the Yan-Huang Universe moved like an overfed old turtle, slowly drifting toward the abandoned outskirts of the market.

According to the system's navigation, there is a vast graveyard there.

It is a place where, over countless ages, the husks of universes drained of value have piled up.

To those lofty bigwigs, it is a trash heap.

But for Qin Hao, who possesses the system, it is a grand feast.

"Ahead lies the Chaotic Turbulence Zone, where the strength of the rules is extremely unstable."

Qin Si's alarm sounded in the consciousness net: "It is recommended to activate the secondary shield."

"Don't activate it."

Qin Hao immediately vetoed it: "We're a penniless junk ship—what secondary shield? That's for the rich. We'll just rely on that ragged hull, harden it, and repair it if it breaks."

He knew well that in this dark forest, pretending to be poor is sometimes safer than pretending to be strong.

The Yan-Huang Universe plunged headfirst into that hazy, chaotic band.

Around them, the void was no longer pure black but took on a sickly grayish-white hue.

Countless shattered celestial bodies and broken chains of law, like a pot of overcooked porridge, drifted to and fro in the void.

Occasionally, a massive lightning bolt tore through the chaos—the last struggle of residual rule-power.

"This place—even ghosts don't come here."

Qin Wu gazed at the outside scenery and muttered.

"That's why it's safe." Qin Hao sat upon the core throne, preparing to give the order to begin feeding.

Suddenly.

【Alert! Detected ultra-high energy reaction!】

The system's red light burst open without warning.

【Energy level assessment: cannot be parsed!】

【Target distance: 0】

Qin Hao's scalp exploded.

Distance zero?

That means it's right in our face!

"Where?"

Qin Hao shot to his feet, his gaze projecting into the void outside.

He froze.

Even though Qin Hao was used to big scenes, his pupils contracted involuntarily.

Directly ahead of the Yanhuang Universe, amidst the chaotic turbulence capable of tearing apart the universe, there was a person.

Indeed, it was a person.

It was neither a rule projection tens of thousands of light-years high nor an indescribable monster with tentacles.

It was just an ordinary old man, looking even somewhat stooped.

He wore a gray Dao robe, his hair casually tied into a Dao bun,

and in his hand he led a……green ox?

That green ox also had a lazy appearance, its four hooves stepping steadily on the violent chaotic turbulence as if walking on his own backyard lawn.

One person, one ox.

Thus they strolled leisurely in the void that had swallowed countless universes.

Behind them, the originally violent chaos storm automatically opened a smooth broad road,

as if even the heavenly rules were making way for this old man.

"Who is this? Old man!"

Qin Wu's hand gripping the spear trembled.

Not from fear, but from an instinctive shudder.

"Don't move! Nobody is allowed to move!"

Qin Hao shouted sternly.

His intuition told him that even if it were the peak era of the Yanhuang Universe, daring to show hostility toward this old man would turn him to ash in the next second.

The old man seemed to sense something.

He stopped walking and slightly tilted his head.

His cloudy gaze pierced through the void, penetrated Qin Hao's proud disguise layer, penetrated the layered space labyrinth, and landed directly on Qin Hao inside the core cabin.

At that moment, Qin Hao felt as if he had been stripped naked and thrown under a spotlight.

All his disguises became a joke before those eyes.

The old man smiled.

He extended a withered hand and lightly pointed toward the direction of the Yanhuang Universe.

Buzz—

The Yanhuang Universe, which had been operating at high speed, suddenly came to a halt.

It was not an engine shutdown, but time in this region had been paused.

Except for Qin Hao.

A gentle voice, yet carrying an ancient, weathered resonance, rang directly deep in Qin Hao's mind.

"Interesting."

"Clearly a patched-together wreck made of corpses, yet it hides a newly formed Golden Core?"

"Golden Core?"

Qin Hao's heart skipped a beat.

"What term is this? Isn't this from xianxia novels?"

"How could it appear in this universe sea of high technology and Cthulhu chaos?"

"Before Qin Hao could figure it out, the old man's voice sounded again."

"Little friend, since we have met, it is fate."

"Old Daoist, I'm weary from my travels; may I trouble you for a cup of tea on your ship?"

Qin Hao took a deep breath.

"Refusing? What a joke."

"The opponent can directly freeze time; does he still need to knock to come in?"

"This is the courtesy of a big shot; you have to accommodate."

"Since senior does not disdain my humble abode, it is my honor."

Qin Hao immediately switched to a respectful tone.