Chapter 316: Kyber Crystal

"Mental Tempering Device..." Li Yu muttered this term. He had already hung up the communication and ended his exchange with Husband.

They reached a verbal agreement. Once the Reformers investigated the issue of Li Yu's identity clearly, Li Yu would release Cree and Keri.

However, regarding the Gene Optimization Device, both sides tacitly did not mention it.

And regarding the question Li Yu raised about the Salvitane battle, Husband didn't spend too much time.

Or rather, the Reformers were originally very clear about this matter; Husband merely retrieved the data.

One party to the battle was the Sleeper, from the Star Glory Empire, which Li Yu already knew.

And the other party was from the Meditation Research Institute. This was a research institute that primarily focused on mental power, having published many scientific research articles on mental power in authoritative journals.

They believed that the physical body would eventually decay, and only the spirit could last forever.

And the reason the battle erupted was because of a certain thing from the Amethyst Civilization—the Mental Tempering Device.

However, such a method was tightly held in the hands of the Star Glory Empire, just like the Gene Optimization Device. Under normal circumstances, it was almost impossible for outsiders to obtain.

Therefore, there was a saying circulating among the stars that the Star Glory Empire was a flower of evil grown from a Titan corpse.

And taking advantage of the Amethyst Civilization's schism incident, Meditation also targeted its own objective.

But unlike the Reformers, they did not succeed and were intercepted halfway by people from the Star Glory Empire.

After experiencing several battles, the Sleeper ultimately snatched back the Mental Tempering Device.

Only then did Li Yu understand that the compressed space ring wasn't a countermeasure made by the Star Glory Empire against enemies.

Instead, it was a countermeasure made by the Meditation Research Institute against the Star Glory Empire.

If he wanted to obtain the encryption key, he shouldn't start with the Star Glory Empire, but should think of a way from the Meditation Research Institute.

"Interesting..." Li Yu pondered. The Amethyst Civilization truly gave off the feeling that "when a whale falls, all things grow."

After all, it was a civilization personally supported by the Star Glory Empire; there were truly quite a lot of valuable things.

The contact with the Reformers was merely a minor interlude. He was still waiting and wondering exactly how the Barot Civilization would handle him.

They should be very overwhelmed right now... Li Yu pondered.

Amidst such thoughts, another six days passed...

In another standalone villa, Das and Soli sat facing each other. Das put away his Smart Terminal; he had just ended a conversation with a certain high-ranking general of Returning Star.

"The higher-ups are urging us to resolve this matter as soon as possible..." Das frowned.

"Resolve it as soon as possible? Sixteen days have already passed, and the Barot Civilization is still being so ambiguous," Soli was somewhat indignant: "And that Li Yu, he really knows how to stir up trouble."

"We came here shouldering a mission, and merely because of him alone, we've been delayed for sixteen days."

Das also sighed: "The hearts of the Barot people are wavering. The events that occurred in Amethyst gave them a sense of crisis."

"An opponent of the same level, completely gone just like that. They are not satisfied with Returning Star's sole protection and are attempting to play both sides."

"Hehe..." Soli sneered twice: "In interstellar history, how many civilizations that attempted to play both sides ended up dying extremely miserable deaths."

Das rubbed his brows and said decisively: "We can't let this continue. Notify Li Yu and tell him to come out himself."

Bringing up Li Yu made Soli angry all over:

"That bastard simply won't accept our communication requests, and the people we sent were also directly blasted back by him. He seems to be intentionally stalling for time."

"Stalling for time? What benefit does he get from continuing to stall?" Das was somewhat confused.

"Who knows..." Soli was muttering curses. Since Li Yu wasn't here, he appeared somewhat unbridled.

Das glanced at Soli, turned on the surrounding anti-eavesdropping equipment, then turned on a network jammer, and said in a low voice:

"Just now, His Highness Titus notified us that the Heart of the Titan is on its way, telling us to go receive it as soon as possible."

Soli's expression slightly paused, and he also said in a low voice: "But right now Li Yu's issue hasn't been resolved. If we leave rashly, it will easily attract the attention of those with ulterior motives."

"That's exactly where the trouble lies," Das sighed again.

They had missions. Not only did they have overt missions, but they also had hidden missions, and didn't have time to waste here.

Soli thought for a moment, gritted his teeth and said: "Let's go find Li Yu together. We can't let him keep wasting time like this."

Das's face changed several times, and he could only nod, completely different from his impassioned speech in the banquet hall back then.

In reality, the two of them didn't want to converse too much with Li Yu, because that person didn't talk reason, he only talked with his fists.

The matter of the Gene Optimization Device was still vividly remembered. Those two Reformers were forcefully turned into old acquaintances by his fiddling.

If Titus hadn't been busy with the matter of the Heart of the Titan recently, how could he have easily let Li Yu off.

The Gene Optimization Device was also a good thing, ah.

Removing the anti-eavesdropping equipment and turning off the network jammer, the two prepared to set off. They had made preparations to use soft tactics and pester him; they absolutely had to finish handling this matter!

And right at the moment the network jammer was turned off, this conversation was also simultaneously transmitted to Claptrap.

"Heart of the Titan... exactly what is this thing?" Li Yu pondered. He had heard this term last time, but didn't pay too much attention to it.

Now he heard it again, and Titus also paid quite a bit of attention to it.

Peyton should know. Thinking of this, Li Yu didn't hesitate anymore and directly contacted this great noble.

"What's the matter?" Peyton's poker face appeared, getting straight to the point right from the start.

He was wearing a researcher's coat, seemingly tinkering with something.

"What is the Heart of the Titan?" Li Yu inquired.

"Heart of the Titan?" Peyton rarely frowned. He didn't answer immediately, but asked instead: "From where did you learn about this thing?"

"What's wrong? Is this thing very formidable?" Li Yu instantly became interested: "Could it really be the heart of a Titan?"

"That's not the case; this is merely a translation issue in the interstellar common language." Peyton shook his head and explained: "The Heart of the Titan is actually a special crystal born from the fallen corpse of a Titan after a long period of weathering."

"This kind of crystal possesses many inconceivable effects. It can keep Gene Chains in an active state at all times, continuously increasing their development level."

"It can also enhance mental power, and can even be crudely used as an energy core."

"Then that is indeed a good thing..." Li Yu nodded thoughtfully, and then seemed to suddenly think of something: "Why does it sound somewhat familiar? Isn't this just a high-end version of the Amethyst Core?"

The Amethyst technology that the Amethyst Civilization relied on to rise to power was the crystal produced by the heart after the death of a certain biological creature following a long period of weathering.

"It's precisely because the value of this kind of thing is too great that the Star Glory Empire has annihilated other civilizations more than once because of the Heart of the Titan," Peyton added.

"Annihilated civilizations... because of the Heart of the Titan?" Li Yu narrowed his eyes. It was as if a bolt of lightning flashed through his mind, instantly linking all the matters together.

The Heart of the Titan came from the Amethyst Civilization, which also meant that the Amethyst Civilization didn't hand it over to the Star Glory Empire, or rather, secretly concealed it.

Such a thought was also very easy to understand. The Heart of the Titan was exactly a high-end version of the Amethyst Core.

The Amethyst Civilization wanted to continue researching to make their own civilization even stronger, but in all probability, because the news of this item leaked, it aroused the Star Glory Empire's fury.

And the Star Glory Empire couldn't overtly make a move against its number one lackey.

It could only let Prince Saster stir up a schism war, acquiring the Heart of the Titan while simultaneously beating the Amethyst Civilization as a warning.

And interspersed within this were the gambits and clashes of many factions. For such a massive civilization, falling apart wasn't a matter of a single day and night.

The Star Glory Empire believed that the Amethyst Civilization was right by its side, and no matter what happened, it had the ability to suppress it in a timely manner.

However, it didn't expect that the most crucial thing, the Heart of the Titan, would actually fall into Titus's hands.

Hanging up the communication, Li Yu pondered secretly. There were many paths laid out before him: the Gene Optimization Device, the Mental Tempering Device, and the Heart of the Titan.

The Gene Optimization Device was inside the Amethyst Civilization; the Mental Tempering Device required making a move from the Meditation Research Institute; and this Heart of the Titan was actually the closest.

Snatching food from Titus's hands, just thinking about it was quite exciting.

Pondering for a moment, Li Yu opened the system. The Second Clone hadn't been doing well in the Star Wars World these past few days.

Due to the influence of the 【Butterfly Effect】, he was entangled in a massive amount of troublesome matters, and was now already on the Empire's wanted list.

Perhaps intentionally, Number Two went to the place where Star Wars began, the Tatooine Planet, perhaps to look for the protagonist in order to deal with the endless stream of troubles.

And therefore brought back a decent reward.

【Acquired Special Item—Kyber Crystal: This magical crystal has many uses, the most common being used to activate lightsabers.】

This thing was a lightsaber generator. Through the Kyber Crystal, a lightsaber could be activated, which was considered a decent weapon.

However, Li Yu already had enough weapons. He pondered for a moment, and ultimately still handed this thing over to the 【Titan Colonization Armor】.

The Titan Colonization Armor quickly finished devouring it. Through the ability brought by the Kyber Crystal, Li Yu could infuse his own Force into the 【Titan Colonization Armor】, thereby enhancing its power.

At the same time, it would also turn the 【Titan Colonization Armor】 into a chaos color, with its defensive and offensive power rising significantly.

This should be Li Yu's Force color. The Force color could reflect a person's personality from the side.

However, as to what this chaos color represented, Li Yu was still somewhat confused.

【Acquired Special Ability—Force Tide: Enhances Force Might—+20%】

This kind of talent could enhance the power of the Force, appearing even more simple and crude, very much in line with Li Yu's desires.

Thanks for your hard work, Number Two!

Although you were somewhat drifting and homeless, all this was worth it!

Not long after, Soli and Das arrived here.

Just as they knocked open the door, before Das could speak, Li Yu said with a heavy tone: "We can't delay any longer, I want to leave here!"

"We still have a mission, we didn't come here for tourism!"

Ah? Das and Soli were completely dumbfounded. The rhetoric they had originally prepared was also stuck in their throats.

Weren't you the one who kept stalling? Clearly this matter would be over as soon as you stepped out of here.

In the end, you refused to see anyone and ignored everyone, so how come now you instead look like you harbor deep-seated hatred?

And why do your words sound so familiar, like someone just said them recently?

"We came here this time exactly to take you away from here." Das's reaction was considered quick, directly changing his own rhetoric.

"Rest assured, Returning Star will forever be your backing."

Li Yu nodded, holding his head high and puffing his chest out as he walked out of the room.

Although the smooth development of the situation made the two of them somewhat disbelieving, Li Yu not pestering them endlessly still made them breathe a sigh of relief.

Right as Li Yu walked out of the hotel, the members who had been monitoring the perimeter quickly reported upwards. Upon receiving this news, Nick hurriedly sought out President Massimo.

"This guy... is finally willing to come out..." Massimo gritted his teeth. During these ten-plus days, he had been overwhelmed with work.

Returning Star told him to handle it properly, and the Empire needed an explanation; it was truly troublesome.

"Tell the people from the Star Glory Empire that Li Yu forcefully broke through the blockade, and we were powerless to stop him," Massimo subsequently instructed.

Nick nodded and hurriedly left again.

Before long, Donovan's group received the news. Seeing this clearly perfunctory announcement, Jorge's face flushed red with anger:

"Does the Barot Civilization think we are idiots? That guy was in a hotel with virtually no one guarding him, forcefully broke through the blockade? That's simply bullshit!"

"What else?" Gongora's reaction was rather plain: "Did you still expect them to really do something to Li Yu?"

"Barot harbors delusions of playing both sides, little do they know this is exactly the path to destruction."

Donovan merely snorted coldly at this and didn't pay it any mind. Although Barot couldn't compare to Returning Star, it was still considered a large-scale civilization with a territory covering hundreds of star systems.

Under circumstances without launching a large-scale war, it was very difficult for it to be annihilated.

Internal schisms like the Amethyst Civilization were extremely rare, requiring various conditions to converge together for it to possibly happen.

Even if the Barot Civilization played both sides, under the general trend of peace in interstellar society, it wasn't considered walking a tightrope; it could only be said they narrowed their own path.

"Pay close attention to his whereabouts." He subsequently instructed.

………

Salvitane Star System—Inside a certain hotel, Leszek turned off his Smart Terminal. His arm had been chopped off, and it was currently placed inside external life-support equipment to be nourished.

For an A-Tier Lifeform, an injury like a severed arm couldn't be considered severe; the more formidable ones could repair it immediately.

Even for lifeforms that hadn't fused with self-repairing Gene Chains, they could also completely repair it within a few days, only needing to replenish nutrients.

External life-support equipment was extremely rarely used unless the physical body was truly too weak.

"The Sleeper is dead..." Leszek said in a deep voice, startling the attention of the others in the room.

"What... he's dead?" Someone's eyes widened, appearing exceptionally shocked.

"That's right..." Leszek's expression was calm: "From making the move to the kill, the time spent was less than thirty seconds."

The sorrow of Mental Power Cultivators: under circumstances where their physical body's strength couldn't keep up, it was extremely easy for them to be instantly killed by a sneak attack.

Sounds of gasping cold air continuously transmitted from the room. They had entangled with the Sleeper for a long time, and were even defeated by his hands, naturally knowing how troublesome he was.

"Who killed him?" Someone couldn't help but inquire.

"Li Yu. Our mission objective should also be on him." Leszek's eyes became deep.

(End of this chapter)