Chapter 333: [Millennium Falcon] and [Peeking into the Future]

In the Ancient Starpath, on a certain shattered meteorite belt, a large number of soldiers surrounded it to form a defensive perimeter. At the same time, Air Bubbles and temporary Gravity devices were deployed.

Dass turned off the signal enhancement device, his expression looking somewhat strange.

"Where has the backup reached? Did something go wrong?" Soli leaned over and asked somewhat nervously.

"Backup is almost here; nothing went wrong." Dass shook his head, which made Soli breathe a sigh of relief.

His greatest fear was that something inexplicable would happen to the backup, leaving the two of them isolated.

Subsequently, he asked again: "Since it's not a problem with the backup, why do you have such a bitter expression?"

Dass gave him a Speechless glance and explained: "I received news that Li Yu didn't take the Iron Fist Squad back to report on his duties. Instead, he appeared in the Tabli Galaxy and caused a huge ruckus there."

"He helped the Reformer Squad escape the Tabli Galaxy with the Gene Optimization Device."

"???" Soli's expression also became indescribable, and then he said in confusion: "Helping the Reformers escape? Is he crazy?"

"But if Li Yu's Identity is exposed, then it would be completely different. More than half the attention of the entire Amethyst Civilization would be focused on him."

Soli narrowed his eyes slightly, and the image of that young man with a bright smile seemed to surface before his eyes. "Now he is hiding behind the scenes, sitting calmly on the fishing platform. I can now say with certainty that he definitely obtained the Gene Optimization Device."

After hearing Dass's explanation, Soli also suddenly understood, and then coldly snorted: "Truly cunning."

Dass chuckled meaningfully twice. In his eyes, 'cunning' was never a derogatory term.

Soli believed that Li Yu looked down on him, so he was very upset with Li Yu. Dass didn't delve deeper into this topic, but changed the subject:

"However, after the Iron Fist Squad and Li Yu left the Tabli Galaxy, their whereabouts were lost. Headquarters has sent multiple inquiries but gained nothing."

"Lost their whereabouts, so be it. Anyway, we aren't the ones who will be blamed afterwards." Soli said nonchalantly: "It's impossible for him to appear in the Ancient Starpath to snatch the Heart of the Titan, right?"

"Haha..." Dass couldn't help laughing: "Although his individual Strength is not bad, the factions involved with the Heart of the Titan have far exceeded our initial expectations."

"Even if he came here, it wouldn't have much effect. What's more, he fundamentally doesn't have any intelligence channels to learn about the Heart of the Titan. How could he possibly come to the Ancient Starpath?"

"He might currently be researching the Gene Optimization Device in an obscure spot."

Soli sneered: "Even Field-Grade Armor has strict multi-layered Encryption Key verification to avoid falling into enemy hands and becoming their combat power."

"How could cutting-edge Technology like the Gene Optimization Device not have multi-layered Encryption Keys? That thing in his hands is just a brick."

"None of this concerns us. Even if the Gene Optimization Device is truly in his hands, he won't be able to keep it in the end." Dass pulled the topic back again: "Continuing to track the Heart of the Titan is our mission now."

Soli nodded, then ordered his subordinates to pack up and leave this meteorite belt.

.........

On the other side, the Scavenger Ship had just left Lant Hub. The pilot was Anthony. Carol was only given the role of pointing the way, to prevent this reckless brute from impulsively leading everyone into some dangerous Galactic Forbidden Zone.

The Ancient Starpath didn't look any different from an ordinary Star Sector. It just seemed to have more meteorite belts and more withered planets.

Only the clearly chaotic magnetic fields displayed on the driving screen proved that they had already arrived in the Ancient Starpath.

In the cockpit, a precise Instrument was placed. Its surroundings were dilapidated, and its style was completely out of place. It was entirely rectangular.

A black-purple stone was suspended in a transparent glass cover in the center. This was a specialty of the Ancient Starpath, also known as the Guide Stone.

It had extraordinary radio wave reactions to various large-scale Cosmic Calamities. Through the Instrument's methods, it could detect various Cosmic Calamities from super far distances.

However, it wasn't omnipotent either. There were some Cosmic Calamities in the Ancient Starpath that it couldn't foresee.

When navigating in the Ancient Starpath, experience played a huge role.

Listening to the conversation transmitted from Soli and Dass's Smart Terminals by Claptrap, Li Yu couldn't hold back his amusement and shook his head.

He hoped the two could still maintain this optimistic attitude when they learned the truth.

"There are no Cosmic Calamity disruptions nearby. We can enter the Warp Lane..." Although Anthony was a Snakehead in Lant Hub, he didn't need to frequently travel to the Ancient Starpath.

However, having stayed at the Ancient Starpath Navigation Point for so many years, he wasn't useless either. Piloting a spaceship through the Ancient Starpath wasn't a problem for him.

However, less than half an hour after navigating in the Warp Lane, the Ancient Star Path Compass let out an ear-piercing alarm—

"Cosmic Calamity detected, please exit Jump State as soon as possible..."

"Cosmic Calamity detected, please exit Jump State as soon as possible..."

Anthony's expression changed. He hurriedly operated the Scavenger Ship to break out of the Jump State. Through the porthole, they could clearly see a large expanse of rolling red mist in the distance.

Piercing red light flickered within it, as if some terrifying creature was surging over overwhelmingly, devouring large swathes of the meteorite belt, and even a few small planets.

Although it looked like it wasn't far from them, in reality, the distances in the Universe couldn't be observed with the naked eye.

"Flare Blast—high-temperature gaseous nebula. The core temperature can reach up to 30 million degrees, comparable to some stellar cores."

Anthony thoughtfully explained. Li Yu nodded to show he understood. This was one of the common Cosmic Calamities in the Ancient Starpath.

The danger level of common Cosmic Calamities wasn't high. As long as one didn't suicidally charge into the Core Region, repeatedly jumping around the edge area would be fine.

Carefully bypassing this region, they entered Jump State again in a safe zone.

And this time, they didn't stay in Jump State for too long before encountering a Cosmic Calamity again.

This was an extremely normal occurrence when navigating the Ancient Starpath. Such a cycle repeated constantly over the next few days.

About eight days later, inside the Scavenger Ship, Li Yu was flipping through the System Log. The other two clones doing missions still hadn't shown any reaction up to now, as if they were dead.

No, if the clones died, they would be recovered. He didn't know what exactly they were doing right now.

"F*ck, they're not enjoying themselves, are they... When will there be a main body deployment function, so I can go over and act tyrannically too?" Li Yu muttered while scanning the Second Clone's System Log.

Then he raised his eyebrows slightly; evidently, he saw a good reward.

[Obtained Special Item — Millennium Falcon: Fast as a falcon, durable for a millennium. As a legendary spaceship, it seems to possess some magical traits.

The spaceship uses the Force as its energy source and similarly achieves eternal existence within the Force.]

The magical Millennium Falcon. Just how magical this spaceship was, Li Yu didn't know yet. But as an item produced by the System, it had one important trait: it could be stored in the System.

[Obtained Force Trait — Peeking into the Future: The Force can peek into one of the infinite future possibilities.

However, this trait is uncontrollable.]

[Detected Special Talent 【Navigator】. Do you wish to merge the two to obtain a new Talent?

Note: After merging, both will disappear.]

Looking at this unprecedented new prompt, Li Yu rubbed his chin.

Could it be that because both involve the mysterious and unpredictable rules of time and space, they can be merged?

Navigator was still quite useful to use, but... who could refuse the gamble of merging? He didn't believe merging these two things could result in trash.

Li Yu immediately confirmed. Subsequently, earth-shaking changes seemed to occur in his mind. Mental power surged, but the crowd didn't notice anything.

Only Soul-Shaking Heaven sensed something was wrong and looked at Li Yu in confusion.

[Obtained Special Talent — Future Navigation: Using the Force as fuel, you can briefly view a target's future.

Note: The future is constantly changing and cannot be determined.]

Tsk tsk, fortunately, these past few days hadn't been wasted. Seeing these rewards, he was in a great mood. Even the way he looked at Anthony softened considerably.

He pondered whether to find a person to test this new Talent on, but a suddenly blaring alarm interrupted his thought.

"Cosmic Calamity detected, please exit Jump State as soon as possible..."

"..."

The alarm sounded again. Stanley and the others were already accustomed to it; they had heard far too many alarms these past few days.

But this time was clearly different. When they emerged from the Jump State, what greeted them head-on was a thick Energy Cannon.

Fortunately, the Scavenger Ship's Energy Barrier had always been activated. They merely felt a slight shake.

"Enemy attack!" Anthony's expression changed slightly. He quickly scanned the nearby scene through the Scanner and projected it onto the screen.

However, the surroundings were completely pitch-black, or rather, purple-black. The entire spaceship was enveloped in purple-black mist.

The occasionally lighting flashes were Energy Cannons fired from an unknown location.

There were too many Cosmic Calamities, big and small, in the Ancient Starpath; one couldn't determine what Cosmic Calamity this was based solely on color.

Li Yu frowned. This was the first time they fell straight into a Cosmic Calamity immediately after breaking out of Jump State. This was too unlucky.

He focused his attention. The Ancient Starpath wasn't a place he could come and go freely.

If any real danger occurred and they fell into some major Cosmic Calamity, the possibility of dying on the spot was very high.

Carol frowned tightly. This Scavenger Ship was his life's blood; every time it took a hit, it was like stabbing his heart.

"There is a broadcast channel in this region, but the signal is very unstable," Anthony frowned.

"Hurry up and contact the other party to tell them to stop attacking," Carol urged.

"Bzz... Bzz..." Fuzzy static came from the channel. It was still because the spaceship emitting the broadcast channel shouldn't be too far away from them, otherwise they wouldn't even be able to search for a fuzzy signal.

"This is the Scavengers Union... This is the Scavengers Union..." Anthony used the name of the Scavengers Union, repeatedly attempting to communicate on the broadcast channel.

Carol glanced at him, muttering something unknown under his breath.

"...Scavengers Union? Carol?"

The signal finally stabilized somewhat, and the other party's voice came from the channel. It was a rather magnetic female voice.

Hearing this, Carol seemed to recognize who the other party was, and probed: "Elise?"

"It's her..." Anthony looked slightly surprised upon hearing Carol's words.

"Carol!" Elise's voice raised a pitch, seemingly very excited.

"Carol, only if we join forces now is there a possibility... bzz... to kill our way out!"

Carol glanced at that mechanical mask that was half-smiling and half-crying, and asked somewhat hesitantly: "Elise, what Cosmic Calamity is this?"

Elise didn't hide it and said directly: "It's a Starry Sky Whale."

"It's actually a Starry Sky Whale?" Carol's voice raised several degrees.

Starry Sky Whale, a cosmic creature born in the Ancient Starpath, and also a Cosmic Calamity of the Ancient Starpath.

Starry Sky Whales wandered the Ancient Starpath all year round, utilizing special organs inside their bodies to emit electromagnetic waves on a specific channel.

This was used to find other Starry Sky Whales. However, they couldn't perform Warp Travel, so they often had to fly alone for many years.

The body of a Starry Sky Whale was a very rare material. The whale core inside its body had a massive effect on Gene Chain development and could also greatly enhance biological vitality. It was one of the extremely valuable specialties in the Ancient Starpath.

However, even though it was the most common Cosmic Calamity in the Ancient Starpath, it wasn't something ordinary lifeforms could handle.

A Starry Sky Whale's Strength continuously increased as it aged. The size of an old Starry Sky Whale was comparable to an ordinary Life Planet, and the combat power it could unleash was also extremely terrifying.

"What age is this Starry Sky Whale?" Anthony questioned.

"This voice sounds a bit familiar..." Elise was quite confused. Anthony's voice was highly recognizable, and Elise remembered it the next moment:

"It's that old snake. Carol, don't you have a grudge against this snake? How did you guys get mixed up together?"

Carol's face darkened, and he said testily: "Stop caring about so much right now. What exactly is the situation with this Starry Sky Whale?"

"Judging from its size, it should be between youth and adulthood, not old age." Elise responded quickly, while she also had her own plan:

"We can simulate a Starry Sky Whale's electromagnetic fluctuations to lure it away, but one of our sides needs to sacrifice our spaceship as bait."

"This..." Both Carol and Anthony hesitated somewhat, then simultaneously looked at Li Yu. They weren't the decision-makers here right now.

"What are you hesitating for... bzz... bzz..."

Elise spoke rapidly: "Don't just stand there, it's out!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the purple-black mist around the Scavenger Ship began to boil, kicking up waves like a tsunami.

Boom!

The mist churned, and a bizarre creature emerged restlessly from the mist, directly crashing towards the Scavenger Ship.

"What... is this thing?" Olena's eyes widened.

The Starry Sky Whale in front of her had a bizarre appearance, with a slender blue-purple body thousands of kilometers long.

Its entire body lacked any carapace or hair. It was completely smooth, and its skin had a translucent texture.

An ethereal light glowed beneath its skin. It had no limbs, being narrow at the front and back and wide in the middle, spreading out on both sides like fins.

Its head had no facial features like a mouth, eyes, or nose, only two long tentacles that were equally crystal clear.

The Starry Sky Whale revolved around the Scavenger Ship like a fish swimming nimbly in water. Its tentacles swayed, and then under everyone's horrified gazes, it abruptly crashed over.

"F*ck... This is bad, it's crashing over!" Carol exclaimed.

Rumble!

A violent roar echoed inside the Scavenger Ship. The outer Energy Barrier shattered upon contact. The massive body of the Starry Sky Whale smashed into the mottled metal hull like a mountain.

The Scavenger Ship was as fragile as an ant in front of the Starry Sky Whale, unable to withstand a single blow. The outer hull directly shattered, and a massive amount of junk flew out in all directions.

Anthony's snake pupils shrank, and unprecedented terror assailed his heart. Death was right before his eyes!

In the purple mist, another spaceship floated silently.

Elise pressed both hands on the Command Console, her slender, beautiful long legs wantonly exposed. Her eyes were incredibly sharp as she stared intently at the command screen.

"...This is bad... it's crashing over!"

These few words came from the fuzzy broadcast channel, and then there was no further sound.

Elise's eyes flashed fiercely, and she made a prompt decision: "Start the Thrusters at full speed. Since someone is unlucky enough to become a target, then don't blame this lady for being ruthless."

"Carol, this lady will remember your life-saving grace!"

(End of this chapter)