Victory in the First Battle, Joyously Welcoming a Beloved Daughter

Compared to the remote Blue Valley star system, the Rogel star system was a frontier stronghold of the Empire’s second-tier ally, the nation of Vesi. It lay only ten light-years from Sea Hero Port, the starting point of the Pangu Corridor.

During the imperial era, Rogel had been a neglected yet heavily guarded military outpost, its economy barely sustained by constant imperial subsidies and backward agriculture.

Now, in the New Epoch, scores of adventurous newcomers from the Empire’s side came here for their final resupply before setting out to sea.

Rogel thus transformed into one of the staging ports for interstellar adventurers, its economy gradually thriving, especially the industry of spirit machinery modification.

That was one of the reasons Lu Chen chose Rogel as his first landing point.
The second was its vastness—many undeveloped wild planets might hold treasure targets.

Sure enough, as soon as he reached the outskirts, Lu Chen’s treasure map began flashing red dots.

Strangely, the red dots all clustered in the same region…

Lu Chen didn’t hesitate; he altered course and plunged into the depths of Rogel, heading straight for his target.

Soon, his ship’s main screen transmitted the Vesi immigration inspection.

The inspector was a virtual AI woman with mechanical rabbit ears—fitting, given local aesthetics.

“Welcome to Rogel star system, Vesi. Before landing on any planet, please upload your ship’s ID and state the purpose of your visit!”

Lu Chen promptly responded by video.

“Feondi Zhou-class modified ship, two crew members. I am Captain Lu Chen, Spirit Mechanic Grade Nine, from the neighboring independent kingdom in Blue Valley. We plan to proceed to Sea Hero Port and enter the Pangu Corridor after resupplying here.”

“Your information is registered. Welcome to Rogel. Enjoy your resupply!”

Lu Chen breathed easier.

For the sake of economic development, Rogel’s inspections were relaxed; they didn’t even check the ship’s license.

Inspection complete, the ship sped toward its destination.

An hour later.

The ship finally arrived.

It was a small black hole on the edge of the star system!

A black hole forming within a star system meant Rogel must once have been a binary system, and one star had collapsed into a black hole, creating the current situation.

The black hole was not large, endlessly devouring nearby asteroid belts, forming a massive, high-temperature accretion disk and a long, colorful drag band.

Though black holes were commonplace in the cosmos, seeing one up close still awed Lu Chen.

The black hole absorbed only some of the nearby matter; the rest was torn apart, scorched, and spun into a gigantic accretion disk, spewing hot gases outward.

Within lay the black hole’s outer spherical event horizon. Looking closely, there were silhouettes of many starships floating there.

Those ships had likely tried treasure-hunting in the drag band, lost control, bypassed the accretion disk, and fallen into the black hole.

Ships entering the black hole were shredded to ions, but their image would forever linger on the black hole’s surface—like a snapshot taken at the moment of death.

A tombstone for adventurers.

Gloria gripped her flask, tipped it back in a long draught, and cast Lu Chen a knowing look, shrugging:

“Newcomers to the universe all love watching black holes.”

Lu Chen stared at the distant drag band.

“I’m here to treasure hunt.”

Gloria curled her lip.

“You’re not thinking of exploring the drag band, are you? The safe, distant zones have long been picked clean. Get too close and the black hole might swallow you. Even if nothing goes wrong, you’ll burn through spirit fuel—your haul might not cover the cost.”

“That’s not certain. I’ve always been lucky.”

With that, Lu Chen steered the ship into the drag band.

Gloria’s eye twitched; she thrust out her chest in pride:

“I’ve been adventuring for three years now. Seen more black holes than you’ve picked up scrap. Ignoring veterans’ advice will cost you, rookie—won’t you listen to your elders?”

“Only three years—no wonder you’re still alive!”

Gloria cocked her head, stunned for a moment before realizing he’d insulted her. She wanted to retort, but Lu Chen had already headed to the aft cabin.

The treasure map’s flashing targets were all within the drag band, some nearing the accretion disk itself.

The drag band was like a winding rainbow, composed of surface materials from nearby asteroids.

Within lay atmosphere, clouds of dust, ice chunks, meteorites, seashells, ancient wood—even living spirit beasts and a notable concentration of spiritual energy.

As Gloria said, areas far from the accretion disk had been thoroughly scavenged by other adventurers.

Yet a missed target remained.

Guided by the fuzzy navigation of his treasure map, Lu Chen finally brought the ship to the precise location.

Here floated masses of ice, corpses of marine creatures, some live fish, various shells—likely remnants from an oceanic minor planet.

Inside the ship, Lu Chen’s item identification couldn’t activate; he couldn’t tell which was the target.

So he donned his scavenger armor and shouted toward Gloria in the cockpit:

“I’m taking the armor out to fetch a treasure. Don’t touch anything in the ship.”

Gloria slumped in a lounge chair, not even turning.

“This is outer space—it’s cold. Is your junk armor up to it?”

“It’s sealed armor, plus air conditioning.”

With that, Lu Chen activated the sealing mode, opened the ship’s belly hatch, and leapt out.

Inside the drag band, he found the atmosphere and dust clouds surprisingly dense, and the nearby accretion disk radiated enough heat that it wasn’t particularly cold—barely minus a dozen degrees.

The armor could stabilize him in the atmosphere, making it easy to pick up floating items.

He heard waves stirred by the dust clouds, and the distant roar of hot gases ejected from the accretion disk.

Lu Chen felt as if he were collecting shells on a beach…

His first spacewalk brought memories of childhood seaside adventures, dispelling the tension and fear of confronting the black hole, even evoking a trace of childhood joy.

Soon, Lu Chen picked up a shell.

More accurately, a gigantic ice-bound sea snail, about the size of a pig.

From the cockpit screen, Gloria’s mocking voice came:

“You’re just here to gather frozen seafood?”

“I’ve heard that interstellar sea snails sometimes yield an extremely rare pearl with flame patterns, called a Dragon Pearl—the Rolls Royce of pearls.”

Lu Chen was not joking.

Item identification revealed: inside this massive sea snail lay a flame-patterned pearl, with spirit energy below grade ten, but an exceedingly rare luxury!

Gloria sipped her liquor, smacked her lips, and laughed:

“I’ve heard there’s a sea maiden living in the snail too!”

Lu Chen thought, there’s not just pearls inside—there’s snail meat.

“You wanted roast meat, right? I’ll have the sea maiden on the grill, extra cumin and garlic—won’t taste bad.”

Gloria had no time to respond; an alarm blared in the cabin.

She jolted upright, staring at the screen’s swarm of spirit reaction points, recalling unpleasant memories.

“Hurry back—there’s a beast tide coming!”

“Beast tide?”

Lu Chen thought Gloria was joking; he hadn’t received a hazard warning.

Back aboard, the ship’s radar confirmed a mass of low-level spirit entities approaching.

Thousands, impossible to count—a beast tide.

With no hazard warning, Lu Chen was unconcerned. He followed his route toward the next two targets.

Gloria was on edge.

“Get out of the way, idiot! This ship doesn’t even have a defense array; the bugs have corrosive fluids, they’ll chew through the hull!”

Lu Chen countered:

“How do you know it’s a bug tide?”

“Anything surviving in space is a bug tide. Nomadic insect clans are one of the galaxy’s four great disasters—don’t you know?”

“You make it sound like the Shadow Demons aren’t one of the four disasters.”

“…”

Gloria’s brow darkened.

She wondered if she’d chosen the right teammate, or if her subconscious bias toward looks had led her astray.

Soon, the ship flying in a straight line met the beast tide.

Lu Chen now saw—they were not interstellar insects, but thousands of man-eating flying fish!

“There are such fierce beasts surviving in the drag band?”

But even with sharp teeth, flying fish couldn’t bite through the ship’s tough hull—no matter their numbers.

Nevertheless, they charged, wave after wave.

Many perished.

Soon, the fish changed tactics, focusing on a single point on the ship, swarming it.

A cacophony rang out…

Lu Chen suspected they sought an effect like water wearing down stone.

Generally, only interstellar insects possessed group intelligence.

This suggested a beast master behind the fish.

Soon, Lu Chen received an alert.

[Continued beast tide attack may risk local hull damage. Please drive off or avoid the beast tide promptly.]

This was a preliminary warning.

If Lu Chen did nothing, he’d soon get a follow-up alert, and finally a ten-second countdown for ultimate warning.

With so much debris in the drag band, the ship struggled to accelerate away.

Luckily, the ship’s course led toward the drag band’s root, near the accretion disk, where the temperature soared—the fish would retreat.

[Reminder: Beast tide is still attacking, may cause irreparable damage to hull. Please drive off or avoid immediately!]

The wording was now grave.

Lu Chen gritted his teeth.

He’d wait for the ten-second countdown before taking action.

Sure enough!

As the ship neared the accretion disk, the beast tide couldn’t withstand the heat and scattered.

Lu Chen breathed easy.

Besides the heat, the gravity here was intense; maintaining flight sent fuel consumption skyrocketing.

Once rid of the beast tide, Lu Chen donned his scavenger armor and exited the ship again, seeking his second target:

A chunk of mud-encrusted driftwood!

The mud, baked red-hot by the sustained heat, was nearly brick.

Item identification:

[A half-section of ten-thousand-year Serpentwood. Extremely hard, excellent spirit conductivity—perfect material for high-grade spirit machinery.]

“Not bad!”

Lu Chen hoisted the Serpentwood back to the ship.

On the way, he stumbled on a drifting bottle containing a letter.

“A drifting bottle in space?”

It wasn’t a treasure target, just curiosity, so he took it back.

Once aboard, Gloria glanced at the haul—her pretty face fell.

“So, you got a giant snail stuffed with pearls, a busted log, and a drifting bottle… Can you sell all that for ten spirit stones?”

“Should be more.”

Lu Chen didn’t argue.

The ship pressed onward.

Until it neared a slowly spinning cruise ship wreck, edging toward the accretion disk.

Less than ten miles away—any closer and the ship might not escape.

This was the last target on Lu Chen’s map.

This time, Gloria didn’t joke.

“Beyond is the abyss; don’t get closer!”

Lu Chen replied:

“The ship’s at its limit, but my armor can go further.”

Gloria was unhappy with Lu Chen’s reckless approach.

“You’re only grade nine, your junk armor grade ten—do you have a death wish? I thought you were a technical type, that’s why I brought you to sea, but you’re so rash. Don’t lose your life before you make any money.”

Lu Chen realized Gloria had some sense—she was simply… inexperienced.

“If treasures could be picked up without risking your life, would they ever come to us?”

“This is your captain’s qualification trial. I won’t risk myself—at most I’ll collect your corpse. Think carefully.”

“Just keep an eye out for beast masters nearby, and whatever happens, don’t touch any ship buttons!”

“…”

Lu Chen’s specialty was ignoring advice.

He turned and headed aft.

Donning his armor, he leapt from the ship, braving the heat, approaching the cruise wreck ten miles away.

The cruise ship was massive; near the engine wreckage was a hole, seemingly worn through by the flying fish.

The engine had exploded, leaving the ship powerless.

Later, drawn close to the accretion disk, it was broiled by high temperatures, sparking a rampant fire.

Lu Chen piloted his armor inside, finding the interior charred, drifting with human ashes.

The engine was destroyed—worthless.

The hull material was superbly heat-resistant, but his scavenger armor’s engine couldn’t carry it.

The real target was the cruise ship’s gyroscope!

The engine’s explosion had started the fire, but the central control room’s gyroscope might be intact.

Lu Chen headed straight for the control room.

“The spirit patterns are melted, but the hardware’s intact!”

He dismantled the two-meter-wide gyroscope, maxed the thrusters, broke free of gravity, and barely escaped the wreck.

Back aboard, Gloria eyed the gyroscope, asking:

“What is this hunk of metal—worth risking your life for?”

“A flawless gyroscope—should be valuable.”

“Seriously?”

Lu Chen didn’t elaborate, piloting the ship quickly out of the drag band.

By now, half the spirit fuel in the reservoir was spent.

…

Half an hour later.

The ship landed on Rogel’s third planet, Feli.

A desert planet crowned with countless sandcastles.

Feli was Rogel’s largest secondhand goods trading market.

The sandcastles varied in shape; aside from banks and restaurants, nearly all were shops buying and selling secondhand goods.

There were independent stores, and large malls renting stalls for individuals.

Lu Chen had three treasures to sell, but setting up a booth would waste time.

He opened his wristband, logged onto the Six-Nine Same Star Net, auto-located Feli, and selected a five-star rated chain store.

The ship landed in the dock outside the sandcastle store.

“You can stay on the ship, or change clothes and come with me to sell the treasure.”

Gloria shot Lu Chen a glare, but changed into a black knight’s outfit, joining him as they entered the sandcastle shop.

The chain store was cautious in pricing, but straightforward—flat rates, no tricks, perfect for newcomers unfamiliar with the area.

The chain store’s lobby.

It was morning.

The bearded, portly shopkeeper, equipped with high-precision spirit identification and material testers, personally appraised Lu Chen’s three treasures.

“The gyroscope from the Cang’er cruise? You two are daring… Good heavens, after that explosion, the gyroscope’s intact—you’ve struck gold!”

“Ten-thousand-year Serpentwood, even just a half-section, is a rare, excellent material!”

“This is… a Dragon Pearl!”

The shopkeeper’s eyes gleamed, barely restraining his excitement, then realized something crucial.

“Wait, these last two—did you find them in the black hole’s drag band as well?”

Gloria arched her delicate brows, about to answer, but Lu Chen pulled her aside and replied:

“We’re interstellar scavengers; these two came from Blue Valley star system.”

Gloria tilted her head, puzzled but silent.

Lu Chen simply didn’t want to flaunt his skills in public and risk attracting trouble.

The shopkeeper glanced outside at their parked ship—so battered it was clearly a scavenger vessel.

“So that’s it. There’s no treasures like these left in the drag band.”

Lu Chen pressed on:

“Name your price.”

The shopkeeper regarded Lu Chen, surprised this young man was the captain.

“Please wait, esteemed guest—I must consult with others.”

He summoned several staffers, repeatedly appraising the three items.

Gloria waited anxiously with Lu Chen for a full hour, finishing shop snacks and coffee.

At last, the shopkeeper completed a thorough assessment and quoted his prices.

“The Serpentwood, just half a section—two hundred spirit stones.”

“The gyroscope is intact, but its spirit patterns are scorched and must be re-inscribed—five hundred spirit stones.”

“A half-pound Dragon Pearl… eight hundred spirit stones!”

“These rates are specially approved for all three together—if you sell one or two, the price drops by five to ten percent.”

“Deal.”

Lu Chen nodded.

He signed the contract and received fifteen hundred spirit stones in cash.

A bulging cloth sack, weighing ten pounds!

Two hundred, five hundred, eight hundred… fifteen hundred spirit stones!

Gloria’s jaw dropped.

Staring at Lu Chen’s smug face, she suddenly recalled an awkward honorific, and yanked the shopkeeper’s collar:

“Are you sure? Double-check before pricing! An hour is too hasty—better reassess!”

The shopkeeper was stunned, unsure of Gloria’s position, and turned to Lu Chen:

“This young lady is remarkable—who is she to you?”

Lu Chen glanced at Gloria, lifted the sack of spirit stones in a show of pride, and said indulgently:

“She’s my daughter.”