Chapter 15

The Star Stone is considered a half-new thing to Qi Heng. Why do I say half? Because there was no finished product of this thing in the past, only a semi-finished product under research.

He didn't expect that a finished product would appear and become popular even though the Zerg technology was destroyed.

The function of the star stone is simple and clear. It can be used and recharged repeatedly like a battery, except that it contains the power of the stars. Those who can charge the star stone are practitioners who can cultivate the power of the stars.

Qi Heng recalled the Zerg he had seen before, using star stones to exchange for daily necessities. Regardless of whether it was popular in the outside world, star stones had to some extent replaced currency in the slums.

As for where the star power stored in the star stone comes from, if you think about it, you will know that it is closely related to the female insects in the slums - using daily necessities to control the Zerg to actively provide star power.

The star power cultivated will turn into energy and will not be fed back to the body, so the overall strength of the Zerg will be restricted.

What a good plan.

However, it must be said that star stone is indeed a good thing. If one can get enough star stones containing star power, the star power stored in it will be a very useful energy source for the system.

Should we try to get some star stones?

But where to get it?

The sources of star stones in District 49 that I know of so far are: one is the store in the central area that recycles star stones, and the other is the large number of female insects in the slums.

The former cannot be done by oneself, but the latter can be dealt with in other ways - for example, exchanging them for items needed by the female insects.

It's just like Yan Ning using star stones to exchange clothes at Yuntian's house. As long as there are things that the female insects need and the price is lower than that in the central area, there is no need to worry about not having female insects coming.

The only problem is that I don't seem to have anything to show for it.

Qi Heng fell into deep thought.

Yuntian was chatting with Yan Ning on the side. He looked at Qi Heng, who had suddenly stopped talking, with some surprise. He whispered in Yan Ning's ear, "Is he like this often?"

"What?"

"He just stopped talking all of a sudden. Did I say something wrong?"

Yan Ning hesitated for a moment and replied, "I'm probably thinking about what you just said."

"Star Stone?"

"Um."

…

After that day, Qi Heng planned to continue working in the mine, but this time he had another purpose.

"You want to go to other mines?" Yun Jiu frowned, a little worried. "Isn't it better to dig here?"

"Isn't there a more precious associated mineral? I want to try my luck." He said soothingly with a faint smile on his face, "Don't worry, I'll be careful."

"The mine tunnels are complicated. What if you get lost inside?"

Yun Jiu tried to dissuade him from the idea: "Besides, there are very few other mines, and it's not so easy to just rely on luck."

"I have a good memory, and I plan along the way, so I won't get lost."

Qi Heng made up his mind and was very firm in his attitude. No matter what Yun Jiu said, he refused to give in.

Yun Jiu was silent for a while, but in the end, he didn't say anything else. He just said, "Then be careful."

He and Qi Heng were not related at all, so a few words of persuasion was the limit. Could he really hold Qi Heng back and not let him leave?

Got down to the mine.

Qi Heng grabbed a wicker basket, held it in his hand, said goodbye to Yun Jiu and was about to leave.

"etc."

Yun Jiu suddenly called him and stuffed something into his hand: "Bring your mining lamp. Some mine tunnels are very dark and you can't see anything without a mining lamp.

"Don't refuse."

"The miner's lamp is of no use to me. You know I'm very familiar with that mine."

"Just give it back to me when you get out."

Yun Jiu had already said this, and it would be ungrateful to refuse. Besides, he was also very interested in the working principle of the mining lamp.

"Thank you very much."

Qi Heng took it, thanked him and turned to leave.

The mine tunnels below the mine are crisscrossed. As the mining goes deeper and deeper, some female insects dig deep regardless of the danger in order to dig out better quality ores, causing a landslide every once in a while.

Even so, there are still many female insects who go to work deep in the mines regardless of the danger.

Qi Heng entered a mine tunnel carrying a mining lamp and pressed a certain spot on the lamp.

A cluster of flames rose, and the flame inside illuminated the surroundings through the frosted and translucent crystal surface covering the outside of the mining lamp.

[Analysis of the mining lamp structure is complete.]

The outer shell is made of rough, artificially polished quartz, approximately 0.4mm thick. It contains an irregular 2cm star stone. The stored star power, when heated by friction, can ignite a flame that lasts for 24 hours.

The voice of AI rang in his ears along with his footsteps. Qi Heng was not surprised by A1's analysis results.

I expected it.

The development of a civilization is inseparable from energy. Since the forces targeting the Zerg have strictly suppressed technology, there is no way they will open up other energy sources for the Zerg to use.

Star Stone is different.

The energy of the Star Stone comes from the Zerg themselves. Allowing the Zerg to use a large amount of Star Stone in exchange for supplies and a small amount as energy will not only prevent the Zerg's own strength from growing, but also consume the Star Stone in the hands of the Zerg to a greater extent. It can be said to be a good thing that kills two birds with one stone.

[Is there any information about Star Stone in the database?]

Qi Heng asked as he walked deeper into the mine, turning left and right, seemingly wandering aimlessly, but as he went deeper, it became increasingly difficult to see other female insects in the mine.

[Please wait a moment, Master. The database is being searched.]

[…Starstone manufacturing technology matured in the year 12780 of the Galactic Core Era. Starstones produced using this technology are divided into seven levels, A1 to A7, based on the amount and specifications of star power they can store. The lowest level can store 100 star power, while the highest can store level seven, roughly equivalent to a Star Fragment level…]

[The grade of star stones can be determined by their color, luster, and purity. The higher the grade, the more translucent the star stone, and the closer its color is to gold...]

[Tell me the grade of the star stone in the mine lamp.]

The star stone inside the mining lamp is a defective product. It is essentially a part of an A1 star stone. The current stored star power is approximately 24 points after quantification.

Qi Heng stopped.

Unlike the mines that are still being excavated outside, this is a mine that has been abandoned for a long time. The rock walls are full of potholes and it is difficult to find a piece of obsidian ore.

We could have gone deeper, but seeing that the mine tunnel ahead was blocked and buried by fallen rocks, it was obviously impossible to go any further.

There must have been a collapse here before. Since the fallen rocks could not be dug out by human power, no Zerg came to this mine tunnel over time.

He kept hitting the fallen rocks with the stone stick in his hand. The smallest piece of fallen rock was several square meters in size, and the pile of rocks lying in front of Qi Heng looked like a huge monster.

"A1, scan the ore content and thickness of the rocks in front of you."

[The trunk-branch subsystem [scan] function needs to be enabled.]

[This function has not yet been activated. Forcibly using it will consume 1 unit of energy per minute.]

[Less than a minute still consumes 1 unit of energy.]

"Then scan this vein carefully. We'll get as much information as we can within a minute."

In the past, Qi Heng would never take 1 unit of energy seriously, but now the landlord has no surplus food. Since it has been used, of course he has to maximize the benefits and avoid waste.

The system is very powerful, even if it is just a scanning function that has not been upgraded to level one.

【clear. 】

A blue light film suddenly appeared in the air, and then quickly swept across the pile of stones in front from bottom to top. The light film had extremely strong penetrating power, and it penetrated the stones in almost an instant and reached the back half of the mine tunnel blocked by the pile of stones.

[Function activated, estimated consumption of 1 unit of energy.]

[Scanning results: The stone pile is nine meters thick, containing 60% obsidian crystal ore. Within a hundred meters of the mine tunnel, the content is 85%. Within a three-hundred-meter radius, there is associated black crystal ore, with reserves of approximately...]

"That's really good news."

After listening to A1's report, Qi Heng laughed.

He wanted to find a mine tunnel that had collapsed but could continue to be mined, and then use unconventional methods to absorb the energy contained in the ore in the entire vein. After visiting several mine tunnels, he chose a mine tunnel with few signs of Zerg visits.

Only abandoned mine tunnels like this, where problems would not attract attention, are suitable for him.

The energy that obsidian crystal can replenish is limited. If he didn't want to save his first pot of gold, he wouldn't have thought of taking the ore from the vein.

After all, although obsidian crystal is not an extremely rare resource, it is also a rare resource. It is better to use it for anything than to let the system "eat" it directly.

The black crystal associated minerals that appeared in the scan were an unexpected surprise.

He flipped the system interface to the subsystem overview page, which displayed more than twenty subsystems densely packed in four rows.

Each subsystem has a different name, but all are displayed in gray.

The [Scan] that was just forced open is listed.

Qi Heng skipped over the other subsystems and focused his attention on the subsystem displayed as [Energy Conversion].

The more Qi Heng learned about the slums, the more insecure he felt.

He originally thought that the slums were formed naturally after the decline of the Zerg civilization, so there would be no danger even if he was not in a hurry to repair the system to obtain energy. However, after discovering those clues, he had to say that his sense of crisis came to his mind.

Qi Heng planned to restore the system upgrade function, not because he had figured out how to save the world, but to give himself more capital to deal with future risks just in case.

He pointed his finger at [Energy Conversion], and the characters suddenly lit up after a flash of light.

[Deduct 200 energy points, permanently activate the branch [Energy Conversion] subsystem, synchronizing with reality... The system's energy absorption rate has increased from the original 20% to 120%.]

Two hundred energy points, the system's operating life was suddenly reduced by twenty days, leaving even less time for oneself.

However, this is not the end.

"Deduct fifty energy points to produce as many primary mining worms as possible."

The database carried by the system contains the entire gene library of the Zerg in the past. After checking, Qi Heng found that what was lost were some of the advanced genes that the Zerg evolved later.

The remaining original Zerg genes still exist, and as long as there are enough energy points, the system can be manufactured without any effort.

[One hundred and fifty primary mining worm juveniles have been produced.]

One by one, fat white larvae as big as silkworms appeared on the ground in front of Qi Heng. In the absence of a commander, they would only obey the orders of their creator and instinctively approach Qi Heng.

Qi Heng looked at these tool insects and gave them instructions without changing his expression.

The author has something to say:

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If you have heard of StarCraft, you should be familiar with this type of Zerg 2333. Here is a glimpse of its setting.

[P.S. Everyone, please don't be afraid or think too much about it. Tool Bugs only appear briefly. If you really can't handle it, cough cough, you can get a mosaic filter (dog head)]

[——My dear little ones, please don’t abandon the author ahhhhhh (Erkang hand)]

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