Chapter 1
In a completely unfamiliar star field, all was silent. A star beast that should not exist in this star field floated quietly, mimicking the surrounding void.
The dozen or so Star Clan members inside the Star Beast were covered in cold sweat, but they held their breath and dared not move.
All their eyes were fixed intently on one direction, unblinking. There, in the void of space, stood rows of colossal, imposing structures, their cold, silvery sheen and distinctive appearance clearly indicating they were the vehicles of the Intelligence Clan.
The pupils of all the Starlings constricted in fear. How could there be so many starships from the Aztecs?
Where exactly did the spatial rift they encountered take them?!
Seeing small hovercraft appearing around the starships, glowing red and scanning the surroundings, all the Star Clan members shuddered. Although they didn't know why there were so many intelligent starships here, what they were planning to do, or whether they were going to attack and annex another star system or race, their response to the current situation was remarkably unified: escape!
Run! Run away quickly! Run far, far away!
The Aztecs are notoriously cold and ruthless, never wavering in the face of any pleas for mercy. They also despise the spying of other races. If they were to discover this group of people, they would be wiped out without a trace. Moreover, the fact that they encountered so many starships together means they have definitely stumbled upon a secret of the Aztecs, and it could very well be some major operation.
So all the Star Clan members held their breath, keeping their Star Beasts in their mimicry state, moving quietly and slowly away from the fleets without making a sound. At this moment, all the Star Clan members couldn't help but feel fortunate that they possessed a rare mutated Star Beast; if it were an ordinary one, it would have been discovered long ago.
They moved away silently until the fleet was no longer in sight, then breathed a sigh of relief and continued on their way in the direction away from the fleet.
At this moment, none of the Star Clan members who thought they had escaped were aware that the place they were in was not the starry sky where they originally lived. The rare spatial rift had not torn them to pieces, but had sent them to a place even more terrifying than being torn to pieces—the stronghold of the Intelligence Clan.
The massive fleet they had just witnessed was not a secret assembly they had imagined, preparing to attack any star system. Their purpose in being here was solely to protect it.
Furthermore, these exceptionally lucky Star Clan members were not sent into the protective zone from outside, but from inside, the spatial rift.
Therefore, what they thought was a departure from the Intelligence fleet was actually a journey towards the core protected by the Intelligence.
Time passed, and the Star Clan, whose minds had been on high alert, looked tired. At the same time, they received a signal from the Star Beast that it wanted to rest.
However, these Star Clan members dared not rest rashly. Although they had made the Star Beasts travel for a long time without sleep, the speed of the Star Beasts was no match for the speed of the Intelligence Clan's fleet. Not to mention that they had only made the Star Beasts travel two Star Days away from the Intelligence Clan, even if they made the Star Beasts travel for dozens of Star Days, they would be easily caught up if the Intelligence Clan noticed.
So you can rest if you want, but you absolutely cannot rest openly in the starry sky; you need to find a suitable shelter.
These Star people were preparing to find a suitable planet to use as shelter when suddenly their eyes lit up, for right in front of them appeared a beautiful, azure planet.
The Star tribe chief decisively said, "Let's go to that planet."
So the star beast slowly swam towards that planet.
As the blue planet drew ever closer, the Star people's exclamations of wonder filled the air.
"My God, this planet looks like it has a very mild climate. There are no strong winds, and it's not too far from the hot planet, so the temperature is just right."
"There are also many clean water sources."
"It's really a great place for life to thrive. Look at all these plants and small animals."
"Is this a primitive planet? I've never heard of any race having a planet like this. A planet of this magnitude should at least be the main planet of a powerful race."
One of the Star Clan members licked his lips and said, "Boss, let's remember this location. After those intelligent beings leave, we'll inform our clan, and then our Star Clan will take over this planet."
The Star tribe leader didn't speak, but a thought struck him. After a long pause, he said, "We're still too close to the Intelligence Clan. Let's go to that planet and hide. We'll talk again in a few days when the Intelligence Clan is far away."
And so, the star beast approached the blue planet, and attracted by its gravity, slowly fell, eventually sinking into the deep sea of that blue planet.
Hidden deep in the planet's ocean, with an additional barrier above them, the terrified Star Clan finally felt a little safer. They began to rest, eat, and feed the Star Beasts.
After about a Starday of rest, both the Star Clan and the Star Beasts had recovered to their best condition. However, worried that the Intelligent Race might not have gone far, they did not venture out rashly.
During this waiting period, the Star tribe chieftain clearly thought of what his people had said the day before, and he was tempted. After all, discovering such a habitable planet and dedicating it to the tribe would at least earn them a noble title and countless riches.
And that's secondary. The struggle between different races for their habitat planets has always been brutal. After all, the environment of a habitat planet directly affects the quality of life of the entire race. Although their Star race's current habitat planet is considered good among the various races, it is obviously not as good as the one in front of them. Who wouldn't want to improve the quality of life of their entire race and become a hero of the entire race?
So while waiting for the intelligent race to leave this planet, he decided not to be idle and to use the star beasts to conduct a preliminary exploration of the planet.
Their mutated star beast is no ordinary creature. Not only can it mimic the appearance of nothingness, but when mimicking, its body also truly becomes a state of being neither existent nor nonexistent, allowing it to pass directly through tangible matter. Relying on this ability, they have visited the treasure troves of various races in the universe, yet they still roam freely in the starry sky.
Using star beasts to explore this planet is quite convenient. Just keep the star beasts in their mimicry state and let them traverse underground. If they occasionally see any potentially valuable materials, let the star beasts swallow a little of them.
For several days in a row, the Star Clan drove their Star Beasts to collect samples from underground on this planet. Most of the samples were natural minerals, some were plant roots, stems and fruits that grew underground, and there was also a nest of strange little animals with long ears sleeping in the burrow.
They didn't know how far they had moved underground on this planet, until one day they felt that the substance they were penetrating underground was somewhat peculiar. How to describe it, it was grayish, particularly uniform, and somewhat like a man-made product.
The Star people, who had visited the treasure vaults of various races before, were no strangers to this feeling. Sure enough, the next moment, they passed through that layer of matter and arrived in a space.
When the Star people saw what was in this space, their first reaction was one of shock that stopped their hearts, and they almost ran away. The style of the things in this space was too distinctive; they were clearly from the Zhi people.
What finally emboldened them not to run away was the thick dust in this space and the traces of time's erosion; it seemed that no one had been here for countless years.
A space that appears to have been abandoned.
Realizing this, the Star people relaxed and carefully observed the space, especially the artifacts with the style of the Awkwards. Normally, they didn't have the opportunity to observe Awkward tools up close like this.
The space was sparsely furnished, making it feel somewhat empty. Apart from some tables covered in thick dust, with exquisitely crafted surfaces underneath that seemed to serve no apparent purpose, the most striking feature was a huge, sealed metal cylinder in the very center.
The metal cylinder seemed to be the core of this space, because they discovered that almost all the other unknown things in this space were connected to the metal cylinder. It seemed that everything in this space was serving the metal cylinder. Even more amazingly, the metal cylinder seemed to be working, because there was a small point on the front of the metal cylinder emitting a faint green light.
"This artifact from the Aztecs is still usable." The Stark, who had previously suggested conquering the planet, licked his lips again and said, "We've struck it rich."
Upon hearing this, the other Star people couldn't help but breathe heavily, their eyes fixed eagerly on the metal cylinder. It was true that they had patronized the treasure troves of many races in the past, but the combined value of all those items was absolutely no match for the artifacts made by the Zhi people.
Countless races are curious about how the Sovereigns created those incredibly ingenious objects, those masterpieces, and those powerful starships; they are eager to study them.
However, the Aztecs rarely leave their artifacts behind, making it impossible for other races to study them. The starships that the Aztecs coveted were often blasted to smithereens before they even got close, leaving all races with both longing and fear.
Although what they were seeing was not a starship, there must be something in common with the things made by the Intelligence. If they brought this back to the Star Tribe, even if they couldn't figure out how to make it, it would certainly give them a better understanding of the Intelligence's weaknesses.
But as the Star people were getting excited, the Star chieftain, who had been deep in thought, suddenly said quietly, "But have you ever thought about why there are things left behind by the Zhi people in this place a long time ago?"
Silence, utter silence...
Yes, why would there be things left behind by the Societies on this planet from so long ago?
They didn't just happen to run into the Grimaldi fleet; weren't the Grimaldi passing by here?
Since it is an unclaimed planet, and since the Societies just happened to pass by, why would there be things left behind by the Societies many years ago?
Cold sweat unknowingly trickled down the foreheads of every Star tribesman.
Seeing his people so frightened they didn't dare breathe, the chieftain sighed helplessly. Not daring to frighten them any further, he forced a reassurance: "It's probably something the Zhi Clan accidentally left behind here. But we can't stay on this planet any longer. Let's take the things and leave immediately."
All the Star people nodded vigorously. Even without their leader's words, they didn't want to stay on this planet for another second. Good heavens, this guess was too frightening. This planet might be the territory of the Intelligence Clan. Just how audacious were they to have stayed on this planet for so many days?
However, since they have stayed for so many days without being discovered, it is possible that this planet is not important to the Sogdians.
At this point, the Star people could only console themselves with this thought.
The Star Beast obeyed the Star Clan's command, swallowed the metal pillar in the room, along with the unidentified objects connected to it, and then, maintaining its mimicry state, began to leave the planet.
The Star Clan members, under intense tension, cautiously observed their surroundings from inside the Star Beast. Fortunately, they did not spot any Intelligence Clan starships until they could see the starry sky through the thick fog, at which point all the Star Clan members breathed a sigh of relief.
They should be able to escape successfully.
However, just as the Star Beast completely left the atmosphere, signals began to continuously shoot out from the body of that inconspicuous long-eared little animal that the Star Beast had swallowed and that had long been forgotten by the Star Clan. At the same time, blinding red alarm rays instantly filled the starry sky!
At the same moment, a sharp alarm sounded from the starships that stood guard over this star field like an iron barrel on the perimeter: "Warning! Warning! A native species in Earth's top-level protected area has been stolen and has now been taken out of the atmosphere. Coordinates: 102.560745 E, 28.964958 N."
As the piercing alarm sounded, the exquisite faces on all the starships simultaneously raised their heads and looked in the same direction. Countless pairs of dark red eyes narrowed slightly, their gazes toward that direction icy cold.
...
Author's Note:
Stark people: Boss, let's take over this planet.
Earth:? ?
Stark tribesman: Boss, let's take this metal pillar with us.
Earthling: ? ?
Machine race: What the hell did you say?
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