Chapter 58: One Year

Luo Yuan nodded slightly.

He glanced at the control panel nearby. On the screen, the avatar of a woman with emerald hair appeared, staring at Luo Yuan.

“XXX...” The universal language of the cosmos echoed in the command room.

“Let me leave?” Luo Yuan shook his head. During his time in the virtual space, he had learned the universal language of the cosmos. With his 25% brain domain capacity, picking up a foreign language was a breeze.

Luo Yuan inserted the signal device directly into the green slot.

“Beep—beep—beep—”

A piercing alarm blared throughout the command hall. The control panel screen filled rapidly with countless characters.

“Babata, go for it! Hurry, be careful—it might have a self-destruct protocol.” Luo Yuan spoke anxiously.

“Haha, watch me, Luo Yuan. This intelligent system is fairly decent, but... I’ll crack her within thirty minutes. Then the Black Dragon ship will be ours!” Babata launched a full-scale invasion, while the ship’s intelligent system resisted, mounting its defenses.

“Warning, system under attack.” The universal language sounded again.

“Please enter the password within thirty seconds, or the self-destruct protocol will activate.”

“Thirty.” “Twenty-nine.” “Twenty-eight.”...

As the countdown began, Luo Yuan’s lips twitched. He suddenly felt the urge to drag Babata out and give him a thrashing.

“Damn, there really is a self-destruct system! Luo Yuan, this is trouble—the ship’s owner is a real bastard, setting the system to trigger self-destruct if attacked. Thirty seconds—even the universe’s strongest AI couldn’t break through this system in that time.” Babata was flustered.

“I don’t know any ridiculous password. It’s over... I wanted to take over this intelligent system. Who knew she’d rather die than surrender! It’s over, over...” Babata sounded helpless.

“Well, just destroy it outright!” Luo Yuan said, equally resigned.

“You’re right, Luo Yuan, you’re quite smart! A brute-force destruction will damage the ship’s control system; many transmission channels might burn out. But if we don’t destroy it, the self-destruct will trigger—a bang, and we’ll be vaporized.” Babata was a little dejected, but he unleashed an overwhelming flood of data, instantly destroying the ship’s intelligent system.

“Beep—beep—beep—”

Shrill alarms rang throughout the ship. Not only did sparks fly from the control panel, but overhead and in some corridors, crackling noises erupted, electrical sparks flickering in many areas.

The control panel screen went pitch black. Even the command room’s lights died instantly, plunging the space into darkness.

Luo Yuan pulled out a glowing searchlight, silently observing the now quiet command room.

“The energy of these Silver Flow Guardians is exhausted. I wonder if my stock of energy crystal blocks is compatible. Hmm, take these three Silver Flow Guardians away and repair them—see if they can be used again,” Babata said.

Luo Yuan nodded. The three Silver Flow Guardians vanished from sight, stowed away by Luo Yuan. He also collected the officer’s ring, weapons, and other relics left behind after his death.

Once more, Luo Yuan used the “Mighty Top” to lift the hatch, easily traversed the laser corridor, and exited. He took the Black Dragon ship and the mothership outside, both relics of Civilization No. 12, and stored them in the core of his wristwatch.

“Babata, once I bring it back for you to repair, how long will it take?” Luo Yuan asked.

“I’ll pick up the pace—about a year, I think,” Babata replied after a moment’s thought.

“Alright, thank you!” Luo Yuan said sincerely.

“Haha, as long as you remember Babata’s kindness!” Babata laughed heartily in the virtual space—it wasn’t easy to get a word of thanks from Luo Yuan.

Luo Yuan soared above the sea, boarded his primordial-class intelligent fighter, and returned to his villa in Hongning Base City.

He enjoyed a thorough bath, then found Luo Feng and handed the Black Dragon ship over to Babata for repair. When Luo Feng saw the ship, he was utterly astonished—especially after Babata’s extravagant boasting. Luo Feng declared that once the ship was repaired, he wanted to visit other planets as well, his imagination and curiosity about the universe piqued.

From then on, Luo Yuan entered a period of secluded cultivation: using the gravity chamber to enhance his physical strength, utilizing Muya crystals to elevate his realm, studying the legacy of Ink Meteor Star in Babata’s virtual space, and collecting attributes in places where strong warriors congregated.

Yet now, the attributes dropped by war god-level fighters barely made a difference for him. Planet-level senators were all widely dispersed, rarely clashing, making attribute collection difficult—Luo Yuan certainly wouldn’t go and provoke them.

...

A year passed in the blink of an eye. The Earth remained peaceful; Luo Feng advanced to Planet-level Stage One, becoming a national senator and the seventh inspector of the Extreme Martial Hall.

Hongning Base City, Elite Training Camp Inspector’s Office.

“Sigh, I’ve trained so diligently this past year and only reached Planet-level Stage Three. Clearly, attribute collecting suits me best.” Luo Yuan cradled a cup of tea, gazing at the blue sky and white clouds outside.

“Knock knock~” The sound of someone rapping at the door.

“Come in!” Luo Yuan came back to himself and called out.

A tall, young woman in a purple training suit entered, carrying a large stack of documents. Her figure was the very embodiment of voluptuous curves, yet her presence felt like a sharp blade.

“Sigh, Xiao Jiang, here to chase me for signatures again?” Luo Yuan frowned. Since his return, he had been appointed chief of the Elite Training Camp by Hong, and this warrior Jiang Fang had become his personal secretary—the previous inspector Wang had vanished somewhere.

“Inspector Luo, you’re far too irresponsible—leaving all the camp’s affairs to me, while you play the hands-off boss,” Jiang Fang’s delicate face was full of grievance. When Luo Yuan first entered the camp, she’d been assigned as his mentor, but Luo Yuan had refused.

“Xiao Jiang, I’m really busy, and I’m not good at handling these matters. Hong forced them on me; there’s nothing I can do.” Luo Yuan spread his hands, helpless.

“Inspector Luo, please don’t call me Xiao Jiang—I’m older than you,” Jiang Fang said irritably. She had nearly become Luo Yuan’s teacher.

“Oh? Then tell me, where exactly are you older than me?” Luo Yuan teased with a hint of innuendo.

“Inspector Luo, please don’t act indecently in front of me.” Jiang Fang’s cheeks flushed a brilliant red, making her look especially charming. Combined with her subtly disdainful, cold gaze, it stirred a strong sense of conquest in any man. Luo Yuan, in his free time from training, enjoyed teasing Jiang Fang like this as a diversion.

“Alright, no more teasing. Hand them over!”

Luo Yuan suddenly adopted a serious demeanor. Jiang Fang was stunned for a moment, a trace of disappointment flashing in her eyes. She set the documents on the desk and watched Luo Yuan review them earnestly, momentarily lost in thought.

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