Chapter 5

[Invasion has been completed.]

[Comparing core database… Warning. Unable to connect to core database.]

[Comparing general database…]

[Star map has been updated.]

[Lifeform atlas has been updated.]

[Language: Galactic lingua franca, laborn, and seguleus have been entered.]

[New technology has been added to the technology tree.]

…

The search of the crashed spacecraft had indeed given Li Wenyuan a pleasant surprise. The most important gain was undoubtedly the star map of this starfield, which also made him realize that deciphering the systems of spaceships could bring him great benefits.

Thus, he instantly set his eyes on the few captured pirate spaceships.

“Continue to decipher the pirate spaceships’ systems.”

[Invasion has begun. Time remaining: 5 minutes.]

After the order was given, Li Wenyuan first opened the star map and checked the current interstellar environment.

“The star map doesn’t record the coordinates of this place, which means that this place should not have been exposed to the eyes of other interstellar civilizations yet… Although it looks like this universe doesn’t operate by the Dark Forest Law, I still have to be on guard against enemies who might invade at any time. There’s also that Grand Duke Yinxing…”

“If possible, I have to restart the industrial system here… At the very least, we should have some space battleships for self-defense, right? …Oh, there’s an exchange center in a star system not far away? Perhaps I can find a way to get the things needed to repair the planet from there…”

Li Wenyuan scanned through the information very quickly. He had gradually gotten used to his digitized consciousness, and could now read ten lines of the virtual world’s data at one glance with zero mistakes.

Before the new invasion was completed, he had already scanned the star map and looked through the resources rescued from the crashed spaceship.

“…The energy-type goods have almost all been destroyed, and the explosion they caused may be the real reason for the spaceship’s disintegration, but…”

Li Wenyuan’s eyes lit up as he looked at the metal piled up like a mountain near the crashed spaceship. There were probably tens of thousands of tons of those things, and he felt that they should be able to last for a while.

He began to move the red warnings in the “to be repaired” area of the virtual world while muttering, “Let me see what I can repair with those…”

After a while, after he confirmed it again and again, he exclaimed, “Why can’t I repair anything?!”

[The metal used does not meet the construction standards]

[Energy facility: Area A91, level four singular point]

[Missing materials for repair: About 50000 tons of Karis-standard strengthened alloy, one level 3 energy core, 1 Czero.]

“Ha…” Li Wenyuan looked at the facility that was the easiest to repair and felt a headache over the materials that he had never even heard of.

“Looks like I’ll have to make a trip to the interstellar exchange center… Even if I can’t buy anything, I should at least understand the commodity price of the interstellar market and what the standard currency is.”

Just as he made up his mind to go to the exchange center, the decryption of the pirate spaceships’ systems has been completed.

[Invasion completed.]

[Comparing core database… Warning, unable to connect to core database.]

[Comparing general database…]

[Star map has been updated.]

[New technology has been added to the technology tree.]

Li Wenyuan glanced at the information provided by the pirate spaceships and didn’t find anything new. The only valuable thing was that the hiding place of the pirates had been marked. He could go and retrieve this “hidden resource” in the future.

Then, he made the mothership of the pirate spaceships land on the ground and arranged for dozens of synthetic humanoids to board the ship. They were going to be his “avatars” for when he went to the interstellar market to trade.

This was a huge space battleship. Although it was a few times smaller than a cargo spaceship, it had the most basic weapons and a warehouse for goods. It was currently the only spaceship with the space travel ability that Li Wenyuan had.

The synthetic humanoids he chose had also been selected carefully. They could self-destruct at critical moments to ensure that their origins would not be tracked.

As for himself, he was thinking about what he should bring to the interstellar market to trade.

“…The pirate spaceship can only carry part of that pile of useless metal, and God knows know how much they’re worth… Speaking of which though, the pirates seemed to have been cutting off the walls here, right? Those greedy fellows definitely wouldn’t do something useless, which means…”

With this in mind, Li Wenyuan looked at the facility near his “body”, where the administration core was located. There was a huge wall that glowed with silver light.

Looking at the walls that were equivalent to clothes for his “body”, he had a strange idea of cutting a little and selling it.

“I’ve already become a program, anyway. I don’t need a sense of shame for the time being…” Li Wenyuan consoled himself as he asked the synthetic humanoids to cut off a cubic meter of the silver metal and loaded it into the pirate spaceship.

After everything was ready, Li Wenyuan tried to separate a part of the data that made up his huge program and transferred it to the pirate spaceship’s system. At the same time, he also cleared the possible hidden dangers in the spaceship’s system.

Since he had become a program now, he wanted to test if doing this would allow him to directly control the pirate spaceship and use it as a medium to control the synthetic humanoids.

It was his first time flying to interstellar space and coming onto the stage of the universe. If he couldn’t grasp first-hand information at all times, he would always feel uneasy.

Soon, the test results were out.

Feeling the pirate spaceship that seemed to be an extension of his consciousness, Li Wenyuan revealed a surprised expression.

“It worked? It seems that this administration matrix of mine has a lot of secrets… Can I do the same thing and transfer some of my data to the synthetic humanoids, then?”

Li Wenyuan had this idea, but he didn’t put it into practice immediately. He felt that the situation now was pretty good enough, and he didn’t need to appear as an individual for the time being.

The tail of the pirate spaceship slowly spewed out a stream of air, which gradually increased in size. Soon, it passed through the planet’s atmosphere and left the range of the planet’s gravity.

In the universe, with the help of the synthetic humanoids’ vision, Li Wenyuan saw the planet he was on for the first time.

On the beautiful blue planet were large areas of damaged ruins.

A huge barrier that covered the entire planet flickered for a minute when the spaceship passed through it, then returned to being transparent, blocking all kinds of space garbage from falling in.

A satellite full of potholes was revolving around the planet. Through the porthole of the spaceship, a large number of buildings could be seen on the surface of the satellite.

In this stellar system, another seven planets were revolving around the star, and a giant space station that no one was managing was slowly falling toward the star due to its gravity.

That was the “Space Station Qingtian” previously mentioned in the warning. The so-called “about to fall into the stellar atmosphere” was at least 200 years away on the scale of the universe.

“If I have the chance I should repair that space station. It seems that the space battleship has to pass through it too…”

Withdrawing his gaze from the star, Li Wenyuan looked at the void further away. His main program was still in the administration core and he gradually calmed down.

Stepping into the sea of stars was an inevitable path in the future. Sooner or later, he would have to experience it.

Instead of being found by the invaders of other civilizations, it was better to become an unrivaled existence before that. Only then could he ensure his safety.

After making up his mind, the spaceship accelerated, and a brilliant light appeared on the surface of the spaceship, enveloping the entire spaceship like a bubble.

In the next moment, the stream of light wrapped around the spaceship and disappeared from interstellar space.

When it appeared again, it had already reached another galaxy.

This galaxy was very ordinary, and there were no planets worth paying attention to. However, the number of spaceships around was huge.

The reason for this was a huge space station above the star. It stood tall on the star as if it would never fall.