From the beginning of the mission, Hessiana was a lost ball in high weeds following the team around wherever they went. It knocked her socks off when he saw the spaceship and not until she came on board in the flight deck, she began to come to grip with reality. The spacecraft was as real as it got when seeing with her own eyes and touching with her own hands. No one on Earth could build such a high-tech spacecraft yet, she figured.
“It’s all true…” Hessiana looked around the flight deck, but she did not dare to touch anything for fear that she might accidentally spoil things and Hao Ren would jump on her. She still saw Hao Ren in a bad light, and that had never changed. “Where did you get this thing from?”
“There are even vampires and werewolves on Earth, what is so surprising about extraterrestrial technology?” Hao Ren replied casually. “It’s a common sense that alien technology is more realistic than fantasy.”
Hessiana looked at Hao Ren, astonished. “Are you from Mars? Or is it Reach, the Epsilon Eridani II?”
There was a distinction between a progressive vampire and a traditional vampire; this girl’s knowledge of Reach was telling.
The Petrachelys passed through the passage of the upper crust and then cruised above the surface slowly. The scene of the turbid atmosphere and decaying upper crust showed up on the screen as the spacecraft flew over an area of the rugged hill where dirty hot air spouting from the sporadic hot springs, turning the surrounding atmosphere into disgusting dark-green colors. Vivian could not help but sigh looking at the hellish world. “It’s hard to imagine there is a paradise underneath.”
“How are you going to deal with this layer of crust?” Nangong Wuyue asked. “Toxic water and noxious gases are everywhere. There are even mutant monsters and crust that blocks the sun too. You need to get rid of all these, but the sanctuary is right beneath, I don’t know how we’re going to do that safely. A drop of a piece of the crust down there would be catastrophic.”
“Are we not taking over the control of the First Born’s nervous system? We could then retract the canopy after revitalizing the Heaven’s Pillars.” Lily said simple-mindedly.
Hao Ren flicked her with his finger. “The entire canopy will crumble down if we do that. There are hundreds of millions of tons of fossilized materials up here; a slight tremor on the Heaven’s Pillars would cause an extinction-level disaster below. MDT, check if there is any better way to deal with such a situation. Is there anyone specialized in peeling a planet?”
“Do you think there are such companies?” The MDT scoffed. “But I know someone who could do similar things.”
While saying, the MDT showed Hao Ren a piece of information. Hao Ran took a gander of the info and froze. “Fairy Mining Conglomerate? These guys are everywhere!”
“They have a finger in every pie that makes money. They would do it even if the job doesn’t make money but could make them famous. That’s why people don’t call them Fairy Void the profiteers for nothing.”
Hao Ren took a second look. Fairy Mining Conglomerate? He sensed something was not right. “I’m looking for a planet-peeling company, but you’re giving me a bunch of freaking miners. Are you letting them dig the crust?”
“You guess it right. They are the best civilian miners in the universe. It was said that once upon a time, a tiny civilization sphere near Arcturus could do nothing but watch as a group of stray asteroids flying toward their planet about to wipe them off the universe. In desperation, they sent out a distress signal. At that time, a group of miners from Fairy Mining Conglomerate happened to pass by the region. Those miners responded and dug away every single piece of the asteroids before the rocks had a chance to come close to the tiny civilization.”
Hao Ren was silent, astounded.
He wiped the cold sweat on his forehead; this kind of efficiency might be what he was looking for. “Okay. I’ll use them. But one question; is it safe to dig the crust? When their heavy equipment starts digging, Heaven’s Pillars might collapse.”
“They have the technology to create a gravitational barrier that envelops the entire planet to prevent broken pieces of the rocky dome from falling.”
Hao Ren thought for a moment. “Well, there is still a question: How much they charge?”
The MDT appeared delighted at the question. It used showed the structure of the upper crust of Inferno using holographic projection and marked the different layers of the petrified canopy with different colors. “Do you know what this is?”
“Rock.”
“Wrong. It’s money, dude!” MDT said. “This is the strata petrified from the body, and high-strength secretions of the First Born, 80% of the civilizations in the Milky Way couldn’t produce such substance. Although I don’t know what this thing can do, there are venture capitalists in the universe who are willing to pay for this rare stuff. Those collectors of arts, antiques, and pearls and jewels of alien galaxies like to show off their collections to their visitors, but neither the one who boasts nor the one listening to the boasting know what the stones are for and they still enjoy it.”
Lily nodded and said, “Stone collection is a classy hobby. I collect stones too.”
Hao Ren waved her away. “Oh, please spare me. You even collect bricks from the construction site as if they’re gemstones! Don’t equate yourself with the parvenus.”
Then he asked the MDT, sounding interested. “Did you say that people are willing to pay for this thing? I think they are rich but not stupid. Even if you told them it is a fossilized super-creature, a valuable collectible, will they believe you?”
The MDT smiled wryly. “Of course they won’t. But what if there is the signature of an inspector on the certificate?”
The penny dropped, and Hao Ren suddenly came to his senses.
Inspector, the witness of civilizations, undertaker and recorder, the eyes and mouth of the Goddess, the only mortal in the universe who had the authority to appraise and evaluate historical events from the perspective of a bystander, and many ordinary civilizations treated inspector as a demigod. It was just that Hao Ren did not understand the concept earlier.
As long as he put down his signature, these petrified substances on the surface of the planet Inferno would soar in price in the eyes of the collectors. Sometimes you can’t rationalize the thinking of the rich.
However, this certification meant nothing at all to Hao Ren and the laws of the divine world.
He began to see things in a new light. “I let Fairy Mining Conglomerate mine for free and sign a certificate that says these rocks had historical value, and all they need to do is ensure the safety and efficiency of the mining process while keeping the planet in orbit. No one has to pay a single cent for it.”
“In the long run, the profiteers would still make a fortune,” the MDT made a strange buzzing sound as if it was somewhat regretful. “If they dared to buy the normal type of stones, they would certainly buy the ones with the signature of an inspector. It’s a shame that the wealth of the Pan-Civilization Sphere means nothing to you. Let the profiteers take what they want, and they will owe us a favor.”
Hao Ren smiled wryly. “Often, owing a favor is better than owing a debt.”
Suddenly, a crispy voice came from the side. “Long time no see. Sounds like Pattie and you have become like the profiteers.”
Hao Ren looked up and saw Nolan’s holographic image standing beside him. He put up an arrogant smile. “I’m not boasting, but inspectors are awesome people. Don’t underestimate my ability.”
“I know,” Nolan said. “I’ve visited Aerym a couple of days ago and learned about the elves from the database. They’ve built a huge statue and monument for the Sun King. I know what you’ve done.”
“You had been there?” Hao Ren scratched his head. “I was thinking to bring you to visit my bases afterward, but it seems that it’s unnecessary now since you have everything the database.”
Nolan nodded. She suddenly pointed at the console. “I have a question though.”
“What question?”
“Why is this PDA insisting on plugging itself in me while I am the one piloting the spacecraft?”
Hao Ren was a little startled. He then turned to look at the MDT. “Since Nolan is piloting the spacecraft, what are you doing up there?”
The MDT suddenly felt its job was in jeopardy. It squeezed itself harder into the slot and said aloud, “I’m not leaving! It is my throne! I’m destined to be the battleship host for life. Whoever dares to pull me out, I will fight him to the death!”
“This dude can’t be serious!” Hao Ren thought to himself.