Star Odyssey

Chapter 2127: A Huge Harvest

After seeing Lu Yin's message, Xiu Ming replied, "I understand that, and it’s why I did not refuse your request. The Lockbreaker Society was originally a subsidiary of the Hall of Honor, so we were overseen by them. That relationship has simply been taken over by the Heavens Sect."

"I’m glad to see you understand, Grandmaster Xiu," Lu Yin sent.

Xiu Ming asked, "In that case, what are you contacting my Lockbreaker Society for?"

Lu Yin smiled. "Of course it’s because I need to give you some work, given the fact that you belong to the Heavens Sect. Still, the truth of the matter is the Lockbreaker Society will function in the same manner as before, though there are some things that I need help with. For starters, I need your Lockbreaker Society to help in the production and research of microarray technology."

"Haha, I knew that you needed something from me! Microarray technology? Gatemaster Hen Xin also approached me about that in the past, but my Lockbreakers were needed to maintain the sourcebox arrays that we set up everywhere, and there simply weren’t any people to spare. However, with the threat of the Aeternals now gone, we can send some people to participate in the research," Xiu Ming responded.

Director Zhi, Realm Array Master Xuan, and the others from Aurora Enterprises were all relieved to hear this news. More Lockbreakers would definitely help expedite their research.

"By the way, what’s the progress in combining the microarrays?" Xiu Ming asked.

"They’re working on combining twenty-eight microarrays."

Across the Fifth Mainland, Xiu Ming was surprised at this information. "Twenty-eight? That many?"

Lu Yin also felt that it was a lot, mostly because the jump from five to twenty-eight felt too exaggerated. "Director Zhi and the others have explained to me that this is the most compatible number to work with, and so they jumped from five straight to twenty-eight microarrays."

Xiu Ming remained silent for a while, but then he replied, "Interesting. Send me the information. I would like to participate a bit myself."

Master Xuan instantly grew excited. "The president- does the president really want to see our research?"

Lu Yin nodded. He had only hoped to have Xiu Ming send a few array masters or Lockbreakers to help them in their microarray technology research, and he had never even considered the possibility that Grandmaster Xiu Ming might be personally interested. How could Lu Yin ask an Array Grandmaster to participate in a research project? Even if Lu Yin was able to access the power of Progenitor Chen and suppress the entire Fifth Mainland, he still respected an expert like Xiu Ming.

People like Grandmaster Xiu Ming and the Fifth Mainland’s Semi-Progenitors could not be forced into submission, as their pride would not allow them to be cowed. Lu Yin had not lost sight of this even after obtaining Progenitor Chen's power.

Still, having Grandmaster Xiu Ming’s assistance in the microarray technology research was the best possible outcome.

"Alright, I'll have Director Zhi and the others involved in the project send you their research, Grandmaster Xiu," Lu Yin replied.

Next to Lu Yin, Master Xuan’s excitement continued to grow. With Grandmaster Xiu’s participation, Master Xuan could not even guess how quickly their research into combining twenty-eight microarrays would progress. A Realm Array Master and an Array Grandmaster were on two completely different levels.

After Lu Yin’s communications with Grandmaster Xiu, he immediately reached out to the Technocracy.

Over the last twenty years, people from the Sixth Mainland had repeatedly tried to get in touch with the Technocracy and cooperate to resist the Aeternals, but the Technocracy had not replied or reacted even once.

Lu Yin was sending a message to a wireless jincan that the Sixth Mainland had sent to the Technocracy.

Soon, Lu Yin received a reply: "Who is this?"

"Lu Yin."

For a time, the wireless jincan did not move, but after a while, it shifted. "I am Senn."

Lu Yin was not surprised by the identity of the person he was communicating with. "Headmaster Senn, it's been a long time."

"Alliance Leader Lu- no, I should call you Dao Chosen now. Dao Chosen of the Heavens Sect," Headmaster Senn replied.

Lu Yin sent back, "Headmaster Senn, do you have a good understanding of what’s recently happened in the Human Domain?"

"Of course."

"In that case, I'll be blunt: what exactly is the Technocracy?" Lu Yin asked directly. For this communication, he had moved away from the people from Aurora Enterprises, and only Progenitor Smoke remained next to Lu Yin. She stared at the wireless jincan with a great deal of curiosity.

"Dao Chosen Lu should already have a guess."

"I’ve made a few guesses, but I want to hear the truth from you, Headmaster Senn."

"Progenitor Hui created the Technocracy to gather resources to eventually deal with the Aeternals," Headmaster Senn instantly replied.

Lu Yin nodded. The countless mechanical ants had been created with materials that the Technocracy had gathered from both the Sixth Mainland and the Perennial World. The Technocracy had deliberately staged a civil war in order to gather resources from two different sources in order to produce even more mechanical ants. This had been another one of Progenitor Hui's schemes.

To enable the mass production of the mechanical ants, not only had the Technocracy worked to deceive the Sixth Mainland and the Perennial World into believing that there was a civil war in the Technocracy, but they had also deceived the Hall of Honor. After all, the Human Domain had long been at war with the Technocracy.

"What did Hui Wen leave behind?" Progenitor Smoke was surprised by what she was seeing.

Lu Yin quickly explained, "Long ago, the Sixth Mainland actually defeated the Fifth Mainland in their war, and the Fifth Mainland’s sky was replaced. Progenitor Hui managed to predict the future, and he left plans in place that eventually forced the Sixth Mainland to pay for their actions. The Technocracy was another one of his safeguards, and it was set up to gather resources and create a horde of mechanical ants to fight against the Aeternals. Unfortunately, even those endless numbers of ants were not enough, and they were unable to overcome all of the Aeternals."

Progenitor Smoke sneered. "Hui Wen was never any good at cultivating, and he just liked to play his little tricks with his twisted mind."

Lu Yin rolled his eyes. Play tricks with his twisted mind? That ‘‘twisted mind” had allowed the Fifth Mainland to exist in the current era. If not for Progenitor Hui, the Human Domain would have disappeared long ago. Of course, Lu Yin did not say any of this. Progenitor Hui and Progenitor Smoke were peers, and Lu Yin would never suggest to Progenitor Smoke on how to act around one of her peers.action

Lu Yin sent a response to Headmaster Senn. "Progenitor Hui left the Technocracy to deal with the Aeternals, but unfortunately, his efforts were still not enough."

"We did our best."

Lu Yin replied, "I know, but now that your purpose for existing has been exposed, what are you going to do next? You won’t be able to get any more resources from the Sixth Mainland, and the Perennial World is not an option either, as the New Corridor has been damaged."

Headmaster Senn did not reply.

After a while, Lu Yin sent another message. "I actually need your help. If things go well, we will acquire an amazing weapon to deal with the Aeternals in the future."

"What is it?" Headmaster Senn asked.

"We are currently researching weapons that involve combining twenty-eight microarrays. Once we succeed and these weapons are mass-produced, they will give us an edge over the Aeternals on future battlefields. I need your best technicians, engineers, and raw materials."

"That’s no problem," Headmaster Senn quickly sent back. "But this won’t be for free."

"I know. Raw materials that aren’t needed by the Human Domain will be sent to the Technocracy, and also, you can use the eventual goal of killing me, Lu Xiaoxuan, to get more resources from the Perennial World. That will be far more effective than your civil war ever was."

"That will certainly be a good excuse. When that time comes, I'll be sure to curse you soundly," Headmaster Senn replied with a bit of humor.

Lu Yin had not expected the headmaster to have such a personality. Truthfully, while Lu Yin knew that Progenitor Hui had created the Technocracy, how had he accomplished such a thing? How had the man created technological intelligences like Headmaster Senn or City Master Midday?

"You can curse me as soundly as you wish, but you’ll have to compensate me for that," Lu Yin joked back.

"I’ll give you all of the star essence that the Technocracy possesses."

Lu Yin had just been joking, and he had not expected to receive such an answer from Headmaster Senn, and Lu Yin was quite surprised. "Give me all of your star essence? Why?"

Headmaster Senn explained, "Stellular energy has disappeared from the true universe, which has deprived you humans of the power that you rely on the most. Even if you have new cultivation methods to replace what you once used, such a change is too much to pull off quickly. Star essence is useless to us, and I might as well give it to you."

Lu Yin grew short of breath. When the Technocracy had first attacked the Aeternals twenty years ago, First Edition City and Sky Creation Academy had merged. This meant that Headmaster Senn was not merely referring to the star essence that Sky Creation Academy possessed, but rather what the entire Technocracy had. This thought made Lu Yin swallow dryly. "How much?"

"I don’t have a precise number, but I’ll have my people deliver it to you in batches. First, I’ll send you what we have here in my Sky Creation Academy, which is about 200 billion star essence. After that, we’ll send what’s stored in First Edition City and the rest of the Technocracy. Altogether, I estimate that we have almost a trillion star essence that we’ll be sending over. Our Technocracy has never tried to actively gather star essence, and it also isn’t used in our economy or for monetary transactions, so we don’t have that much," Headmaster Senn replied.

At this moment, Lu Yin's eyes turned green.

Progenitor Smoke blinked, and she stared at Lu Yin in surprise when she saw how much his expression had changed.

Could Lu Yin remain unaffected by this information? No, it was impossible for Lu Yin to remain unmoved by the numbers that Headmaster Senn was tossing out.

200 billion star essence in the first shipment? Lu Yin had only ever heard these words in his dreams before! Was this for real? 200 billion star essence at first, and nearly a trillion altogether. These numbers were insane! Lu Yin had never before possessed such wealth.

Headmaster Senn was quite accurate in his report as well. Nearly a trillion star essence was not that much for the entire Technocracy, as an entire Domain would normally have this much star essence, and the Technocracy had no use for star essence, as they relied on other resources.

Nearly a trillion star essence would soon be his… Lu Yin first thought of the slipper and the needle-like weapon, and his thoughts then quickly moved on to his Netherworld River, Withered Bark, the metal from the Absolute Beast Cage, and more. But mostly, he thought about the possibility that he had just obtained for Enhancing the slipper and the needle-like weapon. If they could fully release Progenitor Smoke, the Human Domain would gain a full-strength Progenitor. This was a powerful Progenitor who controlled one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, a powerhouse who could allow the Human Domain to unite the entire Fifth Mainland.

The Astral Beast Domain would no longer be a problem, and the Astral Wilderness would be ripe for exploration. Progenitor Smoke’s presence would even help Lu Yin deal with the pressure from the Perennial World and the hidden danger still present in the Starfall Sea.

This money presented a number of opportunities for Lu Yin.

"When will you send the shipment?" Lu Yin eagerly asked in a rare loss of control.

Headmaster Senn replied, "As soon as possible."

"Researching the combination of twenty-eight microarrays is very important, so please send someone to help with this project as soon as possible. For our part, Grandmaster Xiu Ming has joined the project. Once we can mass-produce these weapons, we will be able to deal a huge blow to the Aeternals."

Headmaster Senn was surprised by this bit of news. "Even the president of your Lockbreaker Society is participating? In that case, I will send someone as soon as possible."

Lu Yin put away his wireless jincan. A boundless excitement blazed deep in his eyes. He had just received a financial windfall, and it was absolutely massive this time.

"What's wrong with you? You look really greedy." Progenitor Smoke was still surprised by Lu Yin’s reaction.

Lu Yin looked over at the woman. "Senior, you are truly the greatest goddess in the universe, bar none!"

He then happily turned around and went to find Director Zhi and the others.

Progenitor Smoke stood where she was, stunned. Lu Yin had just complimented her for absolutely no reason. What did this mean?

A short time later, Director Zhi and the rest of the people from Aurora Enterprises also became excited. Lu Yin had taken care of their three greatest obstacles almost as soon as he had learned of them. Director Zhi could not stop himself from assuring Lu Yin that, with these issues dealt with, they were guaranteed to succeed in developing a powerful weapon with twenty-eight combined microarrays that would give humanity a devastating weapon for the war with the Aeternals.

…

In addition to visiting the microarray technology R&D center, Lu Yin also visited the raw materials division, checked on the amount of the white paper that remained, examined the medicinal stockpiles of Shamrock Enterprise, and looked through many other details.

All of these groups and companies had been merged into the Heavens Sect’s Backyard to form the logistics division that would support the sect.