Chapter 462 - Rest Stop

The Medium-class ship was lightning fast and flew at a speed that far exceeded both Han Wu’s fleet and Jing Jing’s Giant-class ship. It didn’t take long for it to escape.

“Damn! We lost it!” Han Wu scowled, embarrassed that not one ship from his large fleet could catch up.

“That Medium-class ship likely had a lot of powerful systems installed.” Jing Jing consoled him. “It’s normal that we can’t catch up to it. Don’t worry, my dear God.”

Han Wu wasn’t willing to let it go. “That’s exactly why I’m mad. Those powerful systems could’ve been ours.”

Jing Jing’s eyes widened with realization. Han Wu was right. If they had caught the Medium-class ship, the systems, treasures, and units onboard would have all been theirs.

Their failure to catch that ship was akin to money slipping through their fingers. But it was too late to regret it. Han Wu and Jing Jing could only look for other ships to rob.

Unfortunately, Han Wu’s 182 ships and Jing Jing’s massive skull-shaped ship were simply too conspicuous, and any passing ships avoided them like the plague.

The two of them flew around the mine with nothing to show for their efforts.

They couldn’t do this forever, as wasting an entire day equated to wasting their life. Just as they were about to rethink their strategy, they passed by a rest stop situated in the skies above.

The flags of the three major civilizations flying from it indicated that the surrounding skies were under their protection. It served as a warning to those up to no good.

Han Wu, still grumbling to himself, was maneuvering his fleet toward the rest stop when he received a warning from the administrator.

[The rest stop has limited docking space. We do not permit huge fleets to berth here at the same time. Please send a single ship as a representative to stop here.]

Having no choice but to abide, Han Wu chose the Giant-class ship that Steely was commanding to stop at the designated space. Jing Jing also docked her skull-shaped ship at the pier.

It cost 10,000 Essence Coins for a Giant-class ship to dock at the rest stop, and Han Wu begrudgingly paid 20,000 Essence Coins—equivalent to 20 Divine Essence—to the administrator before disembarking.

There were many life forms on the rest stop, many of whom were sworn enemies. However, regardless of the grudges between them, they had no choice but to hold back in this governed space.

The three major civilizations employed harsh penalties against any troublemakers. At best, one would be fined; at worst, anyone who caused too much ruckus could even be killed outright. No one dared to challenge the laws here when their life was on the line.

Entering the rest stop, Han Wu’s eyes lit up as he took in the numerous stalls selling Abyssal Netherstones.

Of these, it was fairly easy to differentiate between sellers who had mined the Abyssal Netherstones themselves and those who had stolen them from others. All one needed to check was the quality of the Abyssal Netherstones.

Batches with similar quality were almost certainly mined, as it was virtually impossible to dig out Abyssal Netherstones of different qualities from the same shaft. Those with vastly different qualities in the same batch were most likely being fenced off.

There were also many stalls selling ships and various systems.

Han Wu curiously perused the wares. There were various classes and qualities between the ships.

Size determined the class of a ship, with larger vessels able to equip more systems. Quality, on the other hand, was based on the systems actively equipped on said ship. More systems meant higher overall points and a higher-quality ship.

Referencing the quality of the ships in the stalls, Han Wu was mortified to learn that almost all his ships were below 10. His ships were rubbish!

After all, his ships only had his units and no equipped systems.

Jing Jing’s Giant-class ship was similarly below average at 53 points, as she didn’t have any systems on her ship either.

Having encountered a ship that could outmaneuver them, Han Wu was ready to buy some systems to upgrade both his and Jing Jing’s ships. However, after checking the systems on sale, he quickly realized he was dirt poor.

Every single system on sale was expensive. Even the cheapest ones cost 10,000 Essence Coins, or 10 Divine Essence, and those were useless ones that could only be equipped to Small-class ships. They didn’t meet his requirements at all.

Han Wu wanted the powerful ones, but he didn’t have Divine Essence to purchase them. It was embarrassing.

Noticing his desperation, Jing Jing consoled him. “Glorious God, why don’t we try to rob some ships outside and purchase the systems once we have enough money?”

Han Wu, however, was staring fixedly at a powerful weapon system called Death Laser. It could absorb dark energy to form a powerful laser capable of killing a Sage life form. All he needed to do was to use the dark energy formed from 100 million locusts to activate it.

There was no guarantee that a powerful system like this would be available to him next time.

“I can’t wait. I need to buy it now, no matter the cost!” Han Wu rested his hand on the glass as he stared longingly at the powerful Death Laser.

Jing Jing frowned. Even though Han Wu had a lot of Divine Essence in his account, they were supposed to be for upgrading his Divine Authority and nurturing his units, not to be spent like this.

“Glorious God, please reconsider.”

Han Wu shot her a knowing glance. “Don’t worry, I won’t touch the money meant for upgrading myself.”

Jing Jing sighed. “But how are you going to get the money needed to purchase the system?”

Chuckling, Han Wu turned toward the Abyssal Netherstones stall beside them. “My money is just over there.”

The stall was selling around 50 kilograms of Abyssal Netherstones, but the purity of the stones was only around 30%. No one wanted to buy such low-quality stones. The seller, seemingly aware of this, wasn’t peddling his wares at all and was quietly reading a book instead.

Han Wu approached the stall. “Hey, are you selling these?”

The stall owner set down his book and peered at Han Wu with a bemused expression.