Chapter 468 - Supreme Merchant Group

Steely’s Giant-class ship now measured 120,000 square kilometers and cruised at 10,000 kilometers per hour. Its Armor value also reached 32,000. With its current systems equipped, its rating sat at eighty-five points.

[System 1: Hurricane Hull (Assist System). Effects: Forms a hurricane barrier that protects the ship from attacks. Rating: +20 points.]

[System 2: Steel Wings (Assist System). Effects: When activated, two steel wings rise to boost speed by 40%. Rating: +20 points.]

[System 3: Wind Fang (Weapon System). Effects: Absorbs energy from the surrounding to fire the magic Wind Fang. Each spell can kill a Heroic life form on impact and has an attack radius of 3 square kilometers. Rating: +25 points.]

[Additional: This Giant-class ship is bound to Steely. When Steely is piloting it, the ship gains the Skill: Swordwind, which can kill a King life form.]

Dark Locust’s Giant-class ship measured 100,000 square kilometers and cruised at 12,000 kilometers per hour. Its Armor value also reached 18,000, and its current rating sat at seventy-nine points.

[System 1: Dark Energy Cannon (Weapon System). Effects: Absorbs Dark Energy to fire a powerful cannon blast. Each blast can kill a High Lord life form. Rating: +24 points.]

[System 2: Nightfall (Assist System). Effects: Absorbs Dark Energy to cover the hull in a veil of darkness that disrupts enemy detection and perception. Rating: +16 points.]

[System 3: Dark Door (Assist System). Effects: Consumes a large amount of Dark Energy to form a door that connects to another location. Rating: +19 points.]

[Additional: This Giand-class ship is bound to Dark Locust. When Dark Locust is piloting it, the ship gains the Skill: Accelerated Reproduction, which increases the reproduction rate of the locusts inside.]

Han Wu studied the two ships with satisfaction. With them, he could kill a King life form with ease. Still, if there’s a Sage or Earthsunder life form, he would rely on Steely and Dark Locust to fight on their own.

His other ships kept mining low-purity Abyssal Netherstones every day. Han Wu tossed everything into the Fabricator and obtained a lot of 100% pure Abyssal Netherstones.

He was practically earning an impressive profit daily. If he sold all the stones he produced, he would surpass some God Kings in wealth very soon.

However, he didn’t do that. He needed to artificially control the supply and avoid drawing attention to his growing fortune. Even when he sold the Abyssal Netherstones, he released only a small share to maintain the price of his 100% pure Abyssal Netherstones high.

With enough Divine Essence, he focused on strengthening himself. He had to cultivate his Divine Authority, expand his divine realm, and nurture his units. Unfortunately, some rare resources couldn’t be bought with just Divine Essence. He needed time and luck.

Han Wu spent his days mining low-purity Abyssal Netherstones with his locust swarm and skeleton army. Both groups were large in number, and he assigned tasks based on their traits. The skeletons never grew tired, so they handled the laborious work of mining. The locusts could fly, so they were in charge of transporting the Abyssal Netherstones. The two races worked well together, and the arrangement let Han Wu lie down and still make a lot of money.

One day, an alarm blared while he was relaxing. He jolted awake. Ever since he had established his base of operations here, no one had visited except for the few thugs who had tried to extort him early on.

Now someone was intruding. Han Wu was already itching to give orders to his two Giant-class ships. He was about to instruct Steely and Dark Locust to prepare for combat when a foreign transmission pinged him.

The unexpected signal baffled him, but he accepted the call.

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

“Honored captain of the powerful fleet, greetings. We are the Supreme Merchant Group hailing from the Divine Civilization. We have entered your territory today for trade, not conflict. We hope to establish a valuable trading partnership with you.”

They then sent documentation in several languages for Han Wu to verify their identities.

He reviewed the documents and confirmed that they were legitimate. The result left him somewhat disappointed. He had hoped that they were merchants from another civilization or intruders. If they were merchants from elsewhere, he could trade wares exclusive to their civilization. If they were intruders, he could just take them down and seize everything.

Though disappointed, he still allowed them to enter the vicinity. Soon, a 30,000-square-kilometer Giant-class ship, escorted by eighteen 100-square-kilometer Small-class ships, came into view.

Han Wu brought ten of his strongest locusts to welcome them. He left Steely and Dark Locust behind because he wanted to hide his strength when he had no ties with the newcomers. He was hoping that the merchant group would attack him first so that he could retaliate and take all their wares. Even so, he intended to respect the rules and wouldn’t attack them without provocation.

Soon, the two parties met. The Supreme Merchant Group had sent three representatives to meet with Han Wu. One was an older-looking Major God who carried himself with calm composure. The other two were younger Gods who appeared to have just graduated from high school.

Their expressions varied when they saw Han Wu and the ten locusts. Major God Jiang Ming maintained a calm, friendly look. He never once looked down on Han Wu after seeing his locusts.

However, the two young Gods, Yin Ming and Xi Jie, showed open contempt. They viewed locusts as weak and insignificant life forms. Against enemies of the same rank, locusts were still weaker and almost always ranked last. Meanwhile, Han Wu’s locusts were only King life forms, and none had reached the Sage rank. Thus, the two Gods saw no reason to show respect to someone they considered a weakling.

Han Wu introduced himself first. “Hello, I am Han Wu from the Divine Civilization.”

Jiang Ming noted that Han Wu hailed from the same civilization and warmed to him. “To think that we would meet one of our own here. I’m certain that our trade will proceed even more smoothly now.”

Han Wu chuckled and led them into his base.

As they walked, Jiang Ming quietly counted Han Wu’s fleet. His senses picked up 182 ships in total. Out of those, 150 were Small-class vessels that posed no real threat. Twenty were Middle-class ships, each radiating a distinct aura that suggested they carried units other than locusts. Ten were Big-class ships, and their occupants felt stronger than the ten King locusts accompanying Han Wu.

The final two were Giant-class ships, one shaped like a greatsword and the other shaped like a skull. Jiang Ming couldn’t sense what lay inside either one. Only life forms at Sage rank or higher could obscure themselves that completely. His curiosity about Han Wu deepened. The man looked like a young, ordinary God from the Divine Civilization, yet the fleet suggested he hid far more than he revealed.