52: Chapter 52 Begin the Trade

Xia Xingchen looked at Katrus as if he were looking at a Fortune Boy; whatever he needed, the man seemed to have.

Katrus hadn't brought out such a precious item for no reason.

In fact, this star map was a product of the Dark Age of Technology. They couldn't fully decode it and could only barely understand a fraction of its information. Consequently, for a Rogue Trader, it was like chicken ribs—tasteless to eat but a pity to throw away.

After all, a merchant wanted items that could be quickly converted into capital, not to spend time researching an object they couldn't understand.

"Give me the star map, and I will give you the trade goods you desire."

Xia Xingchen paused after saying this, then clearly uttered two words:

"Adamantium."

Hearing this, Katrus's pupils dilated instantly.

Adamantium was one of the indispensable core materials of the Empire, a necessity for forging the keels of all Imperial warships. In the Empire, it was essentially a hard currency.

Katrus swallowed hard. He knew that his chance to turn his fortunes around might lie with the man before him.

"Please wait a moment, my Lord! I will have all the goods transported down for you immediately!"

After speaking, Katrus immediately apologized to Xia Xingchen, saying he needed to step aside to arrange the communications.

Xia Xingchen nodded, indicating there was no problem.

Watching Katrus anxiously relaying communications to the side, Xia Xingchen immediately issued instructions for Nuwa and Leovitos to come over at once; there were items here that needed their appraisal.

Immediately after, Xia Xingchen turned his gaze back to the construction site.

By now, after hundreds of controlled explosions, the entire foundation had been pressed very flat, but this was far from enough.

A foundation compacted by natural means alone could never support cables and buildings tens of thousands of meters high; a reinforced foundation cast as a single monolithic unit was required here.

Xia Xingchen wondered when Blacksmith would finish the casting components for the foundation.

Inside the foundry.

Blacksmith looked at the foundry before him, feeling ecstatic.

This was the first time Blacksmith had held such an important position, with tens of thousands of workers under his command.

The days of wandering and displacement following Leovitos were gone forever.

The current Blacksmith was now the Forge Manager in charge of the entire casting industry.

This was a position that would normally take countless years—or perhaps a lifetime—to reach, yet now it was within his grasp. It seemed that following the right person was truly important.

"Reporting to my Lord, all the molds have basically taken shape. Once they have cooled, they can be removed and transported to the installation site."

Listening to the report from his subordinate, Blacksmith nodded, his mechanical voice sounding once more:

"Quality must be guaranteed. Under my watch, no problems are permitted. Otherwise, I will have you converted into a Servitor."

Upon hearing this, a foreman hurriedly bowed and scraped:

"Rest assured, my Lord, there will be no problems at all."

Blacksmith scanned the molds twice with his red laser bionic eye before issuing the next command:

"Demold all the cast components. Also, tell the transport team they must deliver the parts to the Lord's hands perfectly intact. If anything happens, I will hold them personally responsible."

The foreman nodded immediately and went to execute the orders.

Blacksmith watched all of this:

"Praise the Omnissiah."

The verses of prayer echoed within the foundry.

Meanwhile, Katrus had already begun a steady stream of transporting slaves from the warship to Xia Xingchen via transport ships.

The most important item, that mysterious star map, was also sent to Xia Xingchen by a transport ship under Katrus's arrangement.

Leovitos and Nuwa looked at the mysterious device before them, their eyes filled with curiosity.

The exterior of this star map device was a massive structure resembling a lotus flower, with a square base beneath it.

Furthermore, it wasn't just a single upright lotus structure; if Xia Xingchen had to describe it using the most similar thing he could think of, it would be the Fairy Castle from the 'Balala the Fairies' show he watched as a child.

This thing... was a star map?

Xia Xingchen's eyes betrayed his skepticism.

Katrus hurriedly patted his chest in front of Xia Xingchen, guaranteeing that this was absolutely a star map left over from the Dark Age of Technology, and its value was immeasurable.

Xia Xingchen looked at the star map, then cast his gaze toward Leovitos and Nuwa.

The two of them inspected it carefully, then nodded to Xia Xingchen.

There were no issues; this was definitely a relic from the Dark Age of Technology.

Since there was no problem with the first item, it was time to inspect the second.

Katrus's efficiency was unimaginably high, perhaps due to a natural merchant's extreme pursuit of cost-effectiveness.

In just half a day, Katrus had brought all thirty thousand people to the clearing, lining them up before Xia Xingchen.

The Tech-Priests had already begun the screening process. Xia Xingchen needed labor that could work, not those who were heavily diseased or without any value.

Beyond that, they had a core, secret requirement: no followers of Chaos could be mixed in.

Numerous Servo-skulls floated in the air, scanning every person back and forth.

Only when a green light lit up in a Servo-skull's pupils did it mean the slave was qualified; if a red light lit up, it meant the slave was rejected.

Unqualified slaves were picked out immediately and shoved back into Katrus's hands.

Katrus didn't mind at all; the golden trade had many areas that needed personnel anyway, so he could just stuff them in anywhere.

Even if they died, their corpses could be recycled and turned into Corpse Starch.

Just as a Servo-skull finished scanning one person and moved to the next, it quickly discovered something wrong with this individual.

A shrill alarm sounded instantly.

At the sound, Xia Xingchen's soldiers immediately stepped forward and forcibly dragged the refugee out of the line.

Witnessing this, not a single person dared to resist; everyone scrambled to get away.

Only the captured slave suddenly began to struggle desperately.

With a sudden burst, he managed to throw off one of the soldiers.

Seeking death.

Following that, another soldier delivered two heavy punches to his face. Blood and teeth traced arcs through the air, and the slave finally stopped resisting.

The soldiers brought the slave before Xia Xingchen and Katrus.

The Servo-skull generated a virtual screen directly in front of Xia Xingchen and Katrus.

Displayed on the screen was a scanned pattern: a large Eight-Pointed Star symbol.

This pattern happened to be tattooed deep on the slave's chest.

Seeing this, Xia Xingchen did not hesitate. He drew his Plasma Pistol, and a single beam of light punched through the slave's head.

"Mr. Katrus, I hope this is the first and last time."