55: Chapter 55 Southern Continent

Xia Xingchen stood in the gardens of the Governor's Palace on Lanshan Planet, gazing up at the entire starry sky.

At this moment, Xia Xingchen truly felt the gravity of the burden resting upon his shoulders.

A few days later.

Just as Xia Xingchen was preparing to ask Sela about the exploration of the two southern continents.

He had previously sent Sela to lead a team to explore the two continents in the south.

After all, although the dream star hadn't detected any signs of life on those two southern continents, something was definitely hidden there.

This was because when the reconnaissance drones had previously reached that airspace, all their equipment had been instantly paralyzed by unknown technology.

With no other choice, Xia Xingchen had to send personnel for an on-site exploration, and the only suitable person he could mobilize right now was Sela.

Under the protection of a group of guards and Skitarii, Sela organized an exploration team of a hundred people.

Of the two southern continents, one was further north and the other further south; they prioritized exploring the northernmost one.

In the Governor's Palace, Xia Xingchen was just about to connect to Sela's communication channel when a message suddenly popped up in his chat box.

Seeing this, Xia Xingchen immediately set aside Sela's matter, opened the chat channel, and clicked on the communication email. To his surprise, the sender was Chen Yuan.

Xia Xingchen suddenly remembered that when he and Chen Yuan parted ways, he had indeed added Chen Yuan as a system friend.

He hadn't thought much of it at the time, so he hadn't expected Chen Yuan to send him a message now.

Xia Xingchen opened the email and found that Chen Yuan had actually sent him some vital information.

According to Chen Yuan's letter, the Hive City that Xia Xingchen had previously attacked was governed by a man named Kava Thomas.

Furthermore, Governor Vanad had officially broken away from the Empire and declared himself king.

Kava Thomas had also formally established a new empire, calling it the Vanard Dynasty.

Chen Yuan's intention was for Xia Xingchen to try and plunder this planet.

After all, Vanad was no longer under the Empire's protection. More accurately, the Empire was already planning to send troops to suppress him, but everyone knew the situation in the Ultima Segmentum—it was simply too remote.

One must realize that the last time the Empire had inspected or collected taxes from Vanad's planet was five hundred years ago.

Xia Xingchen assessed the current situation in his mind. He had too few people on hand, and the dream star could not be deployed at will.

The fact that Katrus could arrive here meant there was a stable Warp Mandenville Point nearby. If an unknown warship were to emerge from there, the hard-won position he had established could very well be snatched away by someone else.

He had to wait a while longer to ensure the security of the surrounding area.

Moreover, with all his current resources and energy poured into the construction of Lanshan Planet, Xia Xingchen simply didn't have the spare manpower or materials to engage in a new war.

After thinking it through, Xia Xingchen first declined Chen Yuan's proposal, stating that he would consider it after a period of development.

After declining Chen Yuan's proposal, Xia Xingchen finally connected to Sela's communication channel.

After a burst of static died down.

"Respected Commander, do you have instructions for me?"

A mechanical voice came through the communication channel, though it was clearly audible that the mechanical tone had been adjusted for resonance, giving it a somewhat soft, feminine quality.

"Yes, I wanted to ask, how is the exploration of Southern Continent 1 going?"

They referred to the continent near the equator as Southern Continent 1, and the one further away as Southern Continent 2.

"My Lord, the things here are beyond your imagination. You really should come and see for yourself."

Compared to the rigidity of Leovitos or the silence of the Blacksmith, Sela's personality clearly possessed more vivid emotions.

"What have you discovered?"

Xia Xingchen's interest was instantly piqued upon hearing the excitement in Sela's tone.

Clearly, the things on Southern Continent 1 completely exceeded their expectations and predictions.

"Praise the Omnissiah. Do you like warships, Archon?"

Upon hearing Sela's words, Xia Xingchen immediately gave an affirmative answer:

"Of course I like warships. Who would complain about having too many? Such a person would definitely not be a qualified Governor."

At that moment, in a canyon on Southern Continent 1, Sela's exploration team was looking at the mountain-like piles of wreckage from Imperial and xenos warships. Hearing the Archon's reply over the communication channel, Sela gave the final answer with obvious joy:

"Then, Archon, we will have an inexhaustible supply of warship materials."

Sela then described the scene before her eyes to Xia Xingchen. Hearing this, Xia Xingchen's face was full of disbelief.

It seemed highly likely that this continent was the result of a massive number of warships crashing onto the southern continent after the Empire fought a brutal battle, creating the current landscape.

But the question was, why did the warships only crash on the southern continent?

Logically speaking, if space warships fell from orbit, there should have been a chance for some to hit the northern continent as well.

The only explanation Xia Xingchen could come up with was that the Empire had actually cleared the warship wreckage from the northern continent back then, leaving only a damaged battlecruiser to be used for the colony's base construction.

The remaining wreckage might have been gathered and dumped on the southern continent, with the intention of cleaning it up once the northern continent had developed.

They just hadn't expected that the northern continent wouldn't develop at all; instead, it had regressed into a medieval-level theocratic state, making the mining of these warship wrecks a mere fantasy.

"Archon, I do not recommend that we begin large-scale mining operations right now."

Sela suddenly suggested against mining. Hearing this, Xia Xingchen was filled with confusion.

"Is the mining difficulty too high?"

Sela looked at the black gas permeating the surroundings; the gas was so thick it almost looked like ink.

Through her optical bionic eyes, Sela quickly analyzed and determined that this was an inert gas that could form a substance similar to a protective film.

These protective films adhered to the warship hulls, greatly slowing down their corrosion and decay. However, this special gas was toxic and extremely harmful to flora and fauna.

Essentially, the entire Southern Continent 1 had become a barren wasteland. Looking into the distance from the ground, one could only see pitch-black earth.

Xia Xingchen was now in a difficult position.

The warship ruins on Continent 1 were undoubtedly a massive treasure trove, but the problem was that he currently lacked the ability to mine them safely.

At this moment, Xia Xingchen felt as if he were guarding the massive treasure vault of Lanshan Planet, yet could only reach the topmost layer of gold coins.

"Sela, I have a new mission for you."

Xia Xingchen issued a new command to Sela through the communicator.

"While ensuring your own safety, try to go deeper into the canyon and see if you can find any warships that are still functional."

After all, while most large warships cannot land on a planet's surface, there are landing-capable models. Most of these are transport ships, created specifically to compensate for the inability of large warships to land.

If he could find one or two such transport ships, the allocation of resources would become much more convenient. If necessary, they could even be converted into armed freighters to protect Lanshan Planet.

"Understood, My Lord."

Upon receiving the new instructions, Sela immediately led her exploration team deeper into the canyon.

After the communication ended, Xia Xingchen prepared to finish the last few tasks before entering a phase of rest and waiting.