165: exiting customs

In front of the Time Spire, Ruins No. 7.

As the blurry ripples dissipated, a figure slowly emerged.

"It has been a long time, Your Excellency. It is wonderful to reconnect with your signal."

"Master, I missed you so much!"

The integrated devices on his left and right wrists, which had been disconnected for a long time, lit up almost simultaneously, and two different greetings came through.

"It's been a long time. I missed you both too."

A trace of a smile appeared at the corner of Zhang Huaiyuan's mouth.

The exhaustion and loneliness brought about by nearly a century of solitary research were mostly dispelled in an instant, and the indifference deep in his eyes, which he hadn't even noticed himself, softened slightly.

"Grandmaster Zhang Huaiyuan."

At that moment, Morr, who had been monitoring the energy depletion nearby, rushed to the entrance and called out from a distance.

"Grandmaster Morr."

Zhang Huaiyuan's expression paused imperceptibly as he greeted him in return.

"Oh... it seems you've gained quite a lot."

After Morr approached, he looked him over a few times and suddenly grinned.

That was a temperament that could only be formed through the immersion in vast knowledge and a profound internal depth.

As the Empire's Chief Researcher, he was all too familiar with this feeling.

Even at his level, he felt an invisible pressure from the bottom of his heart at this moment, as if a failing student were looking up at a god of study.

"It was alright. Where is Old Brother Luo?"

Zhang Huaiyuan nodded and responded with a smile.

It was more than just a large gain.

Not to mention advancing again, his knowledge in various disciplines had completely reached Level 2 standards.

He had even met an existence from a higher world and obtained a decent item from him.

"I just notified His Majesty; he should be here soon..."

"Hahaha, Brother Zhang, this trip into seclusion was quite something."

Before the words finished, a hearty laugh approached from afar. A tall and upright middle-aged man had arrived at the Spire's entrance at some unknown point.

He looked Zhang Huaiyuan over with admiration: "I don't understand the scientific research stuff, but your physical fitness is almost catching up to an SS-Class Transcendent. Well? How much certainty do you have?"

"It's hard to say how many percent, but raising the original level by a grade won't be a problem."

Zhang Huaiyuan shook his head and smiled: "However, the constants inside the Spire are different from the outside world. I still need to go back and make some data adjustments. Once finished, I will share some of the information."

"Good. I don't understand this; you can just communicate with Morr and the intellectual brain when the time comes."

Emperor Luo nodded, his expression relaxing a bit, and asked:

"Will you use the Empire's laboratory directly, or return to the Star Alliance side?"

"I'll return to the Star Alliance. I've been away for a long time."

Zhang Huaiyuan's brow twitched slightly. Speaking of which, not long after he succeeded as the Star Alliance Head, he was invited to visit the Empire and then entered the Spire to research for a century.

For a moment, it really felt like a lifetime ago.

"Good. In that case, I'll have the intellectual brain see you off. intellectual brain, bring the 'star dome' over."

Following Emperor Luo's command, a starship with a magnificent design like a 'swallowtail butterfly' soon descended.

"Sorry for the trouble."

Zhang Huaiyuan did not decline.

Although in his current eyes, this starship representing the world's highest standard was somewhat outdated, it was still the most convenient vehicle before he could turn the ideas in his mind into reality.

"Target: Free Star Alliance territory. Beginning warp..."

...One month later, Shuguang New District, Lihua Star.

"Thanks for the hard work, intellectual brain."

Looking at the familiar land in his memory, Zhang Huaiyuan stretched and said.

He hadn't done any research during the flight; instead, he had rested and slept for a full month. Now, he felt his spirit had completely recovered.

"You are welcome, Your Excellency Zhang Huaiyuan. Although I take orders from His Majesty, you are still the human I admire most. Especially the 'Intelligent Lifeform Equality Act' you established against all odds; you truly live up to the name of a pioneer. It is my honor to serve you."

The intellectual brain said solemnly.

"Since you have arrived, I shall take my leave. Once you complete your adjustments, simply press this ring, and I will sense it."

"Alright."

After Zhang Huaiyuan put on a silver-white metal ring, a short-range warp device appeared beneath his feet, and he returned to his manor on Lihua Star in one step.

"Your Excellency, this is a record of all event changes in the Free Star Alliance over the past year."

"Master, this is the exploration record of the engineering robots over the past year."

Dense lists of data were projected simultaneously from the integrated devices on his left and right wrists.

"I trust you two to handle it. Forget about the trivial matters; just tell me what you think is important."

Zhang Huaiyuan glanced at it and couldn't help but feel a headache.

He would rather go back into seclusion for another 100 years than spend a single bit of mental energy on such trifles.

"Some families and merchant firms violated Star Alliance laws. After friendly communication, they are willing to give up 90% of their property to express their determination to turn over a new leaf..."

"The Marshals of the First and Second Legions led fleets equipped with Phase Weapons and successfully cleared all Disaster Zones of large-scale and above three months ago. Some small and medium-sized ones currently have Regents proposing they be kept under control for training recruits..."

"Your friends, the 'Dark Annihilation' Mercenary Group, are currently developing in the 'Watcher' star system. Regent Kolen has signed a long-term cooperation contract with them. In addition, I have secretly dispatched an S-Class Transcendent to protect them..."

"Currently, the Star Alliance's energy reserves have filled a total of 982 large storage stars..."

"..."

The Statue of Liberty quickly narrated some of the key points.

"Mm... you handled it perfectly. You truly are one of my most reliable partners."

Zhang Huaiyuan gave a smile of encouragement and turned his head to his left wrist: "What about you, Asroth?"

"Hey, Master, I actually do have an important matter to report to you."

The light screen flickered slightly, and Asroth's somewhat solemn voice came through.

"Oh? What is it?"

Zhang Huaiyuan's expression turned slightly serious.

Although Asroth usually acted a bit wacky, he was never ambiguous about major matters. Something that could make him act so solemnly was clearly not simple.

"Ten months ago, because the resource mining efficiency in unowned star systems was too slow, in order not to lose... cough, in order to accumulate enough high-quality energy stones for you, I tried to secretly infiltrate the system of a certain star system on the border of the Orr Empire."

"Their outer defense systems were extremely crude, much lower than the level of the original intellectual brain. After dealing with the outer firewall, I prepared to break into the core system in one go, but I found that I actually couldn't find a loophole in the core protection for a while."

"Couldn't find a loophole? Are you sure?"

"Positive. Although I could still solve it with a brute-force attack given some time, its core protection layer is indeed perfect."

Zhang Huaiyuan's brow furrowed.

Asroth had replaced his Quantum Server by now. Although he was still far from being comparable to the Statue of Liberty, with the support of a complete 'Miracle Algorithm', he was even quite a bit stronger than the intellectual brain.

If he were discovered, it would be excusable, but not even finding a protection loophole meant there were only two possibilities.

One was that the Orr Empire's 'overseer' also contained Level 2 or even some Level 3 algorithm systems!

Two was... it had been implanted with some kind of high-level protection program.

Whichever possibility it was, it meant that this nation, which was supposed to be the weakest, had significant issues.

"Even the Miracle Algorithm at over fifty percent progress was obstructed..."

A flash of solemnity crossed Zhang Huaiyuan's eyes.

"It seems it's time to give them another upgrade."

...