171: The Choice of Knowledge

"Your Excellency the Führer, these guys don't seem as strong as I imagined."

Kols looked at the outsiders who had all been turned into dust, a disdainful smile appearing on the corner of his mouth.

"Perhaps."

Zhang Huaiyuan was not as optimistic.

According to the information fed back by the Statue of Liberty, of the seven shielded zones that landed within the Star Alliance's territory, two had disappeared after the barriers vanished, besides these two.

Three others were still under the monitoring of the Statue of Liberty.

The first was a four-person squad, but their strength was clearly much greater than "iron wire" and "falcon." Their cultivation techniques, equipment, and personal realms had all definitely reached the level 2 rules standard.

A large fleet sent to test them, consisting of exactly 2,730 level 9 starships, was completely dismantled in just five minutes.

They seemed completely unconcerned about revealing their whereabouts and were currently on a Free Trade Star, gorging themselves at a high-end dining center.

The second was a seven-person squad, whose strength was also not to be underestimated.

They had just broken through the fire net blockade at the Port of Friendship, which consisted of ten full fleets and one million combat robots, and were flying toward the periphery, about to leave the monitoring range.

Based on their path, it seemed they wanted to head toward a certain ruin.

The third squad was the most peculiar, consisting of only one person.

He remained in the same spot, but strangely, any spacecraft or robots that approached would automatically crash.

"Continue monitoring and try to find the locations of the remaining two teams as much as possible."

Zhang Huaiyuan gave the order and, with a wave of his hand, retrieved the dozen or so black bracelets scattered in the void.

He didn't know what material this thing was made of, but it hadn't shattered even under the barrage of the Phase Disintegration Cannons.

His eyes flashed as he activated his ability to look.

[reincarnation mirror Receiver]

It can receive instructions sent from the terminal across boundaries.

Contains knowledge rule level: 3.

"This description seems to be a technology-side item. Could it be... Asroth."

Zhang Huaiyuan called out softly, and the intelligence in his left wrist immediately understood and dove into it.

A moment later.

"Master, no, the encryption level inside is too high; I can't hack it at all."

Asroth said somewhat dejectedly, "Why not let the Goddess try?"

"No need."

Zhang Huaiyuan shook his head; after all, this was a product of level 3 rules, so even if the Statue of Liberty tried, it would be a waste of effort. It was enough just to confirm it was a technological means.

His heart sank slightly. His opponents were not just these trialists but also the power-holders behind them. Only by dealing with them could he truly rest easy.

For a faction clearly dominated by the cultivation side to have such high technological means was obviously far more difficult to deal with than imagined.

"It seems a decision must be made."

With a thought, Zhang Huaiyuan returned to Lihua Star.

He then took out a huge book shimmering with spots of light.

"Time Traveler Association's Compulsory Education Textbook - Ordinary Edition (Single-use)."

This was given to him by a strange man he met after leaving seclusion in the Time Spire earlier. It allowed him to freely choose a subject he wanted to learn, and the content would be adjusted between level 0-30 knowledge based on his mastery.

"If my estimation is correct, level 30 should correspond to level 3 rules knowledge. Even if I make a breakthrough in researching weapons, this world has no materials to manufacture them. It's better to choose their weakest area and my strongest..."

"I want to master knowledge related to intelligent lifeforms."

Zhang Huaiyuan muttered in his heart.

Instantly, the book flipped open automatically, and countless pages rustled.

Until it suddenly stopped at a certain point.

With a slight tearing sound, a sheet of paper covered in countless spots of light fell from the book and floated toward him.

The half-person-high book also quietly dispersed into a cloud of starlight and vanished.

Zhang Huaiyuan felt endless knowledge pouring into his mind.

The knowledge he had previously pieced together from sporadic ruin items now had a complete system.

After barely sparing a bit of focus to notify the Statue of Liberty and Asroth to take charge of the overall situation, he threw himself fully into his studies... Meanwhile, as Zhang Huaiyuan felt the pressure.

All the trialists from outside the world were equally shocked.

Just now, a notification came from the bracelets.

"The 'iron wire' squad, 'falcon' squad, and 'Lieba' squad have been wiped out. Current remaining squads: 17."

This made the trialist squads, who had originally acted arrogantly, realize that this final trial mission was not as simple as they had imagined.

The lifeforms here seemed to have the ability to harm them.

They immediately reined in their arrogance and lay low for the time being to observe.

Of course, there were also those who didn't care at all.

At this moment, in the far north of the entire world.

Ever since the Galaxy Beast calamity descended, it had destroyed the original kingdoms and become the monsters' base.

Over a hundred years ago, the three major powers had formed a joint fleet to explore it, but in the end, the entire force was wiped out, including the three accompanying SSS-Class Strongest.

The last message sent back before their deaths spoke of endless monsters and more than ten SSS-Rank Star River Beasts.

Later, although technology continued to advance, as the relations between the three major powers deteriorated, even the strongest Star Dome Empire was unwilling to risk losing troops and generals to explore it again.

As for what it had become after the Second Evolution occurred, no one knew.

Judging by the SS-Class Star River Beasts that occasionally darted out from the border, one could imagine the horror of the core area. It definitely far surpassed a typical Cataclysm-level Disaster Zone.

At this time, a man with crimson eyes and grey scales on his face stepped onto a two-winged giant beast and passed through as if no one were there.

Strangely, the terrifyingly massive beasts traveling through interstellar space did not attack; instead, like loyal dogs seeing their master, they each prostrated themselves in the air in a show of submission. Then, they followed far behind.

"Come out and greet your king!"

Suddenly, he stopped and emitted a series of strange syllables.

Deep in the starry sky, low growls echoed in response.

One after another, monsters emitting terrifying pressure appeared.

The largest of them were even the size of stars, but as they drew closer, their bodies automatically scaled down proportionally.

When they appeared before the man, they were less than a hundred thousand meters long, but their aura was even more powerful.

"1... 2... 5... 16... 19."

The man carelessly swept a finger across these terrifying creatures; when he reached the nineteenth, his fingertip suddenly paused.

Then his entire palm swelled thousands of times, grabbing the head of that SSS-Rank Star River Beast. His sharp nails extended like living things, embedding themselves deep into its brain.

"Roar!"

The massive creature let out a series of violent wails, but in the next second, its entire head turned into a mist of blood, and its body slumped powerlessly.

"I don't like this number."

The man's crimson eyes grew more crazed, a bloodthirsty smile curling on his lips as he stepped forward, violently tore the monster's body apart, and tossed it into the crowd of monsters.

Driven by instinct, countless low-level Galaxy Beasts scrambled to rush up and devour the monster's remains.

"Hahaha!"

Seeing this, the man couldn't help but laugh loudly. He took out a bottle of bright red potion from his bosom and crushed it with a "bang."

"Is the mission to help these monsters occupy the world... then evolve once more!"

...