56: Sea Tree Island

Half a month later.

A roughly 300-meter-long "wanderer ii" command starship was traveling rapidly through the starry sky.

This was an obsolete model from the Free Star Alliance 140 years ago, with overall performance nearly identical to the Empire's "voyager generation iii," but it had a bolder design, and the outer coating was deliberately distressed to highlight an artistic feel.

Since the "starship Production Center" had not yet been completed, Zhang Huaiyuan had no choice but to choose to travel on this "Wind and Waves" flagship.

"Master, after passing through this wormhole and traveling another 1.2 light-years to the west, we will reach Sea Tree Island."

A burly man wearing a black combat suit reported respectfully to a robot.

"Hmm..."

Zhang Huaiyuan nodded slightly, his gaze lingering on his two modified subordinates.

[Tarian]

Classification: Carbon-based lifeform.

Ability: Magnetic Storm—a Lightning-type area-of-effect Transcendent ability. It forms a magnetic field counter-current from the massive amount of electrons carried by high-voltage currents, triggering a magnetic storm with a certain degree of paralysis effect.

Ability Level: Mid-tier (Benign mutation, strength has been increased to a certain extent).

Favorability: 97 (He is willing to sacrifice everything for you).

Strategy Suggestion: No strategy needed; the target is continuously self-strategizing.

Luck Value: 9.

[Finn]

Classification: Carbon-based lifeform.

Ability: Fire Lizard—a Fire-type summoning Transcendent ability. It can conjure elemental giant lizards capable of controlling massive amounts of flame power to attack; the quantity increases with the level.

Ability Level...

Half a month ago, after countless attempts, the modification of these two subordinates was finally completed.

Although there was still some distance to go before reaching the upper tier, compared to before, their strength had at least doubled, and they were no longer among the bottom-tier group.

Later, if he could forge a set of complementary Transcendent mechs and weapons for them, it would compensate for the lack of powerful individual soldiers.

"Press this button when you arrive at the destination."

Zhang Huaiyuan controlled the robot to point at the blue button on its shoulder, then cut off the visual feed from that location, dedicating his full attention to his research.

Interstellar travel is usually long and boring, and he had too many things to do right now; he couldn't waste a single moment.

Time is forgotten during scientific research, and after an unknown amount of time had passed, the robot inside the starship finally sent a reminder.

When Zhang Huaiyuan reconnected the visual feed, he had already arrived before a magnificent structure.

"Is this Sea Tree Island? It really exceeds my expectations..."

Zhang Huaiyuan muttered as he looked at what was before him.

He saw a tree-shaped lifeform, fully a million zhang long, standing in the starry sky, its dense branches filled with various luxuriously decorated shops.

Near each shop were several emerald-green leaves connected, serving as docking points for arriving starships of all sizes.

At its roots, there seemed to be a shielding field, making it unclear, but he could vaguely perceive that many powerful auras were guarding it.

"Yes, Master, I was also shocked when I first came here."

Tarian sighed with emotion: "I heard this giant tree is the corpse of a powerful Galaxy Beast, transplanted here by a peerless expert at a great cost. It is the only safe zone in the entire Golden Star Sea."

"Master, we are about to enter the docking area of Sea Tree Island. No matter what happens, we must not use force," Finn also reminded him from the side.

"Hmm... I know."

Zhang Huaiyuan stared intently at the screen relayed by the robot, a storm of shock rising in his heart.

Just now, he had activated his ability, and the feedback data only contained two lines:

"Sky Ancient Tree (Deceased)"

"Level: SSS."

This was actually a paradise created from the corpse of an SSS-Rank Star River Beast!

Through True Sight, he could see that the interior of this behemoth had been thoroughly modified, filled with various power supply lines and complex Transcendent diagrams.

As for the shielded area, countless modified roots were deeply embedded into the void, seemingly absorbing energy in some incomprehensible way.

"No wonder no one dares to cause trouble here in the Golden Star Sea, where pirates are everywhere."

Zhang Huaiyuan shook his head with a wry smile.

Back then, an SS-Class Galaxy Beast that had just entered the Blackstone Star System could crush Leios, an S-Class Transcendent with a full set of high-level equipment, and behind this Sea Tree Island was a terrifying existence capable of killing an SSS-Rank Star River Beast!

As the starship gradually approached, perhaps it was just psychological, but Zhang Huaiyuan felt an increasingly heavy pressure even through the robot.

Beep, beep...

At this moment, a notification sound rang out.

"Master, there is an unknown communication request; do you allow it?"

"Allow."

"Welcome to Sea Tree Island. We have detected that both of you are registered members. Would you like to skip the orientation?"

"Skip it. Just give us an enchantment introduction book."

Tarian glanced at the robot, which nodded imperceptibly, and immediately spoke.

"Understood, respected one-star customer. May I ask which location number you would like to go to this time?"

"Number 084, Conscience Trading Firm."

"Understood. We have registered for you. The introduction book will be delivered to the leaf where you are docked shortly. Please follow the guidance branch, and we wish you a pleasant stay on Sea Tree Island."

As the voice faded, a thin, long branch suddenly stretched out from the giant ancient tree, extending to the front of the starship before beginning to retract. It was just like navigation, marking the route forward.

Soon, the "wanderer ii" command starship arrived at the location of a certain branch, docking on a leaf. A thick Transcendent book had already been placed to the side.

"It's actually a bit like the parking lots in the world before I transmigrated..."

Zhang Huaiyuan controlled the robot to look around with great interest for a moment, then followed the other two toward the Conscience Trading Firm to the side.

"Hey, isn't this Mr. Tarian and Mr. Finn? Long time no see!"

Before they even got close, a burly man in the shop greeted them from afar, his somewhat wild face beaming with a smile.

"Marcus, are you on duty again today?"

Tarian responded with a smile, while whispering an introduction through the communicator: "Master, this is one of the managers of the Conscience Trading Firm. We have traded a few times before, and he is quite reliable."

"Yeah, recently, the Star Alliance Disaster Zones have been occurring frequently, and it's a total mess. This is a rare opportunity; those with strength in the firm have all gone back, leaving only the weakest one like me to guard here. Hehe, let's not talk about that..."

Marcus suddenly lowered his voice and said mysteriously: "Are you here to buy or sell this time? I've got a lot of new good stuff here."

As he spoke, he reached out and tapped his wrist, releasing a light screen that displayed a dense array of product projections:

Number 1: Oran "Love and Death" series limited edition couple rings, Price: 1.2 million credits.

Number 2: "Haike" Group's latest ZY-6 series combat suit, colors optional, Price: 380 million credits.

Number 3: Free Star Alliance official active-duty basic standard set, parts random, condition random, accepting reservations, Price: 1 billion credits.

Number...

"Marcus, actually we came this time to..."

"Wait..."

"Hmm... we do intend to buy some things to take back."

Finn was just about to state their purpose, but upon hearing the voice in the communicator, he immediately changed his words.

At this moment, looking at the various product projections on the light screen through the robot's vision, Zhang Huaiyuan couldn't help but rub his eyes.

"Did I see that right... the Free Star Alliance active-duty standard set only costs 1 billion credits?"