62: Cracking encryption

"Brother Tarian, everything is here. Take a look. If there are no issues, we can settle the payment."

On an uninhabited planet eighty million kilometers away from Fenglang Star, Marcus reached out and opened several layered storage devices.

Combat suits, melee weapons, firearms... A complete set of equipment lay quietly inside.

Judging by their appearance, they were all in relatively good condition, with no obvious damage.

"No problem, Marcus. The quality is excellent. Here is the final payment."

Tarian took a cursory look, only speaking after Zhang Huaiyuan's confirmation reached his ears.

"Heh, that's a given, brother."

After receiving the money, the smile on Marcus's face became even brighter. He patted his chest and boasted:

"To get this batch of goods, I arranged for thousands of brothers to risk their lives sneaking into the Disaster Zone. We took them from the corpses of some soldiers while a patrol squad was occupied fighting an S-Class Star River Beast. They're definitely good stuff!"

"Then thank you very much, Mr. Marcus. Let's have a drink to our friendship."

Hearing this, Tarian also smiled. He took out a bottle of fine wine, poured a glass, and handed it over.

"Pleasure doing business with you."

"Pleasure doing business with you."

After clinking glasses, both sides, having achieved satisfactory results, returned to their respective starships and departed.

As the roar of the thrusters faded into the distance, the uninhabited asteroid returned to its long, silent state.

...

On Fenglang Star, in the laboratory.

Zhang Huaiyuan looked at the pieces of equipment Tarian had brought back with burning eyes.

Even though they were the most basic active-duty equipment of the Free Star Alliance, they still contained an unimaginable level of technology.

"Particle beam..."

"Accelerating charged particles to near light speed to form a beam weapon..."

"Plasma fusion rifle..."

"Good heavens... accelerating to near light speed instantly within such a small space is unimaginable... If the new combat mecha were equipped with such weapons, how terrifying the penetrating power would be."

Zhang Huaiyuan activated his ability to analyze everything inside.

However, given his current knowledge base, even though he could analyze them, there were still many parts he couldn't understand.

"If only I could activate it. Seeing the internal energy changes with my own eyes might bring more inspiration."

Zhang Huaiyuan tried to grip the handle of the beam weapon to use it, but there was no reaction.

It contained strict encryption protocols; personnel not officially registered with the Free Star Alliance could not start it at all.

"Damn it..."

Zhang Huaiyuan felt conflicted.

These weapons and equipment had indeed brought him quite a few surprises, but many of the core technologies within them exceeded his current level of mastery.

If he gave up now and relied on the small portion he could understand, he was confident he could upgrade the mecha's weapons to a level approaching that of an ordinary B-Class Transcendent.

But...

As a Researcher, after seeing truly advanced weapons, he was really unwilling to settle for manufacturing a semi-finished product.

"Asroth, is there any way to break the encryption inside?"

Zhang Huaiyuan asked, holding onto a glimmer of hope.

As a creation containing Level 3 knowledge rules, it should, in terms of grade, be higher than the level of this world. Although the computing power gap was huge, there might still be a chance.

"I will try, Master."

Asroth invaded the weapons via the equipment on the lab bench, and it took a long while before it lit up on the communicator again.

"Apologies, Master. The encryption inside is extremely complex, and it's actually dynamically changing. It's incredible...!"

Asroth's voice carried a hint of amazement:

"With the support provided by the current equipment, I will need at least two years to complete the decryption... If I encounter difficulties during this process, this time may be extended further."

"Two years, huh..."

Zhang Huaiyuan frowned slightly. This wasn't a long time; if he could be sure it would only take two years, he would be willing to wait, but no one could guarantee whether other difficulties would arise in the meantime.

"If I provide all the encryption data to you and synchronize the changes in real-time, working together just like when we left the mining area, can you speed up the progress?"

After a moment of thought, Zhang Huaiyuan asked.

"Of course, Master."

The surrounding light screens suddenly lit up simultaneously, and the voice became impassioned: "I have always looked forward to fighting alongside you again."

"Good, then let's try it."

Zhang Huaiyuan quickly made his decision.

Although this would slow down the pace of development, as long as he could develop more advanced weapons, sooner or later, this Star Sea would be his.

"But before that... Asroth, first create a backup to serve as a relay, and then send the legend to transfer all the equipment needed for the laboratory to that uninhabited planet near Qihang Star."

Zhang Huaiyuan instructed while examining the pieces of equipment.

A qualified Researcher needs to remain calm while thirsting for knowledge, always prepared with countermeasures.

As active-duty weapons of the Free Star Alliance, one of the three major powers in this world, even if he could see all the information inside through his ability, he couldn't guarantee whether there were any traps.

The reason was simple—because his knowledge base was still insufficient.

It was like a student who had just graduated from a third-rate university; even if they could directly see all the core code of any product, they wouldn't understand what each line represented.

"No time to lose, act immediately."

"Understood, Master."

...

Half a month later, underground on that uninhabited planet where he first arrived in the Golden Star Sea.

Zhang Huaiyuan was fully activating his ability to analyze through the vision of a robot.

"First sector, current number change: 1... 2... 4... 8... 16... 31..."

"Preparing to cut into the first layer of encryption. Encryption type: One-time pad."

"Attempting to decrypt... Decryption successful..."

"Second sector, current change..."

"Preparing to cut into the second layer of encryption. Encryption type: Anti-quantum algorithm."

"Attempting to decrypt..."

With the help of Zhang Huaiyuan's ability, Asroth could focus all its energy on breaking the encryption patterns. With the support of Level 3 knowledge rules, even though they were incredibly complex, they were still broken one by one.

"Third... Fourth... Ninth..."

Time is forgotten during scientific research. Who knows how much time had passed, but in the True Sight, the maze-like barrier had only one layer left.

After providing the information to Asroth, Zhang Huaiyuan let out a slight sigh of relief, only feeling better after injecting himself with two doses of high-grade cell repair serum.

"It seems that once this research is finished, I need to find a way to improve my physical constitution. Otherwise, if I have to deal with higher-intensity research in the future, it will be easy for problems to arise, even with the help of these serums."

Zhang Huaiyuan shook his head and continued to focus on Asroth's decryption progress.

The final fortress was being dismantled at a speed visible to the naked eye.

It was about to succeed!

Zhang Huaiyuan couldn't help but feel excited.

But the moment all the encryption was broken, those scattered characters suddenly reorganized at an astonishing speed into a line of special instructions, then disappeared.

"Oh no, Master. It's a positioning signal. We're in trouble."

Asroth's voice became unprecedentedly serious.