467: Advanced civilization?

“Considering the composite hull material hardness, energy core output power, and weapon configuration, the current starship barely meets the Imperial Planetary Class standard.”

Li Yang nodded slightly, then couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.

“What a pity.”

Although assisted by the AI, this starship was ultimately limited by its raw materials, preventing significant upgrades.

Even though the AI's carrier possessed a conversion device, it was important to remember that the AI's carrier was transformed from a single-person escape pod, and the conversion device was merely the one from that escape pod.

The escape pod's conversion device was inherently rudimentary, designed only for emergencies. Even with ample energy, it couldn't conjure the materials needed to build an advanced starship.

He reached out and tapped the hull, his voice tinged with regret.

“If only we had the conversion device from an Imperial starship, let alone a Planetary Class, even a galaxy-class starship could be built.”

The black sphere was silent, its surface lights flickering as if in agreement.

After all, the starship Li Yang had previously ridden was a Universe Class, and with enough time, energy, and professional personnel, its conversion device could potentially even recreate another Universe Class starship.

Li Yang turned around, looking at Qi Fang, who was circling the starship. Oil still clung to the legs of his work pants, and the light in his eyes was brighter than engine flames.

“Qi Fang…”

Li Yang suddenly spoke.

“Once the starship is complete, do you want to stay on this planet or come with me?”

Qi Fang spun around abruptly, his eyes wide, and the documents in his hand clattered to the ground.

“Brother Yang, is that even a question? Of course, I'm coming with you!”

He ran a few steps to Li Yang, his cheeks flushed with excitement.

“Ever since I was little, I've wanted to see what the real starry sky looks like. Nebulae and black holes mentioned in textbooks—I can't just see them in pictures, can I?”

Li Yang looked at the light in his eyes, remembering his own curiosity the first time he entered a starship. A smile touched his lips, and he patted his shoulder.

“Good lad, ambitious.”

He looked up at the simulated starry sky on the ceiling of the construction bay, where the star tracks slowly rotated with the AI's adjustments... Beyond the starry sky of the blue planet, in a deep darkness, dozens of starships slowly approached like ghosts.

Their hulls were covered in dark purple corrosive patterns, like a pack of greedy interstellar hyenas, silently encircling the planet draped in blue and white silk.

“General, look, it's this one.”

A Black-Robed Person bowed, pointing to the holographic projection. On the screen, the blue planet slowly rotated, clouds drifting across its surface, exuding the warm luster of life.

The Black-Robed Person referred to as “General” stood in the Command Room's center. The eerie green pupils beneath his hood suddenly contracted, emitting an excited, insect-like hiss.

“Perfect... Such a complete ecosystem, such rich life energy... It could fetch at least three times the price of the last dead planet on the market!”

He extended several tentacles, vaguely grasping the planet in the projection, as if he already held its fate in his palm.

Just then, a subordinate stumbled in.

“General, report! Our probes have discovered a starship wreckage on a planet at the edge of the target Galaxy—approximately one light-year from this blue planet!”

“What?!”

The General spun around abruptly, the oppressive aura beneath his hood instantly spreading, and the temperature of the entire bridge seemed to drop several degrees.

“starship wreckage?”

The General's gaze sharply turned to the Black-Robed Person who had initially reported, his eerie green pupils swirling with anger.

“Didn't you say there were no traces of advanced civilizations around this planet? What is this wreckage of an unknown starship, then?!”

The interrogated Black-Robed Person frantically knelt, his tentacles pressed firmly to the ground.

“General, please calm your anger! Our previous probes indeed didn't detect any active signals... This wreckage might have been an accident from another civilization that crashed there long ago, and it's long since been abandoned!”

The General pressed his fingertip heavily on the control panel, and the holographic projection instantly switched to the wreckage—the broken hull was directly embedded in the planet's surface. Although incomplete, the various exposed traces still indicated an impressive level of technology.

Under the General's piercing gaze, the Black-Robed Person lowered his body further, his tentacles nervously twisting together, his voice clearly flustered.

“General, please calm your anger! Listen to my explanation—that wreckage might just be a low-level civilization's starship that had an accident and drifted there to crash! Think about it, if this blue planet really had an advanced civilization backing it, how could it still be in the planetary civilization stage? It should have already developed interstellar travel capabilities!”

As he spoke, he secretly glanced up at the General's expression. Seeing the anger in the other's eyes slightly lessen, he quickly added:

“Since we've scanned the entire Galaxy and, apart from that pile of wreckage, haven't even found a decent space base, that's enough to prove... to prove it was just an accident!”

The General was silent for a moment, his eerie green pupils slowly moving across the holographic projection, finally settling on the image of the blue planet.

He had to admit, there was some truth to his words—advanced civilizations always made drastic changes to their subordinate planets, either developing them vigorously or turning them into resources. At the very least, they would leave their own marks, informing other civilizations that the planet was claimed. It was impossible for a living planet to remain in such a nearly primitive interstellar state, as it was now.

“That wreckage, has it been thoroughly investigated?”

The General's voice softened slightly, but still carried an undeniable authority.

The reporting subordinate immediately stepped forward, his tentacles rapidly sliding across the control panel, calling up a string of data.

“Reporting, General, we sent small probes for close inspection... We have good news and bad news.”

“Tell me the good news first.”

“The good news is that the starship wreckage is extremely severely damaged. The hull is broken into three sections, and the energy core completely exploded. From the damage marks, it appears to have encountered an accident like an interstellar storm, and was not attacked and crashed. Furthermore...”

The subordinate paused, then stated with certainty:

“The probes repeatedly scanned all compartments and found no residual life signals, not even the most basic bio-electrical waves.”

The General's brow relaxed slightly. No survivors meant no need to worry about attracting pursuit from the starship's civilization.

For predators like them, “unclaimed” had always been the safest label.

“And the bad news?”

He pressed on, a hint of wariness in his tone.

His life as a predator had taught him that the more perfect a prey seemed, the more likely it was to hide a deadly trap.

The reporting subordinate swallowed, his tentacles trembling on the control panel as he pulled up a material analysis report, his voice even lower.

“The bad news is... according to the probe's molecular structure analysis of the wreckage fragments, that starship was at least equipped with a long-range spatial jump engine—this is a sign of an advanced civilization capable of direct intergalactic travel. Moreover, there's a large portion of the wreckage that we don't understand at all.”

In simple terms, with their current capabilities, they could at most determine the possibility of a long-range spatial jump engine. As for more advanced components, they were completely clueless.

He paused, looking at the General's suddenly tensed posture, then bit the bullet and continued.

“What's more troublesome is that the materials composing the hull contain stable elements we've never seen before. With our current technological level, let alone replicating them, we can't even analyze their molecular bond structures... This means that the civilization that built this starship is far superior to us in strength.”

“Advanced civilization starship wreckage...”

The General repeated these words in a low voice, his breathing growing heavy beneath his hood.