282: Chapter 276 Immense Wealth

“Is this what hatched from the egg you left behind?”

Zhang Xinmei crossed her arms, her brows locked in a frown. “It doesn’t look like something to mess with.”

Song Yang’s gaze remained fixed on the sleeping creature.

Its breathing was steady and long; with every breath, the energy readings in the incubator fluctuated slightly.

Even through the thick crystal shield, he could feel the terrifying potential hidden within that seemingly small body.

At this moment, the voice of Zeus sounded.

“The probability of artificially cultivating a Star Beast is one in a billion. It is incredible that you succeeded on your first try.”

Song Yang felt a slight shock.

“However, I must warn you,” the voice of Zeus suddenly became serious, “as an extremely special life form in the universe, the Star Beast is exceptionally rare. Its existence must never be known by others, or there will be big trouble.”

“Were there any abnormalities when it hatched?”

Song Yang turned and scanned the three women.

Bai Jie recalled the scene and answered softly, “There was a huge commotion. Seventy percent of the manor’s energy was drained instantly. The alarm rang for ten minutes. We were scared to death, thinking the place was going to explode. When we mustered the courage to come down, it was already sleeping inside like this, very quietly.”

“It’s our fault...”

Yang Yueqi whispered, head bowed, tear tracks still on her face. “With you gone, we couldn’t do anything well; we could only watch.”

“No, you did very well.”

Song Yang walked over to her and rubbed her soft hair. “You ensured your own safety and protected it, which is more important than anything.”

The simple praise completely relaxed the three women’s nerves, which had been tight for over ten days.

Everything they had done, all the terrifying days and nights, were fully validated by this sentence.

Song Yang turned his gaze back to the incubator, pondered for a moment, and said, “From today on, without my permission, no one is allowed to enter this floor. And regarding it, never mention it to a fourth person, understand?”

The three women looked at each other and nodded solemnly.

They didn’t know the true value of this strange creature, but Song Yang’s solemn attitude was enough to explain everything.

“Alright, stop pulling such long faces.”

Song Yang looked at their tense expressions and his tone softened. “It is safe now, and you have all worked hard. Go up and rest; leave this to me.”

Zhang Xinmei crossed her arms, still looking worried, and raised an eyebrow. “What if this thing wakes up and suddenly goes berserk?”

“Don’t worry.”

Song Yang gave her a reassuring look.

Seeing his certainty, the three women stopped talking and obediently turned and left the underground hall.

They understood that some things were beyond their ability to handle, and Song Yang’s return was the best peace of mind.

As the elevator door slowly closed, the hall returned to silence, with only the faint hum of the incubator.

“Now you can tell me,” Song Yang said to Zeus in his mind.

“This Star Beast won’t wake up for much longer.”

“According to my database, after a Star Beast breaks its shell and wakes up, it develops an instinct called ‘First Sight Imprint’. It will regard the first living thing it sees as its blood-related parent and be absolutely loyal.”

Song Yang understood that this was undoubtedly great news for him.

“But another problem follows,” Zeus changed the subject. “The growth of a Star Beast requires massive amounts of energy. With sufficient energy supply, its size will grow visibly every day. This underground base will be filled up in less than half a month.”

This was indeed a tricky problem.

Song Yang frowned, his gaze sweeping over the vast but ultimately limited underground space.

Keeping a cosmic monarch with infinite potential penned up here was like trapping a dragon in a shallow pond.

He needed a broader and more secret place.

Ideas raced through his mind, and a moment later, he remembered something.

With a thought, a pitch-black ring engraved with complex star charts appeared in his palm.

This was the loot he had confiscated from the Star Pirates.

“world ring?”

The voice of Zeus revealed a hint of surprise. “I didn’t expect you to have such a good thing. This item is a rarity even in the universe.”

“As the name suggests, the inside of the ring forms a world of its own.”

Song Yang’s mouth curved up. He probed it with his spiritual power, and a vast, boundless space appeared in his perception.

Mountains, rivers, wilderness... 10,000 square kilometers of land, although barren, were full of infinite possibilities.

“Put it inside.” Song Yang made up his mind.

He walked to the giant incubator, stretched out his palm, and the surface of the world ring flashed with a dim light.

An invisible, indescribable power of space instantly enveloped the entire incubator.

There was no loud noise, no dazzling brilliance.

The huge machine connected to countless lines twisted and faded in the air, finally disappearing completely, as if it had never existed.

The center of the underground hall instantly became empty.

“Solved.”

Song Yang looked at his palm, quite satisfied.

“Don’t be happy too soon.”

Zeus poured cold water on him. “Putting it into the world ring only solves the space problem. What about the energy problem? To make it grow as fast as possible and show the true power of a Star Beast, the daily energy consumption to maintain its life activities and growth, converted into star coins, is at least one million.”

One million a day? This was practically burning money.

“Money?”

Song Yang responded calmly in his mind. “You don’t need to worry about that.”

“The people I killed in that small world, plus the wealth of those four hundred Star Pirates, added up, I have about four or five hundred million star coins on hand.”

“It’s enough to support the Star Beast’s growth.”

After dealing with the manor’s internal affairs, Song Yang didn’t stay long and headed to The Arena.

At the exchange point inside The Arena, people were arguing about the quality and value of ore.

In the corner, a man with a broken left arm was dumping a small bag of dimly glowing ore onto the counter, exchanging it for a few nutrient solutions and a few tens of thousands of star coins, which he cursed as he stuffed into his bosom.

Everyone here was someone who had gone to that planet last time.

Song Yang’s arrival didn’t cause any ripples; he looked too ordinary, just like one of the countless young people who came here to try their luck.

He walked straight to a window at the very back, where there were relatively few people.

The person in charge of the exchange was a middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses who looked refined.

“Exchange ore,” Song Yang said concisely.