8: Chapter 8 99% Rare Item

Cheng Yu's consciousness swept over the captured energy crystals, and a faint sense of resonance rippled through the shared network.

"Hmm... ninety-nine percent, a rare commodity. Perhaps they can be used as energy batteries for large-scale equipment."

Meanwhile, that Rogue Trader had already surrendered all his star charts and intelligence, even handing over the Rogue Trader warrant issued by the Corpse Emperor Empire.

Seeing how pathetic and cooperative he was, Cheng Yu felt embarrassed to kill him.

"I'll just put him in a cage and keep him as a collectible. Someday, I'll open a Galactic Museum of All Races."

Cheng Yu's gaze crossed the bustling construction site beneath his feet, cast toward the depths of the starry sky, and locked onto a dim, rocky planet within the same star system.

According to the star chart provided by the Rogue Trader Ivankov, it was a dead world that had been preliminarily scanned but deemed worthless and thus never colonized.

Perfect.

"Don't put all your eggs in one basket."

His will was cold and clear, spreading throughout the entire Cheng Yu Empire.

"Especially when a Vortex Torpedo could descend upon the basket at any moment."

Once the order was given, the entire Cheng Yu Empire once again displayed breathtaking efficiency.

The few cobbled-together ships that had just returned, still bearing the marks of space disassembly, were filled up once again.

This time, they were not loaded with a large number of Cheng Yus Clones, but with supplies essential for colonization—thousands of tons of starch powder were crudely stuffed into every corner, and that box of energy crystals was given priority protection, even assigned a separate small craft.

The STC pyramid could not be moved; there was no way to do that for the time being.

"The 'General Affairs Department Deputy Director Wang' Battle Group," Cheng Yu named them, "I have named that dead planet 'Zhao Zhen Planet.' You are responsible for establishing a forward base there."

Zhao Zhen was the name of Cheng Yu's fiancée in his previous life. On the day he transmigrated, the two had argued over the dowry.

"The 'Neighborhood Committee Auntie Sun' Battle Group, you are responsible for maintaining smooth logistics between Cheng Yu Planet and Zhao Zhen Planet."

As for whether the 'General Affairs Department Deputy Director Wang' Battle Group could survive on Zhao Zhen Planet, one could only say that sacrifice and attrition were part of the plan.

The named battle groups began to board the ships in silence, without any emotional fluctuations, like parts on an assembly line being installed in their designated positions.

Cheng Yu remained motionless.

He stayed on the 'dont eat cilantro' ship, controlling everything remotely.

The division continued, and the number of Cheng Yu on the planet's surface continued to expand like a rolling snowball. Someone had to coordinate this increasingly massive empire, and... deal with the Corpse Emperor Empire tax collector who might arrive early.

The crude fleet took off again, trailing black exhaust, and zig-zagged toward the gray neighboring planet.

The voyage was dull and dangerous. An overly old transport ship's engine overloaded and exploded, turning the fifty thousand Cheng Yus Clones and supplies on board into space debris.

A starch explosion, truly spectacular.

The remaining ships bypassed the wreckage without a ripple and continued forward.

Arriving at the target planet was unexpectedly smooth. There were no orbital defenses or alien ruins, and fortunately, the atmosphere was not too thin; it was barely breathable.

All that met the eye was a stretch of dead silence.

The landing pods slammed into the desolate surface like dumplings being dropped into a pot. Non-combat losses reached thirty percent, and many Cheng Yus Clones were shaken into pulp due to the age of the landing pods.

"Establish a base. Prioritize digging underground facilities."

The commander of the 'General Affairs Department Deputy Director Wang' Battle Group—who was essentially Cheng Yu himself—issued the order.

Hundreds of thousands of Cheng Yus Clones immediately began to work.

Without enough machinery, most of the Cheng Yus Clones used sharp stones and crude tools to excavate the rock.

Hunger and fatigue continuously caused casualties, but the priority of the order was higher than individual survival. The prototype of the underground bunker extended downward at a speed visible to the naked eye.

However, just as the project reached its deepest point, an accident occurred.

A Cheng Yus Clones' pneumatic pickaxe shattered the rock layer, revealing a smooth, unnatural metal surface behind it.

Immediately afterward, more metal structures were exposed, etched with incomprehensible, twisted symbols, emitting a cold and ancient aura.

It was not a human creation.

It was not even a creation of this era.

"Anomaly detected." The information was instantly transmitted back to Cheng Yu Planet.

Cheng Yu suddenly stood up from his throne, his shared vision focusing on that patch of smooth metal.

An instinctive sense of vigilance, originating from the depths of the countless memory fragments he had devoured, suddenly arose.

Those symbols... he seemed to have caught a glimpse of them in the fearful memory fragments of an Aeldari pirate.

They belonged to an ancient, forbidden race that had long since fallen into slumber.

"Stop digging!"

He immediately ordered.

"All units, evacuate that area!"

But the order was one second too late.

Deep underground, the smooth metal surface suddenly lit up with eerie green patterns.

As if something that had been sleeping for tens of millions of years had been... awakened by the knocking of these uninvited guests.

...

The second battle of the Cheng Yu Empire, the Battle for the Recapture of the Forward Base... had begun.

The reason why the word 'Recapture' was added after every battle was that Main Body believed that everything in the galaxy, including everything in the material universe and Warp, belonged to him. Retrieving them through battle could only be called a 'Recapture' battle.

What was discovered on Zhao Zhen Planet was a ruin of a Necron Dynasty, estimated to be quite large in scale.

The guards at the entrance of the tomb alone had almost completely wiped out the 'General Affairs Department Deputy Director Wang' Battle Group.

The matter-annihilation rifles could directly disintegrate the bodies of the Cheng Yus Clones at the molecular level.

This caused the original 'trampling' offensive to be completely ineffective.

The designation 'General Affairs Department Deputy Director Wang' had to be canceled, and the remaining personnel were merged into the 'Neighborhood Committee Auntie Sun' Battle Group.

Auntie Sun was also an incredibly annoying person; she was the one who loved to gossip the most in the neighborhood.

"All battle groups of the Expeditionary Fleet, move toward the forward position now."

"I am making the following deployment: the 'Homeroom Teacher Zhao,' 'Student Affairs Office Director Liu,' 'Purchasing Department Deputy Minister Zhou,' and 'Tea-Selling Girl Online' battle groups are to immediately reinforce the Zhao Zhen Planet battlefield. The 'Neighborhood Committee Auntie Sun' Battle Group is to maintain its original orders. Everyone else, do not move."

Even for the Corpse Emperor Empire, an active Necron Dynasty was extremely difficult to chew.

And his own empire was still in its infancy; using it to control the population was fine, but going all-out to take it down in a short time was unnecessary.

"I want to focus my energy on construction." This was Main Body's current thought.

...

The construction of the base camp, Cheng Yu Planet, was in full swing, and some of the crew and engineers previously captured from the Rogue Trader had also played a role.

Mainly because they had seen the Cheng Yus Clones eating Ork brains and were scared out of their wits, so they voluntarily offered to help with the empire's construction.

This was their own voluntary choice; Cheng Yu certainly did not force them.

As for that Aria, who he didn't know was a Drukhari, an Aeldari, or whatever kind of elf she was, she still maintained that arrogant demeanor, looking as if living was fine and dying was also acceptable.

Actually, the Cheng Yus Clones had already provided her with an Aeldari Wraithbone dagger for self-sacrifice and were ready to assist her in ritual suicide at any time, but she... clearly did not want to die.