Chapter 256

Chapter 256

Grath mothership, navigation center.

Gu Chuan sent a communication request.

Secretary-General Lin, who was nearby, answered and smoothly launched into diplomatic formalities, "Hello, Major General Gu Chuan—"

Gu Chuan interrupted him, "No need to be so formal. I'm just reaching out personally."

"When you check in, you'll get a stack of detailed rules; it'll take a bit to go through them, but they go into effect the moment you step onto Central Star. Before that, I want to give you a heads up."

"Central Star is bustling. It's the reception area, but it's far from boring. It's a huge, irresistible paradise built on the immense wealth accumulated over years of resource wars. It's very appealing to young people, isn't it? There you can buy the flashiest mechas, the rarest treasures, and see everything imaginable that is most wonderful—but no privacy."

Gu Chuan's tone became slightly serious.

"Every second after entering Central Star, you must be prepared to be watched. The entire Central Star is covered with holographic projection equipment. In each country's assigned area, only the central residence for the Leader is safe—no visual access allowed, no entry by others. That's the one rule you can't break."

Secretary-General Lin frowned. He immediately realized the deeper implication behind the rule prohibiting others from entering: a leader's private quarters—his own staff wouldn't barge in; intruders could only come from outside. In other words, aside from the leader's residence, could everywhere else be considered open to intrusion?

"Furthermore, Central Star allows personal conflicts. Unless life or death is involved, the Star Alliance will not intervene."

However, even with this rule, people have died on Central Star. Where is this? It's the center of the resource war, the epicenter of the most cutthroat legally sanctioned violent competition.

Accidents, slip-ups, or losing your cool—any excuse works as a cover. As long as one accepts the Star Alliance's penalty afterwards, it's legal.

"Understood. Thank you for informing me. I will pass it on."

Just as the conversation ended, a staff member nearby said, "Secretary-General, we've arrived. We're in line behind Orolia."

Secretary-General Lin adjusted his glasses and, while passing the information he'd just received to Norton, said, "Prepare to undock from the mothership and enter the main star."

Each country is only allowed a certain number of motherships to enter the main star. The main ships they were using belonged to the Kaileer Alliance, so at the port they needed to detach from the main ship and enter as a fleet.

Everyone in the navigation center was ready, waiting quietly.

This was their first time leaving their home behind, facing a strange, much larger world. But no one was nervous or uneasy; instead, they were ambitious, eager to show themselves to this broader world and carve out a place in it.

Norton's spiritual power was continuously linked to every ship in the fleet.

They only needed to keep moving forward.

…

Star Alliance.

"The viewing channel should be opening now. The timing is just right. Orolia has arrived; it's time to start this year's carnival."

"Yes, the countdown just ended."

As soon as the viewing channel was opened, countless people who'd been waiting logged into the Central Star in the holographic world.

In the holographic world, Central Star let them roam freely.

Some of them even equipped virtual gear to modify their gravity settings, then started swimming through the air like fish. In the holographic world, these devices were much cheaper than in reality.

Central Star in the holographic world is only open during the resource war; it's a limited-time map, and you can only watch, can't damage anything.

But aside from that, as the public requested, intelligent NPCs were added to the holographic world to provide services for visitors. You can even use its public transportation system; living there is pretty much the same as the real Central Star.

Each room had a capacity limit, so even though many logged in simultaneously, Central Star still seemed uncrowded to each person.

A person riding a hoverboard weaved between high-rises, shouting, "They're here, they're here! Get to the port fast, just in time to catch Orolia's entry."

Many people joined him, laughing.

Some who were far away switched to the communication channel.

"I'll be honest, I'm here to see the show. When is Suonan coming?"

"There might not be any drama. The news just came out: the Star Alliance put this year's rookie zone right between them."

"The Star Alliance is so sneaky. The rookies this year are screwed. There aren't many newcomers this time; seems like only two?"

"Three. Looking at the latest announced list, another was added at the last minute, but not much info on him. Called Grath."

They watched Orolia's mothership pass through Central Star's port.

After the last mothership also landed at their base, the crowd at the port thinned out significantly. Many followed Orolia to their camp, hoping to catch a glimpse of star players; many others wanted to take the opportunity to explore Central Star, since the resource war hadn't officially started and the specialized commentators hadn't opened their exclusive rooms yet. The crowd quickly dispersed into the city.

"Breaking news! Suonan has also arrived. They're waiting to pass through the port, number two, coming soon."

"Fight! Fight!"

The crowd gathered at the port swelled again.

Then, a fleet of countless small warships moved nimbly and in formation toward Orolia's direction.

"Why is there still a fleet like this mainly composed of small warships? But the emblem printed on the ships looks nice—fire and sword, right? Remember that, you can print it on clothes as decoration next time."

"Not afraid someone might mistake their nationality?"

"No worries, it's a new country. It's super remote, the kind of place no one would ever visit in a lifetime. This time they even borrowed another country's mothership to come. And the most interesting part is that they just joined the Star Alliance this year and have some ties to the Kaileer Alliance and the Empire."

"Pretty gutsy. If they wanted to just snag a participation award, there's no rush. They're gonna waste their resources. Too bad."

"Suonan is here!"

…

Ye Mo and Theodore crouched by the window, marveling at Central Star below—well, only Ye Mo was amazed; Theodore played along, turning his head from time to time to follow Ye Mo's gaze.

Arnold also crouched down and casually pressed down on Ye Mo's head. Before Ye could look up in protest, he quickly changed the subject, "Look, over there."

The fleet was descending, and everything below became clear.

Arnold pointed to a wide street. The windows on both sides displayed countless machines mimicking various life forms.

But they only resembled living beings in shape; they were all uniform cold metallic colors. Through the gaps, exposed parts could be glimpsed, and some parts gleamed with cold, sharp edges, indicating these were not exquisite crafts or large toys.

They were posed in vivid stances, quietly displayed, varying in size. The largest one in the center was fish-shaped but no longer looked like a fish; it was massive like a whale, with a ridge of sharp blades and a lethal aura all over.

Arnold continued, "Weren't you thinking about a new shell for Theodore? Those would be great."

Ye Mo looked at those novel shapes, slowly turning his head as the spaceship moved. "If Theodore likes them."

Theodore, noticing Ye Mo wanted to go, said, "I'm curious about their material."

It really has a curiosity about any unknown material.

Arnold quickly pinpointed the location.

"Good, it's not far from the base we've been assigned. We'll go take a look once we settle in."

That street was gone from view. The warship stopped, slowly descended, and landed on the ground.

……

As the viewing channel for the Resource Battle opened.

Top pro commentators had already opened their private rooms and gone live. They had deep knowledge of the Resource Battle and could lead viewers to find the most interesting and talked-about parts of the vast Central Star.

Lakeley was one of them. His home country was the Kaileer Alliance, and at this moment, he was also riding a hoverboard.

He immediately latched onto the latest hot topic: "Let's go check out Suonan and Orolia."

The feud between Suonan and Orolia had always been a major attraction. Even if they accidentally ended up in the same team in a major event like the Resource Battle, they would start fighting each other first, and each firmly believed it was the other's fault.

"I don't need to elaborate on the feud between them, do I? They are very close to each other, have long-term friction, gradually became mortal enemies, and can fight in all aspects, but their strengths in various areas are similar. Next, let's go take a look."

"Nonsense! Orolia can beat Suonan five rounds!"

"Ha! Suonan's ranked higher than Orolia this time."

"Stop. This room bans anyone from Orolia or Suonan."

"Their camps are separated, but they are still relatively close, and the closest shopping center to both of them is the same one. I'd say overall a fight probably won't break out, since important figures are here, and the Star Alliance does not allow large-scale conflicts. But friction is foreseeable; at least the young members who just arrived on both sides are likely to meet at the shopping center."

"Lakeley hasn't looked at the map yet, has he? He even noticed such details. Thinking about it, it makes sense. Moreover, people from both sides keep track of each other's key staff better than they do their own team's, just so they can beat them up when they meet."

Lakeley went higher.

"This area is Orolia's base, in the middle is the rookie zone, and over there is Suonan. Unfortunately, their common living areas overlap a lot. Recently, I will track their members to see if there is anything interesting to record. Don't miss it; I'll put it on my personal channel."

Then he coughed, cleared his throat, and said quickly and seriously:

"Also, over there is the Kaileer Alliance's camp. In the last Resource Battle, it..."

"We know, we know. Kaileer Alliance, jumped up 17 spots from last time, and the Keller Empire, same roots. And the highlight reels of who did what—I can recite them all. The last newbie was a blond with star-player potential. Also, according to Lakeley's latest intel, the new member this time is Ye Qingsheng, who is said to have excellent grades in military school. Lakeley's really high on him, says he's got star-player potential."

"Lakeley really loves Kaileer. Even though his current fame might be greater than Kaileer's, he still plugs it every time even if he gets roasted."

"It's not that bad. Kaileer Alliance's ranking isn't very poor either; it's middle-tier. And their last rookie was good-looking, so I even subscribed to Kaileer Alliance's section—it's quite interesting."

"Lakeley actually managed to get people interested. He won't think it's working and then double down next time, will he?"