To the Predator, their existence remained a straightforward affair: soaring through space, hunting, killing... utterly unconcerned with the possibility of traversing wormholes or flying into the territories of the future human empire.

Planet Yvros continued to remain concealed amidst nebulae, faithfully and discreetly fulfilling its duty as a hunting ground.

Given the circumstances, the future humans should truly thank their gods that it wasn't the Colonial Marines or the Star Wars parallel universes that had gone rogue...

But that calm was shattered five years ago. A passing vessel picked up a distress signal near the coordinates of Alpine Base 7. Following the signal, the ship discovered a wrecked flyer and a corpse. The body belonged to Rianth, a Senior Surveyor for the Galactic Mining Association. Within his meager belongings, they found a rudimentary location map of Planet Yvros and a piece of ore with a purity level of "Xuan" reaching 8.164%.

Following this, humanity developed an intense interest and launched frenzied exploration efforts toward the planet. However, the protective measures previously established by the Predators proved remarkably effective. The Predators excelled at defending the planet using natural barriers rather than relying on things like orbital cannons, laser satellites, or cosmic fortresses.

The frequent cosmic storms go without saying, but a ring of manufactured debris fields alone had turned the space surrounding Yvros into a zone of death—this was the fundamental reason the Little Eagle dared not venture further. Only miniature reconnaissance drones like the Wasp-class flyers wouldn't trigger the pre-set warning lines.

Yet, considering the dismal payload capacity of the Wasp flyers, even transport mechs would be an impossible mission. And as for the indigenous life forms on Yvros? The survival odds for ordinary future humans venturing there were predictably slim.

Therefore, Fang Senyan and his team’s actual objective was this: travel to Planet Yvros, follow the routes most likely to contain mineral veins as planned by the pre-mission geologists, and return. Naturally, technical tasks like collecting geological samples could be handled by miniature semi-autonomous robots or accompanying androids. That was the plan.

Finally, General Mongo abruptly offered two seemingly casual pieces of data: "The latest intelligence just received indicates that Galactic Mining's official buy-in price for the Xuan element is thirty-seven Planetary Units per kilogram. Planetary Unit is the newest standard currency, generally representing enough wealth to legally purchase another planet."

"Excluding the natural ore Rianth brought back, the highest purity Xuan ore discovered so far is..." As soon as General Mongo finished speaking, the surroundings fell silent, punctuated only by the sound of sharp, collective inhalations. General Mongo seemed quite pleased with the effect of his words. After allowing ten seconds for the Contractors to digest the information, he waved his hand: "The Military Police will take you shortly to select your corresponding Wasp flyers. For a long time to come, that craft will be your closest comrade, your lover. Your very life will depend on it! To prevent any disputes or demands for transfers, I have already set permissions. The key to the Wasp flyer instantly binds the associated permissions; it cannot be exchanged!"

Having said this, General Mongo stepped back, turned, and strode away. General Fei Ji led the way, guiding them toward the hangar. On the way, Fang Senyan seemed to spot a familiar figure among a group wearing clerical military uniforms, but he couldn't place him immediately.

General Fei Ji led them into the hangar, and before them stretched a dense, oppressive expanse of brand-new Wasp flyers—an indescribably spectacular sight. Each Wasp flyer bore a number on its nose cone.

Seeing this scene, Fang Senyan suddenly remembered who the familiar back he had glimpsed belonged to: the lieutenant who had arrived on the ship to greet them.

He immediately recalled that young officer’s frail constitution, almost choked to death by nausea, and the Arabic numeral '3' secretly scrawled on the cabin wall. With this realization, Fang Senyan made up his mind: he would choose Wasp Flyer Number Three.

General Fei Ji then took his position at the front: "Now, go choose your mounts, brave warriors! First to choose: Hedy Kuri, step forward! Come collect your authorization card."

The towering Black brute stepped forward first, announcing loudly, "Yes, Sir!"

"I object!" A large, brash woman with striking red hair and a camouflage vest raised her hand impatiently. "Why should that bastard pick first?"

This woman was another MT named Aziza, who had been tirelessly building her network, attempting to rival Hedy Kuri. General Fei Ji pointed coldly at Aziza first: "Deduct five Merit Points. Reason: Disregard for military discipline, shouting loudly—the order for selecting Wasp flyers is not decided by us, but evaluated by the General Staff based on rank and time of reporting. Major Hedy Kuri holds an Imperial rank and is the second Contractor to report; that is why he selects first. Does anyone else have an objection?"

General Fei Ji's words effectively silenced all dissent. Hedy Kuri shrugged, a sinister grin spreading across his face, and walked toward the cluster of ships. He chose the Wasp with the highest number: Number 999.

The second to choose was another man named Bokhan, who, like Fang Senyan, was designated as support. He selected Number 618.

The third call was directly for Fang Senyan's name, and due to the prior build-up, no one else showed any particular interest when he was called.

Fang Senyan had already resolved to choose Machine Number Three. However, as he approached General Fei Ji to receive the authorization card, where a quiet word of encouragement like "good luck" was customary, General Fei Ji leaned in with a smile and murmured softly, "Number Fifty-Five is an excellent choice."

Fang Senyan was momentarily stunned, but what kind of man was he? Even if a thousand thoughts flashed through his mind, none showed on his face. Instead, he immediately straightened his back and boomed, "YES, SIR! THANK YOU, SIR!"

On his way to the hangar, Fang Senyan quickly made his decision. This wasn't a beauty contest, a talent show, a stock index selection, or choosing a mentor on a dating show; this was about selecting the vessel that would safely get him to the target planet and back again!

If this thing malfunctioned, it wouldn't be as simple as a flat tire or a broken-down car. No matter how high an MT's vitality—be it four or five thousand, or four or five million—it would be useless!

Evidently, Fang Senyan still trusted the young lieutenant he had once saved more. First, the officer owed him a favor. Second, he must also deeply fear Fang Senyan’s potential retribution. Third, the lieutenant must also desire Fang Senyan's friendship—or more accurately, reciprocation.

General Fei Ji, on the other hand, possessed none of these assurances. More importantly, Fang Senyan had learned his nickname was the 'Black General'—though the time was too short for Fang Senyan to know the full origin of the nickname, the behavior of that scoundrel Major Laikeri suggested that the moniker certainly didn't imply he was a "tireless worker" or a "kind soul."

Fang Senyan’s perception was extremely sharp, allowing him to effortlessly monitor the reactions of the group further away. He first walked toward Ship Fifty-Five, scrutinized it for a moment, but then made a gesture of regret and shook his head. He then walked directly to Machine Number Three and grasped its key.

In that instant, Fang Senyan noticed two people whose facial muscles twitched. The first, needless to say, was General Fei Ji, who was certainly among them. But the second person was unexpected: it was... Roni, who belonged to the same faction as Hedy Kuri and had always been Hedy Kuri's steadfast right-hand man.

Fang Senyan filed all this away. In truth, he was not a saintly figure, and Fang Senyan certainly would not forget that eliminating members from other factions came with quite generous rewards.

Afterward, Fang Senyan had primarily two things left to do. First, naturally, was to familiarize himself with his new mount, conducting test flights to break it in. This process could take zero time or up to four hours. The second task was waiting for the ground crew to stuff the small compartment behind the Wasp flyer's main cockpit full.

The items that absolutely had to fit into this 2.7 cubic meter space included: a High-Energy Proton Absorption Spectrometer, a Miniature Strong Electron Transmission Logging Instrument, an X-Ray High-Power Diffractometer, and others. Forcing every person to carry this equipment served two purposes: first, to allow for comparison and data calibration; second, of course, was the hope that they could conduct exploration even under harsh, scattered conditions.

Each person also had about half a cubic meter of remaining space. Those greedy for Merit Points could opt to carry a Pulverizing and Extraction Unit, which could immediately process high-purity Xuan ore on site if encountered—a potentially huge payout if they got lucky.

Those prioritizing safety and comfort could bring three Bionics.

The Bionics provided by the Empire were virtually indistinguishable from humans because they had once been human. With the current technological level of the future humans, unless brain death occurred, curing various illnesses was not particularly difficult... The difficulty lay in the cost.

What happened when a poor citizen suffered a severe illness, couldn't afford treatment, but still wished to live? They had to sign an agreement, become a Bionic, and have their brain transplanted into an artificial body. In return, they would serve the Empire for the rest of their lives, or until they accumulated enough massive funds for their release. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote with recommendation tickets or monthly passes on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.)