With the liquid metal lifeform's shameless act of taking without asking, Fang Senyan could only shrug, tacitly condoning the action. He seized the opportunity to steal a glance at the Sinister Fabro leader, noticing that the creature continued to masticate the Kuluut ore with gusto, remaining utterly oblivious to what was happening beside him, or perhaps simply indifferent to it.

The liquid metal lifeform did not linger long over the Claysand Stone either. It deftly extracted the Teardrops from the stone, adhered them to its own body, and then zipped back into Fang Senyan’s private space. Following this, it began to envelop, digest, and absorb the Teardrops one by one, much like a child sucking on candy.

After the Sinister Fabro leader had consumed roughly half a kilogram of Kuluut ore, the intact flesh-and-blood tumor on its shoulder emitted a dark radiance. Instantly, a massive rock in front of them rumbled and shifted aside. It then forged ahead, leading the way along a path that first snaked upward and then meandered downward, feeling very much like a roller coaster ride.

By this time, the sky was beginning to lighten, and a faint mist could be seen permeating the valley floor—a damp, clinging vapor. The vegetation growing there was twisted and bizarre, further saturated with all manner of erratic electromagnetic fluctuations. Simply walking here induced a constant ringing in the ears, clearly indicating that scouting this area via aerial craft would be exceptionally difficult.

After advancing perhaps two or three kilometers, the Sinister Fabro leader embraced an unremarkable piece of rock ahead, then laboriously pushed it aside. Amidst a deep, rumbling tremor, a narrow passage appeared. However, this passage grew progressively wider, and after walking about a hundred meters, the area ahead opened up like a vast hall.

The surrounding stalagmites emitted a faint luminescence, allowing for a clear view of all the surrounding details. Two or three pregnant Sinister Fabro females, bellies distended, sat dazedly in place. Upon seeing Fang Senyan and his group, they leaped up with enraged roars, which were quickly suppressed by the leader's own fierce bellow.

Fang Senyan and the others gasped. They could clearly see that the stone ground before them was distinctly divided into two zones! Right in front of the Sinister Fabro leader’s massive feet lay rich veins of high-purity Thallium element ore, shining with a faint silver-gray light!!

This precious metal, whose value was usually measured in terms of entire planets, was strewn casually across the floor. Even more astonishing was the way that faint silver-gray glow seemed to stretch backward beyond the range of their sight, creating an illusion of endlessness!!

Fang Senyan took a deep breath, instantly yanking Android No. 1 forward, and roared directly into its optical sensor:

“Did you see that? Did you see that???? This is just one vein, one of the countless Thallium ore veins on this damned, fertile planet. Our mission is a success. We have exceeded the objective!!!! You bastards… Two hundred and seventy thousand kilometers away, at the Forward Base of the Eaglet,”

Watching the silver-gray light of the seemingly endless, open-pit, high-purity Thallium element vein stretching into the darkness on the massive screen, Major General Mongo suddenly covered his face tightly with both hands and began to weep uncontrollably, unrestrained tears gushing between his fingers. He then spread his hands apart, shouting hoarsely toward the ceiling:

“I did it, I succeeded, I won the gamble!!!!”

Then, Major General Mongo grabbed the stunned secretary beside him, roughly pulled down his trousers, and savagely lunged forward! That feeling of being suppressed for too long, once it finally counterattacked so completely, required Mongo to find a channel for fierce release. Otherwise, he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't suffer a cerebral hemorrhage from sheer excitement.

Within the next minute, the footage of that endless, high-purity, open-pit Thallium element vein in the darkness was hastily processed and began to spread like a plague throughout the Empire at a furious pace! Naturally, Prince Pomparu was the first to be "infected" by the "plague," followed quickly by the Imperial General who had already given up hope.

Some people might still question the authenticity of the video, but very soon, the sight of Fang Senyan and the others frantically refining the Thallium element silenced all doubts! If this were all fabricated, the cost would have been astronomically high.

Fang Senyan, however, understood clearly that if the Empire was not to abandon them, they would need to secure enough high-purity Thallium element—enough that its absence would feel like a huge chunk of flesh being brutally carved away from those in power!

Vast quantities of ore were pulverized and then injected into the refiner. After a series of processes, the Thallium element, possessing mercury-like qualities, flowed out slowly, gradually solidifying into trapezoidal bars resembling gold bars, which were then greedily gathered by the Contractors.

This entire scene, viewed through the eyes of those in the Empire, instilled an indescribable greed; this was wealth terrifying enough to purchase an entire planet! The Sinister Fabro leader, witnessing all this, merely offered a cold sneer, for he himself had surveyed the area. This sacred vein extended into the subterranean depths for an unimaginable length. How much could these fools manage to steal by digging so frantically?

Watching them sweat profusely, they hadn't even managed to scrape away a single centimeter of the vein’s surface area. Even if they dug for a month, they would only manage to create a few pits at most—a loss so insignificant it barely warranted notice.

The Sinister Fabro leader certainly harbored deep resentment toward these intruders, but at this moment, he was hesitant to incite any conflict in this location. He could sense that within this sacred vein, despite its apparent vibrant life, lay a terrible destructive power, merely awaiting the correct method to be unleashed. Even the slightest leak was enough to utterly annihilate them. If he were to turn hostile and fight these people here, triggering that energy would be an unforgivable loss.

After seven full hours of refinement, Fang Senyan and his group finally realized that their private spaces were completely filled with the purified Thallium element bars, barely able to accommodate anything else.

Aldaris let out a regretful sigh, gritted his teeth, and then discarded at least thirty more Thallium element bars, letting them clatter onto the ground. Wealth was important, but frankly, stuffing one’s private space entirely full with these things was tantamount to courting death... Necessary supplies and spell components still needed room.

At that moment, Fang Senyan felt a sudden warmth in his chest, realizing that the liquid metal lifeform had completely finished consuming the astonishing number of Teardrops. It had now shrunk into a coconut-sized, silvery-white sphere, retreated into his private space, and seemed to have fallen into hibernation. Simultaneously, a series of notifications flashed across his retina:

“Silver Series Mission Hidden Branch Chapter One: Infusion Complete……”

“Liquid Metal Lifeform has consumed 58 Teardrops, absorbing various exotic metallic components crucial for its growth, and has entered a state of saturation.”

“Notification: Your Liquid Metal Enhanced Lifeform has received sufficient nutrition for growth, and Mission Completion level has increased to LVMAX. The Liquid Metal Lifeform will now enter hibernation; please wait patiently for its development.”

“Notification: Due to the feeding of a sufficient quantity of Teardrops, the branch abilities gained by your Liquid Metal Enhanced Lifeform have been further strengthened, and its favorability toward you has increased, reaching a secondary critical point. You will receive an additional enhancement.”

“Suck: Whenever an enemy (including weapons) makes any contact with the armor/weapon coated by the liquid metal, the Liquid Metal Enhanced Lifeform will analyze or memorize the enemy. Once this occurs seven times, the Liquid Metal Enhanced Lifeform will calculate the enemy’s attack trajectory, thereby negating the enemy’s next attack.”

“Mimicry Enhancement: Armor/Weapons coated with the liquid metal will automatically possess a special effect equivalent to an additional +3 enhancement. If Mimicry Enhancement triggers an enhancement critical point… you may draw an extra bonus attribute. However, the interval between drawing extra bonus attributes will not be less than one month… Silver Series Mission Hidden Branch Chapter Three: Devour Activated.”

“Mission Requirement: After your Liquid Metal Lifeform awakens, feed it 100 pieces of equipment.”

“Mission Description: The Liquid Metal Lifeform is still unfamiliar with devouring other metals; therefore, strengthening this into an instinct is necessary. Devouring sufficient equipment is a crucial step for familiarization.”

“Mission Hint: The 100 pieces of equipment are unlimited in quality and type, but the sole requirement is that their durability must be MAX, with no existing wear and tear. However, devouring high-quality equipment might increase the mission completion rate.”

Upon seeing the condition requiring the consumption of 100 pieces of equipment, Fang Senyan nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. It was only after reading that the 100 pieces of equipment were unlimited in quality and type that he felt slightly better, though this would still place an enormous financial burden on him.

However, after seeing the attribute for Mimicry Enhancement, Fang Senyan couldn't help but feel he had "hit the jackpot"!!

An additional +3 enhancement attribute! Although the difficulty of spatial enhancement is notoriously extreme, often resulting in a startling failure rate after reaching +2, strengthening it to +4 is certainly not too difficult. This added bonus of Mimicry Enhancement +3 is equivalent to directly enjoying the special effect of +7!

The sheer abnormality of a +7 weapon could be seen from the +7 West he possessed.

If the liquid metal lifeform were not currently asleep, Fang Senyan would immediately summon it out and attach it to the +7 West, just to savor the terrifying special effects of a +10 weapon! In Fang Senyan’s experience, he had only ever seen one +9 weapon at an auction; a +10 weapon was something he had never encountered.

“But…” Fang Senyan mused for a moment, then a smile slowly spread across his face: “It seems I can let it wake up first, attach it to the +7 West, and then let it fall back into slumber.” (To be continued)RQ