Ducat smiled, his hand resting gently upon the light screen. A soft ripple of spiritual energy entered the screen: "Xiao Xiao, this fellow isn't one of our friends. Only Gu, that pale-faced guy, along with Li He and those two girls, are our allies."

Gu Xiachen walked forward slowly, nodding amiably toward Xiao Xiao. "Little fellow, it's a pleasure to meet you. If you enjoy cultivating flowers, come back to the Earth Federation with me. I'll get you a planet. You can plant any flower you wish to your heart's content!"

"Oh." Xiao Xiao drew a deep breath, deeply moved. He blinked his metallic eyelids as he looked at Gu Xiachen, then suddenly chuckled a few times.

Ten Super Motherships slowly slipped into the inky blackness of space, followed closely by all the other vessels and robots. Xiao Xiao stated solemnly, "Xiao Xiao reporting to Chief Gu. This is the complete inventory of all resources in the secret Black Hole-class mining sector controlled by the Roman Empire. Ah, we haven't received a single supply from the Empire over the years, so the material attrition is severe, and the loss of various warships has been substantial. Furthermore, the production lines have suffered massive wear and tear. If you hadn't come now, I couldn't have held on much longer."

Couldn't hold on? Gu Xiachen turned his head toward the flowerbeds. This little fellow must be joking. If his main super-brain, the core of his control, was on the verge of collapse, according to his core programming, he should still have the mood to plant flowers here? The sheer expanse of void, without a single natural celestial body in sight, proved that every star in this area had been hollowed out by him. And yet, he claimed to be short on supplies?

However, Gu Xiachen had no intention of exposing the little guy. He maintained a stern expression, examining the inventory list provided by Xiao Xiao with utmost seriousness.

The stored quantities of various rare metals were astonishingly vast, equivalent to what could be amassed after entirely excavating and refining twenty mineral-rich planets teeming with diverse rare metals.

The specifications of the ten Super Motherships were equally staggering; in terms of defense and kinetic power alone, they surpassed the most advanced space motherships of the Star Alliance's current Six-Star civilizations by more than double.

The combat data for the various smaller warships was shocking. According to the figures Xiao Xiao provided, those triangular small warships possessed ten times the combat effectiveness of the fighter jets currently in widespread use by the Star Alliance.

Finally, Xiao Xiao shamelessly listed a separate manifest for refined minerals: one hundred million cubic meters of Silver Key, purified to a purity of 99.999999%!

"Heavens above!" Hailis, still dazed from the effects of the marijuana, jolted awake. He stared at the string of silver data calculated in Star Alliance standard units, gesticulating wildly and screaming at the top of his lungs, "One hundred million cubic meters of Starlight Silver? My gods, my ancestors, my mother, my lovers, and my seven lovely illegitimate children—Gu, Your Majesty the Queen, I feel..."

Gu Xiachen and Ducat exchanged wry smiles. He waved his fan expansively and laughed heartily, "We are allies, allies! Six Super Motherships are yours, along with the matching dozens of super-massive transport ships. And this Starlight Silver, naturally, is yours too!"

Hailis's veins bulged beneath his skin with excitement. He glared at Xiao Xiao and roared, "Metal lump, is this all the resource this place holds?"

Xiao Xiao maintained a rigid expression, speaking with dull, emotionless finality, "My core programming does not permit me to lie. This is all the resources in this base."

Hailis immediately relaxed, awkwardly rubbing his hands together as he looked toward Gu Xiachen. "Sir, I am truly embarrassed."

Fu Ya Ming gracefully stepped forward a few paces, smiling gently. "As allies, this is merely a small token from us. It will greatly benefit Your Highness in stabilizing your position domestically. With this hundred million cubic meters of Starlight Silver, you should surely be named Prince of Xith, yes? We only ask that you remember our covenant."

Hailis pounded his chest vigorously and declared loudly, "As long as I become Prince of Xith, all merchant ships entering or exiting Xith territory under the Yafik Kingdom will be exempt from inspection and taxation! I swear upon my honor and status within the Star Alliance aristocracy—once I am Prince of Xith, the Yafik Kingdom and the Earth Federation will be my most steadfast allies."

Gu Xiachen enthusiastically approached Hailis, and the two men embraced heartily according to Star Alliance custom, laughing loudly and pressing their cheeks together.

Everything proceeded with methodical precision. Under Fu Ya Ming's finely tuned coordination, six Super Motherships were recalled by Xiao Xiao, accompanied by eighty transport ships, each exceeding one hundred kilometers in length and possessing immeasurable cargo capacity. One-third of the rare minerals in the base, and all the Starlight Silver, were loaded into the motherships and transports. Everything remaining was entirely claimed by Gu Xiachen and Fu Ya Ming.

In full view of everyone present, Gu Xiachen made no attempt to conceal his actions, using the Azure Lotus Ring to instantly store the colossal, boundless mining base, four Super Motherships, and twenty transport ships. For the Azure Lotus Ring, with its immense storage capacity, even though Gu Xiachen's cultivation level was not yet profound, these acquisitions only occupied about one-fifth of the ring's capacity.

The three warships, laden to capacity, departed. Guided by Xiao Xiao, they utilized a separate, hidden spatial jump gate, arriving near the Golden Route connecting the Spiral Star Field and the Xith Republic.

Hailis urgently summoned his accompanying escort fleet. Filled with satisfaction, he bid farewell to Gu Xiachen, distributing the escort soldiers evenly among the six motherships and eighty transport vessels. With a face slightly contorted from maniacal laughter, he triumphantly returned to the Xith Empire.

Six Super Motherships left behind by the ancient Romans, eighty gigantic transport ships filled with massive quantities of rare metals, and one hundred million cubic meters of Starlight Silver—such an enormous haul was still too abundant, too extravagant, for a Five-Star civilization like the Xith Empire. It was a pie that fell from the heavens, leaving every Xith citizen dizzy. Especially for the Xith Empire, which had already had a quarter of its strategic Starlight Silver reserves plundered by Gu Xiachen, this hundred million cubic meters not only covered the deficit but caused its financial strength to soar by tens of times!

Watching Hailis's massive fleet depart, Gu Xiachen suddenly shook his head. "Really, can robots not lie?"

Ducat spread his hands helplessly. "Xiao Xiao dislikes him; I didn't teach Xiao Xiao to lie!"

Xiao Xiao, having transferred a portion of his essence into a small robot body, bounced around erratically in the command cabin, giggling, "I didn't lie to that detestable carbohydrate lump! The base I was in truly only had this much resource. The rest of the resources were sent to the secret storage sites in the mining zone. Several giant production lines are over there!" He proudly patted Lily's small hand, hopping with excitement. "That was fun! He was so happy even after I gave him the six oldest, most outdated motherships that were sealed away before. Sigh, the main structures of those motherships are already showing cracks. They absolutely cannot be used in battle, or I can't be blamed if they disintegrate!"

He paused, then burst into laughter again. "The warships on those motherships are all common goods. Heh heh. Those warships equipped with subspace defense shields cannot be touched. If they dare to dismantle the functional modules for research—poison! Hahaha, I can't be blamed for that!"

Looking at the large head and small body of Xiao Xiao, who was shimmering with silver light and running everywhere, Gu Xiachen chuckled loudly. "Then let's not waste any more time. We must hurry back and take everything before leaving. Sigh, one Azure Lotus Ring isn't enough. Do I need to refine a few more Azure Lotus Rings?"

The Light of Yafik warships, along with the Primordial class battleships refitted by Gu Xiachen, arrived secretly as reinforcements. Eight thousand Had War mercenaries, accompanied by tens of thousands of skilled Yafik warship operators, arrived with the vessels. The small fleet of four warships swiftly followed Xiao Xiao's guidance to a spatial jump gate large enough for major vessels.

After two turning jumps, the fleet returned to the star field where Xiao Xiao's mining base was located.

During this journey, Gu Xiachen frowned in concentration, consuming many rare materials to refine nine more Azure Lotus Rings, which he immediately imbued as his natal magic treasures. Only with his strongest cultivation could these Azure Lotus Rings possess their current maximum storage capacity, meaning all ten rings had to belong to Gu Xiachen.

With rings covering all ten fingers, Gu Xiachen mocked himself, "Am I starting to look like a nouveau riche? But it doesn't matter. When my cultivation is high enough, I can merge them into one!"

Peng Hua, watching Gu Xiachen whose ten fingers gleamed with treasure light, was already doubled over with laughter. But there was no helping it. According to the data provided by Xiao Xiao, the resources he had amassed over hundreds of thousands of years by destroying a segment of the cosmos were an intimidating, gigantic figure. Especially since he had used a portion of those resources to manufacture warships for experimentation; without sufficient storage space, it would have been impossible for them to carry away these resources.

Under Xiao Xiao's guidance, the fleet activated the jump gates leading to the several secret areas where he had stored the materials. These areas corresponded to the destinations reached by opening the jump gates on that spatial discontinuity point at other frequency energy waves, which Gu Xiachen had detected with his divine sense.

In three of those star fields, vast quantities of metal cubes, standardized at one hundred by one hundred by one hundred meters, floated densely. Layer upon layer of these metal blocks orbited dozens of planets. Row after row, layer upon layer—the diameter of these planets was only about ten thousand kilometers, but the thickness of the metal layers orbiting them reached a mind-boggling forty thousand to one hundred thousand kilometers.

Gazing upon the boundless metal ocean before him, even Gu Xiachen felt a sense of suffocation.

Xiao Xiao bounced around excitedly in the command cabin, roaring, "Xiao Xiao's merit! Xiao Xiao's merit! For hundreds of thousands of years, I dug up thirty-nine thousand five hundred and seventy-two mineral stars—this is Xiao Xiao's merit! It’s a pity I wasted too many raw materials these past five hundred years building warships for experiments; otherwise, there would be even more refined metal here, so much more!"

Fu Ya Ming gently stroked Xiao Xiao’s smooth head, sighing softly.

In the pitch darkness of space, a mining computer, following the core programming set by its master hundreds of thousands of years ago, ceaselessly mined, mined, and mined. It continuously repaired its own body and constantly perfected its functional modules, ceaselessly expanding its mining fleet. Only in the end, due to its immense size and complex computational modules, did it generate rudimentary self-awareness.

Xiao Xiao, having gained self-awareness, began planting flowers in addition to mining. He started to develop and refine the few warship production lines left by his master. He began experimenting with developing new types of warships, leveraging his near-unrivaled computational capability to perfect scientific theories proposed long ago by the Romans.

This was an adorable and remarkable little entity.

The materials contained in the three storage sectors alone were enough to sustain a Six-Star civilization for centuries of continuous use. For the current Earth Federation and Yafik Kingdom, it was enough to fund their lavish spending for a millennium. With this astronomical fortune in raw materials, both nations would enjoy a long period free from material concerns after upgrading to Six-Star civilization in the future. This unexpected windfall was sufficient to lay the foundation for the rapid future development of both countries.

However, it was clear that Gu Xiachen's ten Azure Lotus Rings were insufficient to carry away all these metallic materials. He had no choice but to select a batch of small, easily carried immortal artifacts from the countless ones left by the Great Clumsy Hermit, stuffing the massive amount of raw materials into nearly a hundred of these storage artifacts.

"We're rich!" Deng Hua threaded the individual storage rings and bracelets onto a strand of supple Sky Silkworm thread, hanging them around his neck with a jingle-jangle sound. Now, he too was too exhausted from laughter to mock Gu Xiachen. Gu Xiachen, wearing ten rings, looked like a nouveau riche, but he looked like a rag collector!

"What agony. How many years will it take to use up all these minerals?" Gu Xiachen sighed, a mixture of pain and happiness. "If the Had War Defense Company doesn't become the number one arms dealer in the Star Alliance, it would be an absolute travesty! What arms dealer could possess such a massive reserve of rare metals?"

Happiness, too, washed over Fu Ya Ming. She tightly gripped Gu Xiachen’s hand, her clear face beaming with a smile.

So many rare metals, so many strategic minerals—no Six-Star civilization’s strategic inventory could contain even one-tenth of the rare metals found here. Rich beyond measure! This was more than just being rich enough to rival a nation; this wealth was enough to match the strategic reserves of a dozen Six-Star civilizations! Fu Ya Ming seemed to envision a future where Yafik stood atop the universe. Could the royal banner of Yafik fly in the highest committee hall of the Star Alliance?

Pressing both hands tightly against her chest, she leaned weakly against Fu Ya Ming. She stared blankly at the monumental quantity of minerals before her, then suddenly let out a deep, lingering sigh. "Brother must become the Star Alliance's number one pirate lord in the future, absolutely! Father needn't argue anymore; the spoils Brother just netted surpass the total income of our Broken Hook clan over the last ten thousand years by more than a hundredfold!" (To be continued)