Chapter Twenty: Remembering the Ancestor at One Peak (Part II)

Jing'er did not say anything more after hearing the middle-aged man's words; she simply turned her head to look at Kuang Chi once again.

Kuang Chi, understanding her intent, immediately spoke on Jing'er's behalf to the Master of Tyrannosaurus Peak who stood nearby: "Peak Master, what do you think of these people?"

The Master of Tyrannosaurus Peak caught the hint and replied quickly, "Lady Jing'er doesn't have much of an entourage. Since you all hail from the Piaofeng Empire, you shall be responsible for looking after Lady Jing'er from now on."

Jing'er smiled and thanked the Master of Tyrannosaurus Peak. Afterward, she turned to the middle-aged man and said, "Uncle, take them down to prepare. In a few days, you will accompany us back to Homesick City."

After the middle-aged man left, Kuang Chi asked quietly, "Jing'er, is he really your biological uncle?"

Jing'er nodded, her expression somewhat heavy.

Kuang Chi glanced at the Master of Tyrannosaurus Peak before saying, "It seems you are not very safe in the Piaofeng Empire."

Jing'er gave a lonely smile and replied, "I was never safe there. That is why we had you build the Ghost Pirate Ship. In the event that something happens to me, wouldn't you be able to come and save me?"

Kuang Chi’s expression turned strange. This was effectively asking him to intervene directly in the palace intrigues of the Piaofeng Empire.

The two remained at Nianzu Peak for several months. Among the exiles and their descendants living on Nianzu Peak, there were truly many talented individuals; those who could be exiled by the various human nations and major families to the Abandoned Star Domain were no simple characters. The Abandoned Star Domain had always been a place to exile high-profile criminals—specifically those whose status was too sensitive for them to be executed outright.

It took several months to finally complete the construction of the propulsion system manufacturing plant in a secluded valley near Nianzu Peak. The workers were mostly exiles and their descendants, who had received relatively advanced modern education and could master high-tech tasks after some training.

Upon returning to Homesick City, the two found the city in a state of bustling activity. Almost the entire population was mobilized. All the empty spaces outside the city walls had been converted into various factories, and the nearby magma river was completely fenced off, as the hull material had to be forged using the magma in accordance with the methods of the Forgotten Star people.

The idea of forging the hull piece by piece entirely by hand was something Kuang Chi and Jing'er found difficult to accept, especially since the forging location was right by a river of magma. Without superior cultivation, such work could not be done.

For the sake of these hulls, not only did Tyrannosaurus Peak, the Demon Valley, and the Clear Smoke Pavilion mobilize a large number of experts, but under the strong pressure from these three factions, the other eight cities of Forgotten Star also transferred many experts to Homesick City.

Ten years is not a long time for the long-lived people of Forgotten Star, nor was it long for Kuang Chi; the decade left no mark of time upon him. The only witnesses to the passing years were Jing'er’s increasingly mature appearance and Anna, who had since become Kuang Chi's third wife.

The result of those ten years was three fire-red giant ships, each hundreds of meters long, sitting in the newly built spaceport at the surface entrance of Homesick City.

Hundreds of people stood silently before these three giant ships. This group included the lords of the nine cities of Forgotten Star, the heads of the major families, and over a dozen elders from Tyrannosaurus Peak, the Demon Valley, and the Clear Smoke Pavilion. Directly in front of where they stood was Kuang Chi's Ghost Pirate Ship.

The Ghost Pirate Ship did not actually look like a ship; it resembled a long blade. It was over five hundred meters long, nearly a hundred meters tall, and less than fifty meters wide at its broadest point.

The crowd stood in silence, watching the busy workers transport crates of propulsion components—just arrived from Tyrannosaurus Peak—into the stern entrance of the ship.

It was not that Kuang Chi and Jing'er were unwilling to install the propulsion systems for the other two transport ships now; it was because Jing'er only had one super-AI from the life-support escape pod available to serve as a flight control system. A ship without a propulsion system is like a body without a heart, and a ship without a super-AI as a control system is like a body without a soul.

Given the level of technology the Forgotten Star had developed over the last decade with Jing'er's help, building ship hulls was no longer an issue. However, manufacturing high-tech super-AIs was clearly impossible in the short term. The Ghost Pirate Ship had to make do by stripping the AI from the life-support pod.

After all the propulsion components were loaded onto the Ghost Pirate Ship, Si Qing, the Lord of Homesick City, spoke to Jing'er: "Sister Jing'er, how long will it take for you and Young Master Kuang to return from the Piaofeng Empire?"

This was perhaps the question everyone present cared about most. Because the other two ships lacked the AI control systems and Forgotten Star lacked the ability to manufacture them, the only option was to leave the Abandoned Star Domain to purchase two sets of AIs from other planets. The only vessel capable of leaving Forgotten Star was Kuang Chi's Ghost Pirate Ship, which was equipped with a control system. That was how the current situation had come to be.

Jing'er smiled, took the hand of the female city lord, and said, "If the wormhole to the Devil Star Domain still exists, and we don't encounter any danger along the way, we will be back in a year at most."

Jing'er looked calmly at the other eight city lords and added, "During this year, you can try to see if you can repair the broken AIs. If you succeed, you can contact the Master of Tyrannosaurus Peak; I have already given him the assembly methods for the propulsion systems and the necessary final components."

In the end, Kuang Chi set off on the Ghost Pirate Ship with over two hundred experts from Tyrannosaurus Peak, dozens of subordinates Jing'er had recruited over the decade from Nianzu Peak, and dozens of experienced pirate pilots selected from Nianzu Peak. Naturally, Jing'er's uncle was also among them.

As the stern hatch slowly closed, Jing'er let out a long sigh and looked at Kuang Chi: "We're finally in. I was truly worried that those city lords and the elders of the Demon Valley and Clear Smoke Pavilion wouldn't let us leave."

Kuang Chi smiled bitterly: "Of course they are at ease now; Anna is still in their hands."

Seeing Kuang Chi's expression, Jing'er seemed slightly unhappy: "What? Are you that reluctant to part with Anna after only just leaving? It's less than a year. At worst, when we reach the Devil Star Domain, my uncle and I can return to Piaoyun Star ourselves, and you can just buy two AIs and come back. If things go smoothly, a few dozen days will be enough."

Kuang Chi couldn't help but chuckle at Jing'er’s expression. The relationship between the two had developed in increasingly strange ways over the last ten years, especially after Kuang Chi married Anna five years ago.

Kuang Chi quickly said, "Let's not talk about this for now; let's see if the propulsion system can actually drive this ship. If the ship can't even fly, everything else is moot."

Jing'er seemed to agree, and the two went directly to the control room. Standing on the bridge together, Jing'er took a sky-blue crystal from Kuang Chi. She looked at it for a moment, then looked at Kuang Chi and asked, "You've always wanted to know what these sky-blue crystals are, haven't you?"

Kuang Chi nodded.

Jing'er smiled and asked, "Have you ever heard of the Sea of Storms?"

Kuang Chi pondered for a moment, then shook his head. He had indeed never heard anyone mention that name.

Jing'er thought for a moment before asking again, "You must have heard of the Lanti, at least?"

Kuang Chi naturally knew of them; they were one of the five most powerful intelligent races currently known in the universe. He nodded and said, "Isn't the Lanti race adjacent to your Piaofeng Empire?"

Jing'er nodded and said, "The Sea of Storms is the border region between our Piaofeng Empire and the Lanti. There is a vast stretch of space there where energy storms exist at all times, so we call it the Sea of Storms."

Having said this, Jing'er stroked the crystal in her hand for a moment before continuing, "These crystals are what we discovered in the Sea of Storms. The energy storms there seem to be formed because of these crystals. The one we have on our ship is similar, only much larger, and instead of an energy storm, it creates a constant flow of energy."

With that, Jing'er pressed a few buttons on the console. A small hole appeared beneath it, and she dropped the crystal inside. Once the hole closed, she smiled and said, "I hope the propulsion system works correctly. Also, remember to replenish these crystals in the future; they are equivalent to the energy blocks we use commonly. The place where these are produced is the Sea of Storms, and you must ensure the crystal supply for my two transport ships."

When the Ghost Pirate Ship finally emerged from the wormhole to the Devil Star Domain after a violent jolt, the impact nearly knocked Kuang Chi and Jing'er off the deck.

They rushed to the command cabin, only to remember that the ship had no scanning equipment. As it stood, the ship was merely an empty shell with a propulsion system, a hull, and a control system. It lacked weapons, advanced electronics, and everything else.

The voice of Jing'er's uncle came through the intercom: "Princess, we are being hit by an asteroid field; we must leave immediately!"

Through a series of impacts, the ship sped away from the asteroid belt. It was then that the quality of the Ghost Pirate Ship's hull became apparent; despite the ship shaking violently in space, it finally emerged from the belt safely.

As the Ghost Pirate Ship—now essentially little more than a submarine—cleared the belt, Jing'er's uncle and a dozen others walked in from the cabin, looking excited.

"Finally," her uncle said happily, "we've left that wretched Forgotten Star."

He then added, "There is a planet in the Devil Star Domain secretly controlled by our Piaofeng Empire. The person in charge there is one of my clansmen. We shall go there first and equip this iron beast with everything it needs."