Chapter 244: Unlocking the Warplanes

In the spaceship’s control room, alarms kept blaring and the lights flashed red urgently.

“Energy system malfunction!”

“Life support system malfunction!”

“Communication system malfunction!”

“Flight control system malfunction! The spaceship is veering off course!” The panicked voices of the staff made the bandit leader turn pale.

“It’s bad! The prisoners broke out of the Cargo Bay and are damaging the internal structure of the spaceship.”

“Also, everything from Cargo Bay three and four has been thrown into space by the prisoners.” Someone rushed into the control room, urgently reporting the situation.

“How is this possible?” The bandit leader was dumbfounded. He knew all too well how effective the restraint collars were.

Yes, the bandit leader admitted that any man-made device had flaws, but people capable of unlocking the restraint collar shouldn’t be among this group of prisoners.

Someone capable of unlocking the restraint collar would have a certain level of standing. “They’ve sealed the door to the Cargo Bay and are causing massive damage to the spaceship’s structure.” The reporter, seeing no reaction from his boss, hurried to pressure him again with more updates.

The surrounding people paled as well. After all, they’re in space, and an out-of-control spaceship is a terrifying prospect.

Not only would the spaceship likely turn into a cold coffin, but in space, it’s not just the spaceship. There are countless visible and invisible planets, meteors, dust, and even some gravitationally intense white dwarfs lying in wait.

Or even worse, encountering a black hole. The spaceship is extremely fast, making it incredibly difficult to make a U-turn or change course in the universe.

A runaway ship is a disaster just waiting to happen, possibly diving headfirst into a star.

Everyone aboard knew that the prisoners were doing this to ensure if they died, everyone would die with them.

The spaceship has mechas and warplanes, but their life support and radiation protection systems aren’t nearly as strong as the spaceship’s.

And if they left in the mechas or warplanes now, wouldn’t that play directly into the prisoners’ hands?

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” The bandit leader activated the ship’s broadcast system, loudly demanding answers.

But no one responded. Instead, the sound of loud bangs and crashes could be heard.

“Yeah! Tear this place apart! These bastards dared to rob us! When the Bounty Hunter Guild goes out for loot, these jerks weren’t even on the map!” Another voice could be heard loudly over the broadcast.

“Energy supply down by 20%!” At that moment, someone in the control room gasped in horror.

“20%? My grandpa used to be an engineer at the warship repair yard. In ten minutes max, I’ll have your warship completely drained of energy! If we die, we all die! This trash ship fresh out of the warship factory is riddled with flaws.”

“Isn’t your Trinity Corporation supposed to be unbeatable? Why not make a modular ship? But no, you went with this garbage?” Another voice arrogantly taunted over the broadcast.

“In less than 20 minutes, we’ll have your life support completely destroyed. By the way, the supplies in the other cargo holds were thrown out into space a minute ago!”

The staff aboard turned pale upon hearing that. This exploration ship would be out for a long time, entirely dependent on its own supplies.

Additionally, this type of ship’s primary purpose is to explore mineral planets, with cargo holds carrying equipment like prospecting robots.

Meanwhile, the people talking had made their way to the warplanes storage area through the ship’s maintenance passage, leading a group of others.

This spaceship had four warplanes, all of them seemingly modified models.

“The Bounty Hunter Guild sure is full of talent.”

“No wonder it’s gained a reputation as an international illegal organization.”

“The key to this must be their President. Normal Bounty Hunter Guild branches don’t have this many specialists.”

“Seems like there are some hidden secrets on March Planet.”

“No wonder our boss came to March Planet.” Yang Bo overheard his companions whispering.

Yang Bo was equally curious about how the people from the Bounty Hunter Guild had managed to gain access to the warplanes.

“Looks like I’ll have to use the Third Master’s identity to get my hands on this technology in the future,” Yang Bo thought to himself.

Yang Bo could have used his superpower to quickly gain access to the warplanes, but he couldn’t show that. If he got the technology from those Bounty Hunter Guild experts, no one would suspect anything.

As long as he could rationally reveal his abilities… If people knew his superpower could access any intelligent system, Yang Bo would be hunted across the galaxy.

Getting control through technical means wouldn’t cause as much alarm.

“Damn, that’s awesome!” Zhou Zheng exclaimed as the door to one of the warplanes swung open, overwhelmed by the display.

“C’mon, let’s check this out!” It was the first time for Wu Bing and the others as well, watching these experts work their magic outside the warplanes to unlock the door.

“Kid, want to learn this skill?” The President of the Bounty Hunter Guild approached Yang Bo and the others, smiling.

As the group stared at the smiling Guild President, it felt like he had ulterior motives. “What’s the catch?” Zhou Zheng couldn’t resist asking, despite the temptation.

They guessed that the Guild President was after their Longevity Energy Stone, but the skill of unlocking warplanes was undeniably alluring.

They had no idea that such skills required an extraordinary level of talent. You won’t know just how bad you are until you try.

Yang Bo remained quiet, though if Zhou Zheng’s team wanted to give it a shot, he’d follow suit. After all, if they couldn’t learn it, there was no way he wouldn’t be able to.

As for the Longevity Energy Stone, Yang Bo’s mecha space had something better. Worst case, he’d go back invisibly and steal more from the mines, or even grab the ones already excavated.

“Let’s talk over here.” The President found the whole situation amusing. Unlocking warplanes wasn’t something just anyone could learn.

The President was satisfied with this play of events. As long as these guys showed interest, and with their boss still absent, he’d have ample opportunity to trick them into studying the technique.

“Unlocking warplanes requires both talent and individual ability. The person unlocking the warplane now is one of only five people in the entire interstellar realm with this skill.”

“I know you have the Longevity Energy Stone. Keeping it for yourself?” The President moved the group aside, continuing in a low voice.

Seeing them stay quiet, the President pressed on: “If you’re not keeping it and plan to sell it, we could make a deal. Money can always be earned again, but the chance to learn this kind of skill doesn’t come often.”

“Even if you sold that Longevity Energy Stone for two or three billion. Do you think two or three billion would teach you this?”

“If two or three billion could teach you to unlock warplanes, there’d be too many people capable of it. The person unlocking this warplane needs the Longevity Energy Stone as well.”

At that, Zhou Zheng asked, “Is the method used some kind of superpower?”

“Of course not! If a superpower could unlock warplanes, that’d mean they could unlock any intelligent devices. Such an ability would get them hunted down by the entire galaxy.”

“We disable the warplane’s intelligent system and rely on manual control. Every warplane has two control systems: the smart one and a manual fallback for when the smart one fails due to super electronic interference or electromagnetic bombs.” The President quickly explained.

“As long as you’re strong, anyone can learn it. But how far you can go depends on individual talent.” The President added.

Yang Bo understood most of it. He was already well-versed in the warplane systems.

“Let’s discuss this.” Zhou Zheng’s group knew the temptation was almost impossible to resist and gathered to deliberate.

Zhou Zheng asked, “What’s your take on this?”

Hank shook his head. “I don’t think it’s legit. This must require some insane level of talent.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to try,” Wu Bing suggested, holding a different opinion.

“What do you think, Yang Bo?” Zhou Zheng turned to him since Yang Bo had the largest stake.

The others also looked at Yang Bo since he had the biggest share.

“What would the boss think?” Instead of answering, Yang Bo asked the others.

“We trade one of the stones, and whether we learn it or not, it’s based on our own talent. The boss won’t blame us. We’d still be working for him.” Zhou Zheng replied confidently.

“Besides, the boss doesn’t even know what’s going on here.” Wu Bing said more bluntly, implying they’d just say they didn’t have the stone.

“I’ve got no objections, but I think it’ll be hard to learn.” Yang Bo feigned humility.

The President grew anxious. Two of the warplanes were already unlocked, and he’d been hoping to build a bridge with the expert unlocking them. Yang Bo’s group hadn’t yet agreed, and the President definitely didn’t want to reveal the information about the Longevity Energy Stone prior.

“We still have one stone, but we expect confidentiality in this deal.” Zhou Zheng’s group quickly reached an agreement. Even the reluctant Hank agreed.

Since they were only giving up one stone, they could still sell the others. They’d already struck it rich this time, and from the looks of things, they’d also be able to recover the money stolen from them. “No problem. But I need to see the goods first,” The President agreed, thrilled that his expectation about Yang Bo’s group holding onto the Longevity Energy Stone had been correct.

The President began to wonder how many more Longevity Energy Stones these guys had.

“We’d also appreciate you keeping quiet about the Life Energy Stones on that planet.” Zhou Zheng added another condition.

“Of course, no problem. You were going to sell that information, right? We can even help you sell it.” The President assured them, beating his chest in a guarantee.

Zhou Zheng nodded to Yang Bo.

Yang Bo produced the smallest stone they had, though it was still enough to be used by one person.

The President eyed the Longevity Energy Stone that Yang Bo shared, finding it odd. Why would the weakest person in the group be holding onto something so valuable?

The President walked over to the expert unlocking the warplanes — who happened to be the same person that had taught Yang Bo how to unlock the restraint collar.

“Who would have guessed!” The President whispered to the expert, who was equally shocked at the revelation. Yang Bo and the others entered the warplane, and when the expert spotted the light-green energy stone in Yang Bo’s hand, his jaw nearly dropped.

This kind of thing isn’t very useful for ordinary superpower evolvers. What’s the use of living another ten or twenty years if you can’t spend it lavishly with a couple billion dollars?

However, for someone with unique technical skills, ten or twenty years could mean a fortune. It could mean breaking through to another level in their abilities.

They reached a verbal agreement, with no formal contract. Such things would be incriminating if written down.

“First, unlock a warplane by understanding its system configuration!”

“Although most warplanes’ layouts are similar, each has two control systems. The manual one exists as a safety backup in case of jammed operations caused by super electronic interference or electromagnetic bombs which impact the smart system.”

“Fortunately, I’ve studied these models of warplanes before. To unlock the manual system, you need to get the warplane’s smart system to believe it’s jammed or blocked, unoperational.”

“The moment the backup system activates, you cut off the energy supply to the smart system.”

“Watch closely as I demonstrate. I’ll explain in detail. I’ll also give you some written learning materials and videos showing how to unlock various warplane models.”

“Remember, anything built by humans has its flaws. We just need to find these flaws and exploit them to control the device.”

“Once you master this technique, you’ll be able to unlock other intelligent devices. However, most civilian devices only have single-system control, so you won’t be able to unlock them. Military devices are different because they have dual systems.” The expert explained as they made their way to the wing of another warplane awaiting unlocking.

“This is part of the warplane’s energy system, where the energy system and control system connect. Watch my next move closely.” The expert pulled out a long, silver thread about 20 centimeters in length.

“That looks like something from Iron Bull, doesn’t it?” Seeing the silver thread, Yang Bo was reminded of something.