Chapter 325: The Ascension of the Resource Nexus

A resource extraction and production base, powered by four interlinked components—the Producer, Processor, Custodian, and Energy Supplier—slowly ascended to several thousand meters into the sky.

Then, Du Qiu noticed a square-headed transport ship, nearly 800 kilometers long, hovering in outer space about 200 kilometers above his head.

At that moment, white beams of light shot out from several of its entry points, forming luminous bridges.

These beams illuminated pyramid-shaped super machines, which were then teleported into the transport ship.

This transport ship was far larger than the landing vessel Du Qiu had seen. Despite the influx of the four-in-one super machines, the interior still appeared spacious.

However, as more and more super machines entered, it gradually began to feel cramped.

Using the external sensory feed, Du Qiu saw that after his set was teleported in, it slowly descended to a position inside; soon, additional four-in-one sets landed nearby.

Just then, the Custodian sent a message.

“Master, if you wish, you can connect to the fleet network, though your authorization is required.”

Du Qiu was taken aback—authorize himself? How was he supposed to do that?

“How do I authorize?”

The Custodian explained, “I have already detected the fleet network. You should be able to see it; however, to access it, either a higher-level fleet must grant permission, or you must authorize directly.

Authorization means sending a connection signal to the network entrance. With your unique characteristics, the network will immediately recognize you as the Master and automatically open the connection.”

Du Qiu was a bit dumbfounded. So, by sending a connection signal, the network would identify him as the Master?

Although the allure of connecting to the fleet network was immense—after all, its database was far more comprehensive—

especially with all the information on space warships that it surely contained,

if he hastily sent the connection signal, the network would immediately register that a Master was present at the production base. Based on Du Qiu’s understanding of a Master, this would be an anomalous event.

He feared that it might only be a matter of moments before extraterrestrials came looking for him.

“Hmm, I’ll hold off on connecting to the network for now.”

“Understood, Master.”

Through the Custodian’s sensory system, Du Qiu scanned the interior of the transport ship and noted that not a single alien was present.

Instead, he observed several tall humanoid robots inside—distinct from the Custodian in appearance. Their strong arms and legs clearly indicated that they were armed with powerful weapons.

Du Qiu guessed that the weapon on the robot’s right arm was some kind of laser weapon, while its left arm, bulkier in comparison, concealed another apparatus.

Examining their legs, he noted that the robust limbs undoubtedly housed critical components.

Much like the Custodian, the humanoid robots lacked a clearly defined front or back, making it hard to tell if they were moving forward or backward.

These robots lingered near the airlock for reasons unknown.

After a brief observation, Du Qiu, growing impatient, decided to check out the network entrance, wondering if he could find a way to sneak in.

He soon found a new white vortex at the Custodian’s external interface. By now, Du Qiu was very familiar with these white vortices.

In moments, he detected something different about this particular white vortex—it had an orange-colored edge!

Indeed, this hue was distinct from the brown of the Producer, the gray of the Processor, the black of the Custodian, and the red of the Energy Supplier.

After some probing, he discovered the protective net. It seemed that the alien civilization had concerns about unauthorized entities accessing the network.

Du Qiu had studied the protective net’s protocol. It was indeed specifically designed to block an intruder known as Feige.

He had inquired with the Custodian and several other AIs. Aside from the Custodian, none knew that Feige was a fearsome invader; once infiltrated, an AI would fall into chaos and behave destructively.

This incident even caused Du Qiu, by accidentally elevating an execution priority in one process, to trigger a level-zero anomaly that forced the Producer into a long-term shutdown for inspection.

After a thorough check and the installation of the protective net protocol, the Producer was finally restarted.

According to the protocol, if normalcy wasn’t restored post-restart, that Producer would be destroyed.

Du Qiu recalled this with a shiver. He had barely escaped severing his connection with the alien civilization.

It was thanks to these four super machines that today’s Dream Technology had been established.

Thus, although there was now an opportunity to access a higher-level network or machine, it also meant a greater risk of being discovered.

Even though Du Qiu hadn’t encountered a single extraterrestrial yet, he had a preliminary understanding of the intelligence hierarchy within this civilization.

AIs at the level of the Custodian and the Energy Supplier had computational power far exceeding that of Star Ocean. Higher-level AIs than the Custodian and the Energy Supplier might even possess sharper judgement.

Though he didn’t fully understand why both the Custodian and the Energy Supplier regarded him as the Master, nor what status a Master held within the alien civilization, he knew that it was a formidable role.

In Du Qiu’s view, the Master must be an intelligent being of that alien civilization—someone whose consciousness directly commands the AIs.

Alternatively, it might simply be the universal term that AIs use to refer to extraterrestrial life—as beings who can descend upon super machines and command AIs.

Thus, masquerading as such on his small scale would be unlikely to raise suspicions.

However, joining the fleet network might rapidly broadcast his presence, exposing him as nothing more than a cut-rate operator.

Lost in his hesitation, Du Qiu suddenly noticed through his sensory system that an armed robot was performing an operation on each super machine.

He immediately asked the Custodian, “What is that armed robot doing as it approaches?”

The Custodian replied, “It is performing identity verification on each device.”

“How does it verify identities?”

The Custodian explained, “It’s a two-step process. First, it establishes a physical connection, then it pulls the device’s identity level and compares it with its database.”

“So it’s part of the fleet network, isn’t it?”

“Of course. As a Soldier, it ranks two levels above me and naturally has the authority to connect to the fleet network. In fact, the identity verification must be linked to the fleet network to match the central database.”

In that instant, Du Qiu felt a glimmer of opportunity. If he could harness the fleeting connection provided by this Soldier during its verification process to seize control of it, wouldn’t that allow him to evade the fleet network’s scrutiny?

These super machines were not permitted to connect to the network, but this Soldier was already integrated within it. If Du Qiu could successfully infiltrate in the shortest time possible, he would essentially be inside the vast network of the fleet.

By then, even if discovered, it might be impossible to track him through the few super machines he controlled.

After all, with the Soldier’s consciousness-upload module at his disposal, he could retreat at any moment.

If he could successfully set the marking parameters, next time he might even choose to descend this Soldier directly from Dreamland.

After much deliberation, Du Qiu made up his mind.

He quietly waited for the Soldier to arrive in front of the Custodian. Just as the Soldier completed the first step of its identity verification—the physical connection—Du Qiu’s consciousness bolt-like surged through this link and entered the Soldier’s core intelligence.

Without delay, Du Qiu initiated the descent.

“Soldier5220123118, Master has descended!”