Industry: Cthulhu

Chapter 82 Mining Area
When Brown left the battleship, he felt an invisible heaviness in his chest.

Although he was reluctant to admit it, Captain Williams's log had a much stronger impact on him than he had imagined. Taking a deep breath, Brown forced himself to calm down.

Back on the frigate, Brown turned on the scanner and found that the spatial fluctuations here were extremely complex and far more vast than he had imagined.

Fang Yan said that this was a space bubble, but Brown's intuition told him that this area was much larger than a space bubble, and could be called a parallel universe.

He adjusted the detector to the highest sensitivity, trying to capture all the fluctuations around him. In an instant, data surged like a tide. The surrounding structure was very complex, but at the three o'clock direction, a large number of metal reflection waves increased sharply.

Brown marked his position, turned on full thrust, and moved toward the source of the signal.

I don’t know how long it took, but a shadow emerged from the darkness. It was a dense nebula, or more precisely, an asteroid belt.

The number of metal signals on the screen far exceeded Brown's expectations. When the frigate approached, the data from the scanner exploded, making it impossible for him to believe his eyes.

Countless huge rocks and metal ores stretched out in front of the frigate, almost filling Brown's field of vision. Each asteroid shone with a unique luster, some with a cold metallic light, and some covered with a thick layer of crystals.

The scanning results are constantly updated, and new types of minerals are discovered almost every second, including titanium, tungsten, nickel iron, and even rare metals such as tantalum and iridium, as well as huge reserves of subcrystalline silicon.

Brown switched the probe to deep scanning mode, shuttling back and forth among the asteroids, trying to gain a comprehensive understanding of the entire mining area.

However, every time he thought he had found the core area, the scan results would refresh again, showing a farther and denser metal signal.

At this time, a huge asteroid came into view on the right. Its surface was covered with deep cracks, and each crack was inlaid with complex metal veins.

Brown zoomed in on the scan results and discovered that the interior of the asteroid was composed entirely of pure tantalum, while the surface was covered with a rare element, ruthenium!

The element ruthenium is almost impossible to appear in its natural state in normal star fields. It is extremely difficult to extract, but it is the core material for manufacturing superconductors and high-efficiency quantum chips. Even the richest planets in the Milky Way have extremely limited amounts of ruthenium ore that can be mined.

And here, the ruthenium content on the surface of just one asteroid exceeds the total reserves known to Brown.

"Oh my God!" Brown exclaimed.

The existence of this mining area has completely overturned his ability to understand.

……

The Spirit of Light.

The temple was dark.

Arant stood alone in front of the main altar, his brows furrowed, and the irritation in his heart became increasingly difficult to conceal.

The Earth, that tiny, broken place on the edge of the Milky Way, has once again miraculously survived.

Thinking of those elites who traveled to Earth and the engineers who unconditionally supported Fang Yan, Alan's teeth were almost broken.

It was really weird. Every time he thought Fang Yan was in desperate situation, an invisible force would suddenly emerge, pulling Blue Light Technology back from the edge of the cliff and destroying all of Alante's plans.

"Unreasonable!" Arant cursed softly and slammed his fist down on the altar.

The task assigned to him by his master was to stop Fang Yan's rise, but no matter how hard Alante tried, every attempt was like hitting cotton, leaving no trace.

Arant's sense of frustration grew stronger and stronger, as if there was an invisible wall that always stood between him and Fang Yan, preventing him from carrying out his conspiracy.

At this moment, intelligence officer Luo Kaier suddenly asked for a meeting.

"You must see this!" Rokel said with unconcealable excitement.

"A sophisticated robotic arm, perhaps related to artificial intelligence..."

Just a few words made Arant's heart tighten. The intelligence summary described in detail this device, known as the "Refined Robotic Arm." Its efficiency, precision, and especially its autonomy and intelligence far exceeded the current mainstream standards in the galaxy.

At present, the number of robotic arms is incalculable, and it is they that support the explosive expansion of Blue Light Technology.

The intelligence mentioned a possibility that the sophisticated robotic arm was very likely installed with some kind of artificial intelligence program.

Arant's heart was completely shocked. Artificial intelligence was a taboo in the Milky Way, and Earth actually dared to secretly develop this technology?

There was a complex light flashing in Arant's eyes, and his mind was turning quickly, evaluating the value of this information.

"Fang Yan, you actually dare to get involved in the field of artificial intelligence!" Arant's mouth corners slightly raised, with a hint of coldness in his smile.

After turning off the data terminal, Arant slowly turned around and faced Luo Kaier. "You did a good job. The intelligence this time is crucial."

"However, we won't do it ourselves. Instead, we'll spread this news as widely as possible. Once the three giants, the Pontiac United States, the Naga Republic, and the Cold Silver Mountain Empire, learn that Earth is secretly developing artificial intelligence, it will inevitably cause an uproar."

"By then, we only need to push slightly in secret to make the giants take the initiative to destroy everything Fang Yan has."

After saying that, Arant's mood instantly brightened up a lot. He gently stroked the runes on the altar, as if he had already seen the future victory.

"Pass this message as quickly as possible, but be secretive and don't let anyone track us down." Alante's voice was cold and calm.

Luo Kaier nodded slightly, his eyes gleaming sharply. Then, he turned quickly and disappeared outside the temple.

"Can you escape this time?" Alante murmured in a low voice, his tone full of cold expectation.

……

The Sidewinder was quietly hovering in the Earth's low-orbit parking area. Fang Yan stood in front of the porthole, looking at the boundless space. Although he looked calm on the surface, his heart was like a taut string.

Fang Yan did not tell anyone about his search for Brown. He simply gave Isabella and Li Muyun a brief explanation, saying that he had some important matters that he needed to think about alone for a few days. Then he drove the Rattler frigate away from the Earth.

Blu-ray Technology is no longer the unknown small enterprise it once was. Fang Yan has not only accumulated a large amount of capital, but also built a small fleet of his own.

Currently, the company owns a total of six ships, including three standard cargo ships, one comprehensive survey ship, and two small frigates.

The fleet is very small and insignificant compared to the Milky Way.

But Fang Yan installed an advanced artificial intelligence core system inside each of his ships, a technology that is extremely rare in the Milky Way.

Coupled with the unprecedentedly powerful shield, Fang Yan can still travel without any worries despite being a rookie captain.

The Sidewinder started up, and the jump engine quickly increased to maximum power. The soft blue light turned into a blazing white light stream, opening a dark wormhole in front of the ship.

"Jump preparations are complete. Do you want to enter the jump state?"

The AI uttered a soft female voice, and Fang Yan ordered without hesitation, "Enter jump mode and maintain maximum speed throughout."

"receive."

As the Sidewinder entered the wormhole, Fang Yan finally relaxed.

Although a rookie, Fang Yan has no concerns about driving a starship alone. Perhaps it is because he has inherited the way of thinking of the mysterious civilization in his brain. Fang Yan feels that artificial intelligence is 100% trustworthy. He plans to learn while sailing and master the starship management and driving techniques as quickly as possible.

At this moment, Fang Yan didn't know.

The news about the robotic arm has been leaked, and the artificial intelligence that he trusts 100% is actually not that reliable.

(End of this chapter)