The plunder of the heavens begins with the Spirit Cage.

"What the hell is this place?!"

Lu Qianwei rubbed his numb buttocks, completely unprepared for the time portal to open in mid-air.

He paused for half a minute before looking up to observe his surroundings.

The high-rise buildings here almost block out the sky. The houses are piled up haphazardly, one on top of another, looking like a child's haphazardly stacked blocks, as if they might collapse.

He was stuck in a narrow alley between two walls. At its widest point, it was just wide enough for an adult to walk through. There were also piles of discarded parts and rotten fruit shells at the base of the walls, which creaked when stepped on.

Lu Qianwei frowned. The temporary time portal couldn't be closed, and this kind of place severely limited his ability to push forward and mass produce units.

"I hope it's not some kind of apocalyptic world again."

In the previous Dead Space game world, they recovered the divine seal and all personnel from the spaceship, and also dismantled and packed up all the supplies, equipment, and technology on board before returning to the main timeline, after which they completely severed all contact with that side.

Lu Qianwei didn't know how many divine seals were there over there, but he knew the principle that one cannot escape the consequences of one's own actions.

Regardless of how the fate of the Ishimura changes, the infected mastermind is dead...

He couldn't possibly stop the government there from studying the divine seal.

"Forget it, let's see what's going on here first." Lu Qianwei shook his head, trying not to think about this troublesome matter.

Carefully walking along the narrow path where the light source was, the dazzling neon lights made him squint. After his eyes adjusted to the light, Lu Qianwei was momentarily stunned.

"Holy crap, where did they put me?"

On the wide-open road, he was used to the countless glowing signs and the floating holographic projections.

But what's with a large group of aliens of different races chatting, laughing, hugging, and acting as naturally as humans walking down the street?!

Looking out, the streets were filled with bizarre alien races, all relaxed and lively.

Two bird-woman girls with iridescent feathered wings walked slowly by, arm in arm, wearing women's high heels and tiptoeing.

They are clearly long-beaked and feathered, yet they dress exactly like fashionable, wealthy human ladies.

A delicate gold chain with twisted patterns was wrapped around the base of its wings, each link of which was inlaid with shimmering ice-blue crystals. A translucent pink crystal pendant the size of a pigeon egg hung around its neck, swaying back and forth and brushing against the fluffy downy feathers on its chest. Three shiny gold and gemstone rings were also on the tips of its slender claws, making a soft clattering sound with each step.

The two girls each held a glowing fruit candy stick in their beaks, chattering and laughing incessantly. With a flap of their wings, their bodies shimmered so brightly they made one dizzy.

They even stopped to take a photo with each other, tilting their heads and squeezing together, the neon lights on their wings mixed with the luster of gold jewelry, making them exceptionally eye-catching.

On the other side, a pair of robot 'couples' leaned against the roadside wall, half of their bodies covered in cold silver mechanical shells. The boy rested his alloy chin on the girl's shoulder, while the girl held up a portable light screen and swiped around to select items. Her hydraulically jointed fingers tapped the screen, making a clicking sound. Occasionally, she would tilt her head and rub against the boy's cheek, acting all sticky.

Lu Qianwei looked to the left and saw a pale purple gaseous 'mother' floating in mid-air, chasing two round little gaseous children. The smaller one was floating fast and skewed, while the larger one was floating slowly behind.

Lu Qianwei couldn't tell whether the soft buzzing sound was a laugh or a call for her mother.

As Lu Qianwei walked along, he saw no fewer than a hundred alien races.

He had seen other aliens before, including those from the Galactic Alliance established in the Ironblood world, but this was the first time he had ever seen a scene like this, where people strolled around like humans.

As Lu Qianwei watched a race with three heads pass by, carrying a full shopping bag in their left hand, a cigarette dangling from their mouth in the middle, and half a golden roasted corn on their right, chatting and laughing amongst themselves, Lu Qianwei's lips twitched.

It's quite unusual to see people walking their pets; the leash has a round, furry ball with six legs.

Have I somehow ended up in the Earth Alliance?

Any civilization that can break free from the constraints of its home planet and roam the stars.

Each group has its own unique physiological habits, survival preferences, and traditional customs, and their cultures should be vastly different from each other.

But everything we see now bears the strong imprint of Earth's civilization.

The alien race imitates humans in clothing and attire, and has a full range of food, snacks, and street food. Even their daily activities, such as couples spending time together, shopping, taking photos, and having fun, are no different from those of human society.

Lu Qianwei looked around but didn't find any Dilian icon, which made him a little disappointed.

If this were the game world of Stellaris, he would at least create a permanent time-space anchor point.

He really liked the way the Human Alliance did things. Whether or not they could be recruited was another matter. Based on their supreme human ideals, they could hire them as thugs to some extent and definitely subdue the Ironblood and Pioneer civilizations... uh, genocide!

Lu Qianwei looked around following the flow of people, but did not see any signs indicating the existence of the connection.

"That's strange, isn't it?" Lu Qianwei scratched his head in confusion.

Aside from the racial fusion of the Earth Alliance, he genuinely couldn't imagine any other world with such a scene.

If that's not the case, then he really has to give this unknown world a thumbs up.

Putting everything else aside, its cultural export capabilities are absolutely top-notch!

In front of the snack street, several round, semi-transparent fungal beings carrying fungal blocks twice their own size passed by him, swaying their tentacles and babbling a string of alien words with bubbly sounds.

Lu Qianwei couldn't understand a word and waved his hand to indicate his refusal.

Putting aside whether those colorful mushrooms are edible, I don't even have any money from this world in my pocket.

The few fungal figures tilted their heads and sized up Lu Qianwei for a long time, but in the end they didn't bother him and slowly walked away, swaying their tentacles.

Lu Qianwei walked along the widened passage toward the light, where the scene became increasingly lively.

Since no dangers were found in this world for the time being, he actually started to explore.

This was the first time he had ever seen a night market like this.

We turned a corner, following the scent of wheat and the sweet aroma of fermented fruit wine.

Lu Qianwei discovered a rusty metal door with a swaying, glowing sign hanging on it; this time, he could finally understand the words.

Because it's written in English—Hi Bangzi Bar!

"What a bird name =_=" Lu Qianwei was speechless. He simply pushed the door open and went in to see if there was a human to help him understand what kind of world this was.

As soon as you push open the door, not to mention the hot, stuffy smell of alcohol, strange odors, and cigarette smoke, the aliens inside are completely different from the scene outside!

That loose, rough, and somewhat wild physique and aura...

Well, Lu Qianwei felt like he had come to an alien version of Westworld.

A row of dim, yellowish light hanging from the ceiling pressed down, making the shadows of everyone in the room feel soft and limp.

Against the wall was a rough wooden wine rack that stretched from the floor to the ceiling, densely packed with all sorts of wine jars, metal barrels, and glass bottles covered with old, curled labels. All sorts of strange things were soaked in it, piled up crookedly, which gave off a casual vibe that didn't care about rules.

The room was filled with thick, roughly hewn wooden tables, many of which had crooked legs and were propped up with scrap iron or old screws. They creaked and wobbled when you sat on them, exuding the rustic charm of decades-old shops.

Several burly reptilian men with thick black scales were lined up in front of the bar, each with their bodies exposed, their shoulders covered with scars of varying depths. They were playing dice around the bar, and the loser had to buy a drink.

The loser didn't cheat; he slammed his fist on the wooden bar, making the glasses bounce, tilted his head back, and downed a whole pitcher of foamy yellow beer. After finishing, he slammed the empty glass down on the bar with a bang.

If he won, he would shove the crystal coins on the table into his pocket with a whoosh, pat the other person's back on the scales and laugh heartily. His straightforward and rough manner was exactly like that of an old drunkard who had spent his whole life in bars.

Two tables were crammed together in the shadows of the corner. A semi-transparent gaseous figure and a long-shelled carapace were talking in hushed tones, their hands rummaging under the tables, sometimes handing over a cool, raw crystal, sometimes a small tube of compressed fuel. Neither of them made a sound, just like gold prospectors conducting a secret transaction, discreet and casual.

The area around the central pool table is even more interesting.

On the opposing side was a minotaur, with a large horn with copper rings hanging from it supporting a cue stick. Its thick hooves were firmly planted on the fulcrum. It squinted its round eyes and aimed for half a minute before striking the ball. The white ball collided with the colored ball, causing it to roll into the hole with a gurgling sound. It immediately raised its head and let out a muffled roar, its tail slapping loudly, extremely proud of itself.

On the other side was the Eight-Armed Octopus Clan, whose eight soft tentacles were wrapped around a cue stick. When they lost, they would crush the cigarette they were holding onto the ground, exhale a puff of pale blue smoke, and curse in an alien language that Lu Qianwei couldn't understand.

The owner wiping the cups behind the bar is an elderly cyborg.

Lu Qianwei walked over with a smile. After wandering around for so long, he finally found someone.

Lu Qianwei casually sat down on the bar stool and tentatively said in Chinese, "Boss, a beer, please!"

"No problem, customer, 500 per cup."

As the boss's distinctive Chinese translation voice came through, Lu Qianwei knew things were in the bag, but he also twitched the corner of his mouth.

Damn it, a beer that's less than 500 ml costs 500?

Although Lu Qianwei thought this way, he still calmly took out a handful of 'borrowed' crystal coins.

"Here you go, keep the change."

Upon hearing this, the boss's usually mechanical face broke into a rare smile. "Please wait a moment, sir/madam, as you have come from afar."

Lu Qianwei nodded slightly and turned to admire a lizardman on stage who was holding a guitar and humming a slow tune in a hoarse voice.

Even if you can't understand the lyrics of what the other person is singing, the lazy and carefree vibe expressed in their tone still fits Lu Qianwei's playlist.

"Here's your beer, sir." The owner smiled and pushed the beer toward Lu Qianwei.

Lu Qianwei picked it up and carefully took a sip.

Hmm~ Authentic taste of home.

"Boss, I just arrived here and accidentally lost my translator. Do you have any spares?"

I'm willing to pay for it.

The cyborg boss glanced at Lu Qianwei, then smiled and explained, "This thing isn't worth much anyway, so there's no need to talk about money. I'll just give you one for free."

As he spoke, he bent down and opened the old wooden cabinet door under the bar, revealing a collection of translators of various shapes.

The boss pulled out an ear-hook translator in human form, wiped off a bit of dust with his fingertip, and tossed it to Lu Qianwei.

"Thanks!" Lu Qianwei accepted it with a smile.

After putting it in his ear, the previously chaotic noise in the room was suddenly conveyed clearly to his ears through the translator.

Even if these alien races don't speak the same language.

Lu Qianwei listened briefly to the conversation around him, and after realizing that he had not obtained any useful information, he turned to look at the cyborg boss.

"Old..." Just as he was about to ask where he was, there was a loud crash overhead.

Lu Qianwei looked in the direction of the sound and saw a blonde girl in short leather pants carrying a velvet bag slide down the railing.

Behind them were two muscular giants, each nearly two meters tall, wielding machetes. A small gray head peeked out from their chests, howling and cursing alien swear words.

As they shouted, many races downstairs in the bar stood up and pounced on the girl, determined to catch this damned human thief!

However, it must be said that this seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl is quite capable.

When confronted by a group of people, she used her slender figure to dodge and weave, leaving several muscular men dizzy and disoriented.

Just as the enemy could no longer resist taking out their firearms to fire, the girl immediately pulled out a bag and threw it into the air.

With a loud "bang," the powder released from the bag instantly illuminated the entire bar.

It blinded everyone, but that didn't include her.

However, just as the girl was about to smugly slip away and run towards the door, she accidentally stepped on a puddle of spilled wine, slipped, and crashed squarely into Lu Qianwei's arms.

Lu Qianwei: "?"