The plunder of the heavens begins with the Spirit Cage.

It is the last remnant of a planet, and also a concentrated aggregate of all the geological and primordial energy of the entire planet that was unexpectedly produced.

Later, this fragment of crystal, lost in the ruins of the universe, was excavated and recovered by the Dominman civilization's exploration team, and has always been regarded as the civilization's highest strategic material.

However, civilizations have now declined after reaching their peak. The multi-ethnic Manchu civilization, which has been passed down for thousands of years, is no longer as prosperous as it once was. Its territory has shrunk, its military equipment has become outdated, and its energy resources have been depleted.

The government and the public are showing signs of decline, and internal factionalism and power struggles are intensifying.

In an attempt to prolong their existence, the royal family ultimately decided to send the Star Core fragments to the Thousand Star City auction house for sale.

The plan was to use this to acquire military equipment or foreign aid from extraterrestrial civilizations in order to consolidate imperial power and reverse the decline of civilization.

Meanwhile, the other side, which rivals the imperial power, naturally has no intention of allowing the royal family to receive external support and regain control of the discourse. Instead, they pretend to be ignorant and launch an interstellar press conference.

The message that "the Dominman royal family is heading to the City of a Thousand Stars to sell Star Core Shards" was broadcast.

"So what exactly is the use of Star Core Shards?" Lu Qianwei quickly interrupted, steer the conversation back to the main topic.

He had no interest in hearing about power shifts in other civilizations; knowing such things wouldn't do him any good.

Lyra took a deep breath, her gaze fixed on the shard of crystal that shimmered with starlight, and continued to explain its incredible uses in a low voice.

The most fundamental value of crystal fragments lies in their pure, primordial energy.

Its energy conversion rate far exceeds that of all known energy minerals.

Its main function is to transform barren planets, reshape planetary geology, and build habitable atmospheres, with its core relying on the primordial energy of star core crystallization.

Even for lower-level factions, it is more than enough to modify small habitable space stations and repair damaged interstellar shipping lanes.

For mechanical civilizations, this pure, natural, and unadulterated planetary core energy is an extremely rare and sought-after advanced component.

Of course, if it is a complete energy core, its value is enough to incite covetousness and war among interstellar powers.

Lu Qianwei finally understood: the energy core in the safe was a substance that could transform a barren planet into a habitable environment.

"If you don't sell this soon, a pack of jackals will appear."

“I know how hot this stuff is.” Layla lowered her eyes, her gaze filled with exhaustion and helplessness.

She turned to look at the inner room where her grandfather was, her voice filled with sorrow: "Grandpa has contracted a chronic disease caused by interstellar radiation, and his health is deteriorating day by day."

Ordinary medications and treatments at low-level clinics are simply insufficient to suppress the worsening condition.

"If I want to stabilize my grandfather's condition and even help him recover slowly, I have no choice but to take the risk."

"Originally, this was just one of my targets. Today, I just wanted to try my luck and scout out the location to see if I could get my hands on it."

Who knew those aliens were like idiots, just blatantly leaving the stuff aside and having fun by themselves!

Leila was speechless. It would be a disservice to her countless fantasies that she had rehearsed in her mind if she didn't take action.

Lyra gently stroked the cool, pressure-controlled isolation chamber with her fingertips. "I inquired about the medical methods of many civilizations in the City of a Thousand Stars."

Currently, the only cure for Grandpa's illness is a top-tier medical product developed by the Zelos Interstellar Federation—Advanced Gene Repair Solution.

"The intractable problem of interstellar radiation is essentially the permanent damage that high-energy radiation particles cause to the human gene chain, cellular iterative structure and nerve network."

Ordinary low-level medications, community-based prosthetic repair, and conventional medical pods can only temporarily neutralize radiation activity and suppress symptoms; they cannot repair the already damaged gene sequences.

"But the Zelos Federation's top-tier repair solution is a mature, high-end technological product that can stop the disease from worsening at its root."

"Moreover, I've heard that body reconstruction can also repair the damage caused by aging and increase the upper limit of lifespan."

As Leila spoke, her face flushed. After all, she had lost both her parents at a young age and was raised by her grandfather. Naturally, she didn't want a black man to outlive his white-haired father.

She also wanted her grandfather to see her get married and have children.

Thinking of this, Leila couldn't help but glance at Lu Qianwei subconsciously.

As his gaze shifted from the thermostat to her, she quickly lowered her head and said, "High-end medical products are classified as interstellar controlled resources, and their prices are outrageously high, almost reaching eight figures in interstellar currency."

"Hehe, but things are different now that we have this." Leila rubbed her nose smugly and looked back at the isolation pod on the table.

"In short, now that I have this star core fragment, I can exchange it for enough funds to buy the gene repair potion."

"Uh...do you have a place to sell stolen goods?" Lu Qianwei asked, puzzled.

“Yes! I already found out.” Leila said smugly. How could she not find out before doing something like this?

However, a deep sense of regret crept into Lyra's eyes as she gently patted the oval container.

"It's a pity I can't open this thing, otherwise the price I could sell it for would definitely be several times higher."

"Is it alright to take out that star core?"

"what?"

Lu Qianwei pondered for a moment and asked, "I mean, if we take out the star core fragments, will it trigger any energy surges or cause any instability?"

Leila pondered for a moment, then raised her hand to bring up her terminal and quickly searched for information online.

A pale blue holographic data stream scrolled rapidly before their eyes, with densely packed analysis reports popping up one by one.

"Hmm, it should be fine."

Lyra pointed to the detection data on the terminal and explained confidently, "A fragmented planetary core and a complete planetary core are completely different states."

The energy in this fragmented origin, after being stripped away, is in a completely hidden, static state.

"Its internal primordial energy is in an absolutely dormant state, and without external stimulation, it will not leak any energy."

"There are absolutely no problems once you get your hands on it!"

If you can carry it~

Lu Qianwei glanced at the 60,000-ton mass displayed on the holographic screen and smiled knowingly.

For someone with the strength of a fourth-level energy, multiplying it by two wouldn't be a problem.

Instead, Lyra smiled at Lu Qianwei and asked expectantly, "Do you have a way to crack this device?"

“Uh…no.” Lu Qianwei shook his head. “However, I do have other special methods I can try.”

“Miss Leila, if you don’t mind, I…”

"Of course, no problem! Come and try it out!"

Before Lu Qianwei could finish speaking, Leila had already pushed the temperature-controlled isolation chamber next to him.

"I told you before, half of this is yours. If you can open it, we'll be rich!"

"Uh...aren't you afraid I'll enter the wrong password and lock this device?"

"Oh, right!" Reminded of that, Leila realized.

While somewhat hesitant, seeing Lu Qianwei's relaxed appearance, she nodded emphatically, deciding to take the gamble.

"We can try twice at most. If it doesn't work, we'll just sell it on the black market."

"It'll also help you get legal status over there."

"They even considered this!"

"Then I'll give you a surprise."

As soon as Lu Qianwei finished speaking, he waved his hand gently in the air, and the exact same item from the holographic screen appeared in his hand.

Leila was still holding her breath, preparing to see how Lu Qianwei would crack the code.

But then she saw that he hadn't moved for a long time. Just as she was about to look up and ask, her face was full of astonishment.

Lyra blinked, confirming it was the star core fragment she'd seen countless times, her astonishment turning to shock, "How did you get that?!"

"No way! This thing weighs at least 6 tons, how could you possibly have gotten your hands on it?"

"Is this fake? Or are you not human?!"

"Calm down, calm down, it's true, I'm human too."

Didn't I just say I used a few tricks?

"But that's 60,000 tons! Are you sure you're human?"

Let's not make jokes like that.

Lu Qianwei chuckled and carefully placed the heavy crystal fragments on the table, causing the metal surface to dent slightly.

Leila was completely dumbfounded, and Lu Qianwei didn't forget to say something pretentious.

"The human body is full of infinite possibilities; you just haven't explored and discovered them yet."

Chapter 208 Black Market

Killian is the largest interstellar market among various interstellar civilizations, and also the largest black market within it.

The market is shaped like a cross-shaped canyon, reaching a depth of 500 layers, with approximately 500 million shops.

It is a cross-dimensional virtual marketplace.

Entry requires wearing special dimensional glasses or a helmet to access the market in another dimension.

"So, do you have that helmet?"

Having come from the lowest-level industrial zone to the western region inhabited by humans and other species, Lu Qianwei gained a deeper impression of the City of a Thousand Stars.

"Hehe, even if we had this helmet, we couldn't use it." Lyra scratched her head sheepishly and explained, "These dimensional eyes can only be used in the interstellar market; they won't work outside of that range."

Even if we could use it in the City of a Thousand Stars, without the conversion box, we couldn't send the Star Cores into the virtual dimension to the buyer.

"So what you're saying is..."

“That’s right, there are branches of the black market here, and they’re even more diverse, making it very difficult for the Manchu civilization to trace us.”

Leila raised her hand and pointed into the shadows of the distant buildings, a knowing sly glint in her eyes.

In an era where even foreigners can't distinguish faces, there's no need to imagine that aliens could remember what these two people look like.

Leila pulled out two matte, frosted, alien-shaped bionic masks from a close-fitting inner pocket and handed one to Lu Qianwei.

"Take this, just in case. It's better if we bring it with us."

Lu Qianwei took the mask and put it on his face. The thinness of the mask immediately conformed to his face, perfectly replicating the common facial features of the local mixed ethnic groups.

Passing through the crisscrossing corridors of the residential area, you arrive at the end of the deepest, darkest alley in the western district.

This is one of the entrances to the black market, hidden behind an abandoned energy supply station, concealed by layers of thick alloy panels and pipelines, making it extremely well-hidden.