The overlord of the gods is interrogating the alien female spy.

　Little Bubble's weapon module is also an energy-type one, after all, she is not a particularly wealthy person, and Little Bubble's storage compartment is not particularly large, so using kinetic weapons would waste a lot of space to store ammunition.

　"Two mining drones. Two small ultraviolet lasers, one small plasma emitter. In the blink of an eye, three million credits."

　Precys looked at his empty wallet with a sigh of regret; the money he had saved this month was gone again.

　Since entering space, her credit points have never been stable.

　"It's okay...there's still plenty of time."

　After standing up and stretching for a while, Precys told Chen Lingxu the location of their next destination.

　"This time it's estimated to be a hundred light-years away. That's a region that's still being developed. Although it's not as populated as this space station, it's still much more lively than the nearby star systems."

　Have you been to Precythia?

　"No, I've only been in this sector for less than a year. But I often read the news from there. (Timely...)"

　Various galaxies are being discovered from time to time.

　Interstellar pioneering takes much longer than pioneering on a planet's home planet. A pioneering fleet of 100 million people may seem like a lot, but when scattered across several star systems, it is less noticeable than a small asteroid.

　Only when the total population of the pioneering fleet reaches more than one billion can that pioneering area be barely described as 'bustling with activity'.

　"But it's also very dangerous over there. Conflicts often break out there."

　That's why she specifically added a weapon module this time. If she were alone, she would never have joined the pioneering wave single-handedly before saving enough money to buy a Consciousness Beacon.

　"Don't worry, Captain. I'm here."

　If you can't win, you can't just run away. At worst, you can take Precyth to a boarding position. He's useless in space battles, but once it's time for boarding combat, even with Precyth in hand, he's invincible in boarding action.

　"Hmm. Alright, let's go, my first mate!"

　"Yes! Captain!"

　Ripples spread through space, and the silvery-white spaceship appeared at the edge of a galaxy.

　"Did we go too far? It seems like no one has ever been here before."

　"That shouldn't be the case. The star map around here... has already been recorded. It might have been marked by some organization, so people from other organizations have bypassed this star system."

　Precys glanced at the latest star map. This was her first time undertaking a pioneering expedition; previously, she had always operated in high-security star systems, where only a few pirates would occasionally spawn—a mere prank—and she could simply bypass them. Now, in a low-security star system, she hesitated, wondering whether to stay.

　"Since no one's here, let's go check it out first. We're all here to explore, we can't just start shooting at each other over the slightest disagreement."

　"I don't know, Xu. How about we send out an application first?"

　Chen Lingxu sent out a request to stay, but there was no one in this star system. After waiting for an hour without a response, he stopped hesitating and moved closer to the nearest gas planet.

　"Um……"

　A sea-blue gas planet with a unique giant vortex, floating in space, it looks like a giant oil painting under the starlight.

　But this time the target is its satellite; the observation of this beautiful girl will have to wait until later.

　"The data on the star map indicates that... the remains of a civilization have appeared on this planet?"

　Now Precys knew why this place was deserted. They'd all come back from treasure hunting and had a successful find. They were probably waiting for some research organizations to come and investigate.

　"Ruins! Let's go check it out!"

　If it were just an ordinary desert planet, Precys wouldn't even blink an eye, but since there were remnants of civilization on it, this linguist couldn't resist.

　"I really want to see the language style of this civilization... and its historical heritage..."

　There are other races in the Imperial Federation, but that's ancient history. Both sides have studied each other thoroughly. The most attractive treasures are the ruins of these extinct civilizations that we haven't fully explored yet.

　"Okay, okay. Give me the coordinates, we'll log in now."

　Life on this desert planet has completely disappeared, and all that greets you upon arrival is endless sand and dust, making you worry that it might clog the spaceship's engines.

　"The radiation outside... is acceptable, it's within the protective range. Let's go, Ruins."

　After changing into his spacesuit and putting on his helmet, Precys was the first to set foot on the planet.

　"Fortunately, there isn't much dust on the planet's surface."

　No need to worry about the misfortune of encountering a severe sandstorm halfway through the journey. Precys doesn't want to experience the same helpless situation of being trapped in a storm again.

　"Do you really have to come out by yourself? Can't I go first, Precys?"

　Chen Lingxu followed behind her with a backpack full of supplies.

　When the little girl gets involved in something that interests her, she doesn't even care about her own safety. A character like that would practically be the first to appear in a science fiction or horror movie.

　"Isn't it great that you're here? Okay, we'll be there soon."

　The spaceship landed only two hundred meters from the marked ruins, but upon closer inspection, there were only a few mounds of earth and no other relics.

　"Here it is! It was buried underground."

　Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the ruins were located where the sandbags were piled up with sand.

　This is truly a classic.

　"Want to go in?"

　After mentally complaining for a moment, Chen Lingxu took out a shovel and dug around, discovering something different.

　"It seems someone has already been here before."

　After digging a few times, you can see the dark, gaping cracks that have been exposed.

　"That's even better. It means someone has already explored this place for us and eliminated all the dangers. Let's go in too."

　"Okay, but I'll go in first to avoid any potential dangers."

　"Okay."

　Once the little robot had slid in, Priscilla turned on her flashlight, lay down on the sand pile, and slid down as well.

　"..."

　The sand dunes inside the ruins were very high, and it took about three minutes for Chen Lingxu to reach the bottom of the sand dunes.

　"I'm here, Xu."

　"I caught you, Precyth."

　Stopping the little girl behind him, Chen Lingxu then deployed the five spherical unmanned cameras he was carrying.

　Start them up and let these drones lead the way ahead of them.

　"This ruin... um... the traces inside... this civilization had already mastered electricity."

　Using the flashlight's beam, Precys examined the surrounding buildings. In some damaged areas, the remains of electrical wires were faintly visible.

　"It's a road. Let's go this way."

　Based on the 3D road map detected by the drones, Chen Lingxu found a road leading directly to the lower level of the ruins.

　Chapter Thirteen: Ancient War Berserker

　"What a deep ruin."

　We've been walking through the dark ruins for three hours, but we still haven't reached the center of this seemingly spiraling ruin.

　"Based on the distance measured by the camera drone, we still have two thousand meters of stairs to climb, Precys."

　Chen Lingxu looked at the little girl leaning against the ancient wall, panting with her hands on her knees, and didn't forget to remind and urge her.

　"Huff... Ruins... I really... can't walk anymore..."

　Precys looked at her little robot and wished she could be like him, a tireless robot that only needed to worry about energy consumption.

　Do you need me to hold you?

　"Okay. I feel like my knees will be ruined after walking another two kilometers of stairs."

　It was originally just a casual question, but since Precys had asked, Chen Lingxu wouldn't refuse.

　It's a bit of a challenge for this robot to carry someone down the stairs in this pitch black place. I hope he doesn't accidentally step on something that might collapse and tumble down with Priscilla.

　"Huh? How cunning, Rumor. When did you buy the hoverboard?"

　And that's when his amazing tools came into play.

　He took a portable hoverboard from behind him and blinked as he looked at the simple little vehicle with handles.

　She thought the thing on her little robot's back was the jetpack she had bought before.

　"Didn't you check the shopping list when we went back to the space station last time?"

　"I forgot. Besides, the number is too large; my eyes would get sore looking at them one by one."

　Looking at a shopping list for half an hour puts far less strain on your eyes than staring at a screen for days of audio data, right?

　Chen Lingxu mentally scoffed, but didn't press the matter further. Instead, he controlled the hoverboard, waiting for Priscilla to crawl in front of him, stand firmly, and hold on before maneuvering the simple tool down the stairs.

　Precys... small... soft... stood in front of him, seemingly tired from climbing the stairs, with her hands on his arms and her little head resting against his chest, looking lazy and unafraid that Chen Lingxu might accidentally tip his skateboard over and throw her off.

　"so boring."

　Not all ruin exploration is thrilling and exciting adventure. In this ruin, apart from the cold walls and the still intact long staircase, everything else is gone. It's also pitch black all around. After a while, without gaining any positive benefits, it naturally becomes boring and tedious.

　Bored and not having to walk, Precys started chatting with him.

　"Xu, can you guess what this place is used for?"

　What kind of building would have a design where a road leads to the end and the whole structure is still enormous?

　It can't be that the individual beings in this civilization have nothing better to do than climb stairs.

　"Based on the shape and changes in the surrounding terrain, it is speculated that this building was originally designed for use as a refuge."

　Buried deep underground, with such a spacious and sturdy structure inside, it seems to have no other use than as a refuge from disaster.

　"Maybe. According to the federal scientists, this planet is clearly in the habitable zone, and there is water on the other moons of that gas planet. There's no reason why it should be the only one with a barren surface."

　"If that's the case, what kind of crisis have they encountered?"

　Was it an asteroid impact? Or some kind of stellar storm? Or perhaps... a war on the scale of an intergalactic civilization?

　These questions may be answered by these ancient crystals in front of us, which appear to be used for storing data.

　The base of this ruin is a vast area visible to the naked eye, with a height of 500 meters from the upper walls to the metal floor. It is divided into numerous layers of about two meters each, with each layer covering an area of ​​tens of thousands of square meters.

　This place was probably meant to shelter refugees, but unfortunately, now it's just filled with countless floating dust particles, and there's not a trace of organic matter left.

　"this thing……"

　A massive array of computers sat on the lowest level where the two were. It seemed that someone who had been here beforehand had taken out some of the still-preserved data crystals from the computer and left instructions on how to use them.

　"May I read this, Ruins?"

　"can."

　Chen Lingxu's mechanical body can directly use these data crystals according to the instruction manual.

　He tapped his eyes, and the data was projected onto the huge wall next to him.

　The previous explorer was incredibly capable; not only did they find the method of use, but they even thoughtfully provided a corresponding translation. Although it wasn't comprehensive, and some translations didn't quite match, it was still a huge help.

　Chen Lingxu had a linguist named Precys by his side, who made more detailed translation corrections based on the simplified translations and by imitating the emotions of the recorder.

　Soon, the two discovered that it was a chronicle recording the wars of that civilization. Although most of it was a record boasting about the empire's achievements and the useful information was minimal, they still managed to find key information about their civilization's downfall in the fragments.

　This is an interstellar civilization established by a cluster of life forms calling themselves Anjou, with a hive consciousness, and they lived approximately two million years ago. The entire empire is primarily subordinate to the 'Queen,' followed by the next-ranking sector governors. They are extremely xenophobic, possess a strong ability to adapt to their environment, and can rapidly iterate individual evolutions based on their surroundings, which are then uploaded to the entire cluster via their consciousness to undergo corresponding genetic modifications.

　In short, the Killer Swarm of Basefly.

　The record concludes with a description of a colossal battle, but no matter how the various factions within the empire tried to justify it, battle records could be fabricated, but battle lines could not. The empire's territory rapidly collapsed, vanishing silently into the vast universe under the onslaught of an unknown enemy.

　The enemy's strength was so great that it caused the extremely xenophobic and murderous swarm to suffer a psychological breakdown, leading them to retreat underground and even attempt to join forces with other civilizations to fight against the enemy.

　This ruin was indeed used for refuge, but the long spiral staircase was not actually for walking, but for placing hatching offspring eggs. Adult Anjou people all had the ability to fly and could travel directly between places.

　"This is the consequence of making enemies everywhere."

　Precys sighed, then looked at the last poem.

　In the final stages, the recorder's mind began to become clouded, and he even showed signs of detaching from the hive's thought process. In his last moments before his demise, he was still writing his diary for the day, as well as a short poem that was only half-finished.

　"If the ruins are so well-preserved, how did these creatures die?"

　The ruins are well preserved, with no trace of even a firefight.

　It was as if it was destroyed in an instant...