On Spider Den …
Ten thousand years ago, this place was just a dark, desolate planet at the edge of the Flying Star Sector that was far away from the star and did not have an atmosphere.
Then, a fleet of the Star Ocean Imperium accidentally landed on the planet to avoid a cosmic storm.
While waiting for the storm to pass, a bored Cultivator in the capital was adept at the spiritual energy of the earth class. He was fond of underground escape in his spare time and considered it a thrilling sport.
Just as he was using the Earth Escape Technique to travel underground as if he was surfing, he bumped into an invisible wall.
The Cultivator, who had almost been buried alive underground, had no time to rub his swollen head after he was dug out. He roared, "There is a mountain below the ground, a mountain completely made of 'Immortal Aurora Stones'!"
Divine Aurora Stones were not the most expensive Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, but they were what the capital team needed the most.
If a lot of Divine Aurora Stones were melted into alloys as the plate armor of starships, they would have an excellent absorption effect against all kinds of spiritual blasts and would be able to resist the detection of telepathic thoughts, too.
An investigation team made of countless research-type Cultivators was soon sent to the place. Most of them were geologists and material scientists.
The results of the investigation were beyond the expectations of all the experts. Other than the Immortal Aurora Stones, there were also hundreds and thousands of different mineral veins hidden underground. They had also discovered hundreds of spirit veins with astonishing reserves. They were all compressed into a solid … long … sharp wind … sharp … sharp … high purity crystal!
The entire planet was a priceless treasure!
The modification began immediately!
First of all, large-scale star beacons were established in the remote space zone. More than a hundred super star beacons were activated at the same time and established an enormous' space gate '.
Through the space gate, every space zone of the Flying Star Sector would be able to send out a large number of carriers. They jumped to the place and gathered in the orbit of Spider Den densely!
Countless Cultivators landed on Spider Den like raindrops. Rune arrays were established one after another. Ivory pillars of light soared into the sea of stars and mingled in midair, gradually condensing into an artificial atmosphere.
Once the atmosphere was established … The perfection of the ecological system and the air that was suitable for human beings to breathe followed.
Then, billions of workers and heavy mining magical equipment from the Flying Star Sector and even the Star Ocean Imperium were shipped to the place by starships.
The drill rumbled and exploded. Humans continued to advance underground, completely conquering this planet.
At first. This place was a pure resource planet. The crystals and minerals excavated were all sent to the important towns of refining in the Flying Star Sector through the space gate.
But very soon, some people discovered that the efficiency of this method was too low. The unrefined ores and originium crystals were too large, and the fuel used for long-distance transportation was too much. The losses were too severe.
Since there were so many resources here, after a lot of exploration and calculation. It was quite cost-effective to build a magical equipment refining center in this place.
Very soon, iron forests were established around the enormous mines more than a thousand meters in diameter. Not only were there centers for the purification of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, there were also assembly lines for the production of all kinds of magical equipment. It was even the most advanced testing center for new magical equipment.
In just a thousand years, the originally rocky planet had turned into an iron planet that was full of holes but glittering with silver light.
Mines were everywhere on the planet. Even the smallest one was more than a thousand meters in diameter. The largest mine was more than a hundred kilometers in diameter and hundreds of kilometers deep, too.
All kinds of refining facilities were established around the mines. Deep inside the mines were interconnected tunnels that led to the bottomless abyss at the bottom of the planet.
After the Armageddon Rebellion, in the later years of the civil war, all the battlefronts were in danger.
The planet that was almost abandoned due to the exhaustion of resources was valued by the military again because of its industrial capability and the many underground tunnels.
The crisscrossed underground tunnels that were as dense as spider webs were almost a natural underground fortress.
The military shipped countless magical equipment, resources, and assets from the major space zones of the Flying Star Sector and modified Spider Den thoroughly, determined to make the planet one of the last strongholds for the final battle against the rebels.
However, before the final battle began, the 'Supreme Emperor' and the 'Mad Armageddon' had a final competition on the Empyrean Terminus Planet, the capital of the Imperium.
After both sides suffered heavy losses, the Star Ocean Imperium fell apart. All the preparations were meaningless.
In the thousands of years that followed, the history of Spider Den was hidden in darkness.
Even though the remnants of the Imperium established a coalition government of the Flying Star Sector on Iron Plateau again, the planet at the edge of the Flying Star Sector was still not discovered.
When the apocalypse arrived, a large batch of Cultivators fled to the sea of stars with countless ordinary people, only to be attacked by meteoroids. It was not until thousands of years later that some vagrants in the sea of stars discovered Spider Den as well as the resources, debris of magical equipment, and forsaken starships left on the planet.
They were the earliest space pirates.
That was the history of Spider Den.
At the very least, it was the history of Spider Den that could be made public according to the Cultivators.
The artificial atmosphere of Spider Den today had long been shattered. The dim sky was riddled with holes, and the wilderness was filled with fatal venomous gas. It was barely suitable for the survival of human beings.
The enormous mines dozens of kilometers in diameter had turned into new cities. The parts of the cities that were exposed to the ground were all covered in transparent domes that looked like crystals, which blocked the air from the outside and established a small ecosystem inside the cities.
The cities in the mines were divided into different classes by height.
Those who lived at the highest altitude, closest to the ground, and enjoyed the few rays of sunlight, were the dominators of space pirates such as Bai Xinghe, who had their own bases, docks, and crystal suit centers. They were simply sitting on the ground and sharing the profits.
Deeper inside the pit was a forest of iron and steel that was hidden in all kinds of tubes and conveyor belts. It was a glamorous, debaucherous place where the largest black market of the Flying Star Sector was located, too.
The middle class of the food chain of space pirates, such as Fengyu Zhong in the past, who did not have a fixed base, would often come to this place after a deal and live a luxurious life while their starships were being maintained.
At the bottom of the mines, there was no sunlight at all. The worlds that could only be illuminated by illumination rune arrays were the places where most of the people on Spider Den lived.
Those who lived there were mostly weak and unqualified to be space pirates. They could only struggle to survive with the leftovers that fell from the upper levels of the mines.
However, they were not the most miserable group of people on Spider Den, because there was still hope for them.
In the dark world, the pirate gangs large and small would hold competitions on a regular basis. The experts among them would be selected as fresh blood to be added to their own pirate gangs.
If they were lucky enough, they might be gnawing on rocks ten thousand meters below the ground the day before, but they might be able to gather the stars on a starship today!
What was even more miserable than them were the slaves in the tunnels deeper inside the mines and the treasure hunters who were groping in fear in the underground fortresses.
Although the resources on Spider Den had mostly dried up, that was only for the army of the Imperium.
The scale of the space pirates was much smaller than that of the army of the Imperium. The resources that they needed were much smaller, too. As long as they did not care about the cost, they could still exploit some resources from the dry mother lodes to meet their needs.
It was needless to mention the underground fortresses.
Since Bai Xinghe's rise in the past hundred years, rumors about the secret treasures left by the Star Ocean Imperium in the depths of Spider Den had spread out again. All the pirate gangs had increased their exploration efforts.
It was a pity that the underground fortresses were like bottomless, insatiable stomachs. They swallowed the lives of countless treasure hunters, but no second Bai Xinghe was born!
At this moment, in 'Silver Wing City', the fifth largest city on Spider Den …
1,600 meters below the ground …
Li Yao was wearing an old windbreaker. With his hands in his pockets, he was moving forward casually in a rusted tunnel in midair.
Below him was an abyss filled with black fog. Above his head was a colorful iron forest. Wind that carried the smell of rust and blood was swirling upward from the deepest part of the mines and rushing past him. His windbreaker was lifted high, revealing a dagger and half of the handle of a gun on his back.
He was completely different from his past self.
After using spirit energy to reshape his facial muscles, his entire face became longer. His chin protruded slightly forward, and his swollen eyelids supported his bloodshot eyes. His eyeballs did not stay still for a single moment. Instead, they were scanning his surroundings every second.
His body was slightly hunched. His shoulders were narrow, and his arms were unusually long. When he put them in his pockets, they looked like two folding sabers.
One could easily tell that he was a brutal, ruthless, and murderous man who had killed countless people.
It was the new image that Li Yao figured out after he read the entire 'Stormy Sword'.
After he snuck out of the dock of the space pirates, he swaggered on the street of Silver Wing City with the new image.
Li Yao was not worried that somebody would ask him about his background.
This place was Spider Den, the dark holy land of the Flying Star Sector. It was a place of corruption.
Countless desperadoes would come to Spider Den through all kinds of channels after committing unpardonable crimes in their hometowns.
They had killed people that they should not have killed, robbed things that they should not have robbed, carried bloody grudges, or grasped shocking secrets.
It was needless to say that the thousands of pirate gangs had a lot of complicated grudges against each other.
In such an environment where good and bad people were everywhere, how could anyone find out a person's real identity?
If somebody was determined to get to the bottom of the matter, they would be stabbed by a dagger directly!
Therefore, on Spider Den, it was perfectly reasonable to use a false name, report a false identity, and change one's appearance.
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