Chapter 31: Chapter 31: White Tower LAN
Two minutes later, Shen Qing dissipated the Spectral Energy that had gathered around his ears.
“What’s wrong?”
Noticing his visibly solemn expression, Song Chi took the initiative to ask.
“The people in the next private room should be from the Black Mountain Association. Someone just took a call, the voice on the other end was too soft, and I didn’t hear it very clearly, but I did catch two sensitive words.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Shen Qing continued without waiting for Song Chi to ask further.
“Kidnapping, Titanium Crystal.”
Song Chi’s pupils sharply constricted. Kidnappings were nothing new in a society where everyone practiced cultivation, such incidents were common. But Titanium Crystal was a completely different matter.
According to textbooks from the past, Titanium Crystal is an extremely high-end resource for enhancing Torch Warships, far surpassing Mercury Crystal and Mithril.
It’s said that only high-level components of purple or higher quality require Titanium Crystal for enhancement upgrades after level 20, due to its extreme rarity.
Furthermore, there have been rumors that the upper echelons of Torch Human Civilization had long classified Titanium Crystal as a strategic resource, coveted intensely by all major powers.
Upon hearing the words ‘Titanium Crystal’, Song Chi and Shen Qing understood that this matter was not something they could easily meddle with.
Moreover, Song Chi immediately thought of the incident half a month ago. During that mishap at the spicy hotpot restaurant on Minyuan Road, it was also the Black Mountain Association involved, and at that time, they were looking for two miners from Tianyu Mining. Connecting the two events, it was hard not to be suspicious.
Whether the information was true or false, they had to notify their superiors immediately.
After paying the bill downstairs, and not until they had completely left the street where the restaurant was located, did they accelerate their kinetic cars to the limit and head straight for the Torch Bureau.
In Shen Wenjie’s office, upon hearing the words ‘Titanium Crystal’, the reactions of Shen Wenjie and Song Chao were not much different from those of Song Chi and Shen Qing. However, after Song Chi and Shen Qing recounted the details, the two were no longer involved. They were subsequently ushered out of the office.
Shen Wenjie and Song Chao would now fully mobilize their power to investigate the veracity of this information. As for Song Chi and Shen Qing, they were told to go about their business as usual and were strictly forbidden from getting involved in this matter any further. They were also not to disclose anything they had seen or heard that day.
Despite being somewhat prepared for this, both of them still felt uncomfortable deep down. The feeling of being too weak to lend a hand was unbearable.
Shen Qing drove Song Chi back to Dongjiang Community in the patrol airship and, after reminding him of a few things, departed.
Back in his bedroom, Song Chi immediately entered the Zhu Tian Ruins Market and continued practicing the Guidance Technique.
The next day, he interrupted his training once again because the Torch network activated yesterday was now accessible.
The thought that all the users on this network were Torch Warship Captains filled him with anticipation.
His spirit merged into the Ancestral Torch, gathering at the incandescent Seed of Torch. Soon, a small screen lit up on his retina.
[Would you like to connect to the Torch Network • Huanbai Tower Local Network?]
“Confirm!”
Following his confirmation, the screen on his retina changed, and a video began to play slowly.
Within the vast Star River, over a dozen warships covered in scars were traveling at full speed. Trailing them, thousands of sinister, triangular airships were ruthlessly pursuing, one after another warship being blown apart by the gunfire from behind.
It wasn’t until they happened upon and passed through an unstable interstellar wormhole that this group of warships managed to escape the pursuit of the alien race civilization and avoid total annihilation. By that time, only six warships were left.
The video ended there, seemingly without a head or tail, but every citizen who had received orthodox Torch education couldn’t help but resonate with the scene.
Because the last six warships remaining in the footage were the pioneers of Torch Human Civilization, and also the last seeds of a low-level technological side human civilization that had almost been wiped out.
After passing through the wormhole, the human ancestors on these six warships discovered an ancient civilization’s relics, and from there they obtained the initial Source Seed of Torch, giving birth to Torch Human Civilization, which continued to grow and strengthen over the years, leading to the Torch Human Civilization we have today.
Long after the footage, Song Chi had yet to come back to his senses when another sixteen characters emerged on the light screen.
Starry Sea Expedition, a long and obstructed path.
The fire of civilization, everlasting and never extinguished.
After that, it was considered a complete landing on one of the local networks under the Torch network.
Huanbai Tower local network, as one of the many local networks under the Torch network, includes the entire White Tower Floating Land, as well as the surrounding asteroid belt, fragment belt, and all the awakened citizens of the Seed of Torch within the interstellar fortress, making it the largest information exchange area around the White Tower Floating Land.
Besides that, the local network also contains systems for task assignment and reception, free trade, friends, and many other features.
The reason why it is only the Huanbai Tower Floating Land local network, and not the entire network of Torch Human Civilization, naturally lies with the low level of Song Chi’s Fire Seed.
Although he had enhanced the quality of the Seed of Torch to white not long ago, quality and level are completely different matters; quality only represents the upper limit of future Fire Seed enhancement, whereas level represents the current strength of the warship bound with the Seed of Torch.
The Cang Qiong had just been bound not long ago, and he had only used one special slot, which was completely sufficient, so Song Chi had never enhanced the Torch ship, that is, the Seed of Torch, and its level had always been lv0.
Song Chi didn’t mind this detail but was instead contemplating the various functions of his account.
According to what the Torch network awakening assistant had said yesterday, his account did have some special privileges, and it was these so-called special privileges that he was pondering now.
After about half an hour of tinkering, he had essentially figured out the various functions of his account.
Compared to a regular Torch account, his indeed had some privileges.
Overall, there were three points.
First, normal accounts on the Torch network must chat under their real names, while he could choose to chat anonymously.
Second, his account was exempt from transaction tax when trading on the Torch network, whereas other accounts must pay a 5% transaction tax.
Third, normal accounts must pay extra in Floating Land Origin to feature or prioritize their task postings or acceptances, while his account came with these features included.
Having understood the special features of his own account, Song Chi’s curiosity had not subsided, and he began to take an interested look at the various chat messages in the local network.
“Jiangyuan City {Jianghai}: Clearing the fragment belt in the northern star space of Floating Land, any brothers for teaming up?”
“Changhe City {Chaotian}: 100 threads of First Rank Floating Land Origin in exchange for the coordinates of Blood Capital Star Thieves Group’s hideout.”
“Jiangyuan City {Tianma}: 100 threads of First Rank Origin for the Blood Capital Star Thieves Group’s hideout coordinates? Friend, are you dreaming? Would someone who can find the Blood Capital’s hideout be short of your 100 threads of First Rank Origin?”
…
“Baita City {Changkong}: A Spectral Airship has gone missing from Viscount Yelen’s Mansion. Those who provide relevant clues will receive a handsome reward.”