Technological advancement begins with devouring.

Chapter 79 Thunder World

In the dark universe, a silver-gray spaceship is traveling at faster-than-light speed.

Inside the spaceship's control room, Jiang Chen, Luo Feng, Hong, and Lei Shen sat together.

Several slaves of the ninth rank of Hengxing stood respectfully to the side.

These slaves were all bought by Luo Feng after he received Hu Yanbo's first inheritance; a batch of them were left on Earth as well.

Even if powerful adventurers approach Earth, with these slaves around, as long as none of the adventurers reach the cosmic level, Earth's safety is not a concern.

"These are the detailed rules for the cosmic mercenary assessment. Please take a look." Luo Feng activated his personal computer and projected a screen.

The numerous and detailed rules and regulations, with their extreme rigor and strictness, completely blocked any possibility of loopholes.

However, in summary, it can actually be explained in just a few words.

"The assessment will be conducted within the 'Assessment World,' where all quest items have unique serial numbers and cannot be obtained outside the realm of assessment..."

As Hong and Lei Shen looked at the details of the assessment, many possibilities immediately came to mind.

Hong frowned and said, "Judging from these rules, they encourage examinees to fight each other and steal each other's spoils within the assessment world. So the real danger isn't in the mission itself, but in the other participants?"

"So it's just the few of us in the team. We're all from Earth, so we can trust each other. As for everyone else, anyone who gets close will be considered an enemy," Jiang Chen said without hesitation.

After a pause, Jiang Chen continued, "Let me make this clear first, Hong and Lei Shen, although you two have been involved in the virtual universe for several years, this is your first time entering the universe in reality. You must listen to me throughout this operation."

When Jiang Chen brought the anonymous login device of the virtual universe back to Earth, he only gave one to Luo Feng and not to anyone else.

However, when Luo Feng later entered the universe, he brought a batch of anonymous login devices and distributed them to the powerful and high-ranking people on Earth.

Hong and Thor have been in contact with the virtual universe for over a year and have gained some understanding of it.

However, entering space in reality was a first for both of them.

Thor was about to say something when Hong spoke first: "Fine, we'll do as you say. But if your orders are unreasonable, you need to give us an explanation afterwards."

The implication is that Hong would carry out even unreasonable orders, but an explanation would be needed "afterwards".

Jiang Chen and Luo Feng have a good relationship, but he doesn't interact with Hong and Lei Shen very often.

However, because of Jiang Chen's care for Earth and the large amount of resources he brought to Earthlings, Hong trusted Jiang Chen quite a bit.

Thor doesn't trust Jiang Chen as much, but he trusts Hong and Luo Feng.

After Hong spoke, Thor didn't question anything further.

Seeing the attitude shown by the two, Jiang Chen nodded in satisfaction.

If they refuse to obey his commands unconditionally, Jiang Chen will have to reconsider whether he should continue with them in this mercenary assessment.

Since the two were willing to listen to him, Jiang Chen didn't mind sharing some benefits with them.

There aren't many geniuses on Earth this generation, but Hong and Thor are the ones who will become pillars of humanity in the future.

Even just for this reason, Jiang Chen hoped they could grow up faster.

"We'll arrive at Qilong Star in a few hours. Once there, you guys should register for citizenship and complete some necessary formalities before we sign up for the mercenary exam."

Jiang Chen briefly explained the procedures required for entering the universe.

Citizenship, opening virtual accounts, opening bank accounts, registering with various forces, etc.

For someone entering space for the first time, there are quite a few things to go through.

However, for the vast majority of these people, they only need to go once. After registering, they can handle any future needs directly in the virtual universe without having to make a trip in real life.

-

a few days later.

The headquarters of the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance on Qiulong Star.

The size of this garrison was comparable to that of a city, and a large influx of people entered the garrison, making it a veritable sea of ​​people.

Jiang Chen and his group queued with the crowd, spending more than two hours to complete the registration, application, and assessment procedures.

After leaving their base, the group found a bar to rest temporarily and immediately began to check out their mission.

"Enter the Realm Master World of Canglan Star and obtain three Wind Horn Stones and a horn from a One-Horned Iron Rhinoceros. Then hand them over to the Space Mercenary Alliance staff guarding the exit of the Realm Master World."

Upon seeing this line in the mission description, Jiang Chen breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the mission location remained unchanged.

But that's normal.

The Silver Blue Empire, and even some of the surrounding lower-level cosmic nations, have all their apprentice mercenary assessment missions taken on 'Canglan Star,' a practice that has remained unchanged for at least tens of thousands of years.

After all, building a world master requires a huge amount of money.

Generally, it is when a world lord falls and his world is accidentally obtained by someone. Such a world will be bought by the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance if the environment and other conditions are suitable, and it will be used as a test world.

The number of worlds that meet the requirements is still very small, and they are generally not easily replaced.

"You don't need to change your battle suits and weapons, right?" Jiang Chen asked, looking at the group.

"Need not."

"I don't need it either."

Hong, Lei Shen, and others spoke up one after another.

Let's not even mention Luo Feng; his equipment was the best among them.

Hong and Lei Shen each received a set of second-tier battle armor and weapons from Jiang Chen. As for Luo Feng's slaves, their equipment was naturally provided by Luo Feng, so Jiang Chen didn't need to worry about it.

As for Jiang Chen himself, he also bought the same "Sky Shuttle" as Luo Feng. Force and telekinetic weapons below the fifth rank rarely have attribute distinctions, and there are no requirements for domains, etc., so any attribute can be used.

Among the third-tier psychic weapons, the "Sky Shuttle" is considered to be very cost-effective and is more than sufficient for the Constant Star level.

Moreover, Jiang Chen's real trump card is not his telekinetic weapons, but the mechanical legion hidden in his spatial equipment.

Jiang Chen touched his wrist, where a piece of equipment, close to the quantum computer, resembled a wrist guard.

The spatial ring that Babata gave him was no longer the largest spatial item Jiang Chen possessed.

In the year or so since entering the Hengxing star system, Jiang Chen used the technology in the third-level library to create a "space bracelet" for himself with an even more exaggerated capacity, enough to hold a huge mechanical army.

The group chatted about the assessment task for a while. During this time, Luo Feng and Thor each went out to buy a so-called "assessment intelligence".

This thing isn't particularly useful, but it can give the group a basic understanding of the "Assessment World," and since it's not expensive, it's not a bad deal to buy it.

After the two returned and reviewed the two sets of "intelligence," Jiang Chen stood up and said, "Let's go, we should set off."

-

The "Assessment World" is hidden inside a villa on the planet Canglan.

On the second floor of the villa, outside a peculiar room, a woman with purple patterns covering her face stood guard.

Seeing Jiang Chen and his group go upstairs, he immediately opened the door.

Suddenly, a stream of light burst out from the doorway, making it impossible to see what was inside.

"Go in. This is the 'Thunder World' where the trainee mercenary assessment is held," the woman said directly.

Jiang Chen and the others exchanged glances, then reached out and grabbed each other, connecting them all together.

According to the intelligence that Luo Feng had previously purchased, if this was not done, everyone would be scattered once they entered the "Thunder World," making it difficult to reunite.

"Walk."

One of Luo Feng's slaves was the first to enter the portal, followed by Jiang Chen, Luo Feng, Hong, and Lei Shen.

The last one was another of Luo Feng's slaves, who was responsible for bringing up the rear.

Silently, the group of six disappeared into the light curtain and vanished completely.

*Snap*

The woman simply closed the door and stood guard outside like a statue.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Shifting stars.

Just moments ago they were at the base of the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance, and in the blink of an eye, they found themselves above a black desert.

A terrifying gravitational pull caused everyone to plummet rapidly.

The group tried to quickly control the miniature planet inside their bodies to change gravity, but they were a step too slow.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Six muffled thuds followed as the group of six crashed heavily to the ground.

"That really hurts! This sand is really hard." Luo Feng cursed as he got up, grabbing a handful of sand and examining it closely.

From a distance, the desert appears as a black expanse.

However, if you pick up the sand and examine it closely, you will find that the sand is dark blue.

It's just that the color is too dark, and it looks very close to black.

Each grain of sand was incredibly hard and extremely heavy.

"The gravity here is probably nearly four thousand times that of Earth," Jiang Chen said.

Four thousand times the gravitational pull is not too high for a star system; at least, by adjusting the micro-planet within its body, it can perfectly counteract this gravitational pull.

If one were to rely solely on their physical body to withstand the force of the miniature planet, it wouldn't be impossible, but it would still be extremely uncomfortable.

"According to the data, the diameter of Canglan Star is about 32000 kilometers. But this 'Thunder World' is enough to contain a million Canglan Stars." Hong couldn't help but sigh, "I heard that this world was created by a world lord. Such methods are truly terrifying."

Thor muttered to himself, "Creating such a vast world must have cost a staggering amount of cosmic crystals. I wish we had that money."

"Stop talking about that." Jiang Chen interrupted Thor, somewhat speechless. This guy was actually thinking about how much the world was worth at this moment?

Ignoring Thor, Jiang Chen glanced around and said, "We're currently in the 'Death Desert,' a relatively dangerous area within the 'Thunder World.' Of course, this danger isn't much to us, but completing the mission is the most important thing. So, the next step is to determine our location."

There is no such thing as a north or south magnetic field within the boundary; without a reference point, it is very difficult to determine direction.

However, before they arrived, the group had obtained a general map of the 'Thunder World'.

Although the environment within the 'Thunder World' changes every so often, a map that has only been updated in the last few hundred years is still of great reference value.

Upon hearing Jiang Chen's words, Luo Feng gestured, and a slave immediately flew into the sky, holding a small instrument and gazing into the distance.

After surveying the area, the slave landed back on the ground and pointed in a direction, saying, "Master, Lord Jiang Chen, there is a mountain range stretching endlessly more than 10,000 kilometers away. It should be the 'Longsuo Mountains' mentioned on the map."

A rough map of the 'Thunder World' quickly appeared in Jiang Chen's mind.

The Ronso Mountains and the Death Desert are adjacent to each other.

Within the Longsuo Mountains lives the target that Jiang Chen and his group need to hunt: the one-horned iron rhinoceros.

Hunting the Iron Rhinoceros and obtaining its horn is one of the requirements of this trainee mercenary assessment mission.

Jiang Chen's goal is to reach the "realm within a realm," and he has little interest in completing the assessment task.

However, the Longsuo Mountains are located on the only way to the 'Wind and Thunder Canyon', the location of the Boundary Within a Boundary.

Jiang Chen wouldn't mind taking a stroll along the way and hunting some monsters.

"According to the data, the number of monsters in the Longsuo Mountains is terrifying, most of them reaching the Hengxing level. With our strength, we don't have much trouble in a one-on-one fight, but it would be dangerous if we faced a group of monsters," Hong said. "We'd better be careful when we move around."

Hong, Lei Shen, and Luo Feng are all at the first or second level of the Hengxing realm. Even with their domains, they cannot face too many Hengxing-level enemies at once.

Given that this is their first time venturing into a relatively dangerous part of space for training, it's perfectly normal to choose a cautious approach.

Jiang Chen didn't say anything, but simply ordered, "Proceed according to the previously agreed formation to the Longsuo Mountains. There are no other dangers in the Death Desert besides the environment, so we can travel as fast as we can."

The Desert of Death is an extremely dangerous area within the 'Thunder World'.

But the danger lies in the environment itself, not in any powerful creatures living there.

If one encounters a 'death dust storm', even a powerful expert at the eighth or ninth level of the Hengxing realm would be in danger if caught in it.

But normally, there is no risk here.

However, a large number of monsters live in the Lonso Mountains.

Or, in cosmic terms, it should be called a "monster".

The group quickly set off, flying towards the Lonso Mountains.

However, due to the strong gravity, everyone's flight speed was greatly suppressed, much slower than when flying on ordinary planets.

Of course, even at this "slow" pace, it is still quite astonishing compared to teams operating in other dangerous places like the Longsuo Mountains.

After all, in those dangerous places where a large number of monsters roam, no one dares to fly so recklessly in a straight line. Everyone has to be careful to hide their presence in order to avoid being surrounded and attacked by the beast horde.

Only in places like the Death Desert, where no monsters live, would they fly straight and carefree, without concealing their tracks at all.

The group was lucky; they didn't encounter the legendary "death dust storm" until they left the Death Desert and entered the Lonso Mountains, and successfully entered the Lonso Mountains.

"Luo Feng, I'm leaving the detection work to you," Jiang Chen said.

The detector in Luo Feng's hand was taken from the Meteorite Star and has incredibly powerful performance.

At least in this "Thunder World," there are no more advanced detectors, nor are there any powerful individuals who can escape Luo Feng's detection.

(End of this chapter)