Chapter 452 - 436: Entering the Star Cave
Making money wasn’t difficult for Shi Ming.
Besides robbing a few reckless Star Thieves, the simplest, most direct, and most interesting option for Shi Ming was to explore the "Star Cave" region of this Star Domain.
There were supposedly three million Star Caves.
This was an estimate based on their density.
Most of the fully explored Star Caves were on the periphery, accounting for less than one percent of the total. This meant that vast, undiscovered treasures were still scattered throughout the region. If an adventurer discovered and entered an undeveloped Star Cave and made it back alive, the soil, Star Marrow, materials, samples—even the coordinates themselves—could be sold for a fortune!
The only drawback was—
Across the nearly three-thousand-light-year expanse of the Star Cave region, it was impossible to travel through the Dark Cosmos or the Deep Cosmos!
You could only travel at a snail’s pace!
Even demigods were bound by this rule.
This was enough to make some extremely busy individuals, like [Pillar Stones] or [demigods] whose time was incredibly valuable, lose all interest. For them to explore the Star Caves, even traveling at near-light speed, it would take over a thousand years just to get from the periphery to the core—and that didn’t include the return trip!
As a result, the deeper one ventured into this Star Domain, the fewer people they would find.
And the more opportunities there were to be had.
A King-Level Nirvana Powerhouse with immense willpower once spent a thousand years on a grueling voyage deep into this Star Domain. He found a supreme treasure in one of the Star Caves and spent another thousand years bringing it back. And that was a lucky case. Most other opportunists, even those who could endure the loneliness, ultimately perished in the extremely dangerous dead zones.
In addition to all that—
All spatial skills were completely useless. Transport-type artifacts and treasures lost their effects, and items like Storage Bracelets couldn’t be used either.
To transport goods, one had to rely on their drifter ship and pure manual labor. Because of this, any items obtained from the Star Caves couldn’t be hidden in Spatial Treasures, making it impossible to escape the strict inspections by the Treasure Star officials guarding the perimeter.
The "treasure tax" was unavoidable and had to be paid.
Despite the many inconveniences, the Star Caves were like the most dazzling and mysterious siren in the Star Sea, endlessly luring adventurers to explore them. Every year, new legends of people striking it rich overnight would spread. The abundance and wealth of Treasure Star all stemmed from this virgin territory, of which only one percent had been explored.
It was like buying a lottery ticket;
this place offered a chance to strike it big.
...
...
...
"Sir, are you sure you don’t need anything?"
"I don’t. I’m just looking."
Shi Ming shook his head.
He was just here to gather free intel and broaden his horizons.
Under the shop assistant’s gaze—three parts disappointment, seven parts contempt—Shi Ming strode brazenly out of the Trading Tower. There were three nice treasures he had taken a liking to, including a "Silent Crystal Fragment," and he had marked them down. He would need 3,500 Cosmic Crystals to acquire them all.
Rui Liang’s Origin, [Sorrow], was currently unassigned.
It could be sold for a massive fortune.
But until he found a completely trustworthy and reliable channel, Shi Ming had no intention of selling it. [Sorrow] was a two-syllable ID skill that also represented an opportunity to advance to the Nirvana rank. Its value was immense. If it appeared on the market—even the black market—it would cause a major uproar. Perhaps even the Sovereign of a Cosmic Country would take notice.
’Next, I’ll go explore the Star Caves.’
’It seems there’s a Wormhole that can shorten the trip...’
At Xingbao’s suggestion, Shi Ming left Treasure Star and went to a nearby, officially-controlled, stable Wormhole. After paying a transit fee of thirty Cosmic Crystals, the star-class drifter ship, the Dayun, passed through the Wormhole once more. In an instant, it arrived in a completely different Star Domain.
This Wormhole was extremely stable.
The Eye of the Divine didn’t trigger a treasure tide.
The Star Cave region was the "gold mine" of the Star Cave Civilization. At the entrance, a red beam of light served as a barrier, dividing the Star Domain into two. Outside the red line, it was desolate; inside, it was bustling with activity. At least a hundred ships were parked in an orderly fashion, a scene rivaling the liveliness of Treasure Star.
A loud, interstellar language boomed from amplification stones, echoing throughout the area.
[Star Cave Exploration Rules!]
[1. Payment before exploration! It is strictly forbidden to cross the "boundary line" and enter the Star Cave region without authorization! Officials from Treasure Star and law enforcement from the Thirty-Seventh Cosmic Country are on constant patrol. Unauthorized entrants will have their ships immediately destroyed and will be executed on the spot for smuggling!]
[2. All materials and treasures obtained from within the Star Caves are subject to a 30% to 70% "treasure tax!"]
[3. The minimum exploration period is 30 days, for a fee of 10 Cosmic Crystals. If you return after this period, you must pay a late fee, which will be rounded up to the next billing cycle.]
[4. Treasure Star offers a treasure consignment service. A 20% service fee will be charged after the treasure tax has been deducted.]
[5. All tax-exempt items must be registered before entering the Star Cave region.]
[...]
The rules were lengthy.
The entire list was just taxes and deductions!
In the most extreme cases, after deducting the 70% treasure tax and another 20% for the consignment service fee, an adventurer who risked life and limb might only take home 10% of their findings.
In the eyes of Treasure Star,
the Star Caves were their territory.
The treasures within naturally belonged to them as well. Giving adventurers the chance to enter and hunt for treasure was already a blessing. A 70% tax was perfectly reasonable; most of the time, the tax was only 30%, which they considered quite generous!
To prevent tax evasion, patrol checkpoints were set up every three light-years along the periphery of the three-thousand-light-year Star Cave region. These checkpoints, combined with the supreme treasure known as the [Starry Sky Barrier], formed a tight cordon. All attempts to "freeload" without paying were strictly prohibited. The area inside this cordon was the so-called [No-fly Zone]. Even Nirvana-rank powerhouses couldn’t travel through it, let alone use items like Storage Bracelets to hide their treasures.
The interior of the Dayun was now completely empty, containing only routine equipment.
Like any other adventurer, Shi Ming paid 10 Cosmic Crystals and proceeded to register his tax-exempt items.
"A bird."
"That’s it?"
Shi Ming nodded.
The registration robot glanced at him, cursing internally, ’Another broke loser betting it all.’ It then opened the gate at the red line, and the Dayun slowly accelerated, cruising inside.
The strange fluctuations in the Star Cave region were completely different from the outside. Shi Ming felt his Space-Time Holy Hall Origin being somewhat suppressed. Not only that, but his Storage Bracelet, the Hive, and even his Captain’s Space were all unusable.
But his personal inventory was completely unaffected.
He could still access it freely.
This confirmed Shi Ming’s suspicions.
He had already hidden some important artifacts and treasures in his personal inventory, smuggling them in without anyone being the wiser.
’Time to test the Four-Dimensional Sanctuary!’
Shi Ming activated the Holy Hall Skill he’d gotten from Candle Mirage. Four Runes materialized in his palm. The Space Rune and Substitution Rune were grayed out and couldn’t be activated, but the Time Rune and Retrospection Rune worked just fine.
This was all within his expectations.
’It’s a No-fly Zone that even demigods can’t escape, so it’s normal that the Four-Dimensional Sanctuary doesn’t work. The Captain’s Space being sealed was also expected. But since my personal inventory wasn’t sealed, it means I can put anything I get from the Star Caves inside it!’
’A 70% treasure tax?’
’Sorry, but I’m just going to use my abilities to avoid paying it!’
’Speaking of which, I still don’t know the principle that prevents Dark Cosmos travel in this Star Domain. If I could figure out the reason, I might be able to put it to good use...’
"Eye of Destiny, acquire information!"