Starting Cultivation in Wasteland

Schreier’s death caused a huge sensation in the Mineral Management Division.

The chief official was killed at his doorstep; the nature of the crime was too vile, not to mention he was a Supreme.

Yet, strangely, the members of this department maintained relative silence, not creating a great uproar.

Were these people scared? Of course they were, but there was hardly any accompanying anger.

When Schreier was alive, he was not only aggressive outwardly but also domineering to his subordinates. Many both feared and hated him.

Some people followed him closely and enjoyed considerable benefits, but the lives of most didn’t change significantly.

In fact, because of the division’s strong stance, some people’s circles were deliberately targeted, including their families.

Even those who benefited worried that their leader might one day face ruin.

Just like back then, when Schreier was banished to the Celestial River.

However, no one expected this time the danger was so great, it directly killed him.

But from another perspective, they could accept their leader’s death... always risking disaster, eventually it would come!

With this sentiment, they were not indignant, nor did they shout and demand revenge against Ping’an.

—Actually, they didn’t dare to shout; there were many Supremes there!

The feeling was: finally, the troublemaker was gone. Although somewhat sad, life would return to its previous state.

The Government was still searching everywhere for the murderer, but the smart ones watched the farce with amusement.

The murderer was right in Ping’an headquarters; if you dare, just go and arrest them, so why put on this show?

However, the Operative Division calmed down, as two days earlier, Ping’an’s people were driven away when they came to notify them.

Upon hearing this news, they did not actively engage in communication, pretending nothing happened.

In a blink, it was time to depart; the Mineral Management Division deliberately delayed for a while, a final show of defiance.

Yet, they only managed to delay one day; then pressure from all sides came, and the fleet set off nonetheless.

The fleet consisted of six ships in total, four from Ping’an Trading Group, two from the Government.

Among them, one was for officials and experts from various departments, along with the necessary equipment, another for government and Business Alliance personnel.

Of Ping’an’s four starships, three carried various mining and extraction equipment, planning to settle upon arrival.

The other was a heavily armed merchant ship, carrying the trade group’s high-level personnel and seven distinguished guests.

There was Little Lake on the Omen Ship, and knowing all was smooth, he advanced to the front early.

Thus, no one noticed three starships trailing six to seven million kilometers away behind the fleet.

All were standard warships from the military; the large starship was Division Level, two smaller ships at Company Level and Battalion Level respectively.

The three warships all activated invisibility and maintained silence.

The Ping’an Trading Group already had starships commuting from the destination, found suitable jump points, so less time was needed for traveling.

Ten days later, the fleet arrived 500,000 kilometers away from the star body.

Each ship conducted observations above the star body for a period, then slowly descended.

Qu Jianlei’s hand-crafted Energy Block Extractor was still running, operated by the trade group’s advance team.

The two stone chambers were also put to use, as guards needed places to live.

The government directly ignored Ping’an personnel’s initial mining, as the trade group had filed reports, and there were necessary trial mining and refining preliminaries.

After all, Qu Jianlei’s hand-crafted extractor was visibly crude and not genuine equipment.

Next was the Government’s prospecting. Though they had Ping’an-provided blueprints, they definitely had to inspect personally.

Normally, prospecting couldn’t be completed short-term, but Ping’an had done most of the work.

Crucially, this star body had been mined before; the mineral veins were traceable.

Then, in unexplored areas, could there be overlooked resources? That’s now a long-term project.

However, verifying this was straightforward; an initial filter might not catch anything, but later mining could observe for discrepancies.

Ultimately, this was a tailings star, likely without surface harvestable mineral deposits.

If unable to mine extensively, it’s just a slow and steady job, making management naturally easier.

Upon starship descent, Qu Jianlei and the group of seven went directly to the stone cavern previously excavated by their team.

Among the official personnel that accompanied, there were two Supremes, one being Zhan Donglai.

Still, Qu Jianlei and others showed no intention to yield, directly occupying the well-conditioned stone cavern.

—After all, they built it, why let others stay?

The officials glanced at each other, none speaking.

Aside from anything else, merely five of the seven could walk unprotected on the star body; there was nothing to contest.

Flower Scorpion and Celestial Sound only wore a helmet, indicating these two were at least B-level peak.

Finally, Zhan Donglai voiced, "Most should stay on the starship, just in case of radiation or such."

This is not entirely an excuse. When it comes to resisting potential space dangers, the starship is still very reliable.

To be frank, the temporary stone cave excavated on the star body may not have strong defensive capabilities.

However, despite saying this, there is still some discontent in everyone’s hearts—no matter how comfortable the starship may be, it’s still quite cramped.

Two days later, the preliminary mining exploration results came out.

The mineral resources department reported solemnly, "In the mining history of the Celestial River, no records of similar star bodies have been found."

——Clearly, it’s tailings, but who were the previous miners? Astonishingly, there’s no record!

This is a blatant provocation against Ping’an. The previous miners were most likely illegal miners. Could it have been Ping’an?

Nonetheless, even at Jilt, they aren’t afraid to speak openly—facts are laid bare here.

Although Ping’an had declared in their report that it was a tailings star body, hasn’t everyone heard enough of the thief crying "stop thief"?

Zhan Donglai wasn’t affected by these words; he simply asked, "Do the records of other Imperial Star Realms have anything similar?"

An outer star realm star body coming here? Sounds quite incredible.

Yet in space, there’s a short supply of everything except bizarre and mysterious events.

Needless to say, the warp used in interstellar travel is essentially starships crossing star realms.

The mineral resources department responded, "The possibility of it coming from other star realms is low..."

Perhaps feeling that they were laying it on too thick, they added, "Mainly because we don’t have detailed related data."

The mineral resources department is integrated within all Imperial departments, making cross-referencing data convenient.

But why would the Celestial River Star Realm’s mineral management division need mineral data from other star realms?

Apart from a few typical mineral resources, the Celestial River Star Realm’s division does not possess detailed data on minerals from other star realms.

There are some rough data points, but they weren’t fully brought along this time, so things don’t quite match.

Of course, the mineral management division’s stance was closely tied to Schreier’s death.

Otherwise, what if a stolen tailings star body was discovered?

Ping’an’s past experiences showed no signs of having mined energy stone ores before.

However, Zhan Donglai being a dignified planetary second-in-command wouldn’t be swayed by a few minor figures.

He calmly stated, "Then take your time to investigate. The current priority is to determine if any major mineral veins have been overlooked."

The mineral management division continued pressing their case, "Currently, nothing has been found, but we can’t rule out the possibility."

These words are quite insulting to one’s intelligence, the Guard Captain couldn’t bear to listen any longer.

A few youngsters, truly not taking my boss seriously? He directly interjected.

"Then spend more time here, send some people to carefully check for a period... The government won’t forget your contributions."

Discovering major mineral veins would be a contribution, failing to do so... then it’s your own fault for enduring hardship!

The mineral management division realized the other side was a little annoyed and could only sullenly explain.

"We are taking responsibility to the Empire, and as for the investigation into the mineral vein conditions here, there will be relevant arrangements."

He completely ignored responding to the counterpart, which is also the confidence of technical officials—We are the professionals, considering the bigger picture.

After all, it’s not the second-in-command speaking personally; ultimately, it’s just the head of security, no need to heed your words.

Another day passed, and the relevant information was thoroughly sorted out.

It doesn’t matter that no hidden mineral veins were found; the key is they analyzed that the previous miners must have been a major force.

This force took away the majority of production materials, but the remaining hydraulic columns and others were enough to show the issue.

There were also related mining traces, which cannot be erased.

Everything proves that this force mined quickly and efficiently, adopting a fast and aggressive approach.

Even when leaving, they packed up and took away almost everything that could be taken, decisively abandoning the tailings without any hesitation.

In every aspect, this looks like a highly organized and professional illegal mining team.

This analysis helps prove Ping’an’s innocence—even if they wanted to mine illegally, they couldn’t muster such capabilities.

The mineral management division would never analyze like this, but they can’t resist... the Energy Block Alliance is present, and their analysis is authoritative.

With such results, onsite contract signing can proceed. A little over three days, and it’s worth great figures visiting.

The site signing is just a ceremony; the actual procedures must be done back on Purple Star.

However, once the ceremony is held, there typically won’t be many changes anymore.

As related personnel are bustling around, a starship sends out some electromagnetic fluctuations.

Half a day later, just as the signing is about to occur, three starships approach from afar, all standard warships.

A starship had already discovered the situation early and sent out warning signals.

Everyone on the star body was a bit baffled. Suddenly, the military appears here, doing what?

The three warships stopped at 500,000 kilometers away, assuming a vigilant stance.

Then, someone spoke over the public channel, "By order of the Imperial Army Department, investigating this star body, please cooperate!"