Rebirth of the Super Battleship
Chapter 226: Empty This Place!

Xiao Yu was deeply interested in technological, intelligence-related, and biological commodities, especially those classified as scientist-type biological assets. The technological and intelligence commodities were stored inside the Supercomputing Center, while the scientists were detained in hundreds of specialized bases, each tailored to different environments according to species.

In the vastness of space, it was nearly impossible for intelligent lifeforms from two different civilizations to interact face-to-face like in science fiction films. Every planet had a different environment, which meant the physiological requirements, air pressure, gravity and atmospheric composition of each civilization’s inhabitants varied significantly. Coexistence was virtually impossible.

Xiao Yu had long understood this. In fact, the environmental needs of the Luka were completely incompatible with those of humans. Conditions that were perfectly comfortable for them were absolute hell for humans.

Inside the surface giant cannon base, Xiao Yu’s combat robots were rampaging through the facility. Their progress exceeded his expectations. He encountered almost no resistance within the base. But soon, Xiao Yu discovered something critical.

This base had already been ruined.

All of its computational modules had been destroyed. This meant Xiao Yu could no longer conduct any data intrusions to obtain what he wanted. The cannons themselves were physically present, but he didn’t have the time to analyze or study them, he didn’t even have time to disassemble and take them away.

Xiao Yu remained acutely aware of one thing: the Molian Civilization’s reinforcements could arrive at any moment. If he couldn’t escape before they did, then there would be no escape at all.

“Damn things,” Xiao Yu cursed under his breath. He decisively abandoned his infiltration of the cannon base and instead ordered his ship to launch several high-yield elemental decay grenades, leveling the entire facility to the ground. He didn’t even retrieve the combat robots that had already entered the base.

Using this giant cannon base as a reference, Xiao Yu estimated that the others were likely in the same condition. Thus, he lost all interest in capturing them and chose to destroy them directly.

“It doesn’t matter if I can’t acquire the technology here. The manufacturing tech, the design principles of these weapons, and even the complete Level 5 Civilization tech tree should have documentation backups in the Supercomputing Center. Since the mainframe is still in the process of rebooting, and the automation systems are down, they probably haven’t had time to wipe the data yet. I need to speed things up.”

“Apart from the tech and intelligence assets, the scientists captured from other civilizations are probably in grave danger. Once the Molian side realizes they’re losing, they may execute the scientists. Hm… abandon all military and cannon bases. Focus all efforts on the Supercomputing Center and the prisons holding the scientists. Seize them before the enemy can destroy them.”

With that resolve, Xiao Yu commanded large numbers of Town-Class warships to rapidly close in on those targets.

Above the Supercomputing Center, over ten thousand ships had already gathered. Millions of combat robots were launching a massive assault. Perhaps due to the center’s immense strategic importance, the Molian Civilization had, for once, stationed some actual defensive forces here. This caused noticeable resistance and hampered Xiao Yu’s progress.

Moreover, out of concern for damaging the internal data storage systems, Xiao Yu dared not deploy large-scale bombardments. The combination of these two factors meant the conquest of the Supercomputing Center was far from smooth.

The Supercomputing Center was a structure even more colossal than the cannon bases. It housed a complete set of transmission and receiving systems, energy supply facilities, switching and routing infrastructure, cooling systems, defensive installations, and most critically, a vast central server chamber.

The entire defense, offense, information exchange, and equipment coordination of this star system was handled by the Supercomputing Center. It was the brain behind all the Molian Civilization infrastructure.

It spanned several thousand square kilometers, its territory filled with towering structures hundreds of meters tall. Once Xiao Yu acquired intelligence on the facility’s internal layout, he decisively abandoned any attacks on peripheral areas and concentrated all efforts on the data storage zone.

Under Xiao Yu’s fierce assault, the defenses of the Supercomputing Center quickly fell. Countless robots poured in through breached access points like a tidal wave.

Once the data storage zone was breached, Xiao Yu immediately diverted his aerial forces to purge the remaining areas of the structure. The only thing of value to him inside this enormous facility was the stored data.

Upon entering the data storage zone, Xiao Yu was greeted with a staggering sight.

It was a colossal warehouse, hundreds of meters tall and spanning several hectares. Inside, towering storage racks filled the space. In each compartment were countless mechanical storage devices. Wires and conduits crisscrossed everywhere, so chaotic that it could make one’s head spin. Numerous robots were scattered throughout the building but now, with the Supercomputing Center breached, they had lost all function.

“These are priceless treasures,” Xiao Yu murmured, directing his robots to begin seizing the mechanical storage devices.

Hundreds of thousands of robots surged into the storage facility. Under Xiao Yu’s command, they yanked out wiring, removed the storage units, and formed a continuous stream, ferrying the devices out to the waiting ships outside.

Like ants carrying grains of rice, the robots moved with synchronized precision, efficient, orderly, and relentless.

This was a massive treasure vault. These storage units represented the invaluable technology of a civilization one level higher than Xiao Yu’s own.

For Xiao Yu at this stage, gold, silver, and gems were virtually worthless beyond minor industrial uses. It was technology and only technology that drove him to madness. He was like a miser stumbling upon a mountain of gold.

“Empty this place! Take every storage unit, leave nothing behind!” Xiao Yu muttered as the plundering continued.

While the Supercomputing Center was being looted, Xiao Yu simultaneously launched raids on the various biological containment facilities.

Before arriving on the planet, Xiao Yu had already modified many of his Town-Class ships, outfitting them with artificial gravity systems and atmospheric regulators to adjust pressure and composition. These systems now proved indispensable.

At one base near the planet’s polar region, Xiao Yu’s forces broke through the outer shell. Thousands of robots rushed in and reached the detention cells holding intelligent lifeforms.

To sustain these alien beings, the Molians had preset each facility’s environmental parameters in advance. Thus, Xiao Yu didn’t even need to communicate with the captives, he simply mirrored the environmental settings aboard his own ships and had the robots shove the aliens inside.

Under Xiao Yu’s crude methods, the alien scientists wailed in horror. Their vocal organs released shrill, incomprehensible screams as if facing the end of the world.

“The clash between civilizations is this brutal. In the eyes of other empires, the intelligent lifeforms of lesser civilizations probably aren’t even worth as much as pigs or dogs,” Xiao Yu thought grimly. “Power, power is everything. Would anyone dare treat the lifeforms of the Sweepers or Guardians this way?”

These alien scientists came in all shapes and sizes. Some were so bizarre that even Xiao Yu found their forms beyond his imagination. But he didn’t care about their appearances, what mattered was the knowledge and scientific potential stored in their minds.

Xiao Yu’s ships descended upon the bases like swarms of locusts, looting everything they could find. After seizing the alien scientists, they’d destroy the bases to leave no trace. Everywhere Xiao Yu went, only wreckage remained.

In some bases, Xiao Yu discovered that the detained alien scientists had already been killed. It was evident that the Molians had executed them when they realized the planet was lost. Apart from feeling regret and accelerating his plundering, there was little Xiao Yu could do.

Within this vast treasure trove, Xiao Yu unleashed a shameless and uninhibited looting spree.

As his campaign continued, the observation devices stationed outside the system reported a peculiar development: the foreign ships that had been lingering there had vanished without a trace.

“Did they realize they wouldn’t get a share and decided to bail?” Xiao Yu sneered. “If I had more time, I wouldn’t have minded raiding them too. But I can’t even finish collecting everything here, so I’ll let them go, for now.”

The grand looting operation lasted three full days. Every surviving alien scientist had been captured by Xiao Yu. As for the Supercomputing Center’s storage units, only a small portion could be taken. There were simply too many. Even with hundreds of thousands of robots working non-stop, it was impossible to haul everything away.

“The haul is more than enough. Time to leave. If I get greedy and stay here any longer, and the Molian reinforcements arrive… I’m finished.”

With that, Xiao Yu silently ordered the Town-Class ships to regroup. One by one, they lifted off and slowly departed from the treasure-laden world.