This is really not mechanical ascension
Chapter 345 - 186 The True Purpose of the United Fleet Shadow Concealment Star Thief - Part 2

Chapter 345: Chapter 186 The True Purpose of the United Fleet Shadow Concealment Star Thief - Part 2

Isus’s death gave Yitelan a legitimate reason to assemble the United Fleet; although they were the predominant force, the strength of other civilizations also should not be underestimated.

Using the strength of others for one’s own affairs could not be more appropriate.

"Sigh..." Feder neither admitted nor denied, just sighed, "You really shouldn’t have left. With your departure, not only Asimara but also my father and the royal elites are very dissatisfied with you."

He felt increasingly regretful. If Li Ming had been in the Yitelan civilization, he would have achieved great things.

"Your teacher is hardly safe himself."

Li Ming chuckled lightly, "There’s no should or should not, after all, I am not you; they won’t cultivate me unconditionally."

Feder shook his head, unable to resolve the contradiction. Yitelan could never cultivate an uncontrollable A-level life form.

On the screen, Feder’s eyes shifted slightly, and he gestured towards the outside of the screen before half jokingly and half seriously saying:

"Let’s leave it at that for now. When the United Fleet heads to the Land of Stars, I’ll inform you to leave as soon as possible. It would be bad if we bumped into each other on the battlefield."

Before the screen went dark, the last thing Feder saw was the inexplicable smile on Li Ming’s face.

"The United Fleet still needs some time, so that’s actually good news." Li Ming thought to himself, "Only, the Collector and his estimates were wrong, this time, the United Fleet won’t leave easily."

He shook his head and drank a tube of development formula, continuing to develop the gene seed. Under the effect of his [Genetic Warrior] abilities, various Evolution Theory influences intermingled within his cells, surrounded by flames and a blue air current.

Although his development speed was already fast enough, he still felt it wasn’t enough.

"Wouldn’t it be great to jump straight to 100%?" he mused to himself. He had always been in search of something that could directly or indirectly increase his development progress, but such things were exceedingly rare.

Early the next morning, Li Ming heard a noise outside and walked out the door, his expression slightly changed.

He saw between the Floating Islands, a dozen sleek ships heading towards Trading Island, clearly a formal fleet, bearing flags with an inverted dagger and at the tail, a black pupil.

"Night Eye Mercenary Group..." Li Ming slightly frowned. This was another major force in the Land of Stars, and their territory was quite far from the Floating Island, making it rare to see them.

Unlike the Star Hunters, they primarily work for major forces and civilizations, and sometimes even accept war-level mercenary jobs.

Their overall strength should be the best in the Land of Stars, with all their members under military-style management.

Nearby patrolling soldiers pointed and expressed surprise.

"It’s actually people from Night Eye. Sometimes you might not see them for months, and now they’ve come with such a display."

"There’s an agreement among the major forces of the Power of the Stars not to enter each other’s territories at will, there must be something big this time."

Li Ming opened the local network on his smart terminal. There were many talking about this incident, and soon Li Ming found the reason.

"It’s said that the guy who stole something valuable from the Night Eye Mercenary Group hasn’t been found yet, the boss of Night Eye is getting anxious, asking the other major forces in the Land of Stars to join in the search."

"That incident..." Li Ming recalled, the news of the Night Eye Mercenary Group losing something had caused quite a stir a few days ago.

He paid some attention to it, an A-level life form had personally taken action, and yet they still haven’t found it?

"I don’t even know what they lost, but it seems quite urgent." Li Ming muttered to himself, not taking it seriously, and turned back to continue developing the gene seed.

However, to his surprise, it wasn’t many hours later that the Collector actually arrived.

Ulrich observed the mechanical bodies working on the Floating Island with calm eyes, indifferent to what the other party was doing as long as his needs were met.

"Lord Collector." Li Ming came out to greet him, noticing the man with a blue heavy combat armor and a big beard behind Ulrich, which bore the emblem of Night Eye.

Ulrich nodded, and followed Li Ming into the crude reception room, then pointed to the big-bearded man and introduced: "This is the captain of the Night Eye Mercenary Group—Riley."

"Lord Riley." Li Ming greeted, and Riley responded in a deep voice: "Lord Azure Dragon."

Ulrich said, "He came this time mainly because the Night Eye lost something. Their leader, Theo, is quite anxious and asked me to help investigate. We have some connections."

"Lord Riley, you don’t think the thief is among us, do you?" Li Ming frowned slightly.

Ulrich shook his head, "That’s not the case. I agreed to help them investigate. The port authorities have been ordered. The main thing now is to determine whether the thief is hiding among us."

Riley spoke in a grave voice, "Please ask Lord Azure Dragon to have everyone on this island come here."

Li Ming’s frown deepened. Could it be that they want to remove the Mimic Mask?

Was it really about the lost item, or could Ulrich not resist verifying their origins?

Ulrich added, "We just need their blood for comparison."

"Blood comparison?" Li Ming thought for a moment, "Alright."

Immediately, he called Ya Ro and Kay over, each of them squeezed out a drop of fresh blood for comparison on the device.

Riley looked up, confirming they were not the targets, and then his gaze fell on Li Ming.

"He doesn’t need to, I can vouch for him," Ulrich volunteered, and Li Ming was somewhat surprised.

Riley hesitated for a moment, then said, "Are you sure these are the only two people on the Floating Island?"

"Indeed." Li Ming nodded, Ya Ro and Kay were still unsure of what was going on, being careful and vigilant.

Riley walked out as though he intended to thoroughly inspect the entire Floating Island.

"Making such a fuss..." Li Ming had Ya Ro and the others leave and invited Ulrich to sit down.

Ulrich smiled, "After all, something was lost. The leader of the Night Eye, Grey Eyes—Theo, is very temperamental."

"What was lost?" Li Ming asked with some curiosity; anything that would make an A-level life form so anxious must be no small matter.

"Just a small item, nothing worth mentioning." Ulrich had no intention of elaborating further, instead rather enjoying the misfortune: "This time Theo really messed up, letting a B-level life form steal the item and then escape."

Knowing it was a B-level life form that did it, Li Ming was not surprised; if it had been an A-level life form, they would have either run away by now or started a fight, instead of hiding.

"Then this B-level life form must be quite formidable," Li Ming remarked.

Ulrich continued, "Yes, this B-level life form is extremely adept at disguise, and even faster. No one in the Night Eye Mercenary Group can catch up with him."

"Oh?" Li Ming frowned, "Such people must be rare."

"Indeed, they are rare. It’s said to be the Shadow Concealment Star Thief—Seraad, who operates alone in the Sofia Star Cluster, highly skilled in theft, and has committed many crimes," Ulrich explained:

"The biggest case prior involved the theft of the Gutria crystals. His gene seed leans toward speed, and a B-level gene seed is that of the rare ’Quantum Shadow Lizard’"

"Quantum Shadow Lizard?" Li Ming sounded vaguely familiar.

"You know it?" Ulrich caught the change in Li Ming’s expression and then said:

"It’s the naturally deceptive species that was exterminated by the Yitelan Civilization and several other advanced civilizations. Using their genes to modify gene seeds can perform mimicry disguises."

"At least, just from appearances, even A-level life forms can hardly see through it, and ordinary detection equipment is of little use; quite formidable. Many of Yitelan’s top agents have integrated it."

After the extermination, turning them into gene seeds, huh... Li Ming inwardly sighed.

While they were talking, Riley had already mostly searched and confirmed that he hadn’t found the suspect.

Upon returning, he even specifically cautioned Li Ming, "Lord Azure Dragon, I see you have quite a few precious metal materials here; better keep them secured, just in case they get lost."

Li Ming thanked him for the reminder, thinking that Ulrich would also leave, but the Collector stayed behind, watching Riley leave, seemingly with something else to say.