This is really not mechanical ascension
Chapter 622 - 326: Robbery and Women

Two days of travel from the star planet coordinates and they would arrive.

If the Chaotic Star Gap were laid out as a flat map, Twin Peaks would mark the second ring beyond the core.

The planet in question lay in the fourth or even fifth rings—indeed, a remote location.

Some metal structures flashed by, a minor Star Gate Hub, also the closest one to them—they would undoubtedly need to deal with this hub in the future.

Checking the delivery progress, it was a bit quicker than his estimate, about ten days or so until arrival.

Li Ming walked out of his room to the cockpit, where several people had gathered.

The central sandbox displayed a virtual projection, and Ulrich was speaking, "At the Giant Hammer Star Gate Hub, the Controller is the barbaric bear—Balzan, although he is only a Level A Life Form."

"Like Austin, he is also under the Star Gate Master—Anduin. One of the overlords of the Chaotic Star Gap, he nearly monopolizes all the Star Gate Hubs in the gap."

"Therefore, we have no choice but to deal with him carefully. This guy is from the Half-Giant Clan, same as Sandro," Ulrich continued,

"This race isn’t known for their wits, so dealing with them should be easy. The job is yours, Sandro."

Sandro snorted coldly, "Understood."

The group was discussing the initial planning; they already had the detailed data on the planet and had completed the blueprint layout.

Feeling good about delegating responsibilities, Li Ming approached, "Are we stopping at this hub?"

"No need for the time being. We will have plenty of opportunities in the future. Stopping now would only delay us," Ulrich shook his head.

The spaceship didn’t stop but moved on directly away from the hub, quickly entering the jump trajectory.

"Li Ming... Lord," said Ulrich, his expression shifting slightly as he motioned for Li Ming to join him in a small room.

"What’s up?" Li Ming closed the door, looking puzzled at Ulrich.

Ulrich lowered his voice deliberately, asking: "Is Lord Azure Dragon following us at all?"

Li Ming fixed his gaze on him and then suddenly grinned, "What, Lord Ulrich isn’t feeling secure?"

"It’s not that I’m insecure," sighed Ulrich, his expression changing, "I thought Lord Azure Dragon was planning to operate in the shadows, but..."

"Operate in the shadows?" Li Ming spread his hands, "Do you think it’s possible? Information will leak eventually."

Ulrich was serious: "With Lord Azure Dragon’s methods, if he wanted to."

Li Ming was momentarily stunned. Did Ulrich have some sort of paranoia? Why did he trust Azure Dragon so much?

Was he affected by some past event?

He could understand Ulrich’s thinking; growing in the shadows was preferable, but he knew it was impossible.

Li Ming was too short on metal energy; to make money, he had to engage with the outside world.

He also understood why Ulrich would think that way. Ulrich and the others imagined building power as Azure Dragon establishing a branch in the Chaotic Star Gap, managed by them.

All resources would be supplied by the real power behind Azure Dragon, becoming more visible as it grew.

No one thought Azure Dragon was alone.

But Li Ming had no power of his own; he could only build brick by brick with his bare hands.

"Since Lord Ulrich believes in the teacher, why ask such a question?" Li Ming shrugged with an ’I know nothing’ expression.

Ulrich stared at him, eventually saying helplessly, "Forget it, in the end, you’re the bait, and we’re just the supporting cast."

He also didn’t understand if Li Ming had caught his insinuation.

Coming out of the room, everyone’s gaze quickly converged on him, then just as swiftly retracted.

Li Ming took a round then returned to continue developing the Genetic Seed.

A day later, accompanied by an abrupt jolt of the ship, Li Ming’s eyes snapped open, his gaze turning toward the porthole. They had fallen out of the jump trajectory, and alarms were blaring.

An unexpected situation?

His heart tensed, he quickly left the room, finding everyone already congregated in the command center, faces equally grim.

"It’s a jump interception device," Ulrich quickly stated, "We don’t know the size and origin of the enemy yet."

Everyone was on high alert, and their first thought in such a situation was the Star Abyss Empire.

"Zzzt—"

The next moment, lights throughout the ship flickered, and screens began to distort.

"Virtual data attack!" Monroe quickly realized, extending two data cables from his palm into sockets, with a flurry of data streaming across his mechanical pupils.

In the somber atmosphere, Monroe’s expression turned odd, "Doesn’t the intensity of the attack seem... weak?"

"I’ll first use a disguise program to fool their hackers and see what’s actually going on."

Soon, accompanied by a zzzt sound, a ferocious-looking creature with two large tusks protruding below its lips and a nose resembling a pig’s, appeared on the main screen of the cockpit.

"Beastman Race?" Li Ming raised an eyebrow.

In the universe, there are as many races as there are stars in the sky.

Some races are inherently powerful, born as Level D or even Level C Life Forms.

Others are weaker, like humans, but their numbers are vast.

Racial discrimination has been an issue since the early days of the Interstellar Alliance that could not be ignored, and the Beastman Race has always been at the very bottom of the discrimination hierarchy.

The Beastman Race is a broad category that includes many sub-races, such as Minotaurs, Pigmen, synonymous with barbarism.

The antagonist, ferocious and malevolent, declared: "I’m the leader of the Zong Ya Pirates—Zong Ya. We’re taking control of your ship, everyone stay quiet."

As the translator relayed this, Li Ming was momentarily dumbfounded and the others were also confounded.