Chapter 163 Hello, this is your interstellar traffic violation ticket

On the radar screen of the great xia dragon sparrow, three silver-white, streamlined warships were hovering in a triangular formation above the pirate fortress.

Their design and paint job made them look like luxury cars fresh from a dealership parked next to a pile of scrapped tractors. In particular, the flagship's hull bore a glittering golden longsword emblem, with a line of small text written in Common Language below it that radiated a sense of justice: [Orion Arm Civilized Order Bureau · 72nd Patrol Team].

Earth, which had originally intended to slam straight ahead to stage a 'collision scam,' was forced to slam on the brakes by Chen Weiguo at the last moment.

The nozzles of thousands of planetary engines turned simultaneously, whipping up a Category 12 hurricane on the surface. They finally managed to bring the multi-billion-ton blue sphere to a halt barely a thousand kilometers away from the pirate roadblock.

“Is this the regular army?” Chen Weiguo wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and stared at the screen. “They look like... they're here to maintain order?”

Before everyone could fully breathe a sigh of relief, the image on the communication channel changed.

The originally fierce-looking Black Shark King was now leaning his semi-mechanical head toward the edge of the screen, winking and nodding at a silver-armored officer on another split screen.

“Captain Zeta, what wind blew you here today? Didn't we just hand in this month's tribute?”

On the split screen, the patrol officer named Zeta slowly took off his white gloves. He was humanoid, with skin so pale it looked like it had been soaking in bleach for three days, and his narrow eyes held an extremely uncomfortable arrogance.

“Black Shark, don't try to get cozy with me. The Bureau has been conducting strict inspections lately; don't make too much noise.” Zeta's voice sounded like some kind of synthesized tone, devoid of emotion. “What's with this sphere? Is it also your cargo?”

“How could it be? It's just a new face we intercepted.” Black Shark King chuckled and pointed at Earth. “These bumpkins are quite aggressive; they said they were going to ram me to death. It just so happens you've arrived to enforce the law.”

Lin Yuan sat in the command chair, no longer crossing his legs, his fingers lightly tapping the armrest.

“So it's a case of cops and robbers being one big family.” Lin Yuan sneered. “I know this script. Back on Earth, some urban management officers often performed double acts with street vendors.”

“gaia, patch our channel in.” Lin Yuan cleared his throat. “Since it's a big shot from the authorities, we have to be reasonable, right?”

The communication connected.

Zeta's narrow eyes turned toward them, as if looking at a pest on the side of the road.

“I am the representative of the Great Xia Civilization, Lin Yuan.” A simple and honest smile, characteristic of a country bumpkin who had just entered the city, appeared on Lin Yuan's face. “Officer, we want to report a crime. This half-man, half-ghost guy was just trying to rob us. You've come at the perfect time. Shouldn't you wipe out these pirates first?”

Zeta raised an eyebrow as if he had heard the world's biggest joke.

“Robbery? Sir, please watch your phrasing.”

Zeta pulled up a formal document from the holographic tabletop in front of him and read it like a funeral oration: “According to Article 342 of the Orion Arm Navigation Law, your planet is suspected of illegal border crossing, unauthorized celestial body modification, and discharging excessive high-energy radiation waste into public vacuum areas.”

“Mr. Black Shark was not only not robbing you, but was actually assisting us in intercepting a violating vehicle.”

Zeta put down the document and looked Lin Yuan up and down through the screen with the gaze of someone eyeing a fat sheep.

“I am now officially notifying you that you are being detained. Given that your civilization level is too low and possesses high risk, we will proceed with the 'harmless disposal' of this planet.”

“What do you mean by harmless disposal?” Academician Wang couldn't help but interject.

“It's simple,” Black Shark King rushed to answer, his mechanical face grinning so hard it seemed to flake. “Dig out the core, clear out everything that's breathing on it, and finally melt down the shell to sell as scrap metal. That's called harmless disposal.”

A dead silence fell over the command room.

Everyone's fists clenched. In the surface shelters, countless Great Xia citizens watching this scene via live broadcast were so furious they felt like they were going to crush the toothbrushes in their hands.

This is what they call an interstellar civilization?

This is the so-called order?

This is blatant cannibalism!

“Don't get excited, everyone, stay calm.” Lin Yuan stood up and pressed Chen Weiguo, who was about to rush forward and curse, back into his chair.

The smile on his face grew even brighter, like a tricycle driver desperately trying to please a traffic cop to pay a smaller fine.

“Officer, it's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding. We're newcomers and don't know the rules.”

Lin Yuan pulled a gold brick out of his pocket—one he had just manifested from the void. It was as big as a building brick and 99.99% pure. He then took a handful of exaggeratedly large diamonds from the system warehouse and waved them in front of the camera.

“We're poor and don't have much. But we do have some of these Earth specialties. This gold and these diamonds are hard currency back home. How about you two show some mercy and take these to have a cup of tea?”

There was two seconds of silence on the other end of the screen.

Then, a burst of uproarious laughter erupted.

Black Shark King laughed so hard the pistons on his head were spraying oil: “Hahaha! Gold! Diamonds! Zeta, did you see that? This bumpkin is treating industrial waste as treasure!”

Zeta couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile—a look of pity reserved for lower lifeforms performing a circus act.

“Primitives will be primitives.” Zeta shook his head and casually grabbed a metal cup near him. With a squeeze of his fingers, the cup instantly turned into a pile of molecular powder.

“In interstellar society, this stuff is too soft even for paving roads. What we want is energy! Heavy fusion fuel! Technology left behind by the titans!”

Zeta's expression suddenly darkened, revealing a murderous intent.

“Listen well, I don't care if you're playing dumb or if you're really stupid. I'll give you one hour.”

“In one hour, hand over all the data and blueprints for those planetary engines, and pack up all your stored nuclear fuel to be sent over. Additionally, select fifty million strong samples as laborers. As for the rest... we will help 'send them to the afterlife.'”

“If you're missing a single bit, I'll blow up this crappy sphere of yours on the spot!”

The communication cut off.

The screen turned into blinding static before returning to the image of the starry sky outside.

The main cannons of those three silver warships had already lit up with blue light. Although they hadn't fired, that high-and-mighty deterrence was more than a level above Black Shark's fortress made of scrap metal.

“Those beasts!” Chen Weiguo punched the console, leaving a dent in the alloy surface. “Lin Yuan, just say the word and I'll lead our men out to fight them to the death! At worst, we'll blow up Earth rather than be slaves to these sons of bitches!”

“Fight? With what?”

Lin Yuan put away his simple-minded smile, his gaze instantly turning as cold as the minus two-hundred-degree vacuum outside. He casually tossed the gold brick onto the floor with a loud clang.

“gaia, analyze our win rate.”

“Simulating the battle...” gaia's small face was tense, her usual playfulness gone. “Boss, the opponent is a standard Level 2.0 civilization regular army. Those three ships are equipped with 'Light Curtain Type-IV' antimatter shields. Our conventional electromagnetic cannons hitting them would be like scratching an itch.”

“Unless we use gravitational wave bombs. But...” gaia pointed to a dark red fuel warning line on the dashboard. “Our heavy fusion fuel is at rock bottom. If we don't seize supplies after this battle, Earth will be completely paralyzed, and even the life support systems will shut down. Then they won't even need to lift a finger; we'll freeze to death ourselves.”

“The win rate?”

“In a direct confrontation, the win rate is less than 3%.” gaia gave a despairing number.

The air in the command room froze.

Academician Wang sat slumped in his chair, muttering to himself, “Is there really no way out? We haven't even left the newbie village, and we're going to be blocked at the entrance by this kind of trash?”

“3%...” Lin Yuan looked at the number and suddenly smiled.

He bent down, picked up the gold brick from the floor, and tossed it in his hand.

“gaia, there's something wrong with your algorithm.”

“Huh?” gaia was stunned.

“You're calculating the win rate for us driving Earth into them.” Lin Yuan walked to the giant floor-to-ceiling viewport, looking at the brightly lit 'toll station' in the distance and the three warships that looked very expensive.

Deep in his pupils, dark golden void patterns were slowly lighting up. Though faint, they carried a hunger like that of a starving wolf.

“What if I don't fight a space battle with them?”

“What if we don't care about interstellar law or civilization rules, and solve the problem using our old trade?”

Chen Weiguo looked up. “Old trade? You mean...”

“Scavenging.”

Lin Yuan turned around and straightened his tattered combat suit as if he were attending an important banquet.

“gaia, connect me to Zeta's private frequency.”

A few seconds later, Zeta's arrogant face appeared on the screen again, looking somewhat impatient.

“What? Thought it through? Or do you plan to die now?”

“Officer, I've thought it through.” Lin Yuan rubbed his hands together with a fawning expression. “The arm can't twist the thigh. For the sake of our billions of lives, I accept the fine.”

Zeta snorted coldly. “Smart of you.”

“However...” Lin Yuan looked troubled. “All that core data is locked in my bio-chip; no one can extract it but me. And the technology is too complex; I'm afraid of packet loss during transmission. To show my sincerity, I was thinking... could I deliver it in person?”

“Deliver it in person?” Zeta narrowed his eyes, eyeing Lin Yuan suspiciously.

“Yes, yes. It just so happens I also want to admire the majesty of a higher civilization. Don't worry, I'll only bring one assistant. No warships, just a single-person shuttle.” Lin Yuan lowered himself to the dust. “Also... I'd like to talk to you about whether you could leave us some rations. Even if we're to be dogs, we still need to eat, right?”

Zeta was silent for a moment.

He looked at the radar scan results: Earth's energy reaction was extremely low, its weapon systems were all offline, and it hadn't even raised its shields. It was like a toothless tiger lying on the ground, wagging its tail for mercy.

More importantly, he was too greedy for the technology that could install engines on a planet. If it really was bio-chip encrypted, remote transmission did indeed carry risks.

What could an aboriginal leader who hadn't even reached Level 1 civilization do even if he came aboard? Could he possibly dismantle a patrol ship equipped with an antimatter engine?

“Granted.” Zeta waved his hand contemptuously. “I'll give you ten minutes. Don't play any tricks; my main cannons are locked onto your planetary core.”

The communication cut.

“Lin Yuan, are you crazy?!” Academician Wang rushed forward and grabbed Lin Yuan's arm. “That's a wolf's den! You're walking straight into a trap!”

“It's exactly because it's a wolf's den that I have to go in to snatch the cubs.”

Lin Yuan gently pushed Academician Wang away and strode toward the hatch. His steps grew lighter, and the excitement he had suppressed for half a month was boiling in his veins.

“Old Chen, keep an eye on things here. If you see the lights on those three ships go out, even if you have to pull them with ropes, get all the engineering ships over there.”

“Get them over there for what?” Chen Weiguo asked instinctively.

Lin Yuan stopped at the door and looked back, revealing a row of white teeth. There wasn't a hint of his previous honesty in that smile; he looked like a Taotie about to be released from its cage.

“For what? To move house!”

“They've slapped a ticket right on my face. If I don't go and strip them of everything they own to pay off the debt, what will happen to my reputation as the 'Scavenger King'?”

Five minutes later.

An unarmed single-person shuttle, looking like an iron coffin, left Earth's orbit unsteadily.

Like a moth to a flame, it flew resolutely toward the brightly lit silver fortress.

No one knew that inside this moth was a black hole capable of swallowing the entire fortress down to the bone.