Chapter 173 Patrol Officer? I'll rob you too!

"Sir, the black box has been sealed, but that stench... you can even smell it through the lead lining."

A Ji wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, directing a few crude industrial robots to drag the iron box, which was covered in runes, into the independent sealed chamber.

Lin Yuan stood on the high platform of the hangar, chewing on an unlit synthetic cigar—a treasure he had scavenged from the private collection of the pirate leader, One-Eyed Dragon.

"If it stinks, that's just right. How else would it serve as a landmark without some character?"

Lin Yuan spat out the tobacco crumbs in his mouth and was just about to return to the command room for a nap when gaia's voice suddenly exploded in his ear, carrying a rare tone of seriousness.

"Boss, don't sleep. A big fish is coming. A fish much bigger than that small fry Black Shark."

Lin Yuan paused, his eyes narrowing slightly. "What, do the pirates have a third division?"

"No, this time it's the ones in uniform."

gaia projected the external detector's feed in front of Lin Yuan.

In the deep starry sky, three massive spatial folds tore open without warning.

Three silver-white, streamlined starships slowly emerged. Their surfaces were covered in a translucent crystalline armor, glowing with a cold luster under the remnants of the starlight.

At the bridge, a massive golden scale emblem gleamed brightly—the Order Bureau of the Orion Civilization.

The starship in the middle was more than three times the size of Zeta's patrol ship, its sides densely packed with honeycomb-like launch ports. It clearly looked several grades higher than the previous "regular army."

"Orion Order Bureau, High-Level Investigation Team."

Chen Weiguo's voice came through the communicator, carrying a hint of heaviness. "Lin Yuan, the other side has issued a full-frequency broadcast, demanding we stop the ship immediately and accept an investigation. The leader is named Platinum, a high-level inspector for this star sector."

"Platinum?" Lin Yuan sneered. "The name sounds expensive. Let's go, back to the command room to greet our guests."

Five minutes later, the command room of the dragon sparrow.

The large screen displayed a man wearing a crisp white uniform.

He had neatly combed blond hair, and his eyes held the arrogance typical of those in high positions. He was gently wiping his fingers with a pristine white handkerchief, as if he found the very air of this star sector filthy.

"I am High-Level Inspector Platinum of the Orion Civilization Order Bureau."

The man's voice was steady, filled with bureaucratic indifference. "Earth civilization, you are accused of murdering Order Bureau officials, hijacking a patrol ship, and committing multiple grave crimes, including crimes against humanity and violation of trade laws."

Lin Yuan sat in the command chair, not even looking directly at him, instead staring at the data parameters of the opposing ship displayed on the screen beside him.

"Whoa, that energy reaction is impressive. How much star marrow does it take to run a lap?"

Platinum's movements froze for a moment; he clearly hadn't expected this reaction.

He frowned, his tone deepening. "Lin Yuan, I am not joking with you. Release Inspector Zeta immediately, shut down all weapon systems, and accept the investigation team's boarding and takeover. Otherwise, the investigation team has the authority to execute the 'Interstellar Emergency Act' and carry out a 'humanitarian purge' on you."

"Humanitarian purge?"

Lin Yuan finally lifted his head and grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. "Inspector Platinum, your tone is more aggressive than your ship's thrusters. You say we murdered officials? Where is the evidence?"

"The recording of you tearing apart the pirate flagship and destroying the patrol ship is already being monitored synchronously by the investigation team." Platinum snorted coldly. "The evidence is irrefutable. Do you still want to quibble?"

"A recording? That's perfect."

Lin Yuan snapped his fingers. "gaia, show this high inspector the 'highlight reel' we captured."

The scene shifted.

Zeta's bruised and swollen face appeared on the screen, accompanied by audio of him personally admitting to colluding with pirates, human trafficking, and splitting the profits, along with records of the dirty money flows in his accounts that he hadn't had time to transfer.

Platinum's face turned ugly instantly.

He certainly knew about these unspoken rules, but he never expected these things to be laid out so clearly on the table.

"This is forged." Platinum said in a deep voice. "As a low-level civilization, you have no authority to collect evidence against high-level civilization officials. This so-called evidence has no validity in the Order Court."

"I don't know about court validity, but I know that if this were sent to the Galactic Public Network, that 'righteous and noble' skin of your Order Bureau would probably be ripped right off."

Lin Yuan crossed his legs leisurely. "Inspector Platinum, you didn't come here to uphold justice; you came here to silence witnesses and take back that ledger, right?"

Exposed, Platinum stopped pretending to be a gentleman.

He slammed the table, his eyes sinister. "So what if you know? Lin Yuan, look at your current situation. Can those ragged frigates of yours withstand the investigation team's crystal railguns?"

"I have a bad temper and no patience to play these legal games with you. Now, hand over Zeta and the evidence immediately, then commit suicide. I can guarantee that half of the ants on your planet will be allowed to live as slaves."

Platinum waved his hand, and the three high-level patrol ships simultaneously lit up with purple charging energy, the gravitational field within a ten-thousand-mile radius beginning to fluctuate violently.

Chen Weiguo clenched his fists nearby. Although he was prepared for battle, the pressure of this level of suppression still made him feel suffocated.

"You want the people, you want the evidence, and you want our lives?"

Lin Yuan chuckled, his voice growing louder. "Inspector Platinum, have you been a high official for so long that your brain has grown mold?"

"You just listed a bunch of crimes, so now I'm going to settle the score with you."

Lin Yuan pulled a scrap of paper he'd torn from somewhere out of his pocket and read it with great seriousness. "First, due to your Order Bureau's poor supervision, pirates intercepted Earth, causing us extremely serious mental distress. Calculated by headcount, one hundred star coins per person—that's not much, right? Two billion people, that's two hundred billion."

"Second, to clean up this star sector you dirtied, I wasted a lot of ammunition and fuel. You need to pay for this too. It's not much, let's call it fifty billion."

"Third, you scared me just now. I'm timid, and when I get scared, my hands tend to shake. And when they shake, I accidentally press the wrong button."

Platinum laughed as if he'd heard the biggest joke in the world, his body trembling with laughter.

"Mental distress? Trying to extort the Order Bureau? Lin Yuan, do you know who you're talking to?"

"I know."

Lin Yuan's smile grew cold, and he lightly tapped the control console. "I'm talking to a pile of walking metal ingots."

"Old Man Wang, don't hold back. Say hello to this Inspector Platinum."

As soon as he finished speaking, the thousands of planetary engines at the base of the Earth, which had been drifting by inertia, suddenly lit up with blinding blue light.

But this time they weren't propelling the Earth; instead, using the lens array temporarily installed by Academician Wang, they forcibly compressed and refracted the terrifying fusion energy.

Over twelve thousand thick, high-energy plasma beams converged in space to form a massive halo.

Those ten thousand-plus engines were now ten thousand-plus super-heavy cannons aimed at the investigation team!

"What... is that?"

Platinum's laughter stopped abruptly.

The alarm on the investigation team's flagship instantly turned from yellow to a blinding crimson.

"Warning! Planetary-level energy fluctuation detected! Target locked!"

"Warning! Shield capacity has reached its limit, unable to withstand this attack!"

"Inspector! The enemy's thrusters... the enemy's thrusters have all turned into cannon barrels!" The radar operator's voice was filled with desperate screaming.

The color drained completely from Platinum's face.

He had originally thought it was just a moving planet, at most equipped with a few decent anti-aircraft guns.

But he hadn't expected these lunatics to have converted the entire planet's propulsion system into weapons!

Ten thousand-plus "engines" capable of vaporizing asteroids—if they fired simultaneously...

Never mind these three patrol ships; even a regular fleet formation here would be instantly erased.

"Inspector Platinum, look at how badly my hand is shaking."

Lin Yuan looked at the dumbstruck Platinum on the screen, his tone filled with mockery. "Do you think I should press the 'clear' button, or the 'one-click recycle' button?"

Platinum stared fixedly at the ring of blinding blue light that was almost burning the screen, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty.

He had sat in this position for decades and was used to seeing low-level civilizations beg for mercy the moment they saw the investigation team.

But he had never seen such desperate gamblers who would bet the entire planet on a fight at the slightest disagreement!

"You... you would really dare to fire?" Platinum's voice already had a tremor. "We are very close to the Land Abandoned by Gods. A large-scale energy explosion will attract those unspeakable monsters! Everyone will die then!"

"We're going to die anyway, so taking a high-ranking official from the investigation team down with us seems worth it."

Lin Yuan made a gesture as if to press the red confirmation button.

"Stop! Stop!"

Platinum finally broke, waving his hands and screaming. "What do you want? Compensation... compensation is negotiable!"

"That's more like it. Talking about money is vulgar, but without money, we really can't talk."

Lin Yuan pulled back his hand and smiled, holding up two fingers. "First, I don't want star coins for compensation; that stuff is devaluing badly right now. I think those two escort ships on your left and right look quite pleasing to the eye. Disarm them, get your people out, and leave the ships."

"What did you say?!" Platinum's eyes almost popped out. "Those are the Order Bureau's latest 'Archon-class' destroyers!"

"Think they're too expensive? Fine, fire away."

"Wait! I'll give them to you!"

Platinum growled through gritted teeth. Compared to his life, the two escort ships, while valuable, were not worth losing everything over. As long as he could return alive, he had plenty of ways to retaliate.

"Second, bring out all the spare star marrow fuel in your hold. I'm a country bumpkin and can't stand seeing a ship running on empty."

"...Fine! I'll give it all to you!"

Half an hour later.

The two silver-white advanced destroyers had their fire control locks completely dismantled, and the Order Bureau soldiers inside dejectedly took lifeboats back to the flagship.

Crates upon crates of high-purity star marrow blocks were transported into the dragon sparrow's warehouse.

Watching Platinum's lonely flagship flee in a panic like a plucked rooster, the soldiers of the Earth Expeditionary Force burst into thunderous cheers.

"In the past, those high-and-mighty guys were always demanding things from us, but today it's finally our turn to rob them!"

"Lin is awesome! This battle was so satisfying!"

Lin Yuan looked at the strategic supplies piling up in the warehouse, and his mood improved significantly.

With slight modifications, those two "Archon-class" destroyers would be just enough to make up for the dragon sparrow's lack of single-ship firepower.

However, just before Platinum's flagship was about to enter warp.

Platinum's sinister face appeared on the screen again. This time, there was no previous arrogance, only a malice that bordered on a curse.

"Lin Yuan, you will pay for today's arrogance. You have offended the Order Bureau and lost all official protection."

"The 'Land Abandoned by Gods' ahead is a realm that even gods cannot set foot in. There is no law, no light, only endless distortion and death. No one will collect your corpses; you will rot away bit by bit in that darkness and turn into cosmic dust!"

After saying this, Platinum's flagship plunged into a spatial rift and vanished instantly.

Chen Weiguo walked up to Lin Yuan, looking at the star sector in the distance that was beginning to become blurred and dim, his expression worried.

"Although he is a threat, he is right about one thing. That place... is really hard to traverse."

Lin Yuan casually switched off the communicator and looked toward the massive void ahead that seemed to swallow everything.

His hand subconsciously reached for the sealed black box.

"No one to collect the corpses?"

The corner of Lin Yuan's mouth lifted slightly, a flash of madness in his eyes. "What a coincidence, what I'm best at is digging up other people's graves. Land Abandoned by Gods? Sounds like a good place filled with high-level scrap metal."

"Have all warships repainted, and stamp our Great Xia emblem on those two new ships."

"Tell the whole army, prepare to enter the mountains, we're going scavenging!"

At Lin Yuan's command, the wandering Earth accelerated once more, and with that resolute blue light, it plunged headfirst into the eternal darkness where even starlight could not penetrate.

And behind them, in that star sector that had just calmed down, several black shadows were silently following them, trailing the faint purple mist.