Chapter 23 First Exploration of the Ghost Route

"Comrade Lin Yuan, are you ready?"

Chen Weiguo's steady voice came through the headset.

Lin Yuan sat in the silver-white cockpit, wearing a form-fitting biological monitoring suit, as the cool helmet slowly descended to cover his head.

"Reporting to the Chief, I am ready to depart at any time."

His voice, transmitted through the helmet's microphone, was clear and calm.

After months of recuperation and training, he was no longer the small scrapyard owner who had been so nervous during his first connection that his palms would sweat.

He was now the only special-grade liaison for the "scavenger" project.

"Good. Attention all units, operation codename 'Set Sail,' beginning now! Countdown: ten, nine, eight..."

Lin Yuan closed his eyes, clearing all distracting thoughts from his mind, his focus highly concentrated.

"...three, two, one! Connect!"

"Hum—"

The familiar feeling of detachment returned, but this time, the sensation was completely different.

There was no spinning, no dizziness or nausea.

His consciousness felt as if it had boarded a high-speed, silent elevator, instantly elevated to a brand-new dimension.

When he opened his "eyes" again, the sight before him made him gasp.

This was the "Ghost Route."

Unlike the pure, dead silence of the "Silent Star Sea," this place was a chaotic and "bustling" cosmic ruin.

Countless huge and broken shipwrecks snaked toward an unknown distance like a frozen river.

The style of these wrecks was completely different from that aggressive "Oracle-class Raider" from last time.

Most of them had rounded lines and huge observation windows, clearly civilian ships.

Some hulls still bore huge, torn gashes, as if they had been gnawed on by some invisible giant beast.

Others seemed to have been instantly melted by high heat, solidifying into bizarre shapes.

And interspersed among these wrecks were even more dangerous things.

In the distance, a huge, resplendent curtain of light, like an aurora, was slowly drifting.

That was an "Energy Storm."

It looked beautiful, but Lin Yuan knew that once sucked in, his little beat-up drone wouldn't last even a second.

In other places, space presented an unnatural distortion, like broken glass.

That was a "Spatial Rift."

They were silent, yet more lethal than any overt enemy.

"Damn... this place has a nice view, but it's a bit life-consuming," Lin Yuan muttered to himself.

"Comrade Lin Yuan, how do you feel? What is the status of scavenger no. 2?" Academician Wang's voice came from the Command Center, sounding a bit nervous.

"Feeling good, Academician Wang. The drone's status is also very good; energy reserves are at 2000 points, full."

Lin Yuan answered while skillfully maneuvering scavenger no. 2, performing various maneuvers between the massive wrecks.

The upgraded drone was significantly more agile than before, and the engine's response speed was faster too.

On the giant screen in the Command Center, the 3D image simulated through Lin Yuan's brainwave signals, while still blurry, could already clearly display the spectacular yet dangerous scene of the "Ghost Route."

The scientists present were mesmerized.

"It's unbelievable... Is this the graveyard of a migrating fleet from a higher civilization?"

"Look at the design of those hulls; their aesthetics are completely different from ours, focusing more on streamlining and integration with the environment."

"Pay attention to recording the parameters of those spatial rifts! This is of immeasurable value to our space physics research!"

Chen Weiguo ignored the excited scientists; his gaze remained locked on Lin Yuan's vital sign data.

"Comrade Lin Yuan, proceed with peripheral exploration according to Plan A. Do not rush for success; safety first."

"Understood."

Lin Yuan acknowledged, maneuvering the drone along the predetermined "Route A" to begin flying slowly through the outermost area of the "Ghost Route."

He was like a cautious player who had just entered a new map, observing the surrounding environment while familiarizing himself with his brand-new "character skills."

He tried to approach the wreckage of a relatively small spaceship.

[Scanning...]

[Target: 'Dawn'-class medium cargo ship (wreckage)]

[Energy reaction: Extremely low]

[Structural integrity: Low]

[Analysis: The ship disintegrated during warp; the cargo hold is completely exposed, no valuable items found.]

"As expected, it's all junk." Lin Yuan pursed his lips.

He continued flying forward.

This peripheral area was like the suburbs of a city, filled with bits and pieces of "construction waste" everywhere; occasionally, he could see larger hulls, but they were all ripped open and empty inside.

"It seems the good stuff is all deeper inside," Lin Yuan thought to himself.

"Comrade Lin Yuan, test the 'Wide-Area Scan' function." Academician Wang's voice came through.

"Alright."

Lin Yuan stopped the drone, opened the system interface, and selected the brand-new function.

[Wide-Area Scan]

[Please select scan sector and scan depth.]

A radar-like fan-shaped scan box appeared in his field of vision.

"Academician Wang, how should I select this?"

"Sector angle 30 degrees, depth... let's set it to 10 astronomical units for now. This is the optimal balance point between energy consumption and scan efficiency that we calculated."

"Received."

Lin Yuan set the parameters according to the instructions and then selected "Confirm Scan."

[Starting Wide-Area Scan...]

[Energy consumed: 100 points.]

"Hum—"

An invisible, naked-eye-undetectable ripple, with scavenger no. 2 as the center, instantly swept across the vast star field ahead.

The next second, Lin Yuan's vision was covered by a brand-new image.

It was a huge, 3D heat map.

On this map, all objects within the entire sector were marked with different colors according to the intensity of their energy reactions.

The vast majority of the wreckage was a cold blue, representing "valueless."

A few larger pieces of wreckage appeared in a faint green.

And between these blue and green light spots were interspersed some extremely dangerous red light spots, representing high-energy reactions.

Those were precisely the spatial rifts and energy storms.

Beyond that, the entire area was terrifyingly clean.

No orange or gold light spots, which represented "high value," were found.

More importantly, no moving black shadows, which represented "Void Devourers," were found.

"Scan results have been synchronized to the Command Center!"

"Data is being analyzed!"

"It's too clear! This is practically like using a map hack!"

In the Command Center, the experts from the Intelligence Analysis Department, looking at that clear heat map, were incoherent with excitement.

With this map, they could, like performing surgery, precisely plan a safe route that led to treasure while perfectly avoiding all minefields!

"Lin Yuan, well done!" Academician Wang shouted excitedly. "Now, we are no longer blind! We have eyes!"

Lin Yuan's heart was also filled with excitement.

He knew that from this moment on, the act of "scavenging" would transform from a near-suicidal gamble into a science that could be calculated and planned.

"Academician Wang, the scan results are out. There really isn't anything good in the peripheral area. Can we... go in a little deeper?" Lin Yuan asked tentatively.

He was already a bit impatient, wanting to see what kind of treasures were hidden deep within this "Ghost Route."

In the Command Center, after a brief and efficient discussion, Chen Weiguo quickly made a decision.

"Approved! Proceed to the 002-Gamma region according to Plan C! The density of wreckage there is moderate, and according to the scan results, no high-risk spatial anomalies have been detected."

"Received!"

Lin Yuan perked up, maneuvering scavenger no. 2, turning, and accelerating toward the region marked "Gamma" on the heat map.

The drone agilely wove through countless huge wrecks; those darknesses that once seemed full of unknowns now became clear under the guidance of the "Wide-Area Scan."

About half an hour later, he arrived at the Gamma region.

The wreckage here was significantly larger and more intact than in the peripheral area.

He even saw a sightseeing cruise ship that had almost kept its complete shape, looking like a city garden.

Although the huge dome was broken, one could still see the floating, withered trees and collapsed pavilions inside.

"Conduct a Wide-Area Scan again! Adjust depth to 5 astronomical units!"

"Yes!"

Lin Yuan activated the scan again.

This time, the results of the heat map caused everyone's breath to hitch.

Just less than one astronomical unit away from him, a bright light spot, emitting an alluring orange glow, suddenly appeared on the heat map!

That glow was several times brighter than all the green lights of the surrounding wreckage combined!

"High-energy reaction! High-value target detected!"

"Coordinates locked! Preliminary analysis in progress... The target is huge in volume, structure relatively intact... It looks like a... a super-large ocean-going freighter!"

"A freighter?" Lin Yuan and Academician Wang looked at each other, both seeing four words in the other's eyes.

—We hit the jackpot!