31: The era of the Thunder Warriors should end.

"We'll give it! We'll give it!!"

The Elder Elf on the other side of the light screen had completely broken down, crying out almost in a scream:

"What do you want?! Gold coins? Magic crystals?!" D-01 did not answer.

Because that shopping list, reeking of capitalist stench, had already been transmitted to his retina in the form of a data stream.

"Resource list sent."

"Five thousand standard units of High-Energy Magic Crystals."

"Thirty tons of Refined Mithril for hull repairs."

"And... all the parts we have stripped from this ship so far."

D-01 paused for a moment, adding the most lethal clause:

"Deliver to the specified coordinates within ten minutes. If late, the hostage dies." *Click.*

He unilaterally cut off the communication... [Asset Restructuring Scene]

The bridge after the communication was cut did not fall into silence.

On the contrary, it became even noisier.

"Get to work." D-01 threw Sarriel, who had fainted from the pain, to the two warriors behind him to watch over like a bag of trash, and then issued a new order.

The remaining two First Legion Prototypes immediately moved into action.

They weren't cleaning the battlefield; they were performing a violent operation known as "renovation demolition."

*Clang!*

A warrior walked up to that exquisitely beautiful command console.

This console, carved from a single piece of Starlight Blue Crystal, was a priceless treasure in the Crystal Energy Federation, the painstaking artistic crystallization of top-tier arcane craftsmen.

But the warrior didn't even glance at the magical runes upon it.

He reached out both hands directly, gripping the edges of the console.

Servo motors let out a dull roar, and back muscles bulged under the Ceramite armor.

*Crack—Snap!*

The entire crystal console was forcibly ripped from the floor by its roots!

Along with it, the glowing magic conduits and data cables connected below were also brutally torn apart, sparks flying everywhere.

"High-energy reaction component discovered."

The warrior reported in a muffled voice through the internal channel, then pulled a multi-functional entrenching tool from his waist and began prying violently at the back of the console.

He only wanted the core inside that was constantly emitting energy pulses.

As for the flashy carvings on the outside? Those were just dead weight.

On the other side, another warrior was setting to work on the mithril reliefs on the wall.

He had no professional cutting tools.

Or rather, his Power Gauntlets covered in Ceramite were the best tools available.

*Thud! Thud! Thud!*

After a few punches, the wall shattered, and those plates of Mithril Order Silver that were originally integrated with the wall were violently stripped away.

The warrior didn't even bother to keep them intact, directly crumpling them into a ball and stuffing them into a sack made from enemy uniforms like scrap paper.

"Don't want the carpet; takes up too much space and has low combustion value."

D-01 was calmly directing the scene like a shrewd construction foreman.

"That chandelier—dismantle it. The core is an A-grade energy-gathering crystal; it's worth a lot."

"The armrests of that chair are gold-plated, not pure gold. Just snap them off; don't carry the whole chair away, it's not worth it."

This group of black giants was like a swarm of steel locusts that had broken into a cornfield.

Wherever they passed, not a blade of grass remained.

The originally luxurious and elegant bridge was transformed into a Syrian-style shell of a room within a mere five minutes.

No, it was worse than a shell.

Because they had even gone so far as to pry up the floorboards and pull out the copper wiring laid underneath for energy transmission.

This was the most efficient "asset restructuring"—restructuring useless, flashy decorations into resources useful for the Empire's expansion... [Extraction Countdown: 03:00]

"Enemy fleet reaction detected. Three Crystal Energy Destroyers are approaching at high speed."

"Estimated contact time: 4 minutes." D-01 glanced at the mountain of sacks on the floor, then at the dog-like Sarriel.

"Call the transport craft." D-01 sent an extraction signal to Li Cang in the higher dimension.

*Rumble—* From overhead came a low, heavy roar.

It wasn't the light and quiet magic engine sound of the Crystal Energy Federation, but rather the sound of some old, crude industrial rocket engine burning low-quality chemical Fuel.

That tattered "Industrial Transport Barge," its hull covered in shell craters and rust, braved the star-glory's remaining automated anti-air fire to hover forcefully above the hole that had been blown open earlier.

Several thick, oil-stained steel cables and electromagnetic hooks descended from the sky like fishing rods from a garbage heap, dropping into the bridge.

"Mount up." The warriors skillfully hooked the sacks filled with crystals and mithril onto the hooks.

Finally, Sarriel was also stuffed into a sack specifically used for transporting live livestock and hooked on. "Withdraw." D-01 grabbed the last steel cable. The winch above began to emit a piercing grinding sound, pulling this group of fully-laden bandits away from this looted and sorrowful place.

As they left, D-01 didn't forget to leave a final "gift."

He attached all the remaining [Breaching Explosives] beneath the command console, which had been stripped down to its frame.

These explosives had only one purpose: to blow through the ship's power spine, completely paralyzing it to prevent the enemy from repairing it and launching a pursuit in a short time.

*Boom!*

With a dull, massive explosion, the last of the star-glory's lights flickered out.

The flagship was like a giant skeleton stripped of all its flesh. After the anti-gravity field failed completely, it plummeted toward the bottomless red canyon below, trailing billowing black smoke.

And high in the sky...

That black transport ship, laden with spoils and spewing inferior black smoke, departed under the angry yet helpless gaze of the Crystal Energy Destroyers that had just arrived only to watch their flagship crash... [Holographic Operations Cabin - Results Screen]

Li Cang watched the green numbers jumping wildly on the screen, let out a long breath of turbid air, and leaned back against the cold metal back of his chair.

[PVP Encounter Ended]

[Evaluation: S-Rank (Complete Victory/Predatory Victory)]

[Loot Liquidation:] Base Reward: 500 GP.

Ransom Payment (Advance): 2000 GP.

Resource Recovery: Refined Mithril Scrap: 15 tons.

High-Energy Crystal Cores: 3 units. Miscellaneous Precious Metals: Various.

[Current Resource Total: 2900 GP / Resource Status: Sufficient]

"Struck it rich." Li Cang rubbed his hands together, his dry lips splitting into a smile.

"This isn't even war; this is practically a mobile ATM with home delivery."

He pulled up the civilization's technology tree interface. Several nodes that were originally grayed out now finally had the capital to be lit up.

His gaze swept over rows of expensive technology options, finally landing on the node named [Gene-Seed Mutation Laboratory].

The era of the Thunder Warriors should end.