On the ground, the wreckage of the autonomous alert cannons was still emitting wisps of green smoke.
Jie Ming, accompanied by several Black Giant Priests, passed through the heavily devastated alert zone around the factory. The metal ground beneath their feet was covered with scorch marks from melt-throughs, and the air still carried the searing smell of high-energy weapon bombardments.
Above the factory, the Tentacle Tree Civilization's warship remained hovering. The ship's close-defense cannons continued to systematically eliminate the occasional autonomous cannons that popped up on the periphery. Pale blue beams slashed through the air, reducing the cannons that had just emerged from underground launch silos into scrap metal mid-flight.
The Tentacle Tree commander in charge of the cleanup reported to Jie Ming through the communication channel: "Report! The enemy's main resistance has weakened. Estimated cleanup time: one and a half standard hours."
Jie Ming found that too slow. Without the slightest hesitation, he waved his hand casually.
The next moment, several sixth-level Black Giants behind him directly crossed the alert line just established by the Tentacle Tree Civilization. The vertical slits on their chests suddenly opened wide, and surging energy condensed into a highly compressed red tide of light within their mouths, which then swept out in a fan-shaped arc. Boom!
The last few rows of autonomous cannons on the factory's periphery, along with their launch silos, were blasted into molten slag. Metal fragments and melted talisman components scattered in all directions.
Only after confirming that no more autonomous cannons would emerge to attack did Jie Ming step forward.
A metal door several meters thick stood before the main entrance of the factory. Its alloy surface was densely etched with energy channeling patterns, and a row of already-defunct shield generators remained on both sides of the doorframe.
He stopped in front of the door and reached out to press his hand against it.
The glow of alchemy slowly spread from beneath his palm, seeping into the metal surface like a layer of invisible fine fire. The entire door began to soften layer by layer from the center outward, with metal molecules being rearranged until finally forming an arched passage wide enough for several people to walk through side by side. Beyond the door lay a dim corridor.
Emergency lighting talismans still emitted faint, flickering light, as if they could go out at any moment. The air was filled with a pungent mixture of machine oil and ozone, mingled with a slight burnt smell lingering from overheated metal.
Jie Ming did not rush inside. His spiritual power had already scanned the factory's internal structure completely, unfolding it within his spiritual sea.
This was a highly automated resource extraction and processing facility. Precision mechanical arms were neatly arranged on both sides of the assembly line, with conveyor belts transporting ore from the underground mining layer directly to the sorting area. The ore then went through three processes: crushing, screening, and purification, before entering the smelting furnace and being cast into standard-sized metal ingots in the forming workshop. The equipment itself was not rare. The basic framework of the Star Ring Federation's standard industrial production line was similar, differing only in models and talisman systems.
Neatly packed rows of finished materials were stacked along the walls. The purity of several rare alloys was quite good, just right for supplementing the raw materials for the next batch of Talisman Imprint Shamanic Artifacts for the Black Giant Legion.
As Jie Ming walked along the assembly line, he casually stored those materials into his Inner World. His movements were unhurried, as if he were counting his harvest in his own warehouse.
It was not until he reached the deepest part of the factory that his steps suddenly stopped.
Before him stood a standard model energy supply device. Such devices were common in Star Ring Federation factories as well, functioning to convert externally input energy into power for each production line. But at this moment, the device's power input port was connected to only a single pipe. And at the other end of that pipe was an instrument even smaller than the energy supply device itself.
The instrument was about half the height of a person, shaped like a flattened cube. Its casing was made of some non-reflective dark gray material with no superfluous ornamentation on the surface, almost unnaturally clean.
When Jie Ming's All-Purpose Eye swept over it, the feedback data made his pupils contract slightly.
No external energy input interface.
Thinking he might have missed something, he immediately scanned it again with his True Illusion Void-Breaking Eye. Still, no external energy source was found.
He crouched down, placed his palm on the instrument's casing, and let his spiritual power seep in bit by bit along his fingertips.
The internal structure was likewise absurdly simple. No built-in energy pool, no energy storage cells, not even any known energy conversion module. Inside the entire instrument, there was only a trigger switch, an energy output port, and an inner coating of extremely precise structure. Nothing else.
Jie Ming slowly stood up, stepped back half a pace, and after confirming that the instrument bore no markings or instructions, he reached out and pressed the only switch.
Hum...
An extremely faint hum came from within the instrument. The next instant, the energy output port lit up with a soft blue glow. The adjacent energy block manufacturing device started automatically; the conveyor belt began to move, and a standard batch of energy blocks was precisely formed in the manufacturing slot, then slid along the belt into the feed port of the energy supply device.
The energy supply device started up normally. The energy reading on the dashboard steadily jumped to the rated power.
Jie Ming's finger lifted from the switch, hovering in midair for a moment.
This thing was definitely not an energy extraction device. If it were, his All-Purpose Eye and True Illusion Void-Breaking Eye could not have failed to detect any external energy input. The instrument did not absorb any energy from the outside, was not connected to any energy pool, and had no internal energy storage cells. Yet it indeed produced energy.
Produced it out of nothing.
"Creation from nothing?!"
As that word flashed into his mind, his heartbeat quickened sharply.
One of the two hallmark abilities of Level 9 beings was infinite power: the ability to create from nothing, providing an infinitely large energy output. If this instrument was indeed made by a Level 9 being, its value could no longer be measured by military merits or rare materials. Even if it were only the most basic energy supply module, as long as he could extract even a shred of the principle of creation from nothing from it, his understanding of energy application would leap several levels.
After calming his mind, Jie Ming quickly regained his rationality.
Under normal circumstances, a small squad like this shouldn't be able to carry a Level 9 artifact.
But if this instrument was not a Level 9 artifact, but rather some type of energy extraction device he had never seen before... then it meant that the Octopusmen, or rather the Multiracial Alliance, possessed a brand-new energy extraction technology that could bypass all his detection methods. That value was equally incalculable.
Jie Ming straightened up, and his eyes shone brighter than when he had first entered. His voice carried a rare hint of barely suppressed excitement.
"Dispatch a squad of sixth-level priests over here."
He stroked his chin, his gaze still fixed firmly on the instrument.
"Disassemble this instrument along with the entire power supply chain completely. Create a 3D model of every pipe and every port before disassembly."
"After removal, send it directly to the highest-level sealed zone of the main laboratory."