Chapter 79: The Realm of Thunder

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In the dark expanse of the universe, a silver-gray spaceship was traveling at faster-than-light speed.

Inside the ship’s control room, Jiang Chen, Luo Feng, Hong, and Thunder God sat together. A few slaves of ninth-level stellar rank stood respectfully nearby. These slaves had been purchased by Luo Feng after receiving the first inheritance from Hu Yanbo; another group was left on Earth. With these slaves present, even if powerful adventurers approached Earth, as long as none were at the cosmic level, there was no need to worry about the planet's safety.

"Here are the regulations for the cosmic mercenary assessment. Take a look," Luo Feng said, activating his light-brain to project a screen. Line after line of intricate rules and requirements appeared—rigorous, uncompromising, leaving no room for loopholes.

But in essence, the rules could be summarized in a few sentences. "The assessment is conducted within the 'Assessment World.' Every mission item has a unique identifier and cannot be obtained from the outside..."

Hong and Thunder God, reading the details, immediately imagined all sorts of possibilities. Hong frowned and said, "These rules seem to encourage candidates to fight and plunder each other's spoils in the assessment world. So the real danger isn't the mission itself, but the other participants?"

"That's why we’re sticking together as a team. We’re all from Earth and can trust each other. As for everyone else—anyone who comes near is an enemy," Jiang Chen declared without hesitation.

He paused before continuing, "Let me be clear: Hong, Thunder God, even though you’ve spent years in the virtual universe, this is your first time entering the cosmos in reality. For this operation, you must follow my lead, without exception."

When Jiang Chen brought the anonymous login device for the virtual universe back to Earth, he’d given only one to Luo Feng, not to anyone else. Later, when Luo Feng entered the universe, he brought a batch of these devices for Earth’s elites and leaders to use.

Hong and Thunder God had experienced the virtual universe for over a year and were somewhat familiar with the cosmos, but this was their first time venturing into it in person.

Thunder God wanted to protest, but Hong spoke first, "Fine, we’ll follow your orders. But if your command is unreasonable, you’ll need to explain it to us afterward."

In other words, Hong would obey even an unreasonable order, but would expect an explanation after the fact.

Jiang Chen was close to Luo Feng, but hadn’t interacted much with Hong and Thunder God. Still, because of all Jiang Chen had done for Earth and the resources he’d provided, Hong trusted him. Thunder God’s trust was weaker, but he had confidence in Hong and Luo Feng, so once Hong agreed, he had no further objections.

Seeing their attitude, Jiang Chen nodded in satisfaction. Had they refused to follow him unconditionally, he would have reconsidered whether to participate in the mercenary assessment with them. But since they agreed, he didn’t mind sharing some of the benefits.

There weren’t many true geniuses on Earth’s current generation; Hong and Thunder God had the potential to become pillars of humanity’s lineage. For their sake, Jiang Chen wished for their rapid growth.

"In a few hours, we’ll reach Qiu Long Star. When we arrive, you’ll register for citizenship and handle the necessary paperwork, then we’ll sign up for the mercenary assessment," Jiang Chen explained, outlining the procedures for first-time cosmic travelers: citizenship, virtual universe accounts, bank accounts, registrations with various organizations, and so on.

For newcomers, the list was substantial, but most things only needed to be done once; after registration, future matters could be handled in the virtual universe without physical presence.

——

A few days later.

At the cosmic mercenary alliance headquarters on Qiu Long Star—a facility the size of a city, bustling with teeming crowds.

Jiang Chen’s group queued for over two hours before completing their registrations and assessment applications. Leaving the headquarters, they found a bar to rest and immediately checked their mission assignment:

"Enter the World of the Domain Lord on Cang Lan Star. Obtain three Wind Horn Stones and a single horn from a Monoceros Iron Rhino. Then deliver them to the alliance staff at the world’s exit."

Reading this, Jiang Chen felt a subtle relief. Thankfully, the mission location hadn’t changed. But that was to be expected.

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In the Silver Blue Empire and surrounding low-tier cosmic nations, all trainee mercenary assessments took place on Cang Lan Star; the location hadn’t changed for tens of thousands of years. After all, constructing a domain lord world required an astronomical investment. Typically, when a domain lord fell and their world was found, and if its environment and conditions were suitable, the cosmic mercenary alliance would purchase it for assessments. Such qualifying worlds were rare and not easily replaced.

"You all have your battle suits and weapons—no need for replacements, right?" Jiang Chen asked the group.

"No need," replied Hong.

"I’m good as well," Thunder God added.

Luo Feng’s equipment, needless to say, was the best among them. Hong and Thunder God each received a set of second-tier battle gear and weapons from Jiang Chen. Luo Feng provided for his own slaves, so Jiang Chen didn’t have to worry about them. As for Jiang Chen himself, he had purchased a "Celestial Shuttle," just like Luo Feng's. Below fifth-tier, force and psychic weapons rarely had attribute distinctions, nor did they require specific domains—anyone could use them.

Among third-tier psychic weapons, the Celestial Shuttle offered excellent value and was more than adequate at the stellar level. But Jiang Chen’s true trump card wasn’t psychic weaponry—it was the mechanical army hidden within his spatial equipment.

He touched the wristband beside his light-brain, an inconspicuous piece of gear. The spatial ring Babata had given him was no longer the largest in his possession. Since advancing to the stellar level, Jiang Chen had used technology from the third-floor library to create a "spatial wristband" with a staggering capacity—enough to house a vast mechanical army.

After a brief discussion about the assessment, Luo Feng and Thunder God each went out to purchase so-called "assessment intelligence." It wasn’t particularly useful, but still provided a basic understanding of the "assessment world," and the cost was minimal.

When they returned and finished reviewing the material, Jiang Chen stood up. "Let’s go. It’s time to set out."

——

The "Assessment World" was hidden inside a villa on Cang Lan Star.

On the villa’s second floor, outside a peculiar room, a woman with violet markings on her face stood guard. When Jiang Chen’s group approached, she opened the door. Instantly, a stream of radiant light spilled from within, making it impossible to see inside.

"Go in. This is the ‘Thunder World’ for the trainee mercenary assessment," the woman instructed.

The group exchanged glances, then linked hands, connecting everyone into a chain. According to the intelligence Luo Feng had purchased, if they failed to do this, they would be separated upon entry, making it nearly impossible to regroup.

"Let’s go."

One of Luo Feng’s slaves entered the portal first, followed by Jiang Chen, Luo Feng, Hong, and Thunder God. Another of Luo Feng’s slaves brought up the rear.

Silently, the six vanished into the light, disappearing without a trace.

The woman closed the door, resuming her statue-like vigil outside.

————

Time and space shifted.

Just moments ago, they had been at the alliance headquarters; now, in the blink of an eye, they found themselves suspended above a black desert. A crushing gravitational force pulled them downward.

They hurriedly tried to manipulate their miniature internal stars to counteract the gravity, but their reactions were a fraction too slow.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Six muffled crashes rang out as the party slammed into the ground.

"Damn, that hurt! These sands are tough," Luo Feng grumbled, picking himself up and grabbing a handful of sand to examine.

From afar, the desert looked black. Up close, though, the sand was a deep blue—so dark it was almost black. Each grain was incredibly hard and heavy.

"The gravity here is about four thousand times that of Earth," Jiang Chen observed. For stellar-level beings, it was manageable—internal miniature stars could completely offset the pull. Without using that power, it would be extremely uncomfortable, though not impossible to endure.

"Based on the data, Cang Lan Star is about 32,000 kilometers in diameter. But this ‘Thunder World’ could fit a million Cang Lan Stars inside," Hong marveled. "I hear it was created by a domain lord. Such power—it’s terrifying."

Thunder God muttered, "I wonder how many universe crystals it takes to create a world this size. If only we had that kind of money."

"Focus," Jiang Chen said, exasperated. "Now is not the time to think about the world’s value."

Ignoring Thunder God, Jiang Chen glanced around. "We’re in the ‘Death Desert,’ one of the more dangerous regions of Thunder World. Of course, the danger isn’t much to us, but the mission is what matters. Our first step is to get our bearings."

There were no magnetic poles or reference points in this world-within-a-world, making orientation difficult. Fortunately, they had obtained a rough map of Thunder World beforehand. While the landscape changed every few centuries, the recently updated map was still reliable.

At Jiang Chen’s signal, one of Luo Feng’s slaves flew high with a small device and scanned the horizon. After a survey, the slave landed and pointed, "Master, Lord Jiang Chen, over ten thousand kilometers in that direction is a vast mountain range, likely the ‘Lonso Mountains’ on the map."

Jiang Chen pictured the Thunder World map in his mind. Lonso Mountains and Death Desert were adjacent, and within the mountains lived the target they needed to hunt: the Monoceros Iron Rhino.

Slaying one and obtaining its horn was one of their assessment requirements. Jiang Chen’s real interest lay in the "inner world," not the assessment itself, but the Lonso Mountains were on the way to Wind Thunder Canyon, the inner world’s location. He didn’t mind hunting a few beasts along the way.

"According to the data, the Lonso Mountains are swarming with beasts—most at the stellar level. We can handle them one-on-one, but a pack would be dangerous," Hong said. "We should proceed cautiously."

Hong, Thunder God, and Luo Feng were all first- or second-level stellar rank. Even with domains, they couldn’t face too many stellar-level foes at once. Since this was their first real cosmic trial, caution was wise.

Jiang Chen simply ordered, "Stick to the agreed formation. Let’s move out for the Lonso Mountains. Apart from the environment, the Death Desert poses little threat, so we can move quickly."

The Death Desert was one of Thunder World’s deadliest regions, but its danger came from the environment, not from beasts. If caught in a "death sandstorm," even an eighth- or ninth-level stellar powerhouse would be at risk. On normal days, though, there was little danger.

The Lonso Mountains, however, teemed with monsters—"demonic beasts" in cosmic parlance.

The group set out for the mountains. The immense gravity slowed their flight considerably—much slower than on an ordinary planet. Still, compared to other teams in dangerous regions like the Lonso Mountains, their "slow" pace was actually astonishingly fast. In those monster-infested areas, no one dared fly openly for fear of attracting a beast horde. Only in a beastless desert could one travel so brazenly.

They were lucky—traveling from the Death Desert into the Lonso Mountains, they encountered no legendary "death sandstorm" and entered the mountains smoothly.

"Luo Feng, you’re in charge of detection," Jiang Chen said.

The detector in Luo Feng’s hand, salvaged from the Meteorite Star ship, was extraordinarily powerful. In Thunder World, there was nothing more advanced—no one could evade Luo Feng’s surveillance.

(The chapter ends.)

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