Chapter Three: Guns and Cannons
Desolate Star of the Earth.
Jiang Taichu piloted his mech, flying low over the barren ground, radar constantly sweeping the surroundings and transmitting the nearby images straight into his mind.
The images from his reconnaissance were also uploaded to the Earth Company, stored for future use.
There was no slacking off on this job—everything was recorded.
The particle thrusters unleashed a gust of wind that swept stones across the ground, whipping up clouds of sand and debris.
By noon, Jiang Taichu and his two companions had found nothing. They arrived at a nearby rest point.
A row of steel buildings stretched together, fragrant with the scent of food wafting from within.
Golden light bathed them from head to toe—this was the sterilization process.
In the world of cultivation, of course, it meant dealing with dust-born lifeforms.
Each star harbored its own unique micro-life—creatures invisible to the naked eye, yet highly dangerous to humans and needing thorough cleansing.
When the light faded, the three entered the building, where two or three dozen employees were already eating.
A thought, and the mech suits folded away into their bodies.
They collected their food, grabbed bottles of water, and found places to sit.
"Not bad today, plenty of beef," Tang Yu grinned.
The Earth Company’s food was always good—one of the reasons they'd chosen to work here.
"Are you three just out of school?" asked a dark-skinned man, swallowing his mouthful before greeting them.
"That's right," Jiang Taichu replied. "How should we call you, uncle?"
"Tao Zhong," the man said. "Anything unusual in your area?"
"Not a thing," Zhang Jing muttered. "On Earth Star 10, other than ground beasts, there’s nothing left to find."
"You young ones have guts," a young man laughed. "This is a star that's been worked over for centuries—anything worth finding has already been found. If you want new resources, you need luck."
Jiang Taichu nodded. "And you, brother? What’s your name? Finding new resources isn’t easy."
A memory surfaced in his mind: a star, until its energy was fully exhausted, would continue to nurture treasures.
After a star had been stripped, it might take decades, centuries, or even millennia to produce new resources.
"I'm Lu Fang. But you never know—two months ago, before you arrived, Earth Star 6, a thousand-year-old star, yielded a piece of Gengjin ore. That was worth two months' wages."
Lu Fang smiled. "On these resource-poor old stars, it all comes down to luck. Even the most ordinary treasure is enough to cover a month’s pay if you get the commission."
"Guess luck isn’t on our side," Tang Yu shrugged. "I used all mine up on the college entrance exams."
Jiang Taichu chuckled. "It’s all about luck, indeed. Here’s wishing everyone good fortune and a lucky find."
The group exchanged well wishes, each secretly nurturing a sliver of hope.
Soon, after finishing their meal, everyone retired to rest.
There were plenty of rooms here, each with a bed, the designated resting place. Work resumed at two in the afternoon.
Jiang Taichu sat cross-legged on his bed, circulating the vital energy within his body.
The human body contained 129,600 hidden meridians; with external cultivation pushed to the limit, one could open forty percent of these.
The rest lay deep within, requiring the nourishment of the organs to unlock—this was internal cultivation.
His essence moistened his organs, steadily opening hidden meridians.
A gentle aura filled the room, and a faint, illusory Taiji diagram hovered above him, aiding his practice.
His vital energy circulated twice as fast as before.
An hour later, his essence had increased by one-thousandth. Jiang Taichu ended his meditation: 15.8% internal cultivation, an increase of 0.1%!
That was a decent improvement. In the past, days of training yielded no progress; now, at twice the speed, the growth was obvious.
When the time came, he donned his mech and returned to work.
Radar scanning made the job easy, if a bit monotonous.
He and his companions chatted over the comms channel, making the day less tedious.
After a full day’s work, they stopped at the nearby rest point.
There were many such stations across the Earth Star, enough to house five thousand people at once, though only a little over two hundred explorers were assigned to this area.
Radar made exploration much more efficient.
They finished dinner and returned to their rooms.
Jiang Taichu didn’t sleep right away. Instead, he summoned his mech for training.
Every company on Blue Star provided virtual cultivation functions, accessible only to employees.
After all, resource collection could be dangerous, and the weapons and cannons they carried were not just for show.
He focused on the twin guns in his hands.
A semi-automatic rifle and a semi-automatic sniper rifle, loaded with metallic-earth spiritual energy rounds and armor-piercing bullets.
With gun sense active, the structure of both weapons appeared in his mind: the body, the barrel, the magazine, the bullets…
Gripping the guns felt as natural as moving his own arms.
The semi-automatic rifle used regular spiritual energy rounds—metallic-earth particles fused for maximum hardness and sharpness, enough to pierce mech armor.
Range: five kilometers, but lacking in armor penetration.
The semi-automatic sniper rifle loaded armor-piercing rounds—sharper still, able to punch through mechs within five kilometers; beyond that, the bullets lost power and accuracy.
On his shoulder was an energy cannon, with a barrel made of composite metallic-earth material, the shells packed with compressed metallic-earth spiritual particles. Not only could it pierce armor, but its destructive force was terrifying—within five meters, even a first-level Qi refiner would be dead for sure.
The particle cannon fired no shells; it condensed ambient metallic-earth spiritual energy into a shell—an energy weapon.
Armor penetration was lower, but the explosive force was not to be underestimated.
Both types of energy cannon had an effective range of ten kilometers; beyond that, it depended on luck.
A strange sensation welled up in him: the feeling that, as long as he pulled the trigger, he could hit any target.
"Earth, initiate virtual training," Jiang Taichu commanded.
He lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.
"Training begins." The cold voice rang out—it was the Earth formation spirit, an array created by the Earth Company through Heavenly Works.
A gentle light enveloped him, linking with his consciousness.
A virtual space unfolded: stationary targets, moving targets, and other cultivators in mechs, all on par with his own strength.
Jiang Taichu, clad in his mech, squeezed both triggers at once.
Bang!
The bullet tore through the air. Jiang Taichu sensed something odd—the bullet’s speed seemed to slow, only to suddenly accelerate twenty meters away.
Next came the moving targets; again, within twenty meters, the bullets slowed.
All were bullseyes!
That uncanny feeling was real—wherever he aimed, he hit.
On a whim, he fired at himself.
The bullet drifted in slow motion, giving him time to reach out and try to catch it, then—
Bang.
His head exploded.
His consciousness reformed. Jiang Taichu understood—while the bullet appeared slow to his senses, his body’s reaction wasn’t quick enough to dodge it.
Still, just because he couldn’t dodge at close range didn’t mean he couldn’t within twenty meters.
He stopped firing and let the opposing mech shoot at him.
Bang!
The bullet shot through the air, crossing the twenty-meter threshold, then seemed to slow.
Jiang Taichu dodged instantly; the bullet brushed past just a foot away.
He'd evaded it!
Gun sense included the bullets themselves!
He kept testing: nineteen meters, eighteen meters…
Down to seven meters—he could no longer avoid it, only manage to shift enough to spare his vital points, taking the bullet through his torso.
Another bullet came. This time, he raised his gun and fired.
Clang!
Both bullets collided, his shot knocking the other bullet aside.
He intercepted a bullet!
By the end of the night, he’d improved another 0.2%.