Chapter Thirty: Light at the Core of the Earth!

Eight corpses tumbled to the ground as Jiang Taichu, carrying a man with one hand, soared high into the sky.

Tang Yu and the others immediately moved to meet him, taking the man from his grasp.

“This one is different from the others,” Jiang Taichu said. “He impersonated the rescue team—he clearly knew what he was doing.”

“Who put you up to this?” Lu Huaiyuan asked coldly.

The man remained silent, giving no response.

The aging “Mountain Patrol” mech began to emit a faint glow. Lu Huaiyuan smashed his fist against the mech, and the nascent light instantly dimmed.

“So, you even have the nerve to try suicide? I know more about the Mountain Patrol mechs than you ever will,” Lu Huaiyuan said icily. “Even if you die, you can’t hide your identity. The Justice Bureau’s bloodline identification will track your relatives in the very first instant.”

At these words, the man’s body trembled slightly, but he still kept silent.

“Should we try a harsher approach?” Lu Huaiyuan hesitated, his expression troubled.

None of them were trained in interrogation; they were just regular employees.

“Take him with us for now,” Jiang Taichu said. “Strip the mechs off the bodies below, then head toward the Star Hall.”

The four nodded in agreement. Once all eight corpses were retrieved—spared from attacks by earth beasts due to the scent of spices—they removed the mechs and set off toward the Star Hall.

They flew high, skirting around the towering peaks they encountered along the way.

Now the mountain tops were overrun with earth beasts, and some summits rose to heights exceeding six thousand meters.

None of them wished to provoke a massacre against the earth beasts—not even Jiang Taichu, who saw no profit in it.

In the blink of an eye, the five vanished into the boundless night.

Half an hour later, a cry for help echoed from a nearby mountain.

“Mountain Patrol 71 is damaged, requesting backup, requesting backup!”

It was an urgent plea. On the mountain, earth beasts ran rampant. A mech was besieged, a peculiar energy suppressing its functions.

“I’ll go check it out,” Jiang Taichu said, grabbing a cleaver and a semi-automatic rifle as he flew toward the peak.

Within the mountain, thick lines of earth veins reflected in his vision—the thinnest more than ten meters wide.

He had never seen earth veins this thick.

At the crossing of two veins, a cluster of golden light blazed, dazzling to the eye.

It was not a gemstone, but pure radiance.

The moment he entered the mountain, a unique force enveloped him. Jiang Taichu gazed at the golden light, a slight tremor running through him.

“Warning! Warning! Mountain Patrol mech interference detected! Evacuate immediately! Evacuate immediately!”

His spirit-sonar malfunctioned, the mech’s energy ran sluggishly, as if mired in quicksand.

A shrill alarm blared as earth beasts charged at him from all sides.

The rifle spat bullets, but their trajectory veered off and their speed slowed—there was interference.

An earth beast lunged, jaws agape, snapping at Jiang Taichu.

His cleaver flashed with blade energy as he leapt, slashing and tearing through the beast.

Ochre blood flowed as the massive body crumpled.

“Only the mech’s energy is affected—about a twenty percent reduction. My own strength and the cleaver are unaffected,” Jiang Taichu mused, dispatching another earth beast with a single stroke.

One after another, the beasts fell in pools of blood as he pressed forward rapidly.

Even without the mech, his own power was enough to sweep these beasts aside.

Treading over their corpses, he weaved through the horde and, in moments, was within a hundred meters of the embattled mech.

Over a dozen earth beasts beset it, biting into the metal. Had the pilot not pushed the mech’s energy reserves to the limit, he would have been torn apart long ago.

Jiang Taichu soared in and struck with his blade. A beast turning to face him collided with the cleaver and was split instantly.

“Thank you, thank you…” the pilot of 71 called out, his voice trembling with excitement.

“Get ready, adjust your mech’s energy—don’t rush out blindly,” Jiang Taichu replied, hacking at another beast.

Sensing danger, most of the earth beasts abandoned 71 and lunged at Jiang Taichu.

Only three remained, but 71 ignored his advice, surging his mech’s energy to the maximum and shooting away in a streak of light.

“I’ll repay you when I get out!”

The words echoed through the comm channel. Jiang Taichu frowned, feeling as though he’d rescued a dog.

He didn’t linger with the beasts, instead burrowing into the earth.

Since the pilot had left, this treasure was now his to claim.

He followed the path of the earth veins; the deeper he went, the stronger the interference.

Strangely, not a single earth beast seemed interested in this treasure.

Three minutes later, only a hundred meters from the golden light, his mech’s energy was suppressed to one percent—barely enough for oxygen and water, all other systems failing.

Wedged inside the mountain, he relied on his cleaver and fists to hew his way forward.

Not rushing, he first retreated; the energy began to recover.

Once it reached ten percent, he unleashed the mech’s power, blasting open space to either side.

Then he struck downward, carving out a tunnel to the one-percent energy zone, where any energy input was instantly dissipated.

By opening up the passageway and chamber, he could dig quickly with both hands, as his own strength—equivalent to twenty-eight percent of the mech’s power—remained unaffected.

Even with its energy depleted, the mech’s materials held firm—digging through earth was no problem.

A few minutes later, he saw a fist-sized cluster of golden light, exuding an ancient, weighty aura. Its pure energy made every pore in his body tingle with delight.

“Could this be the Heart of the Earth?”

Jiang Taichu’s heart pounded wildly at the thought of such a treasure.

Every star has a core, and from that core the purest energy is born—what is known as the Heart of the Earth.

Even on the lowest, most barren stars, the Heart of the Earth is a treasure beyond compare.

It is the finest energy source for building top-tier warships and the best supplement for enhancing the human body and cultivation.

“The Heart of the Earth is usually deep underground, following the flow of earth veins. Did I just stumble upon it by sheer luck?” Jiang Taichu frowned. “Or perhaps it was brought here by the earth beasts. Their sudden appearance has already disrupted this star’s veins, causing the Heart of the Earth to move against its natural order.”

He activated his locator—not out of greed, but because he couldn’t possibly absorb it himself.

The energy contained in a fist-sized Heart of the Earth could power his mech for thousands of years without pause.

If he reached out, the sheer force would likely obliterate him.

He turned on the locator; a particle beam shot out as he began to climb upward.

The Heart of the Earth rippled gently upon contact with the beam.

Suddenly, the ground shook, earth and stones collapsing—the tunnel he’d dug began to cave in.

Climbing up a hundred meters, Jiang Taichu was swept up by a surge of energy, flung into the air.

“Just a particle beam caused such a huge reaction?”

He slammed into the soil, wedged tight as a terrifying force surged into his body.

“Particle Gathering Array, absorb the Heart of the Earth; Particle Release Array, unleash mech energy; activate burrowing mode; particle propulsion…”

His vision darkened as he issued urgent commands.

The earth veins around him lit up one by one.

His mech’s energy spiked dramatically.

“Beep, charging complete.”

“Beep, energy overload, energy overload…”

“Beep, Particle Gathering Array damaged, Particle Release Array activating…”

With a thunderous boom, the mech shot through the ground, soaring into the sky.