Six days passed in the blink of an eye.
The Luotong ship landed on an abandoned planet, and everyone disembarked from the cabin wearing spacesuits.
The planet before them was scarred, filled with collapsed mine pits and traces of meteorite impacts.
Several spore-class spacecraft flew out from the Luotong's docking bay, like bees swarming out to search the surroundings for Tangshi.
"Your Highness, will there really be Tangshi in a place like this?"
Wang Xuance pointed at the surrounding mine pits, his face etched with worry.
They were closer to the Trisolarans' home planet now, and could be ambushed at any moment.
If there really was Tangshi here, it would be worth the risk, but if not, it would be too costly.
Fang Er looked at him mockingly, "Isn't this the confession you personally extracted?"
Wang Xuance scratched his head, "Your subordinate just can't figure out why the Trisolarans, with their technology far exceeding ours, would discard such precious mineral resources like trash here."
"That's quite normal," Fang Er replied with a smile. "Every civilization has its own direction of development."
"Let me give you a most intuitive example."
"Look at China and Western countries in the main world. Although Western countries have a slight edge in technology, they are still like babbling infants when it comes to traditional Chinese medicine!"
"Even hundreds of years ago, they treated TCM as a joke!"
"But as for themselves, back then they only knew about bloodletting as a cure!"
"It can only be said that this is a difference in perception!"
"And another thing, if it weren't for the altar left by planet Atali in the 'Spark' world, we wouldn't have known the significant role of Tangshi."
Wang Xuance nodded thoughtfully. Just as he was about to withdraw, Fang Er called him back.
"Your brainwave intensity isn't bad. Have you made any progress these past few days?"
Hearing him ask about this, Wang Xuance immediately became excited.
"Your Highness, look!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he clenched his right fist and smashed it fiercely into a nearby rock.
"Bang!"
The rock shattered instantly!
Fang Er's eyes widened in shock!
Damn it!
These rocks, although refined by the Trisolarans, were no less hard than granite!
And he just smashed them?
"Your subordinate accidentally discovered that brainwaves can not only influence the external world but also the human body itself!"
"For example, stimulating cell division and increasing cell strength."
Fang Er stared at Wang Xuance with gleaming eyes for a long time, wondering how he never knew this guy had such talent before.
"Excellent, excellent! Teach this prince properly after we're done with the Tangshi matter!"
Confucius said, "When three people walk together, one of them must be my teacher!"
Not being ashamed to ask what one doesn't know is a virtue!
Cough cough!
This prince just wants to know how to become One-Punch Man, not to enhance a specific organ...
Wang Xuance was overjoyed by Fang Er's praise.
Then, he recounted the situations of the other members of the Skyfire Army.
Ge Luoyang, who was missing half a hand, awakened fire. Xue Rengui awakened water. As for Zhuzi and Ma Chao, they awakened earth manipulation abilities.
Most of the brothers below had also awakened different special abilities. It could be said that the combat power of the Skyfire Army had multiplied several times!
Fang Er was extremely satisfied with this. The stronger his subordinates, the more confident he was in this mission!
"Boom!"
A violent explosion echoed from afar, shaking the ground beneath their feet.
Turning their heads, they saw Xi Tong detonating several Tomahawks over there.
Such a huge commotion surely meant something had been discovered.
When Fang Er arrived, he saw countless shimmering Tangshi lying in the original mine pit.
Wang Xuance took one look and immediately used the communicator to call for help.
While Xi Tong could directly absorb gold and silver mines and convert them into points, Tangshi could not. It could only be mined manually, and the system's warehouse space was limited, preventing the entire planet from being stored.
This was the fundamental reason why Fang Er could only destroy the planet back on planet Chiyan, even though he knew countless Tangshi were still hidden within it.
Construction vehicles were deployed one after another, and the area quickly turned into a bustling mining site.
Large quantities of Tangshi were separated from the slag, and then collected by Fang Er into his spatial warehouse. These could no longer be measured in chunks but were quantified in tons.
The mining process proceeded smoothly, and Tangshi was discovered in other locations as well.
However, good times didn't last long. Just as Fang Er was immersed in the joy of a bountiful harvest, the Luotong issued a warning.
"Dear Big Stick, an unknown fleet has been detected approaching at high speed, estimated to arrive at this planet within three hours!"
Fang Er's forehead immediately creased with several dark lines. There was no doubt that this was taught by Xi Tong again!
But there was no time to dwell on that now. Three hours wasn't even enough time to evacuate.
"You stay here and continue collecting Tangshi. I'll go meet the newcomers!"
After instructing Xi Tong, Fang Er took Wang Xuance and piloted an Eternal Storm towards the direction of the unknown fleet.
Wei Zhien Tian and Jin Wutu An were responsible for guarding the Luotong, ready to provide support at any time.
The speed of the Eternal Storm-class warship was limited. After less than half an hour of travel, the fleet's trace appeared on the radar.
The next moment, a voice transmission came through the communicator.
"Warship ahead, stop immediately and submit to inspection!"
Fang Er cooperatively stopped the ship, and even donned a spacesuit with Wang Xuance and waited by the hatch.
The enemy fleet consisted of three World Destroyer-class warships, accompanied by fifteen Invincible-class warships. As for the Fearless-class and Warrior-class ships, they were so numerous it was impossible to count how many.
Under normal circumstances, during a fleet's voyage, the lower-class warships would be docked within the higher-class warships to save energy and reduce their target profile.
Only when facing an enemy and preparing for battle would all warships be deployed in formation.
The situation before them meant that the enemy could launch an attack at any moment.
"Click!"
A Warrior-class spacecraft from the enemy side approached, and several humanoid beings in spacesuits disembarked.
It was indeed Trisolarans!
Their height of 1.2 meters and claws with only three digits were their most distinctive features!