Chapter 637 362: Zexing 3

"Females in the Bag Race hold a high status. They have two uteruses and can alternate pregnancies, giving birth to a litter every six months on average. A single litter has at least forty to fifty Bag Race young.

"Their Nursing Bags possess a Spatial Attribute. They don't look large, but the space inside can hold over a hundred of their young. The internal environment is perfect for their survival. Combined with their rapid growth—reaching sexual maturity in just three years—the survival rate for their young is very high, with very few dying prematurely.

"And so, the Bag Race became the most populous of the Intelligent Races in the Cosmic Starry Sky. Their home world's resources were exhausted countless years ago, unable to sustain their rapidly ballooning population. Today, the Bag Race has no home world. They are nomadic, scattering and breeding everywhere, leaving their footprints across the entire universe.

"Just a hundred or so Bag Race members can occupy a habitable planet and develop into a massive colony in just a few years. They breed nonstop. As soon as their young reach adulthood, they're sent out to cheat, swindle, and steal. It doesn't matter if they die out there; after all, they have plenty more where they came from.

"Those who manage to survive and mature join the powerful experts of their race to become Star Pirates. You could say that being a Star Pirate is the most prestigious career for the Bag Race."

Su Ze was left speechless after hearing the Pope's description of the Bag Race. He could only marvel at how vast and full of wonders the universe truly was.

'Sounds like the Bag Race is a cancer on the universe.'

"With such a massive population, the Bag Race must have some top-tier experts, right?" he asked curiously.

The Pope nodded. "The Bag Race as a whole does have one or two Ancestral God-level experts, but they aren't concentrated in one place. No one knows where they're hiding. As a result, a typical Bag Race nest won't have too many powerful individuals. One or two Moon Gods would be the absolute most you'd find.

"Besides, their Moon God experts are always out raiding for resources. Master, you could easily take advantage of their absence to pillage a Bag Race nest. The Bag Race are cowards. They'll obediently hand over their valuables. And because there are so many of them, even if each one only contributes a small amount, the total resources will be substantial.

"If you can handle a Bag Race Moon God, that would be even better. Each of their Moon Gods is a local tyrant, and they've undoubtedly amassed countless resources extorted from their own people."

'This might actually be a viable plan,' Su Ze thought after hearing the Pope's explanation.

'I could wait for their Moon God to be away, rush into their nest, loot the place, and get out. With the Magic Cube, they wouldn't be able to touch me even if the Moon God returned.'

He filed the idea away, deciding to revisit it when the opportunity arose. For now, he had the Magic Cube save the coordinates of their current location.

He wouldn't think about it for the time being. The priority was to reach Zexing safely.

He checked the ship's navigation. They were still four or five days away from Zexing.

Su Ze spent the next few days doing nothing but studying with the Pope, learning the basics of the universe: common resources, widely spoken languages, and frequently encountered races.

Liou Wenxin studied alongside him, often complaining that he was learning too slowly and holding her back.

Of course, he was only "slow" compared to Liou Wenxin. As a Star God, Su Ze's memory far surpassed the limits of an ordinary person; he had a truly photographic memory.

Su Ze had actually learned some of these basics from King Mu before, but it was clear that the Pope knew far more and was a much better teacher.

'The difference between an underachiever and a star pupil was obvious at a glance.'

Speaking of King Mu, Su Ze realized that since the Pope had arrived, King Mu seemed to have become useless.

The Pope was far more useful than King Mu, who no longer seemed to have any purpose.

So, he hadn't bothered with King Mu in a long time, simply leaving him to his fate in the Soul Nourishing Jade Stone. If the Nian Race's Sun God Consciousness inside the stone were to awaken and devour King Mu's consciousness, well, then Su Ze could have a nice long chat with that Sun God.

'A Sun God expert would certainly know more than King Mu. He might even know secrets that the Pope isn't privy to. His value would definitely be greater.'

As for the promise he'd made to let King Mu act as his personal mentor spirit, Su Ze had long since forgotten it.

He felt no pity for King Mu. He would never forget that King Mu had almost stolen his body.

After studying the various common languages with the Pope, Su Ze discovered that they were simply the languages of the universe's few Dominator Races, such as the tongues of the Witch Race, the Holy Race, the Spirit Race, and the Pan Race...

And only the currencies issued by these major Dominator Races were accepted as universal currency.

'It really is the same everywhere,' he mused. 'Might makes right.'

After they had finished learning all the basics, both Su Ze and Liou Wenxin began to ask the Pope about the principles of evolution.

Liou Wenxin had an insatiable thirst for knowledge about cosmic evolution. She had started pestering the Pope with questions on the subject back when Su Ze was in seclusion.

Su Ze, on the other hand, was mainly asking about the specific uses and value of the Shadow Ore.

He had excavated a large chunk of Shadow Ore from the Shadow Abyss and suspected it was at least a seventh-tier resource.

The Pope's words confirmed his suspicion. "That's called a Shadow Stone. It's a seventh-tier mineral. It can be used to create storage items, but that's a bit of a waste. In the wider universe, it's typically used to forge Shadow Element and Dark Element Divine Artifacts."

The "Divine Artifacts" the Pope mentioned were actually what he knew as wondrous items. In the universe, any wondrous item of the seventh tier or higher was referred to as a Divine Artifact.

Furthermore, in the universe, Divine Artifacts weren't all naturally formed; the various races had long since mastered methods for crafting them.

This Shadow Stone could serve as the primary material for a seventh-tier Divine Artifact.

The Pope added, "A single, whole piece of Shadow Stone this large is very rare. If you cut it open, you might find that an eighth-tier mineral, Shadow Jade, has formed at its core. That would be an exceptionally precious eighth-tier material."

Su Ze's eyes lit up. Just as he was about to cut open the Shadow Stone to investigate, the Magic Cube transmitted a message: they were about to reach their destination!

The Magic Cube began to decelerate, and through the viewport, Su Ze saw a massive, blue-and-white planet.

It was his planet: Zexing!