Chapter 618 - 528: Heartstealer Colony: Non-Standard Access

Chapter 618: Chapter 528: Heartstealer Colony: Non-Standard Access

The first thing Roland took from the leather pouch was a dark purple Short Spike, about half a foot long.

Under the dim starlight, the Short Spike revealed a peculiar texture.

It was a deep, dark purple, almost black, yet at certain angles, it shimmered faintly with a metallic luster.

Its surface wasn’t smooth. It was naturally covered in fine, regular spiral patterns, resembling the carapace of some Deep Sea creature or a strange, masterfully forged metal.

The tip was exceptionally sharp, a glint of cold light gathered there, unblinking.

Even when motionless, he could feel a faint tingling caused by the weak arcs of Spiritual Energy that danced across its surface.

It was cool to the touch and slightly lighter than an equal volume of Fine Iron, yet it was exceptionally tough; pressing down hard with the pad of his finger didn’t cause the slightest deformation.

He laid the Short Spike flat in his palm, closed his eyes, and focused. His [Material Synesthesia] ability activated silently.

His Perception flowed like an invisible stream, slowly seeping into the strange material.

The information that came back was complex and unique.

The first thing he sensed was a highly concentrated biomass with the unique Spiritual Energy Traits of the Heartstealer Race.

It wasn’t pure metal, nor simple keratin. Instead, it was a natural product formed from the bones or specialized organs of a Heartstealer, which had become highly mutated and hardened through long evolution and immersion in Spiritual Energy.

Its structure was incredibly dense, with an internal microscopic arrangement similar to a Crystal matrix, which gave it astonishing hardness and resilience.

More importantly, there was its Energy conductivity.

Those natural spiral patterns weren’t decorative; they were near-perfect, low-loss channels for Energy.

Physical Fighting Spirit, Elemental Magic Power, or even more specialized energies like Spiritual Energy and Sacred Power could all be conducted and focused through these patterns with extreme efficiency, then released at the tip or any other designated point.

Its effectiveness at conducting magic, while not matching Mithril’s "superconductive" affinity for the Wind Element, far surpassed common materials like refined gold and Cold Iron. It was even superior to many special alloys enhanced with Enchantment.

’Excellent raw material.’

Roland opened his eyes, his pupils shining slightly in the darkness.

This Short Spike would require almost no extra work.

Its shape was already perfect for stabbing and parrying, and the spiral pattern offered an excellent grip.

With a bit of polishing, a sharpened edge, and perhaps a simple hilt and some basic Enchantments for sharpness and durability, it would become an outstanding main-hand or off-hand short weapon.

It still couldn’t compare to "Bright Moon," of course.

When facing Energy Shocks of extreme attributes or impacts of overwhelming force, it would still risk structural damage or even shattering, especially if he were to use his full Power.

However, compared to the enchanted Dagger Holland had hand-picked from the black market, this Heartstealer Short Spike was undoubtedly several tiers better.

In terms of basic performance, potential, and rarity, the two weren’t even in the same league.

For now, until he could retrieve "Bright Moon" or find a better replacement, this was probably the most suitable weapon prototype he could hope to find.

As he thought this, Roland’s fingers unconsciously traced the cool spiral grooves of the Short Spike. A preliminary plan was already forming in his mind.

He turned to Holland, who was busy organizing his pack, and spoke.

"Holland, can we find a decent blacksmith’s workshop in Gray Rock City? I don’t mean the kind that just patches up armor."

Holland didn’t even look up, his hands never stopping, but his tone conveyed a deep familiarity with the city.

"Gray Rock City? Plenty of smithies there! Everything from street stalls that mend chipped blades for Adventurers to high-end workshops that can forge regulation gear for a noble’s Guard Team and even take on small Enchantment jobs."

"As long as your Golden Crowns jingle loud enough, finding a place with a furnace, an anvil, and a full set of tools won’t be difficult."

"That’s good."

Roland nodded, his mind made up.

’Once we get to Gray Rock City, I’ll find a suitable workshop. I can pay a fee to borrow their tools and equipment, then work on this Heartstealer Short Spike myself—polish it, give it an edge, and figure out how to attach a sturdy, durable hilt.’

’I might even be able to use [Elemental Imprint] to apply a few basic Runes for durability and sharpness.’

’That way, this high-quality raw material can be quickly transformed into a serviceable temporary weapon, enough to handle most of the conventional fights we might face in the Broken Star Sea.’

With this plan in mind, he carefully placed the Short Spike back into a specially partitioned section of the leather pouch.

Next, he took out the deep blue Spiritual Energy Crystal.

The Crystal looked even more profound under the faint starlight. Inside, a substance like a liquid mist of light flowed slowly, emitting a constant, pure wave of Spiritual Energy.

Roland cradled it in his palm, examining it closely. He even closed his eyes and activated his [Material Synesthesia] again for a deeper probe.

A moment later, he opened his eyes. The conclusion was no different from his initial judgment.

This was indeed a highly concentrated, extremely pure Spiritual Energy Crystal.

Its properties were somewhat similar to a Blood Crystal. Both were products of highly condensed biological Energy, but since they came from different masters, the Energy’s attributes and "flavor" were completely different.

The Blood Crystal contained vigorous, life-giving Blood Qi and the essence of some kind of frenzied Power, whereas this Spiritual Energy Crystal was filled with cold, orderly Traits geared toward Spirit and Perception.

Toying with the cool, heavy Crystal, Roland fell into a brief contemplation.

This thing was undoubtedly valuable. Whether as an Energy source for certain High Tier Arrays or Magic Items, used in experiments involving strengthening the Spirit or researching Spiritual Energy, or even as a consumable for specific rituals, it was extremely precious.

’But as for how to use it, with my current shallow understanding of the Spiritual Energy system and my lack of resources, I really can’t think of the most suitable or urgent use for it right now.’

’I can’t use it for now, but I absolutely can’t get rid of it rashly.’

He came to a decision.

Letting such a rare Energy source, one that might even bear the mark of a Heartstealer, flow into the market... heaven knows what kind of trouble that would attract.

Perhaps when Ellis recovers his strength, I can ask for his opinion as an academy-trained Mage.

And so, he carefully put away the Spiritual Energy Crystal as well.

His gaze finally fell to the bottom of the pouch, upon a strange, thin slice that seemed to float above the faint pinpricks of light, as if existing independently of the space around it.

An Obsidian Thin Slice, merely the size of a thumbnail, with naturally fractured edges.

Observed at such close range, the nebula-like silver halo flowing within it appeared all the more vivid and mysterious.

It wasn’t static; it rotated and shifted at an extremely slow, almost imperceptible speed, as if it contained a miniature, frozen universe.

The slice itself leaked no Energy. It was cool to the touch and incredibly hard. But what was truly unsettling was the subtle aura it emanated—a sense of vast information and cold Order that seemed to transcend individual comprehension.

Roland gently pinched it between his fingertips and held it up to his eyes.

Under the Perception of his [Material Synesthesia], the feedback was unusually vague, even carrying a sort of...

Rejection.

It wasn’t matter in the conventional sense, but more of a highly ordered, almost crystalline "information structure" or "Energy imprint." Its physical form was more like a "vehicle" or "shell" for this internal structure.

The nebulous halo within was not decorative. It was an extremely complex, self-circulating, dynamic stream of information that seemed to be calculating some cold, unfeeling law.

This information stream was encoded and compressed in a way Roland had never encountered before, its density and complexity far exceeding ordinary Magic Runes or Spiritual Marks.

As he was concentrating his Perception, Roland suddenly noticed an extremely subtle change in the Obsidian Thin Slice between his fingers.

The slowly rotating, nebula-like silver halo within it, as if disturbed by an unseen force, abruptly sped up. At the same time, it began to flash rhythmically, emitting a faint, almost imperceptible, pulsing light.

Before he could react, a strange suction emanated from the center of the slice.

It wasn’t a pull on his physical body, his stamina, or his ordinary Spiritual Power. It was something far more subtle, more fundamental. It directly resonated with and tugged at the budding Spiritual Energy talent deep within his soul, a talent born from his [Spiritual Master] Profession!

The pull was weak at first, but the moment it made contact with his own Spiritual Energy fluctuations, it intensified, becoming like a suddenly formed micro-vortex!

He instinctively tried to sever the connection and withdraw his Perception, but the slice seemed to have already "locked on" to the specific frequency of his Spiritual Energy.

Contact was made in an instant.

And in the instant his own Spiritual Energy made contact with the cold, orderly, vast stream of information within the slice...

No explosion, no impact.

There was only a boundless, dark Void that suddenly unfurled before his eyes.

And within this Void of conscious Perception, lines of golden text began to appear.

[Compatible Spiritual Energy fluctuation detected...]

[Link protocol verification in progress... Verification passed]

[Access Privilege: Temporary Visitor (Unregistered)]

[Warning: Non-standard access port]

[Spiritual Energy signature does not match registered user database]

[Initiating minimum security level protection protocol... Link established]

[Welcome to the ’Seventh Exploration Fleet—Secondary Tactical Information Network—Fringe Relay Node’]

[Current Channel: Public Information Stream (Low-Density)]

[Language encoding auto-adapting... Adaptation complete.]

As the last line of text materialized and then faded, the boundless dark Void did not disappear, but its "texture" abruptly changed.

It was no longer a Void, but had seemingly transformed into a vast, cold sea of consciousness composed of countless fine points of light and streams of data.

Fragments of information, incomprehensible yet directly translated into perceivable "concepts" by the Spiritual Energy link, flitted past the edges of his expanded Perception like schools of bioluminescent fish in the Deep Sea, weaving together and re-forming.

He "heard" the cold, efficient Echoes of Spiritual Energy communications. He "saw" fragments of star charts presented as abstract symbols and dynamic diagrams, biological scan data, resource reports...

He even caught a few faint, brief conceptual pulses regarding "Shell Ship retrieval," "pilot search priority elevated," and "unknown high-threat target detected."

All of this was shrouded in the background "hum" of a vast, hyper-orderly, yet non-personified collective consciousness. It was as if an immense, cold intellect resided at the center of this sea of information, silently reigning, calculating, and dominating all.

A tremor shot through Roland’s mind.

He instantly understood where he was and what the thin slice in his hand truly was.

’This is no ordinary ’information vehicle.’’

’It’s a ’key.’’

’An access token. One that grants temporary entry into the Heartstealers’ vast collective consciousness network, the one with the Main Brain at its core.’

’And I, as an ’unregistered visitor,’ have just stepped onto the fringe of this forbidden ’conscious domain’ that belongs to the Heartstealer Race.’