Starting Cultivation in Wasteland

Chapter 984 - 850: Homeland

Because it’s his first time coming to the Prosperous Star Realm, Little Lake increased the active detection range.After all, the rules here are strict, and being extra cautious won’t hurt.

The space detector is more than 700,000 kilometers away, about the size of a cigarette box, with an anti-radiation matte coating.

In the pitch-black space, if it weren’t for the faint electromagnetic signals, even Little Lake wouldn’t be able to spot it.

Granny Jia glanced at the type of detector and furrowed her brow in puzzlement.

"There shouldn’t be any new exploration here; has something happened, or has it drifted over?"

Qu Jianlei spoke helplessly, "Should we destroy it, bypass it... or ignore it?"

Bypassing is the least likely option; carrying such a huge pile of wreckage, encountering a detector and bypassing it—how long would that take?

Granny Jia paused for a moment to ask, "Can we use electromagnetic wave attacks?"

Upon getting a positive confirmation, she nodded, "Then destroy it. There are so many cosmic storms."

Qu Jianlei paused again to confirm, "Will there be any investigation afterwards... I mean, should we expect any repercussions?"

He was truly annoyed by attracting trouble, and now sitting on this... that ominous ship.

This vessel indeed seemed ominous, as over the next two days, they discovered three more detectors.

Even Granny Jia couldn’t help but say, "Something is really happening here; perhaps we should circle around."

A couple of destroyed detectors would be trivial, but if they kept destroying them, further investigation might reveal their whereabouts.

After circling for another seven days, they finally arrived near a planet known as "Lost Star."

This star system is called Tianpeng, and Lost Star is the outermost planet, with temperatures averaging below minus 100 degrees year-round.

Granny Jia chose this place as a secret camp. They could store some supplies here for looming crises.

Of course, she probably guessed Little Lake’s existence but didn’t mention it outright, simply saying it could be a good hiding place.

In fact, by excavating a deep underground cave here, Little Lake’s clone could completely repair the starship.

Several starships, carrying huge piles of wreckage, gradually landed on Lost Star.

This planet has a diameter of over 20,000 kilometers. Despite its low density, its mass is substantial, with a sparse atmosphere.

In the starships, everyone could feel the roaring winds outside, likely reaching 17-18 levels.

In the wind, various solid objects not naturally generated could be seen everywhere.

Claire couldn’t help but mutter, "Is this also a Garbage Star?"

"It’s simpler to process waste this way," the Paranoid replied casually, then glanced at the huge starship wreckage behind.

Qu Jianlei felt a bit embarrassed by that glance, "It still needs repairs, even the Supreme needs to eat, drink, and bathe!"

The Paranoid helplessly spread his hands, "I didn’t say anything; why are you so insecure?"

"Let’s get to work," Qu Jianlei was too lazy to argue further and turned toward the cabin door.

In just three days, everyone excavated a tunnel more than fifty kilometers long and twenty kilometers deep.

This wasn’t only due to the effort of Awakened ones; several starships’ mechanical arms also participated.

Previously, Qu Jianlei didn’t use starships to build caves, not because the equipment was unprofessional, but mainly because he was worried about exposure.

On Lost Star, no such concerns existed; the violent atmosphere could perfectly conceal their activities.

Moreover, the wreckage was so massive that the tunnel had to be vast, making it impossible not to use starships.

They spent another three days constructing the hall, rooms, and various facilities.

Then everyone took a day of rest before boarding the Omen Ship and leaving again.

The next destination was one of the habitable planets in this star system, Homeland Star.

Homeland Star’s development history has exceeded a thousand years, with a slightly cold climate, primarily focusing on agriculture.

Within the Warhammer Star Realm, this planet is considered vast and sparsely populated; as the Imperial territory expands, the population gradually declines.

The expansion of the Imperial territory led to more arable land, making Homeland face enormous competition and increasingly unpopular.

Especially with the Imperial rotation and fallow requirements for Homeland Star, the atmosphere here grew dull day by day.

From the Imperial perspective, they have comprehensive considerations, at least counting as official land reserves and accountability to the populace.

But undeniably, due to the massive loss of population, the planet experienced severe hollowing.

After the Omen Ship sent a landing request, no one came to inspect, the huge Star Port was deserted, and the landing proceeded smoothly.

However, after landing, someone came aboard the starship for a thorough inspection.

Especially the identities of the ten people in their group, everyone was checked meticulously.

Primarily because they came from the Celestial Hook Star Realm, which isn’t considered prosperous, it felt somewhat like regional discrimination.

But after the inspection, the Fourth Master commented, "If we came from the Hope Star Realm, we might not even get out of the Star Port."

The Hope Star Realm is a typical Edge Star Realm where casual entry into the Imperial Inner Circle isn’t permitted without authorization.

As for relocating to the Inner Circle, that’s basically a dream—the residents of the Edge Star Realm are inherently marked with a "frontier guard" halo.

Granny Jia chose this place, indeed with some thoughtful intention; hollowed-out planets aren’t particularly resistant to outsiders’ entry.

If they were to switch to another habitable star within this star system, Paradise, it is feared that the identity from Celestial Hook Star Realm would be subject to even stricter scrutiny.

Here on Homeland Star, they didn’t even ask what their purpose was for coming here.

After leaving the Star Port, they found an inn to stay at, where the innkeeper enthusiastically asked all sorts of questions.

The feeling is like it’s been a long time since anyone visited, and the locals are quite curious about outsiders.

To find such a place within the Prosperous Star Realm, Qu Jianlei couldn’t help but marvel, indeed having an elder at home is like having a treasure.

The next day the group continued onward, renting a homestay which was very affordable.

Over the next two days, Granny Jia found a way and helped everyone create false identities.

She didn’t explain the source of this method, and the others didn’t ask, but the fake identities made here were more professional and also more expensive.

Qu Jianlei was absolutely willing to spend money on this, deciding that each person should have three fake identities.

Just this one project was going to cost several million.

And he didn’t forget to remind Granny Jia not to complete them all at once, but to do them in multiple batches.

Fourth Master, upon hearing this, couldn’t help but shake his head, "Our leader... is truly generous."

Next, using the fake identities, they leased over a hundred square kilometers of land.

This size sounds big, but it’s not really that large, ten by ten kilometers, that’s a hundred square kilometers.

The land is owned by the government, with rivers, small hills, and plains; it’s only rented, not for sale, and can be used for cultivation or livestock raising.

However, whether planting or breeding, there are government regulations to comply with.

The clauses are rather stringent, not to mention crop rotation and fallow periods, and there’s also a limit to the number of livestock, with quality and environmental requirements.

For ordinary people, at least two to three square kilometers of land must be rented to ensure a basic quality of life.

If they encounter years of poor market conditions, the standard of living can drop.

Moreover, leasing such a large plot of land involves high costs for machinery, equipment, and consumables.

An average person can’t come up with such a large sum of money and would have to take out a bank loan.

These factors make the land difficult to lease—if one really had money, who would want to play at farming?

Originally, Qu Jianlei considered renting just thirty to fifty square kilometers would be sufficient, but upon understanding the situation, he rented over a hundred square kilometers.

His team consisted of ten people; renting too little would not ensure the quality of life for his team.

Of course, he’s not worried about this small amount of daily expenses, but in the eyes of others, it seems a bit unreasonable.

So he decided to rent more, making the team look more like they are here to earn money.

After all, a larger area doesn’t hurt, and it’s perfect to hide the Qi Gathering Array and Spirit Gathering Array.

Even though the government has stringent requirements, it is nonetheless happy to see prosperity under its rule; although the qualification examination is stringent, the attitude is quite good.

The following matters need no elaboration; they found someone to build fences and houses.

Although the planet is significantly hollowed out, as long as the money is in place, there are always people willing to take jobs.

Along with that are the related production equipment, not much was procured by Qu Jianlei, not even enough for their own use.

However, apart from using them here, it’s not possible to take them elsewhere, no need to buy too much.

After all, even if these machines were running non-stop, they won’t delay too much work, you just need to repair them once in a while.

Aside from him, Bentley and Fourth Master have considerable repair skills.

Frankly, bought a bit more robots, these things can be used anywhere.

Besides that, he also used this as a pretext to procure a large quantity of industrial materials, to repair those Starships.

Many materials can’t be bought locally, but can be ordered online.

The Paradise Star within the same Star System is quite prosperous, making it convenient to ship materials from there.

His massive procurement even prompted the local government to inquire about what he was buying these things for.

If this doesn’t show strict management here, what else would warrant inquiry?

Qu Jianlei answered that he plans to assemble some machines to facilitate better farming.

However, those who came to investigate felt the amount he procured was still somewhat excessive.

But considering these people leased over a hundred square kilometers, the government did not pursue further.

After all, these are just industrial raw materials, not weapons, better to have fewer issues than more.

These matters being busy and completed, basically a month has passed.

Everyone finally stabilized again, and the Qi Gathering Array and Spirit Gathering Array were built underground, enabling normal cultivation.

However, Qu Jianlei is industrious, while everyone else can cultivate step by step, he still needed to send raw materials to Lost Star.

Fortunately, the Paranoid and Flower Scorpion also had nothing else to do, accompanying him on the trip.

Otherwise, given the inspection intensity of Homeland Star’s government, they would certainly inquire why someone would pilot a Starship alone?

No way around it, the rules are indeed many in the Star Realm.