Chapter 655 - 368: Origin Gene 3

Su Ze couldn’t even recall how long it had been since he’d last spoken with King Mu. Ever since the Pope came into the picture, King Mu had been utterly sidelined.

King Mu was starting to panic. He had no idea what was happening in the outside world and didn’t know if something had happened to Su Ze or what was going on.

He didn’t care about Su Ze’s well-being, but as time went on, the dormant consciousness of the Nian Race’s Sun God was showing signs of awakening again.

Su Ze extended his Spiritual Power into the Soul Nourishing Jade Stone. A quick scan told him everything he needed to know.

However, he didn’t say a word. Ignoring King Mu, he put the Soul Nourishing Jade Stone away.

’King Mu is of little value to me now. In contrast, if that Sun God were to awaken, he might be far more useful.’

’The one advantage of King Mu, though, is that he’s easy to control. I have no idea if the Sun God would be as cooperative.’

’If King Mu could replace the Sun God, devour his consciousness, and take over his memories, then he might still have some value.’

’In any case, I don’t need to decide whether to keep King Mu right now. The Sun God is only showing the first signs of stirring; it will be some time before he truly awakens.’

’I’ll just let King Mu stew a while longer. Letting him struggle in fear and despair will make him easier to control in the future.’

「Inside the underground base on Zexing.」

Mrs. Yun said with some concern, "It’s been over four months. Why isn’t he out yet? You don’t think something happened, do you?"

"Mrs. Yun, don’t worry," Liou Wenxin reassured her. "Didn’t he say this period of seclusion would be a long one?"

"But he’s always been so restless. In the past, he couldn’t even stay in seclusion for four weeks, let alone four months..."

Just as they were speaking, a door in the base slid open, and Su Ze walked out.

He looked at Mrs. Yun, then at Liou Wenxin, and asked, "How long was I in seclusion?"

He saw that both Mrs. Yun and Liou Wenxin had broken through—Mrs. Yun had become a Sovereign, and Liou Wenxin had finally advanced to Overlord. For a moment, he wondered if he had been in seclusion for several years.

One was of an advanced age with limited potential, while the other was absorbed in research with no interest in advancement. For them to break through together gave him a strange feeling, as if an eternity had passed.

"About four and a half months." Seeing Su Ze, Mrs. Yun quietly breathed a sigh of relief, though she asked nonchalantly, "You were cooped up in there for so long. Did you make any progress?"

’Phew, only four and a half months...’ Su Ze smiled. "My gains were significant. And you two have progressed quickly as well."

"With so many resources at our disposal, it would be embarrassing if we didn’t make some progress." Mrs. Yun threw up her hands. "You have no idea. Over the past four months, everyone has improved to some degree. The resources here are so much more abundant than on Blue Star. There’s treasure everywhere, and we don’t have to worry about threats from beasts."

"Everyone is full of motivation now. They form teams to go out and dig for treasure every day. I believe we’ll see quite a few Legendary-level experts emerge in the near future."

Su Ze nodded. Zexing was rich in resources at tier six and below. However, the only resources above tier six were those left by Mr. Ao, and they were finite.

He knew that once the number of Legendary experts grew, he would have to consider obtaining resources from the outside world to supplement their supply.

After more than four months in seclusion, it was time for Su Ze, the Star Lord, to show his face. He quickly left the underground base and went to the surface.

When Su Ze’s Spiritual Power swept over the scene before him, even he couldn’t help but show his surprise.

In just over four months, they had built a small city on the once-desolate land!

Schools, hospitals, shops, restaurants, wide and clean roads, and eateries wafting the aroma of food. Su Ze even saw a barbershop... It had everything.

He had to admit, the thirty thousand people he brought with him truly included talents from all walks of life. Not just cooks, but even barbers.

"Look, I opened this bubble tea shop," Liou Wenxin said, pointing with a hint of pride to a store in a bustling area. "Come on, I’ll treat you."

Her long-time dream had been to own her own bubble tea shop, but she never wanted to get distracted by managing it, as it would take up too much of her energy.

Fortunately, Xu Sheng, one of the people Su Ze brought from Blue Star, was very sharp. He had taken the initiative to handle all the major and minor details of running the shop. All she had to do was collect the money and come by for free bubble tea every day.

Even Mrs. Yun couldn’t help but comment, "That Xu Sheng is a real talent. He established some kind of merchant guild and gave shares to me, Mr. Zhou, and a few others. He also volunteered to pay 50% of the profits as taxes."

Su Ze shook his head and chuckled. The entire planet of Zexing belonged to him, so Xu Sheng paying 50% in taxes was equivalent to giving him half the profits. However, this was a much more brilliant move than directly offering him shares.

If Xu Sheng had approached Su Ze directly and offered him half the shares in the merchant guild, Su Ze definitely would have refused. First, he wouldn’t care for such a paltry sum. Second, he might even have been annoyed.

’What’s your status compared to mine? The entire planet is mine; you think I’d care about your measly shares?’

’Seems even flattery requires skill.’

Su Ze toured the city. Everywhere he went, people would respectfully greet him as "Lord Star Lord," which he found a little unsettling.

It was exhausting being watched and looked up to wherever he went.

In the end, Su Ze didn’t continue his tour and left the urban area early.

All in all, the small city was already quite well-developed. It had all the necessities, including running water, electricity, and even full network coverage.

Given the current population, there was no need for further expansion for the time being.

After all, human reproduction isn’t an overnight affair. It would be at least a decade or more before the population grew significantly.

"By the way, where’s Mr. Ya?" Su Ze asked.

"He went into seclusion a while ago. They say he’s trying to break through to his sixth evolution," Mrs. Yun said with a sigh. These young people were getting more and more absurd; she felt like she was being left in the dust.

Su Ze knew that Mr. Ya’s ability to challenge the Legendary-level so quickly was undoubtedly thanks to the Sands of Time. Otherwise, just absorbing the extracts wouldn’t have been this fast.

’Looks like once he emerges, he should be a Legendary-level expert. At that point, he’ll be able to receive the subsequent inheritance of ’Void’. That treasure chest in the Emerald Spaceship might finally be opened...’ The thought stirred in Su Ze’s mind.

Previously, he and Mr. Ya had explored the Emerald Spaceship’s Central Treasure Vault. Inside, they found a treasure chest that neither of them could open. At the time, even Mr. Ya’s "Void" couldn’t penetrate it.

But once Mr. Ya became a Legendary-level expert and received the subsequent inheritance for "Void," upgrading it to a Quasi-Divine Skill, they might be able to give it another try.