Chapter 544: [Mechanical Scrap Civilization] Spotlight Activated — So Poor, So Poor!

While Yu Yuan was happily refreshing the Taotao Hole page over and over, the Starry Sky Observatory finally reacted, pulling his attention back.

Gazing at the Star Realm, where starlight was once again condensing, Yu Yuan felt a surge of anticipation.

He hadn't drawn any new Fate Cards ever since completing the Silver-tier Slaughter Card mission. He could clearly sense that the odds of pulling Pebble-tier and Bronze-tier cards had dropped significantly. This thoroughly confirmed his earlier speculation—if he kept drawing, the probability of getting Silver-tier and even Gold-tier cards would be extremely high.

Although he could now complete Silver-tier card missions, a Gold-tier card remained an insurmountable mountain. Once again, he had to resort to the ultimate strategy of lying low and stop drawing. To say he wasn't disappointed would be a lie, but his fear was all too real.

The moment the Celestial Phenomena Card finished condensing before his eyes, a brilliant golden light flared from the card.

Yu Yuan's heart leaped with joy as he took the card in his hands and examined it closely. He paused for a moment, studying it carefully.

There, at the center of the radiant golden card, a black hole appeared, sucking in everything around it. A single, intensely condensed beam of light shot straight out from the black hole's core, slicing diagonally across the entire card face.

"This is..."

The Book of Fate materialized, and information about the Celestial Phenomena Card appeared on its pages.

[Celestial Phenomenon - Black Hole's Counterattack]

Quality: Gold-tier

Function: When this card is used, it generates a "Black Hole" in front of the user. All incoming enemy attacks are absorbed and condensed, then transformed into a single Counterattack Ray aimed at the locked target.

Yu Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly.

This was a rare defensive card, essentially a life-saving talisman for him. Based on his understanding of Gold-tier cards, this would be his absolute immunity to death.

He closed the Book of Fate with a satisfied smile.

After thinking for a moment, Yu Yuan opened the Civilization Fusion interface.

The Ten Thousand Nations Pact Civilization was still in its usual state, occupying the central position in the web-like focus. Surrounding it were the civilization emblems of the Subterranean Gloom Civilization, the Molten Kobold Civilization, and the Mechanical Garbage Civilization, arranged in that order.

Among these, only the Molten Kobold Civilization had a single focus—[High Temperature Resistance]—activated by Yu Yuan. None of the related focuses for the other two civilizations had been lit up yet.

This time, Yu Yuan's attention shifted to the focuses of the Mechanical Garbage Civilization.

As a special Bronze-tier civilization world, the Mechanical Garbage Civilization had a much higher status than the other two. While the others only had two primary-level civilization focuses each, the Mechanical Garbage Civilization boasted three.

They were:

—Garbage Identification (Unlock Cost: 100 Civilization Points):

Scanning Identification: Quickly identifies the composition and value of garbage materials.

Pollution Resistance: +30% ability generation in radiation/toxic environments.

Scavenger's Instinct: Triggers a gut feeling when high-value discarded items are within 100 meters.

—Disassembly Art (Unlock Cost: 100 Civilization Points):

Precision Disassembly Tools: +50% chance to completely recover rare components from electronic devices.

Brute Force Disassembly Mastery: +200% disassembly speed for large mechanical structures.

Blueprint Mastery: +50% chance to parse out blueprints when disassembling mechanical garbage.

—Junk Alchemy (Unlock Cost: 100 Civilization Points):

Garbage Smelting Furnace: +40% recovery rate for smelting metal garbage.

Chemical Substance Rebirth Technique: Decomposes radiation/toxic substances into harmless raw materials.

Organic-Inorganic Conversion: Converts organic waste into low-quality fuel.

Good news: the effects of the civilization focuses had been amplified by more than a little.

Bad news: the Civilization Points required to unlock them had also been amplified by more than a little.

Yu Yuan stared at the consumption, which had more than doubled or tripled, and the smile on his face froze slightly.

Heaven help him.

He only had a measly 600 Civilization Points in total right now!

He got 100 points for killing Z007 and another 500 for completing a civilization event. That was 600 altogether.

And now, unlocking these three civilization focuses would drain half of that in one go.

But...

Yu Yuan looked at the information for these three focuses on the Virtual Light Screen, and the desire in his eyes was beyond words.

Good stuff. It was all good stuff.

Considering the benefits he'd gain after activating these focuses, Yu Yuan gritted his teeth.

Do it!

[Civilization Points -100, 'Garbage Identification' unlocked.]

[Civilization Points -100, 'Disassembly Art' unlocked.]

[Civilization Points -100, 'Junk Alchemy' unlocked.]

With three system notifications, all primary-level focuses of the Mechanical Garbage Planet were lit up. New branches of civilization focuses extended outward from them.

—Mechanical Manufacturer: "We don't just build machines; we forge new limbs, new organs, and new destinies."

First Layer: Exoskeleton Foundation—Personal carrying capacity +50%, Movement Speed +20%. (Unlock Cost: 100 Civilization Points)

Second Layer: Please unlock the first-layer focus first.

—Garbage Architect: "We grow in the ruins of cities."

First Layer: Structural Stability—Durability and hardness of constructed buildings +100%. (Unlock Cost: 100 Civilization Points)

Second Layer: ...

—Energy Theft: "All energy can be stolen; all batteries can be reborn."

First Layer: Energy Scent—Detects energy sources buried underground or in ruins. (Unlock Cost: 100 Civilization Points)

...

—Mutant Engineer: "Radiation is not a curse; it is a catalyst for evolution."

First Layer: Controlled Radiation Field—Safely utilizes radiation fields to promote mutations in metals/materials and induce controlled mutations in lifeforms. (Unlock Cost: 100 Civilization Points)

...

"These are four civilization development paths..." Yu Yuan muttered, a bit slow on the uptake.

The Mechanical Manufacturer path probably corresponded to something similar to the mechanical modifier, and it also had some compatibility with Mechanical Armor.

The Garbage Architect path likely unlocked building-related technology.

Energy Theft was obviously tied to energy, and it might yield black-tech batteries or special energy technologies.

As for the last one, Mutant Engineer, it clearly dealt with genetic mutations. The metal/material mutation aspect was full of unknowns, though. With a bit of luck, it might even produce powerful mutant materials.

In other words, the Mechanical Manufacturer and Mutant Engineer paths overlapped with Yu Yuan's current technology. If he activated these focuses, there might be some pleasant surprises.

After some thought, Yu Yuan ultimately only activated the first-layer focus of Mechanical Manufacturer—[Exoskeleton Foundation].

The Mechanical Armor equipped by the Pioneering Group already fell under the category of Exoskeleton Suits. Activating this focus was a perfect match. The Alpha was leading the Pioneering Group in cleaning up the Reyes Legion, and Yu Yuan figured this would give them a bit of support.

As for the other branches... Yu Yuan glanced at his remaining 200 Civilization Points.

Yeah... broke.

He'd have to wait and see.

But with the [Exoskeleton Foundation] focus activated, the second-layer focus was now revealed.

—[Precision Mechanics]