Chapter 41: The Magical Planet

Tang Yi looked at the image before him and reached out his hand, mimicking the gestures of using a touchscreen phone. With a pinch and spread motion of two fingers, the planet gradually enlarged. He selected an area and continued to zoom in. Finally, he could clearly see the advanced intelligent beings on the planet. Tang Yi couldn’t help but exclaim, “Damn, isn’t this what they call magic?”

The image displayed a large courtyard-style building complex beneath a giant foot. In a sizable training ground, people were engaged in martial contests. Judging by their faces and physiques, they resembled humans from Earth—some with East Asian features, others Western. Their clothing was strikingly similar to that of China’s Tang Dynasty. Moreover, they were using what looked like magical powers and combat energy, the kind commonly seen in movies and novels.

Seeing all this, Tang Yi’s curiosity deepened, and he thought about taking a closer look around the planet. But then he remembered he had more pressing matters to attend to. He said to Jett, “Jett, explain these findings in detail to Hua Shaojie and the others. Let them decide who should visit this planet to gather information and figure out how to mine the rare minerals.”

Although Tang Yi possessed the power to directly absorb these mineral veins into his ring dimension, Jett’s scans revealed that doing so would trigger an earthquake of magnitude ten. This planet wasn’t like Green Green Star. Apart from some spirit beasts, it was covered with vegetation and inhabited by nearly a trillion humans. Causing a massive earthquake here would be disastrous, and Tang Yi didn’t want to be responsible for such destruction. He recalled the 2008 earthquake on Earth and how he had cried several times watching the news. Although a trillion sounded like a huge number, compared to the planet’s size, the population was sparse. Earth, a much smaller planet, held nearly six billion people. This planet’s volume was 1.3 million times that of Earth, making its population density quite low.

“By the way, Jett, with such a massive planet, is the gravity very strong? If so, these people must be incredibly tough,” Tang Yi suddenly asked.

“Captain, according to the scanned data, the planet’s gravity is 3.2 times that of Earth’s. The atmospheric pressure is also 3.2 times greater,” Jett replied promptly.

“Only 3.2 times? That’s not too much. It shouldn’t pose a big problem. Make sure Hua Shaojie and the others understand this clearly. Another important point is their language—what language do they speak? Communication is crucial.”

“Based on linguistic analysis, there are two primary language systems on this planet. One corresponds to the language and script of China’s Tang Dynasty, covering about 90% of the population and serving as the common tongue. The other resembles 17th-century English from Western Europe. Hua Shaojie and his group should have no trouble communicating once they arrive,” Jett responded after five seconds.

“That settles it. Oh, and tell them this: no more than eight people can go down at once, and the others must remain aboard the ship, ready to assist. Also, the ship must not approach the planet too closely and must remain cloaked. Lastly, they should quickly identify the resources we need. If necessary, we can reveal ourselves and trade with the locals. These are my conditions.” After a moment’s thought, Tang Yi felt he had covered everything and sent Jett to notify Hua Shaojie and the others. He then returned to his own affairs.

Though the ship had a clock, space lacked the distinction of day and night. Hua Shaojie and the others were in the recreational area playing bowling. Frankly, they were bored. Given their abilities, they scored perfect games effortlessly yet seemed engrossed. Suddenly, Jett’s voice announced, “Uninhabited planet detected ahead. Interested parties please proceed to Conference Room 3 for a meeting! Ten minutes, no exceptions!”

Hearing this, the group in the bowling alley’s eyes gleamed like wolves spotting prey. “Meat!” someone shouted. Within seconds, everyone had rushed out, leaving only a spinning bowling ball behind.

In Conference Room 3, they watched videos about the planet while Jett provided commentary. They gained a preliminary understanding, but after hearing Tang Yi’s instructions, they began arguing over which few would go to the planet. As the quarrel grew heated, Hua Ruoxue, who had been silently entertaining a little white monkey, suddenly spoke with a clarifying tone: “Didn’t Brother Tang say no more than eight at a time? If you really want to go, why not take turns in groups? No need to fight like this. I’m not going for now. You all decide.” She then left, carrying the white monkey.

“Yeah, that’s a good plan!” The others agreed, but then began bickering over who should go first and who should wait.

In the end, they resorted to drawing lots. Based on their previous groups on Green Green Star, Hua Shaojie, Gu Zhenzhen, Lü Zhengyang, and Ding Pengfei formed one group; Zhang Qiang, Liu Mingde, Li Zhan, and Bai Dongfang another; Guo Ziping, Liu Yuefeng, Lin Jiang, and Sun Lang the last. Since Zhang Sanfeng’s disciples were all in seclusion, only Lei Zhenzi remained alone. Reluctantly, they decided to keep Lei Zhenzi as a substitute, stationed on the ship to step in when someone returned.

Now, the ship was still three days away from the planet. During this time, Hua Shaojie and the other thirteen prepared by studying the planet’s conditions, eager to fulfill Brother Tang’s requirements. After all, a treasure trove awaited them!

Finally, the ship approached the vast planet, its surface brimming with various forms of magic. The ocean and land each covered half the surface. To gain the locals’ trust, after discussion, they decided to land on a remote island near a continent—though “near” still meant a distance comparable to Earth’s distance from the Moon. The deserted island was separated from the nearest mainland by a vast stretch of ocean.

To facilitate landing, Jett prepared a flying vehicle for the first two groups—Hua Shaojie’s and Zhang Qiang’s. It was a modified craft resembling a commercial ship native to the planet’s oceans but capable of transforming for sea, land, air, and space travel, as well as underwater exploration.

With preparations complete, the eight travelers and their versatile vehicle were teleported onto the selected island. The ship then vanished without a trace.