Chapter 631: Looking for Butcher

“That exploration fleet led by Butcher sent another report. It concerns Eden...” Dimsky looked at Xia Fei solemnly.

Xia Fei was startled. “Eden? What did Butcher say?”

Dimsky somewhat apprehensively glanced at Avril and then told Xia Fei, “Come talk at my place.”

In truth, Xia Fei did not understand Butcher too well. The latter had led his brothers in arms in search of the legendary Eden more than three years ago. At that time, the group of bloodthirsty warriors, who had just survived a disaster, had many fantasies about their new leash in life and decided to use the remainder of their lives doing something meaningful.

The Panhuman Alliance was very strict when it came to ownership of warships, and a long journey without warships was bound to fail. Thus, Butcher’s group put its exploration fleet under Quantum Holdings. After all, Xia Fei had reputation and prestige, and Quantum Holdings was an A-list supplier of the military.

Three years had passed in the blink of an eye. Xia Fei ascended to the Law Realm, whereas Butcher’s group continued working toward their dream. The existence of Eden had gradually been forgotten by humans, but now, Butcher had suddenly sent back a message and was anxious to meet with Xia Fei. Had he actually made some progress?

As he was thinking of this, Xia Fei entered Dimsky’s work room. More than a dozen mech bodies were placed in the corner. If necessary, Dimsky could change at any time. On the table were the dismantled pieces of Xia Fei’s 100-series Precision spatial compass from Fig Corporation, the parts carefully stored in a toolbox.

There were far too many things, so Dimsky’s room was very messy, with strange pieces of equipment everywhere. Xia Fei could not help but frown.

historical

“Look here,” Dimsky said as he pointed at several lines of code on the screen. “This is the message that Butcher sent back. He was originally planning to send it to Charlie. The message was picked up by the nanorobot team we had stationed by Charlie and was sent back to us.

“What I don’t understand is that Butcher’s message was encrypted, and in a way that I’ve never seen before. It seems like the radar and encryption systems he used weren’t produced by the Alliance.

Xia Fei furrowed his brows and stared at the code on the screen. “Anything from the initial analysis?”

Dimsky replied, “It seems to be some sort of emergency signal, but I haven’t been able to get the details.”

Xia Fei nodded. “There’s no need to keep waiting. Send the signal to Sophie and have her use her supercomputer to decrypt the code swiftly. This is a 1024-bit encryption, and an ordinary computer will take several days to calculate it.”

Dimsky was startled. With just his eyes, Xia Fei had managed to determine that this was a 1024-bit encryption. From this, he could see that Xia Fei had not just been increasing his cultivation in the time he was gone, he had not forgotten to brush up on these other aspects as well.

Sentinel Goddess Sophie was happy to receive this code and used the only remaining mech race supercomputer to decrypt it for Xia Fei.

“I have a request,” Sophie softly said.

“Please speak,” Xia Fei said.

“Could you leave Phantom by my side?” Sophie somewhat embarrassedly asked.

“Phantom? Why do you need him to stay?”

Sophie’s face on the screen was one of breathtaking yet somewhat chilly beauty. Sophie softly said, “My father might be an undying soul, and so is Phantom. Thus, when I see him, I feel some affection. In addition, I have some ideas that I need Phantom’s help to realize.”

Sophie spoke very vaguely, but Phantom surprisingly had no objections. Xia Fei felt that there was something fishy going on between the two, but he felt like it would be awkward to ask.

After taking off the moore stone hanging around his neck, Xia Fei returned to the dining room. The 1024-bit encryption system was no minor matter. The Alliance’s best encryption systems were only 128-bit. Even Sophie would need a few hours to decrypt the code.

Avril sensed the shift in Xia Fei’s mood, but she remained quiet. They finished lunch, had some tea and, after a little rest, went back to cultivation.

...

“The code has been decrypted!” About three hours later, Dimsky rushed into Xia Fei’s cultivation chamber.

“It’s a warning?!” Xia Fei muttered once he was done reading.

He initially thought that Butcher had run into a problem and was asking for help, but it was the exact opposite. Butcher had sent a warning that Xia Fei was in danger!

“What could it be?”

Butcher had sent the message in haste, and the words were vague. It was very difficult to decipher his true meaning.

“How far is the signal source from us?” Xia Fei sternly asked.

Dimsky replied, “About 1.3 billion lightyears away. This Butcher has really gone quite far. Our surveillance can only cover a general area at this range, so we don’t have any specific coordinates.”

Calculating from the core of the Law Realm, Xia Fei was currently 8.7 billion lightyears away from the Law Realm. 1.3 billion light years was within the limit of the spatial compass, meaning that if Xia Fei wanted, he could arrive at the area where the signal was sent from.

However, Dimsky was only able to provide a general area, and he still had no idea where Butcher was exactly. If Xia Fei really went searching, it would be like looking for a needle in the ocean.

Crucially, Xia Fei was also being hunted, which was why he had been hiding here in the Hidden Realm. If his enemies found him, he would be in real trouble!

“Try and narrow down the signal source, and find a region in that space without any unstable elements. I want historical records and the newest data reports. In addition, put back together my spatial compass.”

Dimsky pursed his lips. “Haaa... I really shouldn’t have told you. Your curiosity is too great. Don’t you humans have a saying? Curiosity kills the cat! Listen to my advice: The storm is at its fiercest right now, and you’re being hunted down by experts, so put aside Eden for now.”

Xia Fei shook his head. “Remember: This is a warning message! I need to find out why Butcher sent out a warning, and why he used some 1024-bit encryption to do so. Right, prepare to Black Bat radar for me. The radar Butcher’s group has is too weak.”

Dimsky knew that there was no stopping Xia Fei, so he could only shake his head.

Xia Fei went to Avril’s cultivation chamber next door and silently stood to the side.

“You’re leaving again?” Avril stopped her cultivation and used a towel to wipe the sweat off her face.

Even though Xia Fei had done his utmost to minimize the difficulty of cultivating the Law of Life, given that Avril had no experience cultivating, she still had to bear a rather significant burden.

“How did you know that I was leaving?” Xia Fei asked.

‘When you came back from Dimsky’s, you had a rather somber expression. I immediately knew that you’re probably going to leave again,” Avril explained.

“You’re not going to ask where I’m going and when I’m coming back?” Xia Fei chuckled.

“No need. I believe in you.”

Xia Fei smiled. Trust and understanding were not formed in a single day. There was a joke that went something like this...

Question: Why was Columbus able to find a new continent?

Answer: Because Columbus had no wife?

Question: Why was it that the single Columbus could find a new continent?

Answer: If Columbus had a wife, she would definitely ask him, ‘Where are you going? With whom? When are you coming back? What am I going to do once you’re gone?’

If this had happened, the chances of Columbus discovering a new continent would have plunged and the Native Americans could have spent a few more years in relative peace.

However, Avril had no such qualms. She was a woman, and so it would always be rather difficult to put herself in a man’s shoes. Though they were both humans, there was still an essential difference between men and women.

She would always silently support Xia Fei from the back no matter what he did.

Xia Fei was very moved. After saying his goodbye, he quietly closed the door to the cultivation chamber. The fairer and more reasonable Avril was, the more relaxed he could be.

...

He adjusted the coordinates and examined his equipment once over. Phantom, who had just been left with the Sentinel Goddess, also returned. To tell the truth, while Phantom was rather naggy, Xia Fei really could not go without his nagging.

“I’m going,” Xia Fei sternly said.

“If there’s anything, immediately get in touch via the Black Bat radar,” the three mech leaders said in unison.

Xia Fei nodded.

*Whoosh~*

Several minutes later, Xia Fei appeared alone in the darkness of space. Confronted by the indescribably unfathomable universe, Xia Fei was tiny and insignificant.

Besides its incredible defense, Edgeless could also fly. Two quantum engines carried Xia Fei through space while the life support systems of the armor ensured that Xia Fei could breathe in the near-vacuum of space.

Traveling through this darkness was a most beautiful experience, but Xia Fei had no time to laze around. The Black Bat radar was scanning for any suspicious signals in his surroundings, searching for Butcher and the lost exploration fleet.

“A signal so close? Your luck is a little too good, isn’t it!” Phantom exclaimed.

The radar indicated that there were two ships not far from Xia Fei, and one of them was definitely a Caracal cruiser made by the Caldari Corporation, while the other was a ship of unknown making.

Xia Fei frowned. The hyper-long-distance signal identification technology was not fully mature, and it had given Xia Fei a region with a diameter of ten million lightyears. Butcher could have sent his signal from anywhere in this region.

However, moments after arriving, he found an Alliance warship. This was not just good luck. Rather, it felt like it had been ordained by the heavens!

However, Xia Fei could not be certain that this was all of Butcher’s fleet.

*Bang!*

Fireworks exploded in the distance. It turned out that those two ships were fighting!

Across from the Caracal cruiser was a dark golden ovular warship. It was larger than the Caracal and had more firepower!

Fortunately, the Caracal was equipped with the energy boosters that Xia Fei had developed, allowing it to barely survive, but it appeared that it would be unable to hold out for much longer!

There was no time to waste. He would save the ship and ask questions later!

*Whoosh~*

Edgeless exploded with two dazzling trails of blue sparks as Xia Fei exploded forward.

That dark golden warship probably never would have imagined that it would be targeted by a Law Sovereign in the middle of this deserted region of space!

Like a god descending into the mortal world, Xia Fei shot into the fray and charged at the golden warship!

“Chain Blockade!”

A hurricane infused with the power of Law of Primal Chaos erupted, howling straight at the enemy ship!

This was Xia Fei’s first time fighting in space, and he was a little excited.

The sea of stars had all the space he could ever want, and it was the perfect place to use law energy!

*Rumble!*

The hurricane tossed about that large warship as if it were a little boat in the middle of a tempest.

“Wildstorm!”

Before the storm had settled, Xia Fei punched with a hardened fist!

Just his empty fist alone!

Within the space of a single second, he punched more than one hundred times, blasting through the warship’s energy shield, armor, and structure!

*Boom!*

Xia Fei blasted a hole through the warship!

With his bare hands, he had torn this ship apart!