After watching Valianna and her group depart, Lei Ting floated in mid-air, glancing back at the dark, reddish-black tide surging through the hole melted into the hull.
Then, while manipulating the structural metal from all directions to twist and crush the stray abominations, he flew unimpeded toward the ship's center, the vessel itself seemingly parting ways to grant him passage.
As he flew, Lei Ting observed the internal structural design with a thoughtful expression, eventually descending into a vast, dark space.
Directly above this space hung a massive, stalled machine. It was also teeming with wandering abominations, but they were quickly reduced to a dark-red carpet on the floor. Lei Ting flew to the center and looked down; as expected, beneath the machinery lay a pool of deep water sequestered by transparent partitions, glowing with a faint blue light—merely a glimmer.
He did not approach the light, nor did he go near the water.
Because that was 'heavy water,' or rather, 'deuterated water.'
Indeed, it was a nuclear fuel, and this place was the power chamber of the giant ship.
The Orion Nebula... since the First Legion could operate here so nonchalantly, this was naturally the territory of the Orion Human Federation. Yet, the markings in the hangar of this satellite-class derelict warship were in colors unrecognizable to the Orion human eye.
Thus, it was likely a remnant of a warship belonging to another race. Furthermore, this race was inevitably larger than humans—averaging four to five meters in height—yet still falling within the 'humanoid' category.
By searching through the information he had memorized from his past readings, Lei Ting quickly realized who the original owners of this warship were.
The Galactic Empire.
Now, for the Galactic Empire, was a satellite-class warship considered large?
Of course not. It wouldn't even make the first tier of a frontline engagement force in a major campaign.
Consequently, according to the Galactic Empire's rigid class ideology, it naturally wouldn't be equipped with any overly high-end technology. Thus, it was perfectly understandable that its power source was a controlled nuclear fusion reactor.
Why did the lights flicker yet refuse to be extinguished by time?
Because they were quite literally nuclear-powered lightbulbs.
With the massive energy of the Orion Nebula acting as a lure, the Starry Behemoth had likely barely spared a glance for this tiny reactor as it passed, taking only a casual bite before moving on. The energy remaining now was, unsurprisingly, enough to keep that bulb flashing for another two thousand years.
But here lay the problem... although the ship's kinetic energy came from a controlled nuclear fusion reactor—and the primary materials for that mostly fell under the category of 'gases,' which were outside Lei Ting's domain of manipulation—how could such a warship lack other nuclear materials?
Nuclear materials certainly existed! Never mind the idea that they should have failed under high temperatures... a mere few hundred degrees Celsius was nothing to the likes of uranium. Their half-lives were measured in billions of years!
Of course, all the above reasons were merely supporting evidence for the final truth.
Lei Ting could sense the presence of 'radioactive metals.'
See? The problem had returned to familiar territory.
In a certain unfamiliar warehouse, Lei Ting extracted dozens of heavy lead boxes from an old-fashioned container, a smile touching his lips as he looked at them.
Because it was small and contained dangerous materials, the container was highly fortified, but that meant nothing to him. To others, those metallic structures provided outward resistance, but the moment he decided to open it, it was destined to be opened.
Lei Ting took a lead box, weighed it in his hand, and felt the reaction of the 'uranium' within. Simultaneously, he melted all the lead, revealing the silvery-gray, disc-shaped metal inside.
He had already suppressed its external reactions, and his super-powered mecha naturally possessed radiation resistance and the ability to isolate most external energies—otherwise, he would have been cooked through long ago, riddled with damage from space radiation.
Next, he located several fission nuclear bombs left on the ship—likely the equivalent of playthings thrown by the Galactic Empire of old to test targets. He didn't bother graciously increasing their yield by a few million tons; he simply gathered them in the power chamber along with the uranium discs.
Using the knowledge of "big booms" inherited by the Federation from the old Galactic Empire, he quickly figured out how to operate these nuclear bombs designed for beings at least four meters tall.
To this end, he even dismantled one bomb, spending a long time pondering its signal receiver and the dilapidated consoles in the main control room. Finally, he understood what frequency was required to trigger them.
During this time, the main force of the abomination legion wandering this sector of space finally flooded into the ship. Meanwhile, the Legion Commander and the others, who had been waiting inside the ship for them, finally took the opportunity to fly out into deep space.
"Commander..." someone asked with a hint of worry, "can 'Double S' really do it?"
"You said it yourself, he is a 'Double S.' Such a person must be capable of extraordinary things," Valianna said coldly. "Besides, after receiving such a tilt in resources, even an ordinary super-powered individual should achieve more victories. If he can't do it, then he's a waste of space."
What else? Was he supposed to be like the protagonists in some literary works—possessing a high-level, powerful shell yet only capable of doing what ordinary people do?
Why would any faction bother supporting such a waste? Was it because they had too much food to spare?
"Let's see..." Valianna said. "Let's see what he intends to do. Let's see if he can achieve... what he wants to achieve."
Amidst the faint blue glow beneath the heavy water, Lei Ting closed his eyes, floating silently in mid-air.
This giant ship had lost its artificial gravity years ago, entering a semi-open space environment. If he didn't deliberately manipulate himself, floating felt like a state of complete weightlessness. It was a strange sensation; before the zero-gravity and micro-gravity adaptation training at school, Lei Ting had only fantasized about such a day as a child.
Actually, he had wanted to tell Valianna what he planned to do here. But she had left so decisively that he was left a bit dazed: *Are you really that confident in my abilities? Or do you believe the First Legion will solve such a small problem regardless?*
Now, left here alone, listening to the tearing sensation of metal reacting to him as the abominations ripped tunnels through the hull to reach him, there was no tension in his heart. Instead, he felt a strange sense of the world's impermanence.
Now, this entire heavy metallic construct floated in this light, silent world. Just like Lei Ting.
The difference was that it could not understand him, yet he could 'see' every inch of its structure clearly.
Thus, he could hear the echoes of time within it... in the dormitories, in the main control room, in the armory, in the power chamber...
As sharp appendages pierced through the iron walls, Lei Ting opened his eyes.
A faint light, like gold and sunshine, surfaced in his eyes. He rose into the air and spread his hands—
A powerful sense of danger startled everyone in space. Valianna, leading the group, did not hesitate to increase her super-power output. The shields enveloping the group thickened and expanded rapidly, merging into one, and after they exited the ship, the shield directly shrouded the entire vessel.
And the place where that sense of danger originated... at some unknown point, a golden mist of light filled and surged through the entire ship—which was even larger than the *Sun*—and the surrounding floating metallic debris. It was not volatile; it was steady and seemingly peaceful, much like the man himself. Yet those incredibly rigid substances could not resist its penetration and flow, nor could they resist—
Its pull!
*CRACK!!*
Within the range of the golden mist, every metallic construct suddenly underwent a violent deformation.
Then, they obediently melted into a solid metallic flow. While sealing and enclosing the entire hull, they silently twisted and contracted inward.
The bridge, the dormitories, the training grounds, the engineering bay, the main control room, the armory, the power chamber... Under the horrified gazes of Valianna and the others, the giant ship was like a cake of melting cream. It silently lost its edges, its craftsmanship, and everything it carried, including its traces and its years.
It continued to shrink, shrink, and shrink further. Even in the vacuum, they seemed to hear the shrieks of the abomination legion being twisted, crushed, and destroyed within. A chill rose from the backs of these soldiers who spent their lives accompanied by steel warships. They suddenly realized that Lei Ting had not looked down on anyone; his confidence was justified. Before him, no interstellar-era tool of war was truly 'safe.'
What he looked down upon was this seemingly endless legion of abominations.
Valianna dared to say he would never use such cruel methods against a group of intelligent beings, but toward the abominations, he displayed a total 'abomination' of his own.
Wherever that golden flowing light reached, everything that was originally rigid remained rigid, yet before him, they displayed an extraordinary softness, a docility that allowed them to be kneaded at will.
And he had the power to make any individual containing metal identical to them, whether by causing their internal collapse or subjecting them to irresistible pressure from the outside. That golden radiance, not yet dazzling and devoid of divinity, carried a sense of being as immovable as a mountain. As first-tier combat super-powered individuals, they could naturally feel its presence...
How do you describe a power that involuntarily inspires awe?
By objectively describing the scenery before one's eyes.
At this moment, as the ship rapidly pulled away, almost everyone was frantically opening Lei Ting's personal information interface, repeatedly looking at the data they had already seen on the ship or elsewhere. Their eyes scanned the name filled in under the 'Ability' section over and over again:
[Solar Star].
Yes, Solar Star.
In that golden radiance and the majestic power laid bare beneath it, the people of the interstellar era realized for the first time that the 'New Sun' going to his side might not have been a coincidence.
It wasn't a warrior obtaining his new weapon.
It was a sun approaching an even greater sun.
...
"Hah—!!"
Amidst the twisting, backflowing metallic currents, Lei Ting's expression was not relaxed, though he rarely exerted this much effort.
While this level of exertion was far from his limit, it was, after all, the first time it had happened. He needed to adjust and control it without any prior experience, ensuring every target was captured within.
Then, Lei Ting soared directly upward. The silvery structural metal opened a path for him, and in just two breaths, he reached the space environment.
Simultaneously, the golden mist flowed, the radiance surged, and 'Solar Star' exerted force in a specific manner, triggering things that had been dormant for centuries.
Barring accidents, they should never have moved again.
Lei Ting manipulated the metal on his body, suddenly accelerating his flight speed. This time he was faster than lightning, brushing past the stars to reach the side of the small ship in an instant. Behind him, the silvery metallic sphere suddenly expanded, breach after breach opening as an extremely dazzling light shot out. An energy fluctuation so intense that no super-powered individual could fail to feel it surged forth...
Then, it silently exploded in all directions, fragments flying like the rushing flow of a shattered star.
Lei Ting raised his hand, halting the metallic torrent that was about to slash toward the ship and himself. They had now turned into waves of fire; under this terrifying high temperature, the molten state looked like cheese meeting a flame.
The silver-blue shield fluctuated. Inside, the crowd looked at the tall figure carrying the greatsword, dumbfounded.
Outside, Lei Ting's face beneath the visor was calm, his body wreathed in golden light. The power of 'Immovability' allowed him to stand steady amidst the shockwaves that were no longer so strong by the time they reached him. The golden radiance manifested almost infinitely behind him, sweeping up the wandering abomination legion in its net.
At this moment, no one knew what they were thinking, except for Lei Ting.
*Oh no,* he thought.
He had forgotten to ask them if they still wanted the recyclable resources that might have been on that ship...
***
Glossary:
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
--- | --- | ---
猎户人联 | Orion Human Federation | The human political entity in the Orion Nebula.
银河帝国 | Galactic Empire | An ancient, technologically advanced civilization; former owners of the derelict ship.
阳星 | Solar Star | Lei Ting's super-power ability name.
重水 / 氘化水 | Heavy water / Deuterated water | Nuclear fuel found in the ship's reactor.
裂变核弹 | Fission nuclear bomb | Old Galactic Empire weapons used by Lei Ting to clear the abominations.
新太阳 | New Sun | Likely referring to Lei Ting's weapon (the greatsword mentioned previously).
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Stars See Me [Interstellar] | Chapter 56 | The Solar Star's Might | Novela.app | Novela.app
