Chapter 111 A Sense of Loss

The explosions from the warships in the sky and the tribal direction caused a group of hunters who had not been out for long to hurry back. They looked in horror at the flying monsters as large as mountains in the sky.

The hunters rushed back to the tribe. Although the family members at home were still terrified and trembling, there were no casualties. Seeing this, these hunters were relieved. They grabbed their family members and asked what had happened just now.

Du Ji looked around and suddenly felt a sinking feeling in his heart. His good friend Luo Suo was nowhere to be seen in the crowd. He became anxious and hurriedly asked someone for information.

"Th-those people said a few words to Luo Suo, and then they took him away... Before he left, he told us not to be afraid, saying that those people had no malicious intent..."

"Where did they go?" Du Ji was furious. He didn't care what Luo Suo said, he only knew that his good friend had been captured by a group of dangerous monsters, and he couldn't stand idly by.

The villagers pointed tremblingly in one direction. The legion members didn't return to the spaceship but went into the forest.

Without saying a word, Du Ji picked up his weapon and ran towards that direction. The hunters next to him shouted loudly to stop him, but he turned a deaf ear, only wanting to rescue his good friend from the hands of the "monsters".

Seeing this, the hunter captain, fearing that Du Ji would encounter danger, hurriedly gave a few instructions and followed behind.

The tall Pangulide giant elf ran quickly in the forest, extremely agile. Du Ji identified the footprints in the soil, and after running for a while, he finally caught up with a group of legion members.

Many players were now waving their weapons to cut down trees, clearing a space to plant a portable small base expansion pack and form a small stronghold.

According to the mission requirements and legion instructions, the team contacting the natives was to build a base near each tribe to facilitate interaction with the natives.

"Hmm? There's a life signal." Kuang Dao chopped down an ancient tree with a chainsaw sword. At the same time, the radar detected Du Ji's presence, as did the other legion members.

Du Ji squatted between the treetops, unaware that he had been exposed. He observed these "monsters" wearing metal all over their bodies and saw Luo Suo surrounded at a glance. His face lit up with joy.

"Hah!" The next moment, Du Ji kicked off with both legs and fell from the air. The strong jumping power allowed him to land directly not far in front of Luo Suo. He rolled and stood up, kicking up a cloud of dirt.

Immediately, he followed the hunter training he had done countless times and thrust a spear at the lower body of a metal monster in front of him, launching a fatal blow.

Pa! The wooden spear pierced the metal-covered crotch and broke without any suspense.

The attacked legion member kicked out lightly, fearing that killing the native would lead to mission failure.

However, in Du Ji's eyes, this kick was so fast that he couldn't react. He barely raised his wooden shield to block it, and an irresistible huge force came like an overwhelming wave.

Boom! The wooden shield exploded, turning into flying wood chips.

Du Ji was kicked out dozens of meters. He rolled on the ground more than a dozen times, his arm aching and drooping softly, almost unable to lift it. His chest felt stuffy, and he couldn't help vomiting a large mouthful of sour stomach liquid. He lay on the ground, unable to get up, and stared at the attacker with frightened eyes.

"Don't kill him! He's my friend!" Luo Suo hurriedly shouted and then looked at Du Ji, asking in surprise, "What are you doing here?!"

"Cough cough... I'm here to save you..." Du Ji could barely stand up, his voice weak. He was just a creature in the category of ordinary people. Being kicked by a C-level legion warrior meant that the other party had withdrawn 99% of their strength to avoid killing him.

"Oh, I don't need you to save me. They have no malicious intent. They are all my friends. You should leave quickly."

Luo Suo said helplessly and then pleaded with the legion members. In the past period, he had learned the general situation from the legion members. Although he didn't understand many nouns, it didn't prevent him from confirming that these people were not enemies.

Hearing Luo Suo telling him to go back, Du Ji, who was lying on the ground, raised his head and saw Luo Suo communicating with these creatures without any danger at all. He didn't need anyone's help at all.

Luo Suo received a reply and was overjoyed. He said, "I pleaded for you. They decided to let you go. You hurry back to the tribe. I'm fine here. Just wait for my news. Don't be impulsive again."

"Let me go..." Du Ji repeated, looking up at Luo Suo. Extremely complex emotions were revealed in his eyes, as if he was re-acquainting himself with this good friend who had been out of place with others since childhood and was not welcomed.

A sense of loss arose in his heart. Du Ji's trembling palms clenched into fists, pinching the ground, and soil squeezed out from between his fingers.

At this time, the hunter captain finally arrived, cautiously watching the many legion members. Seeing Du Ji lying on the ground, his expression changed. Luo Suo hurriedly stopped him and explained a few words. The hunter captain was dubious, carried Du Ji, who had temporarily lost his ability to move, on his back, turned around and ran back.

Luo Suo watched the two leave and breathed a sigh of relief, not thinking too much.

...

One ground team after another landed, contacting all the tribes at the same time. These warships spanning the sky looked like heavenly gods descending to the Pangulide giant elves.

The peaceful life was broken, and all the natives who were contacted felt frightened and wary of the aliens who had descended from the sky.

According to the exploration rules, the legion members established strongholds near each tribe, selected one or several representatives from the tribe, taught them how to use the translator, and used them to convey their intentions.

At the same time, Han Xiao didn't let the others idle. He sent ground mining troops to land at each resource point, build mining bases, and use various excavation equipment to drill the ground and open up the veins.

Large tracts of forest were cleared, replaced by cold metal. Base after base rose from the ground on Planet Pangulide.

With a large number of personnel and interstellar mining equipment, Han Xiao didn't need to do it himself. He only needed to command in the main ship in high orbit above the planet, which was very leisurely.

"Your Excellency Black Star, have you discovered a resource planet containing rare resources?"

The Imperial Squad Commander Seni Ke received the news and couldn't help but be overjoyed.

At this time, most of the forces were conducting a comprehensive exploration of the First Star Zone. Each squad had arrived at their respective planets to explore. Most of them were very ordinary, containing only common resources in the universe, not of high value. There were very few resource planets with an estimated value of more than 6 billion Enas.

And Pangulide Star was the most valuable planet that everyone had discovered in the First Star Zone so far.

"Yes, I have already improved the planet information in the database. There are also native civilizations here, and my people are contacting them," Han Xiao said.

Seni Ke thought for a while and said, "In that case, you will be responsible for the development of that planet. I will send a small team to help."

According to the rules, as long as it was a planet discovered by the Black Star Mercenary Group, Han Xiao could temporarily share the mining rights.

If the Imperial Fleet was the first to discover a resource planet, even if the Imperial ally intervened, their qualifications were limited. Generally speaking, allies could only maximize their interests by mining the planets they discovered themselves. Therefore, Seni Ke's troops were both companions and competitors.

After chatting for a few words, Han Xiao hung up the communication. He opened the panel, and many prompts popped up for the Shining World main mission. The achievements of discovering rare resource planets and discovering native civilizations gave him a lot of personal exploration points.

The players who came to Planet Pangulide with him gained the most points among all the players at the moment. As the exploration progressed, new points would continue to be credited.

On the forum, players exploring various planets posted their scores, and when they saw the scores of the players exploring Planet Pangulide, they were envious.

"It's still the most profitable to follow the legion commander."

"Alas, it's a pity that many of the quota for following Black Star's missions were divided up by those big guilds. I didn't get the remaining quota. I have bad luck."

Although players went to explore different planets, divided into separate teams far apart, they could communicate and share information across distances on the forum, which was very lively.

Among the players Han Xiao brought, there were a large number of players from club guilds. The four giants and first-tier guilds were all among them, and there were many professional players.

Turning off the panel, looking at the light spots representing the legion troops scattered across the planet on the map, Han Xiao suddenly asked, "How is their contact with the natives? Is anyone resisting?"

Ou Ruola shook her head. "There are more than 10,000 tribes on this planet. The population of the Pangulide giant elves is about ten million. Our warriors use deterrence methods to make them feel fear, so there are no casualties at this time... Uh, there seem to be some accidental deaths, but the number does not exceed one hundred."

Han Xiao hummed. The natives of this planet were still in the early stages of civilization, and the population was very small. Only less than one hundred people died in the first contact, which was still within the acceptable range.

"Let the ground troops appease those tribes, slowly educate them. Now is only the first day. This is a long-term process. Let our people not be eager for quick success... Even if the natives resist, it will not cause us much loss, so try not to use violent means against them."

There was no resistance now, but that didn't mean there wouldn't be in the future. The natives just hadn't realized what they were encountering. One day, the love of home would sprout, and someone would definitely resist.

Fortunately, the power of the natives was too weak, and their resistance was meaningless... This also protected them themselves.

Han Xiao knew that in the Reynold Star Cluster, there were some native civilizations that barely reached the galaxy level, which were much more difficult to deal with than Pangulide Star. If they were encountered by the War Realm, it would be enough to make them embarrassed for a while.

It would take too long to educate a group of natives, at least decades or hundreds of years. Naturally, he would not delay on one planet for so long. Now, he was just laying the foundation. After the Imperial personnel arrived, the education work would be handed over to the Imperial professionals. He only needed to leave some troops here to mine, and then he could explore the next planet.

...

The representatives of the various tribes returned to the tribe with the goodwill of the Black Star Mercenary Group, expressing that they meant no harm, and also brought back food seeds suitable for the climate of this planet.

After the tribe representatives' assurances, the Pangulide giant elves gradually became less afraid of the aliens from the sky, transitioning from fear to familiarity, and then developing a strong curiosity.

The strongholds next to each tribe had the function of schools, open to the natives. Because the translator had collected the language of the natives, they could now communicate normally. Some bolder natives actively tried to go to these strongholds to study.

The strongholds taught various life skills, including agriculture, handicrafts, etc., and distributed seeds and food for free. Some natives learned and returned to the tribe to try, starting to plant crops.

Through learning, the various tribes also knew the origin of this group of aliens, and learned about the Black Star Mercenary Group and the Scarlet Empire.

The legion members popularized basic astronomical knowledge and the history of the legion to the natives. The natives could not imagine that there was such a powerful force in the sky, which could easily cross the universe.

All of this was beyond their understanding. In their eyes, the existence of the Black Star Mercenary Group was like an unbelievable miracle.

In the Qingliu Forest tribe, Luo Suo's life was getting better.

After becoming the representative of the tribe to communicate with the aliens, Luo Suo constantly studied and brought knowledge back to the tribe—he was very talented in this regard. Under his efforts, the tribe began to frequently communicate with the Black Star Mercenary Group, learn new things, and change their way of life.

Luo Suo suddenly discovered that all the tribesmen who had not treated him well in the past had become respectful to him. In the tribe, his status suddenly surpassed that of the chief and became the most respected person. Every tribesman was in awe of him.

The culture of these natives themselves had not yet fully formed, and there was no concept of abandoning tradition. They were all attracted by new knowledge.

In the past, the most respected person in the tribe was the hunter. The hunter brought back food so that the tribe could be full. Now, the most respected people had become those who went to the strongholds to study and brought back knowledge. They brought back food and seeds, allowing everyone to be full more easily. They brought back handicraft knowledge, making clothes more comfortable and tents warmer. They also brought back a weapon called a crossbow, which was given away for free by the strongholds. With this weapon, hunting became easier.

The hunter was a warrior in the tribe, responsible for protecting the tribe, but in front of the legion members, the hunter had no power to fight back. The tribesmen's trust in the hunter gradually weakened. Although the hunter was still respected, he gradually became marginalized.

Looking at Luo Suo surrounded by the tribesmen, Du Ji felt mixed emotions.

This was once his glory. At that time, although he and Luo Suo were good friends, he had a potential sense of superiority in his psychology, thinking that he was the one covering Luo Suo, but now, the positions of the two had been reversed. Luo Suo, who was once not welcomed by the tribe, had become respected, while he, the young hunter who was originally expected, had gradually been neglected and no one cared about him.

Du Ji's sense of loss became stronger and stronger, and he felt depressed.

Luo Suo finished dealing with the tribesmen and saw Du Ji. He hurriedly walked forward and asked with concern, "How is your injury?"

"...I'm fine." Hearing Luo Suo's concern, for some reason, Du Ji only felt harsh. He felt a little irritable in his heart. He responded coldly, turned his head and walked away, as if they were strangers.

Seeing Du Ji so indifferent, Luo Suo was at a loss. In the past, Du Ji was obviously very cheerful, but after being injured by the legion members last time, he became taciturn and seemed to deliberately avoid him, unwilling to communicate with him.

He didn't understand why.

...

On the other side, Du Ji was bored, so he simply walked out of the tribe and ran wildly in the forest.

Feeling the wind blowing in his face in the forest, his mood gradually became relaxed.

After running for a long time, Du Ji planned to go to his secret base. He had accidentally discovered a clear spring in the forest, and he would occasionally come here to take a bath and relax. Every time he finished washing, he would feel refreshed.

However, when he came to the destination, the scene here stunned Du Ji.

The spring was gone, replaced by a bottomless pit. Around the pit were several metal buildings, and legion members were active here, manipulating strange instruments to dig the soil.

"Wh-what are you doing?!"

Du Ji was shocked and angry. He was very repelled by these aliens from the sky. Holding the weapon in his hand, he was about to approach when suddenly his eyes blurred. A legion member quickly stopped in front of him.

"The front is a mining site, not open to outsiders. Leave immediately."

"What about the spring here? What about my spring? What have you done?!" Hearing this, a burst of anger surged up in Du Ji's heart. He pushed the legion member in front of him, trying to rush into the mining site.

Bang!

A strong force came, and Du Ji was pushed out, stumbled several times, covered his stomach, and looked painful.

"Sorry, please don't interfere with our resource mining. If you have any needs, you can go to the stronghold near the tribe. This place is not open to outsiders." The legion member shook his head.

"Why don't you let me go over? This is obviously the place I discovered..."

Du Ji clenched his fists, his face full of anger. At this time, he saw the aliens dig out a large pile of shiny crystals from the original location of the spring, and they all cheered.

Seeing this, Du Ji seemed to understand that this group of people drained the spring in order to dig out these crystals at the bottom of the spring.

He raised his head and saw that the surrounding trees had been cut down, and the forest had been replaced by metal. He was a giant elf running freely, but he was rejected by the aliens from the sky. Thinking of all the experiences these days, a sense of inexplicable sadness surged in his heart, but he didn't know where this emotion came from.

In a daze, Du Ji seemed to have a feeling.

This should have been theirs in the first place...

For the first time, he had this awareness—this forest, this land, this planet, was their home.

...

"Uncle, are we... will this be bad?"

In the main ship in the sky, Ou Ruola hesitated for a while and suddenly spoke.

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. "What do you want to say?"

Haila also looked over.

Ou Ruola pursed her lips and said in a low voice, "What we're doing... is actually invading the homes of the natives..."

"I know what you mean." Han Xiao waved his hand. "We are adopting education, bringing knowledge to the natives, and making them civilized. It is different from a simple invasion."

"But..." Ou Ruola mustered up her courage. "This planet was originally their home. These natives do not have the ability to protect their homes. They can only watch helplessly as their homes are occupied by us. We are mining their resources here. Is it a bit... bullying?"

"They should be thankful that they don't have the ability to resist, otherwise more people will die."

"But..."

"Alas, don't say it." Han Xiao interrupted Ou Ruola and said helplessly, "Do you think they have a choice?"

"Actually, we can avoid planets where natives exist and explore other unknown planets..." Ou Ruola blinked.

Han Xiao shook his head, came to the porthole, looked at the universe outside the window, and sighed.

"You are too idealistic. When this planet... no, when this star field is discovered by the three major civilizations, the fate of all life in the star field has already changed. They no longer have the power to develop freely.

We can avoid planets where natives exist, but after the Scarlet Empire opens the Shining World in the future, do you think other civilizations like wolves and tigers will let them go? They are destined to lose many things. Letting outsiders share their homes and accept the Empire's education is already a good ending... Weak people have no way to have both."

Ou Ruola became silent, feeling entangled in her heart. Because of the life ability, her heart was more sensitive, and she had a strong empathy for other lives.

She sympathized with the natives' experiences—even if the current Pangulide giant elves didn't know the meaning of it, she found it difficult to refute the theorem of the strong eating the weak in the universe.

Haila had a calm expression. She was different from her sister. She had always believed that weakness was the original sin and rarely had extra sympathy.

Han Xiao paused and said, "There's no need to delve into it. Mining their resources is indeed not a noble act, but you must know that no ethnic group has the obligation to help another ethnic group develop. The Empire brings education because the natives' home has abundant resources, which is essentially a transaction... Although it is a transaction that the natives have no right to refuse."

In his previous life, after years of development, Pangulide Star became a trade transit station. The natives were divided into two factions, one faction accepted education and became interstellar citizens, learning various knowledge and technologies, and began to climb the technology tree, allowing civilization to quickly cross the primitive stage and develop rapidly. They had their own cities on Pangulide Star. Because they were connected to the interstellar world, the tribesmen could travel in space from time to time.

The other faction rejected education and chose to maintain a primitive lifestyle. This faction was hostile to interstellar people and educated branch compatriots. They tried to resist, but it was useless. In the end, they decided not to contact the outside world and lived in the deep mountains and old forests, still accompanied by wild animals, and no one disturbed them.

The Pangulide giant elf race was therefore split, forming two branches. However, every year, primitive branch tribesmen yearned for civilization, left the tribes in the mountains, and joined the educated branch giant elf cities.

"Compared to the exploration era, this is already good." Fu Ding said on the side.

Hearing this, Han Xiao also nodded.

The Shining World wilderness actually reflected the exploration era, but the difference was that the three major civilizations now had enough power to dominate the universe and suppress all those who did not obey, so they had the confidence to adopt gentle methods.

In the exploration era, when the various civilizations discovered each other, the first thought was to eliminate the other party. The war was raging, and there were heavy casualties, which was much darker than it is now.