Chapter 454 – The Gem Lord

The words “Spirit Court Guard” seemed to hold some sort of magic.

When the silver mecha, shining brightly, appeared at the forefront of the fleet, the lingering sense of impending danger that Lu Yuan had vaguely felt miraculously dissipated.

Clearly, he wasn’t the only one who could sense this change.

Many of the spaceships in the fleet also began to lower their energy shields that had been raised.

“Tsk tsk…”

Lu Yuan witnessed the entire transformation, and even though he had heard Lu Feng emphasize it repeatedly before, he still found it unbelievable.

“In the early years, space pirates were rampant within the Empire. Not to mention passing spaceships, some even dared to loot and massacre entire planets.

Later, several large-scale crackdowns on space pirates were carried out, nearly eradicating bandits in the Starry Sky…”

“The name ‘Spirit Court Guard’ is one that was forged amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood…”

“Now, the selection standards for the Spirit Court Guard have been continually raised.

To be selected, one needs at least level 7 strength, and must be among the true elites of level 7…

Moreover, the vast majority of Spirit Court Guard pilots come from nobility.

Ordinary space pirates wouldn’t dare to provoke them…”

Lu Feng commented with some curiosity, “Who would’ve thought, the Amethyst Guild could actually hire a Spirit Court Guard for protection. But I reckon it’s probably just a coincidence and a matter of convenience…”

Lu Yuan didn’t respond, still staring at the distant silver spaceship serving as the fleet’s protective talisman.

After the white mecha briefly revealed its identity as a Spirit Court Guard, it retreated, exuding an aura of arrogance and composure.

“According to Lu Feng, the Spirit Court Guard is somewhat akin to the imperial guards and the Yulin Army1 of old emperors…

They’re composed of elite noble descendants who are honing their skills for prestige.

With outstanding talent and a promising future, these individuals have significant backgrounds… If I were a space pirate, I would indeed avoid provoking such a presence.”

Lu Yuan thought, feeling completely at ease.

With the space pirate threat naturally lifted, [extraordinary contact] had gained a fairly useful item.

Lu Yuan felt that ever since the cuckoo bird had been away from him, his luck seemed to have significantly improved.

The journey continued smoothly, and five hours later, the sight of their destination-Planet Lirva-finally appeared in Lu Yuan’s view.

However, it was not as he had expected.

The surface of Planet Lirva, a resource planet primarily known for its mining industry, displayed vast expanses of green, suggesting a rather rich forest resource.

This was somewhat inconsistent with the information he had gathered before, which described the environment as harsh and lacking in resources.

He even wondered if they had arrived at the wrong place. It took Lu Feng confirming twice for him to slowly set aside his doubts.

Thanks to Lu Lingfeng’s prior arrangements, Lu Yuan and Lu Feng’s spaceship successfully detached from the fleet and landed smoothly on the surface of Planet Lirva.

There was no “security check” to go through, and they landed effortlessly at a designated spaceship docking point.

Upon landing, as soon as they stepped out of the spaceship, they saw a large group of elegantly dressed people quickly approaching.

Leading the group was a smiley, rotund man, exuding nobility, with all ten of his fingers adorned with sparkling gem rings. He waved at them enthusiastically from a distance.

Lu Yuan was slightly surprised.

He thought the Lu family only had a small business on Planet Lirva. Why were so many people here to welcome them enthusiastically?

Could it be that Lu Lingfeng was secretly more influential than he let on, and had actually established a substantial presence here?

However, it turned out that Lu Yuan was indeed overthinking it.

The elegantly dressed group, with their grand presence, continued approaching yet completely ignored him and Lu Feng. They directly walked past them.

Curious, Lu Yuan turned to look.

He then noticed a sleek, luxurious silver spaceship quietly hovering beside their own ship. It must have landed just moments after them, though they had not noticed its arrival earlier.

The welcome party was not for them, but for the people disembarking from the silver spaceship.

“It must be the spaceship of the Spirit Court Guard.”

Lu Yuan’s eyes flashed as he immediately recognized the identity of the sleek silver spaceship.

Lu Feng was right.

Their luck this time was remarkable.

Not only was there an esteemed member of the Spirit Court Guard traveling with their fleet, but their final destination aligned with that of the Spirit Court Guard as well.

“Wait a moment,” Lu Yuan called to Lu Feng, deciding there was no rush to leave.

He stood where he was, watching from afar as the door of the silver spaceship, surrounded by a throng of people, slowly opened.

A tall, slender young man emerged.

Dressed in a silver combat suit, his light gray hair casually draped over his shoulders.

His features were handsome and his demeanor graceful, exuding an innate sense of nobility and elite aura with every movement.

The young man’s perception was exceptionally keen; Lu Yuan’s gaze lingered on him for just a few seconds before it attracted the man’s attention.

“Let’s go,” Lu Yuan quickly averted his eyes, beckoning Lu Feng as they turned to leave.

…

“A friend of Lord Helier?” On the other side, a rotund man, adorned with gem rings on all his fingers, noticed the interest in the young man’s gaze and glanced at the two figures departing in the distance, inquiring curiously.

“No,” the young man referred to as Lord Helier replied indifferently.

Withdrawing his gaze, he looked at the crowd in front of him, holding bouquets and gemstones, putting on a grand display of welcome, which made him frown.

“You know I absolutely dislike this sort of thing.”

“That’s why I only arranged for less than a tenth of the usual welcome party…”

The fat man sighed, waving off the crowd around him, and then enthusiastically linked arms with the young man, guiding him forward with large strides.

“Come, come. It’s a great honor to have the esteemed Spirit Court Guard, Lord Helier, visit this humble place of mine… I’ve arranged a banquet, and tonight’s welcoming feast surely won’t end until we’re thoroughly satisfied.”

The young man was clearly unimpressed by the fat man’s exaggerated enthusiasm. He pulled his arm free and walked ahead alone, maintaining a cold demeanor.

The fat man, momentarily embarrassed by being brushed off in public, quickly regained composure.

With a smile still plastered across his face, he promptly caught up with the young man’s pace, continuing his effusive gestures of hospitality.

Only occasionally, when no one was paying attention, a faint hint of coldness flickered in his eyes, but it was expertly concealed almost immediately.

After Lu Yuan and Lu Feng left the spaceship landing point, Lu Yuan took out a spatial capsule they had brought along and transferred to a small surface aircraft to continue their journey.

Planet Lirva had a wonderful environment.

Gravity, climate, air composition, and radiation levels in the atmosphere-all aspects met the standards for a habitable planet as specified by Duoling’s official guidelines.

Upon landing, Lu Yuan barely needed any time to acclimate. He had worried about experiencing “alien reactions” due to what he perceived as the “poor” constitution of his current body, but all the preparations he made proved unnecessary in the end.

Not only Lu Yuan, but even Lu Feng was also a bit surprised by this.

“…I found out. It’s because Milorad, the Gem Lord and actual ruler of Planet Lirva, is determined to develop Lirva into a tourist resource planet. He has invested massive amounts of money and effort into this project… so far, it’s been quite successful,” Lu Feng explained to Lu Yuan after setting the small aircraft to autopilot mode and conducting a quick search.

Lu Yuan nodded slightly, keeping himself busy as well.

Upon landing, he connected his personal terminal to Planet Lirva’s local network and began looking up the distribution of the major mining companies on the planet.

The results of his search were quite satisfying.

Among Lirva’s key industries, the extraction of bismuth metal undeniably ranked second.

The foremost industry was gemstone production.

Planet Lirva was richly endowed with various precious gemstone mines.

Furthermore, Lu Yuan discovered that Planet Lirva was also a prolific producer of Source Worms, and the annual exports of live Source Worm specimens and Source Worm extract were significant contributors to its economic output.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Lirva is truly a treasure-laden planet brimming with resources.

“No wonder that fat man looked like a nouveau riche. Turns out he really is one…” Lu Yuan mused.

The actual controller of Planet Lirva was a man known as the Gem Lord, who happened to be the rotund man leading the welcoming party at the landing point.

A quick search on Planet Lirva’s network easily brings up his picture.

“Milorad Will, fourth in line to inherit the Earl of the Will Family.

Planet Lirva is the Will Family’s private fiefdom, handed over to Milorad once he came of age.

It was initially an inconspicuous little resource planet, but in just a few decades, Milorad transformed it into an enormous gold mine, earning himself the widely known title of ‘Gem Lord’…

Wow, Milorad’s story is quite legendary,” Lu Yuan mused, reading through the profile of the “local tyrant” Milorad on the network.

However, after quickly familiarizing himself, he shifted his attention back to more pressing matters concerning him.

He was about to visit the Lu family’s own enterprise, a modestly sized Ram Silver mine.

Ram Silver is more valuable than bismuth iron and bismuth silver and is also a crucial metal for forging mechas. The market demand has been consistently high, while its production remains low, making it quite profitable.

The Ram Silver mine Lu Yuan was heading to had four mining sites, with the Lu family controlling just one of them.

Even so, it still managed to bring the Lu family more than eighty million Duoling Coins in net revenue annually.

“Earning income equivalent to a Level 1 Mecha every year without lifting a finger-mining is really the way to go,” Lu Yuan thought as he closed the information on his device, shutting his eyes to silently plot his next course of action in his mind.

The small aircraft flew over dense jungles, eventually landing within a lush, pristine forest.

Looking down from the aircraft, Lu Yuan saw a cluster of low, pure-white buildings.

In the middle of the complex, in a small square, stood about a dozen people scattered around, looking up at the sky.

In the distance, the rumbling sounds of heavy machinery working away echoed continuously.

With a natural demeanor, Lu Yuan watched quietly.

“Pshhh-“

The aircraft landed, and the hatch opened.

As soon as Lu Yuan stepped out, he heard someone loudly exclaim in a slightly unpolished official Duoling dialect, “Welcome, mine owner!”

Then there was a smattering of applause.

After the applause subsided, a burly man with brown hair and a pale face quickly approached Lu Yuan from the crowd.

“Mine owner, we’ve been eagerly awaiting your arrival…” the man called out loudly, his voice brimming with excitement.

He rushed forward as if he intended to kneel and kiss Lu Yuan’s feet, but was coolly blocked by Lu Feng, who was acting as a bodyguard.

Despite his attempts to get around Lu Feng, the man couldn’t find a way past and ended up looking a bit embarrassed. Finally, he offered an awkward smile and, standing just outside Lu Feng’s reach, he respectfully bowed to Lu Yuan, saying, “Mine owner, the mine manager Wolf greets you…”

Lu Yuan smiled at the burly man who introduced himself as Wolf and nodded in acknowledgment.

He then cast his gaze around the area.

Including Wolf, there were fifteen people gathered to welcome him.

Most of them appeared burly and robust.

At that moment, all eyes were on Lu Yuan.

He noticed that many of them looked at him with a peculiar kind of scrutiny, their gazes flickering.

“Hello, everyone,” Lu Yuan greeted them with a friendly smile.

There was no response.

Wolf shouted, “The mine owner is greeting you! Are you deaf?”

Only then did the group respond with a half-hearted chorus of, “Greetings, mine owner.”

“Damn it, all those rehearsals earlier were a waste!” Wolf cursed under his breath at his subordinates and then turned to Lu Yuan with an apologetic expression, saying, “Mine owner, please forgive them. My crew is made up of rough folks who don’t know much about etiquette. I’ll make sure to train them better…”

“No worries, no worries…” Lu Yuan quickly waved his hand dismissively. Then, looking a bit sheepish, he added, “I may be the mine owner, but I’m new here and don’t know much yet. I’ll need time to get familiar with everything. Wolf, isn’t it? I’ve been traveling for over half a month now, and I’m really exhausted. I need a good rest. For now, just carry on as usual, alright?”

“Yes, mine owner,” Wolf replied.

After hearing Lu Yuan’s words, Wolf responded respectfully and quickly called someone over to lead Lu Yuan to rest.

Lu Yuan seemed quite satisfied with Wolf’s attitude. He followed the miner guiding him, but after taking a couple of steps, he noticed that Lu Feng was still standing there like a statue, with a cold expression and not seeming to watch anyone in particular.

“Hey, let’s go!” Lu Yuan called out, sounding a bit “impatient.”

After a brief pause, Lu Feng finally started to follow.

…

As Lu Yuan and Lu Feng’s figures gradually disappeared into the distance, Wolf, who had been slightly bent over all along, slowly straightened his back. The warmth and deference on his face faded away, replaced by a natural aura of coldness and malice.

“We really overthought it,” a middle-aged man with a cold gaze walked leisurely to Wolf’s side. Watching Lu Yuan and Lu Feng depart, he sneered, “He’s nothing but a fool who knows nothing… A mine owner? What a joke!”

Narrowing his eyes, Wolf spoke calmly, “Let’s observe him for a couple of days first. This kid might be a fool, but the one beside him isn’t. We need to figure out a way to get rid of that guy…”

“Alright.”

With just a simple glance from Wolf, the gathered crowd quickly dispersed.

Footnote:

1. Yulin Army(御林军): The “Yulin Army” refers to the elite imperial guards in ancient China, tasked with protecting the emperor and the imperial palace.