Qu Jianlei ultimately chose to land in a hilly area, with no one around.

Based on his years of experience surviving here, it should be late winter and early spring, with the ice and snow yet to completely melt.

He couldn’t help but feel a bit fortunate; if he had arrived a bit earlier, he might have encountered starships dumping garbage.

He sensed his surroundings and found no trace of Awakened beings, so he called out to Little Lake and landed.

Keeping 3344 suspended in the air would continuously consume Energy Blocks, and although he wasn’t short on money, he couldn’t afford to squander resources like this.

Then he dug out a ship vault and placed the replica warship inside, sealing the entrance.

Qu Jianlei didn’t completely screen off this vault; he set up several discreet receivers.

This ensures that he can remotely contact the 3344 ship when needed, and Little Lake’s avatar can bring the warship out.

As for himself, he released a Space Mecha and directly entered it.

This kind of Mecha is pathetically small, at an altitude of several thousand meters, virtually impossible for anyone to notice.

Of course, this is only because it’s on Garbage Star, where the air quality is dreadfully bad and radiation is severe.

The Space Mecha is of the agile close-combat type, fragile and short-legged.

However, here, the defense is adequate, and there’s hardly anything that can threaten it.

Short legs aren’t an issue; he carries numerous Energy Blocks with him, and how large can the entire Garbage Star be?

The key is that the Space Mecha is fast enough; he doesn’t need to travel in his physical form and waste Spiritual Qi.

Qu Jianlei extended his perception, piloting the Mecha as it flew at an altitude over two thousand meters.

The speed is indeed exceptionally fast; he deliberately slowed down to avoid missing any clues accidentally.

After flying for not long, he sensed gunfire below, indicating a battle or hunting happening.

He shook his head helplessly; the late winter, early spring period is the most difficult for Hong District.

The food stored during winter has run out, or some people directly succumbed to freezing and starvation, and the living ones need to come out and hunt.

Therefore, it’s the cruelest time; not just in the wild, even in the Settlement, ugly scenes can be seen everywhere.

But he didn’t intend to meddle; those conflicts often cannot determine who’s right or wrong. Is it wrong to want to survive?

After all, it’s a matter of scarce resources, and even if he were Supreme, he couldn’t single-handedly change the situation of Garbage Star.

He used less than half a day to perceive the entire Hong District, ensuring nothing was overlooked, then piloted the Mecha through the mountains.

Mutant Beasts were flying in the mountains, and he encountered several B-level groups and one A-level.

Mutant Beasts were hungry for an entire winter too; seeing the Space Mecha, they dared to rush up and gang up.

However, it was futile. Without relying on the Mecha’s defense, a Spiritual Attack from him caused the Mutant Beasts to plummet.

Even the A-level couldn’t withstand his single strike.

Honestly speaking, he was now too lazy to land and collect Crystals; these things were nearly useless to him.

Yet, Little Lake, the money-lover, couldn’t let go, "Even a B-level Crystal is worth thousands. Boss, are you living frugally?"

Thus, when he came out of the mountains, his inventory had increased by four B-level Crystals—the A-level one didn’t have a Crystal.

Compared to those Crystals, what made Qu Jianlei happier was having more Mutant Beast Meat, some of which were quite delicious.

Including the combat and scavenging, he took less than half a day to fly out of the mountains.

Thinking back on this mountain, which once took him and Flower Scorpion more than half a year to traverse, it’s hard not to feel some nostalgia.

The perimeter of the mountain still held the Secret Vault he once dug, with no signs of disturbance.

However, he was truly too lazy to go in and check; those Mutant Beast meats might not spoil, given that he used a lot of salt to preserve them.

But he was quite sure he didn’t have the skills to cure Jinhua ham; after more than twenty years, it’s better to let it go.

Next is Zone Zhou Character, where Awakened beings appeared, but more were Modified Warriors.

Qu Jianlei spent a day screening and found these people weren’t remarkable, clearly not extraterrestrial visitors.

He even visited Bentley and Flower Scorpion’s Secret Cave, but with no results.

Feeling a bit unwilling, he perceived the Zhou Six Settlement again, but found no signs of Cindy and Claire.

What happened to this mother and daughter... Qu Jianlei felt a bit of doubt.

He had cared for them enough, but since he had decided to move on, he should forget them.

Life and death are too common on the Wasteland; two women... encountering anything is normal.

The Guardian of Zone Zhou Character was no longer Zheng Weifang; the post must have changed hands long ago.

Qu Jianlei didn’t gain anything from Zone Zhou Character and moved on to Universe Character District, spending another two days but still yielding nothing.

Garbage Star indeed isn’t large, but the severe pollution can somewhat distort Spiritual Power.

Qu Jianlei wanted to screen thoroughly, yet didn’t wish to release too strong a perception to avoid being discovered and was concerned about missing something, so speed couldn’t be fast.

Fifteen days later, he finished searching the Profound Character District, feeling somewhat mentally fatigued.

Thus, he excavated a cave, set up a Spirit Gathering Array and a Defense Array, and rested for five days.

When he emerged fully replenished, he discovered that a large number of Mutant Beasts had gathered at the entrance, frantically attacking the cave.

Fortunately, Little Lake was controlling the robots, adding Energy Blocks to the Defense Array, so there weren’t any major mishaps.

"These creatures have a perception ability stronger than that of Awakened ones?" Qu Jianlei was slightly surprised.

Without a doubt, these creatures sensed the Spiritual Qi from the Spirit Gathering Array, which drove them mad.

Seeing the sheer number of Mutant Beasts, Qu Jianlei didn’t bother using Spiritual Power and instead unleashed a barrage from the Machine Cannon.

For a moment, blood and flesh flew everywhere, and many Mutant Beasts were directly blown to pieces.

After slaughtering about two-thirds, the Mutant Beast pack scattered in retreat; their intelligence wasn’t high, but they finally knew fear.

Qu Jianlei didn’t pursue them and instead cleaned up the corpses, obtaining one A-level and two B-level Crystals.

Then he sensed the surroundings and piloted the Space Mecha to fly into the sky.

Two hours after he left, a few off-road vehicles arrived.

"It’s been so long since the gunfire stopped; the team should have already left. That firepower is no joke."

"Whoa, lots of Mutant Beast corpses; we’re hitting it big... That off-road vehicle, you guys better stop!"

Qu Jianlei knew someone was watching from afar, but such things are hard to avoid, given the heated battle.

It was good that his firepower was so overwhelming that those people didn’t dare get too close, keeping a distance of seven to eight kilometers or more.

Visibility in the Profound Character District was pretty high, but that’s about as far as it went.

In the Wasteland, maintaining a visible distance like this is a show of respect, meaning they don’t want to interfere.

However, from such a distance, they can only see the gunfire, not the details.

That’s why he took out the Mecha, flying directly into the sky to leave.

As for anyone scavenging the Mutated Beast Meat he left behind, he didn’t care—after all, it’s what he didn’t want.

Resources in the Wasteland are limited, so he thought he might as well contribute something here.

Such hyena-like scavenger teams used to cause him considerable trouble.

But now things are different; he doesn’t need to consider them at all—the leftover beast meat can be picked up at will.

Like a lion feasting on its prey, having its fill, and leaving the leftovers for hyenas or vultures to eat—does it even matter?

That’s right; he’s grown powerful enough to reach this level now.

It’s not about looking down on these scavenger teams in the Wasteland; he doesn’t even have the mind to do so—it’s more of... a little pity.

Qu Jianlei originally thought that returning to the Garbage Star once would bring him some joy, like the feeling of returning home in triumph.

The people who once oppressed him, the things he frowned upon, he wanted to settle them, relishing his revenge.

But now, he found little interest; the situation had changed, and he felt less inclined to care.

Would the king lion of the grasslands care about the whimpering of a defeated dog or the noise of vultures?

He wouldn’t bother paying attention; at most, he’d swat them dead out of impatience.

A three-kilometer wide river stretches from the Profound Character District to the Celestial District, still not fully thawed.

Qu Jianlei vaguely remembered spending quite a bit to cross it back then, with Bentley’s connections.

Now, trying to remember how much he spent, it’s completely forgotten—likely only a few hundred silver coins.

Everything is different in the end.

The Space Mecha crossed the river with ease from ten thousand meters in the air.

Sure, the Energy Block expenditure might have been more than hundreds, but he didn’t bother calculating, as long as it was convenient.

Once he arrived at the Celestial District, he immediately sensed that something was amiss. Not only were there significantly more Awakened ones, but their strength had greatly increased.

Crucially, many of them were quite young, seeming to have considerable potential.

"These are the people!" Qu Jianlei’s eyes narrowed slightly; he finally found his target!

He never expected to precisely pinpoint Bentley or Flower Scorpion; rather, his goal was to find people from the Divine Text Association.

Xiang Xue had mentioned that the Divine Text Association was searching for Cultivation Technique clues on the Garbage Star and had dispatched many people.

Currently, what Qu Jianlei lacked most was manpower.

While he’s reached a Supreme status, handling everything personally poses risks if Spiritual Qi falls short during action.

Out of caution, he wouldn’t overestimate himself nor underestimate his opponents.

He believed that even if the Divine Text Association couldn’t capture Bentley and others, tracking clues wouldn’t be a problem.

With so many important individuals appearing in the Celestial District, it indicates that Bentley and others are likely hiding there.

He had once established a manor in the Celestial District that nobody dared touch; Flower Scorpion and others had cultivated there.

Sensing now... sure enough, the manor next to Taikoo is vacant.

There are four or five Awakened ones, along with some ordinary people; clearly, this base has already been discovered.

So, where exactly are Bentley and the others hiding?