Chapter 24: The Howl of the Blood Wolf, Section 5

The Wanderers’ lair remained eerily quiet. Aside from the occasional squirming sound of muscle tissue on the walls, there was not a hint of noise in the entire space. Hei Fa sat quietly on a fleshy armchair, his eyes lowered as if he were already asleep.

Time passed swiftly. It was unclear how many days had gone by since he entered this place. Hei Fa knew nothing about what was happening outside, nor did he care. His mind was filled with the beautiful image of Lily and the memories of the past. Before he knew it, his palms had sunk deep into the armchair beneath him.

Suddenly, a voice came from within the space. Unlike before, this time its tone sounded weary.

“I’m sorry, Hei Fa. I can’t do it.”

His body trembled slightly. Hei Fa’s eyes snapped open as he stared at the familiar face that suddenly appeared on the wall, his expression one of surprise.

“Can’t do it? Didn’t I leave you Lily’s cell samples? How is that possible?”

“Yes, Hei Fa. You indeed gave me samples from everyone under your command. Reconstructing their bodies isn’t difficult. But I’m sorry—this time it’s impossible.” The voice paused, tinged with helplessness. “After all, we Wanderers are just beings, not gods. We can only exert our power within our own domain. Beyond that, we’re not even worth an ant.”

“You mean it’s beyond your capabilities?” Hei Fa was stunned.

“Yes. This crystal does contain most of Lily’s memories. But the way these memories are stored exceeds my understanding. To be honest, even the humans who created this crystal would never have imagined such a peculiar storage method. Without fully understanding it, I can’t access her memories, let alone reconstruct her. Otherwise, all you’d get is just a shell.” The core was honest. Yet hearing its words, Hei Fa’s heart sank.

The core was right. Hei Fa had indeed overlooked this crucial point.

Just as the human brain is intricate, memory storage has always been the most difficult technology for all civilizations to master. The Wanderers might excel in biotechnology because they are made up of cells, but in this field, they’re no better than fools. Moreover, Hei Fa was now certain that something had changed in Lily’s crystal—so much so that even the core admitted even its creators were powerless to do anything about it.

A new memory storage pattern? Or a mutation? Black Hair was confused, feeling his mind in chaos. His complexion grew worse, and invisibly, that tyrannical aura surged again, as if a demon were stirring to life.
“Is there no other way?” In the empty space, Black Hair’s voice grew deeper.
“If it depends solely on our abilities, there is no way. But Black Hair, the thing you brought me last time gave me some inspiration.”
“What thing?” Black Hair was clearly stunned, clearly not understanding what Core meant.
“This.” A light yellow stone was thrown at Black Hair’s feet. He picked it up and examined it carefully.
“This is…”
“The Moors’ mental connection system. It’s also the substance that covered the back of the monkey’s head when you brought him last time. From what I understand, this material is more advanced than the best mental control crystals used by humans today, with a huge difference. Besides serving as a connection link, it can also store human memories. This is the key for the Moors to control living beings.”
“You mean?” Black Hair’s eyes lit up instantly as he stood up abruptly.
“That’s right. If you can help me obtain this part of the Moors’ technology and have your Black Prison followers analyze it, maybe I can figure out the memory storage pattern. Otherwise, I can’t help you.” Core’s voice sounded somber; perhaps it was the first time he felt sorry for his own limitations.
After hearing his explanation, Black Hair remained silent, but his mind was racing.
There was no doubt that the Moors’ technology was extremely advanced, and their military strength was unprecedentedly formidable. Black Hair knew well how difficult the choice Core had given him. Just facing two of the Moors’ reconnaissance ships had already put his fleet to the test. If he really had to confront their large-scale fleets, he doubted he could still win.
And memory storage technology was of utmost importance in any civilization. The Moors would likely be no exception. It must be kept in the most secure place. For some reason, Black Hair suddenly realized he seemed to have hit a dead end.
To obtain this technology, he had to defeat the Moors, yet the Moors possessed strength that even Black Hair feared. No matter how you looked at it, it was too difficult…
After a long silence, Black Hair finally sighed deeply. He no longer had the energy to speak and simply stood up to head outside.

When he stepped outside, Black Hair was shocked to find that a large crowd was already waiting for him. Blood Pupils, Monkey, Baroque, and others were all there, even little Su Lei stood quietly in a corner, looking at him with a worried expression. This left Black Hair stunned, thinking something else must have happened, and he hurried forward a few steps.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Your head…” Monkey stepped forward, trying to say something but then hesitated, feeling embarrassed. He touched his own head.

“Everyone… is very worried about you…”

Black Hair was momentarily stunned before realizing it. He had been underground for several days. His companions couldn’t see him, so they must be worried. But still, there wasn’t any need to make such a fuss.

Thinking this, Black Hair frowned and his tone became stiff.

“What exactly happened? Just tell me straight.”

“Nothing. It’s just that you’ve been down there for half a month. We haven’t seen you at all and were afraid something might have happened to you, so we came to wait for you. That’s all.” Su Lei was the first to answer, regaining her composure quickly.

“What? Over half a month?” Black Hair was astonished.

He never expected he had stayed in the nucleus’ lair for so long. There were no days or nights down there, and time couldn’t be measured. He had thought it was only a few days. Realizing this, Black Hair finally understood why everyone was worried. His expression softened, and he waved his hand. “I’m fine. Everyone can go. Su Lei, come with me.”

In Black Hair’s room, Su Lei clearly felt uneasy. She bit her lower lip, looking distressed, as if Black Hair was about to blame her, which made him feel awkward.

But there was nothing he could do. After all, this little girl controlled the resource allocation of the entire 31st Star Region. Although the Blood Wolf faction seemed impressive to outsiders, it was still a newly risen force. Though it had abundant resources, it lacked talent, especially in administrative roles. On that huge dead planet, apart from Su Lei, Black Hair couldn’t find anyone capable of managing affairs. It was truly regrettable.

Knocking on the table, Black Hair signaled Su Lei to sit anywhere. He then went to the bar and poured himself a glass of red wine, taking a gentle sip with a thoughtful expression.

The little girl was sensible enough to not disturb him. She waited obediently until he finished thinking.

She just couldn’t imagine that thinking about black hair would take up most of the day. It wasn’t until she grew impatient that Black Hair finally turned around.
“Xiao Lei, do our current resources suffice to launch a large-scale war?”
“How large?” The little girl blinked her cute big eyes and asked calmly.
“Very large, beyond your imagination. If I had to compare it, it would be on a scale covering the entire universe. Conservatively speaking, we’d need to include all currently developed star systems,” Black Hair said slowly.
Realizing his tone might have been too severe and fearing Xiao Lei would be scared, he added, “We’ll only involve a portion of them. Well, let’s assume it’s five star systems.”
“That’s impossible,” Su Lei replied bluntly after hearing Black Hair’s words.
“Although our current resource reserves are substantial, most of them have been used for developing Thor’s Fortress and upgrading warships. Mr. Black Hair, please forgive my directness. In my opinion, even the remaining resources can’t be used for war. With more and more requests from alien races lately, and those five natural planets also needing development, all of this requires resources. We won’t be able to allocate more resources for war in two months.”
At the mention of the five natural planets, a look of longing appeared clearly on Xiao Lei’s face. To be honest, she had never seen them in person. She had only heard others describe how beautiful they were. But once they were developed, she could go there. With her own savings, she had already decided to buy some land on those five planets and build a manor to enjoy. It was said there were many small animals there that weren’t afraid of people—exactly what the little girl loved.
“I see,” Black Hair frowned. “I understand. You’re in charge of resource allocation; I’ll just focus on harvesting. In that case, I’ll launch a few raids. It’s funny—being part of the Pirate Alliance for so long, I still haven’t raided anything.”
With that, Black Hair smiled at the surprised Su Lei and walked out of the room.
A storm was coming, and he needed to prepare for it. Walking along the road, Black Hair thought silently…