Chapter 29: Harmony of Light and Dark, Section 8

The alert was lifted, and everything settled. The pirates also relaxed.
Upon looking around again, they found that although the passage remained the same, it was no longer winding. What lay before them was a steeply descending corridor. It wasn’t long, and with the searchlights, they could even see the door at the end. Less than 300 meters behind them was the entrance to the tall tower.
At this sight, the pirates were speechless. They hadn’t realized that after searching for over an hour, they had merely been circling in a corridor less than a kilometer long. The illusion of the mirage was truly terrifying. If it hadn’t been for Blackhair and Bloodeyes discovering it early, they might have died here without ever escaping this damned place.
But could they continue searching now? After what had happened, the pirates’ morale had plummeted. They no longer had the ambition they had at first.
After all, even a thin camel is bigger than a horse. Although the Rockfolk were an ancient civilization, they were a highly advanced civilization capable of dominating star systems. The pirates had no idea what other tactics they might employ, especially in such an important tower. No one would believe that just one green elf was enough to handle things.
A mere mirage had almost left Blackhair’s group trapped here. If there was also a Stone of Light and Dark… Well, I admit I’m going crazy. Please don’t give me a reason to go crazy.
Thus, in the silent atmosphere, malicious gazes all turned toward the Hand of the Killing Emperor. There… a little creature unaware of its fate was still screaming inside its backpack.
Just as the great Lord Ashen Earth had said, its “courage” was surprisingly tenacious. When the first sparks appeared, it immediately stopped screaming in anger. When the sparks turned into flames, its voice turned to pleas. Even before Bloodeyes could bring the flame thrower closer, it spilled out everything it knew at the fastest speed possible.
It turned out that the place where they were now—Harmony of Light and Dark—was a altar of the Rockfolk. In the Rockfolk’s tradition, such altars not only held profound religious significance but were also the core of their existence. Each altar contained a Stone of Light and Dark. And throughout the Rockfolk’s domain, there were as many as eight such altars.

The Rockfolk are a very hardworking and honest race, and their daily task is digging. An excellent Rockfolk, from birth until the day of death, will dig passages long enough to circle a planet of standard size several times. The purpose of this digging is to find the negative energy crystals located at the core of the planet.

These are extremely strange crystals. In the words of the Gray Earthlings, such crystals only exist on the few planets inhabited by the Rockfolk—and without exception, they are buried nearly a thousand kilometers beneath the surface. They can only be found near the planet’s core. No one knows why they exist, nor how many there are in total. However, it is certain that these crystals possess very special negative energy. Collecting this negative energy not only satisfies the Rockfolk’s unique preferences but is also the only energy source that the Stone of Light and Dark can use after absorbing it.

As the saying goes, one will eventually run out of resources no matter how abundant they seem. Although the reserves of negative energy crystals are substantial, they have significant limitations—confined to just one star system. Even if all planets in that system were made of pure negative energy crystals, they would eventually be depleted due to the Rockfolk’s constant digging. This was the initial dilemma faced by the Rockfolk. But they had their own solution: they built the Harmony of Light and Dark. Through a series of mysterious transformations, this system allows the Stone of Light and Dark to convert and amplify the absorbed negative energy, releasing it again to create a peculiar force field. Under this force field, negative energy crystals are continuously regenerated—slowly, but enough to meet their needs.

Thus, the tall tower where Blackhair currently resides is actually the foundation for the survival of all Rockfolk on this planet. Without this tower, the Rockfolk would lose everything. Without negative energy, they would be no different from lifeless stones.

But that was in the past…

Since the war that nearly destroyed the Rockfolk, this planet has become a ruin. All the once-glorious buildings and civilizations were reduced to ashes under the fire of giant warships. As for this tall tower, although it still stands due to its sturdy material, it no longer has the function of converting negative energy. As for Blackhair’s target—the Stone of Light and Dark that once destroyed an entire fleet…

“What? It’s already been destroyed!?” Bloodeyes roared. His twisted face became even more ferocious.

“What a joke. The Stone of Light and Dark I know can plunder any energy source. Those warships’ weapons are also energy weapons—how could they possibly harm it?”

“Tch. You arrogant, vicious, brainless adult. How much do you actually know about the Stone of Light and Dark?” The green elf Gray Dust sneered at Bloodpupil from within his backpack. “Stealing energy is fine, but that crashed spherical ship was carrying fire sand. Do you know what that is? A substance that seems harmless at first but can cause violent reactions if not handled carefully—damned, cursed stuff. Energy theft has no effect on it because it’s not energy at all!”
“But it can cause terrifying, destructive, catastrophic explosions!”
“It’s explosives!” Blackhair immediately understood what Gray Dust meant by fire sand.
Indeed, for a mysterious entity like the Stone of Light and Dark, which could steal any form of energy, explosives were indeed the most effective destructive tool. Since they weren’t energy in the first place, they weren’t affected by the Stone at all, but the explosions that occurred after its energy-draining aura passed were deadly!
So, that huge sea-urchin-shaped warship seen in the war footage was, in essence, a giant bomb!!
No wonder it could ignore that black light that devoured all life force. No wonder it could still destroy an entire tower even after being hit by that black light and losing all its energy. Blackhair truly admired the audacity and madness of these invaders. He himself couldn’t possibly resort to using such massive warships as sacrificial fodder.
After all, the total number of warships on Death Star wasn’t even a thousand…
But now… Blackhair narrowed his eyes and glanced at the backpack on the Murder Emperor’s right hand. “So, there’s nothing left in this altar now? If that’s the case, you’re of no use to me.”
“Wait… wait!!” The green elf panicked immediately. How could this clever and cunning creature fail to understand the implication in Blackhair’s words? His voice trembled with fear.
“My ability is disguise. I can definitely help you, great, noble, honorable, kind sir. Trust me, a poor green elf. And I also know that although there’s no longer a Stone of Light and Dark on this planet, there’s still one place in this star system where it definitely exists.”
“Oh? Where is that?” Blackhair immediately became interested. A glint appeared in his narrowed eyes.

“Haha, Saturn! The core planet of the Stone People! Unlike other planets, it has not one altar but two—one as a backup. If any Stone People are still alive, they must be there! I know its location and can lift the camouflage around it. Please, you must take me with you!” The little creature spoke at machine-gun speed, fast and urgent, as if fearing it would be abandoned if it spoke slowly.

Hearing its explanation, Black Hair finally smiled. With a wave of his right hand, his Blood Wolf Pirates surged like a tide into the lower gate.

Although the tower was abandoned, there might still be valuable things left. Black Hair wasn’t some pious fool; if he was going to leave, he would take something with him.

As it turned out, his actions once again brought him great benefits.

When they returned to the Moor Giant Ship, more than thirty tightly sealed large boxes were now in Black Hair’s landing craft. These boxes were guarded fiercely by his Blood Wolf Pirates, and no one except Black Hair and Blood Eyes was allowed to approach them. Some curious Octopus crew members tried to defy this rule and were thoroughly beaten.

They were all negative energy crystals.

Five hundred meters deep beneath the tower, buried under rocks, there were still reserves of the Stone People’s stockpile—something no one had expected. It was only after Green Elf Gray Soil explained that they understood these reserves had been used by none other than Gray Soil himself.

Even camouflage required energy. Without negative energy crystals, even the mighty Toutu people couldn’t work without running out of power. That was Gray Soil’s exact words. Only then did Black Hair realize this guy had hidden something from him. His earlier claim that he was captured to trick the Stone People likely included these crystals as well.

Men die for wealth, birds for food… Indeed, no creature can escape this rule…

With a sigh, Black Hair’s fleet finally stopped its pointless search of the planet and soared back into space. But unlike when they first arrived, this time they had clear coordinates.

Haha, Saturn—the former core of the Stone People, their capital!

There… there must be something Black Hair wants.

“The Stone of Light and Darkness… I must get it.” Gazing at the pitch-black starry sky outside the window, Black Hair shook the glass in his hand, raised it toward Blood Eyes beside him, and drank it in one gulp.