Starting Cultivation in Wasteland-Chapter 462 - 334: Blinded by Greed

Rosanna’s response made the other three Supremes of the Celestial Level Teams very dissatisfied.

Especially Scarlet Headquarters’ Supreme Hou Yueran, who was almost about to explode with anger—one of their A-levels was dead and the other captured.

However, they had no way to force Rosanna, as this woman came from a significant background.

Firstly, she is the second daughter of Viscount Norton, an Imperial noble, and the Norton family is one of the rare nobles with fiefs.

Secondly, she has awakened with a Mutated Attribute and, having already reached the Supreme level, ordinary Supremes would not provoke her.

Moreover, she married well; although her Cultivation Level is only A-level, her husband is the legitimate son of an Earl and holds a high position in the government.

As for her role as a Tributor to the Diamond Team, it was merely the weakest link among her many auras.

Not only Hou Yueran, but even the two Supremes from the government didn’t dare to meddle with her.

Thus, the investigation team had to put aside the Diamond’s betrayal for now and review the entire incident first.

However, no matter how they spun it, they couldn’t avoid the Diamond aspect.

Hou Yueran insisted on using severe punishment on the Diamond members—at least the enhanced version of the Truth Serum.

Rosanna resolutely disagreed, stating that as long as she was there, she wouldn’t allow such actions and, if necessary, would take them back to the Empire for interrogation.

Considering such a significant matter, all involved should be carefully investigated.

Detaining those a bit suspicious for three to five months is quite normal, and one to two years isn’t surprising either.

But with Rosanna’s interference, the other three Supremes of the Celestial Level Teams didn’t agree.

Want to investigate our people? Start with the Diamond members first, or we can’t explain to our team members!

They didn’t mention their dissatisfaction—being Supremes, they had to account to those below them, didn’t they?

So, although others were questioned, it was merely superficial, including Qu Jianlei.

Qu Jianlei indeed had a questionable background, and his amnesia excuse was rather poor, but his brilliant war achievements were undeniable.

Moreover, he had rescued Fangcao, Spirit Fox, and Hongyun from the hands of the Star Thieves; these three were adamant in their defense of him.

Despite his unclear origins, he wasn’t heavily suspected, and even Rosanna didn’t particularly target him.

Meanwhile, the interrogation of those Star Thieves continued.

In the blink of an eye, about ten days had passed, and on this day, someone finally extracted a bit of information from the Star Thieves.

It turned out that the Star Thieves occupied this Pioneer Planet not because they found it particularly appealing as a long-term base.

According to one Star Thief, he had once heard someone mention—"We can stay on this planet for at most twenty years."

Later, when he kept asking, the other party didn’t say much more and only mentioned under pressure that the mine could be exploited for thirty years.

Thus, he got the impression that the Star Thieves occupied this place to mine it.

The mine was large, but the timeframe was tight, so they first targeted the easily exploitable parts, aiming to extract enough for twenty years to be satisfied.

Upon hearing this involved mining, the Supreme from the Energy Block Alliance couldn’t sit still—without this suspicion, he wouldn’t have come at all.

Pioneer Planets always involve various minerals, and the Energy Block Alliance has always paid close attention to Pioneer activities.

However, the Empire had regulations to prevent monopolies, prohibiting the Energy Block Alliance from participating in pioneering activities directly.

Focus on your Energy Block business, and don’t meddle in other fields.

The Qian Duoduo Team, to which Spirit Fox belonged, although supported by the Energy Block Alliance, wasn’t directly affiliated—at most, they were attached.

Moreover, Profound-level Teams were the upper limit for attachment; Celestial Level Teams couldn’t be affiliated with the Alliance—they simply couldn’t pass the Empire’s scrutiny.

Previously, the Supreme from the Alliance didn’t participate in disputes as he simply didn’t care to get involved in these matters.

But hearing it involved minerals, he jumped in immediately, "Leave the other Star Thieves to me for interrogation, as well as Diamond members."

Rosanna’s expression changed upon hearing this, "Isn’t this inappropriate?"

She dared to confront other Supremes, but she truly did not dare offend the one from the Energy Block Alliance.

He didn’t have her in his eyes at all, bluntly stating, "What’s inappropriate about it? What if it’s an Energy Stone mine?"

Previously, he remained silent because nothing had piqued his interest, so he kept a low profile obediently.

Now that minerals were involved, it clearly fell within his business scope, and he wouldn’t shy away from it.

The Energy Block Alliance was a vast complex of interests, and if it involved interests, not even a thousand Rosannas could be a match.

As Rosanna pondered her next move, Hou Yueran burst in from outside.

He bluntly stated, "I already know why the Diamond betrayed us... they want to conceal the Purple Gold mine!"

Upon hearing this, Rosanna’s face instantly changed, "Hou Zhigao, haven’t you been uninvolved in communication these past few days?"

If you’ve been uninvolved, then stop spreading rumors; is creating false buzz an ability?

Hou Yueran coldly glanced at her, "I’ve been perceiving around the Diamond’s Pioneer area these few days and found evidence."

Rosanna was taken aback for a moment before lightly coughing, "Are you sure it’s a Purple Gold mine?"

"I’m not interested in dealing with you!" Hou Yueran’s face darkened as he shouted directly, "Get out of my way!"

In the past, he only had suspicions, and he didn’t dare provoke Rosanna, but now with evidence in hand, what was there to fear?

The Supreme of the Energy Block Alliance became interested, "Is there an Energy Stone Ore?"

Hou Yueran glanced at him and answered flatly, "That’s within your investigative scope, unrelated to me."

Each Supreme has their own strengths and does not necessarily fear one another.

When it didn’t matter, he would back down, but concerning the murder of the two captains of Crimson, he could not relent.

"I was just curious," the member of the Energy Block Alliance didn’t mind, "how did you find out?"

This wasn’t much to talk about; Hou Yueran was annoyed, unable to provoke Rosanna but still unwilling to just watch.

Based on his experience, he believed something was wrong with Diamond, even though the Star Thieves were gone, Diamond’s territory remained, didn’t it?

He didn’t want to interrogate the Star Thieves’ captives. Only eight Supremes had come, and how many Star Thieves’ captives were there in total?

So, he went to verify it himself since Zarif Star wasn’t that big either.

Diamond Team’s responsibility area was even smaller, less than ten million square kilometers, mostly undeveloped.

The potential threat of this planet wasn’t significant, as it had been explored by several Supremes long ago, which is why an A-level was left to pioneer.

However, although the Supremes are strong, such a range of nearly ten million square kilometers couldn’t be thoroughly investigated in just a few days.

But Hou Yueran didn’t thoroughly investigate. Something worthy of Diamond and the Star Thieves colluding wouldn’t be resolved in just a few square meters.

So he roughly scanned it, and indeed, he found an anomaly.

The area wasn’t large, just tens of square kilometers, with unusual soil quality and strange aura.

Hou Yueran, having a Wood Attribute with strong Perception Ability, discovered the anomaly then hurried over to perceive it carefully.

And he truly discovered a clue; this place had been mined, only recently filled back in.

He probed further and discovered six large mining pits, big enough to accommodate large mining equipment.

Upon realizing this, Hou Yueran felt he had uncovered the truth.

He didn’t think it was an Energy Stone Ore because he had already checked at the start of the pioneer work; this planet lacked the conditions for Energy Stone ore formation.

But it had to be an important mine; otherwise, so much wouldn’t have happened.

He thought it might be a gold mine, and if a Celestial Level Team discovered a large gold mine, doing something outrageous... wasn’t surprising.

But after investigating, he suddenly found... this mine was indeed a gold mine but not just a gold mine!

Besides the gold, the core vein contained Purple Gold—a metal even more precious than gold.

This type of metal, besides industrial use, could also be used in the cultivation of Gold Attribute Superpower Warriors.

Generally speaking, only A-level or higher Gold Attribute Warriors are suitable for using Purple Gold in cultivation.

But in fact, B-level Gold Attribute can also use it for cultivation, though it’s not economically viable.

As for C-level... it hasn’t been tested, so it’s hard to say if it can be used, but even if it can, it’s definitely not economical!

Besides the Gold Attribute, the Wood, Stone, and Electromagnetic Attributes can also use Purple Gold for cultivation, just with relatively poorer effects.

After discovering the Purple Gold mine, the reason for Diamond’s rebellion became clear—they wanted to secretly mine it.

When the Pioneer Team discovers minerals on the Pioneer Planet, there are typically three choices.

One is to trade the mineral information, which can be sold outright or converted to shares for future income.

The second is to buy the mine themselves and then mine it themselves.

In this case, the purchase has a discount, but taxes are higher in the future, or they might introduce some Imperial shares.

The third option is a hybrid, combining the first and second types, but we’ll not elaborate further.

Yet the Empire has regulations that some minerals of significant importance cannot be purchased by the discoverer.

Whether from an economic or military standpoint, the extraction of certain minerals must be under Imperial control.

These mines can only be acquired by professional companies or even purchased by the Imperial authorities.

The pioneers who discovered the mineral would receive a hefty information fee and possibly merits as a reward.

Purple Gold mines are on the list of those prohibited from self-purchase.

The people of Diamond discovered the Purple Gold mine, which could fetch a huge sum if sold.

But the Empire isn’t foolish and won’t conduct losing business—even if the information fee is high, Guojia profits more.

Precisely because of this, the people of Diamond got sneaky; instead of selling the information, why not mine themselves?

However, self-mining would not easily keep news hidden; once leaked, severe Imperial punishment would follow.

So they colluded with the Star Thieves, letting them attack Zarif and extensively mine the Purple Gold.

All subsequent operations were Hou Yueran’s own conjectures, without any evidence.

But since the refilled Purple Gold mine was found, he no longer needed evidence.

No matter how Diamond would argue, the secret mining of Purple Gold happened in their responsible pioneering area!