When Qu Jianlei slipped away from Half-Star Island, he had nearly seven million Energy Blocks on him.

Then he buried more than two hundred thousand Energy Blocks at Celestial Hook, leaving him with 6.5 million.

After coming out of Star Thief Nest and reaching the abandoned Mineral Star Body, he used almost a million—after all, it's two warships.

The gravity at Star Thief Nest was small, so he tried to save as much as possible, and since there was no teleportation or battles, the consumption wasn't much.

After coming here, he spent over two hundred thousand Energy Blocks on modifying his residence and warships, leaving just over three million.

Having warships indeed feels grand, but the expenditure is really too high.

The remaining Energy Blocks are roughly enough for one short-range jump, plus a small battle.

Qu Jianlei didn't want to resort to robbery, but in the Imperial society, it's truly a man-eat-man world!

However, Xiao Hu kept a rather simple-minded honesty, "Robbery...is it right?"

Qu Jianlei had already steeled himself, responding nonchalantly, "Where the Star Thieves go, I can go too."

Xiao Hu softly suggested, "I feel like doing this might set a bad example for the little ones."

Qu Jianlei sighed, "But I want to live, isn't that okay? Don't worry, we'll rob the heartless rich!"

Actually, it didn't take much mental preparation. After creating the Spirit Gathering Array, he clearly realized that he was racing down the "wanted" path, with no turning back.

Just surviving one Thunder Tribulation, several Supreme beings came blocking him with warships; mind you, at that time he even had help from a Supreme.

So will the Spirit Gathering Array, an array that can provide "Alien Energy," at least not attract two beings above Supreme?

The fact is, weakness is the original sin; the Golden Core isn't strong enough and certainly can't compete with medium and large warships.

Qu Jianlei believed that even if he hid on a Habitable Star, the Empire would not hesitate to deploy large warships for the Spirit Gathering Array.

As for whether the warship's attack could accidentally harm civilians? So be it.

Just look at Garbage Star, look at the Divine Text Association, and look again at the rule that "researching divine text leads to clan extermination..."

Everything proves that as long as there's enough profit, the Empire doesn't care about human lives.

If you've all done it, then how am I wrong in robbing to survive?

Another twenty days passed, and the initial modifications to the warship were completed, dropping the number of Energy Blocks to 2.8 million.

"Let's set off," Qu Jianlei, aboard the "Gao Fang Warship," quietly left the star body.

The warship carried all the remaining Energy Blocks; this was him forcing himself into a corner.

Close to bankruptcy, survival itself would become an issue; he truly had no way back.

Xiao Hu was a bit worried, "If we get into a big fight, these Energy Blocks might not be enough."

When the warship travels normally in space, energy consumption isn't very high, but in battle, it might be astronomical.

Not just "when a cannon fires, a thousand Gold pieces," the energy cost of an attack can be roughly estimated.

But defense is a bottomless pit; as long as the Energy Shield isn't destroyed, it consumes a massive amount of Energy Blocks at all times.

So, the best defense is a good offense; the ancients spoke true.

Qu Jianlei replied with a smile, "That depends on your skills; this time we can only succeed."

"It's still a bit nerve-wracking," Xiao Hu said nervously, but with a hint of eagerness, "It's the first time using a warship."

Previously, it always watched Qu Jianlei fight and even went directly into sleep mode.

As an artificial intelligence, it didn't crave battle much, but always being unable to help made it somewhat disappointed.

An AI should assist its user in solving problems, shouldn't it?

Now, it was its turn to be the main offensive force; just thinking about it, the main control system felt a bit warm.

Qu Jianlei comforted it, "Don't overthink it, don't hesitate... just avoid people as much as possible."

In robbery, hurting people is inevitable, but for an AI, it was akin to breaking a boundary.

Once an AI has killed, even in protecting its master, it becomes different.

Qu Jianlei was very mindful of Xiao Hu's mental health; even in robbery, he didn't want it to harm anyone.

"I'll handle the killing; you need to keep your slate clean."

Big Head Butterfly responded, "You've already destroyed my purity; even if Tie Ling was killed by me, I'm more mature than you think."

Are you talking maturity to me? Qu Jianlei was speechless, "I didn't expect you'd take the blame for Tie Ling's death yourself."

"It's just a Star Thief; killing him, so what?" Xiao Hu wasn't heavy-hearted, "This time, we're also killing those heartless rich folks!"

Qu Jianlei felt a bit helpless listening to this; I'd love to rob a Cargo Starship, but... the Energy Blocks won't allow it!

Robbing a Passenger Starship was taboo; he didn't want to rob from passengers.

As for Cargo Starships... those of no value aren't worth robbing, and high-value ones might be escorted by warships, making it very difficult.

Qu Jianlei didn't want to fall too far, much like "even though I have tattoos, smoke, drink, and curse, I'm still a good girl."

So he chose to target the Mineral Bodies in the Asteroid Belt for robbery.

Doing this is somewhat taboo, as the rabbit doesn't eat the grass near its burrow, but... this rabbit was close to starving!

Currently, the extraction of Mineral Bodies is done by major powers and their subordinates.

For any large power, regardless of the industry, it's basically impossible not to have original sin.

In the process of development and growth, no one can have smooth sailing.

The weak cannot protect their own interests at all, and at the very least, some shady dealings will occur.

Not to mention the various consortia behind these major powers, there's no dirtiest, only dirtier.

This kind of bone is actually hard to chew on, with fleets protecting the mines, it's likely to require considerable cost.

But Qu Jianlei can't care about all that now; after all, the mineral star body is right there, more convenient than camping out at passenger or cargo starships.

This time, he has his sights set on an asteroid called "Iron Shavings," with a diameter exceeding two thousand kilometers.

The asteroid is mainly composed of iron ore, hence the name Iron Shavings, but it is actually rich in a variety of minerals.

The mining rights to this star body belong to a mining group called "Titan."

This group spans multiple star realms and is prominent in the entire Imperial mining industry, mainly focusing on iron ore.

Behind Titan, there is also the support of two large consortia, with considerable profits.

Besides iron, the asteroid is mainly rich in vanadium and titanium, both very useful metals, and importantly, their content is very high.

The density of this star body is so high that it even has an atmosphere, but the environment is extremely harsh.

The temperature remains below minus one hundred degrees annually, with a maximum of minus sixty or seventy degrees, and there are year-round, relentless storms.

This environment makes mining a bit difficult, but the high content can't be ignored.

Because of the valuable accompanying minerals, Titan Group has built a refinery on the planet.

Iron ore, in this universe, is not considered a rare mineral, it's a bulk commodity.

But as the saying goes, rich mines beat everything; bulk commodities win by volume.

Qu Jianlei chose this place mainly for three reasons.

The first is the harsh environment here, where the starship's invisibility function can be very effective.

The second is that there's a refinery here, so there are plenty of energy blocks.

The third is an extension of the first reason; the harsh environment deters many coveters, and the defense here isn't very strong.

After all, bulk commodities are a natural barrier, without a sufficiently strong channel, taking this place means nothing.

Even if you seize the star body, if you can't sell the mined minerals, what's the point?

So the protection forces here aren't very strong, and the main defense means are near-ground counterattacks, with weak space fleet power.

For a bulk mineral star, gains and losses are mainly about the big picture game, and profits depend on cost control.

For Qu Jianlei, this place is very suitable, robbing and leaving really isn't pressured.

After all, there's a trend among thieves to scout beforehand before a heist? Star thieves also choose their targets very precisely, not recklessly.

After spending a day and a half, the Iron Shavings star body finally appeared.

Xiao Hu activated invisibility to the limit, and the starship, like a ghost, quietly approached the celestial body and entered the storm.

"The storm is strong now," it murmured softly, "feels like it's reaching Blue Star's level seventeen..."

"This tiny star body can have such strong winds, won't it escape the gravity?"

Qu Jianlei casually replied, "Just treat it as a white dwarf, aren't there no star bodies around?"

Xiao Hu murmured in a low voice, "I always feel that the information we got may not be accurate."

Qu Jianlei was speechless, this possibility indeed objectively exists, after all, his information came from star thieves.

But can these large powers disclose the actual situation to star thieves? It's really hard to say.

However, the next moment, he said, "According to the plan, find Sinkhole No. 3 and preferably locate the refinery."

Intelligence indicates that Sinkhole No. 3 is a recently developed mining vein, with the nearby refinery having some years.

When Titan Group was building the refinery, they already considered the direction of the next mining phase, which is not surprising.

Such harsh weather is still a major challenge even for high-performance military warships.

After about an hour, Xiao Hu finally locked the direction, "The direction is wrong, but the refinery is really huge."

Another ten minutes later, a voice came through the intercom.

"Starship hull number 3344, starship hull number 3344, please identify yourself, please identify yourself."

Sure enough, this invisibility capability is somewhat lacking and has room for improvement.

"Stop moving, stop moving, or we will take necessary measures, or we will take necessary measures."

Damn, discovered already? Qu Jianlei sighed silently, it seems the invisibility function still needs enhancement.

He also activated the transmitter, "Be honest, and... huh?"

Already nearing the location, he noticed several warships attacking the ground defense fortresses.

The blinding light, unstoppable even by the strong winds.

With the wind so strong, what he saw wasn't very clear, but undoubtedly, the refinery and the mine caves were under attack.

"This is... someone found the soft spot and struck first, huh?"