Chapter 810 - 329: "Reach the Summit, or Die.

"Where did you hear all this gossip today?"

"Joking aside, the Starfire Civilization participated in the top battle once, almost got wiped out though, which is why it became a peace-loving wanderer civilization."

"Why must you put ’peace-loving’ in front of wanderer civilization?"

"Without that prefix, wouldn’t it make us look like homeless dogs?"

"And with it, we’re not?"

"With it, it makes us look like we started wandering because we love peace."

"True."

Chen Mang nodded, leaning back in his chair, quietly relishing the tranquility of the moment: "So, this top battle you speak of is to become a ’Divine-level Civilization’?"

"Naturally."

"But, isn’t there more than one Divine-level Civilization?"

The old man’s mouth twitched slightly, turning his gaze to Chen Mang: "What are you trying to say?"

"What I mean is, since it’s a top battle, logically speaking, to truly reach the top you should step on all Divine-level Civilizations, right? Just becoming a Divine-level Civilization among others, what kind of top battle is that?"

"The pinnacle should only have room for one."

"If there are many people, then it’s not the top."

"..."

The old man closed his eyes with a sigh of frustration, speaking weakly: "I now deeply regret signing the civilization mutual aid agreement with you. Just please, never mention my civilization’s name when you encounter a crisis."

"To step on all Divine-level Civilizations."

"If you can actually do that."

"You would be the number one in the Cosmos, you could theoretically unite the entire Cosmos, you could even halt this top battle forever, and you should create a new term above Divine-level Civilization."

"What do you think of Emperor-level Civilization?"

"Not quite there."

"I’ll think about it for you, and when you reach the top, you can see if you want to use it."

"Alright, I’ll leave it to you then, think it over well."

"No problem."

The old man sighed helplessly, dismissing Chen Mang’s words as idle talk, feeling that in this atmosphere, it was hard to communicate seriously.

"There’s something else, a second thing."

Chen Mang continued with a smile. He wasn’t sure how far he’d go, but since he’s on this path, he naturally should aim a bit higher, even though he didn’t care much for power.

He just wanted a good night’s sleep.

But there were always people who wouldn’t let him sleep peacefully.

He kept finding crises that disturbed his peace from time to time.

Once he reaches the top, he can sleep soundly.

"I got in touch with an Advanced Civilization; not sure of its exact level. All I know is that someone within this civilization has contracted a Level 9 Ore site. I approached it in a special way, and the mine owner doesn’t know much about me yet. I want to get some information about Advanced Civilizations from him, or more rules of the cosmos."

"But I’m not clear about the etiquette when dealing with people from an Advanced Civilization."

"I’m worried about exposing my origins from a low-level civilization or having my cosmic coordinates leaked."

"Do you have any good advice?"

"Level 9 Ore site..."

The old man nodded thoughtfully: "Someone who can privately contract such a site must be from an Advanced Civilization, at least a Fifth-level Civilization, as Fourth-level Civilizations surely don’t have the resources to contract out a mine containing about 1 trillion units of iron to an individual."

"With such civilizations, my suggestion is to have as little contact as possible..."

"I’ve never interacted with them; it’s very likely they have some unpredictable means to obtain all your information, including cosmic coordinates. But a mine contractor shouldn’t have such means. As long as you speak the cosmic language fluently without showing fear, it should be fine."

"How about this."

After a pause, the old man continued: "Generally speaking, the stronger the civilization, the older the cosmic language they use, which gives a higher impression of status. I happen to know some ancient cosmic language, although I only know a few words."

"Such as yes, no, hello, and so on."

"I’ll teach you these basic ancient cosmic language words, so when you interact, it makes you seem like you’re from an ancient advanced civilization."

"In the cosmos, ancient often signifies powerful."

With that said.

The old man cleared his throat, and with a serious expression, croaked hoarsely: "Ah bah ah bah!"

"..."

Chen Mang’s mouth opened slightly, finding it difficult to imitate such syllables, extremely tongue-twisting, but this was the peculiarity of cosmic language. Though he couldn’t understand the meanings of the syllables uttered by the old man, he could grasp the weighty feel of their meaning.

"Forget it."

"I won’t learn it; later I’ll bring someone over, and you can teach him. I’m planning to send him to interact with the mine owner for now."

"Alright."

The old man cautioned: "But be careful, remote communication is fine, just don’t reach the other party’s civilization domain. Generally speaking, these Advanced Civilizations can see a person’s civilization name and level from the Civilization Mark within their body, which would expose you immediately."

"That shouldn’t happen."

Chen Mang hesitated slightly; he was still unsure what form his interaction in the dream would take and unclear on how he appeared to the mine owner as a miner in their eyes.

Ghost?

After all, from time to time, he would get killed by armed robots, yet would appear again the next day, which didn’t seem like normal behavior.

The last time the armed robot didn’t even fire, but offered a note, clearly losing its patience.