Direction

"Fernand, my dear old friend, I've received your message. I'm delighted you've given me such an important opportunity, and as a token of appreciation, I'm not hesitant to show my generosity to you. Those three Yuga crystals are a little personal gesture from me, hoping you'll like them."

"As for that thing, honestly, I can't come up with that much money for bidding, but I'm willing to offer a Lamssal mine with a proven reserve of no less than ten million tons as payment chips. The ore enclosed in the box comes from there. After you test it, you'll find its grade reaches twenty-six percent, making it a typical high-grade ore in Lamssal, extremely valuable for extraction."

"Of course, I know this might not be enough, so I've also sent something else. The metal piece in the box is a new generation alloy produced by my company. We plan to use it as the core material for the new Titan-class mechs, and I call it Uranus. I know you're good friends with Marshal Lackto of the Resource Management Council. If you're willing to recommend this alloy to him, ensuring it becomes the main material for the new mechs, I promise to establish a new company immediately, where you'll own fifteen percent of the shares. It's a big deal, and I believe it can bring a continuous stream of wealth."

"As per your arrangement, I've entrusted Director Caro as the custodian and deliverer. Director Caro is a trustworthy friend, and of course, I've already expressed my gratitude to him."

"Finally, best wishes to you. Your best friend, Daniel Hanlon."

In the command hall of the Abrodi, Reno and Claire looked at the letter from the mining tycoon together.

"Wow!"

After reading the letter, Claire exclaimed, "What on earth is worth exchanging for a high-grade Lamssal mine? And yet, it's still not enough?"

Reno, with a serious expression, pondered for a moment before saying, "What could a research institute studying the Holy Artifact have that's worth trading?"

"Oh my God! You don't mean... the Holy Artifact?" Claire finally realized, finding the answer inconceivable. "How dare they?"

In contrast, Reno wasn't surprised.

Behind enormous risks lay huge benefits, and precisely because the Holy Artifact was so crucial, it held value for resale.

In human society, risky ventures for the sake of profit were as numerous as grains of sand in the Ganges, and there was no need to delve into their relationships. Rather, it only confirmed what Reno had said minutes ago: the existence of the Holy Artifact wouldn't promote human society but rather only benefit the wealthy and powerful.

What was happening before them was undoubtedly such a situation. The head of the Fernando Research Institute had acquired a piece of the Holy Artifact through theft, concealment, or misinformation, and informed some big corporate bosses, waiting for their bids. Of course, something like this couldn't be solved with money alone, as the amount involved was too large. Even the bosses of major corporations had to consider using some fixed assets as investments.

The director of Edward Hospital was the messenger between Hanlon and the director of the research institute, and the thirty million anonymous bonds were probably his reward.

From the letter, it seemed more than just Hanlon intended to buy the Holy Artifact, meaning Hanlon's offer might not be the highest.

With such high value, it was no wonder the head of the research institute would resort to such actions.

"Maybe it's the Zero Target," Reno suggested.

"Hasn't the Zero Target already lost its energy?" Claire asked.

"Exactly because it lost its energy, it's easier to avoid attracting attention from higher-ups. Just think about it, conduct some experiments and tests, find all the available data, then casually say it was destroyed during the experiment, and then sell it in secret to someone else. For those business conglomerates, even a Holy Artifact without energy might still be useful. You know, in such cases, there's always some residual energy left. It might not change anything, but it might be enough for research," Reno explained.

"They couldn't research anything; the Federal Academy couldn't do it," Claire remarked.

"Just because the Federal Academy couldn't do something doesn't mean private conglomerates can't. Whether it's funding, talent, or something else, some massive private conglomerates might be no worse than the Federal Government. Most importantly, they're more efficient and purpose-driven. As long as they see something worthwhile and dare to act, then believe me, behind that is an unwavering belief and value worth investing in!"

"You mean..."

"They might have a deeper understanding of the Holy Artifact than what we already know," Reno replied confidently.

Claire folded her arms. "Well, this is interesting. Answers that even the Federal Government couldn't find might be found within private conglomerates?"

"It's hard to say, but the specifics might only become clear once we've had firsthand contact."

"Handsome contact?" Claire was surprised. "Do you mean..."

"Go to the Tianhe IV!" Reno answered firmly.

Claire shook her head. "Are you out of your mind? Reno, that's a subordinate base of the Federal Academy, heavily guarded! Going there would be suicidal!"

"Not going is equally suicidal," Reno replied.

His response left Claire stunned.

She didn't understand.

Reno stood up and grabbed Claire's arm. "I know this might seem unthinkable to you, but Claire, have you thought about what we should do after leaving Earth?"

"After leaving Earth..." Claire fell silent.

Yes, they had escaped Earth, but what now?

Where could they go?

Everywhere was Federal territory.

As fugitives, leaving Earth didn't mean they were free; it just meant they had jumped from a smaller cage to a larger one. But no matter where they fled, they would inevitably be hunted by the Federation.

In such a situation, how could the spirit of freedom exist?

Claire hadn't thought about it.

She instinctively didn't want to think about it and couldn't face the cold, harsh reality.

But she could avoid it, while Reno couldn't.

As the leader of this organization, he had to face it.

Looking at Claire, Reno said, "Freedom has arrived, but danger has only just begun. Along the road ahead, we're bound to encounter many troubles that require everyone to face together. And to unite everyone, relying solely on the spirit of freedom isn't enough. Do you remember the leadership lessons we once took? The existence of an organization requires many things to sustain it. It's like a tall building: it needs a foundation, pillars, bricks and tiles, support beams. An organization is the same; it needs regulations, personnel, and most importantly... it needs direction!"

"A troop without direction is a lifeless troop. Look, the Abrodi has left Earth, but we have no idea where we're headed next. The hearts of the warriors are adrift; they don't know what they're fighting for or what the future holds. We must give them a goal, something for everyone to strive for, to fight for!"

"I once set freedom as the goal, but I found it too elusive, too elusive, too unreal. If there's something truly tangible, something close to us to pursue, it can truly unite everyone's hearts."

Claire understood.

She looked at Reno. "Aim for the Holy Artifact?"

"Yes! Our destiny began with the Holy Artifact, so it should continue because of it. We are the beneficiaries of the Holy Artifact; we have a unique opportunity, perhaps, we are destined to be the ones to uncover the secrets of the Holy Artifact."

Claire understood. "So what's your plan?"

"Announce it directly; it's time for everyone to understand everything," Reno said calmly.

With that, he opened the intercom. "Warriors of the Spirit of Freedom, I am Johnny Reno. There are some things that need to be told."

On the Abrodi, Johnny Reno's voice echoed slowly.

With a heavy and melancholic tone, Reno recounted everything that had happened in the past two months.

The once bustling starship fell silent instantly.

At the command post, in the cabins, at various positions on the starship, busy and idle warriors alike stopped what they were doing, listening quietly to Reno's speech.

The questions that were once confusing, perplexing, and incomprehensible finally had answers at this moment.

The despicable government, shameless bureaucrats, greedy businessmen, all of this, was the hand of darkness that caused their suffering.

And behind these hands, pushing everything forward, was the unknown mysterious Holy Artifact.

"To find the Holy Artifact, to unravel its secrets, to explore the unknown of this universe... This is the future path of our Spirit of Freedom!"