Chapter 101: Securing Sovereignty over the Starship Controls

The vast amount of energy crystals radiating a brutal aura made Du Yun feel uneasy. She stepped back a little, her face pale as she leaned against the wall to rest quietly, contemplating the next move.

“Master, I just traced the direction from which the command was issued. The control room should be this way,” Douzhi suddenly spoke up while Du Yun was deep in thought.

“Can you find the control room and take control of the starship?” Du Yun’s spirits lifted at these words. At this moment, everything else was secondary; the true priority was leaving this zombie-infested planet safely and smoothly.

“I should be able to. As the brain core, no device at this moment should be able to surpass me!” Douzhi said proudly, to which Du Yun instinctively gave a small smile.

“What’s the matter?” The leader, seeing Du Yun’s reaction, mistook it for discomfort and hurried over with a worried expression.

“Nothing.” Du Yun shook her head. Seeing the leader so anxious over her, her mood, which had been sour due to the energy crystals, eased considerably.

“Let’s find the control room. Living in fear like this is no solution.” Du Yun said to the leader. Without control of the starship inside, they risked being repackaged by it again at any time.

It was truly a stroke of luck that everyone escaped the energy crystal warehouse unscathed earlier. Who knew if they’d be so fortunate next time?

Following Douzhi’s directions, the group soon arrived at a large door. The door bore no markings, making it difficult to be sure if it was indeed the control room without entering.

“How do we open this door?” Du Yun was at a loss. This was the first time she’d seen such an advanced door—aside from a green panel, there were no handles or key slots in sight. How was it supposed to open?

“I’ll try!” Lia smiled slightly at Du Yun’s perplexed look. As the deputy leader, Lia’s notable family background, formidable combat skills, and excellent programming decryption abilities made her indispensable to the leader’s team.

“Alright.” The leader nodded in approval, trusting Lia’s capabilities.

Since Du Yun had no clue about the door, she chatted with Douzhi while Lia busied herself. “Douzhi, how do you think this door should be opened?”

“Master, if you place your hand on the nearby touch panel, I can decrypt the door. I can even swiftly hack the starship’s control system,” Douzhi declared confidently.

“Just like that?” Du Yun raised an eyebrow skeptically. Her luck was never great. Even with Douzhi’s help, it was mainly assistance. Used to relying on her own efforts, the idea that Douzhi could solve things directly made her feel uneasy.

While Du Yun chatted, Lia struggled with a palm-sized device used to decrypt programs, scanning and interfacing with the door repeatedly but making no progress. Her expression darkened.

After half an hour with no breakthrough, Lia’s face had turned pale, sweat beading on her forehead. Her lips pressed tight, she was clearly distressed.

“Lia, are you alright?” Da Zhuang approached with concern. The leader watched closely but said nothing or moved closer.

“Leader, sorry. I’ve never seen a program like this. I tried many methods, but none worked,” Lia shook her head stubbornly and continued working. Another fifteen minutes passed with no progress before she reluctantly approached the leader with an apologetic expression.

“It’s alright. We’ll find another way,” Da Zhuang comforted her hastily, his overly attentive demeanor raising suspicion.

“Mm.” The leader simply responded, showing no sign of trouble outwardly but inwardly feeling uneasy. To return safely to Emperor Star, gaining control of the starship was essential. Now, they couldn’t even open the control room door—how could they expect to take command?

“I’ll give it a try,” Du Yun noticed the leader’s predicament and spoke up quietly when no one else was talking.

“Are you sure?” The leader looked up in surprise, clearly not expecting someone from the mountains like Du Yun to know anything about such high-tech equipment.

Lia, originally dejected, suddenly lifted her head and looked at Du Yun with a complex gaze—surprise, doubt, and mostly disbelief. She couldn’t believe Du Yun could crack a program that the so-called “Queen of S-Team Programming” herself couldn’t.

“Try and see,” Du Yun found Lia’s reaction amusing. She reached out and placed her hand where Douzhi had indicated. Instantly, countless numbers danced wildly in her mind.

The sensation was fascinating. In no time, the numbers arranged into a sequence, and the green door slid open with a soft whoosh.

“Go in, be on guard!” Du Yun, seeing the door open, immediately extended her spiritual awareness over the room, confirming no danger before stepping into the control room first.

The control room sprawled over hundreds of square meters. Aside from a circular console in the center, the walls were lined with operation desks. Countless monitors surrounded the room, each flickering with green characters—none of which the group could understand.

“Douzhi, seize control of the starship,” Du Yun said, placing her hand on the central console and issuing the command. Douzhi responded cheerfully, clearly pleased with her order.

“What are you doing?” Lia watched Du Yun’s actions with wide eyes, never having seen anyone hack a program without tools, simply by hand.

“Taking control,” Du Yun said casually, looking up at Lia, who stood half a head taller. She caught the look of astonishment in Lia’s chestnut eyes, as curious as a cat, which made her smile.

“Just like that?!” Lia questioned, skeptical. Securing control of a lifeboat was tough enough, let alone an entire starship.

The matter didn’t end there. To her astonishment, within just a minute, the green gibberish on every monitor disappeared, replaced by the starship’s full operational status.

“You really got it?!” Lia’s eyes widened in disbelief, her entire understanding upended. It was simply unbelievable.

“Master, mission accomplished!” Douzhi’s cheerful voice echoed in Du Yun’s mind.

Well done!