If it were a powerhouse on the level of the Four Emperors, defeating hundreds to millions of ordinary people from the cold-weapon era would hardly be a problem.
Once strength reaches that realm, there is no such thing as "ants killing an elephant."
No matter how many ants there are—they are still just ants.
What's more, most top-tier experts possess Devil Fruit abilities that can rightfully be called natural disasters. The power they wield is enough to trigger genuine calamities upon the world itself.
Take Crocodile's Sand-Sand Fruit, for example.
Alone, it was enough to plunge the entire kingdom of Alabasta into a decade-long drought—no rain for ten years. Countless cities and villages were buried beneath endless seas of sand.
So, what level of power, what realm of existence do the Four Emperors and the Admirals truly belong to?
With a mere wave of their hands, they can summon earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, thunderstorms, ice ages, volcanic eruptions—cataclysms capable of shattering nations and destroying the world itself.
In truth, when facing alien races who still relied on primitive weapons like blades and firearms and excelled only in close combat, humans should have held an absolute advantage.
It was no exaggeration to say that if not for the sheer vastness of the interstellar empire's territory, humanity might well have pushed straight through—fighting all the way to the enemy's doorstep.
Perhaps the reality was far more complex than what the space pirates described.
Many powerful humans may not have died under the empire's siege at all—but were instead trapped on distant planets, unable to escape. Over time, this led to the fragmentation and eventual collapse of the human race as a whole.
After all, within the memories of the space pirates, there were still traces of human enclaves scattered throughout the known universe.
Few in number—perhaps only a handful per star region—but undeniably real.
Of course, these interstellar humans were no longer the same as the humans of Blue Star.
They had effectively become a different species altogether.
They had lost the powerful physiques and terrifying combat strength of their ancestors, degenerating into beings barely distinguishable from ordinary cosmic races.
Some cosmic species with exceptional racial talents could easily slaughter dozens of interstellar humans on their own.
They had become a weak race—bullied by anyone at will.
…
…
When Burgess and the others heard Xiao recount the ancient history of humanity and the universe, the human members of the crew instinctively straightened their backs, pride blazing in their chests.
There was no helping it.
Who wouldn't feel proud knowing their ancestors had once been so powerful, so ruthless, so unstoppable?
Their forebears had faced an unimaginably vast interstellar empire head-on, each individual confronting countless enemies.
And yet—even so—they had nearly brought the empire to its knees, forcing both sides into mutual destruction.
Some of the more hot-blooded members even wished they could travel back to that glorious era, fighting side by side with their ancestors.
"Captain! I found Arcturus Crystals!"
Commander Dashan arrived, respectfully presenting a box of gemstones recovered from the space pirate ship.
"Good. Lock the space pirates up first," Xiao said, taking the box.
"Yes, sir!"
Dashan dragged the captured space pirates out of the cabin with one hand.
After he left, Xiao opened the box.
Inside lay shimmering crystals—radiant, translucent, pulsing faintly with inner light.
"So, this is the Arcturus Crystal," Xiao murmured. "Even more dazzling than gold."
Van Augur carefully picked one up. The light within flowed endlessly, as though it contained an inexhaustible reservoir of energy.
This was the famed Arcturus Star Crystal—a universal currency throughout the known universe.
It was not only an extraordinarily valuable energy source, but also an indispensable raw material for manufacturing solar sails.
Arcturus Crystal possessed a unique property:
It could absorb one hundred percent of the colossal energy emitted by stars and store it safely.
When melted, drawn, and processed through specialized techniques, it could be spun into thin yet resilient solar silk threads. These threads, once woven together, formed the core structure of a solar sail.
If instead shaped into a crystalline matrix, it became the core component of the solar sail engine itself.
In truth, the entire solar sail system was built upon Arcturus Crystal.
Beyond that, the crystal could also serve as a standalone energy source—providing continuous power in regions of deep space where starlight was scarce or nonexistent.
Because of this, Arcturus Crystal became a treasure coveted by all civilizations in the known universe.
Once the method for artificial synthesis was cracked by the imperial family, it gradually evolved into a unified interstellar currency.
The reason the space pirates had risked raiding the barren lunar ruins this time was simple:
They had stumbled upon a mysterious treasure map.
Their objective was to seize the extremely valuable Arcturus Crystal reserves hidden within the ruins of the Moon People—along with their lost technologies.
To be fair, without the lure of profit, who would willingly risk their lives to enter a region universally labeled a cosmic forbidden zone?
Originally, the space pirates believed the excavation would go smoothly.
After all, with Blue Star's current technological level, humans could barely even leave their own planet.
Unfortunately for them—
They had overlooked one crucial variable.
A genius had been born on Blue Star—someone capable of building a moon-landing spacecraft.
And so, they were intercepted by Xiao and his crew.
Had it been the original Enel who arrived, the pirates might have merely been beaten bloody and chased off in disgrace.
But once Xiao entered the picture—
Even their underwear was stripped clean.
After a brief discussion, Xiao ordered the excavation of the lunar ruins to continue.
He himself remained aboard the ship, sitting alone and basking in the moon's sunlight.
One leg rested casually atop the table as he turned a large Arcturus Crystal over in his hand, lost in thought.
His gaze drifted toward the technical schematics of the solar sail.
This technology was completely open across the known universe—so simple that even an eight-year-old child could build a solar skateboard.
Slowly, a daring idea took shape in Xiao's mind.
Should he… integrate this technology directly into his cultivation system?
After all, the weaving method of solar sails relied on energy matrices.
And the meridians of the human body—especially at the Foundation Establishment stage—
Could also be seen as an energy matrix of flesh and blood.
…
(T/N: Lol he's really eager to become a Temu Superman)
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