Perhaps because Damian was present, Lilith became extremely brave and hardly encountered any difficult opponents next.
"First-level extraordinary mainly enhances physical strength. You can find a suitable breathing rhythm yourself to speed up recovery."
"Do you have any surplus energy crystals? If not, go to the market and buy some, aiming to absorb at least one every day."
"The watch has built-in detection functions. When you have nothing to do, turn it on. Don't worry about energy consumption; the train provides free charging for watches."
With Damian's guidance, Lilith's team became increasingly formal and organized. In the afternoon, Lilith flew back to the train with her spaceship and either handed in the collected resources for tasks or directly exchanged them for rewards. They found that just this trip earned them 600 energy crystals.
"Damian, what's your account number? I'll transfer some money to you."
"No need. Focus on yourself. Use the money to upgrade equipment instead of storing it. Saving money is the most stupid behavior."
Damian didn't continue with Lilith's team to explore other planets. Instead, he returned to the cockpit to understand the daily harvest of all guilds in detail.
"Guilds registered yesterday basically broke even today. Now Jace's Hope Guild has the most money with 2000 deposits. By the way, Flying Fish, are my products priced too low?"
[Suggest raising prices.]
"Haha, I was joking. Not necessary. The quality of the bronze battle axe and K3 pistol is too poor. They can be upgraded to consume their deposits."
...
Jace's spaceship had just returned to the train when he changed his medium transport ship with each carrying capacity reaching 200 tons.
"Jace brother, don't you want to rest for a few hours? I can lead the team," the vice president suggested seeing Jace's bad mood.
Jace shook his head: "I heard there are new energy medicines on the market. I'll go buy some. It's different from you; you're single and don't have any burdens. I have a baby at home, so my wife has to stay on the train to take care of him, which is why I've been working so hard."
The team was inspired by him and worked very hard. At the market, Jace found new products.
"Upgraded Bronze Battle Axe 2.0, valued at 100 Star Coins."
"K103 Automatic Rifle, valued at 20 Star Coins."
He decided to buy five upgraded battle axes and ten rifles along with ammunition, which reduced the assets of his guild significantly.
"Boss, we discovered a group of star beasts in the desert, estimated to be over 1000, possibly led by a second-level beast," his subordinate reported from the planet. Jace bought another ten rifles decisively. "The more we invest, the more profits we make; we shouldn't save money." He immediately flew back with the spaceship to hunt again.
Other guild leaders also operated in this manner. As soon as they repaid their debts, they would immediately replenish their weapons and equipment and strive to upgrade their core members' combat power to maintain sustainable development.
In the following days, Damian went out again once but didn't seek out Lilith; instead, he practiced on his own. On the fifth day of the stopover, almost everyone on the train had woken up, with the number of guilds reaching 8000. Most were small guilds that would gradually be swallowed up by large guilds. Due to increasing demand for spaceship rentals, Damian ordered factories to hurry up production, striving for surplus of small and medium-sized spaceships.
Now looking at the wealth list, Hope Guild ranked first with 15000 Star Coins, followed by Science Guild with 12000 Star Coins. Then came Orion's Night Guild with 9000 Star Coins. Previously, Damian had a higher opinion of Dominate Guild, but it only had 2000 Star Coins in deposits. Cedric was poor at management and unwilling to listen to others' advice, spending money haphazardly or using money to attract extraordinary individuals to join, leading to extremely unhealthy development of the guild.
[Master, do you need to provide guidance?]
"No need. Those who lack ability will eventually be replaced." Damian unfolded the screen widely and could see dense red spots on the target planet, each representing a passenger with a population of over 500000.
"We only need half a month for them to clear out this planet, then we can set sail." Although various guilds were developing, they were essentially working for Damian, gathering all resources in the storage layer of the train. All Damian needed to do was offer products in the market; he could control prices at any time.
Just as Damian was preparing to take another stroll around, Flying Fish reported an alarming news.
[The exploration spaceship fifty billion kilometers behind us has detected abnormalities; the stars are collapsing towards us.]
"What do you mean by 'stars collapsing?'" Flying Fish provided an animated demonstration. It was endless blackness spreading across the stars, completely shattering and dissolving everything - whether nebulae, planets, or even stars or black holes.
"Wow! Even black holes are shattered. How powerful is this force!"
[I will provide 300 hypotheses.]
Damian checked the hypotheses and one convinced him most: The universe is collapsing, and the explosion of Purple Star is just a prelude. Now, this collapse is spreading along our route, forcing Damian to change his plans and not stay in one place for too long.
"Damn it! Immediately felt the crisis; originally I was relatively relaxed. Flying Fish, calculate when the collapse will arrive here."
[The stars will collapse within five hours in this galaxy; it is recommended that Master depart four and a half hours later.]
"It's too risky. Immediately issue an announcement; the train will depart three hours later; let everyone immediately return. If there are any abnormal situations, report promptly."
Damian ordered the unrented starships to stand by and be ready to provide assistance at a moment's notice.
The sudden announcement sent waves of panic through the passengers scrambling across the planet. None had anticipated such a development.
"What should we do, President?" Lilith's scientific union had just detected a pack of star beasts and was mobilizing for containment. She flicked her wrist device to pull up the alert details. The glowing text screamed Maximum Emergency. Departure in 3 hours. No delays.
"Obvious choice, immediate return to the train."
Anyone with half a brain would abandon resources-in-hand for the extraction. For the next three hours, starships flocked like migrant birds into the landing bays. Merchants hustled last-minute trades while crews swapped tales in the chaos.
Damian smirked at his own foresight. Queuing starships would eat critical time; following Fu Yao's earlier suggestions would've left them racing clockwork. Yet as the deadline neared, Fu Yao's system pinged: 2,000 personnel unaccounted for.
"What game are they playing?"
[They intend to remain on-planet to forge a new civilization.]
Damian's smile frosted. "Assume they're playing hero. No rescue deployment. Let them rot—perfect cautionary tale." He tapped the comms. "Prep main engines. Recall all reconnaissance drones, but leave one observation craft."
Fu Yao acknowledged, already executing commands.