I became a god by treasure hunting after arriving 500 years early

"So that’s how it is..."

Lu Yuan rubbed his hands together, feeling a surge of excitement.

Perhaps through the aliens, it might be possible to contact humans?

"Old Cat, you’re so clever to have figured this out," he patted the plump cat.

Old Cat "chirruped" and bobbed its head, looking quite smug: "There’s only a fifty percent chance, I’d advise you not to get too sentimental and invest too much effort."

"Maybe they won’t even bother with you."

More obviously, an unknown civilization would not just abolish the Safe Zone because Lu Yuan is outside...

An alien outside, and they just retract the Light Screen? That would take a big heart.

Any normal civilization wouldn’t act like this.

This fact left Lu Yuan scratching his head with impatience.

He had no superpower to cross the "Safe Zone," he could only hope for the other party to take the initiative to communicate.

Taking a deep breath, he shouldered his backpack and first measured the temperature upstream.

He headed downstream along the river.

"The water temperature has a difference of 1-2 degrees..."

In the area where the color of the river had subtly changed, he lingered for a while but could not discern any reason behind it.

"If there really is a Safe Zone hidden here, the creatures inside must be able to see me..."

Lu Yuan had a brainwave and came up with a great idea.

He crawled into the tent and took out the large metal ball from the Storage Space, facing the river.

The metal ball took up one cubic meter of the Storage Space, and although it was completely scrapped, he still carried it with him, as it contained many precision parts that Old Cat needed.

Isn’t this the perfect time to use it?

"If the others also have a Communicator, seeing this one in my hand will surely arouse curiosity... then they’d take the initiative to contact me using a Divine Skill."

"Humans have Divine Skills, this civilization couldn’t possibly lack them."

"I could use their Communicator to contact humans. Then help both sides establish diplomatic relations! Perfect!" Lu Yuan couldn’t help but feel excited about his own ingenuity.

Of course, he still held back, as he didn’t write the human civilization’s code directly on the ground.

Even if a Communicator wouldn’t kill a human, recklessly exposing human information is not a good thing.

He had to first assess the unknown civilization.

"Lu Yuan, I’m not against you trying to communicate..."

"But I need to remind you, the flow of time inside the Safe Zone is different from ours here, their response will inevitably be slow." Old Cat, seeing the look of anticipation on Lu Yuan’s face, couldn’t help but pour cold water on his plans. It has always been the voice of reason, "Unless you’re prepared to stay here for several years, they might just start to respond."

"Second, I think there might be some risks in this place."

"Even in arid lands, there’s always a relentless river, but the wildlife around here is too sparse... particularly the number of large creatures is far below average."

Lu Yuan hummed and did not argue.

He admitted that Old Cat was right, but you’re acting all high and mighty, which annoys me.

"It’s not like we’re going to encounter another ’demon’."

"Demons are already mid-to-high-level disasters... Most disasters should be much weaker than demons, otherwise it would be impossible to live in this world." Old Cat spoke the blunt truth, as it always did.

"Then I’m not scared of a damn thing... Slay the demon and incidentally complete a milestone of civilization."

Your next chapter is on empire

Old Cat: ...

Lu Yuan was actually just in good spirits, bragging a bit.

A disaster is still a disaster after all.

The smallest anomaly falls on an individual, it’s a mountain all the same.

And the time now wasn’t the first year of the Pangu Era anymore.

It was already the fifth year, the sixth month.

But there was no need to worry overly.

The Pangu Continent was vast, supernatural phenomena abounded, he couldn’t possibly take a detour just because there were fewer animals here; otherwise, he’d be detouring forever and never reach Sky City.

A fire had started, water boiled, food cooked, and once more he scanned the surroundings with the Pioneer’s Eye, carefully inspecting the environment.

[Tibetan Flower: A common drought-resistant plant with toxic alkaloids, which deter animals from eating it. Its blossoms serve as a natural red pigment.]

[Pu Pu Grass: A common drought-resistant plant that is non-toxic and vitamin-rich. However, it contains a high level of cellulose, making it indigestible to you.]

[Mutated Purslane: A common wild vegetable that can be served cold or stir-fried. It provides the human body with nutrients like protein, methionine, and riboflavin.]

Well, for the moment, no strange phenomena were observed, but he spotted quite a few tasty wild vegetables instead.

"Old Cat, get to work!"

The need-not-eat Old Cat went to gather vegetables with an expression as if life had lost its flavor.

Lu Yuan then dived into the river and with his long spear, speared several fish. Today’s protein was secured.

An array of expressions danced across his face; it had been a long time since he’d had a feast, so he might as well make it a good one.

He took a small iron pot out of his backpack, added a bit of oil, kneaded some dough, and made a few hand-grabbed pancakes. His cooking skills were indeed quite good now, the layers of the pancakes as thin as paper, biting into them revealed interlaced strings of dough that one couldn’t stop eating.

He also stewed a pot of fish soup. The fresh fish, once descaled and the wild vegetables combined, created a soup thick and flavorful, the fish meat chewy and satisfying.

"I’ve trekked thousands of kilometers, all for a taste of this fish," he exclaimed.

"Comrade, what does the fish soup taste like?" Old Cat asked.

"Delicious."

"Crunch, crunch!"

Old Cat kept scratching itself and soon started glitching again, and so Lu Yuan gave it a bowl of soup; although it couldn’t eat, the AI malfunction magically went away—it had to be admitted that the creature was quite ill.

A few groundhogs were lured by the scent of the pancakes and crept closer quietly.

These dim-witted creatures kept staring with big, dumb eyes, getting closer and closer without a clue.

Lu Yuan gave them a few pieces of pancake.

Their paws were quite dexterous, like human fingers, grabbing the pancakes and stuffing them into their mouths, soon making a "squeak, squeak, squeak" sound.

"So your cries aren’t just a single ’ah’, social media really is misleading," Lu Yuan remarked, enjoying feeding the little animals, although these creatures might spread diseases.

Old Wolf watched with mild boredom as the groundhogs finished their meal and proceeded to squabble meticulously—it was now a dog and had no interest in hunting these small animals.

"You guys keep watch outside, I’m going to take a rest," he said.

Lu Yuan returned to his tent; it had been such a long time since he had a siesta.

He put on "Leo’s Mask," and even though it had been damaged by fire, it still greatly enhanced his perception.

In a hazy state, it felt as though a third eye had grown out of the back of his head.

This eye was highly myopic, yet it significantly augmented his sixth sense.

Because of the many dangers in the Pangu Continent, he always wore the mask even while asleep.

Gradually, Lu Yuan drifted into a deep sleep, and for some reason, he found himself in a state akin to a Qingming Dream.

His consciousness, as if detached from his body, floated above the Pangu Continent, gazing at the near-infinite expanse of the vast world. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Not far away, there was a rainbow-like Light Screen blocking his path... Could that be the so-called Safe Zone?

Lu Yuan couldn’t help but step forward and touch the rainbow.

Without any reaction, he entered the Safe Zone.

It was like entering a "bubble."

Inside was an Alien Civilization’s architecture, with Obelisk-like buildings towering on the ground.

Statues of lizard man-like creatures stood in the urban square.

On the edge of the city were vast expanses of farmland, growing unknown plants.

The River that ran through the center of the city flowed ceaselessly, appearing completely uninterrupted from this angle.

There were no people.

Not a single person, just a silent array of inanimate objects.

"Is this... a dream?"

"Indeed, day-time thoughts become the dreams of night..."