Chapter 2

The girl furrowed her brows, shouldering her personal luggage, and followed a few weary travelers. In front of her was a middle-aged man wrapped in a thick cotton coat, who was quite small in stature, pulling along a frail old man. The old man stumbled as he was tugged, colliding right into her.

It is said that among the daily top ten headlines of mainstream media in other galaxies, there is always one lamenting the plight of the people in the Eighth Galaxy, who live in dire straits

The "vagrant" laughed, his mouth as long as a palm, and when he opened it, a gaping maw was revealed: "I see, it turns out to be a brain-dead cripple.

At this time, it is the harsh winter in the region. Due to the planetary revolution, the winter of Beijing β star is very long, lasting for a total of three years according to the unified new ephemeris. However, the city's constant temperature heating system has already ceased operations due to lack of funds. The biting cold wind invades the unprepared human city-states, sweeping through the car windows. The impoverished passengers in the vehicle huddle tightly in their shabby outer garments, resembling a nest of quails burying their heads under their wings

She turned off the music, and this time she could hear clearly; the child's miserable cries were coming from not far away, constantly drilling into her ears

Year 275 of the New Star Calendar, Eighth Star System, Beijing β Star

At that moment, a strong light suddenly swept across, followed closely by three or four high-speed motorcycles diving down from the sky, clearly violating the prohibition of "high-speed motor vehicles being forbidden within one hundred meters of the ground." The light arrived first, followed by a thunderous roar of engines, stirring up a whirlwind on the ground as it swept over.

The high-speed train landed with a whoosh, and the girl crouching in the corner raised her head, peering through the strands of her hair, which had been blown into disarray by the wind. She saw a tall figure backlit, making it impossible to discern their features

They also gave this place a nickname, calling it "Desert"

The alliance consists of eight major star systems, with the first star system, where the capital star Vorto is located, being the pinnacle of the pyramid. As one moves further down the hierarchy, the distance from Vorto increases, and the development becomes relatively lagging—by the time one reaches the eighth star system, it is essentially at the bottom of the pyramid.

This is a collective illusion

Just as the effects of the alcohol surged within her again, in that state of half-sleep, a child's sharp cry pierced her eardrum like a needle: "Mom!"

The back door of the bar suddenly opened, and a man stepped out, reaching out his hand just in time to hook the boy by the nape of his neck

As the image before her shifted from blurry to clear, the girl realized that the child in front of her was indeed a little one, appearing to be around two or three years old, still unsteady on their feet. The child was wrapped in a piece of dirty rag, yet a corner of a small garment peeked out, which could be considered quite refined. Although the child was crying in a most unseemly manner, it was still evident that they had delicate, tender skin.

The bus stop had long been stolen by someone, and the streetlights had collectively failed, leaving the surroundings in darkness. Not far away was a small path littered with filth, interconnected with one another. In the deep night, eyes peered through the corners overrun with grime, as if watching from the outside. The driving "artificial intelligence" malfunctioned again, prematurely sounding the "final stop announcement". Without waiting for the passengers' protests, it automatically entered sleep mode, forcing the passengers to curse and grumble as they lined up to disembark.

In the last row of the "Day Can Cloud Car," there sat a drunken girl in the corner, her face obscured by smeared makeup that made it difficult to discern her age. She seemed unbothered by the cold, wearing her jacket open, revealing oddly shaped lingerie, and a skull tattooed on her waist—by the looks of it, she appeared to be a rather tough female ruffian

The girl squinted her eyes warily, raised her chin, and pointed at the child in his hands, asking, "Is this your child?"

The liquor flowed down the face of the "vagrant," and his smile gradually faded. His eyes became sinister and cold, revealing a hint of bloodlust. Immediately, he tossed the child aside, and his bones creaked all over as his body inflated, stretching and widening, transforming in an instant into a towering figure nearly two meters tall.

Am I poisoned by drinking counterfeit liquor? she murmured to herself, then tightly closed her eyes again

The "homeless man" carrying a child paid no attention to a little girl. After getting off, he walked straight into a narrow alley. In the alley, there were several dilapidated small houses, and at the deepest point was a dark bar. The dim lights from the back door of the bar flickered like fireflies, casting a glow on the thin layer of snow, finally allowing night travelers to see the path. The sharp cries of the child echoed in the narrow alley, yet it failed to disturb anyone.

In the Eighth Galaxy, Beijing β Star is considered quite respectable. It is the most populous planet, and although it is chaotic and desolate, there are still some struggling industries and interstellar shipping routes in operation, allowing people to manage to survive.

Perhaps it is due to this name that Beijing β Star possesses a distinctly Eastern charm. Many residents, to varying degrees, carry a trace of ancient Chinese ancestry—of course, in this wretched place known as the Eighth Star System, even if one has the bloodline of an ancient divine dragon, one should not expect to lead a respectable life

He bent down, placing the child on the ground, while his other empty hand flickered with a spark, brushing off the ash.

As night falls in Beijing β Star, a sluggish bus carries drowsy passengers, moving slowly along the route. The paint on the bus is peeling, and the words "Galaxy Transport" have faded to the point where only "Sun Can Cloud Car" remains visible. The driving artificial intelligence may be a "artificial intelligence disability," with a failure rate exceeding 95%. Currently, only the "super safe mode" is operational, crawling along in the night, honking every five minutes.

But the sharp edge of the broken bottle barely grazed the man's face, not even breaking through a layer of oil skin; his face was hard and pale, with a texture resembling some kind of metal

The girl, with a shoulder bag, pushed her hood up and called out to the homeless man: "Hey, hold on a moment."

The monster-like "vagrant" sprang up like a fierce beast, briefly landing on the wall before a beam of laser flashed across his body, causing him to instantly vanish into the night.

She endured for a few minutes, but unable to bear it any longer, she yanked off her headphones, preparing to seek out some trouble

She furrowed her brows, took two steps forward, and tilted her head slightly without making a sound: "How strange."

But... where did the children come from in this cursed place

The little boy who had just been left aside let out a scream and was directly swept up into the sky by the whirlwind

The "vagrant" may have realized something, his expression changed, and he decisively let go and attempted to flee

The "vagrant" casually moved his neck and gently grasped the hand of the girl who was tugging at his hair, as if he were picking up a kitten by its scruff.

The reason the Eighth Star System has become a "desert" is due to both natural and historical factors. The scarcity of resources and inconvenient transportation are one aspect, but more significantly, it is a legacy of historical issues. To explain this, we must start from the beginning, which is akin to a child without a mother; it is a long story.

The Eighth Star System, known as "The Reclusive", stands as a pitiful island in stark contrast to the other seven star systems that are clustered together. In the past, to counter the formidable Alliance, a small faction of anti-government forces was compelled to form alliances, using the Eighth Star System as a base for their distant standoff. At the beginning of the New Stellar Era, the Eighth Star System was occupied by interstellar pirate groups for nearly a century, until the year 136 of the New Stellar Era, when it was reclaimed by General Lu Xin, who was then a commander of the Alliance, thereby re-establishing the trade routes with the other seven star systems.

Beijing β is a common name for a planet, with every galaxy having a dozen variations such as "Beijing Star," "London Star," or "Zimbabwe Star," much like in ancient Earth times when many cities in China had names like "Beijing Road" or "Nanjing Road"

Before he could finish his sentence, the girl suddenly pulled a bottle of liquor from her bag and acted with lightning speed. The bottle collided with the vagrant's forehead, shattering into pieces, with sharp shards of glass scattering everywhere. The pungent smell of cheap alcohol burst forth, and this valiant woman, holding the broken half of the bottle, wiped the remaining lipstick from her mouth and spat, "Damn it, are you trying to fool your grandmother?"

This cannot be a hallucinogen—whether on the bus just now or in the narrow alley, the howling night wind is sufficient to sweep away all biochemical products

The bottle fell to the ground, and the girl struggled in mid-air, staring in shock at that reflective face: "You... you are not human"

The "vagrant" saw her being fooled, grinned widely, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth: "You see, I, I said wha---what ... ... "

The girl's pupils slightly contracted, suspecting that the "vagrant" was a trafficker with advanced technology, and thus she discreetly followed him.

The girl suddenly opened her eyes, and the "Sun Can Cloud Car" happened to arrive at the station, letting out a long sigh before coming to a stop

The child was being held by the "vagrant" next to him, one hand gripping his neck and the other grasping his wrist, lifted off the ground. He kept struggling and crying, but no one around looked up to take a glance, and not a single person showed any sign of concern—perhaps they, like her just moments ago, only saw a mad old vagrant throwing a tantrum.

The wind generated by the high-speed train knocked the girl off balance, causing her to fall to the ground along with her belongings, and she hurriedly clung to the wall with all fours.

But strangely, as soon as the headphones were taken off, the noise disappeared

The little boy flailed his limbs in the air, heading straight for the nearby black bar.

A girl has a backpack about 1 meter high at her feet, stuffed with headphones, leaning against the worn-out back of a chair with her eyes closed, trying to rest. Her expression is somewhat irritable—due to a hangover—while a noisy child on the bus continues to cry, the piercing sound of which is so strong that even the deafening music from her headphones is hardly able to drown it out

The girl looked around in a panic, but all she could see in the carriage were half-dead adults, each curled up to avoid the wind, with no children in sight. She dazedly let out a tipsy burp, doubting whether she was hearing things, shook her head, suspiciously put on her headphones, pulled her hood down again, and sleepily closed her eyes.

The vehicle is drafty and filled with dust, with no one to maintain it. This is because the "Xinghe Transportation" company has been defunct for two hundred years, and now only this incessantly operating urban bus system remains, running automatically in a half-hearted manner every day

Those who have any means have sought every possible way to emigrate, while the rest are the unfortunate souls abandoned in the desert by the times

The girl, who had been arrogant and domineering, suddenly shifted from looking straight ahead to looking up, momentarily dazed, instinctively taking half a step back: "You..."

The "vagrant" revealed a strange smile, his fan-like hand grasping her head, the veins on his hand suddenly bulging

Over two hundred years ago, during the old star calendar era, the Alliance and the interstellar pirate groups were engaged in fierce battles. The members of the interstellar pirate groups were all descendants of ancient Earth people, not extraterrestrials with eyes like tennis balls. Initially, they did not even call themselves "interstellar pirates," a name that clearly suggests villainy, and there were multiple factions involved. After the Alliance government gained control over most of the star system regimes, to simplify matters, they collectively referred to all anti-government organizations that refused to recognize the Alliance as "interstellar pirate groups".

Over the past century, the Alliance has developed at lightning speed under the dual beacons of scientific and humanistic illumination, while the Eighth Star System has been tossed about in the continuous conflicts and turmoil of the pirates' "you sing your part, and I take the stage". At both ends of the trade route, an irreparable chasm has gradually widened, with the disparity between the two sides being nearly akin to that between contemporary Homo sapiens and ancient chimpanzees

Five years later

After General Lu Xin recaptured the lost territory, the alliance sent personnel to the Eighth Star System for investigation. They discovered that this cursed place lacked everything and was of no value. Consequently, a "democratic autonomous" government was established in the Eighth Star System—essentially meaning that this group of chimpanzees was released into nature to fend for themselves.

The little rogue raised her eyebrows, unable to reveal her heroic nature in time. Suddenly, her vision blurred for a moment. She rubbed her smoky eyes, which were stuck together with mascara, and to her astonishment, she saw the old man who had bumped into her transform back into a young boy!

"No need to chase, there is a space field, it has already run away," the man said slowly, "Next time you make your entrance, it would be better if it could be even more grand, ideally enough to instill fear from a light-year away."

Neither of the side windows is intact—both have been shattered by the residents along the route who were awakened by the sound of the night train's horn

As soon as the words "cripple" fell, the girl's expression suddenly changed from fear to rage. She executed a swift kick to the groin, taking advantage of her opponent's bent posture, and seized their hair, pulling it down forcefully. The broken end of a bottle plunged violently towards his face—this series of actions was precise and ruthless, indicating her extensive experience in street fights; she was a seasoned thug

The expression of the "vagrant" suddenly changed, his demeanor flickering for a moment, and he forced a smile: "Wha... what? You... you must be mistaken, right? Where is there a child? This, this old thing looks like... like an old monkey, he, he is short, not a child, just look."

Those who use this free bus service are mostly the poorest of the poor, including many homeless individuals, all of whom are so dirty that it is difficult to distinguish between men, women, the elderly, and children. Fortunately, the bus compartments are not sealed; otherwise, the odor emanating from these passengers could create a biological gas bomb.

He spoke as he pushed the person in his hand in front of the girl. In an instant, the girl felt as if there were a malfunctioning screen before her eyes. The little boy, who was crying and gasping for breath, seemed to stretch and shrink, becoming a phantom that flickered back and forth. At one moment, he appeared as a lewd old beggar, and at another, he transformed into a crying child, constantly flashing back and forth.

In important occasions of the alliance, when the representatives of the governors from the major star systems are required to attend, the governors from the other seven star systems each have their own nameplates. However, the representative from the eighth star system has no name; the nameplate simply states "Eighth Star System." This is not due to regional discrimination by the alliance, but rather because this group of gorillas frequently engages in internal strife. The governors and their governments are essentially disposable, with representatives changing daily, making it impossible for anyone to know who is who, thus they can only be referred to by their "ethnic name." This is not due to regional discrimination by the alliance, but rather because this group of gorillas frequently engages in internal strife. The governors and their governments are essentially disposable, with representatives changing daily, making it impossible for anyone to know who is who, thus they can only be referred to by their "ethnic name."

The "vagrant" paused slightly, his hand viciously gripping the back of the child's neck, yet his face bore a smile that was both timid and obsequious. He hunched his shoulders, retracted his neck, and presented a pitiful demeanor that suggested he did not wish to cause trouble, stammering as he said: "What... what do you want to call me?"