Like barren planets, Dark Stars are a type of planetary classification, not referring to just one specific planet.
The environment and climate of barren planets are usually harsh, but their biggest characteristic is the lack of resources. Most barren planets have become garbage dumping grounds, and their inhabitants are mostly garbage scavengers.
Dark Stars are different.
Dark Stars typically have large cities and even fairly prosperous areas, with populations of at least tens of millions and a high crime rate.
Warlords, conglomerates, gangs, and various illegal organizations all occupy Dark Stars, fighting for resources and territory.
On such planets, the control of the Federation is weak, and the law has almost become meaningless.
"Although many people think they can make a fortune on Dark Stars, earn big money, the truth is—none of them have ever come back."
The staff member sighed, "Maybe they made their dreams come true, or maybe they're all dead. But I always feel like it's not a good choice."
He thought for a moment. "However, Star 233 is a transfer point. Many ships pass through there. You're probably looking to change ships to another planet, right?"
Su Xuan vaguely responded.
Today, or most of the time, the ships passing through this place are heading to Dark Stars.
Because of this, the residents of the barren planet rarely leave.
They would rather live a poor, hard life than venture into a more dangerous place and risk death.
Only a few people take the risk.
She seemed to have no other choice right now, but deep down, she also wanted to try her luck.
She didn't want her abilities to be used only for enduring beatings, suffering the pain and risk of miscarriages, or taking a bullet to the head without dying—just losing her memory.
Of course, the latter part of the plot was referred to by the author as the "male lead's suffering arc."
Although it was the female lead who endured the pain of a miscarriage and was nearly killed by a bullet.
"Captain has replied, he's waiting for you at Hatch 4."
"Thank you."
Su Xuan drove to Area A.
The ships docked here were medium to large-sized vessels. As she approached, she could clearly see a transport ship, resembling a building, with dull paint and a damaged right wing.
The tail section had an open hatch and a sloped ramp.
Su Xuan hid the vibrating knife in her sleeve, adjusted her face mask, and nervously walked up the ramp.
A person in work clothes was leaning at the hatch, a cigarette dangling from their mouth. "You heading to Star 233?"
Su Xuan nodded, "Are you the captain?"
"Yeah."
The person tilted their head and glanced at the vehicle hovering at the end of the ramp. "You're bringing that vehicle? Is that a car?"
"…Yes."
"Alright."
The person took a drag from the cigarette and exhaled the smoke, "You stay in the second-level cargo hold for three days."
"Okay."
Su Xuan hadn't expected a proper seat anyway; this wasn't a commercial airline ship.
"How much to board?"
The person took another drag, "Five thousand, or let me see what you have."
She pulled something out of her pocket and handed it over, "This is worth more than five thousand, right?"
It was a small, semi-transparent chip, reflecting light in a colorful shimmer.
"This is a photonic crystal, the drive core for an energy gun."
"I know what this is."
The person interrupted her. "Give it to me, and you can board."
Su Xuan sighed in relief.
This was one of the core components from Han Yu's gun.
Its market value ranged from four thousand to six thousand, depending on the wear and tear.
Su Xuan had guessed she wouldn't be able to pay for the ticket, so on her way to the spaceport, she disassembled Han Yu's gun.
She had specifically looked up her adoptive father's work manual, which gave her the schematics and disassembly order for the weapon, as well as the prices of the various parts.
Su Xuan pushed the vehicle into the hatch.
The transport ship was about to set off.
The ship's interior was quite spacious.
The hatch connected to a corridor, and at the end of the corridor, there was an elevator.
Su Xuan pushed the vehicle to the second floor and walked through an automatic door into the cargo hold.
Aside from the cargo hold, restroom, and dining area, all other cabins had access panels that required identity verification to enter.
The only relief was that the cargo hold was piled with hundreds of containers, and in the corner were some old sofas, their cushions stuffed with cotton.
It was clear that during this journey, she wouldn't have to sleep on the floor.
...
Ayen Seven, at the edge of the settlement.
A luxury winged car sped down from the sky and stopped beside a dilapidated residential area.
"Employees with ID numbers r28903 and r31992—"
A middle-aged man was the first to get out of the car.
He wore the uniform of the management team at the recycling company and was speaking with a forced smile.
"Those two poor souls are father and daughter. I'm sure this is their residence. Oh, the old man was killed by a mutant beast last year, and now only the child remains."
Rong Yin slowly got out of the car, surrounded by her bodyguards, and stood in front of the crumbling building.
"You two, go inside."
She casually pointed at two of her bodyguards.
The two bodyguards entered the house made from shipwrecks.
A minute later, one of them came out to report.
"No one inside."
"There are nutrient liquid packaging boxes in the trash, the production date is yesterday."
Rong Yin frowned and looked at the middle-aged man. "Why is there no one here?"
"Uh... she might have gone to the no-man's-land, or maybe to the city," the company manager replied cautiously. "Temporary employees all have their own land vehicles, and they usually park them outside their doors. Since we don't see any cars, she must have left."
He didn't know Rong Yin's identity, but just by looking at her expensive winged car and the impressive bodyguards, he knew she was someone he couldn't afford to offend.
"That's nonsense," Rong Yin said irritably.
She had found Han Yu's spaceship, but there were no corpses inside. The door had traces of being cut open.
Clearly, someone had broken in and rescued the people inside.
After retrieving the company's records and reviewing the list of employees who had entered the area, she had chosen one person.
Han Yu's spaceship had crashed five days ago, and this person had entered the area on that same day, the time difference seemed almost identical.
She followed the address and came here, only to find the house empty.
—If this garbage heap of wreckage could even be called a house.
Rong Yin looked at the shaky building with disgust and turned her gaze away, as if she had seen something filthy.
Rong Yin turned to one of her bodyguards. "Keep an eye on the spaceport. Don't let any locals board the ship."
At that moment, a video call came in.
A young man in a suit appeared in the holographic image.
Rong Yin pursed her lips. "Brother."
"I received a message."
The man spoke indifferently. "An hour ago, a transport ship took off from the Ayen Seven spaceport. A local boarded that ship."
"I know. I've been monitoring the spaceport, and if anything suspicious—"
Rong Yin shook her head. "That local person is thin and short, speaking with a complete local accent."
It was impossible for Han Yu to be disguised as him.
"What if it's the person who saved Han Yu?"
Rong Yin froze, then turned to the manager. "The person living in this house is a child? How tall? Are they fat or thin?"
The manager couldn't remember the appearance of a temporary employee.
"The company has registered information—"
He hurriedly opened his light brain.
"This is the information she filled out when signing the contract a year ago. Oh, and here's her photo!"
In the ID card chest photo frame was a girl with black hair and black eyes, looking around fourteen or fifteen years old, pale, haggard, and extremely thin. She was also quite beautiful.
"Height: 152 cm, weight: 39 kg—"
Rong Yin's face darkened.
Barren planets weren't lacking in child laborers, and there were many frail adults as well. She had seen more than one person of this size today.
But this was a bit too coincidental.
"A garbage-picker, running into someone like Han Yu and saving his life—she should have clung to him for dear life. How could she just run off on her own?!"
Rong Yin gritted her teeth, "And that ship went to the Dark Star. She won't survive a day there! Is she looking to die?!"
"This is indeed suspicious."
The man in the video shook his head slightly. "Perhaps there are companions of Han Yu there, and it was Han Yu who sent her to report? Or maybe she took something with her—"
The siblings exchanged a glance.
"By the way."
The man said casually, "Kill him. He knows too much."
One of the bodyguards immediately raised his hand, aimed, and without hesitation, pulled the trigger.
The sound of the gunshot was followed by a splatter of blood.
The recycling company's manager collapsed to the ground, his eyes wide open in shock, unable to close in death.
Rong Yin disgustedly turned her gaze away, tapping a few times on her light brain, allowing a layer of light membrane to envelop her, ensuring no one else could hear the upcoming conversation.
"Once you find Han Yu, if he hasn't fully healed and regained his strength, have Johnson brainwash him and modify his memories—however, the person who truly saved him must die, or they will be a huge threat later."
The man in the video said.
"I'll send someone to handle the child on 233 Star."
His tone was oddly flat, as if discussing what to have for dinner.
Rong Yin didn't object.
The Rong family had designs on Han Yu, which is why they were going to such lengths—there was something he was hiding somewhere, something they wanted.
But leaving that aside, Han Yu was only just in his early twenties, yet already a Level 4 ability user.
Rong Yin prided herself on having seen many masters and believed that, looking across the entire Federation star system, Han Yu could be considered a young genius.
The Han family was now dwindling, with no powerful family support behind him. If they could bring him into their fold, there would certainly be more benefits later.
Han Yu was a good person, and if his memories were modified so he believed she had saved him, he might be at her beck and call.
She might even be able to make him work for the Rong family.
Rong Yin smiled as she thought about it, "You're right."
As for that garbage-picking child, if she died, so be it.
...
Far away, in the starry sky, on a transport ship.
Su Xuan was sitting in the corner of the cargo hold, deeply absorbed in reading.
It was supposed to be a very dull journey.
However, since the crew never came to check the cargo hold, she had been curled up on the sofa reading the log left by her adoptive father.
That elderly man had clearly been an experienced recycler, and probably believing that his adopted daughter would take over his work, he had diligently compiled an e-book manual stored on her light brain.
The book contained a lot of valuable recycling information, from vehicles to firearms, machinery, and even hand-drawn assembly and disassembly diagrams.
Occasionally, she would stroll around the ship and even found the escape pod's location.
Along the way, she encountered two talkative and helpful crew members.
Su Xuan chatted with them and learned that 233 Star was a large planet, with the largest city being called Dream City. Outside the city, the wilderness and mountains were filled with all kinds of mutated beasts.
The population of Dream City numbered in the tens of millions, and the city was roughly divided into four districts:
Outer District, Middle District, Inner District, and Core District—the closer to the center, the more prosperous it was; the further out, the more chaotic and dangerous.
"Actually, it's not that different from an ordinary city, it's just that the crime rate is particularly high, and the government doesn't regulate it—or rather, it can't control weapons or drugs, nor do they investigate the mysterious disappearances of residents."
The crew members kindly recommended an online map program.
"The buildings there are almost being rebuilt every day, so the map needs to be updated daily. This one keeps up with the real-time situation."
"Why is it being rebuilt?"
"Of course, because ability users fight all the time. Destroying streets and buildings is an everyday occurrence."
Su Xuan: "..."
"If there were better options, no one would go to Dark Star."
That's how they summarized it.
Suddenly, Su Xuan thought of the inheritance left by the female protagonist's biological parents.
However, she couldn't remember the exact storage agency, only knowing it was somewhere in a star domain called Canaan, not even the exact planet.
She did take the time to check, and indeed, a place called Canaan existed.
To be precise, it was a kingdom.
It was independent of the Federation's control—over the years, the Federation's influence over remote star systems had weakened, and many politicians and officials had become independent. The Canaan Star Domain was one such region.
The current King of Canaan was the son of a former senator of the Canaan Star Domain, ruling over several planets with billions of citizens.
From the information she found online, the main star of Canaan was wealthy and prosperous, and it had unique plants that could be processed into expensive tobacco and alcoholic beverages, which were sold across the Federation.
In short, a star domain that large—if she were to go alone to search for an inheritance, the chances of finding it were slim, and if she alerted her distant uncle's family, things could get troublesome.
In her current state, with her fighting power at zero, if she fell into their hands, she might not die, but being imprisoned would be worse than death.
After considering the consequences, Su Xuan completely dismissed the idea.
On the third night, a crew member came with a transport vehicle and robot to prepare for unloading, telling her she could get off the ship.
Su Xuan pushed her dilapidated vehicle toward the elevator and passed by several busy crew members on the way.
At the entrance of the fourth hatch, she encountered the captain again.
The sound of the landing announcement echoed through the passage, clearly indicating that the ship was descending, but unfortunately, the corridor had no windows, so Su Xuan couldn't see the outside scenery.
"It's so hot outside it makes you want to vomit."
The captain, holding a cigarette, leaned against the doorframe and pointed, "You can take that thing off now."
Su Xuan hadn't planned to get off the ship still wearing the recycling company jacket, "Thanks for the reminder."
She had remained on alert, too cautious to fully relax. She hadn't slept well on the ship, only catching a few hours in broken intervals.
Plus, she had only drunk two days' worth of nutrition liquid and was still very hungry.
At the moment, it seemed that her luck hadn't been too bad.
As she was about to leave, Su Xuan casually asked, "Aren't you getting off the ship?"
"I'll have one more smoke," the captain said calmly, "Safe travels."
The ship's protective layers opened one by one, and she could already feel the hot wind coming from the hatch outside.
Su Xuan stuffed the jacket into the storage compartment under her vehicle seat, leaving only a slightly oversized black shirt on her upper body, the sleeves rolled up since the size was too big.
The shirt had been bought by her adoptive father, who had chosen a large size to save money, thinking that a growing child could wear it for more years.
She stuffed the items from the jacket into her work pants' pockets, "Thank you."
The hatch slowly opened, and the muffled hot wind rushed in, carrying a pungent smell of oil and blood.
Inside the spaceport, various spacecraft were constantly landing and taking off, and the light pillars flickered with vibrant colors, reflecting a dreamy sea of light.
In the distance, the city bathed in the night's glow, with millions of neon lights shining like a dragon winding through the streets and buildings.
In a daze, Su Xuan heard what sounded like an explosion, accompanied by gunfire.
She pushed her vehicle out of the fourth hatch.
On the other side, crew members were coming and going through the first and second hatches of the transport ship, busy unloading goods.
The interior of the spaceport was vast, with dozens of terminals connected, leading to various exits.
The passengers coming and going were a diverse mix of people, with different skin colors and races, and some beings whose appearance was quite different from humans.
She saw a group of people carrying cages covered with black cloth, inside which appeared to be alien beasts captured from outside the planet.
They were discussing how to sell them for profit.
Su Xuan secretly took a few glances but couldn't make out exactly what was inside the cages.
Unlike on the wasteland stars, here, when people arrived or departed, they had to go through a few simple procedures—not ticket checks, but identity verification.
The group with the alien beasts seemed to be heading somewhere else to handle their paperwork.
The exit line moved quickly, with most people simply raising their hands for a quick scan of their light brains, easily passing through.
There were also a few people who were flagged as "blacklisted."
"Please go to process your ID."
A robot beside the passage said coldly, extending its mechanical arm to point to the corner of the hall.
There, a row of slightly outdated self-service machines were set up.
Su Xuan silently walked over to register.
People from the wasteland stars had no official identity recognized by the Federation.
This was because the wasteland stars did not issue identity chips.
"Do they need to do this even on Dark Star?"
Someone nearby grumbled with irritation.
The registration form was very simple, with few required fields, and after completing some biometric data collection, she would receive a new identity chip.
The machine indicated that the chip needed to be inserted into the light brain's module for scanning by various devices.
Su Xuan followed the instructions.
However, the light brain didn't read the chip.
"It's too old."
Someone nearby sneered, "Did you pick up your light brain from the trash heap?"
"That car looks like it's the same kind of junk."
The person's companion chimed in.
Su Xuan ignored them, turned, and walked away.
"Hey, we're talking to you. Didn't you hear us?"
They, however, didn't seem to want to let her go.
The two of them closed in, directly blocking her path.
"You're human, right? Why are you still wearing a respirator? Are you planning to poison the place?"
"Hey, poor thing, since this chip is useless to you, why not just give it to us?"
One of them reached out and tried to grab the light brain from her hand.
"You better behave yourself—"
As he moved, Su Xuan began to retreat, tucking the chip into her pants pocket.
Look.
Avoidance and concession only lead to worse outcomes.
On this planet, and in this world, the rules probably worked like this.
So, she decided not to retreat anymore.
"Still trying to run?"
The man cursed loudly, looking furious, and kicked at her.
"Grab this bitch and sell her!"
If this were the original story, maybe she would have surrendered, been sold to human traffickers, and then waited for her precious relatives to find her.
But she had never considered that possibility.
What others did was none of her business, but she would definitely choose to fight back. If she lost the fight, then it was her own lack of ability to blame, and she would accept the consequences.
"!?"
Su Xuan suddenly lunged forward.
She trapped the man's knee with one arm, raised the other hand, and stabbed a vibrating blade into his thigh.
This blade was a piece of industrial equipment, designed to easily dismantle mechanical parts. Even sturdy metal plates would be pierced through.
"Ah—!"
The hall echoed with a scream of excruciating pain.
The visor was stained red with the spray of blood.
Chunks of flesh splattered onto his hair.
The man cried out in agony and collapsed to the ground, his electric stun gun rolling away and hitting the floor with a light sound.
"I—"
The other man cursed loudly.
He looked at his fallen companion and the spreading pool of blood on the floor, his anger boiling over.
"You're asking for death!"
He reached into his clothes, seemingly to draw a gun.
Suddenly, two loud gunshots rang out.
A blood hole appeared in his forehead, and he fell backward, stiff and unmoving, hitting the floor with a thud.
Su Xuan took a step back.
A pitch-black armed drone hovered in mid-air, its dark barrel facing downward, its body flashing with red lights.
Soon, the red light turned green, and the drone slowly flew away.
A staff member, accompanied by a robot, rushed over, hastily cleaning up the blood on the floor and preparing to drag the two bodies away.
—Yes, two bodies. The first man, who had been stabbed in the thigh, had also died.
He had just fallen to the ground, gritted his teeth, and pulled out a gun, attempting to shoot Su Xuan from behind, but the drone had directly blown his head off.
"Sorry about that."
The staff member turned and said, "The drone was dealing with another dispute. It only came here after receiving feedback from the surveillance. Are you okay?"
Su Xuan was wiping the blood off her visor, and paused at the staff member's words.
"I'm not fine."
The staff member: "?"
"I'm scared."
She put her hand over her chest. "I'm really scared right now. My heart is racing. I might even suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Can I apply for mental damages?"