Chapter 24
This journey wasn’t in the original plan; that was for a year from now.
But because of the little merman, they had extracted a wealth of jade and obsidian from the Starstones, and the starship’s energy reserves were filled much sooner than expected. In the past, launching the starship was an obsession for Ouyang Xiaoli. He believed a planet just like ancient Earth existed somewhere out there—pristine, untouched, and beautiful.
He had been searching for it all this time.
But now, standing on the starship, facing the cold, silver-white control room, the man felt a flicker of uncertainty for the first time.
Finding a new, habitable planet was one thing. But if he did, what was the point of infiltrating the Silver Sea Empire’s research labs, layer by layer? He was torn between reviving the past and finding a new future, holding tightly to both.
Ouyang Xiaoli stood motionless for a long time.
“Boss,” Tang Si said, finishing his inspection of the starship and stepping aboard, closing the hatch behind him. “All systems are good to go. We’re ready for departure.”
The man grunted in acknowledgment.
He walked slowly to the control console, his eyes scanning the data on the screen. Everything was running normally. He reached out and pressed the launch button.
The starship began to ascend.
Just as they were about to leave the planet’s atmosphere, Ouyang Xiaoli glanced back one last time. The planet Silver Sea was a beautiful, tranquil blue, overwhelmingly dominated by oceans. The patches of green were sparse, a testament to the planet’s scarce vegetation.
It was almost like a curse.
The Grand Elder once said that the planet Silver Sea was the most similar to ancient Earth and the best suited for survival.
But Ouyang Xiaoli kept searching, convinced there was a better world out there.
“Starship data initializing. Calculating jump coordinates… Warning: Massive storm detected ten light-years ahead. The central vortex may damage the ship’s structural integrity.”
A mechanical female voice echoed through the cabin.
“Please select a course of action.” Two stark options flashed on the main screen: RETURN TO BASE and PROCEED.
“Dammit!” Tang Si shot up from his seat, pacing anxiously. “How did we run into a storm so soon? If we get caught in that, this ship will be torn to shreds!”
“Boss, what do we do?”
Tang Si could only look to Ouyang Xiaoli.
The ship’s AI was already counting down the distance to the storm. What was ten light-years a moment ago was now seven. They were closing in fast.
There was no time to think.
Ouyang Xiaoli’s lips tightened. Turning back was impossible. It would mean the mission was a failure, and they would have to replenish their energy all over again. But moving forward meant risking the starship—and their lives—being ripped to pieces.
He switched the ship to manual control.
Tang Si and Xiao Mo could only stand by and wait. Cold sweat trickled down their necks, and a chill ran through them as the starship continued to accelerate.
Closer… and closer…
Tang Si felt his heart leap into his throat. Five light-years, four, then one… He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the worst.
“We made it!”
Xiao Mo’s shout of disbelief rang out.
Tang Si’s eyes flew open. He couldn’t believe it. They had cleared the storm’s center. The last few moments felt like a dream.
The man walked out of the control room, his expression calm and his forehead dry. He hadn’t shown a hint of tension, not even when he had executed the sharp, high-speed turn, as if he’d had it all planned out from the start.
Only Ouyang Xiaoli knew how sweaty his palms had become.
He wasn’t alone on this ship; Tang Si and Xiao Mo were with him. If he’d been absolutely certain they would fail, he would have returned to the Silver Sea Empire. Replenishing the starship’s energy wasn’t a huge deal, not with the little merman around. But by the time they spotted the storm, they were only five light-years from its center—too close to turn back. Their only option was to push forward.
Tang Si and Xiao Mo, however, didn’t know any of that.
Every bit of data in the control room was under Ouyang Xiaoli’s command. He alone knew the core numbers.
He didn’t want to cause a panic.
Fortunately, the starship wasn’t pulled into the vortex and was now back on course.
Tang Si slapped Ouyang Xiaoli hard on the shoulder, so excited he could barely speak. “You did it!”
The three of them huddled together, shoulders clasped, sharing a moment of post-disaster relief. Even though they had been prepared to die when they chose this path, facing death head-on was still terrifying.
The ship was now back on autopilot, cruising smoothly with all systems normal.
The jump process itself was risky. Ouyang Xiaoli and his crew jumped to several other planets, and their landing coordinates were decent enough.
But unfortunately—
The planets were all barren.
Meanwhile, Keda took Xia Yi to a market street in the East Zone of the Underground City. There were countless little trinkets Xia Yi had never seen before.
He looked around curiously, his eyes darting from one stall to the next.
With five hundred spirit stones from the boss in his pocket, Keda felt like a king. He patted his money pouch with a flourish. “Xia Yi, just tell me what you like. I’ve got money… well, no, the boss has money, so spend whatever you want!”
Xia Yi’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Yep!”
This was Xia Yi’s first time properly exploring the Underground City. Before the Zerg invasion, he hadn’t had a chance to walk the market streets. The farthest he’d gone was the Starstone Market; beyond that, the city was a mystery to him.
The street was lined with stalls. One was selling candy, but it was unwrapped, completely exposed to the air.
Few people were buying it.
Xia Yi also saw someone selling honey. For some reason, no one in the Underground City seemed to like it, which he found very strange.
He was about to ask Keda about it when Keda suddenly grabbed a person lurking nearby. “You’ve been sneaking around behind us this whole time. What do you want?”
Xia Yi looked closer and saw that it was Xiao Ya, who looked rather embarrassed.
“I was just… just following you to have a look. I wasn’t bothering you.”
Xiao Ya mumbled under his breath.
Keda let him go with a warning. “You better not have any funny ideas, or when our boss gets back, you’ll be sorry.”
Xiao Ya shot him a glare.
Xia Yi quickly stepped in to smooth things over. “Stop fighting, you two. We’re all friends here. We’re just out for a walk today, and Ouyang said not to attract any attention.”
Keda reluctantly stepped aside, too annoyed to deal with the little slave.
Xiao Ya was instantly offended. “Are you discriminating against slaves? You think I want to be a slave? If I hadn’t been tricked and sold, I’d never be in this position! If you didn’t have Boss Ouyang protecting you, you wouldn’t be any better off than me right now!”
Keda’s face flushed with anger. “What did you say?”
Xiao Ya, knowing the little merman would back him up, fearlessly stuck his neck out. “Did I say anything wrong?! Without Boss Ouyang, you’d be worse than a slave. You’d have been beaten to death by now! What right do you have to mock people who are just trying to survive? Keda, I think you’re pathetic!”
Keda was so furious his eyes turned red, but he couldn’t find a single word to refute him.
He knew he was weak. He had been bullied by a few thugs not long ago. In Boss Ouyang’s eyes, he must seem pathetic and useless.
He clenched his fists.
Seeing Keda’s expression, Xiao Ya knew he’d hit a sore spot. “What, you don’t dare admit it? You are weak!”
Xia Yi had become very perceptive lately and could sense that Keda was on the verge of spiraling. He quickly grabbed Keda’s hand.
“Keda-gege, don’t listen to him. You’re really strong, way stronger than me.”
“Strong how?”
Keda couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.
He knew his own limitations. Tang Si and Xiao Mo both had their skills, and even Zuo Yinwan, whom he couldn’t stand, was capable.
He was the only useless one.
“Keda-gege’s potato soup is the best. It’s my favorite thing you make,” Xia Yi said, lifting his small face, his expression full of pride.
Keda was speechless.
Xiao Ya snorted with laughter.
Xia Yi knew it was Xiao Ya who had upset Keda-gege, so he got angry. “You can’t follow us anymore. I don’t like you.”
Xiao Ya was at a loss for words.
He regretted his earlier stubbornness. He’d always been this way, which was why he’d gotten into so much trouble. But he meant no harm to Keda.
He knew how important Keda was to the little merman; he was just envious of that closeness.
Thinking of something, Xia Yi shot back, “Keda-gege is not useless! He’s the one who gathers all the intel, whether it’s about the Underground City or the Silver Sea Empire. His information is always the fastest!”
“Xiao Mo has a talent for identifying Starstones, Tang Si is a great fighter, and Zuo Yinwan is sharp and can spot traps.”
“No one around Ouyang is useless, and that includes Keda-gege.”
“Don’t talk about things you don’t understand!”
Xia Yi glared at Xiao Ya.
Xiao Ya was stunned by his words. He hung his head in shame and quietly apologized to Keda, admitting he was wrong and promising never to speak ill of him again. He even added that Keda was amazing.
Keda’s emotions were in a tangle.
He stared at the little merman, curious. “How do you know all that so clearly?”
The boss wasn’t one to idly chat about these things. Even he hadn’t realized his own ability was intelligence gathering.
But looking back, the little merman wasn’t wrong. For years, he had been the one digging up most of the team’s information. At first, it was a task the boss gave him. Later, he just started doing it on his own. It all happened naturally.
Xia Yi puffed out his chest. “Because I’m a very good observer.”
Sometimes, when Ouyang, Tang Si, and the others were discussing things in the living room, he would listen in. Once, he heard Tang Si complain that if Zuo Yinwan wasn’t so good at spotting traps, they would have kicked her out long ago because she was so inefficient.
All she could see was Boss Ouyang. How could you expect her to have any sense of teamwork?
When she was in a good mood, she’d spot a trap or two. When she was in a bad mood, you had to beg and plead with her like she was some kind of goddess.
Those were Tang Si’s exact words.
Keda’s mind was a mess. He felt like a fool. He needed someone else to point out his own abilities to him. How pathetic.
“It’s raining!”
Xiao Ya shouted in surprise.
But it never rained in the Underground City. Before Xia Yi could react, Keda swiftly scooped him up and ran for the nearest awning, his steps urgent.
Xia Yi was still dazed.
Even Xiao Ya knew not to get caught in the rain. The moment he shouted, he too ducked under the nearest shelter. The people on the street began to scatter.
The rain came down in sheets.
This was the first time Xia Yi had seen it rain in the Underground City. But it couldn’t be called rain, because the city was underground, with only a giant screen for a sky.
So what was this “rain”?
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