Barren Star – Chapter 18
by Little PandaI don’t know them.
As an adult, Hua Zhuoyu couldn’t possibly roll around and throw tantrums in the flower field like a cub. Moreover, she reached out to pick up Little Feng Jiu, who had crushed several lavender stems, and looked at her disapprovingly. Sure enough, cubs don’t know the value of flowers – those brutes from Beast Star are really crude when it comes to raising cubs.
Little Feng Jiu, held in Hua Zhuoyu’s hand, swung back and forth like a swinging pendulum.
“Jiu jiu, bad, jiu, bad person!” Little Feng Jiu protested angrily.
Hua Zhuoyu glanced at her with disdain and tossed her into Ning Buyi’s arms.
“Looks like she can talk now. When are you sending her back to Beast Star to reunite with Feng Yi?” Hua Zhuoyu asked. But without waiting for Ning Buyi’s answer, she continued talking to herself, “Wait a bit longer, my people are coming soon.”
Ning Buyi didn’t object. Speaking of which, she hadn’t seen any news about the Phoenix Tribe’s princess lately. It seemed the other party had already left Da Xia Star, while Xia Tu was still stationed at the palace. Could it be their relationship hadn’t started? Or had it rocketed straight into the “you run, I chase, you can’t escape even with wings” stage? (a common Chinese expression meaning a relentless pursuit where escape is impossible) Ning Buyi thought about it for a moment, then lost interest. She was calculating adding lavender to her trading list – fresh flowers would surely find buyers somewhere in the interstellar market. When the big money comes in, she could buy high-grade nutrient solutions to speed up plant growth. Currently, there were only two sources of dark pollution: one from hunted beasts outside, and the other from plant absorption. The former came quickly and in large quantities, while the latter was continuous and steadily increasing.
“Have their space buttons been checked?” Hua Zhuoyu suddenly turned to Ning Buyi.
Ning Buyi blinked and said: “Gave them to Beidou.” With just her “eyesight,” she might miss some things.
Hua Zhuoyu pondered for a moment: “If there are extra materials, we could build a small house here.”
Ning Buyi gave Hua Zhuoyu a meaningful glance – after watermelons, was she now setting her sights on the flower field?
Hua Zhuoyu continued to act as if she was thinking of Ning Buyi’s best interests: “It’s not really appropriate for me to always stay in the main hall, right? Besides, the Insect Race is full of tricks – what if they overcome the special insect repellent? I’ll only feel at ease if I’m keeping watch here.”
Ning Buyi couldn’t be bothered to argue with Hua Zhuoyu and replied half-heartedly: “Do as you please.” Previously, Hua Zhuoyu had casually mentioned building a house, and she thought the other party wanted to live as neighbors, but now it seems she wasn’t even worth a bunch of fresh flowers. She knew Hua Zhuoyu was staying here with ulterior motives.
In the interstellar orbit outside Barren Star.
A spaceship was suspended in the vast, deep darkness of space.
“Preparing to enter Barren Star’s primary flight orbit.” As the sweet electronic voice sounded, the three people sitting in the cabin suddenly sat up straight.
“Speaking of which, is the Boss really on Barren Star No. 1?” The young woman with dyed short white hair suddenly asked, her gaze falling on the only male present.
“That’s what she said herself.” The man shrugged, then turned to look at the silent person beside them and said, “Ning Mo, isn’t Barren Star No. 1 a Ning family property? I remember everyone evacuated in June.” This Barren Star had received “abandoned” status in the previous two judgments, with dark pollution levels continuously increasing, almost reaching that critical point. In such a planet, Hua Zhuoyu’s condition might not be too good. He furrowed his brows, showing concern in his eyes.
“To be precise, it belongs to my second uncle,” Ning Mo glanced at the man and explained seriously. After thinking for a moment, she added, “But when my second uncle and the others evacuated, the ownership of this planet changed hands – it’s now under one of my female cousins.”
“Is it Ning Qing or Ning Li?” the short-haired woman asked with interest.
“Neither,” Ning Mo said softly. “Her name is Ning Buyi, she’s my second uncle’s daughter who was stranded outside (born out of wedlock).” She didn’t elaborate, but the other two people immediately understood. They had connections with the Empire’s upper class and had heard some rumors. The Ning family head had been quite a playboy in his youth, and this unfamiliar “Ning Buyi” was probably an illegitimate daughter left outside.
“She’s still on Barren Star?” the man suddenly asked.
Ning Mo shook her head: “I don’t know about that. In any case, I’ve never seen her at the Ning family home.”
The man spoke, shaking his head with a hint of pity: “There’s a 90% chance she’s here, otherwise why would she bind herself to an abandoned planet? Hard to say what condition she’s in – Barren Star No. 1’s dark pollution levels are about to exceed the limit.”
The electronic voice continuously calibrated the orbit as they flew toward Barren Star. When breaking through the atmosphere, the electronic voice started making beeping alarm sounds: Dark pollution concentration approaching warning level, return to base?
The three people in the spaceship frowned at this news – with Hua Zhuoyu here, returning wasn’t an option. The man said in a deep voice: “Calibrate the values.”
The alarm sound quieted for a moment: “Dark pollution at 55%.”
“Huh?” Ning Mo showed some surprise on her face. If she remembered correctly, it had already measured 59% percent in June, but now the concentration had decreased? Though it’s only dropped by four points, for a massive planet, it might take three years or even longer to “recover.”
“I suddenly understand why Boss wants to stay in this place where even birds don’t poop in,” the white-haired woman took a deep breath, her eyes flickering. “Could it be Boss’s special ability?”
“Impossible,” the man firmly rejected. “Judges’ abilities don’t repeat. My ability is purification-type, the Chief Judge most likely has a destructive-type ability.”
Ning Mo said: “We’ll know once we find them.”
Ning Buyi didn’t know that three strange visitors had come to Barren Star. She used the remaining dark pollution reserves in the Mountain Sea Atlas to buy new dwarf shrub plants and planted them around the base’s perimeter. However, this time she didn’t need to do it herself – Beidou had assembled five all-purpose smart robots using materials from the Insect Race’s space buttons, saving Ning Buyi the trouble of digging holes, planting, and watering with nutrient solution. Besides this, these small robots could patrol the base during their spare time – currently there were no outside visitors, mainly to prevent Little Feng Jiu from stealing food.
As for Ning Buyi herself, she was hunting around the base perimeter with Hua Zhuoyu. Through intense training, Ning Buyi’s physical condition and spiritual power had grown considerably. Though she couldn’t compare to Hua Zhuoyu, at least she no longer felt dizzy and nauseous when riding the “mecha vehicle.”
However, the peace at the base didn’t last long, being broken by the arrival of “uninvited guests” a few days later.
The patrolling robots showed signs of scorching, with electricity crackling all over them, making buzzing sounds.
“Someone broke off several branches of the Red Thorns,” Beidou read the information from the robots’ chips and projected images of the strangers. When Ning Buyi saw their expressions clearly, her brows suddenly furrowed. She turned to Hua Zhuoyu and said, suppressing her anger: “What do you have to say about this?” She had seen these people on the Star Network – unlike Hua Zhuoyu’s low profile, these three judges often appeared in the public eye.
Hua Zhuoyu: “…” She hadn’t expected He Chao, Zhao Qiuyu, and Ning Mo’s arrival would cause her such trouble. After taking a deep breath, she said seriously and sincerely, “I don’t know them.”
Ning Buyi gave a cold laugh: “Beidou, enter battle mode!”
She should be thankful that she had earned quite a bit of money from fruits and vegetables lately, allowing her to upgrade the entire shield system.
LP: No melons for you!
Lmao 😭