Barren Star – Chapter 27
by Little PandaAccording to imperial law, execution.
Although they had not been completely eroded by the dark pollution to become beasts, the warlike factors became active under the stimulation of dark pollution.
As the heir of the Feng Jiu Tribe, Feng Yi’s strength was beyond doubt, but she did not like fighting and did not want the word “savage” to accompany her for life. Unfortunately, Ling Shu with red eyes couldn’t be reasoned with, of course, even when she was clear-headed, communication was difficult. Feng Yi took a deep breath and stopped trying to prevent it. If excess energy isn’t spent, the brain will eventually burst, anyway, she wasn’t the one getting beaten up.
Not far away, the middle-aged space pirate was cursing and grumbling because of Feng Yi’s refusal, but after Ling Shu rushed out, the cursing suddenly stopped. The panicked space pirate, relying only on his own qualities [abilities], was no match for Ling Shu and could only summon a mecha. In this place where energy couldn’t be replenished, after fighting a few more times, the mecha would fall into slumber [power down].
“What do you mean by this?”
“Don’t you want to leave anymore?”
The space pirate’s roar was deafening.
Feng Yi slowly walked to the window, letting out a long sigh. Fighting wasn’t suitable, not fighting wasn’t suitable either. Since there was no other path to take, at least let her have her way.
At the base.
Although Hei Rui had returned, he left a surveillance device near the barren star prison. However, the signal there wasn’t good, the transmitted images were intermittent and somewhat blurry. Beidou didn’t need sleep, and when it noticed something unusual on the surveillance device, it immediately woke up Hua Zhuoyu in the wooden house and transmitted the images of the black dragon’s appearance. [LP: Changing “Harry” to “Hei Rui” for more accuracy.]
Beast Star Dragon Tribe!
Hua Zhuoyu’s expression was grave. Originally planning to handle it during the day, but now that it concerned the “Dragon Tribe,” it couldn’t be delayed anymore. This race was few in number, and most were warlike elements [warriors], with extremely peculiar brain circuits [thought processes], and was one of the Beast Star races that Da Xia least wanted to communicate with. If any of the Dragon Tribe fell within Da Xia’s territory, those old fellows would definitely attack Imperial Star.
Hua Zhuoyu glanced sideways at Beidou: “Is Ah Ning awake?”
The light on Beidou’s chest flickered, but it remained silent.
Hua Zhuoyu: “…” Cunning artificial intelligence, wanting to make her face Ning Buyi’s morning anger alone.
Ning Buyi was awakened by the long-sounding alarm in the base. She thought it was an enemy attack, immediately shuddered, and her face turned pale with fright. Not bothering to fix her messy hair, she threw on an outer garment [coat] and ran out of the room, only to see Hua Zhuoyu sitting calmly in the living room, not at all like there was an “enemy attack.”
Beidou turned to Ning Buyi, immediately tattling: “It was Ah Zhuo who set off the alarm.”
Ning Buyi’s face immediately darkened, she glared at Hua Zhuoyu angrily and said dissatisfied: “You better explain yourself.”
“Sorry, I didn’t want to intrude into your room uninvited, there was no other way.” Hua Zhuoyu raised her eyes, her tone sounding very sincere, “Something happened at the barren star prison, we need to depart early.” She stood up, looked at Ning Buyi for a moment, and added, “Of course, there’s still time for washing up and getting ready.”
What nonsense about having no other way, that statement was complete farting [bullshit]! But Ning Buyi wasn’t in the mood to fuss about this small matter anymore, the barren star prison concerned her “subjects,” so taking a deep breath, she threw her coat at Hua Zhuoyu, turned around and hurriedly with ‘swoosh swoosh swoosh’, returned to her room.
Hua Zhuoyu caught the light “hidden weapon” [referring to the thrown coat], and turned to face Beidou’s cold electronic eyes. The feng shui [fortune/atmosphere] of the barren star was bad – Little Feng Jiu had learned to curse, developing in the direction of a foul-mouthed bird, even the artificial intelligence was following suit in becoming bad.
Five minutes later.
Fully dressed, Ning Buyi pushed open the room door and came out. Although Hua Zhuoyu spoke casually about it, she couldn’t really waste time dawdling. “Let’s hurry,” Ning Buyi urged, her voice somewhat hoarse.
Ning Buyi wasn’t the only one awakened by the base’s alarm – Zhao Qiuyu, He Chao, and Ning Mo also came out from the spaceship, all boarding their mechas, preparing to head to the barren star prison.
“Where’s Miss Ning? Isn’t she a mecha warrior?” He Chao’s voice came through the amplifier, this inquiry seeming strange.
Ning Buyi looked at He Chao with dislike, not wanting to deal with her at all. But Hua Zhuoyu lazily replied: “She’s with me.” When her words fell, all four sides went quiet. Who didn’t know that the Judge’s precious mecha Po Jun wasn’t allowed to be touched? Back then, Hua Songyu just made a joke and got beaten up badly. But now there was someone in the co-pilot seat? Had their relationship reached this level?
If Zhao Qiuyu and Ning Mo were surprised, then He Chao’s heart was full of jealousy. Po Jun passed by like a gust of wind. He took a deep breath, suppressing his boiling emotions, and controlled his mecha to follow closely behind.
A journey of 150 kilometers wasn’t considered far for mecha warriors. However, to conserve energy, Hua Zhuoyu didn’t push the speed to its limit. About ten minutes later, they saw the ruins of the barren star prison. Cannon fire burst in the sky like brilliant fireworks, dyeing the heavens a blinding white, and in the spreading gunsmoke, a black dragon appeared and disappeared.
“Why are there so many visitors to the Barren Star, is our luck a bit bad?” Ning Buyi looked at the transmitted images and drew in a sharp breath. She felt something wasn’t right – what was so attractive about the Barren Star? Could the system be manipulating things behind the scenes? She tried calling the Mountain Sea Atlas, but the system kept playing dead. This made her more convinced it was the Mountain Sea Atlas system’s pot [fault], after all, it could give her even a golden finger like “Dominate” that was similar to a luck skill, so slightly influencing “travelers” in the star system wouldn’t be difficult.
Hua Zhuoyu frowned and said: “That dragon is very agitated, seems to be affected by dark pollution.”
Ning Buyi was startled at these words. Her first thought was that the dark pollution charger had arrived, but her second thought was “there are outsiders.” Quite a few people knew the Barren Star had plants, but only Hua Zhuoyu knew she could absorb dark pollution. Would this ability also have to be exposed to others’ view?
Hua Zhuoyu said: “Don’t worry, He Chao’s special ability is purification. As long as the dark pollution doesn’t exceed 80%, there’s a way to save them.”
Ning Buyi: “…What if it exceeds that?”
A flash of reluctance passed through Hua Zhuoyu’s eyes as she said: “According to imperial law, execution.”
Ning Buyi made an “oh” sound, feeling somewhat uncomfortable inside. Dark pollution filled the entire Greedy Wolf Star System, and patients didn’t willingly expose themselves to pollution – they were all innocent people. But they couldn’t be allowed to live, as after going berserk their destructive power was enormous – it was a dead end either way. Her Mountain Sea Atlas could absorb dark pollution, but for the entire star system, that bit of disappeared dark pollution was actually insignificant, especially since the “source” was still there.
Hua Zhuoyu’s voice became soft and gentle: “Don’t burden yourself too much, everyone is searching for a solution. One day, people will be able to leave the protective shields and stand under blue skies and white clouds again.”
Ning Buyi responded with a sound, somewhat absentmindedly.
But she had no time to lament over spring and autumn [be sentimental] anymore. Four mechas approached the barren star prison, covering the entire ruins within their firing range. The sudden approach of four mechas naturally caught the space pirates’ attention. The leading mecha’s silver-white arm shield flowed like smooth mercury, its right hand holding an energy blade flickering with silver light. They had no space pirate gang markings, indicating they were likely Da Xia officials! But at this moment, the space pirates couldn’t care about that anymore – the berserk black dragon had beaten them until they had no power to fight back, energy warning sounds were beeping, and their turrets and laser weapons had been smashed to pieces.
“They don’t have any prohibited weapons. He Chao, go to the back and rescue people,” Hua Zhuoyu said.
Hua Zhuoyu’s group of four could completely overwhelm the space pirates, but earlier they had been showing mercy to the rat while worried about the vessels [hesitant], needing to plan carefully. However, now the berserk black dragon had broken the deadlock, these two space pirates had no choice but to surrender.
In fact, this was exactly what the space pirates did. The appearance of Da Xia official mechas meant they had a chance to leave the Barren Star – during the escort to Imperial Star, there would be a good opportunity to escape. Moreover, this mad black dragon was troublesome, so passing it to them was for the best.
Black scales peeled off, revealing bloody wounds. The black dragon with crimson eyes seemed unable to feel pain, blindly charging forward to kill. Slaying the black dragon would be easy, but capturing it alive would take some effort. Suddenly, the black dragon’s body, while moving through mid-air, went rigid and fell straight down.
“Condition not good, but not yet at the end of the road.” Hua Zhuoyu’s brows tightly furrowed, not understanding the dragon’s change.
Ning Buyi remained silent. She raised her hand to press her throbbing temples, feeling like needles were piercing her brain, coming in waves of pain. She had just used the “Dominate” skill on the black dragon—but the dragon happened to have an ability similar to immunity, breaking through that net had consumed much of her mental energy. Fortunately, it succeeded – the black dragon, rejected by the planet’s will, had its negative status intensified and naturally couldn’t maintain its original form.
“Judge Hua.”
Feng Yi had recognized “Po Jun” when the four imposing mechas arrived. She hadn’t emerged from the shadows until the situation was under control and the berserk Ling Shu was subdued.
“She- she is—” Ning Buyi stared at the thin woman below who looked familiar, and after a while exclaimed, “The Feng Jiu Tribe’s heir?!” Isn’t that Little Feng Jiu’s sister? Did she come looking for Little Feng Jiu?
“It’s actually her.” A flash of surprise passed through Hua Zhuoyu’s eyes, but she covered her emotions, only giving a light greeting before asking, “Is there a small protective shield here? Is it damaged?”
“I’ll fix it,” Ning Mo’s voice sounded as she jumped out of the mecha cockpit. Space pirates, beast races, kidnapped innocent people… it wasn’t suitable to bring them to the base.
The protective shield of the barren star prison had been destroyed when it was abandoned long ago, it was only when the space pirates later used this place as a hideout that they rearranged it, putting the protective shield and small warehouses to use. Ning Mo checked it over and found the shield hadn’t been damaged for long, only about half a month. During this time, the pirates had been using medicine to suppress the dark pollution, but the situation wasn’t good for the people they treated as “cargo.”
“Twenty-three people, their personal chips have all been destroyed, identities unknown, eight people have dark pollution reaching the critical point.” He Chao had already rescued the imprisoned people. He walked toward Hua Zhuoyu, his eyes somewhat dark. He didn’t say it directly, but everyone’s hearts felt heavy. The three words “critical point” undoubtedly meant a death sentence for those people.
Hua Zhuoyu’s gaze was calm as she pointed to the unconscious Ling Shu and asked: “What about her?”
He Chao replied calmly: “Not good either.”
Ning Mo raised her head: “Should we take those people back to Imperial Star? Even if the dark pollution is purified, they still need follow-up treatment.”
He Chao looked away, his breathing gradually becoming heavier: “Only some can be taken away, the others according to regulations cannot go to civilized stars.”
After thinking for a moment, Hua Zhuoyu said: “You all take them back as quickly as possible.”
“What about you?” He Chao asked in return, his tone somewhat urgent. He took a long breath, suppressing his reluctance, and said, “I can do it.” As if feeling saying it once wasn’t enough, he repeated it again.
Hua Zhuoyu didn’t respond. She turned toward Ning Buyi, who hadn’t spoken since landing, her eyes flickering with indefinable emotions.
Ning Buyi noticed Hua Zhuoyu’s gaze, raised her eyes to meet hers for a moment, and nodded slightly. Although she wanted to recruit subjects [or: citizens], these people’s condition made it unsuitable for them to stay on the Barren Star. But for those eight “abandoned pieces,” she wanted to try her best.
On one side, Feng Yi was tending to Ling Shu.
Hua Zhuoyu and the others’ conversation hadn’t deliberately avoided anyone, and every word had fallen into her ears.
The dark pollution in Ling Shu’s body was severe, but it shouldn’t have reached the critical point, right? Her physical constitution was strong, it shouldn’t be possible that she couldn’t hold on for half a month. “Mr. He,” Feng Yi called out to He Chao with a serious expression.
He Chao pressed his lips together and explained: “She was injured before, there was already dark pollution accumulated in her body.”
Feng Yi froze, her lips tightly pressed together, her eyes full of regret and grief. Previously, because of Feng Xuan’s matter, Ling Shu had been running around everywhere – could it be that she was exposed to dark pollution back then? She had never received treatment. Thinking of this possibility, Feng Yi’s lips drooped down, the weariness in her eyes becoming more intense.
“I won’t let her die here.” Feng Yi’s tone was soft, but carried an unquestionable determination.
Executing people who exceed the dark pollution limit wasn’t just Da Xia’s law, but a principle of the entire Greedy Wolf Star System.
Feng Yi’s reason told her she shouldn’t do this, but now she wanted to be willful just once.
This matter is up to the Boss Ning Buyi