Barren Star – Chapter 31
by Little PandaYou want to see that badly?
In trivial matters that caused no harm, Ning Buyi was easy to talk to. As long as Feng Yi and Ling Shu could provide ten Feng Jiu and ten Dragons to work on Barren Star as written in the contract. After establishing good relations with the Beast Race, perhaps some “Butterfly Form” clans might be willing to migrate to Barren Star, eliminating the need to bother the Insect Race’s bees.
The conversation wasn’t long, but Ning Buyi could tell from Feng Yi’s attitude about her relationship with Xia Tu. Things hadn’t developed according to the plot yet. The existence of the base couldn’t be revealed to Xia Tu through Feng Yi.
After resolving this matter, Ning Buyi went to see Barren Star’s eight new residents. They came from different planets and were kidnapped by space pirates. Their personal chips were destroyed, making them undocumented in the Da Xia. None of them were mecha warriors, their physical conditions far inferior to Ling Shu’s. They only regained consciousness when their internal dark pollution dropped to forty percent.
Thudding sounds came from outside the hall.
Ning Mo and Ling Shu’s group were building simple houses using materials scavenged from the prison planet. Unlike in Ning Buyi’s original world, interstellar construction didn’t require laying bricks, mixing cement, or stacking tiles. The new materials were special and highly moldable. A palm-sized piece could expand to ten cubic meters after soaking in special liquid. While portable houses were available on the Star Network, Ning Buyi wasn’t responsible for such expenses. It was better that Ning Mo and others were willing to build the base themselves.
After a moment of distraction, Ning Buyi’s gaze returned to the eight people sitting numbly together. Though their physical wounds from the space pirates’ torture had been treated, their psychological trauma remained. Unfamiliar with psychological treatment, Ning Buyi could only clear her throat and soften her voice.
“This is Barren Star No. 1, and I am the planetary owner, Ning Buyi. You are free now.” Of course, free only on Barren Star, Ning Buyi silently added. Seeing them all just staring blankly, she continued, “Although it’s a barren star now, if everyone works hard to build our new home, it will surely become a civilized planet.” Ning Buyi drew a big cake [made grand promises], but they still showed no response.
Hua Zhuoyu couldn’t bear to watch anymore. She pulled out a badge bearing the “Star Court emblem” from her pocket and said softly, “You were kidnapped by space pirates and can’t return home for now. The Star Court has arranged for you to stay on Barren Star.”
A delicate-featured woman turned her stiff neck, and her empty eyes gained some life. Her lips trembled as she spoke.
“Star Court?”
Hua Zhuoyu handed the badge to the woman and said seriously, “Yes.”
The woman remained silent, gently stroking the badge as tears streamed down her face.
Although the government had been fighting against space pirates, the vastness of space made them elusive. Few people captured by pirates were ever rescued and returned home. She had thought a life of slavery awaited her. When she learned that the two pirates couldn’t return either, she had resigned herself to dying on Barren Star from dark pollution. But the Star Court had intervened! They wouldn’t have to wander homeless or die.
Ning Buyi glanced at Hua Zhuoyu without speaking. The words “Star Court” were more effective than empty promises. She pulled up the character panel to check the woman’s status—she had no sense of belonging to Barren Star, so her loyalty was naturally zero.
The woman’s name was Chang Su, a doctor specializing in body modification, gender transformation, and even libido enhancement… Ning Buyi quickly looked away from the long list of descriptions. Interstellar civilization had many strange aspects beyond her understanding. Still, having a doctor was good—while she had a basic medical pod, it wasn’t all-purpose. With a doctor, they could properly equip the medical bay.
As Ning Buyi pondered the base’s development, she looked up to find all eight people huddled together, quietly sobbing. She hadn’t noticed what Hua Zhuoyu had said, but was surprised at her ability to move people to tears. Her surprised gaze fell on Hua Zhuoyu, her eyes flickering with wonder.
Hua Zhuoyu covered her mouth and coughed lightly, her eyes gentle as a breeze as she spoke softly, “There, there. Live well on Barren Star from now on.”
The eight people nodded hurriedly, docile as lambs.
Ning Buyi checked the Mountain Sea Atlas and found their loyalty levels had increased somewhat. She thought to herself that Hua Zhuoyu really knew how to bewitch people’s hearts.
Several days had passed by the time everything at the prison planet was fully handled. Ning Buyi checked the rice seeds soaking in cultivation fluid and found they had sprouted, ready for planting. During these days, Beidou and its robot subordinates hadn’t been idle, completing their task of preparing the breeding fields. In her understanding, breeding should take at least a month, but here, the entire maturation process was shortened to one month, with breeding taking only a few days. The interstellar world had no plants, so naturally no specialized rice transplanting machines existed, but by the time for transplanting, the residents would have recovered enough to work in the fields.
Although Ning Buyi was the planetary owner, from Feng Yi to Chang Su, they all believed the base belonged to either the Star Court or the Supervisory Department. They dared not question or speak much about these seemingly important officials they couldn’t afford to offend. When Ning Buyi discovered their misunderstanding, she found it amusing but didn’t explain. Letting them believe this saved her the trouble of explanations.
On rice transplanting day, Ning Buyi also worked in the fields. She had never done farm work before, learning the entire planting process from the atlas. Keeping in mind the principle of “proper spacing” [traditional farming concept], she bent over to transplant seedlings. The work tested both eyesight and physical strength as she stepped backward carefully, afraid of falling into the field.
Beidou and its robots transplanted with precision and speed, handling most of the fields. Even so, after several hours of work, Ning Buyi felt her waist would break, sweat dripping from her forehead. By evening’s end, she took a bath and collapsed on the sofa, looking exhausted.
“Only wisdom and money can free our hands, and we can’t be without either,” Ning Buyi struggled to get up and check her savings. The money wasn’t nearly enough for a security team, let alone anything else. Things might improve when the labor force arrived from Beast Star. The system was good at binding her to Barren Star and requiring her to develop it, but how should she develop it? Ning Buyi frowned, emanating an air of dejection.
A knock came at the door.
Ning Buyi sat up, tucked a cushion behind her back, and lazily said “Come in.” She knew who it was without looking—her living room and bedroom were restricted areas in the base, and nobody except Hua Zhuoyu would come here.
“Are you unhappy?” Hua Zhuoyu frowned, keenly noticing Ning Buyi’s mood change.
Ning Buyi collapsed back onto the sofa, lifting her eyelids slightly: “Tired.” Her voice was softer than usual, sounding almost coquettish.
Hua Zhuoyu paused, thinking of today’s labor, and understood. She approached Ning Buyi and sat beside her legs, saying gently, “You didn’t have to join them.”
Ning Buyi mumbled, “Wasn’t I supposed to set an example?” For her first time working with Barren Star’s residents, she needed to establish a good image. She would have preferred to sit in a rocking chair eating melon seeds [common Chinese snacking behavior], but she feared the residents’ loyalty points would decrease.
“Here?” Hua Zhuoyu raised her hand to Ning Buyi’s waist, stroking it lightly.
Hua Zhuoyu’s fingertips were slightly cool, her movement gentle, like an electric current passing through, raising goosebumps all over.
“What are you doing!” Ning Buyi was startled by Hua Zhuoyu’s action, springing upright and glaring at her with pursed lips.
Hua Zhuoyu looked innocent: “Isn’t your waist sore?”
“That doesn’t mean you can touch it!” Ning Buyi hadn’t even mentioned having a sore waist, but the “aftereffects” of having her waist touched remained. Her face was slightly flushed, her gaze soft and lacking any intimidation.
Hua Zhuoyu made a soft “oh” sound and withdrew her hand, her eyes seemingly hiding disappointment. Seeing Ning Buyi hanging her head silently, she blinked and asked, “Then would a massage be okay?” After a pause, to prove she had no ill intentions, she added, “I brought essential oil.”
While Ning Buyi’s aching back and waist desperately needed a massage, having Hua Zhuoyu do it made her hesitant. Seeing Hua Zhuoyu take out a small bottle of synthetic essential oil, Ning Buyi glanced at her and said mockingly, “You’re quite refined, aren’t you?”
Hua Zhuoyu replied with sincere earnestness: “May I be of service to you?”
Meeting those attentive and affectionate eyes, Ning Buyi’s heart fluttered, and she shamefully blushed deeply. Hua Zhuoyu’s alluring expression was deliberately displayed, but she couldn’t escape the prison woven of beauty. Struggling to look away, Ning Buyi made a request: “Could you not smile at me?”
Hua Zhuoyu frowned, feigning confusion: “Would you prefer to see me cry?”
Ning Buyi was stunned, unable to follow Hua Zhuoyu’s train of thought. But following her words and imagining Hua Zhuoyu with reddened eyes, misty tears, and a rain-beaten-flower expression [traditional Chinese literary description for a beautiful crying face], her nerves became excited—it seemed quite appealing?
“You want to see that badly? Are you a pervert?”
Hua Zhuoyu suddenly leaned closer, asking with interest.
Ning Buyi was startled again, her face blood-red and her heart racing as if it would jump out of her chest. Afraid Hua Zhuoyu would notice, she clutched her cushion and shrank back, snapping in embarrassed anger: “Weren’t you going to give me a massage?”
Hua Zhuoyu’s eyes held hidden laughter as she covered her mouth and coughed lightly: “Then please lie down. Would you like help lifting your nightgown?”
The delayed realization of Hua Zhuoyu’s words made Ning Buyi dizzy. She looked down at her clothes—wouldn’t a massage require lifting the entire nightgown? Seeing Hua Zhuoyu already gripping the hem, Ning Buyi hurriedly stood up, red-faced as she pressed down on Hua Zhuoyu’s slender fingers: “I don’t want it anymore!”
“Why not?” Hua Zhuoyu asked unhurriedly.
Ning Buyi looked embarrassed and annoyed: “I just don’t want to, why do there have to be reasons?” She tried pushing Hua Zhuoyu away unsuccessfully, then struggled to stand up, but her dress hem was still in Hua Zhuoyu’s grip, pulling her back onto the sofa. Ning Buyi looked up and met Hua Zhuoyu’s gaze.
Hua Zhuoyu released her grip and said sincerely: “Sorry.”
Ning Buyi, her heart in turmoil from the teasing: “…Stay away from me.”
Far away on Beast Star, in the Feng Jiu Clan’s territory.
Tall artificial phoenix trees [wútóng, parasol trees] reached into the clouds, their branches thick with leaves. Strange-shaped houses hung from the branches like countless beehives. Suddenly, a clear phoenix cry pierced the sky, followed by a group of Feng Jiu flying out from their nests, landing in the square beneath the phoenix trees and transforming into human form.
“There’s news, we have news from Her Highness!” The speaker was an elderly man with white-streaked beard and wearing a yellow robe, holding a light brain with tears of joy streaming down his face. “Princess Feng Yi has also found young Miss Xuan.”
“Where is she? When will she return?” Before the words faded, a beautiful and graceful woman approached, snatching the light brain from the elder’s hands. She quickly scanned the message, frowning as she said, “She’s not coming back yet, and she’s found respectable work for our clan’s idle youth? A spaceship will come to pick them up in a few days?”
“Your Majesty!” Tears glistened in the old man’s eyes. “Her Highness is shouldering so much responsibility at such a young age.”
The alluring woman, who was the Phoenix King, showed no shame at having dumped her responsibilities on her daughter, merely saying indifferently, “She’s not that young. I had already inherited the throne at her age.”
The old man glanced at the Phoenix King, thinking to himself: “And then you abandoned your duties when Her Highness was eight.”
“In that case, let’s select ten promising youths from the clan to send over. Oh, and inform the Dragon Clan that since our people have returned, we won’t attack Da Xia. We are a peace-loving race.”
The old man: “…”
The news Feng Yi sent back caused a great stir in the Feng Jiu Clan. Those still remaining in the clan territory were either lazy parasites living off their parents, those with tempers so bad no one dared employ them, or extreme social phobics. Feng Jiu parents couldn’t wait to sweep their children out the door, and upon hearing about job assignments, they rushed to sign up at the square.
Row houses on the east side of the square.
Different Feng Jiu had different habits. Some young people didn’t like reverting to their original form to sleep in hanging houses, so they lived alone in ground buildings. Feng Ermao was one such person. She was currently curled up on her sofa playing games—preferring classic controller gameplay over holographic experiences. A tall young man sat across from her, watching as her character was killed by a bomb flying from a kilometer away before speaking leisurely: “Everyone outside is talking about job assignments. Your aunt seems to have submitted your name.”
Feng Ermao tossed aside her headphones and peered through her narrow phoenix eyes at the young man, saying lazily, “What’s that got to do with me? If she wants to go, let her go herself.”
“But I want to go,” the young man said expectantly. “As long as I can leave Beast Star and escape my older brothers’ clutches, once I have enough savings, I can join Mysterious Number One.” This young man was none other than Xiong Xun, who had slipped away from the Bear Tribe settlement. He was tired of being forced to scalp tickets online daily—he wasn’t an octopus who enjoyed being a scalper. He had escaped while his brothers were out fighting and rushed to seek refuge with his good friend.
Feng Ermao said, “Don’t you still owe me ten ‘Sirens’?”
Xiong Xun looked exasperated: “Dear sister, Siren is a controlled substance. Where am I supposed to get ten of those?” “Siren” was a substance that caused hallucinations, creating sensations similar to drunkenness and dreaming. It was once the favorite “stress reliever” among Da Xia’s youth, but during the years when Siren was prevalent, many young people lost their fighting spirit, becoming a “lost generation.” The Da Xia government consequently issued a decree classifying Siren as a controlled substance and banned its export.
Feng Ermao pulled up a video projection and pointed: “Look at this.”
Xiong Xun glanced at it—a group of frenzied men and women writhing under multicolored lights, holding glow sticks marked clearly with the “Siren” logo. Though Xiong Xun despised these crazed people, he swallowed his criticism due to Feng Ermao’s pursuit of “retro trends” and only asked, “Where is this?”
Feng Ermao shrugged: “Giant Sickle Star.” Giant Sickle Star was a constructed asteroid within the Da Xia Empire’s territory, bordering the Insect Race’s domain, occasionally becoming a battleground. Such conflict zones easily attracted all sorts of unsavory characters.
“Forget it,” Xiong Xun burst Feng Ermao’s “fantasy bubble.” “Siren is impossible, but I can get you some ‘Eraser X’.”
Feng Ermao: “I don’t need to forget.”
Xiong Xun said calmly: “No, you need to forget your ‘retro trends.'”
Feng Ermao’s eyes were vacant, unwilling to think. She remained in her spaced-out state, not even noticing when Xiong Xun left the room.
Outside the house, Xiong Xun spotted a large Feng Jiu preening its beautiful tail feathers in the sunlight and immediately said, “Auntie, Ermao wants to compete for a position.”
Compared to the Feng Jiu’s scramble for positions, the Dragon Clan was much more indifferent to the “job assignments.” Most of them were wealthy enough to live off interest while staying home, with no need to earn extra money. Nevertheless, ten young Dragons were eventually selected, each looking battered and dejected, like defeated roosters.
At the Barren Star base:
Ning Buyi was directing people to plant trees.
With sufficient dark pollution reserves, she had purchased Red Thorn trees, a plant she’d never seen before, with branches covered in sharp thorns and bright red leaves like clusters of burning flames. Red Thorn trees absorbed dark pollution more effectively than the Red Bramble Forest, and they bore fruit. The atlas showed fruit similar to green apples, with a crisp texture.
Twenty Red Thorn trees depleted all the energy accumulated in the atlas. Ning Buyi stepped on the newly covered soil and looked up at the saplings that towered over her, breathing a deep sigh. With less than five months until the final judgment, the atlas currently detected the planet’s dark pollution concentration at fifty-four percent. The possibility of upgrading Barren Star to a construction star in such a short time was extremely small. She only hoped to maintain Barren Star’s medium level rather than hovering on the death line.
“What’s wrong?” Hua Zhuoyu walked to Ning Buyi’s side. Sunlight filtered through the tree gaps after being processed by the protective shield, falling on their faces at just the right temperature, without summer’s scorching heat.
“Nothing,” Ning Buyi shook her head, her gaze passing over Hua Zhuoyu’s right shoulder to fall on Feng Yi and Ling Shu, who had inexplicably started fighting after completing their task. “They’re fighting again.”
Hua Zhuoyu turned, following Ning Buyi’s line of sight. She narrowed her eyes and said softly, “Isn’t it good to keep getting bills?”
Ning Buyi: “…There’s a saying about a broken pot breaking further.” [Chinese idiom meaning to abandon all restraint when things are already bad]. When you owe too much, you stop feeling the burden. “I’m very doubtful about the character of my future new residents.” The book’s portrayal of Hua Zhuoyu was fake, Feng Yi was fake… perhaps only the mindless male protagonist full of nonsense was real.
Ning Buyi asked again: “Weren’t they supposed to have a good relationship?”
Hua Zhuoyu pondered for a moment: “Perhaps they fight precisely because they’re close. Physical entanglement, experiencing unique sensations at negative distance. Beast Star races often have peculiar habits and preferences.”
“What?” Ning Buyi’s curiosity was piqued as she met Hua Zhuoyu’s eyes, her gaze revealing a thirst for new knowledge.
Hua Zhuoyu: “For feathered races like the Feng Jiu, mates comfort each other by stroking wing feathers, which produces physical pleasure. For the Dragon Clan, it’s probably their scales, though I’m not sure about the exact location.”
Ning Buyi was quite startled by Hua Zhuoyu’s words.
Because Hua Zhuoyu’s eyes conveyed such seriousness, Ning Buyi momentarily believed her.
If that were true, how could she dare to touch anything fluffy again?
Her sluggish, almost stagnant mind finally rewound itself after a moment, and Ning Buyi objected: “That’s not right, they’re in human form now!”
Hua Zhuoyu argued slyly: “I didn’t say they were being intimate now.”
Ning Buyi couldn’t counter that, but she felt Hua Zhuoyu was being improper! She pressed her lips together, not wanting to talk to Hua Zhuoyu anymore. She walked forward, deliberately bumping Hua Zhuoyu’s shoulder as she passed.
Hua Zhuoyu held her shoulder and smiled, raising an eyebrow: “Forgetting old friends now that you have new ones? I really miss our previous world of two.”
Ning Buyi stopped, turned back to glare at her: “Why didn’t the Black Lock seal your mouth?”
Hua Zhuoyu said seriously: “A mouth lock naturally needs to be sealed with a mouth.”
Hearing this, Ning Buyi’s gaze lingered momentarily on Hua Zhuoyu’s full, red lips. Coming to her senses, she internally berated herself for being weak-willed and quickened her pace.
Hua Zhuoyu stood with folded arms, gazing at Ning Buyi’s retreating figure, momentarily lost in thought.
She looked down at the shadows cast by the Red Thorn trees, breathing in the scent of soil and vegetation. She could feel this Barren Star reviving, but time was running short. The construction stars surrounding Barren Star No. 1 meant the Star Court’s judgment criteria were extremely strict. If it had been located among remote barren star clusters, its judgment might not have been so urgent, but its existence affected other planets. The government and Supervisory Department could hardly wait until Judgment Month to end this Barren Star’s life. After judgment erased the planet’s spirit, the remaining physical destruction was theoretically decided jointly by the government, military, and Supervisory Department. While this seemed to leave room for alternatives, a barren star among construction stars had no possibility other than complete destruction.
Could the Barren Star find a chance for survival? Or rather, could the billions of stars in this universe have a chance?
The Mythical Forbidden Zone—
As these four words crossed her mind, Hua Zhuoyu’s eyes grew dark and obscure.
In the future, like every naturally deceased judge before her, she would journey to that forbidden place when her life approached its end.
LP: This teases are getting to me. I’m expecting spicy scenes after the judgement
Thanks for the chapter!