Barren Star – Chapter 58
by Little PandaYou are my closest companion.
Slender, delicate fingers pinched a stem of white roses, unhurriedly inserting it into the copper vase.
The morning sunlight streamed through the window, making the morning dew rolling on the petals sparkle crystal clear.
“Good morning.” Hua Zhuoyu turned toward Ning Buyi who walked out from the washroom her gaze lingering on her cheeks for a moment, the corner of her lips curving into a gentle smile.
Ning Buyi saw that bundle of white roses.
Usually, she herself or Beidou would change the flower stems in the copper vase, but something always felt missing, as if only now could she truly smell the flowers’ fragrance.
“Morning.” Ning Buyi nodded toward Hua Zhuoyu, paused for a moment, then said, “You went to the flower field, did you see Kris?”
Hua Zhuoyu responded: “I saw her.” The Insect Queen was ultimately a dangerous figure, only seeing her in person could put one’s mind at ease. Speaking of which, this queen was indeed very different from before – if those loyal guards of the queen knew that her awakened ability was merely for gathering honey, who knows what they would think.
Ning Buyi: “You didn’t harm her, did you? She’s now a meritorious contributor to the flower field.”
Hua Zhuoyu widened her eyes, looking at Ning Buyi in surprise: “How could you think that?”
Ning Buyi hesitated for a while before saying: “She hunted you down before.”
Hua Zhuoyu smiled gently at these words: “That’s all in the past. However, regarding Kris’s situation, we probably need to inform the Pure White Queen of Insect Star.”
“Why?” Ning Buyi learned from Hua Zhuoyu that changes had occurred on Insect Star, but a veil of mystery still remained before her eyes. She wiped the water droplets from her hands, found a chair to sit down, and looked curiously at Hua Zhuoyu, waiting for her explanation.
“That queen cares deeply about her own younger sister.” Hua Zhuoyu smiled, her eyes carrying an inexplicable look.
“But Kris is a traitor to her.” Ning Buyi mumbled.
Hua Zhuoyu walked with light steps toward Ning Buyi, taking a seat opposite her. She crossed her legs, casually resting her interlaced hands on them. “Perhaps it’s sisterly affection, even betrayal can be forgiven.”
Ning Buyi didn’t believe such ghost words [鬼話 | guǐ huà | meaning: nonsense], she cast a sideways glance at Hua Zhuoyu, cleared her throat and said with mock seriousness: “We’re talking about serious matters here.”
Hua Zhuoyu shrugged: “Kris’s betrayal was within Hill’s expectations, or rather, it aligned with what she hoped for. That Insect Queen has grown weary of the current Insect society’s order, wanting to give her former subjects liberation.”
“What kind of liberation? Is it related to the mental shackles mentioned before? Have they begun their reformation?”
“The Pure White Queen’s abilities are special – one is the source of chaos, the other is severance. She needs to sever the mental connection between queen and subjects amid chaos and disorder, thereby removing the shackles placed upon her.” Hua Zhuoyu paused, leaning slightly forward, “One thing is certain: the Insect Race’s chaos is closely related to the dark pollution, and the Pure White Queen is seeking a solution.”
“Can I understand it as after Kris’s disappearance, no new queen has gained control of the mental connection or inherited the Insect Race’s supreme throne?”
“More or less.”
“So the ancient ruler who emerged from imprisonment became the Insect Race’s hope? But from your description, this queen has no intention of leading Insect society. The current Insect Race will fall into chaos and disorder. Some will begin to think for themselves, but others will continue on by inertia, treating themselves as war machines. What would happen if Kris returns to the Insect Race at this time?” Ning Buyi’s expression gradually grew serious. This was actually their second time discussing this matter.
“A striking banner.” Hua Zhuoyu smiled, “When Kris sat in that position, she actually only did one thing – oppose Hill directly.”
Ning Buyi was speechless, and after a while said: “Her current state isn’t right, could it be the Pure White Queen’s doing?”
Hua Zhuoyu raised an eyebrow: “Who else could it be?” Beset by troubles from within and without, the battle of Giant Sickle Star was destined to be a defeat. “Leaving Kris trapped on Mountain and Sea Star is not a bad choice.”
Ning Buyi heaved a long sigh: “This is terrible.” It seemed the Insect Race would have another battle, who knows if it would affect Da Xia. If Da Xia got involved, wouldn’t that fulfill a plot point from the story? Would Mountain and Sea Star become a battlefield? If so, wouldn’t all her efforts be in vain? And that troublesome oak seed, when would it finally sprout?
Seeing Ning Buyi’s low spirits, Hua Zhuoyu actively changed the subject: “How’s the tourist area doing?”
“The income is considerable.” Ning Buyi responded, thinking of the large amount of star currency coming in, the shadow in her heart dispersed slightly. “I want to keep the Sprout Investigation Team on Mountain and Sea Star, what do you think?”
Hua Zhuoyu gazed at Ning Buyi, saying gently: “Why this plan?”
“There’s a medicinal field in the base that needs handling. Rather than listing directly on the Starlight Platform, it’s better to keep the entire industry in our own hands. After all, Aurora City already has several production lines, adding pharmaceutical manufacturing is only natural, and the planet needs development too.” Mountain and Sea Star’s dark pollution was still too high, hadn’t reached construction star standards, the system wouldn’t open large-scale immigration.
Hua Zhuoyu’s gaze focused slightly: “Medicine? Special medicine targeting dark pollution?”
“That’s the plan.” Ning Buyi nodded, “But the specifics depend on the Sprout Investigation Team.”
Previously, to protect Mountain and Sea Star, she hadn’t wanted contact with Da Xia people, but now the situation was different.
“Will Mountain and Sea Star handle everything alone?” Hua Zhuoyu asked again.
Ning Buyi caught her implied meaning and countered: “You want to invest?”
“Star Court.” Hua Zhuoyu said seriously, after thinking for a moment, she added another candidate, “The Lu Family.”
The previously listed products like fruits, vegetables, and snacks were just Mountain and Sea Star’s “business”, small-scale operations. But once it involved medicine, it became a major matter of people’s livelihood. Having Star Court and the Lu Family’s backing could avoid many troubles.
Hua Zhuoyu added: “Besides funding, we can also bring in talent.”
Ning Buyi pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
Mountain and Sea Star Tourist Area.
Although the Sprout Investigation Team had great interest in hands-on planting, one month was too short, and they had to abandon some ideas to focus all their energy on medicine research. It should be known that these medicinal herbs had been extinct for too long, all their knowledge came from ancient texts, and now the first task was to verify the “knowledge” scientifically before continuing research.
“Teacher, even without sleep or rest, we can’t complete the task.” Zhang Xun said with difficulty, and he wasn’t alone in thinking this – others nodded in agreement.
“Could we apply to stay longer?”
Mei Ping was somewhat moved hearing this, she understood better than her students the importance of these medicinal herbs and the urgency of time.
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, they approached the deadline.
Like the four members of the Extreme Investigation Team, who came to Mountain and Sea Star just for entertainment, after thoroughly enjoying themselves, they had little attachment or reluctance to leave. Mountain and Sea Star had things that attracted them, but it still couldn’t compare to the prosperous and bustling Imperial Star. Thus, after a shopping spree, they decided to return.
As for the Xia Zheng Investigation Team, people like Zhao Yu in the team had brought them shame, and with no experimental results to show, a large sum of money spent with nothing to show for it, they had no face to forcibly stay longer.
“The Xia Zheng Investigation Team is actually preparing to leave.” Zhang Xun was very surprised, he had thought the remaining researchers would find ways to stay, “The ones from Beast Star are still here, I’ll go ask.” Zhang Xun added. His personality was good, unlike his senior fellow students, during free time he would go chat with people, and through these interactions, he had made some acquaintances.
A young Cat Clan member responded, stretching lazily as he smiled: “Go back? We’re not going back! We’re staying on Mountain and Sea Star from now on.”
“Wasn’t there a one-month limit? How can you stay?” Zhang Xun asked in surprise.
The Cat Clan youth replied with a grin: “Because we’ve joined Mountain and Sea Star!”
“Joined?” Zhang Xun’s brain stalled for a moment, though he recalled previous rumors on the Star Network – that Mountain and Sea Star’s planetary owner favored beast clans, could it be true?
The Cat Clan youth waved his right hand, his eyeballs rolling craftily, smiled and said: “You don’t know? Our Beast Star’s lord has good relations with the planetary owner, arranged immigration for all of us, we got residence cards. Not just the tourist area, we can go to the nearby city and base too!”
The tourist area was just on the east side of Aurora City, within arm’s reach.
But this city wasn’t like the glittering, noisy big cities in Zhang Xun’s memory, and he had gradually pushed Aurora City to the back of his mind. Now hearing the Cat Clan youth speak, he immediately became more curious: “Have you been to Aurora City?”
“No, but my cousin works there. Many facilities in the tourist area are temporarily borrowed from Aurora City, and when the area closes, they’ll be moved back. Unfortunately, the experimental zones are closed most of the time, few have such capabilities.”
Zhang Xun chatted with the Cat Clan youth a while longer, and after the other made an excuse to leave, he returned to the Sprout Investigation Team’s rest area with many thoughts, discussing the information he’d gathered with his fellow students. If they wanted to stay on Mountain and Sea Star, immigration might be the only way.
Meanwhile, that Cat Clan youth hurriedly ran to Xiong Xun’s office after leaving.
“I’ve already told them about the immigration news. Brother Xiong, can I go fishing by the literary stingray pool?” The Cat Clan youth looked eagerly at Xiong Xun. For the Cat Clan, fish was their favorite thing. Unfortunately, they couldn’t touch the aquatic races on Beast Star, and now that there was finally a pool of literary stingrays, it was guarded by that stern-faced Shi Huaixiang. Just because he was Cat Clan, he was ruthlessly denied fishing rights. He had only taken one lick, hadn’t he?
Xiong Xun glanced at the Tool Cat, waved his hand and said: “Go ahead.” As soon as the Tool Cat left, he immediately sent a message to Ning Buyi: “My Lord! They will definitely stay voluntarily! Just wait for the good news!”
A ‘ding’ sound rang out.
When Ning Buyi saw the message, she simply replied with a “good.”
At this moment, she was browsing the Star Network forum.
The “roster” of the Demon Phantom Space Pirates was originally only discussed in small circles, but yesterday something happened that gradually brought those discussions into public view, with more people joining in.
As for that incident, it came from Hua Zhuoyu’s hand.
She had collected the bounty for eliminating the Demon Phantom Space Pirates.
Space pirate groups had always been notorious, everyone wished to eliminate them as soon as possible. To motivate the public’s enthusiasm in eliminating pirates, each pirate was worth a large sum of star currency, especially large pirate groups like Demon Phantom. Unfortunately, the bounty’s effect wasn’t obvious – after all, even with generous rewards, one needed to be alive to spend it. If unable to eliminate the entire pirate group, one would face endless retaliation.
—After the Giant Sickle Star battle, the roster fell into Star Court’s hands. But Star Court doesn’t handle these matters, they must have given it to the government? So this time the government avoided “eyes and ears” to effectively and cleanly strike against the pirates?
—Finally feeling like our taxes were well spent, good riddance to the Demon Phantom Space Pirates!
…
People online rejoiced at Demon Phantom’s disappearance, no one believed such a great achievement could come from one person’s hand, instead crediting the government.
“First they praise the government, then they praise the crown prince, when they didn’t do anything at all.” Ning Buyi browsed the Star Network news, her expression growing complicated, she turned toward the composed Hua Zhuoyu, beginning to feel indignant on her behalf.
Hua Zhuoyu’s eyes brimmed with amusement, she turned to gaze at Ning Buyi: “These empty honors are useless to me.” After pausing for several breaths, “Let Xia Tu and his people have them.”
Ning Buyi asked again: “Will he use the roster to strike against dissidents?”
“He will.” Hua Zhuoyu nodded, “Xia Tu is caught in the vortex of power struggles, he will utilize every weapon available.”
“Won’t he suspect Star Court?”
Hua Zhuoyu replied innocently: “What does this have to do with Star Court? Star Court never meddles in politics.”
At this moment, government officials were completely baffled, after all, they hadn’t targeted space pirates for a long time. Could it be a military operation? But there hadn’t been any rumors lately. However, who did it wasn’t important anymore – what mattered was that “roster” and whose hands it was in. In their positions, they inevitably had some dirty business they couldn’t handle personally, and those desperados were the best tools to use.
But now the blade was turning back on them.
“Given Star Court’s style, they would directly present the spoils to His Imperial Majesty. However, since His Majesty isn’t handling affairs now, the roster is likely in the Crown Prince’s hands.”
“The Crown Prince now has support from some military personnel, keeping things from us old-timers.”
“Is there any way to destroy it?”
“What use would destroying it be? The Crown Prince has probably memorized the list already. Our prince can’t tolerate even a grain of sand in his eye.”
“We shouldn’t say that…”
…
In the Crown Prince’s residence.
Xia Tu rubbed his forehead, his expression grave. He didn’t have authority to control the Star Network, at most he could suppress the news. Yet someone was secretly opposing him, making the topic even hotter.
“Perhaps Your Highness could transfer it to the Supervisory Department?” The advisor cautiously suggested. The roster also recorded names of some people from the Supervisory Department, and handling it might involve a lot of padding, but at least it would remove this trouble.
Xia Tu frowned, shaking his head: “Didn’t Zhuoyu give me the roster to eliminate those parasites?” Seeing his advisor’s poor expression, he added, “The Supervisory Department has been idle for some time, we can’t let them have a chance to exert power.” His ultimate goal was to dissolve the Supervisory Department, and during this process, he didn’t want them to have any authority.
“Then will you deal with these people?”
“Too many people are involved, taking action would cause major turbulence.” Xia Tu pondered for a while, then suddenly stood up, “It seems necessary to visit those old officials. The roster is in my hands now, shouldn’t I have the final say on the names recorded in it?”
“But Your Highness, this roster wasn’t intercepted by our own people.”
“Are you doubting Star Court? Doubting Zhuoyu?” Xia Tu’s piercing gaze swept forward, his tone ice-cold.
The advisor finally chose to keep quiet.
In the Princess’s residence.
Xia Sang supported her cheek with one hand, rapidly spinning a pen in her other hand.
“The Civilization Investigation Team has no results… as expected. Rather than a technology, it’s more of a gift, isn’t it?” Xia Sang covered her mouth and yawned, the news from the investigation team left her uninterested, but soon she became excited again, slapping her pen on the table and gazing intently at Ying Jingqiu not far away, “But they have medicinal fields there.”
“You should give up that idea.” Ying Jingqiu’s cold, heartless words broke Xia Sang’s thoughts, “The Chief Judge won’t let us interfere.”
“She really doesn’t trust me.” Xia Sang sighed, brushing her smooth long hair as she walked with light steps toward Ying Jingqiu, her hand tracing the beautiful sparkling rose-shaped emblem on Ying Jingqiu’s military uniform, then added, “Is there any good news to hear? For example, about the roster?”
Ying Jingqiu stared steadily at Xia Sang’s ear, saying softly: “Don’t you already know?”
Xia Sang blinked, her tone fragrant and rich like roses, mixed with a hint of sweetness: “But I want to hear your voice.”
“The Civilization Alliance got the official register from the planetary owner, once Xia Tu takes action, they’ll make it public. As for the roster’s source, it’s also from Giant Sickle Star. After all, the Civilization Alliance’s fleet going there to maintain order was witnessed by Giant Sickle Star’s residents.”
Xia Sang smiled: “Looks like the empire will soon be in turmoil.”
Ying Jingqiu gazed at her intently: “You’re excited?”
Xia Sang stroked Ying Jingqiu’s cheek, beautiful eyes containing traces of pleasure and danger, she countered: “Shouldn’t I be?” What’s this about dealing with the “Supervisory Department,” what’s this about “concentrating imperial power within the family,” following ancestral teachings is the imperial heir’s business – what does it have to do with her, a princess meant for “political marriage”? The Insect Race has a queen, Beast Star has a queen, so Da Xia should have one too.
While Da Xia Imperial Star churned with undercurrents, Mountain and Sea Star remained peaceful. If there was any change, it was Zhang Xun formally inquiring about immigration conditions with Xiong Xun. Knowing the planetary owner wanted to keep people, Xiong Xun deliberately described the benefits of the experimental base and pharmaceutical factory. He hadn’t actually been there, but he believed the capable Ning Buyi would arrange everything well.
As for Ning Buyi herself, she wasn’t at Mountain and Sea Star base.
The Mountain and Sea Atlas suddenly refreshed its “easter egg”, and she was driving her flying car rushing toward the destination.
Ning Buyi felt something bad was about to happen, but regardless, the “easter egg” was her property, and abandoning it wouldn’t help avoid “trouble.”
Compared to a year ago, Mountain and Sea Star’s extreme weather had gradually decreased.
The gentle sunlight fell on their bodies, no longer having the burning sensation of fierce flames.
Hua Zhuoyu followed behind Ning Buyi, her gaze falling on the strange-looking stone forest, raising an eyebrow: “Is it in the stone forest?”
“Yes.” Ning Buyi nodded. The “Dominate” ability enhanced her perception, she didn’t need to blindly search around, but could precisely locate the “easter egg.” As she had guessed, it was another strange beast. Built like a qilin, with green fur and four legs, dragon head with single horn, its name in the Mountain and Sea Atlas was Xiezhi. Its unique ability was strange – it could judge criminal cases and determine life or death. There was a small line at the end: applies to beast clans.
Having Xiezhi appear now, could something have happened on Beast Star? A trace of worry flashed through Ning Buyi’s mind.
“Is this it?” Hua Zhuoyu glanced at the Xiezhi in Ning Buyi’s arms, asking with raised eyebrows.
“Yes.” Ning Buyi looked up at Hua Zhuoyu, seeing her normal expression showing no surprise, she couldn’t help adding, “Aren’t you curious at all?” Unlike later arrivals, Hua Zhuoyu appeared at Mountain and Sea Star base very early, even taking blame for her several times. She must know the seeds appear from nowhere.
Hua Zhuoyu smiled: “Isn’t this your secret? I told you before, if you don’t want to tell, I won’t ask.”
“Is it like this for everything?” Ning Buyi lowered her eyelashes, she wasn’t ready to be completely honest, but still felt a sense of loss. Whether she’s willing to answer is one thing, whether to ask is another. As this thought emerged, Ning Buyi secretly scorned her own oversensitivity.
“Of course not.” Hua Zhuoyu gave Ning Buyi a sideways glance, her expression saying “what are you thinking.” After considering for a moment, she added, “For example. If one day you suddenly went out with Feng Er and didn’t return for the night, I would definitely investigate thoroughly.”
Ning Buyi: “…Could you use a different example?”
Hua Zhuoyu smiled gracefully, taking the heavy Xiezhi from Ning Buyi’s arms, saying leisurely: “In any case, I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do.”
Ning Buyi felt happy hearing this but wouldn’t let joy cloud her judgment, she lightly snorted: “This promise of yours is less reliable than a castle built of sea sand. If Mountain and Sea Star’s dark pollution levels exceeded the danger line right now, you’d definitely be the first to pass judgment on it. My opinion wouldn’t matter at all.”
Hua Zhuoyu: “…”
“Of course, I won’t give you that opportunity.” Ning Buyi suddenly changed tone, walking ahead of Hua Zhuoyu, abruptly turning to gaze at her, “Hold fast to your ideals and duties. On this path of ‘life revival,’ you are my closest companion.”
Hua Zhuoyu smiled and followed Ning Buyi’s steps: “Perhaps ‘companion’ could be replaced with another more suitable word?”
Ning Buyi: “Alright, my esteemed patron.”
GAYS