Two crescent moons hung in the sky, and the misty halo spread out like two large sleeping lamps, illuminating the deep blue night.
In fact, these two moons were originally artificial lighting satellites, named Jinwu No. 1 and Taiyin No. 2. During the day, they are the sun, and at night, they are also the moon.
B3024 is far from the capital planet Sikkim, and there are no stars around it that emit light and heat. When it was discovered, it was a dark and lifeless planet. It was only because there was a wormhole nearby that connected it to Sikkim and could support jumps, so it was chosen to become one of the satellites of the capital planet, dedicated to processing the metal waste produced by the capital planet.
These wastes are continuously dumped into landfills via transport ships, and then processed by energy conversion centers and transformed into a steady supply of energy for distribution.
This is all the knowledge Rong Heng has about this planet in his memory.
Remote, barren and uninhabited.
But in fact, in addition to the energy conversion center that was built at the beginning and the staff sent here, there is still a large number of gray population on this planet.
They lived like rats on the outskirts of the garbage dump, generation after generation, but because they had no identity cards, they could not leave any trace in the vast Galactic Empire.
This overturned his previous understanding.
Rong Heng got up quietly and glanced at the boy who was sleeping beside him.
The other person was lying on his side with his legs slightly curled up, a very insecure posture. He also knew that under the other person's pillow, there was a small metal stick with a sharpened top.
This planet still follows the primitive and cruel jungle laws of survival.
This reminded him of something his mother once said to him.
She said that the empire still had many corners hidden that she could not see, and as the queen of the empire, she wanted to see further.
He was still a cub at that time and couldn't understand her words very well.
But the days and nights he spent on planet B3024 finally made him deeply understand his mother's words.
After taking another look at the sleeping person, Rong Heng tiptoed out. Under the moonlight, the shadow behind him gradually twisted and lengthened, and finally turned into a slender man's figure.
The wound that had been carefully treated caused slight pain due to the change in body size. Rong Heng frowned and pressed it. After confirming that the wound had not cracked, he blended into the darkness like a shadow.
The adult Ymir grew very fast, and no one could detect his whereabouts on this technologically backward planet.
After walking around the entire outer city at a very fast speed, Rong Heng finally arrived at the edge of the inner city.
The first thing you see is a giant tower that reaches the sky. This is the core of the entire inner city - the energy conversion center.
Today, the entire inner city radiates around the energy tower.
Unlike the chaotic and backward outer city, the inner city is much cleaner and tidier. The urban area is rationally divided and planned, the houses are neatly arranged, the roads are wide, and the city walls are equipped with the latest R-shaped bee-eye cameras.
It is a completely different world from the outer city.
But in fact, this place was originally only provided for the families of the staff sent to the energy center to live in.
Many years later, the uninhabited garbage planet was filled with unregistered gray population, and the energy center became a symbol of power and status on the planet. The wall covered with bee-eye cameras separated the city and the outside world into two completely different worlds.
Rong Heng sneered, easily avoided the camera, and sneaked into the city.
He randomly found the most luxurious house and sneaked in. Inside the bedroom, the owner was fast asleep, but the intelligent computer in the living room was not turned off. It was casually placed on the coffee table, and the last interface that he browsed was still not closed.
Rong Heng walked in and browsed it, and found that it was a news article about himself with a sensational headline.
—The crown prince of the empire was attacked and killed, the royal bloodline was cut off, will the Galactic Empire come to an end? !
There were related push notifications below the news. When you clicked on them, most of them were news like "The crown prince of the empire was attacked, and many senior officials were held accountable" and "The empire fell into civil strife and will eventually fall apart." Rong Heng browsed through them, and familiar names flashed before his eyes, making his eyes even colder.
Just as he was about to close the interface, a piece of newly pushed news caught his attention.
—The Regent is appointed in times of crisis and may inherit the throne.
His finger paused slightly, hesitated for a moment, and finally clicked in.
The source of this news was the Sikkim Daily News. The content was brief and succinct, describing the civil unrest caused by the attack on the crown prince. It then changed the subject and talked about the rationality and legitimacy of the regent's succession to the throne.
Rong Heng stared at the news for a long time, engraving almost every word in his mind.
The Sikkim Daily News is a royal property, and they would never dare to release news concerning the royal family without the royal family's approval.
His mother, Queen Farah, had died on the front line long ago, and after he was attacked, he cut off all contact with Sikkim. At this time, the only person who could agree to the Sikkim Daily to send out news to test public opinion was his father, the Regent.
"So it's you..."
The bloody battle of Baghdad seemed like yesterday. The loud noise of explosions seemed to still fill his ears. Even the wound in his abdomen began to ache slightly. Rong Heng pressed the wound hard. The pain brought him out of his chaotic emotions. He calmly closed the browsing interface and left as quietly as he came.
After getting a rough idea of the layout of the inner city, Rong Heng prepared to turn back.
When he passed the school area, he paused for a moment, thinking of what he had heard during the day, and without much hesitation, he sneaked in...
The next day, slightly warm light shone in from the skylight above. Ruan Shiqing was awakened, yawned, and got up lazily.
"09, what time is it now?"
The little robot in the corner said, "Good morning, sir. It is 8:15 in the morning."
"It's still early." Ruan Shiqing muttered and turned sideways to hug the kid.
Rong Heng raised his eyelids and glanced at him, then shrunk them listlessly - he had gradually become immune to the boy's various offensive behaviors.
Ruan Shiqing was a little surprised that he didn't get a warm response from the cub. He turned over his belly to check the wound out of habit, but was shocked by the hideous wound - the wound that had been bandaged had cracked again, and the blood that seeped out had stuck the surrounding fur together.
No wonder the kid looks so listless, probably because he's in pain.
Ruan Shiqing didn't have time to think about why the bandaged wound suddenly broke. He carefully put the cub back into the nest, hurriedly looked for disinfectant and medicine, and treated his wound with a frown.
His movements were very gentle. He cleaned the stuck hair and blew gently on the wound. His expression seemed to be more solemn and sad than the injured person himself.
Rong Heng, who had not taken it seriously, suddenly felt a little guilty.
After the boy had treated the wound, he hesitated for a moment, then unskillfully stretched his head over and rubbed the other's arm gently.
Don't be sad, I'm not hurt.
"From now on, you are not allowed to move."
Ruan Shiqing felt a little guilty. He thought that the reason why the boy's wound burst was that he was careless when he slept at night. If he had thought of this earlier, he would have held the boy in his arms while sleeping and not let him move around. He wouldn't have suffered in vain again.
Rong Heng, who was still feeling guilty, didn't dare to move anymore after hearing that. He pretended to be well behaved and lay back in his nest.
Seeing that the boy was still worried, he glanced at the books that had never been found and simply stretched out his claws and patted them.
Look, a gift!
"What is this...?" Ruan Shiqing's attention was drawn to it. He opened his eyes wide and picked up the book on the ground in disbelief. Although he could not understand the words, the pictures on it clearly told him that this was the book he needed.
"Where did this come from?" Ruan Shiqing was full of doubts, but he couldn't contain his excitement and curiosity. He brought the little robot over and asked anxiously, "Can you translate these books?"
"Of course, sir."
Although the little robot was tattered, it was still polite, like a qualified gentleman. The red light of the scanner swept across the books and announced the titles: "Your First Book on Learning Interstellar Universal Language, A General History of Galactic Empire Technology, Teach You to Become a Mechanical Master in 100 Days, A Manual for Cultivating Mechanical Masters..."
There are eight books in total, all of which Ruan Shiqing needs right now.
At first he thought it was the Xiong brothers who found it for him, but then he thought again and saw that they had just said yesterday that they couldn’t get it, so it couldn’t be them.
He could only look at the cub in the nest and shook the book: "Did you see who sent it?"
I gave it to you.
Rong Heng glanced at him and gradually became more confident.
He rested his paws on his head and looked at Ruan Shiqing without responding.
No one would doubt a wounded cub.
Seeing that the kid looked like he didn't understand what he was saying, Ruan Shiqing knew it was useless to ask any more, so he simply stopped asking.
No matter who sent the book and what their purpose was, at least the other party's current behavior did not show any malicious intent. Assuming that the other party wanted something from him in the future, he would remember the favor today and repay it when the other party came to him in the future.
After thinking it through, Ruan Shiqing accepted the book with peace of mind.
He was in a state of excitement and quickly took a nutrient supplement. Then he held the little robot and, with its help, read the "Common Language Learning Book" slowly and with difficulty.
He was immersed in books for the entire day, and apart from taking a tube of nutritional supplement for himself and his cub, he didn't even move from his seat.
If he hadn't had to attend an auction early the next morning, Rong Heng suspected that he might have read all night.
Ruan Shiqing was indeed reluctant to put down the book in his hand. As a scientific researcher, curiosity and exploration were almost instinctive. Before, the conditions really did not allow it, so even if he was curious, he could only suppress it. Now someone opened a corner of the world to him for him to read, and this temptation was really hard to resist.
Fortunately, his remaining rationality stopped him. He closed the book and carefully placed it in a corner. Ruan Shiqing lay on his side, took the little cub in his arms, closed his eyes, and whispered to himself, "Sleep."
Rong Heng, who was held in his arms, moved awkwardly, but finally lay still.
It's just sleeping.
The next day, before dawn, Ruan Shiqing was woken up by the two Xiong brothers.
Xiong Yuanyuan brought the big cloth bag she had found and stood at the door calling for help like a thief.
Ruan Shiqing sat up in a daze, then thought of what he was supposed to do today. He woke up with a start, packed up quickly, put the baby in his arms, and went out in the dim light.
After taking out the hidden drive and engine and installing them to take back, Ruan Shiqing took the time to read a book for a while. When the time was almost up, he set off for the underground market.
This time, the Xiong brothers took him another way, and Ruan Shiqing realized that the underground market had more than one passage. It was like a huge underground palace, with countless passages connected like a spider web. What he found that day was just an inconspicuous one among them.
There were many people participating in the auction, and the underground market was particularly lively today.
The three people plus an inconspicuous cloth bag did not attract any attention.
According to the procedure, the three paid the fees, received the masks, cloaks and black boxes, and after dressing up, they entered the auction venue.
Here is another underground cave, which is larger and more magnificent than the one in the market. In the main hall, twenty-four stone pillars are neatly arranged, which is magnificent. In the center is a circular auction platform that is a little higher. With the auction platform as the center, the circular stepped seats radiate from low to high to the surrounding areas.
The three of them found a random seat and sat down, waiting for the auction to begin.
—The first free auction is a fixed auction session, where the auction items have been determined and announced in advance; the second is the real free auction, where any item that the auctioneer considers to be valuable can be auctioned on the stage.
Ruan Shiqing came for the second auction.