Starting Cultivation in Wasteland

Old Seven had his own considerations, but Mu Yu was directly pissed into laughing. "Do I look that easy to push around?"

"Not really," Granny Jia looked at her and spoke weakly, "they just think both of us are easy to push around."

Since their own side had already taken control of the enemy’s starship, there was no need to be polite anymore.

—They’d already given the other side a chance. Too bad these days, there are way too many people who don’t know how to cherish it.

Hearing her say that, the two crew members frowned, raised their guns, and pointed them at the two women, tense and wary.

Old Seven’s hand also went to the hilt at his waist, but he didn’t draw the blade.

He waved his hand to stop his people from acting impulsively, then looked at Granny Jia and spoke, thoughtful.

"You two actually aren’t worried about becoming hostages... so your status isn’t that high?"

The Imperial side really didn’t go in for kidnapping, but hostages were still a thing, especially in a situation like this.

The enemy team only had five people—let’s say five for now—losing two would still be a huge loss.

"No need to probe," Granny Jia said expressionlessly, cold air suddenly surging off her.

At the same time, Mu Yu’s hands moved a bit by her side, and an Energy Fluctuation rippled off her body as well.

"Instant Protective Armor?" The Wood Attribute Old Seven stared at Granny Jia, brows tightly knitted, his heart sinking nonstop.

Anyone who could instantly trigger Protective Armor was at the very least an A-level Awakened.

And judging from their aura, these two women should both be A-level as well.

He had a gut feeling that one versus two, he absolutely wasn’t their match.

Besides, was this even a place to fight?

On a thick-skinned, tough Armed Merchant Ship, you could still have limited combat in the cabins; this was a small Attack Ship.

Forget three A-levels—even three B-levels fighting would be enough to destroy the entire vessel!

So he very straightforwardly said, "Since we can’t reach an agreement, we’ll just be on our way, then."

The two women said nothing, just looked at him in that weird way, like they were staring at an idiot.

Qu Jianlei also didn’t speak, even though he really wanted to say—since you’ve come, you think leaving is that easy?

It was just that that line sounded way too much like a villain, and he was a little embarrassed to say it out loud.

But the fact that they didn’t speak already made their attitude clear.

Right then, a voice came through the comm channel. "Old Seven, you don’t need to talk anymore."

"Friends from the Sail Consortium, we don’t have any particular malice. It’s just that the enemies behind us are chasing too hard, we sort of lost our footing."

"Since that’s the case, this little ship is yours. Can we leave now?"

"Too late," Qu Jianlei answered without hesitation. "Everyone land. Don’t make me say it twice!"

"Well..." The voice on the channel hesitated, then spoke. "The pursuers are not easy to deal with."

What answered him was silence.

"Ah." The voice on the channel let out a soft sigh. "Fine, everyone get ready for landing."

They actually didn’t need to prepare for landing. With Little Lake in control, it wasn’t up to them at all.

It was just that up to now, Big Head Butterfly hadn’t shown them that particular capability.

Just like Granny Jia and Mu Yu hadn’t released their Supreme aura—partly to keep a low profile, partly to see what choice the other side would make.

The battered starship slowly descended, and about twenty people walked off it.

Big Head Butterfly promptly reported to Qu Jianlei, "Everyone on the starship’s come out, no one’s hiding."

It was clear the other side was pretty straightforward. Since they chose to surrender, everyone came out.

Two of them were still in nutrient pods, obviously badly injured.

There were another three with lighter injuries, being supported by others.

Among all these people there were only two A-levels, Old Seven and the man who’d spoken with Qu Jianlei.

The Paranoid saw this and muttered regretfully, "Shame, they’re a bit too tactful."

His meaning was obvious: if the enemy had kept provoking them, they could have just killed them all to wipe them out.

Fortunately he’d said that over the internal channel; if the other side heard it, who knew what they’d think.

The man who’d spoken walked forward and politely asked, "May I ask who’s in charge?"

The Paranoid and the others all turned their gazes toward Qu Jianlei.

The man faced Qu Jianlei, raised his hand in salute, and aside from his surprise, he also felt a bit secretly relieved.

He already knew there were at least three A-levels on the other side, and none of them was the one in charge. This guy... even if he wasn’t Supreme, he’d be close.

This kind of power hierarchy might vary in everyday society—for instance, people with connections could hire bodyguards.

But stranded out in space, everything really depended on your own strength. If you didn’t know to respect the strong... do the consequences even need to be spelled out?

Escorted by Qu Jianlei’s group of five, the crowd entered the second settlement.

In fact, when they passed the Energy Block Extractor, they’d already seen it clearly—it really was... a very makeshift setup.

Once inside the settlement, the vacuum door closed. Everyone took a look around the orderly stone chamber and were shocked all over again.

They’d never been stranded in space themselves, but they’d heard plenty of stories—what kind of "distressed travelers" get such comfortable conditions?

But then you think about that crude extractor outside, and "distressed travelers" does feel like the only explanation.

Everyone took off their spacesuits and helmets. Qu Jianlei looked at the square-faced man in the lead and spoke in a low voice.

"I’m sorry we’re treating our rescuers this way, but... you’re the ones who broke the rules first."

"So now I ask, you answer. Start by giving a simple outline of your situation."

The square-faced man frowned, then let out a sigh. "Sir, we were reckless, that’s on us—but the pursuers are about to catch up!"

Qu Jianlei said flatly, "I don’t repeat myself. You don’t get a second chance to dodge the question."

"Fine," the square-faced man saw the other side was completely unmoved and could only sigh, "we were originally..."

Big Head Butterfly started spinning in Qu Jianlei’s mind. "Boss, this is the Celestial River Star Realm!"

It had taken over their control center and, by checking the star map, now knew exactly where their side was.

"Celestial River..." Qu Jianlei touched his chin, face expressionless. This teleportation really had thrown them far.

Celestial River was a Star Realm on the Inner Circle’s edge. Its level of prosperity was no worse than the Warhammer Star Realm, and it covered an even larger area.

The man kept explaining. They belonged to a large integrated trading group called "Ping’an."

The Ping’an Trading Group was a local power in this Star Realm, backed by two Supreme powerhouses. Everyone had to give them some face.

This time they’d set out with four starships transporting cargo together, when they suddenly encountered Star Thieves halfway and, with negotiations breaking down, both sides went to war.

The armed merchant ship they were on now was the strongest in the convoy in terms of Combat Power, and it’d been beaten to this state; the other merchant ships could only have it worse.

But according to the man named Kading, one merchant ship should have managed to escape; it’s just that the two sides had lost contact.

This ship originally had seventeen crew. They’d rescued four survivors from the other ships, making twenty-one people now.

Qu Jianlei snorted coldly. "Celestial River still has Star Thieves... Are you kidding me?"

He wasn’t sure if Celestial River actually had Star Thieves, but these people had clearly been screwed and were looking to settle the score.

Qu Jianlei had no interest in meddling, especially when he didn’t much like the way these people operated.

Hearing this, Kading gave a bitter smile. "There are Star Thieves, but this time they’re probably a disguise... sigh."

Turned out the Supreme of the Ping’an Trading Group had gotten caught up in some trouble five years ago and been sent off by the authorities for official atonement.

If it’d just been atonement, that would’ve been manageable—sooner or later there’d be a return.

The group’s business shrank somewhat, but its core operations barely held on, so the impact wasn’t too severe.

But two years ago, that atoning Supreme died in an accident—or rather, it probably wasn’t an accident.

The Ping’an Trading Group still had one Supreme left, but he was old and frail, only able to sit at headquarters and keep the bare minimum of their holdings intact.

Because of that Supreme’s death, other business partners who’d had some connection with them quickly pulled away.

Always the same old story of fawning on the rich and stepping on the poor—never changes, in any era, anywhere.

In fact, among the forces coveting Ping’an’s business were some of their former partners.

Anyway, all this crap didn’t need spelling out. The group’s business was now shrinking at a breakneck pace.

So Kading believed the enemy was a competitor posing as Star Thieves.

While they were fleeing, they received a distress signal and just wanted to pick up some stranded survivors to bolster their fighting strength.

Of course, if they could replenish some Energy Blocks on the way, that’d be even better.

They had all the proper wariness, and they’d made sure to show it.

Especially after learning the other side was under the Sail Consortium banner—they didn’t dare slack off at all.

—Maybe the other side was fake, but since they were stranded travelers and their side had an armed merchant ship, they figured they could handle it.

At this point, Kading sighed and gave another bitter smile. "We were cautious enough. Who could’ve imagined..."

Who could’ve imagined that trying to rescue stranded folks would land them with a pack of lunatics like this.

After hearing him out, Qu Jianlei was a bit speechless too. He thought for a moment, then waved at Flower Scorpion. "You ask."

Flower Scorpion didn’t stand on ceremony. She walked over, sat down, and spoke. "How many starships are tracking you?"

"At least two," Kading knew she was the one who’d been in the helmet earlier and answered honestly, "carrying at least four small ships."

"At least..." Flower Scorpion’s eyes rolled slightly. "How long until they arrive?"

As for whether they’d attack once they arrived... she couldn’t even be bothered to ask.

No matter how truthful Kading’s story was, Flower Scorpion knew one thing clearly: space is no more orderly than the Garbage Star.

Only dead enemies are good enemies; a few bystanders getting dragged down with them is perfectly normal.

"Around four hours," Kading thought for a moment and answered in a low voice, "they can launch an attack within five hours."

He paused, then stressed another point. "They won’t go easy on you just because you’re research personnel."

Though the enemy was formidable, they’d come off a bit stiff and doctrinaire at first—otherwise Kading’s side wouldn’t have offended them.

So regardless of their true identity, he felt obliged to warn them. "You won’t get a chance to explain who you are."

Flower Scorpion gave him a strange look. "You’ve brought trouble down on us, and I’m supposed to thank you for the warning?"

(Updated to here—summoning monthly passes, subscriptions, and recommendation votes.)