Rora Starsea had been a web novelist for years.
She'd written nearly every kind of story imaginable—world-hopping adventures, endless leveling sagas, quick transmigration tales, even slow-paced farming dramas.
And before starting each one, she always did her homework.
Whenever she planned to write about something new, she would dive into research, collecting every scrap of detail she could find.
Like the time she wrote that farming story—she'd actually bought several books about agriculture just to make the world feel more realistic.
One of them, she remembered, was all about fruit trees.
If her memory served her right, fruits that turned out small and sour were often the result of not being grafted properly.
Was that the same reason here? She wasn't sure.
After a few moments of thought, she shook her head.
It didn't really matter anymore—whatever caused the problem, it had nothing to do with her current situation.
She turned back to the remaining wristbands and began checking through their contents.
The last four weren't as spacious as Ryan Zhao's, but they were packed tight with supplies—nutrient packs, energy stones, and random little odds and ends.
All in all, it was a good haul.
Looking at the growing pile of loot filling up half her room, she almost had the impulse to go out "fishing for lawbreakers" again—luring greedy people into traps the way authorities used to.
But she quickly dismissed that thought.
She might be stronger now, but that didn't mean invincible.
If she ran into someone truly dangerous, one wrong move could flip the tables.
Her stomach growled softly, cutting off the thought.
Without looking, she grabbed a random bottle of nutrient fluid from the pile, twisted it open, and drank.
It didn't matter what flavor it was—at best it was terrible, at worst even worse.
Once full, her gaze drifted toward the glowing blue wristband she'd picked up earlier.
It looked just like the others—except every now and then, it flickered faintly with a pulse of blue light.
As she examined it, Starlit fluttered over, curiosity shining in his bright little eyes.
"Star Lord, is that wristband special in some way?"
Rora tilted her head. "It doesn't look special, but something tells me it is. I just can't figure out what makes it different."
After a moment's hesitation, she slipped it onto her wrist.
Beep—Light-brain detected. Commencing system link and synchronization!
A crisp mechanical voice rang out the instant the band made contact with her skin.
Startled, Rora's fingers brushed against it—and a sharp tone followed.
Beep!
A ray of blue light projected upward, forming a semi-transparent holographic panel in midair.
Her eyes lit up.
So it was different.
When she'd worn the other wristbands, nothing had happened—it had been no different from putting on an ordinary bracelet.
This one, though… clearly contained something more.
She brushed her fingertips across the surface. The texture was unexpectedly smooth and warm. Then she looked up at the floating display.
The interface resembled the Star Ranking board she had seen before—except the last line of text was missing.
[Welcome, Star Lord LX045. StarNet access detected. Current planetary level: 0.
Connection time limit: 2 star hours.
Please continue to upgrade your planetary rank to extend your StarNet access time!]
Rora blinked.
"…Is this—anti-addiction protection?"
A small laugh escaped her. "So a level-zero Star Lord is basically a minor, huh?"
As she mused, the final line of text faded, replaced by a countdown timer in the top corner:
01:59:49
A strange sense of urgency welled up in her. She immediately began exploring the StarNet interface before the timer ran out.
The center of the screen was filled with bright, eye-catching posters—each with bold captions beneath them:
From Commoner to Noble—The One Thing I Did Right
How I Became a Respected Aristocrat—My Story
How I Went from Level 0 to Level 3 in Just One Month
…and many more like them.
Curious, Rora tapped on the last one, hoping to find some valuable insights she could learn from.
She read it from start to finish.
By the end, her face was completely expressionless.
Without a word, she closed the post.
Then she opened another.
And another.
Each one started with grand promises—but turned out to be pure nonsense.
Rora leaned back and sighed.
Even in the far future, across the endless stars… clickbait still existed.
Titles that didn't match the content.
Walls of empty words.
And absolutely zero useful information.
After wasting nearly half an hour, Rora Starsea decided to do the searching herself.She looked up every question she had in mind.Though some of them still had no definite answers, most of her doubts were cleared up.
The so-called Star Lord was the most extraordinary being in this vast interstellar world.
When a planet came into existence, among the creatures that evolved upon it, there would eventually emerge one person—a being perfectly resonant with that planet's Star Spirit.Once the two formed a contract, the planet would begin to change.From that moment on, the people born upon it could awaken the dormant power within their blood, unlocking unique abilities.
However, every planet had only a thousand years of life.If, during that span, no one achieved perfect resonance with its Star Spirit, the planet would eventually collapse and vanish into cosmic dust.
Once a Star Spirit was bound to its Star Lord, and the Star Lord reached Level 1, that planet would continue to exist indefinitely—unless some overwhelming force destroyed it.
Because of this, whenever someone capable of bonding with a Star Spirit appeared, everyone on that planet would devote themselves to helping their Star Lord grow stronger.
The higher a Star Lord's level, the faster the planet evolved;the faster the evolution, the greater the energy produced;and the more energy the inhabitants absorbed, the stronger their awakened abilities became.
As for those unfortunate planets that never found their Star Lord, destruction was inevitable.Before their final moment, such planets would reach out to neighboring worlds, offering up their remaining resources in exchange for relocating their people.But these migrants could never awaken powers of their own—they would remain forever at the very bottom of society.
If they were lucky, they might be chosen by a native inhabitant and be granted a fragment of power—but that power would be the lowest grade, forever stagnant, and such opportunities were exceedingly rare.
That was why, in the past, when Han Hu gave up his chance to become a migrant, those people turned on him out of jealousy.
Closing the search page, Rora Starsea opened another—the Interstellar Star Spirit Ranking.
This ranking listed all planets whose bound Star Spirits had achieved a prosperity index above 10,000.The higher the prosperity, the higher the rank.
Every year, the Star Spirits on that list would receive rewards—the higher the ranking, the greater the benefits.
These rewards could significantly accelerate a Star Lord's growth in level.With such incentives, the inhabitants of ranked planets worked tirelessly to improve their planet's prosperity, while their Star Lords strove to strengthen themselves.
After spending nearly all her remaining connection time on the Star Network, Luo Xinghai hastily searched for methods to quickly increase her planet's prosperity during the early stages. After all, the prosperity level of her current planet was a shocking –999.
Soon, the screen displayed the answer she was looking for. In the initial binding phase, the fastest way to raise prosperity was to construct one-star buildings in large quantities. The more buildings constructed, the faster the prosperity would rise. At the same time, the layout of these buildings had to be considered carefully to allow for smoother expansion later on.
A one-star building, according to the description, was strong enough to withstand the attack of a first-tier awakened being.
Luo Xinghai quickly memorized the list of materials required to build such structures, committing both their names and appearances to memory. Once she confirmed she had memorized everything, the countdown in the top-right corner hit zero, and the interface reverted back to its original form.
She grabbed a piece of paper and began writing down all the materials needed for construction. By the time she finished, she had filled three entire pages. Her head throbbed just looking at the long list.
Given her current situation—penniless and without any proper supplies—she simply didn't have the means to gather that many materials.
Her gaze swept across the small room. Soon, she noticed that among the parts she had dragged back from the junkyard to repair her shelter, a few matched the required components. She also recalled the pile of items she had looted from Zhao Liang and his group—there were a few usable materials mixed in there as well.
But those pieces alone were far from enough—they'd barely be sufficient to build half a wall.
Her eyes wandered again, and through the cracked window, she happened to catch sight of the massive garbage mountain not too far away. A sudden thought sparked in her mind.
What if… she searched through the garbage heap?
Luo Xinghai's eyes lit up. It might actually work. The planet was practically barren now, but those mountains of discarded materials might hide treasures that fit her needs.
After all, those garbage heaps had been transported from other planets. For all she knew, some low-tier worlds might have overproduced basic materials and dumped their excess here as trash.
But as soon as that hope arose, another problem appeared.
She was alone.
With just her, digging through mountains of garbage could take months before she gathered enough for a single one-star building. Then, she'd still have to modify and assemble the materials. By the time the first structure was finished, a year might have already passed.
Clearly, she needed people.
Thinking of manpower inevitably reminded her of Han Hu and the others. Her mind began weighing the risks of revealing her true identity. She absently ran her fingers across the virtual panel before her.
Then, suddenly—she must have touched something by accident—because a small pop-up appeared on the screen:
[Activate Newbie Star Master Guidance Mode? Yes / No]
She rested her chin on her hand, studying the prompt. "Newbie Star Master Guidance Mode," she murmured. It sounded a lot like the tutorial mode from the games she used to play when she first logged in.
Without hesitation, Luo Xinghai tapped "Yes."
Instantly, new text appeared on the screen.
[Scanning Star Master LX045's Level and Planetary Environment…]
[Beep—Scan Complete!]
[Commencing personalized upgrade plan for Star Master LX045.]
[Mission: What kind of Star Master would you be without capable subordinates?]
[Mission Objective: Recruit 10 subordinates.]
(Once you successfully recruit subordinates, you can access their loyalty data.)
As Luo Xinghai stared at the words on the panel, all her previous hesitation vanished.Her decision was made.