Rora Starsea raised a brow.
This young man had potential—he caught the key point faster than she did.
She didn't bother to hide anything. After all, she had already revealed her second-biggest secret; a wristband that could access the Star Network wasn't worth keeping secret anymore.
"Yes," she admitted, "I can connect to the StarNet now. When I reached Star Level 2, I found all the information about Star Masters and the Interstellar Spirit Ranking there."
Evergreen's usually calm eyes lit up at once. He looked at the wristband on Rora's wrist, his gaze burning with a mix of curiosity and envy. If not for his rationality reminding him that even if he took it, he couldn't connect to the StarNet himself, he might have snatched it right then.
"Alright," Evergreen said, excitement flickering beneath his usual composure. "I'll get your waste-sorting machine built as soon as possible. But…"—he paused briefly—"I'll need you to help me download some data from the StarNet."
Rora agreed without hesitation. "No problem."
"Can your wristband handle direct trades?" Evergreen asked.
No one questioned where she had gotten her device. On the Junk Planet, the rule was simple: whatever you find is yours. Most people respected that code.
Of course, there were exceptions.
Rora lifted her wrist and tapped the interface, her eyes scanning through the panels—but she didn't see anything resembling a trade option.
"Where is it supposed to be?" she asked.
"You'll only see it after connecting to the StarNet," Evergreen explained. "It's in your personal info menu—try looking there later."
"Then I can't check it now," Rora said. "I've already used up my connection time for the day."
Evergreen glanced at the clock on his own wristband.
"It's already eleven at night. In one hour, it'll reset for the new day. Let's wait—this is important."
Time passed quickly.
When midnight struck, Evergreen's head immediately snapped toward Rora. The others, sprawled sleepily across the sofa, perked up despite their yawns.
Catching Evergreen's look, Rora activated her wristband again and entered the StarNet.
Her vision filled with light-blue holographic panels, and soon she found her Personal Info page.
At the bottom, she spotted a golden icon labeled Trade.
She tapped it.
The interface changed at once—turning into a shimmering golden marketplace, full of floating images of various items, each labeled with its price and a small Purchase button.
"Can you open the trading page?" Evergreen asked anxiously.
"Yes," Rora replied with a nod.
"That's perfect!"
Evergreen leaned closer, even revealing his mechanical right eye as he tried to peek at her holographic screen—but of course, only the wristband's owner could actually see it.
"Alright," he said, voice quick with anticipation, "search for 'High-Price Purchase.' Tell me what listings appear."
Rora typed in the keyword, and in a blink, a single entry appeared.
[Buying at 1,000 StarCoins each — Ink Lotus Seeds from the planet Muyuán. The more, the better.]
Rora tilted her head. "Ink Lotus? From Muyuán? I doubt we have that here."
Evergreen raised a hand and tapped his own wristband. A small cloth pouch materialized in his palm.
He poured out five black seeds that gleamed faintly under the light.
"Here," he said. "These are Ink Lotus seeds. Trade them."
Rora gave him a brief glance but didn't question where he had gotten them.
She took the seeds and selected the listing, initiating the transaction.
After entering the quantity and confirming, her wristband emitted a thin beam of blue light, scanning the seeds in her palm.
In the next instant, the seeds vanished—leaving her hand empty.
At the same time, her account balance jumped from 0 to 5,000 StarCoins.
"Whoa!" Amo gasped, staring at Rora's now-empty hand. "Where'd they go? They just—disappeared!"
He rubbed his eyes hard, as if trying to confirm what he'd seen.
When the seeds remained gone, his expression turned to genuine astonishment.
Evergreen adjusted his eyepatch back over his right eye and said calmly,"Of course. That's the convenience of the StarNet — online trade at your fingertips."
"When can we connect to the StarNet?" Amo asked eagerly.After seeing that trade just now, he was itching to try it himself.
Rora smiled, her tone teasing but kind."Probably after my Star Level goes up. Don't worry, it won't take long."
"Alright!" Amo grinned broadly, eyes shining with expectation for the future.
"Okay, it's late," Han Hu interrupted, his voice steady. "Let's rest for tonight. We'll discuss the rest tomorrow."
The group exchanged brief farewells and left Han Hu's place, each heading back home.
Far away—ten thousand light-years from the Dahua System, in the Tebis Galaxy—a silver-white starship was gliding silently through the void.
In the next instant, seven or eight pitch-black ships appeared behind it, closing in fast.
Inside the silver vessel, a man in a black military uniform sat calmly at the control console.His dark eyes flicked toward a red warning alert flashing on the screen, but he didn't seem concerned.His long, pale fingers moved across the controls with composed precision, unaffected by the tension thick in the air.
[Initiate Warp Jump? — Yes / No]
Without hesitation, the man selected Yes.
The next moment, a burst of blinding white light exploded around the ship—and it vanished.
The pursuing black ships halted abruptly, their target gone.
"Commander! We've lost visual contact. Orders?"
Inside the lead black vessel, silence fell.Every crew member turned toward a pale-faced man seated at the command platform—the supreme officer of the operation, Niss, fifth-ranked ability user of the Tebis Galaxy's planet Biels.
Niss's gaze lingered on the now-empty radar screen.His hands tightened on the armrest, and a terrifying pressure erupted from him.Behind him, a faint crimson phantom began to manifest—its form indistinct, yet oppressive.
Within seconds, everyone in the control room collapsed to their knees, faces twisted in pain.
"Keep searching," Niss said coldly, his voice low and deadly calm."Find that heretic, Xuanxi, and bring him back to Biels. He will face judgment."
"Yes, Commander!" the subordinates chorused, trembling.
Meanwhile, the silver-white starship reappeared—this time in the Dahua System, ten thousand light-years away.
[WARNING! WARNING! Hull damage at 95%. Vessel disintegration imminent. Immediate evacuation required!]
Xuanxi, the ship's owner, showed no surprise.He knew from the start that this model wasn't built for long-distance warp jumps.Still, he was fortunate—it had lasted long enough for him to locate a viable planet for descent.
He entered the escape pod and launched it toward a water-blue planet below.
BOOM—!
Rora Starsea's eyes flew open.The sound of an explosion still echoed in her ears.
BOOM—!
Another deafening roar followed,and the dark sky outside her window flared with blinding red light.
Rora blinked in confusion."What in the world…?"
She dressed quickly and stepped outside—just as Acha came out from next door, clearly alarmed as well.
Both looked up at the sky.High above, a massive ball of fire erupted once more, scattering sparks across the night.
"Is that… a starship explosion?" Rora asked uncertainly.
"Most likely," Acha replied, her expression grave."But ships like that usually carry escape pods. No one should have died.Still, we don't know who came down from it. Be careful when you're out,and don't talk to strangers, alright?"
Rora chuckled softly."Got it."
As she listened to Acha's motherly warnings, she couldn't help but smile.She was already an adult—yet Acha still treated her like a child.
"Alright, go get some rest. It's nothing major — incidents like this have happened before, no need to worry," Acha said gently.
Rora Starsea nodded and returned to her small house.She had intended to stay up and observe what was going on outside,but an unexpected wave of drowsiness swept over her.Before she knew it, she had fallen fast asleep.
When she opened her eyes again, morning light was already pouring through the window.After a quick wash-up, she went with Acha to visit Han Hu once more.
The group gathered around the table, ready to discuss how to begin building their first one-star structure.
Han Hu spoke first, his tone decisive:"How about this — we use the materials we already have to build one one-star building first,just to see how much it can raise the planet's prosperity level?"
"I agree."
"Sounds good."
"No objections."
"Then what should the building look like?" Amo asked suddenly.
The room fell silent.Everyone exchanged awkward glances — they had been so focused on gathering materialsthat none of them had considered the actual design.
"Evergreen, why don't you design it?" Han Hu suggested.
Evergreen froze on the spot."I know nothing about architecture or design. I'm out."
Han Hu looked at the others, but everyone promptly looked away,pretending to be deeply fascinated by the wall or their own shoes.
Han Hu sighed and crossed his arms."Fine. I'll give you three days. Each of you must hand in a design draft.I'll be busy organizing manpower, so I won't participate in the design myself. That's final."
Everyone: "..."
The group quickly dispersed, each with a headache now added to their list of problems.
Rora was no exception.She sat at her desk, frowning, staring blankly at the empty sheet of paper in front of her.Then she turned to look at her little Star Spirit,who was lying lazily on the tabletop, round belly rising and falling with every soft breath.
With an amused smile, Rora reached out and poked his plump belly with a fingertip—soft and springy, almost addictive.
"Hey!" The Star Spirit sat up with a little squeak, glaring at her resentfully."Star Master, I'm not a toy! You can't just play with me because I feel nice to touch!"
Rora's eyelid twitched; she nearly rolled her eyes into the ceiling."Alright, alright. Since you've been living on this planet for so long,do you know of any beautiful buildings from the past?"
The Star Spirit shook his head."No. I spent most of my time in hibernation due to energy shortages."
Rora let out a quiet sigh of disappointment."Figures," she muttered, lowering her head again and picking up her pen.
She had no idea what kind of architecture would be fitting for a one-star building.Her mind drifted back to the magnificent structures from her original world —skyscrapers, temples, cathedrals, museums…Maybe… she could sketch one of those.