Author: 易修罗 / Yi Xiu Luo

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 72

“You want to test your relationship’s star level? Why?” The instructor asked upon hearing Ying Feng’s intention.

“Because it seems that I’ve unintentionally used Spiritual Comfort. I want to know whether our progress has genuinely reached six stars.”

The instructor laughed dismissively. “Indeed, there are methods to measure relationship star level, but I don’t want to tell you.”

Ying Feng was puzzled. “Why?”

“If one does not understand to what extent their own emotions have developed and needs to rely on external means to judge—that’s just absurd. There are so many species in the world; only our feelings can be measured by values. Does this mean that all other species don’t fall in love?”

“I want you to develop relationship star levels because, from an outsider’s perspective, this is the only standard to judge the quality of your relationship. But being the involved party, you should know more clearly than any instrument the extent to which your feelings have developed.”

Ying Feng frowned; this seemed to be much more complex than combat training for him.

The instructor, somewhat dissatisfied, elaborated further, “Besides being able to use Spiritual Comfort, don’t you have any other feelings? Psychologists define this stage as the moment when the seed breaks through the soil. Your heart rate would accelerate when you touch his hand; you can’t help but express your feelings to him. This is the state that should correspond to six stars. Do you understand what I mean? Your judgment should not come from here.” The instructor pointed to the computer and then moved to his heart. “But here.”

When Ying Feng returned to the dormitory, Ling Xiao was playing a newly released strategic simulation game. The living room was covered with projections of the universe. Ling Xiao was controlling his fleet and attacking some unknown player’s planet with Red Head online. The battle was intense.

“Return to defense! The tail ship needs support! You’re back.” His greeting was interspersed between various shouts. “Someone is attacking me!”

Ying Feng walked over without a word and unexpectedly grabbed Ling Xiao’s hand. Ling Xiao was dumbfounded, and the tense battle was set aside. Only Red Head’s voice was constantly heard in the room.

“Ling Xiao, what are you doing? Enemy reinforcements have arrived; they are firing at your main ship! Why aren’t you moving? Hey, where are you!”

Ying Feng was silently experiencing the feeling described by the instructor. Ling Xiao’s gaze was constantly moving between the other’s face and his own hand. Is this some new ability? Why doesn’t he feel anything?

“What are you doing?” he couldn’t help asking.

“Nothing.” Ying Feng released his hand. Is it because of the constant contact that there’s no accelerated heartbeat when touching hands?

…What’s going on?

Red Head’s voice was replaced by Bing Can.

“Ling Xiao, has Ying Feng come back? If he’s back, let’s do the social work.”

“He’s back,” Ling Xiao hurriedly responded. He hadn’t forgotten their thirty-hour community service punishment. “We’re coming right away.”

He hastily commanded the surviving fleet to retreat to their base and joined Ying Feng, along with Bing Can, to go to the administration building.

The staff there were used to this kind of situation. “Pick a task from the recruitment board yourself. The terminal will automatically record your working hours.”

Looking around, Ling Xiao saw a variety of jobs, from cleaning the school to clearing obstacles—even strange tasks like clearing space debris. Besides those punished with community service, there were people volunteering.

“What does this X2 icon mean?” Ling Xiao asked.

“That represents high-difficulty jobs, counted as double time.” The staff looked at them. “You guys are freshmen? I recommend not trying.”

“So, we only need to do fifteen hours?” Ling Xiao pointed to the space debris clearing task. “I want to do this one.”

“Me too!” Red Head agreed joyfully.

“It’s work, not play.” The staff slammed the table. “Think carefully.”

“I think this one is good. I don’t want to clean the school for thirty hours.” Bing Can asked Ying Feng, “What about you?”

“No objections.”

“Well, whatever.” The staff saw this and didn’t interfere.

The four people arrived at the space station via teleportation. This was their first visit to space. Although it was for labor, they were as excited as if they were on vacation.

“This small work spaceship is called the Space Scavenger. It’s specifically used to clean up space debris. You are responsible for clearing all the debris in this area. Even parts smaller than one centimeter in diameter cannot be overlooked as they can pose a threat to the safety of space stations and satellites.”

The staff at the space station introduced them to the operational procedures, finally reminding, “You need to be careful to avoid high-speed objects when working. After all, what you are piloting is not a military aircraft. It has quite average safety performance and can easily be damaged if hit.”

“What if we encounter enemies?”

“You’ve watched too many movies. It’s not that easy to encounter enemies. I’ve been working here for seven or eight years and haven’t even seen a shadow of an enemy. If there were any dangers, students wouldn’t be asked to do this. Don’t overthink it, just go.”

They piloted the scavenger away from the space station. When they saw floating debris or wreckage, they used vacuum cleaners or mechanical arms to collect them. This work was much less laborious than cleaning school buildings, but it required more concentrated attention.

After they moved some distance away from the space station, Ling Xiao, who was responsible for piloting, suddenly detected an unidentified object on the radar.

“Look, what’s that?”

The other three gathered around, but no one could identify what it was until the UFO got closer to the scavenger. They recognized it as an emergency escape pod.

The four of them looked at each other. “Does this count as large trash?”

“Either way, let’s report it first.”

Ling Xiao reported their findings to the space station.

“We haven’t received any distress signals. You can check it first but be careful.”

Ling Xiao maneuvered the scavenger to fly around the escape pod twice. There was no response, and there was no reply to the communication request.

“Maybe there’s no one inside.”

“Not necessarily; the person inside might be unconscious.”

“I’ll go check,” Ling Xiao said.

“I’ll go with you,” Ying Feng said, not feeling secure with him going alone.

They both came to the outside of the cabin. The actual space environment differed slightly from the simulated environment in the training room. After a brief period of adjustment, their bodies adapted to the most suitable state.

In front of them was a sealed single-person escape pod. Without any glass, they could not see inside. Ling Xiao tried to turn the pressure valve, and during this time, Ying Feng carefully inspected the surrounding area of the escape pod. The spherical object was very tightly made, unlike what ordinary civilian equipment could achieve. There were words on the pod’s wall; it indeed was a product of Tianxiu.

How is it?

He floated to Ling Xiao’s side.

The indicator light here is red.

Ling Xiao pointed to the most conspicuous place outside the cabin door. This indicated that there was a living person inside, but the vital signs were extremely weak and in danger at any time.

We might not have time to drag it back. Let’s try to transfer the person inside to the scavenger. Bing Can should be able to perform first aid.

Ying Feng thought for a while and agreed. He secretly held a protective soul crystal in his hand and nodded to Ling Xiao.

Ling Xiao strengthened his force and turned the pressure valve clockwise several times. The cabin door finally opened, and the sight stunned them.

The unconscious person in the escape pod was just a fledgling from the look of the body shape. He obviously didn’t have the ability to survive in the space environment like Ling Xiao did, and his body had already begun to freeze rapidly in this short time.

Ying Feng acted swiftly, using the protective shield originally prepared to protect them on the fledgling. Ling Xiao broke into a cold sweat; he almost murdered a fledgling—but why would there be a fledgling here?

They didn’t have time to think too much now. The protective shield had a limited time; they had to transfer him to a safe place as quickly as possible.

Ling Xiao turned around and waved his hand, and shortly after, a mechanical arm extended from the side of the scavenger grabbed the protective shield along with the fledgling, like cleaning the trash, and pulled them back.

“How could there be a fledgling here?” Red Head, seeing the true face of the “trash”, was as astonished as Ling Xiao. In Tianxiu, nothing was more strictly managed than fledglings. It was hard for them to get out of school before, let alone appear in space.

Bing Can lifted his eyelids and saw that it was really a fledgling, not an undeveloped adult. This was truly bizarre.

However, the priority was to treat him. Bing Can activated all the healing soul crystals. He placed his hands glowing white light on the fledgling’s forehead and chest. The nearly dying fledgling’s face gradually recovered to normal.

Ling Xiao and Ying Feng tied the escape pod to the scavenger and rushed back. Bing Can had exhausted all his mental power and was pale, leaning on the seat, but the fledgling’s condition was much better than when they first saw him.

“What happened?” Ling Xiao asked eagerly as he entered.

“If you are asking about the reason for his unconsciousness, it’s due to long-term fasting and dehydration, plus physical weakness leading to loss of consciousness. It seems that he had been there for a long time before we discovered the escape pod.”

“If you are asking why he’s here, that’s unknown. We have notified the space station, and they want us to return immediately.”

As he spoke, Red Head had proficiently turned around, and the scavenger was heading back to their origin, pulling the sealed cabin.

Ling Xiao was still frightened by the situation just now. “Thankfully, Ying Feng discovered it early, otherwise…”

Before he finished speaking, the scavenger bumped violently. Ling Xiao barely stabilized himself against the cabin wall to avoid falling.

“What happened?” Everyone became tense.

Just after asking, another violent shake occurred, and at the same time, the alarm in the cabin rang. Red Head’s voice came from the cockpit.

“We are under attack! Radar and communication systems have all failed!”

“What?!”

Ling Xiao stumbled into the cockpit. “How is the damage so severe? Have the defense systems been activated? What about the weapons?”

“We are a garbage cleaning ship. Do you think we are a battleship?”

“Who is so crazy that they won’t even let go of a garbage truck?”

Red Head suddenly pointed forward in astonishment. “I guess it’s them.”

Without him saying, Ling Xiao also saw it. In front of them, a huge object gradually appeared. It was a giant starship, all black, with sharp edges, giving a strong sense of oppression.

“Not good!” Another row of laser bullets came, and Ling Xiao dodged left and right, grabbing the control stick. Still, a bullet hit, and the scavenger, with negligible defensive capabilities, was almost paralyzed.

“The power system is also malfunctioning!”

“I’ll go fix it!” Red Head ran towards the tail of the aircraft. Bing Can continued to guard the fledgling while Ying Feng came to the front.

“They are probably coming for what’s behind us.”

“You mean, they’re here for that fledgling?”

“Exactly, otherwise who would make a big fuss over a scavenger.” Ying Feng pondered. “Can we connect with the other side?”

Ling Xiao tried on the panel. “Our equipment can’t send out signals unless the other side contacts us first.”

He had just finished speaking when the screen filled with snowflakes flickered twice, and a completely unfamiliar voice came through.

“Release the escape pod or bear the consequences.”

“You’re looking for the person inside, aren’t you?” Ying Feng asked.

“It’s none of your business.”

“What if I told you there’s no one inside anymore?”

“What?” The voice on the other side immediately became tense.

“Because the person has already been transferred to our side.”

The voice was silent for a moment, and when it sounded again, it was filled with anger.

“Are you joking?”

“It seems you know very well who is inside. If you continue to attack us, this scavenger will soon be pierced through. At that time, we can still delay for a while, but whether the person you are looking for can survive until you come to rescue him is uncertain.”

Ling Xiao had been quietly listening to Ying Feng’s negotiations with that person, and suddenly he raised his hand to turn off the microphone.

“Have you considered that he might catch all of us along with the entire scavenger?”

“He won’t want us to enter his cabin. Besides, if we encounter danger, we may take hostages. This person is very important to him; he doesn’t dare to gamble.”

After saying this, he asked Red Head loudly, “How’s the progress on your end?”

“I still need time! Stall them a bit more!”

“Even if the power system can be restored, you won’t be able to escape their attacks,” Bing Can reminded him.

“Let’s try.”

“What do you want?” The man finally said.

Ying Feng turned the microphone back on. “We can send him back to where he came from, but you have to let us go.”

The other side snorted. “How do I know if there is anyone in the sealed cabin?”

“Even if we start fleeing now, with your speed, are you afraid you won’t catch up to us?”

The owner of the voice pondered for a moment and accepted this proposal. “You have five minutes.”

Red Head was frantically gesturing in the background.

“Ten minutes. We need time to transfer him. You wouldn’t want any mishap during this, would you?”

“Fine, ten minutes. I will be here watching your every move. Don’t try anything sneaky.”

Ying Feng turned off the communication and saw Ling Xiao burying his head in his terminal.

“It’s useless. The other side is using magnetic field interference.”

“What do we do now?”

Ying Feng said calmly, “We will naturally do as he says.”

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