Ziye slumped over the desk, feeling for the first time the profound weight of the realization that one simply couldn't succeed out in the big leagues relying on sheer individual effort; people had inherent weaknesses, and one's personal energy reserves were simply too finite!
Since bolting from SilverCharm Star, she hadn't made contact with anyone back there, and she had no idea how they were faring. If only they were here now. Ziye reached out, pinching Xiaodouya’s cheek. “Tell me, have Dog Brother and the others gotten out yet?”
Xiaodouya blinked its eyes. “Your Jin Fu Ping An-model…”
Anyone who managed to snatch a mech would surely escape sooner than the rest. It had been several months since she got out; surely, some of them must have too.
Red Hair? Old Dog? And that pervert? Given how close he lived and how intimately he knew her place, he must have been the first to spot a mech. The more Ziye thought about it, the more certain she became that they were all out, and the more excited she grew.
She wasn't alone!
The frustrating part was that the SilverComms were useless, and she hadn't established any interstellar emergency contact protocol beforehand. Consequently, she had no idea where they were, and even if they wanted to find her, it would likely be harder than climbing to heaven.
Should she try to make a splash on the interstellar news?
Among their group, only An Junlie would ever appear on the intergalactic news feeds. But he was the esteemed commander of the Angel Corps, and those idiots from SilverCharm Star were too fiercely independent; they probably wouldn't dare bother him. It was the same for her—even if she ran into him, she wouldn’t want to get tangled up with the Angel Commander again.
Space was not SilverCharm Star.
On SilverCharm Star, she could mess around and cause trouble however she pleased. Out here, it was different. The Angel Commander had a whole family to support and a mountain of responsibilities to shoulder; he belonged to a different world than a group of people like them who had no earthly ties.
But precisely because they had no ties, they didn't know where to look for each other. What a genuine headache!
Bored, Ziye lightly tapped the tabletop with her finger. The bracelet clinked against the glass with a clear, crisp sound. She reached up to smooth the bracelet, her gaze lingering on the SilverComms device, and suddenly her eyes lit up. She turned to Xiaodouya. “Douzi, help me scan for their SilverComms signals.”
Xiaodouya adopted an expression that clearly conveyed, “It’s about time you remembered,” and hopped up. “Yes, Master.”
Ziye couldn’t help but laugh. “No, you’re the master.”
For the next two hours, Xiaodouya employed every method available to probe for SilverComms signals, while Ziye, oscillating between hope and effort, focused on trying to figure out how to build robots.
As long as they showed up, her robot supply problems would be solved!
Now, she just needed to find the right materials to build them according to the blueprints Xiao Xiao had drawn previously. Once she found that pervert, she could have him implant the tech directly under her skin and start selling them—oh yeah!
Ziye’s previous gloom vanished, instantly replaced by surging motivation. Truly, excellent companions could spark a bonfire of spirit.
Ziye decided that when she finally saw them, she would give them all a massive hug.
Only now did she truly understand: companions were incredibly important.
She had saved all the robot drafts Xiao Xiao had ever drawn—the G-series little girl, the B-series little bottom, the F-series all-rounder, and designs for several others she hadn't built yet. She even had the schematics, meaning she could start construction immediately. However, even after searching online for suitable robotics materials, Xiaodouya hadn't managed to pull a single signal from any of them.
Ziye felt a touch of disappointment, but she knew she couldn't rush things.
As long as she had all the necessary materials ready for them the moment they arrived, that would be sufficient. So, the next day, she cheerfully hauled Xiaodouya to the space station in the Corley System, four warp jumps away.
The Corley System boasted the most bustling market in the galaxy to date. Its geographical location was supremely advantageous; situated within ten warps of both the Four Great Families and the major Legions, it served as a nexus for vast quantities of goods. From raw metal materials to mechs and starships, anything not restricted to a faction’s internal inventory could be procured at Corley.
On one hand, she wanted to observe the robot market, but on the other, she hoped to bump into someone from SilverCharm Star. If the others from SilverCharm Star made it out, they wouldn't settle down in some remote backwater like her; they would gravitate toward prosperous areas seeking opportunity. By going to Corley, she increased her chances of picking up a SilverComms signal.
On the journey over, Ziye witnessed the most formidable fleet lineup she had ever encountered.
The interstellar bus was relatively slow compared to dedicated starships, cruising at only 100 m/s and capable of warping at 2.82 AU/s. Thus, sitting by the window, she watched various vessels streak past like phantoms, moving so fast they looked like apparitions if one didn't focus.
As they neared Corley, the scene became even more spectacular. The entrance to the Corley Space Station, capable of docking hundreds of ships simultaneously, was fronted by a queue stretching tens of thousands of kilometers long. At a glance, it resembled the dense, wriggling mass of fish when fishermen hauled in their nets.
Most shocking of all, pirates were blockading the entrance. Even after witnessing a similar scene at the Kira Space Station, Ziye couldn't help but feel staggered. The pirates were being excessively brazen!
This blockade was easily a hundred times larger in scale than the one at Kira Station. As far as the eye could see, cannon fire lashed out indiscriminately. Those aboard the interstellar bus nervously watched, fearing that a stray shot could cause massive casualties among the passengers. Simultaneously, the station’s gate cannons roared, while ships and mechs belonging to the Space Police and the Station Administrators weaved through the crossfire, hunting down the pirate vessels.
The entire space station entrance was pure pandemonium.
Ziye felt a deep wave of fear, clutching Xiaodouya and thinking silently that if a stray shell happened to hit their bus, wouldn’t hundreds of people be reduced to space debris? Even if they dodged friendly fire, forcing their way through the encirclement of gunfire to reach the station entrance was a task as difficult as ascending to heaven.
It was like gambling with their very lives.
The bus attendant, however, remained remarkably calm, smiling as she addressed the passengers. “Please rest assured, everyone. Interstellar buses utilize specific orbital paths and dedicated docking bays, situated farthest from the cargo fleet entrances, ensuring extremely high safety coefficients. Furthermore, this bus is equipped with ultra-thick armor; even if struck by a ricochet, we will not plummet into space.”
Ziye let out a breath of relief. The attendant then began announcing the ambient temperature and humidity of the Corley System, offering reminders of what to watch out for. Ziye watched bullets whistle past the window, which inevitably reminded her of the miserable predicament she faced during her previous pirate encounter.
Comparing the two situations mentally, Ziye felt quite safe now. At least there were so many people present, and being so close to the station gates meant that if the worst did happen, they could enter immediately. She settled down considerably, watching the multi-sided melee with keen interest to see who would emerge victorious.
Just then, Xiaodouya suddenly bounced up, startling the guest in the adjacent seat. Ziye quickly grabbed it and held it close, projecting telepathically, “Mind your image in public.”
Xiaodouya frantically squirmed out of her embrace, transmitting via brainwave, “I found Red Hair! She’s nearby—SilverComms signal detected within a 16.3 km radius!”
“What?” Ziye jumped up too. The adjacent guest, thinking she was about to disembark, hurriedly shifted aside to make room. Ziye couldn't spare any concern for propriety and pressed Xiaodouya. “Which direction? Let’s go find her.”
Xiaodouya pinpointed the location to three-dimensional coordinates, pointing toward a pirate vessel currently engaging the defense forces. “Over there.”
Damn it!
Red Hair had returned to her old profession? Her recovery rate was too fast!
Ziye silently drew circles in her mind—some people truly never changed. Yet, in a strange way, her admiration for Red Hair reached an unprecedented level.
She hadn't understood the subtle inflection in everyone’s voices back on SilverCharm Star when they spoke of pirates, but now she did. Piracy was definitely a specialized skill, one that required an iron gut.
Even though many people disliked, feared, or envied pirates, few dared to actually become one.
Because they lacked the sheer nerve…
Ziye admitted she didn't possess such a formidable spirit, not that kind of audacity. Red Hair’s guts were clearly hardened to a degree unattainable by ordinary people. Watching her having such a blast fighting in space, Ziye could only sigh and wish her good luck.
She had expected to run into Old Dog, or Xiao Xiao, or Big Head—she never imagined the first person she’d find would be Red Hair.
Right now, she needed help from many people, but Red Hair was the one person she didn't need to meet!
This was truly taxing.
Since the SilverComms were down and she didn't know Red Hair’s ultra-signal frequency, Ziye was genuinely anxious.
There’s a saying that the longest distance in the world isn’t between the living and the dead, but passing right by someone without knowing how to connect… Ziye didn't give up. “Can you send her a signal?”
Xiaodouya hopped onto her shoulder, stretched out the tiny sprout on its head, and sent a focused pulse signal toward Red Hair’s location—the signaling method they were most accustomed to on SilverCharm Star.
Ziye watched with wide eyes, awaiting the result.
In less than a minute, Xiaodouya retracted its sprout and buried its head into Ziye’s neck, murmuring gloomily, “The battle over there is far more intense than we imagined. There are too many ship signal interferences; my pulse cannot reach her location.”
Ziye sighed and let the matter drop.
After entering the Corley Space Station, Ziye no longer rushed to find her. In her current guise, it probably wouldn't be convenient to meet anyway. She just wondered who else besides Red Hair had managed to get out.
She wandered through the materials market with Xiaodouya, past crystalline structures and ores that dazzled the eye. The prices were surprisingly reasonable, and Ziye nearly drooled. More importantly, everything was refined ore; no hands-on work required. For whatever metal composition was needed, vendors could custom-make it upon request.
The only depressing part was that she had no money in hand, otherwise, she could have ordered a batch immediately.
What started as cheerful browsing turned into utter sorrow when she realized she wanted everything but could afford nothing. Ziye decisively left the materials market and headed toward the mech market.
If the materials market was a place of mixed quality, the mech market was definitely much classier—a commercial district composed of hundreds of towering buildings, radiating an aura defined by one word: professionalism.
Ziye stood at the entrance of a commercial complex like a country bumpkin, wrestling with indecision: Should she go in and look, or just stay out? If she went in, the result would be the same as in the materials market—she could only look, not buy, leading only to frustration.
She stood with her back to the entrance, hugging a massive pillar, looking for all the world like someone contemplating walking into it out of despair. (To be continued)