Chapter 54
Reality remained unchanged, but in the realm of the spiritual body, Ye Bai's essence had shrunk to an almost imperceptible point. From that collapsed speck, a red beam shot forth, aimed directly at Mei Jia's spiritual eye.
“Crack—”
This time, the defense of the B-level spiritual body was breached, and the beam successfully struck Mei Jia.
He shuddered, feeling a piercing pain that seemed to stab into his very soul, leaving him frozen in place.
The damage had penetrated Mei Jia's spiritual body, inflicting harm that, while not fatal, was still significant... but there was another B-level fighter present—Xiliana, who excelled in combat!
The moment the binding ability faded, Xiliana regained her mobility. With the momentum built from her earlier struggles, she launched a powerful punch at the temporarily stunned bald man.
“Boom!”
It sounded like a watermelon being smashed.
...
Thirty minutes later, the sky above Makur Star was filled with neatly arranged large starships. At the forefront, surrounded by a formation, were thirty-six small dots.
A strong signal, surpassing the weekly broadcast, enveloped the entire planet, transmitting information that could be automatically translated and understood:
“This is the Galactic Alliance's Second Arm, Fifth Fleet. The criminal activities of the Makur Group have been confirmed. The Alliance will proceed to blockade Makur Star and initiate a cleanup operation. All interstellar citizens, victims, and bystanders, please remain calm. Specialized AI will be on hand to assist you…”
The once tumultuous planet fell silent at that moment.
The ships that had attempted to flee amidst the chaos, aside from a few that managed to escape immediately, were intercepted within the star system.
When the Galactic Alliance intervenes, even a planetary cleanup is executed with remarkable efficiency.
As long as one wasn’t forcibly blocking their personal terminals with psychic power, they could connect to the Alliance fleet's signal.
Once connected, everyone on Makur Star was greeted by the AI system, which tailored its responses based on their different identities.
All good things must come to an end, and the rescued individuals were now preparing to return to their own civilizations.
As they prepared to part ways, the six who had first met at the auction and fought side by side—Ye Bai and her companions—gathered together to exchange contact information via the Star Network.
That’s right, the Star Network.
As the Galactic Alliance cleaned up the planet, the fixed assets of the Makur Group were promptly assessed by a specialized supercomputing system, converted into equivalent star coins for compensation to the affected individuals.
First and foremost, all victims who had escaped from the human trafficking ring received a base compensation of 10,000 star coins. Additionally, those who had made significant contributions during the battle received extra rewards, and Ye Bai and her fellow escapees were naturally included in that group without question.
Ye Bai received an additional 10,000 star coins, bringing her total earnings from this incident to 20,000 star coins.
Of course, her companions received even more than she did. The strongest among them, Xiliana, was in high spirits, claiming she had received a reward that she was quite satisfied with.
However, Ye Bai felt no resentment; for someone at the ‘F-level’, receiving an extra combat bonus was already a favor from others.
The important thing was that with 20,000 star coins, Ye Bai finally had a legitimate reason to use the Star Network.
Next, the travelers who had been frightened during the incident received refunds for their exhibition tickets and return ship tickets from the Galactic Alliance.
Lastly, there were severance payments for the ordinary employees who had not participated in the crimes—thanks to the clear hierarchy within the group, it was easy to identify non-core personnel below level five.
“I’ve always spent as much as I earned without saving for a Star Network registration, but now I finally registered. I heard there’s a game called Wanjie, and I’m planning to check it out,” Xiliana said.
“Me too! I heard Wanjie can enhance psychic abilities, and I want to register back on my home planet!” Li Ke chimed in.
As they talked about Wanjie, everyone was filled with curiosity. They had been captured long before Ye Bai, even before Wanjie had become widespread.
“Hahaha, I feel the same way,” Ye Bai could only laugh along from the sidelines.
They hadn’t chatted for long when the transport ship arrived.
All those rescued naturally had free tickets for the ship.
The six bid farewell and boarded different ships one after another.
...
Sitting in the comfortable recliner of the ship, Ye Bai received a notification.
[Your ship will take off in three minutes, destination: Huanhai Star System, estimated arrival in 304 hours.]
That’s right, Ye Bai wasn’t returning to Blue Star.
When the Galactic Alliance AI contacted her, they offered her a second option besides being sent back to Blue Star.
It was an invitation from a scholar of Huanhai Star, who happened to be her former lab boss and friend, Aurora. Their communication had been cut off when her ship launched, causing them to lose contact.
Aurora had indeed tried to reach out to Ye Bai afterward, but messages not sent through the Star Network took much longer to arrive than ships capable of entering wormholes. In reality, Aurora had left Blue Star less than half a month ago, and her messages hadn’t yet reached Blue Star.
The outbreak of the Makur Star incident had briefly dominated the cosmic news about Wanjie.
After seeing the news on the Star Network, Aurora recalled Ye Bai mentioning her intention to work on Makur Star and, concerned for her safety, left a message at the Alliance office on the Star Network. If Ye Bai was still on Makur Star, she could come to Huanhai Star after the incident.
After some contemplation, Ye Bai chose to go to Huanhai Star.
In a way, Ye Bai was Aurora’s “thesis.” Aurora had chosen the obscure topic of “Ancient Blue Star History,” giving Ye Bai a research job that successfully cured her brain cancer, which had left her helpless before her freezing. It also provided her with a wealth of knowledge about the basics of the interstellar era.
Ye Bai had cooperated with Aurora’s research, answering questions about what she considered “common knowledge of modern life.”
And so, three years passed, and Aurora’s research funding ran out.
As for the grading of the thesis report… it was better left ungraded.
Thus, when Aurora left Blue Star, she sent Ye Bai the last of her remaining research funds as severance pay, which clearly showed that Aurora was truly a good person!
Of course, Ye Bai’s decision was influenced by many other factors.
The Huanhai Star System was the main system of the Huanhai civilization, and its habitability was not an issue. Moreover, now that Ye Bai had reached D-level, she no longer required such a highly purified environment.
Blue Star was expensive, and there was a risk of her identity being exposed, making it an unsafe public planet for “Ye Bai.” The Huanhai Star System, on the other hand, was much safer than Blue Star, which was located near a wormhole.
The final reason was a concern that Ye Bai couldn’t quite articulate.
Slowly, she closed her eyes, the image of that bald man’s face before he died lingering in her memory, refusing to fade.
It wasn’t fear that gripped her, but the look in his eyes as he died that made her uncomfortable.
On that half-destroyed head, a pair of eyes stared at Ye Bai, as if trying to memorize her appearance deeply.
Choosing to go to Huanhai Star instead of returning to Blue Star would take longer, but being on a transport ship of the Galactic Alliance undoubtedly offered greater safety. Only within the Alliance would anyone know of Ye Bai’s choice.
If there were any repercussions from that bald man’s incident, opting for the Huanhai Star System would minimize the risks she might face.
Ye Bai could only hope she was overthinking things.
Shaking her head, she closed her eyes and connected to the Star Network. After glancing at the news about the Makur incident, she entered Wanjie.
Finally, she had time to develop her territory in peace. It had been so long since she had seen her lovely villagers... they must have missed their lord very much!
---
**Chapter 38**
After a brief darkness, Ye Bai’s vision brightened.
Another day had passed in Wanjie, and it was dawn.
Ye Bai first opened the lord panel to take a look; it had been 25 days since the establishment of her territory.
Even after leaving, a lord wasn’t completely oblivious to their domain. There was a remote lord panel, which, due to the bond between the lord and the Tree of Creation, allowed her to sense significant events occurring in her territory from afar.
However, she couldn’t see detailed information about resources, work distribution, or satisfaction levels.
But she could find out if her territory had been attacked and whether to accept new refugees.
Table of Contents
