Chapter 636
Dust and Iron Nest
Chapter 636 Dust and Iron Nest
Grey Dwarf Star, Steel Node City.
Sunlight pierced through the thick, gray clouds, spilling onto the rooftops of the upper city towers. A sliver of light shone through a gap in the curtains into the exquisitely furnished bedroom—on the luxurious bed, Luo lay asleep with a furrowed brow.
The blonde elf curled up in her nightmare, her body convulsing slightly. She struggled several times before suddenly waking up from the nightmare.
Luo opened her eyes wide, but remained curled up on the bed, her body stiff, as if her mind hadn't fully returned to her body. Sunlight streamed into the room through the cracks in the window, and warm air blew in from the vents, yet the whole world still felt terrifyingly cold. The things from her nightmare still lingered in her mind, even seeming to have entered reality with her awakening—
The intense pain, the wails, the pleas and screams through the walls, the convulsions of the dying as they suffocate, the hands reaching out from the cage, the eyes pleading for help, and the spines hanging from the ceiling…
A sharp, stabbing pain spread from the base of his skull to his tailbone, forcibly "starting" his stiff body from its sluggish state. Luo couldn't help but curse aloud, grabbing his back in agony. Several more mechanical limbs extended uncontrollably from the living metal, poking and prodding haphazardly near his spine.
The horrific ordeal lasted for more than ten seconds. Once the pain subsided slightly, she struggled to get out of bed, panting heavily and muttering profanities under her breath.
Soon, a strange and calm power surged out from within his body—like a warm flow of blood that did not belong to him, rapidly eliminating and repairing the damage in his body. The warmth gradually counteracted the discomfort, dispelled the cold, and even seemed to seep into the cold, living metal.
Luo raised her hand and saw tiny red veins gradually appearing on her arm and then quickly receding.
"The new job... is better than the old one..."
She mumbled something, slowly got up and changed her clothes, but out of the corner of her eye she suddenly saw the data terminal on the bedside table flashing its light.
A mechanical arm immediately extended and took the data terminal.
Did the boss send it?
Luo raised an eyebrow, quickly clicked on the content, and after only a quick glance, his expression turned serious.
The holographic projection above the terminal was displaying a set of complex patterns left by psionic ablation, along with an explanation of the pattern and a series of detailed parameters of the corresponding psionic waveform—data collected by the Secret Service's technical experts from the remnants of the spatial rift opened by the Hermitage, and this data was not unfamiliar to her.
Luo quickly changed her clothes, took the data terminal to the table, one of her mechanical limbs was connected to the interface on the side of the terminal, and at the same time her other hand opened a hidden compartment under the table—the control panel hidden in the compartment emitted a faint light.
She activated another hidden antenna system inside the building and began sending data to the Black Rock Space Station in the Flying Feather Starfield via a clandestine information link.
The massive amount of data was broken down into hundreds of seemingly meaningless and unrelated noise signals, which were then sent into deep space via a faster-than-light communication array at the edge of the Dark Current Starfield. In the process, they were disguised as normal advertisements and greetings, received by the "Universal Communication Network" built by the Algladians, and forwarded to the Feather Starfield.
After connecting to Blackstone's database, Luo's brow furrowed even more.
"This is indeed my research result! This one too, and this one... wait, this waveform seems a bit off..."
After an unknown amount of time, Luo, with a gloomy face, threw the data terminal on the table and simultaneously sent out a call signal.
A moment later, her head guard rushed over: "Boss, you called me?"
“Ryan,” Lo turned around, “what’s the situation outside? Have you checked out the people I asked you to keep an eye on?”
The captain of the guard immediately stood up straight, his face serious: "We've been gathering intelligence outside for the past two days—the two unidentified escort ships in near-Earth orbit have disappeared, but we haven't found any corresponding jump records. Old Joe might still be hiding somewhere on the Grey Dwarf planet—after all, this place is full of 'dark harbors' controlled by gang forces and free raiders, and anyone can be their partner."
"As for those people you mentioned... the manager of the Gray Iron Junkyard seems unreliable now. He recently had contact with Old Joe's men, and there are strangers watching near the contact point. The contact person on the black market disappeared last month. The timing is delicate; it's hard to say if Old Joe is behind it, or it could just be a double-cross. As for the others... the contacts at the Reptile Bar, the River Farm, and the Central Water Purification Station should all be fine." Luo nodded slowly, seemingly lost in thought, before suddenly standing up after a while: "Very good, let's go to the Gray Iron Junkyard."
"Okay... huh?" The guard captain nodded subconsciously, then suddenly realized what he meant and looked at his boss in astonishment. "You mean the Gray Iron Junkyard? The manager there might already be..."
“I know they might already be working for Old Joe,” Luo Yang raised his eyebrows, “but when did I ever say we were going to hide from Old Joe—we’re here to cause trouble, you forgot?”
Seeing the captain of the guard's slightly stunned expression, Luo didn't blame his subordinate for being slow-witted; instead, he laughed.
"Don't think too much. The big boss's task for me is to fish out the fish in this murky water. He doesn't care how to do it, and we don't need to worry about the aftermath. For the group company, only valuable employees need to be dealt with. If Old Joe accidentally dies in some corner of the lawless star sector, then a new special envoy will come to clean up the mess here. It won't bother me."
"What if...the mess gets too big..."
"At worst, I'll go back to that valley and continue digging for mushrooms with Rapunzel—you guys go find a job in Shuji."
The captain of the guard blinked. Thinking was clearly not the officer's forte, so he quickly nodded: "Okay, I understand. I'll arrange it for you right away."
Watching the captain of the guard leave, Luo simply let out a soft breath, then got up and went to the window, pulled back the curtains, and looked out at the gray city.
The vast and decaying city is like a rusted steel giant nest, with layers of buildings piled up over thousands of years, covering the ancient city like countless thick scars and festering sores, obscuring the original appearance of this planet.
It is said that long, long ago, this place was a beautiful planet. The "Grey Dwarfs" are the name of the last civilized race on this planet. It is said that there was once prosperity and order here, as well as kingdoms and federations of all sizes. There were heroes and traitors on this land, but it was always full of change and hope.
However, the steel behemoths that fell from the sky ended the idyllic era of this planet. The primitive psionicists who prayed to the stars all day long attracted the attention of the Sky Raider fleet. Then came the warlords who came here under the pretext of eliminating space pirates, followed by the armed trading ships of the Black Dot Group, the slave ships of cultists... A magnificent epic of resistance and stories filled with myths, delusions, pseudo-history, and horror dramas rose and fell, only to be swallowed up by the steel that fell from the sky in the blink of an eye, ultimately turning it into this steel behemoth.
In this lawless sector shrouded in dim nebulae, there are many similar stories—chaos and violence expand along faster-than-light routes until they engulf every habitable place in the nebula, while colonies are constantly forgotten and blocked in the chaos, gradually returning to their primitive state in the light-speed traps and communication blackouts, until new steel behemoths descend from the sky, ancient legends and the flames of war streaking across the sky merge together, and everything restarts, beginning a new cycle.
The light shuttle glided effortlessly from the helipad and leaped toward the massive "crack" in the center of the city, which resembled a steel canyon.
The towering and ancient buildings stand like cliffs shrouded in dust and mist.
After leaving the relatively clean air and bright sunshine of the upper-level area, the surrounding environment began to deteriorate significantly. The further down the city you went, the more severe the air pollution became, and even the sunlight coming down from above seemed particularly weak. The surfaces of the giant buildings around you were covered with fungi and vines that had accumulated for who knows how many years. Some of the thick, continuous rust bands even made you wonder if those buildings would collapse at any moment.
The foul-smelling dust shrouded everything in a veil of mystery. As the shuttle passed between the buildings, those inside often didn't have time to see the true appearance of the lower "giant wall area," but rather felt as if they were passing through a bizarre and fantastical dream. When the vehicle came to a stop, only some terrifying phantoms remained in their minds.
In the middle of the "Great Wall Zone," a series of rooftops are connected to each other and covered with a reinforced structure added at some unknown time, eventually forming a "ground" area. Here, there are several factories and a suffocatingly crowded settlement, while the waste dump known as the "Gray Iron Junkyard" is the "economic center" of this area.
Luo sat in the cockpit of the shuttle, carefully maneuvering the aircraft to avoid the steel structures hanging from the sky and approach the dilapidated helipad at the edge of the gray iron junkyard, while sending messages to certain people in the distance via a data terminal.
“Boss,” the captain of the guard, sitting in the co-pilot’s seat, pointed out the porthole, “over there, on the second-floor platform, there’s a Fairy-6Z shuttle. Although it’s a civilian unit, it shows signs of modification and may be armed.”
“I’ve noticed it, don’t worry,” Luo said without looking up. Her electronic brain was connected to the shuttle’s data link and had already caught the gazes directed at her, as well as the ill intentions in those gazes. “I would love for Old Joe to make a move on this floor. The corporation won’t come here to uphold justice for him—unfortunately, he’s a smart man, and most likely doesn’t have the courage.”
(End of this chapter)