Chapter 307 – Back to Blue Star
Tu Ran and Ding Naiqing exchanged a glance, neither of them attempting to persuade anyone further.
A general responsible for an entire star system would surely be more cautious, having considered every angle more thoroughly than they could. What they had thought of, the general had likely already anticipated. This decision, after all, was the best path she could plan for the entire star system.
They respected the choice of the Haenden star system.
“This is for you, to give to the general,” Tu Ran said as she pulled out a folded piece of paper from her pocket. She walked up to Tang Ying and handed it to her.
Tang Ying lowered her gaze to the paper. It had turned yellow with age, the edges frayed and worn, its creases uneven, as though it had been folded clumsily by someone with a disability.
The edges didn’t align, and it seemed like the paper had been folded with toes rather than fingers. She couldn’t tell what kind of pen had been used to write it, but faint black ink could still be seen on the back.
Tang Ying frowned, pinched the edge of the paper with two fingers, and shoved it into her pocket with a look of disdain, though she had no choice but to do so.
Tu Ran shrugged helplessly. What could she do? She had found that paper in a musty old cabinet at the temporary shelter. At least it was something.
She made a mental note to stock up on necessities when she found a place with more resources.
“We’re leaving,” Tu Ran waved her hand. Though Tang Ying didn’t respond, Tu Ran sincerely wished, “I hope you succeed. I hope the Haenden star system continues to exist for a long time in the universe.”
With that, Tu Ran turned and walked toward the wall, facing the energy disturbance there. She took a moment to steady herself, silently praying that this time, they would land in a friendly world. Three seconds later, she lifted her leg and stepped through.
After a sensation of being enveloped by liquid, the scene in front of her gradually became clear.
A dull, gray street stretched before her. The streetlights on both sides of the road were hanging precariously, with only two or three of them still lit. The rest were swallowed by the darkness. Even the few that were shining were dim, their lampshades coated in dust, casting a faint yellow light. Unseen moths tirelessly flitted toward the glow.
The scene felt strangely familiar.
Tu Ran walked on the uneven, gray cobblestone ground, scanning the buildings around her. Her heartbeat quickened.
She looked up at the starry sky. The stars twinkled—small, distant, and strangely familiar.
Suddenly, the roar of a motorcycle engine pierced the quiet night, loud and jarring. A beam of light suddenly flashed over Tu Ran as the motorcycle sped toward her.
She stepped aside, giving way.
The two riders on the motorcycle, both young men without helmets, seemed surprised to find a woman in this narrow alley. The one in the backseat slammed on the brakes, bringing the bike to a stop a few steps past Tu Ran. Both men simultaneously planted their feet on the ground and reversed the bike to position themselves directly in front of her.
The man on the backseat whistled at her.
Tu Ran’s expression remained blank as she scanned the surroundings.
No surveillance cameras.
“Beautiful—”
Before he could finish, Tu Ran delivered a powerful kick, sending the man in the backseat tumbling off the bike. He landed hard on the ground, clutching his lower back, unable to sit up due to the pain.
The man in the front seat froze for a moment, and then, after processing the situation, glared viciously at Tu Ran. He stepped off the motorcycle, ready to steady it and deal with her, but Tu Ran was faster. She kicked him squarely in the back, and both the man and the bike toppled over.
“We’re calling the police! You’re done for! I’m telling you, you’re done!” The green-haired man scrambled to pick up his fallen phone, turned it on, and began tapping the screen, intent on dialing the authorities.
At the moment he entered the second “1,” Tu Ran snatched the phone from his hand. The green-haired man immediately reached out to grab it back, but in that instant, a purple mushroom appeared before him.
“Do you have any cash on you?”
“Ah… no,” the green-haired man muttered in confusion, shaking his head. Tu Ran turned her gaze to the other man, who also shook his head.
It seemed that people no longer carried cash when they went out.
Tu Ran glanced at the phone in her hand. The screen displayed an exaggerated selfie, and it prompted for a password. “What’s the lock screen password?”
“061278.”
Tu Ran memorized it, then looked at the two men. “You two can’t stand each other, and that’s why you ended up fighting and injuring each other. Your phone got tossed into a passing trash bin by him, and you won’t be able to get it back. You’ll have to buy a new one. Got it?”
The green-haired man nodded, as did the yellow-haired one.
After confirming there were no loopholes, Tu Ran left the alley with the phone in hand.
As she walked away, the letter she had written with her own hand was delivered to Ye Hongci.
*
When Ye Hongci saw the yellowed paper from Tang Ying’s pocket, she couldn’t help but chuckle softly, shaking her head. “Finding paper in a temporary shelter, that’s not easy.”
Tang Ying said nothing as she handed the paper to Ye Hongci.
Ye Hongci took it, unfolding it gently, careful as if the paper might tear with the slightest force.
[Not only humans in the Haenden star system have mental powers, but the alien beasts have also evolved mental powers. Unlike humans, the mental power of the alien beasts is very sparse, only manifesting once it has accumulated over generations.]
[The alien beasts, whose mental powers only manifests after gathering the powers of dozens or even hundreds of generations of their family, are what I call the psychic beasts.]
[This method of mental power accumulation means that psychic alien beasts are rare, but their abilities are currently the most troublesome issue for the Haenden star system.]
[They can link with alien beasts of any species using their mental power, making them obey their commands, thus forming a beast horde that humans find difficult to defeat.]
[This is why alien beasts can unite, but don’t always do so.]
[I’ve been thinking these past few days—if psychic alien beasts can control their kind, can those with strong mental powers control their own kind as well, or even control alien beasts?
Given the same star system and natural laws, I think it’s quite possible. This is an idea I’m offering. I don’t have a deep understanding of the Haenden star system’s mental power system, so you can deny or revise it.]
[How humans can find these powerful psychic alien beasts is key to solving the horde problem. After all, killing one powerful psychic alien beast would cause the horde to collapse. But I can’t offer much help with this, unless your people can enter the Threshold world and find a similar inner core with such abilities.
Or perhaps your scientists could do more research in this area, such as testing if equipment for measuring human mental power levels could be applied to alien beasts.]
[The above are my personal thoughts, offered as gratitude for your care over the past half month.]
After reading the letter, Ye Hongci handed it to Tang Ying, then stood with her hands behind her back, gazing at the blue sky outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, lost in thought.
Tang Ying quickly read through the letter, feeling both shocked and amazed. She was stunned by the idea that alien beasts could have mental powers, as well as the principle behind how the horde functioned.
What startled her even more was that such an important matter was written on this kind of paper, folded carelessly as though it wasn’t a serious issue.
I hope we will continue to see news from the Haenden system ^^