Chapter 462 Interstellar Rebellion 1

[Ding! Host has been detected to have entered a new world: Silverwing Federation, Garbage Planet.]

Main Quest: Survival (No Time Limit)

[Task Reward: ???]

Zhou Jue opened his eyes, but the prosperous scene of Karava, the main star of the Silverwing Federation, that he had expected did not appear.

There are no towering buildings, no constantly shuttling cars.

Before them lay a "mountain" made of scrap metal and unknown debris. Several dilapidated cargo ships, billowing black smoke, swayed and landed at a rudimentary airport not far away. The ground around them was covered with a layer of greasy black dust, which was soft and sticky to the touch.

Inside my nasal cavity was a pungent odor, a mixture of engine oil, ozone, food residue, and the smell of some metal burning excessively.

[Host, this is the safest location I can take you to.]

The system's voice echoed in my mind, carrying an unprecedented solemnity.

The mastermind's surveillance is omnipresent; my existence is like a torch in the darkness.

[Here, I cannot hack into the network, so you must obtain interstellar network information yourself; otherwise, we will all be discovered.]

"Then do you need to go into a deep sleep?" Zhou Jue asked.

【No need. I'm at level six now, which is enough for me to hide myself. As long as I don't go online or use the system's power, I won't be discovered.】

[And host, I left behind an early version of the Federation's basic knowledge and all the data I obtained from that exploration ship in the Starburst Casket.]

However, the information may be incomplete or outdated.

"Okay! I'll handle the rest myself. Just hide it well." Zhou Jue said, taking a deep breath.

Whether you're a general or a savior, those identities are meaningless here.

Now, she is just an "outsider" who needs to survive here.

The first step is to obtain a legal identity.

A thought flashed through her mind, and her figure vanished into thin air, along with her aura.

Her divine sense spread out silently, like an invisible net centered on her.

The planet was much bigger than she had imagined.

As far as the eye could see, there were endless mountains of garbage, with each peak made up of twisted ship skeletons, scrapped mechanical prosthetics, and broken energy pipes.

This place is like a giant graveyard for the entire interstellar civilization.

With her divine sense sweeping across the area, she quickly "saw" more details.

Those searching through the garbage mountain were not all in human form.

There were insect-like creatures over three meters tall with shells; there were energy beings floating in mid-air with bodies as translucent as jellyfish; there was a humanoid creature dragging a mechanical lower body while its upper body was charred black; and there were even... orcs.

They are scavengers.

They are the lowest-level cleaners in this interstellar society.

They used rudimentary tools to cut through the scrap, searching for usable parts, remaining energy blocks, or rare metals.

Occasionally, they would clash over a piece of decent scrap material.

There was no complex verbal communication, only the most primal physical contact.

A beetle-like creature easily severed the mechanical arm of another scavenger with its enormous pincers, then claimed the shimmering metal plate for itself.

The defeated did not wail; they simply dragged their broken bodies silently, searching for their next target.

Violence, directness, and lack of rules.

Zhou Jue's divine sense continued to extend, crossing the area where the scavengers were active, and arrived at that simple airport.

It's less of an airport and more of a vacant lot that has been forcibly flattened.

Several huge metal pillars serve as mooring beacons, with indicator lights flashing on and off.

A cargo ship that had just landed opened its bottom hatch.

"Boom—"

Large amounts of industrial waste and debris were dumped down, forming a new garbage mountain.

The scavengers immediately swarmed around it like sharks smelling blood, rummaging through the scorching waste.

On the other side of the airport, several spaceships were parked, ready to depart.

Several men who looked like crew members were making a deal with a man wearing a black leather jacket and with a long scar on his face.

Zhou Jue focused his divine sense on that direction.

"...That's all, thirty cases of 'purified water' and five hundred tubes of 'nutritional paste'." The scarred man counted the goods, his voice hoarse.

"Buck, why is the quality so poor this time?" a three-eyed crew member complained. "Not even a decent piece of 'Asian Gold'?"

"Take it or leave it!" Scarface kicked the cargo box. "Things are tight lately, the 'inspectors' are coming all the time. We're lucky to have gotten this much."

"Damn it, I can't stand this hellhole for another day." The three-eyed crew member cursed, but still waved his hand, signaling his men to load the cargo onto the ship.

"When are you leaving?" Scarface asked.

"I'll leave as soon as I get the 'pass'."

"Bring me a bottle of 'Blue Shrimp' wine, and I'll pay double next time."

"knew."

Their conversation was brief, but packed with information.

"Pure water" and "nutritional paste" are the hard currency here.

"Inspectors" are the law enforcers here.

You need a "pass" to leave here.

Zhou Jue's attention was focused on the words "pass".

This might hold clues to the "identity" she needs.

She didn't stay where she was. She activated her stealth power and continued to probe deeper into the airport with her divine sense towards a metal building that looked the most "complete".

It was a three-story building pieced together from shipping containers and ship armor, with a neon sign hanging at the entrance that read "Bark's Bar" in distorted interstellar script.

Scarface Buck seems to be the local tyrant.

Inside the bar, the music was deafening.

Creatures of all shapes and sizes huddled together, gulping down strangely colored liquor, the air thick with the smells of alcohol, sweat, and cheap perfume.

Zhou Jue's divine sense precisely swept across every noisy corner, capturing useful information.

"...Have you heard? The 'Black Flag' group hijacked another Federation cargo ship over in the 'Meteorite Belt'."

"Are they crazy? That's the Third Prince's ship!"

"What's there to be afraid of? This is the 'Shattered Star Ring,' far from the emperor's reach, the Federation's reach can't extend that far."

"Stop talking, let's drink! After this, we're going to try our luck at the 'γ-7' junkyard tomorrow, hoping to find a usable 'neural connector'..."

"You might as well go to Buck and buy an identity, then go to the mining planet and work as a laborer. That would be better than picking up trash here."

"Buy an identity? Do you know how much that costs? I'd have to scavenge for garbage here for a hundred years!"

Zhou Jue's heart stirred as he sensed the conversation.

Identity can be bought.

She focused her attention on the thin man who had said "buy an identity".

This information is crucial.