Chapter 3: Lu is the currency of the desolate planet.

Another day passed. In the morning, Shen Mi was woken up by the girl sleeping next to her. She was a very timid girl. Due to long-term malnutrition, she was pale and thin. Beneath her dry and yellow hair, her bright and innocent eyes shone like the morning stars in the night.

Shen Mi rubbed his temples, sat up from the bed, and looked into those timid eyes.

"What's wrong?" Her voice was still a little hoarse.

The girl shrugged and whispered, "Sister 6013, it's time to get up... If we stay any later, the administrator will come to patrol."

Shen Mi paused for a moment, then nodded: "Thank you for calling me."

The girl lowered her head slightly, as if she hadn't expected Shen Mi to thank her so sincerely, a blush of embarrassment crossing her face. The others in the room had already gotten up one after another. Shen Mi quickly tidied herself up, her eyes constantly glancing towards the door, pondering how to further advance the mission in front of Dan Heng today.

Before leaving the dormitory, she glanced at the girl and asked, "Shall we walk together?"

A hint of surprise flashed across the girl's eyes, and then she quietly followed in her footsteps.

The labor camp was still shrouded in a gray sky in the early morning, the air thick with the smell of rust and dust. Chen Mi walked ahead, the girl following closely behind with her head down. Neither of them spoke, their footsteps echoing clearly on the muddy path.

When they were almost at the meeting point, Chen Mi asked in a low voice, "What's your name?"

The girl paused for a moment, as if she hadn't expected to be asked her name. She pursed her lips and said softly, "...Savare."

“Savare?” Shen Mi asked.

Savare nodded, then added in a low voice, "On the desolate planet, it means oasis."

Shen Mi raised an eyebrow slightly. The name was surprisingly pleasant to hear, creating a strange contrast with the timid girl in front of him.

"A good name," she casually complimented. "My name is Chen Mi, Chen as in deep and Mi as in diffuse."

Savare seemed surprised to be praised, her ears turned even redder, and she lowered her head, staring at her toes, not daring to say anything more.

When the two arrived at the mine's assembly point, Shen Mi quickly spotted Dan Heng in the crowd. He was still wearing his stiff, imposing administrator uniform, standing straight in the patrol team, his gaze sweeping over the gathered laborers as if checking their numbers. His cool eyes didn't linger on anyone for even a second, but Shen Mi knew he must have seen him too.

Shen Mi stood in the crowd, glancing at Dan Heng from time to time, but deliberately pretending to be nonchalant.

Today, Danheng seemed more silent than usual, even his routine reprimand was only briefly stated before being abruptly ended. There seemed to be an unusual solemnity hidden in his expression.

Shen Mi keenly sensed that something was wrong, and his heart tightened.

Savare, who was standing nearby, noticed this and whispered to her, "Manager Mei...does she look a little unhappy?"

Shen Mi replied in a low voice, "Something might have happened."

Just then, another administrator walked up to Dan Heng and whispered a few words. Dan Heng frowned slightly and said in a cold tone, "Seal off that area and don't allow anyone to come near."

Shen Mi's heart skipped a beat.

Something's happened... Is it another "disappearance" case?

Before she could even think, she was already shackled again and pushed into the cave to mine.

The cave was dark and damp, filled with the smell of mineral fragments and metal. The dim light overhead flickered like a lighthouse at sea, ready to go out at any moment, unable to illuminate the direction in Chen Mi's heart.

She looked down at the shackles on her wrists; the cold metal rings firmly held her freedom, as if reminding her that nothing here was under her control.

Savare followed closely behind her, her steps cautious. Her helmet was too big, and it wobbled along the way, almost slipping off several times. She kept steadying it with her hand as if she were carrying a pot rather than putting on a hat.

Shen Mi couldn't help but chuckle softly.

The amusement was fleeting.

Savare's little face was dirty, covered in mineral dust and sweat, only her bright eyes still shone in the shadows, just as they had when she was first seen, so innocent it was heartbreaking.

Shen Mi realized that this "pot"-shaped safety helmet might have been someone else's leftovers, casually thrown to her. Perhaps the previous owner had "disappeared," or perhaps they were already exhausted and could no longer dig out even a single ore.

"You... have been mining here all along?" Shen Mi asked in a low voice.

Savare nodded: "Yes, we came when they started wanting only ore and not ore."

"Where are your family members?" Shen Mi continued to ask.

Savare adjusted her hat and said softly, "I have no family."

Shen Mi felt as if something had tugged at his heart.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but ultimately kept it closed.

At this moment, any words of comfort would seem pale and powerless.

The mechanical sounds from the end of the cave grew closer, and the administrator's urging voice fell coldly in his ears. Shen Mi knew that what followed was a battle for survival.

She and Savare had no choice but to grit their teeth and continue mining. Exhausted, Chen Mi leaned against a rock beside the mine shaft, and under the guise of adjusting her gloves, quietly asked, "Savare, are you a local?"

The girl beside her looked up. She was pale and thin, with dry, yellow hair clinging to her cheeks. Only her eyes were clear, like the only pebble in a lake.

“Mmm,” Shavalei replied softly, her voice carrying a hint of the husky quality unique to locals.

Chen Mi hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Has it always been like this here?"

She knew her question was somewhat vague, but she wanted to explore what the planet was really like.

Savare crouched in the shadows of the mine, holding a piece of unpolished ore in her hand, as if she were holding the heart of a desolate star that had been peeled from the earth's core.

She said softly, "A long time ago... about ten years ago, when the desolate planet was still ours."

Shen Mi didn't interrupt her, but just listened quietly.

"Back then, there were no armed people here, and no spaceships from outside. Although we had a hard time, the mountains were still there, the rivers were still there, and the underground mines hadn't been completely mined out." Savare's tone was calm, yet it carried a gentle, almost nostalgic quality.

“Then one day, the sky cracked open.” She looked up at the thick rock above her head. “A huge spaceship descended from the sky, and we were all terrified… It was the first time we had ever seen something from outer space. They were wearing shiny clothes and carrying all sorts of strange machines. They told us that they came from a very far place and wanted to do business with us.”

Shen Mi frowned slightly: "Business?"

Savare nodded: "They brought things we'd never seen before, like self-illuminating display panels, automatic rice cookers, sugar that sweetens water... and colorful clothes, jewelry, snacks..."

A complex light flashed in her eyes: "The people of this desolate planet have never seen anything like this before. Our lives have always been gray. Everyone's understanding of the world comes from the books left behind by our 'teacher.' This sudden, dazzling world has blinded us."

“They said that if we exchange Lu for these things, we can take them home.”

Shen Mi then learned that the currency of the desolate planet was called Lü.

“But…” Savare paused, her eyes dimming, “we soon discovered that Lu was becoming less and less valuable to them, and eventually, they couldn’t even afford a single piece of candy.”

"Later, the man with the gun told us that if we wanted to continue exchanging goods, we had to bring ore."

Shen Mi's heart skipped a beat: "And then?"

“Then everyone started mining,” Savare said in a low voice, like a speck of dust falling on a rock wall. “At first, they dug into the surface veins, then the mountains were hollowed out, and then the underground mines were dug deeper and deeper… They said the ore could be traded for things, so everyone wanted to dig as much as possible.”

She opened her palm, and the golden ore lay quietly in her pale, thin hand: "Like this, we thought that as long as we dug enough, life would get better."

Shen Mi looked at the ore and felt a chill in his heart.

“But then we found out that things were getting more and more expensive, but the ore was getting less and less available.” Savare pursed her lips and murmured, “The mountains are gone, and the land has been hollowed out... We desperately mined, but we could never get back those colorful things from back then.”

Shen Mi stared at her hand and felt that the ore was like a lifeless heart, and its owner was this planet.

The people of the desolate planet never imagined that the beautiful things they thought they had touched were nothing more than a false dream created by others out of curiosity and desire.

Shen Mi's fingertips felt slightly cold.

As she looked at the ore, words from her textbook came to mind—the common tactics of capitalist colonization: first, lull the locals into complacency with an illusion of prosperity, then gradually control the economic lifeline, using worthless currency to induce them to invest all their resources, and when all resources are depleted, then use monopolistic means to drive prices up, forcing everyone into a desperate situation.

This is a standard economic plundering process.

Shen Mi had seen it countless times in history books, but never imagined that one day it would be vividly presented to her in such a cruel way.

She took a deep breath, her voice a little hoarse: "You...didn't you resist?"

Savare looked at her blankly, seemingly not understanding the meaning of the word.

“Resist?” she repeated slowly, shaking her head. “We just want to mine more ore and trade it back.”

Shen Mi opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't utter a single word.

They never thought of rebelling.

Because in this unequal game, they never even truly understood the word "resistance".

For the inhabitants of this desolate planet, all they do is mine diligently, hoping to reclaim everything that belongs to them. But as the ore becomes scarcer and the resources they acquire become increasingly expensive, all they can do is bury their heads in the sand and dig deeper, harder, and with even greater despair.

Shen Mi realized that this was not only a plunder of resources, but also a erosion of hope.

By the time they realized what was happening, they had already hollowed out the mountains of the desolate planet, emptied the land, and emptied their own future.

On this barren land, all that remains is the cold darkness deep within the mines.

And then there's the endless cycle of "repayment," generation after generation...

A note from the author:

----------------------

This chapter is a bit heavy, but it will be over soon!!! In just two more chapters, Shen Mi will complete the first stage of his mission, in a very special way!!! [shy][shy][shy][evil grin][evil grin][evil grin]