Chapter 45 The Eccentric Doctor Takes Action, Chaos Unleashes the Largest Trading Market in the Starfield...

The Chaotic Starfield's largest trading market truly lives up to its name. This market doesn't refer to a single location, but rather to a small star system, with trading shops scattered across almost every planet. It's even quite neatly divided into sections: artifacts, medicinal herbs, food, and more—it has everything.

Murphy strolled around the herbal medicine section with little interest.

The insect he picked up looked very serious, and it was indeed very serious. To cause such severe radiation damage, it must have been exposed to space for a very long time.

But judging from the feel of its bones, the insect was only recently an adult, probably just having gone through its metamorphosis. In an era where knowledge of cosmic rays is so widespread, to venture into space alone, well, that's quite courageous.

The medical equipment on the starship can only treat ordinary superficial injuries. For severe radiation injuries like this, one must go to a specialized hospital to use radiation-removing equipment, but obviously there is no such place in the Chaotic Starfield.

You can either find the medicinal herbs yourself, prepare the medicine, and slowly nurture the plant.

Murphy had some clues about medicinal herbs, but that wasn't his forte; decocting medicine was nowhere near as interesting as dissection.

"This strange insect usually keeps to itself, why does it insist on having the two of us come with it today?" Doris sidled up to Talos, staring at the leisurely figure ahead, feeling a chill run down her spine. "Are we going to be sold out?"

“…” Talos was speechless. He suspected that the potion had burned out Doris’s brain while turning his whole body blue. “We’ll find out soon enough.”

Talos had some thoughts in his mind. No, he didn't need to think about it at all. Only a simple-minded idiot like Doris wouldn't see that something important was missing from the black-haired worm's left wrist.

He wasn't referring to the chip he'd scrambled out that day, but rather to a quantum computer. In an era where even remote, desolate planets could guarantee a small, rudimentary quantum computer for insects, the absence of one was clearly quite strange.

Because, in a sense, a quantum computer also represents money.

Murphy quickly picked up the medicinal herbs. "Please wrap up all these for me, thank you."

Doris clicked her tongue in amazement. This strange insect, without the scalpel in its hand, did seem quite approachable. Look how smoothly it said "thank you."

Then, Morpheus's gaze fell upon Doris, who was bewildered. Before Morpheus could say anything, Talos automatically stepped forward and paid the bill using his personal terminal.

A big question mark popped into Doris's head.

Murphy walked briskly straight out.

“Hold it up, do you want him to carry it himself?” Talos smacked Doris on the head. “Be careful he doesn’t turn around and fall into the jar.”

Doris finally understood why he had been summoned. Their captain and second mate, the mighty White Pirates, had been reduced to paying and carrying bags? Was there no justice in this world?

Since the herbal medicine section wasn't enough, Murphy simply went to the food and general merchandise sections to make sure he bought everything, useful and useless, before stopping and preparing to go home.

The owner of the food section was beaming with joy. These bitter and hard-to-chew herbs had actually found a patron today. He happily packed a large bag of them and even gave away a lot of vegetables as a bonus.

Meanwhile, the things in Doris and Talos's hands kept piling up higher and higher.

Doris wished he could hide his face behind something. "My reputation is ruined... If my former underlings knew about this scene, where would I put my face?"

"I'll dig a hole in the ground for you then."

"Talos, you're so kind, really."

...

A boy with faded clothes and a thin face knelt in a corner of the general store area. In front of him was a small stall with a cloth shop, which had a wide variety of beast cores and some trinkets picked up from the ruins after the war. They were obviously cheap and worthless.

However, he had one condition for the exchange—a pheromone drug.

He had clearly been there for a long time; only a few nearby stall owners were watching and chatting, while most insects just hurried past without giving him a second glance.

"Trying to exchange a few worthless beast cores for pheromone potions is just wishful thinking."

"Tsk tsk, in a place like the Chaotic Starfield, pheromone potions, regardless of their level, are extremely rare and hard to come by. You might be able to get them if you have money, but a poor wretch like him dares to even dream of them?"

"It's better to die sooner, but could you die somewhere far away? Lying there with your bugs every day, there are fewer bugs here."

The gaunt boy simply knelt there, saying nothing. He knew, of course, that all his possessions couldn't buy him a bottle of pheromone potion, but he had no other choice.

Female father...

The female father was not actually his biological female father. He was an orphan and originally had no female father. If the female father hadn't taken him home from the garbage dump, he would have died long ago.

He worked hard to grow up and work hard, just so he could help his father-in-law as soon as possible and make the family's life better. But he never expected that before he could grow up, his father-in-law's situation would have become like this.

The money they worked so hard to earn, along with a few beast cores they found on the battlefield, was all they had. And these things couldn't even buy a single pheromone potion.

"These stones are nice, how much?" came a stranger's question.

The thin boy's face was blank, and he looked hopeless. Even when he heard the insect asking questions, it did not stir any emotion in him.

Anyway, no insects will give him pheromone potions.

"Not for sale," he said curtly.

Seeing that there was business, the insects nearby quickly beckoned, "Are you looking to buy beast cores, sir? I have some here."

The black-haired customer ignored him and continued to ask the boy, "Why won't you sell?"

Before the boy could answer, the stall owner next door answered for him, "He's waiting to exchange these junks for pheromone potions."

A chorus of mocking voices immediately rose from the crowd, all laughing at the boy's delusional fantasies.

However, the black-haired scoundrel didn't leave, but continued, "Is it enough to just cure him?"

The "he" refers to the middle-aged female insect tightly bound to a makeshift stretcher behind the boy.

"You have pheromone potions?" The boy seemed to have heard a lifeline, and suddenly raised his head, his eyes showing a glimmer of light.

"No, not at all." The black-haired customer's answer was quite light and sincere.

The boy, whose eyes had just been filled with hope, was immediately filled with disappointment again.

Upon hearing this, the insect at the nearby stall burst into laughter. "Tch, so he's a madman. Only a madman can talk to a fool."

The black-haired insect seemed oblivious to the mockery around him, holding up the crimson beast core and asking the boy, "So, are you selling it?"

"..." The boy remained silent for a long time. He didn't want to put his father in a "gamble," but he also didn't want to give up this only hope.

He's been here for a week now, and the female father's condition is getting worse. In the last two days, he's completely lost consciousness. The neighbor told him that tomorrow is the final ultimatum; if there's no more pheromone medication, the female father is beyond saving...

Should he believe this insect?

"If... if it can be cured, I'll give you not only this beast core, but everything on this stall." The boy finally spoke.

“Okay.” The black-haired customer answered without the slightest hesitation, his tone very light, as if this matter was as simple as going out to buy something.

Sariel carried the strange insect home behind his female father's back, because the insect demanded its own space.

"Are you going to stay here?" Murphy pulled a pack of scalpels from the pocket of his white coat and swiftly drew one out.

The service at the starship where he was staying was quite good; they not only washed his white coats very clean, but also sharpened his knives.

Sariel had just settled his father and mother on the bed when he turned around and saw the knife in Morpheus's hand. He was stunned. "My father and mother are experiencing a mental domain riot. Why do they need a scalpel?"

The black-haired guest made a small slit with his index finger and thumb and smiled, "Isn't it the same? He just has a minor health problem, and all I have to do is solve the cause. It's very simple."

“But…” Sariel began to hesitate. This theory sounded reasonable, but it was actually very unreliable. The problem with the female father was in the mental domain. Did solving the problem mean digging out his head?

Did he accidentally hand his female father over to a perverted insecticide?

His hesitation seemed to have made the black-haired scoundrel lose patience.

"Okay, don't bother me, or I'll get upset."

He saw the strange insect extend its index finger in a shushing gesture, its smile appearing relaxed, but its dull eyes gave it a creepy look.

The boy felt a pang of regret; perhaps he should have stayed in the market for another day instead of gambling there.

However, in the short time he had just freed the female father from the restraints, he had already clearly seen her condition—

Deep purple lips, bulging veins on his forehead, claws, antennae, wings—all were out of control and could not be retracted. He had seen it on the StarNet; his female father had actually lost control, but he didn't know why he hadn't attacked him; he had just been lying stiffly on the bed.

He no longer has a female father.

The black-haired monster was already standing in front of the bed, holding a scalpel.

Sariel's eyes welled up with tears. He regretted it. He wanted to step forward and stop her, to preserve his father's body intact, but suddenly a hand covered his mouth and nose and dragged him out of the room.

Sariel struggled, not knowing why the two insects had suddenly appeared and taken him away, but he quickly realized that they were accomplices of the black-haired monster insect, and that they must have come with a purpose. The panic in his heart made him struggle incessantly.

"Don't be ungrateful, kid. I'm saving you. Just do whatever that strange worm says. Otherwise, you might not only lose your father, but also yourself."

It was eerily quiet inside; not a sound could be heard. Sariel could only imagine in his mind whether the knife had slashed his father beyond recognition. He had not only lost his father, but he couldn't even protect his father's body.

Sariel desperately tried to grab the hand covering his mouth, tears streaming down his face, but the hand was like an iron clamp, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't budge it.

Doris was having a headache. The kid was crying and scratching, making him look like an accomplice of a big bad guy, even though he was definitely not a good person.

But if he puts this kid in, he himself probably will die soon, and he wants to live a peaceful old age with Talos.

Just as Doris was struggling with her decision, a hand slashed hard across the boy's neck, and the little female insect that she was about to lose her grip on rolled her eyes back and fainted.

Doris quickly caught him and placed him against the wall.

Doris gave a thumbs up. "Talos, you're amazing."

Talos's face didn't show much expression. "I should be the one saying that. Doris, you're incredibly stupid."

Doris stared with his big, innocent eyes. "Talos, why are you insulting me again..." Ever since he recovered, Talos has become increasingly rude.

...

This was actually the first time Murphy had ever seen a living, out-of-control insect in the mental domain; it certainly had more vitality than the dead ones.

The female insect, whose mental domain has gone out of control, would of course attack the insect. The reason she hasn't attacked yet is simply because Mofiel has used his mental power to control his body and paralyze his pain nerves, putting him into a coma.

The golden lines in his eyes glowed slightly, and a complete, living body unfolded before him.

He discovered something on this female insect that the dead insect lacked—a living nucleus.

The nucleus of a dead insect is dull and cracked, while the nucleus of this insect is crystal clear and lively, so lively that it disturbs his body and his mind.

The more he observed and learned, the more excited Murphy's eyes became, almost overflowing with excitement.

How interesting, how interesting. He remembered that the saying passed down among these insects was that they would die if their core broke, but the truth was that the crystalline core that stretched across the body was what accelerated the death of this body.

Why, why would something so important pose a threat of death?

...

When Sariel slowly woke up, there was no insect around. He was lying alone at the doorway, but he had been moved from outside to inside the house, and the door was thoughtfully closed.

The smell of blood on the tip of her nose sent a chill down Sariel's spine. Forgetting whether she was locked in the house, she hurriedly looked towards the bed.

Before me lay a bed stained with blood. The dark red stains on the once gray bedding were now stark and glaring. The female lay motionless on it, her wings missing, perhaps cut off by that strange insect.

Female father...

No, don't...

Sariel crawled towards the bed using both his hands and feet.

It's all his fault, it's all his fault...

He brought the bad insects into the house, preventing the female father from resting in peace even in death.

It's all his fault...

For a moment, Sariel's heart clenched, his head throbbed with pain, and his body went numb. Apart from tears streaming down his face, he couldn't utter a single word, and even moving a tiny distance was extremely difficult.

He was a good-for-nothing. His adoptive father shouldn't have taken him in; otherwise, he wouldn't have suffered like this before he died...

Shouldn't he be the one who deserves to die?

“Sariel…”

Suddenly, Sariel heard a distant call in his ear. His mind went blank. Was he dead too? Why did he seem to hear the voice of the female father? Was the theory of the soul really true?

“Sariel…”

Something's wrong; he heard it again.

Sariel was still a little confused and couldn't even control his body. He just subconsciously crawled towards the bed faster, using both his hands and feet.

"Father-in-law...father-in-law..."

He finally crawled to the bedside and reached out with trembling hands to grasp the hand of the middle-aged female insect on the bed.

It's warm.

Sariel's eyes were glazed over; it really was warm.

The warmth traveled from his father's hand to his own, and then into his body, making his cold body feel warm and alive again.

"Female father?"

"Sariel, what's wrong? Did you cry? You're a big kid now, it's not right for you to keep crying. Back in my day on the battlefield, you were already this old and I had already killed over a hundred monsters..."

It feels so familiar; I love reminiscing about my past.

Is he really not dreaming?

The female father not only did not die, but also regained consciousness?

After the deepest sorrow comes the deepest ecstasy.

"Female father!"

Sariel scrambled to his feet and then noticed that his father-in-law was wrapped in many medical bandages. It seemed that several bandages had been tied to the four corners of the bed to prevent him from moving around, which was why his father-in-law appeared motionless from his vantage point when he looked up.

The female father's face was still slightly pale, but the bulging veins, the outstretched claws and wings, and the stiff antennae had all retracted.

The words used to scold him were delivered with great force; it all seemed like a dream.

The female father really woke up; that insect really wasn't a liar after all!

Sariel threw herself into her father's arms, crying, as if she wanted to cry out all the panic, helplessness, and anxiety of the past few days.

The middle-aged female insect, who had been rambling on and on, stopped talking when she saw his appearance, and the room was suddenly filled only with Sariel's cathartic sobs.

The middle-aged female insect looked at the little female insect nestled in his arms with gentle and heartbroken eyes. Although he had been unconscious these days, he knew that Sariel must have suffered a lot and been very scared while dragging along such a useless insect like him. He didn't know what price he had paid to recover.

"I'm okay now, don't be afraid, we'll be fine from now on."

His little female insect is still very, very small, and he really wants to see what she looks like when she grows up.

The next day, the vendors in the general store area set up their stalls as usual. Surprisingly, the silly boy who had been hoping to get the pheromone potion didn't come to wait early in the morning. I don't know if he finally came to terms with it or if he was beyond saving.

Sigh, there's nothing that can be done; that's the fate of female insects...

……etc.

"Isn't that Sariel's father? I'm not seeing things, am I?" The stall owner sitting at the next stall, whose tone was rather sarcastic, rubbed his eyes.

The owner of the stall across the street also stared wide-eyed.

"What's going on? I remember Sariel's father, wasn't his mental domain almost out of control yesterday? How come he seems perfectly fine today?"

Another stall owner, tinged with envy and jealousy, remarked, "They even look better now, showing no signs of the riot at all. They must have used a very high level of pheromones."

"Could it be that the bug was lying to us when it said it didn't have any pheromone potions, afraid we'd steal them?"

The insects beat their chests and stamped their feet, feeling they had missed a great opportunity, that this silly boy had actually gotten lucky.

However, as the second and third cases appeared one after another, the insects realized that something seemed amiss...

...

"Commander, something strange seems to have happened in the Chaotic Starfield?" Palmer asked respectfully.

"Um?"

"Many insects claim that a strange insect can cure mental domain riots through treatment, and that pheromone drugs are not required."

The silver-haired, red-eyed female insect was dressed in a black combat uniform. The fitted design accentuated her broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs. She leaned casually against the wall, holding a military knife in her hand, carefully wiping it with a soft cloth.

"Cha, if you're blocking our way, you know what to do."

"yes!"

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Author's Note: Thank you AAA for the gift! Love you~ [starry eyes][heart eyes][cheers]

Thank you to "Clear Sky," "Little Fox," and "Soaring Clouds" for the nutrient solution! [Sprinkling flowers][Sprinkling flowers][Keep it up!]