Chapter 611 Gray Dwarf Star
After passing the Lagrange point, the small shuttle, in its concealed state, glided gracefully in an arc, further hiding itself in the star's immense gravity and chaotic electromagnetic background. Then it changed direction, opened the thermal shield at its tail, and pointed the antenna array at the front of the spacecraft at a distant point in the dark starry sky.
There is a faster-than-light communication array in the deep space between Lo's hideout and the Grey Dwarf planet. Anchored in that darkness is a set of high-power transmission antennas. It is powered by an old reactor and its associated gas collection station and has been operating for hundreds of years.
The first group to build that faster-than-light communication array was a group of audacious interstellar merchants (in the Dark Currents region, this name is basically a tense expression of "pirates"), but after an unpleasant transaction, the Black Dot Group revoked the caravan's business license in the Dark Currents region—the revocation was mainly due to the 1250mm convergence cannons and the "Purgatory" fortress torpedoes.
After that, the entire communications array became the property of the Black Dot Group.
In the Dark Currents, these makeshift communication arrays built by various factions are as important as beacons on shipping lanes. Although they are often accompanied by dangerous virus broadcasts and countless fraudulent signals, and sometimes their operation is very unstable, at least they support the most basic communication "services" in the lawless zone. This prevents those scurries hiding in the dim nebula from degenerating into blind and deaf primitive tribes after several generations. After all, the people of the Cosmic Union, Terra, and the Borderlands will not come to such places to build space infrastructure. The locals always have to solve their practical needs in their own way.
The chaotic and busy communication signals, the noisy illegal broadcasts, the various messy encrypted call signs mixed in with the dark web communications, and those fraudulent text messages—Luo's mechanical limbs pierced the control panel of the shuttle, and the spaceship's antenna seemed to become an extension of her mechanical limbs. The information that echoed in space reverberated in her mind like a strange, howling, and never-ending gale.
“Ugh… that’s a damn familiar noise. This is the sound of my happy old home…” Luo stretched in the driver’s seat, letting the deafening noise whistle between the shuttle’s antenna system and her brain implant. She skillfully disguised herself as an insignificant fringe traveler, listening to the sounds of this lawless sector, searching for anything useful, while cautiously activating the “ghost identities” she had planted in the local network years ago.
Most of the communication signals came from "Grey Dwarf"—a vital outpost and commercial hub in this desolate region—while a smaller portion came from local broadcasts, emanating from the surface and orbit of that barren, rocky planet.
Luo overheard people discussing the "missing" Black Dot Pioneer Laboratory in interstellar communications, as well as the recent space tremors. Some anonymous forums were even debating whether they could take this opportunity to "try their luck" at those temporarily offline Black Dot facilities. Meanwhile, in the local signal, people were inquiring about the "boss's" whereabouts and whether to continue with the production plan left by the boss.
All related discussions ended last week, followed by a takeover notice from the group company—at least ostensibly ending the chaos.
A glint flashed in Luo's eyes as her fingers slid across the control panel, and the Black Dot Group's local announcement appeared on the holographic projection in the driver's seat.
"The regional supervisor died in a lab accident, all privileges transferred..." she muttered softly, a strange smile appearing on her face. "That's great, it confirms I'm dead. Luckily I sneaked over here..."
"Boss, should we contact the person in charge at the airport?" the captain of the security detail asked cautiously. "Lex should still be loyal, he..."
“No rush, let’s find a place to stay first,” Luo said casually, his gaze sweeping over the hidden storage compartment next to the chair. “Perhaps, we don’t need to be so discreet…”
The shuttle's engines silently lit up, accelerating into deep space along the edge of the home planet's radar perimeter. After leaving the home planet's warning zone and setting the jump target as the Grey Dwarf Star, Lo activated the communication device and began making calls within the Black Dot Group's internal network.
After a brief noise, a mechanical voice entered Luo's mind: "Who?"
“Old Joe,” Luo leaned back in the driver’s seat, a hint of coldness in his expression, while his inner voice carried a false politeness, “It’s been a long time since we last contacted each other—can you still recognize my voice?”
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the communication line. After a brief hesitation, the mechanical voice finally spoke again: "Ah, you're still alive. I knew you weren't going to die so easily. This is truly...gratifying."
"What are you happy about? Are you happy that someone is coming back to take away the territory you worked so hard to get?"
“…The regional takeover was a decision made by the group’s upper management. If I don’t take it over, another specialist will,” the person called “Old Joe” sounded a little embarrassed, but it was hard to tell how much sincerity was in that embarrassment. “At least I won’t mess up other people’s production plans—where are you now? Let’s meet and talk, and then submit a report to the higher-ups together to explain the situation?”
Luo glanced at the holographic projection beside him.
“I know you’re tracking my signal, but your methods are a bit clumsy,” she said casually, then changed the subject, “but it doesn’t matter, we can save ourselves the trouble—I have a suitable place to meet on Grey Dwarf Star. I’ll give you the coordinates later, and we’ll meet.”
After saying that, she decisively cut off the signal and then activated the shuttle's warp drive without hesitation.
Even with her auxiliary brain assisting in calculations, the electronic countermeasures capabilities of this small aircraft have already reached their limit.
The shuttle transformed into a rapidly elongating streak in the darkness before instantly plunging into the void formed by the warped space.
Half a minute after it disappeared, three iron-gray stealth interceptors warped in and arrived at the location, broadcasting a public rescue call on the public channel, with warp disruptors and target acquisition radars at full power.
After a brief search, the interceptor, having found nothing, reported its failure and returned to base.
The engine's flash illuminated the dark and cold deep space—the survival rules of Happy Home remained unchanged.
...
Grey Dwarf is a rocky planet located on the edge of the Dark Currents region. It is usually regarded as a "buffer bridge" between this lawless zone and the "civilized world." The last military operation by the Algredians against the Black Dot Group ended at the high orbit of this planet. At the end of each Terran year, the border enforcement fleet routinely illuminates the Grey Dwarf's homeworld barrier with fire control radar. Here, the last vestiges of the civilized world's dignity are preserved, and it is also filled with the "wild folk customs" unique to the lawless sector. But overall, it is a bustling and prosperous place.
Even by local standards, this place is not exactly "livable".
The planet's atmosphere is filled with gray-black smog caused by over-exploitation in the early years. The mutated vegetation that has survived tenaciously covers the abandoned mines and rift valleys outside the big cities. The planet's surface is covered with shockingly huge ravines, some of which even penetrate the crust and extend into the cooling mantle.
From space, the Grey Dwarf planet resembles a wrinkled, terrifying head, its face riddled with deep, bone-revealing wounds, while a crisscrossing network of massive steel structures barely holds together this seemingly collapsing planet—overcrowded cities built atop these steel behemoths, appearing precarious, much like the countless cysts growing on the surface of this terrifying head.
The small shuttle swiftly passed through the dense, stacked city, soaring through the clouds amidst towering yet dilapidated high-rise buildings. These buildings resembled twisted and deformed giant pillars, having long since lost their original appearance through countless additions and renovations over the years. Their foundations might have been factories, bridges, or even churches from hundreds of years ago, while their upper structures were evenly coated with centuries of time, like... some kind of man-made, decaying tree rings.
The main framework of many buildings was already on the verge of collapse. Sometimes, Luo even felt that all it would take was a strong wind for these cities to fall like dominoes—their remains would fall into the trenches and rifts on the planet's surface, and the steel and stone extracted from the crust would return to the crust, filling the planet again in some form, turning it from a pitted zombie head into a smooth skeleton.
Luo felt like he was a damn poet.
I wish I had studied humanities back then.
The shuttle stopped deep within the giant city, on the upper level of a towering skyscraper—a skyscraper more magnificent and splendid than the surrounding buildings. Its orderly upper structure was unlike the haphazard additions and chaotic pile-ups of other buildings. It even had several semi-circular parking platforms protruding from the outside of the tower, with guide lights on the platforms pointing into the air, and uniformed service personnel standing at the entrance of each gate.
Upscale community – an upscale community hidden in the gutter.
Luo entered the tower with several fully armed guards. The staff along the way bowed respectfully to her, even though they didn't know Luo's real name or "origin".
Lo has some properties here—in fact, she owns a third of the entire tower's structure, while the remaining two-thirds... are occupied by an old, ancient AI that stubbornly believes it is still a church that provides refuge to travelers. The guy is difficult to communicate with, and Lo has tried several times to buy the remaining floors from him without success, so she simply gave up.
After a quick check of the building's security system and confirming there were no signs of intrusion, Luo sent the coordinates to "Old Joe".
While waiting, she opened her small suitcase and took out a small crystal bottle.
The liquid in the bottle shimmered with a captivating color under the light.
(End of this chapter)
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