Chapter 398: Beyond the Starry Sky

I don't want to.

Zhang Jie answered offhandedly; at that moment he was busy tinkering with a pile of scrap, completely failing to grasp what the human female—his mother—really meant.

Outside, aside from treasure chests and scrap, everything else is just like that.

It's dull and stinky garbage out there—who would like the outside?

Ah, I wasn't talking about that outside!

The human female complained, patted Zhang Jie on the head, then got up and, with effort, opened the shelter's skylight.

A faint smell of rotten eggs drifted over, and Zhang Jie instinctively covered his nose.

What are you doing?

Look, look up at the sky.

Zhang Jie looked up doubtfully; there was no splendid starry sky, no beautiful Milky Way—only thick toxic mist that looked especially eerie against the night.

So what? It's nothing special.

Zhang Jie's small frame bore a precocious air as he gave the human female a speechless look, causing her face to flush instantly.

Who are you with?!

Zhang Jie got another smack on the head.

You little brat, you've never even seen a star—do you have any idea how vast this world is?

But there's really nothing to see here!

Zhang Jie feebly retorted; he had grown accustomed to the human female's mercurial temperament.

But for some reason, he always felt the human female was extraordinary, that she didn't belong here.

What do you know.

The human female grabbed him and clambered up to the skylight, rummaging left and right, finally producing a small telescope which she handed to Zhang Jie.

Take this and look!

Zhang Jie took the small telescope half-believing, half-doubting, and used it to gaze at the dung-yellow sky.

Hmm...

How is it? How is it?

Still dung-yellow.

Human female:?

How could that be!

She hurriedly snatched the small telescope; one glance almost shattered her heart.

How could it....

It actually broke.

She felt deeply disappointed, fiddling with it for a while, ultimately only able to put it away helplessly.

What is that, Mom?

Zhang Jie couldn't help but speak up; the human female pursed her lips, pretended not to care, and put away the small telescope.

Nothing much; come, let me tell you about the outside world.

Fact proves that whoever it is, as long as they are alive, they innately yearn for the mysterious universe; and Zhang Jie, who originally came from beyond the heavens, upon hearing the human female's description, also began to yearn for the outside world.

Starry sky, heavenly disasters, civilization, ascension.

Each of those words tugged at Zhang Jie's heartstrings; merely listening to her description already made one's blood surge.

Mom.

Zhang Jie interrupted the human female, who was speaking fluently, and asked the most important question.

So, how do we get to the outside?

One question caused the previously enthusiastic human female to instantly lose her spirits.

To break free from the scrap planet, either we ourselves cobble together a ship capable of escaping gravity, or we obtain legal status and bribe some ship captains with money to take us away.

On this garbage star, wanting to acquire the technology to leave here is completely impossible.

And legal status... that's even more out of the question.

Zhang Jie:?

Then why did you say all that!

Zhang Jie instantly lost all interest, rolled his eyes, flipped down from the skylight, and curled back onto his own small bed.

It's like someone constantly telling you how beautiful the world is, but when you ask when we can go see it, they reply with 'no horse inside'—meaning they have no intention.

Since we can't get out, why say all that? Better to think about how to make life more interesting going forward.

On this barren wasteland, such lofty illusions still have to wait until we can fill our stomachs.

Zhang Jie heard the human female's thumping footsteps as she came down from the skylight; it seemed she stared at him for a while, then sighed and returned to her bed.

That night, Zhang Jie stared at the pitch-black ceiling, utterly sleepless.

Beyond the sky, what exactly is there?

Satellites, planets, stars? Red giants, blue giants, supernovas?

Various celestial bodies were constructed in Zhang Jie's mind; relying on his powerful imagination, he could almost envision their grandeur.

The human female's words had already planted a seed deep in his heart; even if he does not crave it now, he will surely, one day in the future, again give rise to the desire to roam the heavens.

However, there is one method the human female did not mention: obtaining a humanoid ship lifeform, which inherently possesses the ability to construct superluminal passages, fully capable of guiding you past civilization's blockade.

But as for why she didn't mention it, it's simple: the probability is far, far lower than hand‑crafting a ship, so low it can be neglected.

The reason is that every humanoid ship lifeform is an extremely valuable treasure; besides possessing the space‑folding technology available only to high‑level civilizations, which allows the hull to be deployed at any moment, it also has formidable firepower.

Moreover, basically any modification of them can be used; they can be hailed as the greatest invention of the entire civilization!

If we only had one humanoid ship lifeform, escaping the garbage star would be so simple?

But the problem is right here—humanoid lifeforms, where could you possibly find such a thing?

So valuable—who would be willing to throw it onto the garbage star? Even in the civilization they currently inhabit, the number of ship lifeforms they possess does not exceed five hundred.

"Could it be that we can only...."

The human female muttered to herself; she, too, was unable to sleep.

Wanting to leave a planet is actually simple; for her, it's actually simple—just need a sentence...

But she is unwilling; she has her own reasons for not wanting to speak of it; she originally thought she would just hide on the garbage star for her whole life.

But she adopted Zhang Jie, this little monster who has been extraordinary since childhood; he possesses unimaginable talent; he should not spend his whole life trapped on this tiny garbage star.

Even though he is adopted, she has already developed feelings of maternal love toward Zhang Jie.

She needs to find a way to let Zhang Jie truly leave this planet.

Just like that, both of them suffered insomnia, tossing and turning until the next morning's dawn; the sound of the radiation storm blowing in instead became the best lullaby, and only then did they fall asleep in a daze.

And not far from them, or rather on the neighboring orbital planet, a private research plan targeting humanoid ship life has already begun....

(How did all you foster fathers spend Qixi? At least I, adult ginseng, had a blast! Hahaha!)