CH 1

Chapter 1: Interstellar Miner

With the advancement of science and technology and the expansion of the scope of influence, the number of people is also soaring. Environmental pollution and energy shortage have added fuel to the fire, leading to the extinction of a large number of species. The earth’s environment is finally no longer suitable for human survival. Since then, mankind has officially turned to the vast universe and entered the interstellar age.

But it is too difficult to find a planet suitable for human existence in the vast expanse of space, and in the vast universe there are many other kinds of alien races, some of which hold great malice towards human beings.

In order to adapt to the harsh cosmic environment and fight against the aggression of alien races, scientists have invented starships, mechas, and various super offensive weapons after hundreds of years of research and repeated practice.

In addition, scientists have also launched a genetic modification program to improve the strength of human beings. In the beginning, they incorporated beast genes into human genes, enabling humans to be animalized. This is the first generation of beastkin. But it was later discovered that the genes of beasts are too unstable, and the next generation is prone to deformities.

After the failure of the original genetic modification program, scientists began to find ways to strengthen human genes. After thousands of failures, they finally succeeded in developing methods to strengthen human genes, allowing humans to finally gain a foothold in the interstellar world. With this, an empire belonging to mankind was established.

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Interstellar Year 1552

Planet Kulta

This barren planet with yellow land everywhere, strong sandstorms, and abnormally cold temperature is actually a valuable resource planet. Under this inconspicuous planet, there is  jadeite worth tens of billions of credit points buried.

In the dark mine dozens of strong miners are sweating and digging. If you look closely you can find that there is actually a thin young man among them.

The young man’s name is Lin Luo, a descendant of the first generation of transformed humans. There are beast genes in his body, which allows him to beastify. At this moment, he has shifted his hands into beast claws and is not inferior to the miners beside him.

The boy’s luck was very good, and he soon dug a fist-sized jadeite. He carefully put the jadeite into a cart next to him. There were already a dozen pieces of jadeite piled in it, and each piece could exchange for exchange for 100 credits.

Jadeite is a very special kind of cosmic ore. Under the hard weathered stone exterior is a special crystal containing huge energy. A small piece can maintain the operating energy of a mecha for nearly three days, so it is very valuable. Nowadays, mechas, spaceships, weapons, and equipment all require energy. Energy has gradually become the most scarce resource for human beings. Even the ability users who awaken their abilities after activating special genes require the energy liquid extracted from this energy crystal.

Jadeite was originally called energy stones, but later people discovered that the characteristics of this energy stone are basically very similar to the jade of the ancient earth period, so people also use jadeite to refer to this energy stone. The unprocessed ores that have just been mined are called “jadeite”[1], and the energy crystals wrapped in a layer of hard rock are called jade.

The outer layer of jadeite is covered with a special weathered stone layer which can isolate radiation, and protect and lock the internal energy crystals, but it also makes all human detection methods invalid. Therefore, these jadeite mines cannot be mined by machinery, and manual excavation must be used to ensure the integrity of the ore to the greatest extent.

Jadeite is the same as the rough jade of the ancient earth period. Not every piece of jadeite contains jade. It takes not only knowledge and experience, but also luck to judge the internal texture, color, and fissures of the jadeite. The better the quality of jade, the more energy it contains and the higher the value .

Before cutting any piece of jadeite, no one can know whether there is jade in it, and what kind of jade it is. This kind of behavior full of risks and opportunities is deeply loved by people. Therefore, in today’s interstellar In the empire, stone gambling was even more prevalent than in the ancient earth era.

“Hey, Xiao Luo, it’s time for dinner, let’s go?” A strong-looking miner put down the shovel in his hand, wiped off the sweat from his forehead, and said to Lin Luo.

“Okay, Brother Sun.”

Lin Luo stopped and turned the furry claws back into human palms, ready to push his cart.

“I’ll come, I’ll come!” Sun Hong connected Xiao Luo’s cart to his own with the chain on his cart, then pushed the cart with one hand and Lin Luo’s shoulder with the other, and walked out together.

Lin Luo returned him a grateful smile, and walked out of the deep mine with him.

The lights in the mine are brightly lit, much brighter than the mine itself, so Sun Hong doesn’t need to be so careful when walking, but he still supports Lin Luo since his eyes are very inconvenient at night.

The two went to the management center first, handed over the jadeite on the cart, replaced it with credits, and received the nutrient solution before returning to the dormitory area. After Lin Luo and Sun Hong said their goodbyes, they each entered their own rooms.

Of course, the miners’ dormitory is simple. It has an area of 10 square meters with nothing except a wardrobe, bed, table and chair. Fortunately, there is a small bathroom that allows them to solve personal problems in the room.

After a busy day in the mine, Lin Luo’s protective clothing was full of dust, and his small face was dirty, so he really needed a comfortable hot bath.

Lin Luo took off his dirty shoes and protective clothing, threw it on the ground, and went straight to the bathroom. The bathroom is only about 1 or 2 square meters in size, and is empty with nothing in it, but when Lin Luo closed the door and pressed the shower button, many small holes suddenly appeared on the surrounding walls and started spraying hot water at a suitable temperature towards the middle. After wetting his body, it began to spray the human-specific cleaning solution, then flushed with hot water again to rinse the cleaning solution away. Finally the anti-gravity mode was turned on and all the water was instantly whisked away. When Lin Luo walked out of the bathroom, his body was already rinsed clean.

The dirty protective clothing that was thrown on the floor before has also been cleaned by the cleaning robot, and it is neatly stacked on the bed, the shoes are placed by the bed, and the floor has been cleaned. Lin Luo nodded with satisfaction, put on a clean protective suit, lay down on the bed, and drank the nutrient solution he had received earlier.

Today’s nutrient solution is the chicken flavor that Lin Luo likes. He rubbed his stomach contentedly, and the light brain on his wrist rang, indicating that someone had sent a communication request. After Lin Luo saw the name displayed above, he immediately connected to the communication.

“Xiao Luo.” Li Jun’s kind and amiable face appeared in the picture.

“Grandpa Li.” Lin Luo smiled, showing a cute dimple on his left cheek.

“Tonight someone from the Xing family came to choose a stone. Would you like to come and fight for me?”

“I want to!” Lin Luo’s eyes lit up suddenly.

“Okay, see you at the same place at eight o’clock.” Li Jun finished the call with a chuckle.

Li Jun is a jadeite cutting master. He has been working in the mining area for decades. Whenever someone from above is sent to choose a stone, he will be asked to come as well because he has the most experience in jadeite cutting, a quick and neat technique, and there are hardly any mistakes. He is very fond of Lin Luo, who is practical, hardworking and very spiritual. He once wanted to train Lin Luo to inherit his craft, but Lin Luo has a genetic defect…

It is well known that the probability of genetic defects in the descendants of the first-generation modified people is as high as 90%, but the manifestation and severity of the genetic defects differ.

Lin Luo did not become one of the lucky 10%. Shortly after he was born, he was diagnosed with a very rare visual genetic defect. He could not distinguish colors like a normal person. The colorful world in his eyes is rendered in only black, white, and gray, only light and dark, but no color difference.

His parents obviously couldn’t take such a blow, gave up custody and sent him to a welfare institution. Although it was a welfare institution, it was not inferior to public schools, and the education received was similar.

After Lin Luo was 18 years old, he was allowed to leave the orphanage to live independently, however due to his genetic defect it was difficult for him to find a suitable job. He finally found this job as a miner with food and housing that lasts for three years.

His purpose at the beginning was just to live, but in the mining area there were basically no entertainment activities. He could only watch the scene of the jadeite cutting when someone came to choose a stone. What he didn’t expect, however, was that he had gradually developed a keen interest in gambling stone full of risks and opportunities.

It’s a pity that his genetic defect makes it difficult for him to see clearly in dim light at night, let alone gambling stones. He always heard people talk about how beautiful jadeite was, and seeing how excited people were dancing while watching the jadeite cutting, he also wanted to see the splendor of cut jade with his own eyes. So he started saving money in exchange for a genetic booster to see if he could have a chance to cure his eyes.

As the name suggests, the genetic booster, or gene fortification liquid, is a kind of medicine that can help humans strengthen the body. The price of the primary gene fortification liquid is 500,000 credits, the intermediate one needs 1 million credits, and the advanced one needs 5 million credits.

The primary gene fortification liquid can only play a role in strengthening the body at most. The intermediate gene fortification liquid can help the body greatly improve the physical fitness and repair the wounds, and the advanced gene fortification liquid even stimulates those with special genes in their bodies to awaken their supernatural abilities, which is why the value of these medicines is so high.

Lin Luo sighed and checked the credit points in his account with his light brain. If he wanted to buy intermediate gene enhancement liquid, he still needed more than 600,000 credit points.

===========Translator Corner===========

[1]: The MTL had a second word that said “wool”, the raws said “毛料” I spent too long trying to translate it but it seemed to be used later in the story in indistinguishable times from jadeite and I couldn’t find any difference between the two at all even combing through the raw mandarin so I’m translating it all as jadeite. Sorry folks.