Chapter 1440: Chapter 1440: Young A Ke
Yangjiao Star.
The wind was calm and the sun shone brightly.
A Ke, dressed in a faded protective suit, was a boy who had just turned 15. He had short black hair, a very delicate appearance, and extremely fair skin, but there was a deep scar on his face, which gave his delicate looks an added touch of ferocity. However, A Ke was a very gentle boy and only showed his fierceness when facing the Star Beasts, taking up arms to reveal all his ferocity.
Today was the weekend. As an orphan, A Ke needed to bear his own living expenses. Normally, he had to attend classes; the Alliance implemented 12 years of compulsory education, so before university, he didn’t need to pay tuition. Moreover, the Alliance provided orphans aged 15 and above with a basic living allowance of 500 credit points, but this basic allowance was terminated once they turned 15. Therefore, A Ke had to start earning money by himself now.
The weekends were a time he couldn’t afford to miss for making money.
Originally living on garbage planet No. 381, the environment there had worsened, and Star Beasts appeared frequently, making it too dangerous for human habitation. The Administrator of garbage planet No. 381 applied to the Alliance for relocation, so the Alliance moved all the residents of garbage planet No. 381 to a nearby planet.
A Ke thus received a resettlement house, providing a place to call home. He liked this resettlement house very much. Although it was very small and couldn’t compare to the wide yet unsafe house he had on garbage planet No. 381, it provided A Ke with a rare sense of security.
Early in the morning, after cleaning and tidying up the house, A Ke dressed neatly and stepped out of his resettlement house, joining his neighbor Granny in carrying backpacks. They spent 20 credit points to embark on a journey to garbage planet No. 381. The reason for going here was that although the environment on garbage planet No. 381 had deteriorated significantly, it still held several commonly used and fairly priced material resources.
As long as they gathered enough, they could basically earn 300 to 400 credit points per trip. A Ke saved this money carefully, which could cover his living expenses for half a month, making it quite a profitable venture.
Moreover, garbage planet No. 381 was very close to the planet he now lived on, taking just 3 hours for a round trip. This meant he could go today, return tomorrow afternoon, and still make it back in time for his class the day after.
Of course, traveling to garbage planet No. 381 did have its dangers, but A Ke and his neighbor Granny were originally locals from No. 381, very familiar with the terrain. As long as they were careful, nothing unexpected should happen. A Ke went there every weekend.
He had been doing this work for a year now. Currently, not only could A Ke completely support himself, but through effort and cleverness, he had saved 5000 credit points. A Ke’s university aspiration was Mechanical Manufacturing; he’s been wanting to save up to buy a set of tools for Mecha manufacturing for a long time, but due to financial constraints, he hadn’t been able to do so.
Once he completed this collection trip, A Ke would be able to purchase that set of tools.
A Ke was full of confidence.
The neighbor Granny Chen was very elderly, but her body was still very sturdy. She was raising two grandsons, one aged 3 and the other 5. Her son and daughter-in-law died in a Star Beast attack two years ago, so for the sake of her two grandsons, Granny Chen had no choice but to work hard. As a result, Granny went collecting with A Ke every weekend.
A Ke said, "Granny Chen, let’s go. We need to get there early to find a good spot."
Granny Chen, also carrying a large backpack, reminded her two grandsons earnestly before leaving, "Just stay home, don’t go anywhere, understand?"
The two young grandsons, though little, were obedient and sensible.
The eldest grandson, with his dark eyes, nodded firmly at his grandmother, saying, "Don’t worry, grandma. I will definitely take good care of my brother."
The younger grandson, skinny and blinking his eyes, with a childlike voice said, "Grandma, I’ll be good. Can you come back early? I want to hear you tell stories before bed."
Granny Chen’s heart ached a bit, but she hid it, reaching up to rub the little grandson’s head, smiling as she said, "As long as you’re good, grandma will be back soon. Then I’ll tell you a story."
The little grandson smiled, dimples appearing at the corners of his lips, "Then I want to hear the story of Admiral Bai Ji fighting the Thunder Leopard Beast."
Granny Chen said, "Okay."
A Ke and Granny Chen were about to leave, and the two little children tried hard to hold back their tears. The eldest grandson said with a stern face, "Grandma, Brother A Ke, don’t go to any place too dangerous, okay?"
A Ke raised his hand, rubbed the kid’s head, and smiled, "Don’t worry, we’re just staying on the outskirts."
The old and the young finally left the house. There happened to be a small spaceship dock near where they lived, with about 3-10 spaceships docking there each day. These were all private spaceships, specifically for carrying passengers because of the high demand from people in the resettlement area, leading to the emergence of these illegal passenger spaceships.
When A Ke and Granny Chen arrived, the driver of the foremost docked spaceship was calling out through a loudspeaker, "Garbage planet No. 381, still 5 seats available, 5 seats! They won’t wait!"
"4 seats now."
"3 seats now."
Granny Chen couldn’t run, so A Ke dashed over like an arrow, saying, "Uncle, save us 2 seats."
The driver clearly knew A Ke, and upon seeing him, laughed, saying, "I was just wondering why you hadn’t shown up yet. This is perfect timing, quickly get on the spaceship."
"Hey!" A Ke replied with a smile, "Just wait a little bit for Granny."
The driver joked, "Sure, got one saved for Granny Chen."
Soon.
A Ke and Granny Chen sat on the spaceship, which took off in five minutes, heading towards garbage planet No. 381.
With a hopeful face, A Ke hoped for good luck, hoping to find an undiscovered abandoned mine. If he found one, with some effort, he would eventually be able to dig out some usable ore.
...
"The weather today is pretty nice."
"There’s no unusual activity in space either."
"Here’s to hoping for some good luck and finding something big to collect."
...
On the spaceship, many passengers sat in their seats, chatting with each other. Everyone was previously a resident of No. 381, so they were all very familiar with each other, chatting like old friends. After moving to Yangjiao Star, they couldn’t find suitable jobs for the time being or were not earning enough to cover their family’s needs. So many of them wanted to return to garbage planet No. 381. They were familiar with the garbage planet and could earn a bit from scavenging, collecting scraps, or gathering materials in the wild. Overall, every trip yielded some rewards—for the lucky ones, it would be a big score, but for those less lucky, they could at least cover the travel expenses.
Everyone, sharing the same expectations as A Ke and Granny Chen, embarked on their journey to garbage planet No. 381.
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