The Interstellar Queen of Scavengers

Chapter 1458: Chapter 1458: Exploration

Jumping down from the sky and landing smoothly, Ji You found herself just under the sign of ’Scrap Processing Station No. 381.’ Below the sign was a door with a large hole, just big enough for one person to pass through. Ji You exchanged glances with Chu Jiaojiao, who asked, "Should we go in now?"

Ji You thought for a moment and said, "I’ll go in first to check, you stay outside to cover me."

Chu Jiaojiao frowned and said, "I’ll go."

Upon saying those two words, Chu Jiaojiao looked fixedly at Ji You’s face, which was full of pits and scars. Her heart inexplicably ached. Ji You hadn’t had time to repair her face because the competition ended too quickly, and Principal Hong hurriedly led everyone away, leaving Ji You no time to fix her face, thus delaying it until now.

Moreover?

During the journey, she could have asked Dr. Luo for help. There was a set of emergency equipment on this military mini-spaceship, fully capable of repairing small issues like her face, but Ji You had no time.

Ji You barely had any time.

Whether leading a team in combat or guarding the rear, Ji You was always the most dependable and reassuring teammate.

For instance, now, there might be danger ahead, so she took the initiative to charge forward.

...

Chu Jiaojiao pursed her lips, looked at Ji You, and firmly stated, "I’ll go."

Ji You thought for a moment and said, "We don’t have much time; we must explore quickly. Let’s just go down together. You clear the obstacles in front, and I’ll watch for any anomalies around us."

Chu Jiaojiao had no objections.

Ji You said to Yue Qiyuan, "We’re heading into the scrap processing station now. We estimate about 30 minutes for exploration. If we haven’t handled things by then, we’ll immediately ask Principal Hong for help."

Yue Qiyuan replied, "Roger that."

Ji You gestured to Chu Jiaojiao and said, "Let’s go."

Behind the broken door was darkness, and it was impossible to see what was hidden inside.

Ji You released the Spiritual Silk.

Boss said, "Master, I don’t feel anything scary."

Second said, "Master, neither do I."

Then, came Third, Old Five, and Sixth; they all felt it was very safe inside.

Hearing this, Ji You just nodded and looked alone at Old Four curled up on Old Five’s head.

Old Four pretended to be a dead filament for quite a while but found that the master was still staring, feeling helpless. It wagged its tail, looking a bit affectionately at the master’s sparkling eyes, jumped down from Old Five’s head, and then quickly slipped out of the Spirit Space.

A short while later, Old Four returned, wagging its tail, and said, "You can go in; Sisi will protect you. Wherever the master goes, Sisi is there... cough, cough..."

Seeing the master’s face darken, Sisi promptly corrected and said, "Master, there used to be some annoying big guys here, but they’re gone now. You can go without worry."

Saying this, Old Four wagged its tail, trying hard to bring it close to Ji You—

The meaning was obvious.

To save a Candy Bean, Ji You pretended not to see and verbally praised, "Old Four did well. Indeed, such meticulous work is best left to Old Four."

Upon hearing this, Old Four proudly perked up its tail.

Of course, Ji You couldn’t let the other filaments get cold, so she praised each of the other five filaments as well, making all six Spiritual Threads happy.

...

The exchange with the Spiritual Threads lasted but a moment. When Chu Jiaojiao took a step and entered the scrap processing station’s door, Ji You followed promptly.

As they walked, the further they went in, the darker it got. Because they weren’t sure if any light-sensitive Star Beasts were lurking around, neither of them turned on the portable electronic lights; they just wore night vision goggles.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The sound of Chu Jiaojiao’s cautious footsteps came from ahead. She meticulously explored forward, not hurrying, making no obstacles encountered as she went.

Through the night vision goggles, Ji You noticed the space was incredibly vast, empty at a glance, with only a few discarded packaging bags left scattered.

Chu Jiaojiao bent down, picked up a discarded empty bottle, looked at it, and said, "It’s a synthetic white wine bottle, 100 ml small package. Judging by the date, it should have been produced last year."

Then.

Chu Jiaojiao gradually picked up several wine bottles, with two of them having production dates from this year.

Standing farther back, Ji You thought for a moment and said, "It must be stuff left by scavengers; these wine bottles have low recycling value. They’ve likely found more valuable items and just tossed these here."

The scrap processing station, after all, accumulated most of the resources of garbage planet No. 381. After the entire planet’s people moved away, the processing station had to be relocated too. With relocation being urgent, some useful scraps would surely remain, making scavengers try their luck here naturally.

According to Old Four, there used to be some annoying big guys here, but where are they hiding?

And if some terrifying big guys were really hiding, scavengers coming would surely be attacked. But according to A Ke, Liu Ming, and others, for as long as people had been scavenging and collecting on the garbage planet, there hadn’t been any incidents. So—

Ji You said, "Continue circling around, see if there’s any special door or hidden chamber."

Chu Jiaojiao and Ji You then continued looking, bit by bit, thoroughly uncovering everything for a glance until no anomalies were found.

"Squeak—"

Just then, a Carrion Rat suddenly darted out, and Chu Jiaojiao, swift-eyed and quick-handed, slew it with a swipe of her sword.

Ji You looked up, gazing at the ceiling. It was a white ceiling.

Chu Jiaojiao asked, "Did it come out from there?"

"Yes," Ji You said, "Check the ceiling."

By human thought inertia, people generally don’t look up at ceilings, and ceilings can’t hide too much. The entire scrap processing station was searched, and no issues were found, which means the direction was likely wrong.

Chu Jiaojiao had the same idea. She wrapped a rope around herself, tossed it to hook onto a wall pillar, then kicked off forcefully, climbing to the ceiling.

After quickly circling once, she listened first and, upon hearing a hollow echo from one spot, immediately stopped.

Then.

Chu Jiaojiao reached up and removed a panel.

Inside was a black hole opening.

Chu Jiaojiao said, "Found it."

Ji You squinted.

The path on the ceiling seemed overhead but was at a corner of a wall, possibly leading downward upon entry.

Ji You said, "Let’s go see what it’s all about."

Chu Jiaojiao immediately stepped forward.

Ji You climbed onto the ceiling, following closely behind Chu Jiaojiao, and crawled in.