The scarred, wiry man — Zane — sneered as he watched Rora Starsea approach, the iron rod glinting in her hand.
"Heh," he spat, folding his hands into a tight grasp until his knuckles clicked.
"So what? Been out scavenging for a few days and suddenly think you can fight us back?"
His gaze toward Rora was full of menace. The cruel grin tugged at the deep scar cutting across his cheek, making his face look all the more savage.
Rora tightened her grip on the rod. Her heart was pounding — this was the first time she'd stood up to someone this dangerous.
But she knew she had to grow. This place wasn't the peaceful world she'd come from; here, you either adapt or you get eaten alive.
Besides, her strength had already improved significantly. Now was a perfect time to test it.
With that thought, she lunged forward.
A fight — she'd done this before as a kid; knocking over a neighbor's brat wasn't new. Why be afraid now?
The iron rod whistled through the air as she swung it toward Zane's arm.
He reached out, trying to seize the incoming weapon—
"AAH—!"
He doubled over, clutching his stomach as a burning pain flared through him.
Rora didn't stop. That first strike told her everything — her strength was now that of several grown men combined, and her senses had sharpened too.
When Zane tried to snatch the rod, his movements looked sluggish in her vision. She simply adjusted the angle and the hit landed clean.
She struck again; the rod slammed into his back with a hard crack.
He collapsed, unable to rise.
One down.
Rora turned to the remaining four. Adrenaline flooded her veins; excitement prickled every nerve. Her eyes flashed feral.
A dangerous aura began to seep from her, quiet but fierce.
The four boys froze. They hadn't expected the weak girl they'd bullied to lay their leader out so swiftly.
A chill wind brushed past; they shivered, feeling the air itself grow cold.
Rora advanced slowly, deliberately. Her pupils narrowed — the round black irises contracting into vertical slits; color bled outward from the core.
Golden light spread from her pupils, transforming black into a pair of golden vertical eyes, wild and imposing. A pressure rolled off her, making it hard to meet her gaze.
The four boys stumbled back, terror on their faces, until their backs hit the jagged rise of the garbage mountain behind them. There was nowhere left to retreat.
"Monster…" one of the boys whispered under his breath.
Rora Starsea didn't catch it, nor did she notice the strange transformation in her eyes.
Seeing how terrified the four of them looked, her earlier tension dissolved completely. Instinct told her these people were no longer any threat — and just like that, all fear vanished.
What followed was simple. In just a few moves, she had the four boys sprawled on the ground beside Zane, unable to stand.
Rora walked over to Zane, crouched before him, and planted her iron rod upright into the dirt beside her.
Sensing her approach, Zane turned his head with difficulty, fear flickering in his eyes."W-What are you going to do?" he stammered, trying to sound fierce but unable to hide the tremor in his voice.
Rora said evenly, "If you can answer my questions, I'll let you live."
Zane exhaled shakily. "Ask."
"Why did you drive me away in the first place?"
Zane's expression twisted, conflicted, clearly reluctant to speak.
One of the boys lying nearby blurted out, "Boss, since the Big Boss already abandoned us, we don't need to keep his secrets anymore! Just tell her!"
"Yeah, he's right! You should tell her, Boss!"
"Boss, I—I don't wanna die!" another whimpered.
"What Big Boss? He's nothing! From now on, you're the only boss we've got!"
Hearing their words, Zane's face flickered with hesitation, but at last he gritted his teeth and spoke:
"It was my old boss who told us to do it. The mayor of Eryuan Town — Mayor Ilian — you probably know who he is."
Rora nodded, recalling the man's image from the original body's memories."Then do you know why he wanted to do that?" she pressed.
Having already confessed this much, Zane seemed to give up entirely."He did it to earn a chance to leave this planet. To get immigration clearance. The mayor's already gone."
Rora frowned. "So someone offered him that deal — the right to immigrate — in exchange for driving me out. Who was that person? And where is he now?"
Zane nodded slightly. "Yeah. About five days ago, someone just… appeared in front of the mayor and made the offer. They struck the deal, and the man left. We don't know where he went after that."
Rora wasn't surprised. She had once thought the original owner's death was an accident — but now she had found a crucial clue.
From the memories she inherited, the original girl had been nothing special — just an ordinary scavenger trying to survive on this desolate planet.
So why target her?
A suspicion began to form — the one who killed the original body and the one who struck that deal with Mayor Ilianmight be the same person.
But then… why go through all the trouble of driving her out instead of killing her outright?
Everything felt shrouded in mist — a heavy fog that clouded the truth, just out of reach.
Ryan Zhao cautiously lifted his head to look at the person standing before him. His voice trembled slightly."Um… I've answered all your questions. Can we leave now?"
Rora Starsea blinked, as if returning from deep thought, and glanced down at them."Of course you can."
The tension melted from Ryan and his four subordinates' faces. Supporting each other, they struggled to their feet, relief flooding their expressions.
"Wait."
Rora's calm voice stopped them in their tracks. All five froze instantly, forcing smiles onto their faces."Is there… anything else you need?"
"Your wristbands. Hand them over."
The five exchanged painful looks. Those wristbands were hard-earned — letting them go was like cutting off a limb.But faced with her steady gaze, none of them dared disobey. One by one, they reluctantly passed their wristbands to her.
Only after collecting them did Rora gesture for them to leave.
The rest of the journey was uneventful. Before nightfall, she made it back to her current residence.
Her first task was to retrieve the nutrient solution and borrowed wristband from Acha's band. Then she took both items and knocked on Acha's door.
It opened moments later."You're back! How did it go?"
Rora smiled. "Quite well, actually. Here — this is your wristband. It really saved me today."
Acha accepted it, her brows easing, tension softening into genuine warmth."Then I'll let you rest. See you tomorrow."
"See you."
Acha watched her leave, then returned to her room and slid the wristband onto her wrist. The moment she did, she froze.
Inside the once-empty storage space sat ten crates of nutrient solution — and a pile of snacks.She almost rushed out the door to return them but stopped at the threshold. Her fingers brushed the band gently.A soft sigh escaped her lips, and her eyes filled with quiet warmth.
Meanwhile, back in her own room, Rora set a crate of nutrient packs on the table and began sorting through the day's spoils.Aside from what she'd claimed herself, she now had the wristbands she'd confiscated from Ryan and his men.
Here, on this planet, most wristbands weren't bound to a single user — meaning anyone could use them freely.
She picked up Ryan's wristband first and scanned its contents. Her eyebrows arched in mild surprise.Its storage space was larger than Acha's — about eight cubic meters — and packed to the brim.Half filled with nutrient solution, the rest with food.To her astonishment, a few fresh-looking fruits were tucked inside.
She pulled out an apple and took a bite. Then she paused, chewing slowly, her eyes narrowing as she examined it.It looked like a real apple — but something felt… off.
Just then, the tiny starlight spirit floated out of her pocket."Ahh, that nap felt amazing."
The little creature still looked weak. Ever since bonding with Rora, it had been drawing energy from her, spending much of its time asleep to recover.
It spotted the fruit immediately, eyes lighting up."Star Lord! Where did you get a synthetic apple?"
Rora raised an eyebrow. "Synthetic? You mean this isn't real?"
The spirit nodded seriously. "Exactly."
"No wonder it tastes dry and weird. Oh well, food's food — better than nothing."
Rora finished the apple with faint distaste."I just wish I could eat real fruit again someday."
She sighed softly. Back on her home world, she used to enjoy strawberries or crisp, sweet apples after dinner. The memory made her wrinkle her nose at the flavor still lingering on her tongue.
"That's probably impossible now," the spirit said quietly. "There's no planet left that can grow real fruit anymore."
"What do you mean?" Rora frowned.
The spirit floated closer, voice solemn."Long ago, there was a massive extinction event. Most plant species died. The few we saved are barely surviving.As for fruit-bearing plants — even the ones that were recovered can no longer produce edible fruit. The ones that do are tiny, sour, and nearly inedible. So what humans eat now—like your apple—is entirely synthetic."
Tiny. Sour. Artificial.
Rora fell silent, deep in thought.