Chapter 1:
Lin Yan was eighteen years old.
He had no father.
No mother.
No family of his own.
What he had were acquaintances—people who spoke to him because survival was easier when shared. Friends, perhaps, but only in the fragile way poverty allows.
He lived in the Swarm Zone, an unprotected sector drifting beyond the city's defensive perimeter. It was a place officially labeled temporary housing, though everyone knew it was permanent for those who could not afford better.
Ironically, it was expensive.
Lin Yan rented a single metal room no larger than a storage pod. The cost was 1,000 Bluestar Coins per month, not including the additional 500 Bluestar Coins demanded as "protection fees" and local taxes—payments that guaranteed nothing except that you would not be evicted too quickly.
To survive, Lin Yan worked as a space resource miner, one of the lowest and most dangerous professions in the outer sectors.
Each month, if he survived, he earned 3,000 Bluestar Coins.
Barely enough.
That morning, the mining platform trembled as workers gathered beneath the flickering announcement screen. Oil-stained uniforms, exhausted faces, silence heavy with anticipation.
A sharp mechanical voice echoed through the hangar.
"Announcement from the Resource Management Authority."
The screen flashed red.
"By order from above: All seven extraction teams are required to mine and deliver twenty tons of Crystal Cristiano Neutron Stone."
A pause.
Then the words everyone feared.
"Failure to meet the quota will result in full deduction of this month's payment."
The hangar erupted.
"That's impossible!"
"Twenty tons? We'll die out there!"
"They're trying to kill us!"
Lin Yan didn't shout.
He lowered his head, jaw tightening.
Crystal Cristiano Neutron Stone was volatile, radioactive, and notoriously unstable. Even veteran crews avoided it unless heavily compensated. For low-tier miners like them, the order was a death sentence disguised as employment.
His team gathered near the docking bay, voices sharp with anger and fear.
"The director's gone mad again," someone spat.
Lin Yan stared at the small ship waiting for them—the Space Jackpot.
It was barely worthy of the name.
A compact extraction vessel, outdated and fragile, incapable of traveling more than twelve thousand light-years from the main carrier. Its hull bore scars from previous missions, patched with cheap alloys and hope.
As he climbed aboard, Lin Yan muttered under his breath, bitterness seeping through his calm.
"This director… always asking for the impossible."
He paused, fingers tightening around the ladder rail.
"If it weren't for my college tuition… and the savings I've scraped together…"
He didn't finish the sentence.
Stopping was a luxury he could not afford.
The hatch sealed shut. Engines hummed weakly as the Space Jackpot detached from the platform and drifted toward the dark expanse beyond regulated space.
Lin Yan gazed out the viewport.
Somewhere in that darkness waited crystal worth a fortune—and danger worth far more.
For the first time, a quiet thought surfaced in his mind:
If I survive this mission… my life will never be the same