Chapter 2

Nova was a mental power training instructor she'd found online, offering one-on-one sessions, and also a teacher at the Federal University's Institute of Mental Power Studies.

She was a gentle woman, professional and meticulous, with few words but great attentiveness, always able to spot problems in time. Unlike the prevailing advice to develop one's mental power in an aggressive direction, when she detected Wu Ying's mental characteristics, she gave her a very thorough assessment and ultimately concluded that Wu Ying's mental power was highly inert, yet its gentleness was highly beneficial to plant growth.

Upon learning that Wu Ying's dream was to open a flower shop, she strongly suggested she train her mental power in the gentle direction. She also knew about Wu Ying's rose cultivation at home and was very concerned about its progress.

Nova said, "Perhaps the effects of the recent mental training are showing, but your control is too weak, which is why your mental power leaks out unconsciously—and that just happens to nourish the roses."

Fortunately, Wu Ying's mental power was not aggressive—no, to be precise, it had zero aggression, which was the only reason it had this effect. Otherwise, any normal leakage of mental power would cause a certain degree of casualties.

"Great, then do we need to adjust our curriculum?"

Wu Ying smiled brilliantly at Nova on the screen, her eyes bright. Seeing this, Nova couldn't help but smile knowingly. She thought that even with a low mental power level, Wu Ying never gave up, and every bit of progress made her happy. Nova liked this kind of teaching environment.

Her light green eyes held a faint smile as she said gently, "No rush. We need to examine things carefully. Your mental power development is still insufficient, and we can add some mental control lessons, but only after I run the calculations. Gather in the study room tonight, and we'll go over it in detail."

"Alright."

The two confirmed the time and ended the call. Wu Ying propped her chin on her hand, gazing at the flower buds with a sweet smile. She liked her life now.

Hmm, it was time for class. The coursework for plant science was heavy—even the introductory course alone had her tearing her hair out in frustration. The plant science program had ten core courses alone, plus various electives. What was she going to do later?

Wu Ying let out a wail. The humanoid robot butler, hearing the commotion, immediately came out from the living room and asked in a rapid, squeaky voice she'd set for it: "Master, what happened?"

She patted the robot's head. "Jiujiu, can you go to class for me?"

"No, I cannot. Learning is something that relies on one's own initiative—"

"Alright, stop."

Wu Ying manually muted it and threw herself back into the tide of studying. Such days were painful yet joyful; she'd almost forgotten what it was like when she first arrived in the interstellar world.

Six months ago.

"Gene Research Center station. Arrived."

The mechanical female voice sounded. Wu Ying, dazed, stepped off the bus, her pace slow. Underfoot was a street spotless to the point of being pristine, and along the roadside stood a row of idle robots—or perhaps they were.

Wu Ying guessed randomly, since her limited knowledge gave her no basis for judgment.

The sunlight was a bit harsh. She raised a hand to shield her eyes. She might get tanned again, she thought—but then she abruptly froze. She remembered the star almanac's introduction: Yun 8 Star had no sun. It only used an artificial satellite disguised as a sun to create an environment similar to Blue Star. In other words, the sun here only looked like one—it had no ultraviolet rays, no light energy...

Suddenly, an overwhelming sense of unfamiliarity drowned her completely. Her nose stung as if she couldn't breathe, and she stood frozen on the street, unmoving.

"Hello, ma'am, do you require assistance?"

The street robot suddenly activated. Its metal casing gleamed with green light. Its appearance was just like this world—cold and mechanical, stripped of all aesthetics and delight, built solely to maximize combat capability.

Wu Ying took a step back. "I... I want to go to the Gene Research Center."

Right. The only reason she had gotten star coins to go out was to register at the Gene Research Center, and the purpose of registration was gene matching.

The Gene Research Center, also called the Gene Institute, was the Blue Star Federation's marriage registration office and household registration management agency. At birth, infants underwent household registration; the awakening of mental power marked adulthood; and at adulthood, one underwent awakening registration.

Awakening registration included mature gene sequences, mental power level, and other gene-related content.

Wu Ying sorted through the information she knew, steeling herself for the test ahead. The hall was vast, and staff members moved about in hovering vehicles, their faces utterly solemn.

Soon, someone walked toward her, equally expressionless.

"Hello, here for awakening registration, right? Follow me."

The researcher in the white uniform was polite but distant, leading her toward the registration room.

Wu Ying followed behind, secretly rolling her eyes with her eyes closed, thinking: "Do people here owe a debt from birth or something? Every single one's got dead-fish eyes and dead-fish faces."

After days of panic, Wu Ying's heart felt both bleak and wronged, both fearful and angry.

Days ago, she'd woken up from bed and gone from being a carefree horticulture major university student to a desperate "semi-illiterate" in a "protection zone."

Semi-illiterate meant someone who had only received general education and lacked the ability to pursue further study.

Researcher Ivy lightly touched the panel, her light green eyes calmly looking at the person across from her. The young woman was not old, and her eyes held obvious confusion and helplessness. She had seen too many girls like this.

Some people from the protection zones, from birth to death, might never step outside that gate except to do awakening registration—no, to be precise, only those who awakened early or late would go to the Gene Research Center alone for awakening registration.

Their world was only that small patch of the protection zone.

Wu Ying was clearly the latter. It could have been that her sudden shift into this body triggered the awakening, or it could be that the original owner failed to survive an awakening during the school observation period, which allowed her to enter this body.

She didn't know either; she was only guessing.

Just wallowing in self-pity and calming her emotions had taken her a full two days. She didn't know what to do with herself, nor did she know what her parents would do without her. She could only hope that her sister, that little ray of sunshine, would be able to heal them.

As for herself, she remembered that in the novels she'd read before, the protagonists only needed a few words to shine bright after transmigrating. But not her. She could only lie listless like a salted fish.

She even wanted to slash someone, but being a coward, she didn't even dare to throw a tantrum. With her good upbringing, she had no habit of venting at strangers.

"Twenty-one this year? Awakened a few days ago? Any abnormalities in your body?"

Wu Ying thought for a moment, then shook her head. To be honest, although everyone said she had awakened, she didn't feel any sensation of "awakening" at all—no lightness, no clarity of mind as if blessed by gods?

She didn't know. Actually, she had no idea what awakening was supposed to feel like. She only felt a bit dull, like after a cold that hadn't fully recovered.

She even suspected she just hadn't fully recovered, but the doctor said she was in excellent health and there was no problem.

"I... I don't feel any awakening. Does that count as an abnormality?"

Ivy's pen paused. This—in all her years as a researcher, this was the first time she'd heard of such an abnormality.

"Can't tell yet for now. We'll need a machine to check. Come, let's run the tests first."

Ivy pulled open the partition curtain in the middle of the registration room, revealing a cabinet that was full of technological flair—well, a cabinet, sliding-door style at that. Although it wore a coat of cold metal, Wu Ying recognized it at a glance.

"Go in."

The operation was quick and simple. Wu Ying stood inside; the door closed automatically. A cool sensation swept from the top of her head down to her feet, and with a beep, all around returned to silence.

Soon, Wu Ying stepped out, and her various data had already been transmitted to Ivy's panel. She walked over and sat down, looking seriously at the researcher.

She was curious about her mental power level. Would she have some kind of spirit body? Then could she own a fluffy creature?

Ivy didn't notice Wu Ying's eager, curious gaze. At this moment, her entire mind was focused on the data before her—a string of strange data, but upon careful examination, it seemed there wasn't a problem.

The systematic check revealed that Wu Ying had indeed awakened, but her mental power was extremely low.

No one knew that a deep green, almost black mental power had gathered into a sea hidden inside her body. Like a creature accustomed to comfort, the mental power was like a ball of gentle, lazy water, lying contentedly with no ability to form attack power. Combined with Wu Ying's physical condition, her mental power level was comprehensively judged to be E-level.

Federation scientists categorized mental power levels into six grades, with the highest being S-level and the lowest E-level. Given the fullness of Wu Ying's mental power, it shouldn't have been at this level—which just went to show how scattered her mental power truly was.

Ivy guessed that the degree of dispersion was likely so severe that it was nearly negligible beyond her body. The mental power detection system wrapped the examinee from all angles precisely to observe the leakage of mental power in detail.

After confirmation, Ivy finally lifted her head to look at Wu Ying. The girl opposite sat perfectly upright, hands clasped and resting on her knees. Perhaps out of boredom, she was pinching her trousers and rubbing them slightly.

She was a pretty girl, with a pair of amber, apricot-shaped eyes that were moist, concealing a trace of irrepressible curiosity and youthful vitality. Her hair was likely naturally curly, long, and casually draped behind her head, light brown with a hint of tea-brown, matching her pupils. Lips red, teeth white, skin fair and delicate, her temperament gentle and introverted.

Too bad her mental power level was too low.

With that thought, her tone carried a hint of pity. "Your mental power level is E-level. I'll prepare an inducer and a nutrient solution for you in a moment. You can train with them at home, and come back for a follow-up in five days."

"E-level. Is that the lowest one?" Wu Ying fidgeted with her fingers, flustered. She'd thought she could turn her fate around. Did the protagonist's halo not shine on her?

After receiving an affirmative answer once more, she wilted, lowering her head with a slight pout and speaking in a dejected tone. "Alright, I understand. Um, how do I train?"

She genuinely had no idea. Being a semi-illiterate wasn't a joke. All she knew was limited to fluent use of the Interstellar Federation language, general history, and simple protection zone safety guidelines.

After being helped once more, Wu Ying's fondness for Researcher Ivy soared. Ivy seemed even kinder than the few new family members she'd just met.

She lifted her head and gave a faint smile, her eyes curving slightly, then quickly stopped. She hadn't been in the interstellar world for a week yet, and she'd already been asked three times: What are you smiling at?

Smiling no longer seemed to represent friendliness and happiness, but rather inappropriateness.

Ivy didn't miss that smile. Though faint and fleeting, it made this dull, plain-looking girl suddenly much brighter.

She said nothing and continued with the procedure. She took out the gene matching opt-out application form and handed it to Wu Ying, then mechanically explained the gene matching process.

It was complex if you went into detail, but simple enough in essence: once everyone reached adulthood, their gene sequences went directly into the gene bank. Unless they specifically applied to opt out, the system would calculate compatibility rates, and if the rate exceeded fifty percent, the system would propose a marriage plan.

Before leaving, Wu Ying had been warned many times by her "family" not to sign and to even express to the researcher her urgent desire to get married, for the sake of the marriage fund the research institute would reward. The government's marriage fund was split into two portions—one given to the individual and the other to their family—to compensate for the pain of separation that a new family's formation might bring.

Seeing this, Wu Ying's mouth twitched, and she didn't sign. Though the matter sounded somewhat absurd on the surface—the government scientifically and rigorously arranging blind dates, even throwing in marriage subsidies—it did seem like a good thing.

But at this thought, Wu Ying felt even more dispirited. This world seemed like a chain of interlocking rings, pinning her firmly in place. No wonder so many people were willing to take the gene matching marriage route to escape their original environments.

The current Blue Star Federation was built atop a Blue Star that had once suffered great devastation. In history, Blue Star had experienced an unprecedented catastrophe that dealt a devastating blow to human civilization and moral order. Fortunately, the fire of humanity continued unceasingly, and batch after batch of people awakened their mental power, established protection zones, and firmly grasped the hope of human reproduction.

But the suffering did not stop. The victory won at the cost of sacrificing three-quarters of the population faced another heavy blow upon entering the interstellar civilization era. The extraterrestrial star systems held infinite possibilities and rapidly accelerated technological development, but the life forms there also viewed humanity as prey—the insect race, invading Blue Star.

Blue Star humans once again took up arms to fight, pushing the Blue Star Federation's defense line from Blue Star to Yuanji Star-Alpha, dozens of light-years away from the Capital Star.

Throughout this process, Blue Star humans had almost entirely abandoned art, entertainment, and other social sectors that could not directly contribute to combat capability. To this day, half of the Blue Star Federation's entire population still served in the military, while the rest were active in serious fields like gene science, weapons research, and mental power maintenance—and of course, there were those with low mental power levels who couldn't protect themselves, living in protection zones year-round.

This society was highly advanced yet extremely distorted. It emphasized moral order yet neglected human warmth. The entire social atmosphere suppressed nature and desire, advocating restraint and efficiency. They treasured newborns like pearls, yet did not respond to their emotional needs.

Post-war reconstruction had in fact never succeeded. Even though Blue Star humans had built countless homes, the state of tension had never stopped spreading. People naturally divided themselves by mental power level and championed the strong. Thus, ordinary people were treated as beings to be fully protected here.

This society protected those in the protection zones, and also restricted them.

The Blue Star Federation had established a strict qualification review system, tracing back to every detail—from shop business licenses to worker and merchant licenses, all had to comply with the relevant regulations. Every industry's professional content required the corresponding professional qualification certificate, and most existing jobs were high-risk, high-danger, demanding high mental power, and requiring financial capability to support. Obtaining these professional certificates was practically a mountain impossible to climb for protection zone residents.

The Federal Government stipulated that only awakened individuals with D-level or above and corresponding qualifications could work outside the protection zones. Those with low or no mental power could only pick up jobs with no restrictions within the protection zones, and most could only rely on relief funds to get by.

Ring after ring, the people of the protection zones seemed forever unable to leave, and the protected were forever unable to leave their protected state.

This was a highly advanced technological society, but the protection zones were perhaps another form of slum. Only here, everything was clean and tidy, and people had food and clothing without worry. Even if they couldn't afford high-grade vegetables and fruits, there were nutrient solutions to keep them from starving.

In this place called "protection," Wu Ying felt a suffocating oppression—not from physical or material restraint, but from the indifference to the spirit.

She had thought it through. Even if her marriage partner's family was equally poor, she would at least receive the corresponding marriage fund. She could invest that money in herself, earn a professional degree, and then her options would broaden. Even if she couldn't open the flower shop she'd always dreamed of, she could at least find the most basic job.

Of course, if her marriage partner's conditions were better, that would be even more ideal. Then she would have her own marital property—this was granted by the state and the law, and withdrawing it was beyond question.

The first step was to leave the protection zone. She didn't want a life of gazing at the sky and passing the days away—she would wither!

Wu Ying walked out of the institute, looked up at the sky, and then slowly raised her middle finger at that counterfeit sky. Passersby shot her strange looks but didn't stop, quickly continuing on their way. Awkwardly, Wu Ying lowered her hand.

She returned home. Her mother, Xia Li, was cleaning the house. Her younger brother had gone to school, and her father should have been at work. The entire family survived on the meager income of Wu Minggang alone, plus relief funds.

But the moment she thought about how they were hoping for her to marry and bring in the marriage fund, she felt like throwing up. Who would have thought that in an era without favoritism toward sons over daughters, she'd instead encountered it?

Wu Ying thought, her luck was something else.

"So, what was the result?"