Chapter Ten: Journey of the Whirling Wind (Part Two)

Of course, that was only a joke; the Phantom Thief was simply feeling a little restless. It was easy to talk about, but if it came to actually doing it, the Phantom Thief himself would likely be the first to object.

For someone like the Phantom Thief, petty crimes held no interest. Yet grand heists were not affairs that could be settled in a day or two, or even in ten or fifteen. One must plot and prepare before acting—such is the way of great enterprises. Besides, as newcomers to Gale Star, unfamiliar with the place, neither dared to act rashly. Crossing boundaries here was a grave taboo in the underworld. Thus, it was unthinkable for the two newcomers to behave otherwise.

The transport ship didn’t enter Gale Star directly but docked at a spaceport in orbit. After three days of repair and further sterilization procedures to ensure they carried no potentially dangerous bacteria or organisms, they were finally permitted to enter the planet’s atmosphere.

There was no alternative; some organisms, harmless on their homeworld, could wreak havoc on other planets, especially if they mutated in an environment without natural predators. Human history in space, spanning tens of thousands of years, recorded hundreds of such tragedies, costing humanity dozens of colonized worlds.

Kuangchi and his companion, along with Li Bing, took an airship into Gale Star. In reality, Gale Star was a single vast city; half the planet was covered in buildings, while the other half was densely planted with vegetation to sustain the planetary ecosystem—at least enough to make it habitable for humans.

Gale Star’s gravity and atmosphere matched Earth’s remarkably well. Upon setting foot on its surface, Kuangchi immediately sensed that the gravity was not artificially generated. Artificial gravity, produced by generators buried deep underground, always felt just a little off-balance to the sensitive; this, however, felt entirely natural.

Confident in his own perception, Kuangchi was sure that Gale Star’s gravity was not the product of any generator.

The group, led by Li Bing, rode the airship for several dozen minutes before arriving at a towering building, hundreds of meters high and covering an immense area.

After disembarking, Li Bing turned to Kuangchi and the Phantom Thief, smiling, “This is our family’s headquarters. The entire building belongs to us. Everyone who lives here is either a member of our family or an employee in our service, along with their families. There are three commercial districts inside. You’re free to explore in the coming days. Once I’ve arranged a meeting with the Carro Empire’s delegation, I’ll inform you.”

Without waiting for a reply, Li Bing addressed a middle-aged man who had come to greet them, “These two are my honored guests. Please take them to the VIP suites in Section B and arrange accommodations.”

The man, surnamed Sun, promptly agreed.

Li Bing turned back, smiling at Kuangchi. “Gentlemen, I must take my leave. Steward Sun will see to everything for you.”

The Phantom Thief immediately offered his thanks.

Once Li Bing had gone, the two of them, carrying their code-locked trunk stuffed with nuclear crystals, followed Steward Sun into the nearby elevator.

This building was, in essence, a city unto itself—a colossal metropolis, hundreds of meters tall with hundreds of floors, covering tens of thousands of square meters. For such a towering structure, the underground foundation had to be at least a third as deep as the building was tall, to ensure its stability.

Humanity’s current domains were vast, with many life-supporting planets, but truly habitable worlds were still rare. Even with terraforming, many planets remained unsuitable for human life. This scarcity of space had driven human civilization to build ever higher and deeper on their residential worlds.

Steward Sun led them to a hotel clearly reserved for guests of the Li family, providing them with a suite of over a dozen rooms, including a private training chamber. He gave them a tour of the area and handed each of them a card, serving as their identification within the building.

After Steward Sun departed, Kuangchi and the Phantom Thief exchanged wry smiles.

The Phantom Thief waved his card and said, “Kid, do you want to go out and have a look around?”

Kuangchi shook his head at once. “No need. I plan to spend these days training. If you want to go, go by yourself.”

The Phantom Thief sighed in resignation. “With so many rules and so much hassle, I’d rather not.”

Kuangchi retreated to his room, habitually taking out the purple-gold flask he always wore at his waist, uncertain whether the recent sterilization rays had affected the golden shark monster egg inside.

He was genuinely concerned that the repeated sterilizations might have harmed the egg. Sterilization was achieved with artificial radiation to kill any organisms or bacterial spores on a person’s clothing or body. Such rays could easily be dangerous to the golden shark monster egg.

He didn’t know exactly how rare the egg was, but his instincts told him the golden shark monster was anything but ordinary.

As usual, Kuangchi first infused the flask with his Furious Dragon True Qi, then with the spiritual energy of the Starry Sky Formula. For months, the purple-gold flask had shown no reaction, but now it suddenly grew hot—hotter and hotter until he could only hold it in his heat-resistant left hand.

Nearly an hour passed before the flask turned a glowing crimson, radiating intense heat. Kuangchi had to shield himself with a layer of protective energy to resist the burning.

Just as impatience set in, a crack appeared at the mouth of the flask, widening slowly until a slender, fish-like jaw emerged, bristling with razor-sharp, gleaming teeth. The tip of the mouth was as fine as a needle, the point glinting with a cold light like the rest of its teeth.

Kuangchi gasped softly at the sight. After another half hour, there appeared before him a pale golden, long-mouthed monster fish, no longer than his little finger and as thick as his thumb.

At first glance, Kuangchi almost mistook it for a shark, a species long extinct on Earth. Its appearance matched perfectly the images he’d seen in virtual museums, especially the knife-like dorsal fin. The captions had said that on Earth, the shark’s dorsal fin was considered a rare delicacy, which was why humans had wiped them out.

The monster fish, upon emerging from the flask, ignored Kuangchi entirely and dove straight back at the flask, devouring it piece by piece with crisp snapping sounds until nothing remained.

Only after finishing did the creature finally raise its head, and Kuangchi noticed it had four eyes—two golden, two black. The black ones were set lower, while the golden eyes sat atop its head.

Just then, the little flower spirit, who had poked her head out from behind Kuangchi’s own, whispered in his ear, “Master, I think this is some kind of cosmic beast.”

Before Kuangchi could reply, the monster fish darted toward his head, weaving through his hair several times before finally settling on his right ear, curling its body like a bow and clinging tight. No matter how Kuangchi touched it, the creature would not budge.

Standing before the mirror, Kuangchi couldn’t help but laugh. The little thing was clever indeed—the spot above his ear matched its body perfectly, and his hair concealed it from view while it could still see ahead through the strands.

At that moment, the monster fish seemed to fall asleep, all four of its eyes closed.

Back in his room, Kuangchi recalled what the flower spirit had said and asked, “You said this strange creature is a cosmic beast. Are you sure?”

The flower spirit stretched her head in front of his and nodded. “Master, I’m certain. Its aura is exactly like that of the last beast egg.”

For some reason, writing had become more and more difficult for him lately—a source of ongoing frustration.