Chapter 6: Lin Zhen

「Damn, the level of detail in this animation is insane!」

「Spending this much money—won’t they go bankrupt??」

「Wake up, folks! With so many industry giants collaborating on this, unless there’s an economic crisis, it simply can’t fail~」

Some comments were still marveling at the production quality, while the sharp-eyed viewers had already recognized—

That one-eyed burly man was none other than Chatosi, the infamous interstellar pirate who kidnapped the protagonist Lin Zhen at the end of episode one, with a bounty of one million universal credits on his head!

As more viewers caught on, the camera slowly panned across the cargo hold, revealing thousands of densely packed cryo-pods, finally settling on Lin Zhen, still deep in slumber.

Children in the interstellar era matured early.

At twelve years old, Lin Zhen already showed signs of handsome features, standing about 1.6 meters tall.

「No way, this guy’s terrifying but also about half as handsome as me」

「Someone wake up the guy above!」

「Am I the only one worried about how many kids are tied up here…….. Thousands of cryo-pods!」

「Exactly, what the hell do they want with so many kidnapped kids? Human experiments? Organ matching? It’s chilling just thinking about it…….」

Amidst the flood of comments, the scene shifted to the front of the spaceship—

An overwhelmingly massive array of Star-destroying Batteries, numbering in the millions, connected through stellar orbits, slowly moving around the galaxy’s edge, forming an impenetrable barrier.

Only one artificially carved Port allowed passage.

At the right moment, a line of subtitles appeared at the bottom of the screen.

【Anti-Universe · Asa Galaxy】

「Holy crap, it’s a space fortress! Are there mechs?」

「As a sci-fi fan, just seeing this made me dizzy with excitement」

「Heaven’s longevity, it’s actually the Space Great Wall」

「Nonsense, this is the real Star Rail」

Amidst the noisy comments.

Chatosi’s ship slowly approached the Port, and the nearest Star-destroying Battery instantly locked onto the ship with a red beam.

Beep beep beep beep!

The piercing alarm jolted Chatosi awake.

“Been here plenty of times, is this really necessary?”

He mumbled as he ripped off his communicator, “I’m Chatosi, identification code is… Let me in, I’m here to deliver.”

“This time, you’re a little late.” A soft, seductive female voice came through the communicator.

“I got held up by some kid, but don’t worry, the cargo count will only be higher.” Chatosi replied.

“Not this time. A VIP has entered the galaxy, the whole system is locked down. Wait where you are. We’ll send someone over to receive the cargo. Payment will be on time.”

“Fair enough.” Chatosi didn’t care at all, even hoping he wouldn’t enter Asa Galaxy.

He was a lawless criminal with over five hundred years of sentence, no doubt.

But Asa Galaxy was full of terrorists.

Compared to these guys, he was just a rookie, the kind bullied and abused in the barracks.

After a moment’s wait.

A ship with a simple white handprint painted on its hull departed from the Port and flew toward Chatosi.

“See ya.”

He hummed a little tune and pressed the red separation button.

The cargo module at the rear of the ship immediately detached, drifting toward the other ship and was successfully captured.

Watching the ship leave, Chatosi revealed a sinister grin.

“Stinky kid, almost ruined my plan. Let’s have you spin around in this hell a bit.”

Although Chatosi didn’t say it outright, viewers who had seen episode one knew exactly who he meant: the protagonist.

Curiosity naturally arose about this “hell” he mentioned.

If even an interstellar pirate feared it, how terrifying could it really be?

The galaxy’s technology looked so advanced!

Driven by viewers’ curiosity, the screen briefly went black and then switched scenes.

【Three Hours Later】

Inside a silver-white metal room.

Countless cryo-pods were stacked densely on one side, resembling pupae inside a beehive, with several soldiers clad in heavy Exoskeleton suits standing nearby.

They wore Oni Masks that covered the upper half of their faces and wielded thick cylindrical batons.

Sssss!

Suddenly, in the almost deathly silent room, harsh exhaust sounds broke the stillness one after another.

The cryo-pods’ warning lights switched from green to red, and the lids slowly opened.

Thud, thud…

One by one, children fell out, collapsing onto the floor gasping weakly, their eyes blank.

Lin Zhen was among them.

“No way, I knew there were a lot, but this scale is ridiculous. What do they want with all of us?”

“Don’t even ask. It’s definitely modification and brainwashing, that’s the standard procedure. Though I thought this anime would be more traditional shonen.”

Amid the room filled with heavy breathing, a cold male voice echoed from all directions.

“Listen up. You have ten minutes from now. Whether you walk or crawl, it’s up to you. I just want to see you reach the end of this room and put on a collar.”

At the same time, the left side of the room, which had been in darkness, suddenly lit up.

There stood a small mountain made of White Collars stacked high.

Each collar had an LCD screen displaying a bright red number.

The summit read 0001, the base numbered up to 9999.

“Where is this? Ugh, it hurts!”

Lin Zhen tried to get up from the floor, but as soon as he exerted force, the wounds from earlier beatings flared with sharp pain.

Throughout interstellar travel, his body remained in stasis, and his injuries had not healed properly.

Add to that the fatigue induced by the cryo-fluid.

So after testing the effort, he lay back down, choosing to observe the situation first.

“So many people, all about my age!”

A rough glance shocked Lin Zhen.

This enormous space probably held tens of thousands of kids his age.

“What the hell do these guys want with so many kidnapped children?”

Images flashed through Lin Zhen’s mind: the grim faces of Chatosi, the nobles, the Enforcers, then thoughts of his grandparents at home, worry and urgency flickering in his eyes.

“Grandpa, Grandma… You can’t be hurt. I’ll definitely come back!”

He dared not imagine how worried his family must be after his kidnapping, or how the nobles might treat them.

He could only bury those thoughts deep and force himself to focus on the present.

His grandfather had told him more than once: no matter the situation, no matter how desperate, survival is always the most important thing.

He had to survive and return home alive.

“I think I heard a voice just now saying we have ten minutes to crawl over there?”

Lin Zhen recalled everything that had happened, glancing around.

Though most kids were still dazed or crying, some were already moving toward the pile of collars.

The fastest was a ragged, pale, brown-haired boy.

He limped, his body wobbling like cooked noodles, but he never fell—if anything, he gained speed.

The camera froze on him for a second, then quickly cut back to Lin Zhen.

“I have to hurry!”

No matter their intentions, they had no choice now.

“Follow the rules… Junk Star has Junk Star’s rules, this place has its own too. If I can survive on Junk Star, I can survive here!”

Clenching his teeth, Lin Zhen began to crawl forward with all his might.

Every movement tore at his wounds.

But the thought of “going home” kept him going, inch by inch… unwaveringly moving forward.