Chapter 287: Chapter 287: Gang

You could say that even the heavens were on Jiang Qin’s side.

The environment on Chaotic Star was extremely harsh.

Without a planetary shield or an environmental simulator, sandstorms were a frequent occurrence.

And by sheer coincidence, one appeared that very night.

Before being swept away, Jiang Qin only had enough time to have Zhen shield her in its embrace.

The sandstorms here were incredibly powerful. Not even a Beastman could withstand them with their physical body; only a Mecha could hold its ground.

But even Mechas couldn’t move about freely in a sandstorm.

Huddled in Zhen’s arms, Jiang Qin was carried far away by the storm.

The pursuers who had been chasing them just moments before were instantly scattered in different directions.

….

When she woke up again, Jiang Qin found herself buried under the yellow sand.

Fortunately, her mouth and nose weren’t covered.

“COUGH COUGH….” She sat up, shook the dust off herself, and surveyed her surroundings.

As far as the eye could see, there was only yellow sand. She couldn’t find anyone else.

She didn’t know if no one else had been blown this way, or if anyone who had been was buried alive in the sand.

Jiang Qin had no time to investigate. She quickly used the clothing patch in her system to create a male Combat Suit, adding special materials to it.

A few minutes later, she had a Combat Suit with a defensive bonus.

She quickly changed into it. As for her long hair, she braided it into dreadlocks.

Then, she used makeup to make her features look slightly more masculine.

When she looked in the mirror again, she had transformed into a defiant-looking young man.

The front of the Combat Suit was a steel Chest Armor, which did a good job of concealing her feminine features.

She used her Manifestation Ability again, this time materializing a common Alien Beast—a Sand Fox, which was adept at running on sand.

Mounting the Sand Fox, she picked a random direction and set off.

Her Light Computer had been torn away, so she couldn’t contact Yun Xie and the others. She wanted to find a safe place to lie low for a while before deciding what to do next.

In truth, her Light Computer would have been useless even if she still had it.

Chaotic Star was different from other places; you had to go into a city to purchase network access.

And not just anyone was qualified to buy it. Only a small fraction of the people on Chaotic Star were eligible to use the network.

This was an effective way to control outsiders and ensure that those brought to Chaotic Star couldn’t contact the outside world.

So even with a Light Computer, it was no use. If she tried to purchase network access, she would immediately be exposed as someone who had been captured and brought to Chaotic Star.

***

After several hours of riding the Sand Fox, Jiang Qin finally saw something that looked like a city in the distance.

She didn’t approach immediately. Instead, she found a hidden spot nearby and began to recover her spiritual power.

As for entering the city, she planned to see if she could gather some information first before making a decision.

She didn’t know anything about this city—whether it was a mixed settlement or the stronghold of a specific faction.

Initially, she had no plans to enter a city, but the journey here had been far too perilous.

That stretch of yellow sand, it turned out, was actually a safe zone.

Although she had been attacked by some poisonous insects, they couldn’t keep up with the Sand Fox.

But after leaving the Yellow Sand Region, she had been attacked by numerous Alien Beasts and Exotic Plants. If not for her abundant spiritual power, she would have already perished on the road.

Actually, Yamaguchi Qiongzi had mentioned this when she was trying to scare her.

According to her, at least seventy percent of every Chaotic Star was wilderness.

People who came to live on a Chaotic Star would only settle in the cleared, habitable areas. They would never set foot in the other wild zones.

They would only clear the wilderness if someone paid them to.

And the cleared areas were invariably controlled by the factions within the cities.

In other words, even if she escaped, it was useless. In the wild, she’d be eaten by Alien Beasts. In the city, she’d be caught and sold by someone else.

That’s why Yamaguchi Qiongzi had advised her not to think about running. Escaping didn’t necessarily mean salvation; it was more likely a step into hell.

After all, not everyone was after the bounty offered by the doctors. If she fell into the hands of some vicious Beastmen, she might as well be back in a lab.

Jiang Qin, of course, took these words to heart and had even used the opportunity to ask Yamaguchi Qiongzi for more information about Chaotic Star.

All she could say was, it was worthy of its name, Chaotic Star. It was truly chaotic enough.

The inhabitants were either criminals or their descendants—people who couldn’t walk freely in the outside world.

Another portion consisted of victims and their descendants.

As time passed, they had lived here for many generations and had long since become natives of Chaotic Star.

….

After two hours of recovery, she hadn’t encountered a single person.

Seeing that the sky was about to turn completely dark, she decided not to wait any longer and moved closer for a look.

She didn’t manifest an Alien Beast. Instead, she put on a hat and mask to protect against the wind and sand and approached the city on foot.

When she reached an area where the entrance was nearly in view, she finally saw people.

It was a group of… how to put it? It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call them refugees.

Besides being dressed in rags and emaciated, a large number of them were even deformed.

Some had small heads on large bodies, some had three arms, and others were covered in pustules. A few, however, looked normal.

They watched Jiang Qin warily, each of them looking somewhat fearful.

After all, on Chaotic Star, people who wore complete outfits and had normal bodies were generally the kind of people this group couldn’t afford to provoke.

So they were afraid. Afraid that Jiang Qin would attack without reason, killing for sport.

Many of the Beastmen living here were like that. Even if you hadn’t offended them, they would kill a few people on a whim if they were in a bad mood.

They killed when they were happy, they killed when someone looked annoying—in short, they did whatever they felt like.

For a moment, neither side spoke.

It was Jiang Qin who broke the silence first. “Hello. Excuse me, which faction does the city ahead belong to? Is it open to outsiders? I’m just passing through and want to enter the city to resupply.”

The voice she was using was Yun Xie’s.

Mimicking other people’s voices was a hobby of hers.

It didn’t have to be a perfect imitation of Yun Xie’s voice; as long as she sounded like a man, it was good enough.

The group exchanged glances, but no one stepped forward to speak.

Finally, an emaciated young man spoke in a hoarse voice, “Respected Sir, the city ahead is under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Gang. It is open to outsiders and welcomes esteemed newcomers like yourself.”

The Heavenly Gang. According to Yamaguchi Qiongzi, they were a bunch of complete morons. This was because the Gang Leader was a theist who worshipped God.

He was constantly promoting his doctrines of prayer and devotion, and had amassed a horde of fanatical followers by painting a picture of a paradise-like afterlife.

The entire gang was full of lunatics. When out and about, they would incessantly urge others to “lay down their butcher knives” and repent for their sins day and night.

The most ridiculous part was that these followers were all high-ranking criminals on the Interstellar most-wanted list, having committed countless evil deeds.

So, a bunch of butchers, butcher knives in hand, telling another bunch of butchers to lay down their knives—wasn’t that just moronic?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep