After decades of abnormal prosperity, the Dragon Snake Space Zone was ushering in its doom.
The messy, abnormal paradise was a land of exile that the Federation had set up on its own initiative in order to fish up all the enemies on its path of rise. Even the exiles knew it clearly.
However, at that time, they still had the naïve illusion that the 'heavenly troops' of the Imperium of True Human Beings would crush the Xing Yao Federation thunderously and unstoppably after they arrived.
Naturally, they would welcome the emperor's army with a feast and follow the expedition army of the Imperium back to their hometown, where they would live the life of nobles and rulers again.
The dreamy, extravagant hope was soon shattered by the news of the Black Wind Fleet's collapse.
None of the exiles expected that the expedition army of the Imperium, which had come aggressively, would fail so miserably. None of them had ever considered what they should do after the expedition army of the Imperium suffered a crushing defeat.
Surrendering was impossible.
On one hand, they were all the deeply-rooted vested interests of the Water Crystal Sector, the Forest Ocean Sector, the Nether World Sector, and the Uranian Ring Sector in the past. Everything had been taken away by the Federation. They hated the Federation's guts and hated the Federation's guts. It was impossible for them to surrender to the Federation.
Besides, according to the Federation, a lot of them owed a lot of blood debts, and their hands were stained with the blood of ordinary people. Even when the Federation was under the pressure of the expedition army of the Imperium, it never let them go and sent tremendous' headhunters' deep into the Dragon Snake Space Zone to hunt them down. Besides, now that the Federation had completely crushed the Black Wind Fleet and become the unparalleled dominator at the edge of the cosmos, was there any need to accept their surrender?
As the saying went, "I am meat on the chopping block." This was the current situation of the exiles.
Two years ago, when the Black Wind Fleet had just been crushed, the Federation had focused most of its attention on the development of Boneyard and the Ancient Sages Sector. It had no time to bother with the tiny land of chaos.
Also, other than the old nobles who were still resisting stubbornly, a lot of ordinary people who had been coerced by the old nobles lived in the Dragon Snake Space Zone after all. Also, the two parties had signed a peace agreement on the surface. Naturally, the Federation could not attack the Dragon Snake Space Zone openly.
Since the Dragon Snake Space Zone had been a turtle in a jar that the Federation had raised since the very beginning, and now that the Federation had the big picture under its control, it could do whatever it wanted to them. Naturally, there was no need for them to behave in such an ugly way, which would affect the glorious image of the Federation.
Therefore, the outcasts of the Dragon Snake Space Zone spent the last two peaceful years in anxiety.
However, after the integration of the remaining soldiers of the Black Wind Fleet, the construction of Boneyard, and the establishment of the 'Ancient Sages Special District', the Federation was finally able to resolve the problems in the Dragon Snake Space Zone without any worries.
Even the most inert outcasts could clearly sense that the noose around their necks was getting tighter and tighter. The blades embedded in the noose were also standing up and piercing into their carotid arteries. One cough, and their heads would be cut off.
The god of death had arrived, but there was nothing they could do about it. The riots that were raised in the Dragon Snake Space Zone were more like venting their anger before death than a dying struggle. They were enjoying their last pleasure while they were dying.
Therefore, the crime rate in the Dragon Snake Space Zone had soared dozens of times in the past year. Heinous cases had been happening nonstop, and the conflicts between gangs large and small were not surprising at all.
Everybody wanted to survive by whatever means possible. Everybody was trying to 'redeem themselves' by helping the Federation catch a few 'big fish' among the outcasts. The 'big fish', knowing that they were doomed, were also trying their best to disguise themselves and change their names. It would be best if they could hide in the vast sea of stars for a while and escape to the heartland of the Federation under false identities after the trouble was over. They would find a remote place to settle down and save their lives first.
The Dragon Snake Space Zone right now was definitely not a place where the ordinary citizens who were too weak should visit.
The 'Leo Dock', on the other hand, was a perilous, ferocious place that was as dangerous as a tiger's den.
It was a space dock not far away from 'Fish Dragon City', the main city of the Dragon Snake Space Zone. It was made of hundreds of scrapped starships. One might even say that it was a 'starship dump' of quite a large scale. The modification, maintenance, and upgrade of starships were its main business.
The Dragon Snake Space Zone was a place where space pirates and the strong preyed on the weak. Naturally, it boasted remarkable starship maintenance abilities.
Dismantling the components of more than ten scrapped starships and 'saving' them into a 'brand-new' starship was a high-risk, high-difficulty operation that was absolutely forbidden in the Federation, but it was nothing unusual here.
It was especially so after the Uranian Ring War, when the defeated nobles of the Uranian Ring Sector brought tremendous warships to this place, the maintenance and modification technologies of the Dragon Snake Space Zone were further enriched.
Naturally, in order to own a starship maintenance and modification factory in the Dragon Snake Space Zone, one had to have the support of ruthless, strong, and well-connected people behind the scenes.
It was the same for the Leo Dock, which was a property of the 'Furious Lion Gang'.
Of the many notorious forces in the Dragon Snake Space Zone, the 'Furious Lion Gang' was one of the best.
Therefore, when Jin Beibei saw the two adorable kids at the foot of the shaking mountain of metal garbage that was full of starship debris and could collapse at any moment, she was truly surprised and almost found it hard to believe her eyes.
The two little fellows had round cheeks, rosy cheeks, and tender skin. They had sweet dimples and big eyes that sparkled like stars. They didn't even need to curl up the corners of their mouths, but they already evoked an indescribable tenderness, making people want to hold them in their arms and rub them with all their might.
Their facial organs were very similar, suggesting that they should be twins, but their vibes were entirely different.
The little boy was strong and fearless, while the little girl was relatively quiet, if not shy, but she was also full of curiosity about the whole world.
In any case, they were two kids that should never have been in this place.
This was a nest where scumbags, murderers, and jackals gathered, not a place where two harmless, pitiful kids like them should have come.
Jin Beibei's father used to be one of the best welders of spiritual energy in the Uranian Ring Sector. Jin Beibei had learned about ten to twenty percent of her father's skills, too. The father and the daughter managed to make a living in the Leo Dock with the skills.
Despite the protection of such an identity, Jin Beibei was still harassed by the jackals all the time. Chances were that she would be swallowed by the jackals one day without leaving anything behind.
Jin Beibei knew that some of the jackals were perverts who liked to play with children. If such 'delicious' kids fell into their hands, they might as well let the mountain of garbage collapse and crush them to death right now.
More importantly, how exactly did these two little fellows sneak in?
This was a space dock, and it was the dark, cold vacuum outside. It was impossible for them to float in at all!
"It's dangerous. Get down now!"
Looking at the innocent and ignorant kids, Jin Beibei felt that her heart was clenched. She thought that the two kids might have snuck off from the starships that were here for maintenance and modification.
Recently, many 'big fish' in Fish Dragon City had to run away. They needed to modify their starships into models that could travel long distances and drift alone for decades. The business in the Leo Dock was quite prosperous. Several starships were waiting in line for maintenance and modification every day.
Many people simply dived into the depths of space without returning to Fish Dragon City after the modifications were completed.
Since they were running away, it was not strange that they would bring their children with them.
Jin Beibei had no time to think too much. Before the metal mountain collapsed, she grabbed the two kids and rescued them from it.
After years of maintenance on starships and fiddling with enormous metal components, she was quite strong.
Boom! Boom!
The metal mountain that was filled with the debris of starships collapsed behind her. The two kids both shrank their necks and did not say anything, but there was no fear on their faces. Instead, they stared at her curiously with their big, black, glittering eyes.
"You two brats, who exactly are you? Didn't you see the 'Maintenance Site, No Trespassing' sign?"
Jin Beibei finally took a long breath in relief after she returned to the warehouse where her solder materials were stored. She asked the two kids in complaint, "Who are you here with? Where are your parents? Why didn't they take good care of you?"
The two kids looked at each other and pouted at the same time.
"Mom is very, very busy," the boy said. "She has no time to take care of us. Also, she is surrounded by a lot of ferocious uncles and aunts who forbid us from approaching. It will be dangerous if we barge in by force."
"Our dad went to a place very, very far away," the girl said. "We want to find dad."
"Huh?"
Jin Beibei did not expect such an answer. What kind of irresponsible parents were they? Did the two kids sneak onto a starship on their own and come to the Leo Dock by accident?
It was very possible. They were two beautiful and lovely kids, but their faces and hands were full of grease and dirt. Their clothes were ragged, too. They were no better than beggars.
There was no telling how much they had suffered before they came to the Leo Dock.
Jin Beibei recalled the days when she wandered to the Dragon Snake Space Zone with her father when she was very young.
Her heart immediately softened.
Thinking for a moment, she took out two white crystals and threw them into the cups. She shook them softly, and they immediately turned into two cups of steaming milk.
She handed the milk over and said in a gentle voice, "Don't be scared. Take a rest in my place for now. We'll figure out a solution later. Right. My name is Jin Beibei. What are your names?"
"Thank you, Sister Beibei!"
The two kids were very polite. They took the milk with both hands and sipped it carefully.
They seemed not used to the taste of milk. They were even not used to the movement of "drinking" at all. They were somewhat restrained, rigid, and even "mechanical".
"It's so delicious."
The boy licked his lips and said, "My name is Li Xiaoming."
"This is the taste of real 'milk'."
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