This was actually my first time setting foot on Green Star. Although the planet had been dragged back into Shadow Space as spoils of war several days ago, the people busy on it had all been scientists. Tawell had described the planet's defense system as exceptionally sensitive and fragile, resulting in every landing force apart from the first batch of scorpion soldiers being forbidden from setting foot here. At first, I had wanted to come over with Vega and the others for a look, but after one delay after another, I forgot all about it.
"I truly wasn't comfortable letting those clumsy soldiers run around on this planet," Tawell said as she welcomed me down from the shuttle. I had come alone. Although Qian Qian had expressed great interest in Green Star, I was genuinely afraid that Girl would come here and start messing with things. "In just the past few days, we have discovered at least thirty thousand crystal clusters on Green Star's surface that appear to be alarm devices. Their effective range covers the entire planet. Any energy fluctuation exceeding the threshold will be recognized by Green Star as a signal that it is under attack, and then an energy barrier beneath its crust will activate. Fortunately, these alarm devices only activate the defenses and are not connected to the self-destruct system—I have every reason to believe that this planet is capable of self-destruction."
"Right, right. I believe that too. Anything connected to the Old Empire ought to be able to self-destruct."
As I agreed, I hopped in place a few times. The planet's gravity was slightly lower than Earth's standard gravity, though it did not feel very different. The ground was covered in a layer of glowing green matter that extended all the way to the horizon,