The Viper Clan.
Even more unpleasant.
Old Gear fawningly bowed and scraped, hurrying to the iron cage and yanking off the black cloth.
Jiang Xiao, who had not been paying much attention, froze. His expression gradually darkened.
Inside the iron cage was a frail, small creature curled into a ball. Even without seeing its head, Jiang Xiao was absolutely certain it was a human child!
"Pan-Human younglings are genuinely rare treasures on Prison Star. They'll definitely satisfy your palate, Lord Kazi. Have a look first."
Old Gear stepped aside, watching expectantly as Kazi walked over to the iron cage. Then he remembered there was still a customer at the shop entrance and impatiently asked,
"What was it you said you wanted just now?"
Jiang Xiao was silent for several breaths.
Finally, he slowly exhaled and pulled back his hood.
"Your lives."
Section 16: Pan-Human · Starfire Camp
A cold glint flashed. Old Gear covered his throat in disbelief and staggered backward, knocking over a table before collapsing motionless on the ground.
"You old bastard, you—" Kazi turned around and was about to berate him, but its voice abruptly cut off.
It saw Old Gear, who had been fawning just moments ago, twitching in a pool of blood. A human young man stood by the door, holding a blade in each hand, the goggles covering half his face gleaming with a frigid light.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, the aura of a Tier 1 Peak erupted from Kazi's body.
"What nerve! How dare you kill my ally right under the Viper Gang's nose!"
Yet in the next instant, Kazi suddenly felt the world spin. In a daze, it saw a familiar headless body slowly collapse.
Ignoring the corpses of the two aliens, Jiang Xiao walked to the iron cage and crouched down. Looking at the trembling child who did not dare raise her head, he said calmly, "It's all right now. Wait here for a while. I'll take you home later."
These were words the captain of the Doran often said whenever he encountered a suffering Pan-Human.
The child, curled into a tight ball, seemed to sense the kindness in Jiang Xiao's voice and unconsciously peeked up at him.
By then, Jiang Xiao had already risen, leaving the child with only his tall, straight back—and a silver-blue streak of light shooting into the sky!
Boom!!
The violent rumble that followed was accompanied by chaos and screams instantly sweeping through the camp.
The child hugged her legs tightly as fragmented, noisy voices continued to come from outside.
"Damn it! We're under attack! The attacker came from inside!"
"He killed Old Gear! Open fire!!"
"How is this possible..."
"..."
Rumble!!
"Ah!! No! I'm Viper—"
"Old Capital Killing God! He's the Old Capital Killing God! Run!"
"It's gone! The vehicles are gone! They've all been blown up!"
"Kill him!! There are so many of us! I don't believe we can't beat him! Fight!"
"Pfft! Quick, send a message to headquarters! It's, it's the Old Capital Killing God! He escaped the outer swarm blockade all by himself..."
"..."
The wails and desperate pleas for mercy continued without end, and drowsiness overcame her...
She had no idea how much time had passed when a somewhat familiar swaying finally woke the child.
She seemed to be held in someone's arms.
Everything before her was pitch-black, but the stench of blood and the smell of burning in the air made her instinctively curl up in those not-at-all-warm arms.
"Do you remember which way your home is?"
A cool voice reached her ears.
She paused slightly. "Mm..."
"You still remember? That makes things easier. Let's get you home, then."
The voice sounded somewhat surprised, then relaxed.
Before long, she heard the click of a door opening. A soft sensation came from beneath her, and the black cloth covering her slipped away.
Her vision cleared.
A smiling face wearing goggles appeared before her. Beneath the black-and-silver goggles, the bright smile carried considerable warmth. She could feel the vitality contained within it.
Jiang Xiao: Brothers, it's all positive energy.
Jiang Xiao smiled. "Come on, little girl. You and it can sit in the passenger seat. It's your Uncle Sniper."
"..."
Even in the camp, she had never seen anyone so full of vitality. He seemed to be brimming with hope for the future.
Jiang Xiao sat in the driver's seat and brought a large backpack in from outside.
"I only had time to scavenge this much compressed food and water, plus some Sin Coins. I have no idea how much purchasing power they have."
"Sigh, I was originally planning to sneak in, get some information and supplies, stay the night, and leave. Who knew I'd run into an idiot and be forced back into my old trade."
Jiang Xiao had not encountered any human compatriots in a long time. Without caring whether the little girl understood him, he began muttering complaints to himself.
"We'll stay nearby for one night first. Mutated Monsters probably won't appear near the camp. Or rather, for this camp to have existed so long, the Mutated Monsters probably aren't very strong. I'm mainly worried they'll damage the vehicle."
He closed the car door and turned on the heater.
Jiang Xiao handed the little girl a bottle of water and a compressed biscuit. "Eat these to fill your stomach for now. Once you're full, tell me about your home, and I'll figure out how to get you back."
The little girl opened and closed her mouth, then finally said, "Thank you..."
Oh, she was quite polite. Had she received an education?
Only then did Jiang Xiao have time to examine her closely.
Curiosity immediately filled his eyes.
She was thin but not emaciated, and looked about fifteen years old. She wore a worn, undersized jumpsuit. Her face was dirty and disheveled, but her delicate features were still visible. She did not look like someone who was constantly starving.
Her long, loose hair was especially telling. It showed that the child's basic living conditions were not a problem.
Otherwise, how could she have kept her hair long?
Fortunately, the aesthetics of different races varied wildly. Otherwise, this little girl probably would not have survived until he appeared.
Sensing Jiang Xiao's gaze, the girl lowered her head shyly.
Her personality did not resemble that of a child who was never sure where her next meal would come from, either. Could life for the Pan-Humans on Prison Star actually be all right?
No, perhaps there were very few children, and the Pan-Human community took especially good care of them. He had encountered situations like this before while traveling around with the Doran.
There were many environments in the galaxy that caused human birth rates to plummet.
Seeing how absorbed the little girl was in eating, Jiang Xiao leaned back and closed his eyes.
"Personal Panel."
Player: Jiang Xiao Level: Tier 2 (Evolution Progress: 4%) Talent Ability: Origin Data Talent Value (Dual Talent): 2.58 Spirit Energy Affinity: Moderate (5 Experience Points/h) Source Energy Affinity: Moderate+ (7 Experience Points/h) Source Energy Intensity: 52 (113/1000) Spirit Energy Intensity: 17 (11/300)
It had to be said that taking the quantity-over-quality route was indeed a good choice. Even if most non-tiered aliens only provided a dozen or so Experience Points, killing enough of them could still bring considerable improvement.
Adding the gains from Guda's group to the destruction of this camp had directly pushed his Spirit Energy Intensity to seventeen, while his Source Energy Intensity had risen by two points.
Not bad. I really do have the makings of a great emperor!
"Big brother, I'm full."
At that moment, a timid voice came from the right, interrupting Jiang Xiao's self-praise.
"Ahem, perfect timing. Tell me about your situation."
The little girl fell into thought at his words, then began describing it with a serious expression.
A short while later, the car fell silent.
Jiang Xiao pondered.
"Starfire Camp..."
So that was how it was. Most of the humans on Prison Star were not in Sin Capital. Instead, they had established a settlement—a settlement not listed in Sin Capital's network information.
To reach it, one first had to arrive at a medium-sized alien camp and then use the frequently changing secret information to locate its exact position. Starfire Camp changed locations from time to time.
All right, he took back what he had said earlier.
Humans on Prison Star had no high status. They could not even establish a foothold in Sin Capital.
That was not surprising, either. Compared with the Viper Clan, whose entire race consisted of criminals born with a species-wide bounty on their heads and who had even established a space-pirate civilization, the proportion of criminals among Pan-Humans was indeed much lower.
"Since we know the target, get some rest. We'll set out before dawn."
"Mm, I understand."
The night passed without incident.
Before you continue