What You Seek Comes Without Effort

Batu Sa thought carefully. The only weapon worthy of his Boss was probably the greatsword left behind by their ancestors in the ruins. He said, "The only thing worthy of you is likely that black sword in the ruins. Come to think of it, Boss, didn't you and your friend see it when you were there?"

Bai Sheng shook his head, then looked at Silver Wolf.

Silver Wolf shook her head as well and asked skeptically, "Does it really exist? When we went in, there was nothing but bugs."

Batu Sa said, "Going by what you said, Boss, that sword was probably thrown away and lost by the swarm. I'm truly sorry, Boss."

"It's fine, it's fine. Let's leave it at that. Take this—once you've gathered the ore, use it to contact me. We should get going."

"Goodbye, Boss."

Watching Bai Sheng and the others leave, Batu Sa murmured, "Heh heh, working for the Stellaron Hunters sounds far more interesting than working for those vampires at the Company..."

That was right—Batu Sa had seen through them. Bai Sheng and the others were not from the Company. Before them, people from the Company had come here as well, also because of the Stellaron. But the Company only wanted to turn this place into a warehouse for construction materials to be offered to King Amber. They wanted the tribe to mine ore for them without compensation and worship King Amber.

What kind of nonsense was that?

They wanted him and his descendants to work for them for free, and even clear land specifically to store the things the Company so arrogantly believed were important.

Batu Sa had refused outright. He believed that through his own efforts, even if the Scythe Bugs eventually became an irreversible disaster, he could still leave his people a way out.

But handing things over to the Company? Heh. They could not even deal with a Stellaron. All they knew how to do was waste their efforts.

To be honest, Batu Sa had already been suspicious when Bai Sheng and the others claimed to be from the Company.

How could that bunch of arrogant fools possibly speak like that? The seed of doubt had been planted then, and Batu Sa's impression of them only improved when Bai Sheng suggested finding the Stellaron.

After all, those people from the Company had always kept their distance from Stellarons.

The contract Bai Sheng had produced was far more humane than the Company's as well. Compared to a Company that simply treated people like slaves, following Bai Sheng was clearly the better choice.

There was a reason Batu Sa had become the tribe's leader.

After weighing the pros and cons, Batu Sa still chose Bai Sheng. So what if they were Stellaron Hunters? They were still far better than those sanctimonious people from the Company.

Back with Bai Sheng, Pandora summoned the sandworm from before again. Bai Sheng and Silver Wolf climbed onto its back with practiced ease and headed toward the area beneath their spaceship.

"Kid, this sandworm has something it wants to ask you."

Pandora said, poking Bai Sheng in the back.

"What is it?"

Bai Sheng rubbed the sandworm's enormous head. How should he put it? It did not feel very good—kind of rough on the hand.

"It says it wants you to find a big white iron block covered in fire. That big iron block killed all the Scythe Bugs in the desert. It wants you to help find out whether that big iron block might kill it too."

Pandora, the top-tier translator, explained.

Bai Sheng was puzzled after hearing the sandworm's description. A fire-covered iron block? Where had something like that come from in such a huge desert?

Just as Bai Sheng was thinking, Silver Wolf suddenly said, "Could it be Sam?"

Bai Sheng thought about it. White, iron block, on fire—damn! It fit perfectly!

Bai Sheng patted the sandworm and asked, "Did that big white iron block also carry two green swords? Swords that could catch fire too?"

After Pandora conveyed the thought to the sandworm, it actually nodded in a very human-like manner. It knew what swords were. It had seen plenty of them while fighting wits and courage against people in the desert, though none of theirs could catch fire.

It was the last sandworm in this entire desert, after all. It had some capabilities.

"It's fine. That's our friend. He came to help us. Don't worry—the Scythe Bugs are all gone. You won't have to live in constant fear anymore."

Bai Sheng's words were like a tranquilizer, instantly restoring the sandworm's fighting spirit after it had been lost about the future.

It could not help speeding up.

Before long, the sandworm brought Bai Sheng and the others to the place where they had arrived, then shook its head at the two of them before burrowing into the sand and leaving.

"Bye-bye, spicy strip!"

Bai Sheng waved toward the spot where the sandworm had vanished.

Silver Wolf looked at Bai Sheng suspiciously.

"Spicy strip?"

"Yeah. What's wrong? Isn't that a nice name?"

Bai Sheng looked utterly confused.

"Don't tell me you wanted to eat it?"

Silver Wolf asked. No matter how she looked at it, that sandworm could not possibly be called a spicy strip.

"What's the big deal? Back on the Scorched Earth Battlefield, I faced a broodmother bug that was half a step into becoming an Emanator. Our supplies were cut off, so we could only search the entire battlefield for anything edible. We found a small bug nest back then—hundreds of little bugs that looked about the same as these sandworms—and we ate them all. Later, everyone except me was wiped out. Seven hundred and sixty-one lives were traded to send that broodmother into a Black Hole."

After saying that, Bai Sheng's gaze dimmed for a moment, though it was barely noticeable.

"Sorry. I didn't know you'd been through something like that. My condolences."

Silver Wolf felt somewhat ashamed. Wasn't she just reopening his old wounds? If she'd known, she wouldn't have asked that extra question.

She was going to wake up in the middle of the night and slap herself twice, cursing herself for being such an idiot!

"Let's go. Uncle Blade should be here to pick us up soon. I already gave him a heads-up."

As soon as Bai Sheng finished speaking, he saw a man in the sky in free fall, along with a spaceship descending steadily.

Thud!

That man was Blade. Having already fallen down, he was currently twisting his neck, bent ninety degrees out of shape, back into place.

"What a pity. Didn't die again."

With a sigh, he glanced at Bai Sheng and the others before saying, "Let's go. Kafka went shopping for coats again, so I came to pick you up."

The corners of Bai Sheng's eyes and mouth twitched as he looked at Silver Wolf beside him. "Does Uncle Blade always make getting off a spaceship this exciting?"

Silver Wolf was completely unfazed. Calmly, she said, "You know what Blade's like. Doing an unprotected free fall on every brand-new planet has practically become one of our standard landing procedures."

The two looked at each other, then shook their heads at the same time. Forget it. Uncle Blade was a grown man; as long as he was happy.

After returning to the spaceship, the first thing Bai Sheng saw was a pitch-black Greatsword lying on the table.

He then asked Blade, who was still setting his bones, "Uncle Blade, are you going back to your old trade?"

Blade shook his head and looked toward Sam. "Not mine. She brought it back when she returned. This sword can't fulfill my wish."

Firefly's voice came from inside Sam. "I saw it stuck in the back of a Scythe Bug while I was killing them in the desert. I thought I'd bring it over and ask whether this was the one Acheron mentioned, but you ran off, so I could only bring it back."

Bai Sheng froze. What had "Real Name Online" said back then again?

He had searched high and low for it, only for it to fall right into his lap...