Third Planet

"No thanks, I'm not very hungry. I'm going back to rest."

Su Ming suppressed the longing in his heart as he replied. He casually turned away from the dining table and headed toward the stairs.

Soon, Su Ming returned to his room. He sprawled onto the bed and stared quietly at the ceiling, his thoughts spinning rapidly.

Even now, he still hadn't figured out why he had come to this world. Moreover, he couldn't quite remember his past memories.

After fully digesting Su Ming's memories, he even developed the illusion that he hadn't transmigrated at all—he was Su Ming. His past was vivid in his mind, making it impossible to distinguish reality from illusion.

After a long while...

Su Ming sighed helplessly.

"Ah~ Since I'm here, I'll just have to accept it."

There was nothing else he could do but accept this reality.

He then sat up and looked over his body again, muttering to himself.

"What should I do now? This body is far too fat. I'm 175 centimeters tall, but I weigh a full 185 jin, and my body fat percentage is probably around 30%. If I want a perfect physique, I'll have to reduce my weight to 135 jin. That means losing 50 jin. To lose that much in the shortest time without harming my body, I'll need at least 120 days. In other words, every day I'll have to..."

Su Ming collapsed back onto the bed. As he pondered, he gradually drifted into sleep.

The next morning.

In the luxurious living room, Zhao Ning instructed Chen Hui.

"Go keep an eye on the kitchen. Wait until the ingredients are delivered..."

"Mm-hm."

Chen Hui answered respectfully.

At that moment, Su Ming walked past in a loose tracksuit and greeted Zhao Ning.

"Mother!"

"Son? You're up? Where are you going?"

Zhao Ning asked in surprise. In her impression, Su Ming had never gotten up this early.

"Going for a run!"

Su Ming gave a simple reply, then jogged away.

He ran out through the front door, crossed the small garden, and arrived at a road made of poured concrete.

Su Ming turned back to glance at his home. His family's house was a detached villa, and even in the wealthy district, it was considered quite impressive.

Su Ming smiled faintly, then turned and jogged forward.

He was currently located in the Old Milky Way's Old Federation, on Third Planet, in the Thirteenth District.

Third Planet was the Old Federation's homeworld. Three cities and sixteen districts were built across the entire planet.

The so-called three cities referred to the three enormous cities standing on the surface, while the sixteen districts referred to the sixteen major administrative districts underground.

Because Third Planet was a Level 5 habitable planet (for reference, habitable planets were ranked from Level 1 to 7, with Earth being a Level 6 habitable planet), its climate was extremely harsh. During hot periods, the surface temperature stayed at 60°C year-round and sometimes climbed even higher. During cold periods, it could drop to as low as -23°C, and sometimes even reach -70°C. The surface was no longer suitable for long-term habitation, so most administrative districts had been built underground.

At that moment, Su Ming ran out through the entrance to the wealthy district. Several wealthy ladies chatting nearby saw him and immediately began gossiping.

"Isn't that the Su family's little fatty?"

"It is him. I heard he hanged himself not long ago. The whole thing caused quite a stir."

"Heh, how embarrassing. Zhao Ning is such a shrewd person—how did she end up giving birth to such an idiot?"

"Who knows?"

Su Ming ignored the strange looks around him and continued running forward at a steady pace.

He ran past towering steel buildings and through bustling plazas while carefully contemplating this world.

Although this world's civilization was somewhat distorted, it was already highly advanced. Aside from its homeworld, the Old Federation also possessed a large number of directly governed planets and mining planets.

Of course, besides the Old Federation, there were two other major civilization powers: the Empire's Dark Star Belonka in the First New Galaxy, and the Theocracy's Apocalypse Saint Roks in the Second New Galaxy.

Both of these civilizations were stronger than the Old Federation, so the Old Federation's situation was not very good.

Of course, those two were not the greatest threats. The true threats were the two great alien races that existed in the universe. One was the Mechanical Race, composed of silicon-based lifeforms, while the other was Chilami, composed of immortal lifeforms.

According to his memories and the information he had looked up, the Old Federation had been doing everything in its power to resist the two races for thousands of years. Its struggle for survival could be described as extremely arduous. It wouldn't be surprising if it were wiped out one day.

Fortunately, the Old Federation was not the only one facing a crisis. The Dark Star Empire and the Divine Kingdom of Apocalypse were in the same predicament. Thus, although the three sides did not get along, the pressure of their external enemies had led them to reach a temporary peace.

Huff~

Su Ming ran onto a towering overpass and leaned against the railing, panting heavily.

When he raised his head and looked into the distance, he saw rows of towering buildings standing tall. Various unevenly arranged structures were scattered all around, while broad roads wound between the cities like ribbons. Aerial corridors crisscrossed the sky, connecting the various regions, and antigravity aircraft weaved through the air like shooting stars.

A brilliant smile appeared on Su Ming's face, and excitement shone in his eyes.

He lifted his head toward the sky and saw clear weather stretching overhead, with the dazzling sun shining brightly.

Of course, Su Ming knew very well that the entire Thirteenth District was a massive underground city. The sky he saw was merely a false projection, and the dazzling sun was not real either—it was an artificial sun.

The entire Thirteenth District was divided into an upper district and a lower district.

He was in the upper district, where the residents were all relatively wealthy. That was why everything appeared so beautiful.

But things were not truly like that. The lower district was the real reflection of reality.

The Old Federation had a total population of 32 billion. Of those, 5.2 billion permanent residents lived on its homeworld, Third Planet. The Thirteenth District had a population of 210 million, while the upper district had only 10 million residents. Everyone else lived in the lower district or scattered external settlements.

The lower district was densely populated, its facilities were outdated, and its resources were extremely scarce. Everyone struggled desperately just to survive.

It was worth mentioning that the Old Federation was primarily composed of the Parliament, the three city lords, and the heads of the sixteen administrative districts.

Although the Parliament decided major matters concerning the entire Old Federation, it did not directly govern the three cities or the sixteen districts. The various regions were largely self-governing and possessed considerable autonomy.

Thus, the quality of a district depended largely on the governance of its administrative head.

An hour later.

Su Ming returned home drenched in sweat.

When Zhao Ning saw him come back, she hurried over with concern.

"Son, are you tired?"

"I'm fine."

Su Ming answered between breaths. He felt as though he was about to collapse. This body was truly too weak. He had originally planned to run for two hours, but after stopping and starting, he had lasted only an hour before he couldn't continue.

There was nothing he could do about it. He could only take things slowly and gradually increase the amount of exercise.

"You exercised for so long, so you must be hungry, right? Breakfast is ready, and I even made the vegetables you like."

Zhao Ning led Su Ming toward the dining table.

Soon, Su Ming was seated at the dining table. In front of him was a plate of vibrant green vegetables, though there were only seven or eight stalks.

Su Ming picked one up with his chopsticks and tasted it. The flavor was nothing special. Moreover, because he had exercised too intensely, he had no appetite at all. After eating just a few stalks, he stopped.