Carbon and Gold

The time had reached 2020.

Although Blue Star suffered frequent natural disasters, the overall situation within the Federation remained under control, and space exploration was proceeding in full swing.

Yet Blue Star itself had split into two worlds: the Federation and everything beyond it, two utterly different worlds.

Paris.

After the Yellowstone Volcano incident, although the volcanic ash had been cleared away, the local wildlife had suffered devastating losses.

With many refugees pouring in as well, public security here had grown increasingly dire.

On the Champs-Élysées, a travel-worn young woman walked helplessly into an extravagantly decorated jewelry store.

With a professional smile on her face, a saleswoman stepped forward. "Beautiful lady, is there anything I can help you with?"

The woman took a small jewelry box from a Chanel bag. The box bore the jewelry store's emblem. "I'd like to sell this necklace. Here is the original receipt."

At this, a flicker of contempt passed through the saleswoman's eyes, though her smile remained in place. "Certainly. Please follow me to the appraisal room."

Inside the appraisal room, a refined middle-aged man wearing glasses picked up the necklace and inspected it carefully for a while, a hesitant expression appearing on his face.

The woman immediately grew anxious. "Sir, my husband bought this diamond necklace here from you, and you promised to buy it back at the original price."

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I need to test it again," the middle-aged appraiser replied gravely.

He then placed the diamond necklace into a testing device beside him. After pressing several buttons, the printer nearby spat out an appraisal report. The appraiser shook his head.

"Ma'am, I'm very sorry, but this is a synthetic diamond, not one of our company's natural diamonds."

"What?" The woman's face went pale as she hurriedly refuted him. "That's