TCPUAAV Chapter 4

 

“Where is he?”

 

“He was just ahead—how’d he disappear after turning the corner?”

 

The hushed voices were tinged with urgency as two figures moved stealthily, quickening their pace in search of the person they had lost.

 

Ruan Shiqing held his breath, pressing himself tightly against the stone wall as he observed their shadows cast on the ground.

 

There were two of them, both burly.

 

Estimating their relative strengths, Ruan Shiqing decided to strike first. Back at the research institute, which was affiliated with the military, they had instructors teach basic self-defense and combat techniques during downtime.

 

Coincidentally, Ruan Shiqing had excelled in those combat classes.

 

Feeling around the uneven wall, he pried loose a small stone and tossed it lightly ahead. The faint clatter drew one of the men’s attention, and he moved a few steps forward to investigate.

 

Seizing the moment, Ruan Shiqing leaped into action.

 

First, he landed a punch squarely on the man’s nose. As the man recoiled in pain, Ruan Shiqing followed up with a flying kick, sending him tumbling down the narrow, slippery stairs. The steep, moss-covered steps were treacherous enough to cause injury from a simple fall, let alone rolling down them entirely.

 

The other man, seeing his younger brother tumble down, panicked and rushed to catch him. But in his haste, he lost his footing, and the two brothers ended up rolling down the stairs in a tangled heap.

 

Ruan Shiqing: “…?”

 

Even he was startled. He hadn’t expected to dispatch two hulking men so effortlessly. Picking up the little robot, he listened to the commotion below and was about to leave when he heard sobbing from the dark passage.

 

It started as stifled sniffling, then escalated into full-blown wailing, eventually turning into a tearful duet.

 

???

 

No way. Did I really make them cry?

 

Ruan Shiqing stood frozen, dumbfounded. After a moment’s hesitation, driven by humanitarian concern, he decided to go down and check. He didn’t want to have accidentally caused them serious harm.

 

Using his makeshift flashlight for illumination, Ruan Shiqing descended a dozen steps. There he saw the two men sitting on the ground, clutching their heads and crying bitterly. Their round black bear ears twitched atop their heads, adding a touch of absurdity to their otherwise pitiful state.

 

The scene was both tragic and comical.

 

Ruan Shiqing barely managed to suppress a laugh, pinching the tip of Rong Heng’s ear to steady himself.

 

Clearing his throat, he signaled the little robot to translate. “Are you two okay?”

 

The crying stopped abruptly. The older brother sniffled and looked up at him. “Are you going to hit us again?”

 

The younger brother quickly added, “It was wrong of us to try to rob you, but we were desperate. We haven’t eaten in three days because we can’t get our wages.”

 

As he finished speaking, their empty stomachs growled loudly in unison, refusing to be ignored.

 

The two brothers, tears streaming, clasped hands and looked at each other mournfully, as if they were about to cry again.

 

They were starving, and life was so unbearably cruel.

 

Waaaaahhhhh QAQ

 

Ruan Shiqing: …

 

How do two men this big end up in such a miserable state?

 

Moved by the sight of the two bears sobbing in each other’s arms (?), Ruan Shiqing hesitated before pulling out two tubes of nutritional supplements and handing them over. “Here. Eat up, and then find some honest work. Don’t go around robbing people anymore.”

 

After all, if they picked on the wrong person next time, there might not be anyone as kind-hearted as him to give them food.

 

The younger brother stared longingly at the supplements but hesitated to take them. “We’ve offended someone. We can’t find work anymore.”

 

Their troubles stemmed from their previous employment. They had been working as apprentices at a repair shop. According to the shop’s rules, apprentices were required to pay a tuition fee of 5,000 star coins. In return, they would be taught repair skills, guaranteed to graduate in six months, and given the option to stay on as employees with a monthly salary of 1,500 star coins.

 

On the junk planet 3024, repair shops were everywhere. The standard of living was low, and most of the machines and vehicles people used were cobbled together from parts scavenged from junkyards. Naturally, such equipment broke down often, making repair shops a thriving business.

 

The two brothers pooled their savings and decided it was a worthwhile investment. They paid the tuition fee and became apprentices at a repair shop.

 

But after six months, all they had learned was how to run errands. When they “graduated,” the shop owner kept them on, making them do all the dirty and heavy work. For three consecutive months, they received nothing but two tubes of nutritional supplements per day—not a single star coin.

 

Realizing something was amiss, the brothers demanded their wages.

 

But the shop owner, Cardrew, had connections with the inner city patrol captain. Not only did he refuse to pay, but he also had the brothers beaten up and thrown out. To make matters worse, he warned others not to hire them.

 

Unable to find legitimate work, the brothers scavenged the junkyard for anything of value to sell. But the buyers, having heard about their situation, either refused to deal with them or offered insultingly low prices. After struggling for a month and a half with no luck, they finally set their sights on Ruan Shiqing, who seemed to be traveling alone.

 

Little did they expect that this seemingly frail boy would be so ferocious—and that being beaten by him would hurt so much.

 

The older brother sniffled, his past humiliations reigniting his anger. Nasally, he declared, “Let’s go find Cardrew. If he won’t let us live in peace, we’ll make sure he can’t live peacefully either!”

 

“That’s right! We’ve got nothing to lose!” the younger brother immediately chimed in.

 

With that, the two brothers helped each other to their feet, looking as if they were ready to take down Cardrew at any cost.

 

“…”

 

Ruan Shiqing thought to himself that it wasn’t entirely surprising these two had been bullied so badly—they really were hopelessly naive.

 

Still, they didn’t seem like bad people. Perhaps they were worth considering.

 

“I’m actually looking to hire two people for some work,” Ruan Shiqing said, stopping them in their tracks.

 

It wasn’t out of pity. Ruan Shiqing had been thinking that, in an unfamiliar place, he needed a base of operations. The junkyard had plenty of discarded spacecraft shells he could use, but he couldn’t move them alone. These two, with their burly builds, were just what he needed.

 

He also planned to sell the hidden drive and engine soon. If the brothers proved reliable, he could entrust the job to them.

 

Having made up his mind, Ruan Shiqing laid out the terms. “One hundred star coins per day for each of you, plus two tubes of nutritional supplements. Today will be a trial run—if you do well, I’ll give you a raise for future work.”

 

A hundred star coins a day wasn’t much, but for the desperate brothers, it was like a lifeline.

 

Tears and snot streaming down their faces, the brothers looked like they wanted to lift Ruan Shiqing up and spin him around, if not for the lingering pain from their earlier tumble.

 

The younger brother instinctively touched his nose. Ow. Still hurts.

 

After striking the deal, the three of them left the Subterranean Market together.

 

The brothers flanked Ruan Shiqing, one on either side. The older brother, Xiong Fangfang, was steady and quiet, while the younger brother, Xiong Yuanyuan, was a chatterbox who wouldn’t stop talking once he got going.

 

Ruan Shiqing didn’t find the chatter annoying—in fact, he gleaned a lot of useful information from it.

 

For instance, their current location was just the outer city. To the east lay the inner city, a more prosperous and orderly area that required an identity card to enter. He also learned that the snake-faced man he’d encountered earlier was named Honick. As the boss of the southern district of the outer city, Honick was notorious for being cunning, vengeful, and ruthless. His beast form was a giant black mamba.

 

“Even Cardrew wouldn’t dare provoke Honick lightly,” Xiong Yuanyuan said. “Honick’s bite is venomous, and no one wants to cross him—except for Marlin, the boss of the northern district. His beast form is a giant Arda eagle…”

 

Before he could finish, they spotted Honick and his men heading straight toward them, exuding hostility.

 

Speak of the devil.

 

The brothers tensed up, ready to shield Ruan Shiqing and avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

 

But Ruan Shiqing remained still. With a glance, he signaled them to step aside. Reluctantly, the brothers backed away.

 

Honick, of course, was there for Ruan Shiqing.

 

He had already dismantled all the components of the Silver Falcon and sent them to a repair shop, only to be told that the parts were too damaged to be fixed.

 

No matter how valuable the components were, broken parts were worthless.

 

After all that effort, all he got was a pile of junk—and he was even down the hundred star coins he’d paid Ruan Shiqing. Enraged, Honick suspected that the boy had tipped off others, allowing them to steal the drive and engine before he arrived.

 

He had already sent his men to search the area multiple times. The moment Ruan Shiqing reappeared, Honick received word and rushed over with his entourage.

 

Ruan Shiqing had anticipated this confrontation. Hugging the shabby little robot tightly, he hunched his shoulders and looked at Honick with a face full of fear, as if he were guilty of some misdeed.

 

Honick wasn’t in the mood for small talk. Grabbing Ruan Shiqing by the collar, he lifted him off the ground. “Who else did you sell the Silver Falcon’s location to?”

 

He didn’t believe for a second that this scrawny kid had the guts to hide the drive and engine. Someone like this probably didn’t even know what they were. Most likely, he had sold the information to someone else before Honick arrived.

 

“N-no one,” Ruan Shiqing stammered, his words clumsily translated by the little robot. The halting translation made him appear even guiltier.

 

“If you don’t talk, I’ll kill you right now,” Honick sneered, his forked tongue flicking out as his fangs glinted ominously.

 

Ruan Shiqing trembled slightly, as if utterly terrified, but still gritted his teeth and said, “Even if I tell you, I’ll die anyway.”

 

Despite his fear, he stubbornly bit down on his resolve.

 

Honick didn’t think the boy had courage. Instead, a calculating expression appeared on his face. There was only one person who dared meddle in his territory in the southern district. “Was it Marlin?”

 

Ruan Shiqing flinched but still shook his head, whispering, “You… you can’t beat him…”

 

“Oh?” Honick chuckled darkly, his temper flaring. “Then just wait. Once I kill him, I’ll come back to deal with you.”

 

With that, he shoved Ruan Shiqing away and stormed off with his men, heading north.

 

Ruan Shiqing scrambled to his feet and immediately checked the little pup hidden inside his coat. Seeing that the pup was unfazed and staring up at him with bright, wet eyes, he couldn’t help but smile.

 

Ruan Shiqing: My baby is so brave!

 

Rong Heng: Tsk. Keep up the act.

 

With the crisis averted, Ruan Shiqing dusted himself off and called out to the bewildered Xiong brothers. “Let’s go to the northern district.”

 

Xiong Fangfang took the lead, while Xiong Yuanyuan stuck close to Ruan Shiqing, glancing around nervously. Finally, he whispered, “How did you end up provoking Honick?”

 

“I didn’t provoke him,” Ruan Shiqing corrected. “To be precise, he came looking for trouble with me.”

 

So he had simply retaliated in kind.

 

Xiong Yuanyuan didn’t see much of a difference but asked worriedly, “Will Honick come after you again?”

 

“If he’s still alive, maybe,” Ruan Shiqing replied nonchalantly.

 

One southern district boss, one northern district boss—a snake versus an eagle. They sounded like lifelong enemies. Now that he had stoked the fire between them, there was a good chance they’d be too busy with each other to remember him. And even if Honick did come looking, by the time Ruan Shiqing familiarized himself with this world, he wouldn’t be so easy to bully.

 

In high spirits, he followed the brothers to the northern district. Once there, he sent them off to find a suitable spacecraft hull while he strolled around with the pup, scouting for a spot to settle down and getting a feel for the area.

 

The northern district, though part of the same junkyard, wasn’t much better off than the southern district. The only notable difference was the diversity of its inhabitants. In addition to Beastkin[mfn]It was actually written like Bisi or Bis, but I decided to use the term Beastkin to make it simpler and so it sounds less like p*ss lol[/mfn]  people like the Xiong brothers and Honick, there were ancient humans like Ruan Shiqing, as well as more robust evolvers[mfn]So it’s basically evolutionary humans, but I decided to use evolvers to make it sound cooler? and make it less awkward than evolutionary humans lol[/mfn].

 

The Beastkin were a broad category of beast-like races, encompassing those with animal traits. Though they had distinct subgroups, for convenience, they were collectively referred to as Beastkin.

 

From Xiong Yuanyuan’s chatter, Ruan Shiqing learned that the planet they were on belonged to the Galactic Empire. The empire spanned nine administrative regions across 24 star systems, governing over 300 planets and housing more than a thousand races.

 

Among these, ancient humans were the weakest. Over the long history of cosmic development, both the Beastkin and evolvers had adapted to interstellar life. Only ancient humans remained stagnant, fragile, and underdeveloped.

 

Listening to Xiong Yuanyuan, Ruan Shiqing had initially thought ancient humans and evolvers didn’t sound all that different. After all, the latter evolved from the former. Why were they considered separate species?

 

It wasn’t until he saw them in person that he understood.

 

At the edge of the junkyard, evolvers were at work.

 

Male evolvers stood over two meters tall, capable of lifting broken spacecraft hulls four or five times their own weight with ease. Female evolvers were slightly shorter, around 1.8 meters, but seemed just as strong.

 

By comparison, Ruan Shiqing truly appeared weak.

 

Likely due to long-term malnutrition, his current body was only about 1.75 meters tall, with a slender frame that made him look even frailer. Forget lifting something four or five times his weight—he’d probably struggle just to drag it along the ground.

 

Still, Ruan Shiqing felt no discouragement. In his original world, there had been countless species far stronger than humans throughout the vast history of the universe. Yet, through survival of the fittest, humanity had been the only intelligent species to endure.

 

The human body might not be strong, but a sharp mind was the best weapon.

 

This truth held just as much weight in this new world.

 

Unafraid of his own frailty, Ruan Shiqing calmly chose a spot for his new home, ignoring the curious or hostile stares directed his way.

 

Just as he finished picking the location, the Xiong brothers returned, lugging a massive spacecraft hull between them.

 

 

 

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Ruan Ruan got new companions (lackeys?)~!

 

Thanks for reading!