Chapter 7: The Seventh Day of Lying Flat Like a Salted Fish

“Yes! Of course there is!” Goudan was very excited. “It might not be a lot, but it’s enough to keep you alive in a place like this!”

“…” Lu Yuan interrupted helplessly. “He probably has more money on him than you’ve ever seen in your life.”

There was currency on the Desolate Planet.

Although there didn’t seem to be a unified issuing authority—at least not on the surface—there was still a certain amount of currency circulating among the people of the Desolate Planet.

It wasn’t paper money.

In fact, not just on the Desolate Planet, but across the entire Galactic Empire, paper money had almost entirely vanished from the stage of history. People used virtual currencies for their daily purchases, such as Credit Points, Honor Points, or even academic credits for students.

However, the Desolate Planet had no StarNet, and the people had no Optical Computers, so virtual currency did not exist. Here, currency referred to physical money, specifically hard currency.

Like coins.

Lu Yuan was very familiar with the coins circulating on the Desolate Planet. In fact, they were the unified currency of the current Galactic Empire, or rather, the entire Interstellar Alliance.

At an Alliance meeting several hundred years ago, various nations had carefully selected alloys of different values and decided to mint them into coins to serve as the official currency of the Alliance. As a member of the Alliance, the Galactic Empire had also changed its official currency to this Alliance Coin.

Due to the existence of StarNet, the vast majority of people did not use Alliance Coins for transactions. But there were always those who had a need for physical currency.

On one hand, there was the need for trade between nations. On the other hand, using Credit Points on StarNet meant that all information regarding the buyer and seller would be recorded. Many transactions that couldn’t be brought into the light had to be conducted through bartering or by using physical currency.

This meant that the Alliance actually tacitly permitted the existence of certain gray or even black-market businesses. For example, the black market, or star pirates.

However, the Desolate Planet was remote and barren, almost forgotten by the Empire. Star pirates always chased profit; though they roamed across various star sectors, they rarely visited a Desolate Planet as impoverished as this one. Neither banks nor the two main types of physical currency transactions typically appeared on a Desolate Planet.

The reason Alliance Coins appeared here at all was quite interesting.

In fact, they fell from the sky.

Literally, in the physical sense, they fell from the sky.

The Desolate Planet had no industry. It was a barren world with almost no minerals or fossil fuels, so industry could not develop. Yet, it hadn’t completely regressed into an agrarian society; it still retained a small amount of technological civilization.

The reason for this was that every so often, a starship carrying trash would descend upon the Desolate Planet to dump “garbage” from beyond the world.

The garbage contained small amounts of food and large quantities of non-recyclable waste, including clothing and daily necessities. Things that outsiders discarded like old shoes were treated as treasures by the people of the Desolate Planet, who salvaged them and refined the useful parts for their own use.

In Lu Yuan’s area, there was a man who used to be a mechanical engineer whom everyone called Old Fourth. Every time a Garbage Ship arrived, the nearby residents would sort through everything they found. Anything containing metal was handed over to Old Fourth, who would use these materials to create items the community needed, including devices for collecting solar and wind energy.

These things were nowhere near as effective as products from the outside world. But they were better than nothing. Most importantly, they provided vital energy, and energy was the foundation of all technology.

Lu Yuan, however, didn’t need to rely on Old Fourth. His house looked ordinary, but it was actually converted from his Command Ship. After crashing onto the Desolate Planet from the interstellar battlefield, his Command Ship had been severely damaged, but many components were still functional.

Lu Yuan hadn’t expected to fix it, so he simply stripped out the useful parts to build himself a comfortable house and manufactured all the goods in his small shop.

As for the rest, he tossed it to Old Fourth—who was moved to tears of gratitude because of it.

Aside from daily necessities, the Empire’s Garbage Ships also brought a small amount of currency.

Most residents of the Desolate Planet didn’t know that almost no one used Alliance Coins outside their world. They only knew that these things were indeed very suitable for use as money.

While the Desolate Planet lacked order, trade still existed. No one could live entirely alone, especially those who weren’t strong enough to make a living through robbery; they still had to exchange resources with others to survive. Thus, the existence of currency became important and necessary.

The existence and value of the Alliance Coin were therefore widely recognized by the people of the Desolate Planet. Although the movement of people between different regions of the planet wasn’t frequent, every place had coincidentally adopted the Alliance Coin as a medium of exchange.

And Lu Yuan believed that the place Siming came from would be no exception when it came to using Alliance Coins.

Furthermore, although Lu Yuan was certain Siming still wasn’t telling the full truth—for instance, a chuunibyou¹ name like “The Temple” was obviously made up, and whether his organization was actually an assassin group remained doubtful—

What a joke. Why would a place like the Desolate Planet need an assassin organization? Just pull out a little money, or even just a scoop of grain, and countless people would scramble over each other, abandoning what little morality they had to commit murder.

But Lu Yuan also knew that Siming certainly wasn’t short on money. The claim that he was the leader of an organization—not a local thug like Goudan used to be, but a truly structured organization with a hierarchy—was indeed highly probable.

Therefore, Siming likely had a large amount of Alliance Coins in his possession.

Siming glanced at him and, with a smile, pulled a pouch from the inner pocket of his trench coat. He dropped it onto the table, and the contents collided with a soft, crisp clinking sound.

Money.

Lu Yuan took one look and already had an idea of the amount. To ensure portability, the alloy used for Alliance Coins had a lower density than common metals, making them light and thin.

Siming reached out and gently opened the bag. Hundreds of coins were revealed inside. Goudan’s eyes went wide as he watched from the side, letting out a sharp intake of breath.

“Lodging fees.” Siming pushed the money bag toward Lu Yuan and smiled. “Don’t worry, I know inflation can be a real headache. I’ll earn my keep here honestly; I won’t just use outside money to go on a massive shopping spree.”

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly.

It wasn’t quite a display of absolute sincerity yet, but it was at least a strong show of goodwill.

Even Goudan grew suspicious. “What are you after?”

This man had talent, money, and influence. Why was he so insistent on staying in this place, even going so far as to volunteer as his leading man?

Was it because of the harmony here?

With his capabilities, he could easily build a safe and harmonious zone of his own.

“Hmm… because it’s fun?” Siming rubbed his chin and smiled. “But that’s not exactly a mandatory question, is it?

“In short, I harbor no ill will toward this place or either of you. I’m willing to follow—and even help maintain—the rules here. Besides, I don’t pose any threat to you…”

He glanced at Lu Yuan and winked. “On the contrary, by staying here, I’m putting my life in your hands. So, you see, I truly, sincerely want to stay. Otherwise, I would have made my escape long ago.”

–

“So you just want to play video games here!”

A few days later, Goudan finally snapped. He had once again been forced to follow Siming into Lu Yuan’s little shop, only to watch Siming familiarly grab two handheld consoles from the shelf, toss one to Lu Yuan, and curl up in a corner with the other.

“Now, now, what’s with all the shouting? You watch your shows, we’ll play our games. We aren’t bothering you,” Siming said, turning on the console with total confidence.

Goudan was speechless.

“Even if I just want to play games here, what’s wrong with that? This is probably the only place on the entire Desolate Planet where you can find a gaming console. I need games, and Lu Yuan…”

Siming looked at the multiplayer invite Lu Yuan had sent to his screen. He looked up, grinning as he shot Lu Yuan a playful wink. “Lu Yuan needs someone to play with. It’s a perfect match. Everyone wins.”

Translator’s Notes