Chapter 95: The Ninety-Fifth Day of Living Like a Salted Fish

While Zhu Rong was hard at work memorizing the materials in front of her, Geshu Qing was also keeping very busy.

Upon his initial return to the Geshu Family, he wasn’t sent straight to school. Instead, he was arranged to undergo a rigorous course of study.

He had to master everything from a general overview of the Capital Star to the spheres of influence and key members of the various major families, military factions, and political parties. He even had to undergo training in basic etiquette and posture.

Furthermore, he had to study essential historical and cultural knowledge, current trends, “high-taste” hobbies, and the fundamentals of politics and business. All of this was designed to ensure he would never lack for conversation topics when socializing.

The rest of the Geshu Family wasn’t idling either. Including Geshu Ming, they were all working desperately to catch Geshu Qing up on his lessons, build a closer rapport with him, and probe into his past experiences, all while providing him with an abundance of material goods.

In just a few short days, Geshu Qing had become the owner of his own villa on the Capital Star, complete with a small garden. The villa’s stables housed Winged Horses from the planet Tianji, and the kennels were filled with Mastiffs bred on the planet Liequan.

The interior decor of the villa had been chosen with his input. Though Geshu Qing felt he didn’t truly need such things, the place had been made exceptionally comfortable. His wardrobes were bursting with clothes designed and rushed out overnight by the Empire’s finest designers – expensive and extravagant pieces.

After leaving the Desolate Planet, Geshu Qing’s attire and lifestyle within the Star Pirate Syndicate had already been vastly superior to his life in the wastes. Now, he had ascended to an even higher level.

Fortunately, he was intelligent, quick-witted, bold, and meticulous. Having traveled extensively on the Desolate Planet, he had learned much about the ways of the world.

Even though he had just arrived at the Geshu Family, wearing clothes he had never worn and living in a house he had never imagined, and despite the many things he didn’t understand or hadn’t seen before, he carried himself with a candid and generous grace. Consequently, he was adapting quite well.

The only real burden was the overwhelming amount of academic work.

However, he was a person who genuinely enjoyed reading and writing. Thus, studying didn’t pose too much of a hardship for him. In a sense, since returning to the Geshu Family, his life had become quite pleasant and comfortable.

Another person, however, was not having such an easy time.

As the head of the Geshu Family, Geshu Ming was the one truly left frazzled by Geshu Qing’s return.

She had to balance the internal relationships within the family while signaling her stance to other factions. Geshu Qing’s origins were incredibly complex. Where this child came from and how he was brought into the world were questions that remained fraught with issues.

Whether the Geshu Family acknowledged Geshu Qing, whether they intended to investigate the circumstances behind his birth, and to what extent they would pursue that investigation – all of this had to be subtly yet clearly communicated to everyone.

Additionally, she had to manage public opinion. Her cooperation with Ying Xun was not something that could be made public, yet she had to find a way to help Ying Xun gain enough positive fame. At the same time, she couldn’t allow the Geshu Family’s reputation to be tarnished or leave any openings for others to exploit. Finding the balance in all of this was no simple task.

But what she found most troublesome wasn’t any of those things.

It was Geshu Qing’s physical examination results.

Immediately upon his return to the Geshu Family, Geshu Ming had arranged a detailed medical checkup for him.

Most of the results were within Geshu Ming’s expectations.

For instance, while Geshu Qing possessed Mental Power, it wasn’t particularly strong. He also lacked the unique Communication trait of the Geshu Family, possessing instead a strange Life Perception trait.

Furthermore, while Geshu Qing was handsome, he was somewhat malnourished. He seemed to have fared better in the last two years, but he had clearly suffered greatly in his early childhood, enduring periods of hunger and starvation.

His body was also covered in old scars. They appeared to be injuries from his childhood that had never received timely medical treatment.

…Even without a medical exam, Geshu Ming could have discerned most of these things.

However, there was one specific item that made her wary.

Geshu Qing’s age.

As an orphan, Geshu Qing didn’t know his exact age. Everyone had simply judged by his appearance, assuming he was around fourteen or fifteen. No one on the Desolate Planet cared exactly how old he was – what difference did it make if he was fourteen or fifteen? He was just an underage brat regardless.

Lu Yuan didn’t care much about it either. Naturally, he couldn’t be bothered. Even Geshu Ming hadn’t given it much thought initially.

Until she saw the birth date provided by the medical data.

[March 2, 5465 (Margin of error: approximately seven days)]

While it could have been a mere coincidence…

That number was too familiar. It was so familiar that Geshu Ming found it impossible to view it as a simple coincidence.

This was also the day the Empire discovered the Zerg.

–

“The first career Zhu Rong chose was e-sports.”

Goudan sat behind the table in the meeting room and spoke.

A few people were scattered around the table. Lu Yuan’s sofa had been placed in a corner, and he was currently lying back in it with his eyes closed, appearing as though he might be listening to Goudan, or perhaps not at all.

They were supposed to be holding a meeting, but since everyone hadn’t arrived yet, Goudan took the opportunity to engage in some small talk. Specifically, the latest news sent back by Siming.

The content Siming sent today wasn’t a serious topic, nor was it anything worth debating.

In fact, Goudan and Lu Yuan had long known they would make this choice.

Siming needed to make money. He needed to make a lot of money.

And the easiest place in this world to rake in cash, aside from certain gray areas, was undoubtedly the entertainment industry.

Siming’s long-term plan had always been to start an entertainment company. He would sign Zhu Rong, the Desolation Band, and others, leading the entire Desolate Planet to become a sensation within the Empire. While raking in the money, he could simultaneously establish a positive image for the Desolate Planet.

But starting a company from scratch was no easy feat, especially since Siming had almost no manpower at his disposal.

To solve this problem, he had already discussed the initial development route with Goudan and the others. At the time, they analyzed that the best and smoothest step would be to have Zhu Rong become an e-sports star. Then, starting with her signing, they would build the company’s reputation.

The moment Zhu Rong left the Desolate Planet, she immediately went to play Mecha games to see if this path was viable.

Of course, becoming the arena champion had been an accident. They hadn’t obtained real identities yet back then, and becoming famous at that stage would have caused trouble. So, Lu Yuan recommended other games, and she went off to play those instead.

A long time had passed since then. Several major events had occurred on the StarNet, and the news of a minor arena champion had long been buried and forgotten. It was the perfect time for Zhu Rong to start climbing the ranks again with a new identity.

Naturally, it couldn’t be ruled out that this might be dug up later. But Siming had already thought of how to patch over it and smooth things over. He was always very meticulous in his work.

In short, this news was actually a bit dull. Goudan only brought it up as idle chatter while waiting for the others, not because he wanted to discuss anything with Lu Yuan.

Consequently, Lu Yuan didn’t bother responding to him.

Goudan didn’t mind. As the people gradually arrived, he turned the conversation toward official business.

Today’s business was important.

After all, this was the matter that had managed to move Lu Yuan out of his little shop.

A strategy meeting.

Having obtained Lu Yuan’s approval, Goudan had officially put external expansion on the agenda.

Counting the days, the new Garbage Ship was due to arrive in a few days. Since Goudan planned to start moving after that, it was indeed time to make some arrangements.

Thus, today’s meeting was convened.

The agenda was quite simple.

A subordinate of Siming who had come over from the neighboring sector spoke first. He gave a general overview of the place they were headed, focusing on population, geographical environment, and total area.

Then Goudan spoke about his planned schedule and asked who wanted to join the expedition.

Finally, from the very eager volunteers, he selected twelve people. He told them to go back and each pick fifty men to form squads. The people he selected would serve as the squad leaders for this expedition.

Initially, he had wanted each squad to have a hundred people, but Lu Yuan stopped him.

Goudan only had a few thousand people under his command in total. Taking away over a thousand able-bodied workers all at once would easily cause problems for their logistics and support. Moreover, conquering that area didn’t require that many people.

After some discussion, the plan of action was finalized. All they had to do was wait for the Garbage Ship to arrive and prepare the supplies before they could set out.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly.

Except…

He felt as though he had overlooked something.

Lu Yuan watched the lively scene before him and thought for a long time, but he couldn’t reach a conclusion.