First Interstellar Guide Chapter 9: Cry of Collapse

Chapter 9: Cry of Collapse

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

After leaving the starship, Kane looked worriedly at his companion. “Did you go too hard just now? Mrs. Joseph is going to have issues with you again.”

Kroger sighed. “It’s my first time dealing with a newly awakened guide. I didn’t expect his mental landscape to be so fragile.”

Normally, even a Class C guide shouldn’t have a mental breakdown so quickly. Kroger felt that something was off, but from Yu Ran’s performance, he couldn’t find any flaws. It could only be explained that the boy’s psychological resilience was weaker than that of an average guide, especially after losing his parents and being susceptible to negative emotions.

“Now what?” Kane scratched his head. “If Yu Ran isn’t suspicious, we can only close the case as an ‘accidental fall,’ right?”

After some thought, Kroger made a decision. “Let’s go with that. I’ll write up an investigation report to send to the chief.”

Meanwhile, inside the office building of the North Mining Company, a young man in a white shirt opened a safe with a nervous expression. Behind him, a middle-aged man wearing silver-rimmed glasses and a courteous demeanor looked impatient. “Hurry up, grab what you need and let’s get out of here before the Investigation Division catches up with us!”

“Do you really think Leonard’s death was an accident?” The man in the white shirt took out a box from the safe. Upon opening it, the box was full of neatly cut red crystals, shining brightly under the light.

All citizens and companies in the Federation had linked account chips, and the electronic payment system was regulated by the central bank, making the flow of funds transparent. Large amounts of cash, whether deposited into company accounts or personal accounts, were easily monitored by banks. However, exchanging cash into “red crystals” in the black market, a hard currency, was easy to carry and could evade bank supervision.

The man with glasses greedily eyed the box of precious red crystals and coldly said, “Let that greedy Leonard guy rest in peace. His death might save us a lot of trouble! B73 is no longer safe. Let’s go back to the capital first.” He took the box from the other man and said, “Stop babbling, let’s go.”

The two left the building, got into a small hovercar, and quickly headed to the B73 space station.

Inside the Eagle starship, Yu Ran glanced at the electronic clock on the wall, thoughtful. The interstellar passenger spaceship was scheduled to depart at four in the afternoon. If everything went according to plan, certain people should be scrambling to escape by now.

Yu Ran straightened his clothes and went out to find Mrs. Joseph.

The boy, whose gaze had been calm, immediately changed his expression the moment he stepped out of the door. He looked weak, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness, and his eyes were filled with unease.

Mrs. Joseph was chatting with Mohr in the lobby. When he saw Yu Ran, he hurried over with concern. “Ranran, how are you feeling? Is your head still hurting?”

Yu Ran whispered, “I slept for a while, feeling much better now. My mental landscape is stable, thanks for helping me.”

Mrs. Joseph smiled and ruffled his hair. “No problem at all. As long as you’re okay. You’ve just awakened and don’t know how to control your mental energy yet. After we reach the Sanctuary, the teacher will teach you how to establish mental barriers so you’ll know how to protect yourself in the future.”

Yu Ran nodded. “By the way, did the people from the Investigation Division leave?”

Thinking of the terrifying butterflies that invaded his mental world, the boy’s face turned pale.

Mohr reassured him gently, “Don’t worry, they’re gone, and the base lockdown has been lifted.”

Yu Ran breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Mrs. Joseph. “Can we depart for the capital star now?”

Mrs. Joseph looked at him with concern. “Are we leaving now? Do you need more rest?”

Yu Ran shook his head. “No need to rest. I just slept for a while, and my mental state has improved a lot. Besides, staying on the starship might disturb the generals’ work.”

Familiar footsteps approached, followed by the deep and pleasant voice of a young sentinel. “It wouldn’t be much of a disturbance. However, you should report to the guide association as soon as possible. I’ll have two people escort you to prevent any accidents on the way.”

Yu Ran turned around and met Lu Zexuan’s deep eyes.

Did this keen sentinel’s suspicion of him seem to have lessened? At least this time, he wasn’t personally following him.

The spaceship Mrs. Joseph brought over had the emblem of the guide association on it. No one dared to directly offend the guide association. However, it was reasonable to send two strong sentinel escorts to prevent accidents.

Lu Zexuan turned to his subordinates. “You two, protect Madame and Yu Ran, and safely escort them to the guide association.”

“Yes, Captain!” Two tall sentinels immediately stood by Mrs. Joseph like guardians.

Mrs. Joseph didn’t refuse Lu Zexuan’s proposal and smiled. “Thank you, General.”

“You’re welcome.”

Mrs. Joseph changed the subject. “I’ll send you the guide materials. You should at least take a look. Perhaps there will be one that suits you. Even if I’m not in a hurry, your father is.”

Lu Zexuan sighed helplessly. “…I’ll talk to my father about it. You don’t have to bother.”

Mohr chuckled beside them, while Yu Ran looked bewildered, seemingly not understanding what they were talking about.

Mrs. Joseph led Yu Ran off the Eagle starship and onto the guide association’s spaceship. She brought Yu Ran to the lounge and sat him down, bringing several plates of exquisite pastries with a smile. “Have something to eat first. You must be hungry.”

Yu Ran had indeed skipped lunch after recovering his mental energy from the nap at noon, so he felt a bit hungry. He didn’t hesitate to take the cutlery and started eating the pastries on the table.

Seeing the boy obediently eating with his head down, Mrs. Joseph’s eyes softened with a touch of maternal tenderness. “Eat more, don’t starve. If it’s not enough, there’s more in the fridge.”

Yu Ran couldn’t help but feel a rare warmth in his heart. She still treated him like a child as she did before, especially protective of young guides. Yu Ran quickly finished the food on the plate.

At that moment, a mechanical voice sounded in his ear. “B73 Space Station. All spaceships please proceed to the docking bay for safety inspection.”

Yu Ran looked curiously out of the window. The space station was a mandatory stop for every spaceship. People needed to undergo security checks and board in an orderly manner. Military spaceships like the Eagle Special Forces could pass directly, while the guide association, being a civilian organization, didn’t have the authority to bypass the space station’s security checks.

Not far to the left, a passenger interstellar spaceship capable of accommodating thousands of people was docked. Although this spaceship usually had few passengers, it was exceptionally crowded today, with a long queue of people waiting to board. Obviously, with the base being attacked by galactic beasts, anyone with even a bit of economic means wanted to escape the unsafe place, and people’s faces were filled with nervousness and fear.

Two tall men in suits were carrying boxes and heading towards the VIP channel, accompanied by several sentinel guards.

Yu Ran’s eyes flashed with a hint of coldness when he saw them.

Mrs. Joseph was looking out the window. “What a coincidence. The passenger spaceship is also departing at this time. Is it always this crowded?”

Yu Ran explained, “We’re in a remote area here. There’s only one interstellar spaceship to the capital star every month. Today, there are so many people probably because the base was attacked. Everyone feels this place isn’t safe and wants to go somewhere else for safety.”

Mrs. Joseph sighed. “True, it’s really not safe here. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine with me on the way to the capital star.”

Suddenly, Yu Ran seemed to spot a familiar figure in the crowd. He excitedly pointed at the person. “Kevin is over there. Can I go say hello to him?” Seeing Mrs. Joseph’s puzzled expression, Yu Ran quickly explained, “Kevin is my best friend whom I grew up with since childhood.”

Since the Sanctuary was a closed-off institution, once Yu Ran went there for study, he couldn’t meet with family or friends. Since he met his best friend at the space station, it was only natural to greet him. Mrs. Joseph, being considerate, said, “Go ahead. Since we’ll have to wait for the space station to clear anyway, can you say goodbye to your friend in 10 minutes?”

Yu Ran happily stood up. “Thank you, ma’am. That’s enough time!”

Mrs. Joseph turned to his two sentinels behind him. “You two, protect Ranran well.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Yu Ran got off the spaceship and quickly walked towards the crowd, waving and calling out to a young man in the crowd, “Kevin!”

The curly-haired youth seemed surprised for a moment when he saw him, then excitedly walked over, “Yu Ran? What are you doing here?”

Yu Ran asked, “I’m also going to the capital star. By the way, what have you been doing since graduation? It’s been a while since I last saw you.”

“I’ve been helping my parents with their business…”

The crowded space station made the already small space seem chaotic, and the surrounding noise was very loud. Two men in suits, walking through the VIP channel, were about to board the interstellar spaceship ahead of time. No one noticed the two slender, red threads swiftly crawling under people’s feet at lightning speed. They quickly caught up with the two men, skillfully entwined around their ankles, and then climbed up their bodies to their necks.

The part where the back of the head connected to the neck suddenly felt like being pricked by needles. The two men felt a buzzing in their heads and almost slipped. The pain was fleeting, and the two men didn’t think much of it. They quickly boarded the spaceship with their boxes and arrived at the luxurious suite in the first-class cabin.

In the crowd of the space station, Yu Ran hugged Kevin reluctantly and said, “Take care of yourself. I’ll come see you again when I have the chance.”

Kevin waved to him. “Okay, goodbye, Yu Ran!”

After bidding farewell to his friend, Yu Ran returned to the spaceship with the two sentinels.

Seeing his downcast expression, Mrs. Joseph smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry. After graduating from the Sanctuary, you’ll be able to meet your family and friends normally. The reason why the Sanctuary has closed teaching is to protect you. After all, newly awakened guides don’t know how to control their mental energy, and their mental worlds are easily injured.”

Yu Ran nodded. “I understand.”

Mrs. Joseph nodded. “Let’s depart now. The space station has cleared us.”

The guide association’s spaceship had interstellar clearance, so after the space station clearance, the spaceship quickly ascended into the sky, leaving Planet B73 behind. Although this spaceship was small in size, it was made of highly advanced materials and had the fastest interstellar quantum leap technology. Planet B73 was located in the Norma Constellation, not too far from the capital star. It took them only half an hour to reach the space station of the capital star.

Meanwhile, the massive interstellar passenger spaceship at the B73 space station had just taken off. Inside the VIP luxury suite, the man with glasses and the man in the white shirt opened a bottle of wine to celebrate their successful escape. Suddenly, deep in their minds, it felt like a ribbon was tightly constricting their brain tissues.

Both men clutched their heads in horror, wanting to scream for help, but finding their vocal cords seemingly severed, unable to make any sound. In their mental landscape, a giant nine-tailed fox appeared.

The fox’s nine tails rose into the sky like burning flames as its cold, red eyes silently looked down upon the castle below. The castle was the mental landscape of a Class B sentinel. Originally huge, it now seemed insignificant before the nine-tailed fox. It regarded the castle as if it were a child’s toy.

The red flames began to spread wildly, and in an instant, the eerie flames completely engulfed the castle like a flood. Every nerve in their minds felt like it was being burned by the flames!

The agony was unbearable.

“Ahhh—Ahh—” The men’s screams of agony echoed continuously in the depths of their minds, while there was silence in the room. Those were cries of pain from their mental worlds. No one could hear them except themselves.