Chapter 1
(A GLOSSARY has been added with pronunciation guides to character names and celestial bodies. The link to the glossary can also be found on the SUMMARY PAGE.)
“It’s time to end this!” The platinum giant roared.
Rings of shockwave swept from deep within space, and a globular cluster crumbled before their enormously destructive forces. The atomic storm swept scattered ice crystals and metal debris to propel them into the distance.
“Meister,[1] I don’t want to kill you.”
Sitting inside the cockpit, a man’s cold voice sounded from the communication channel of the obsidian mecha. [2]
The darker giant turned its hand and pulled out a massive cannon from behind its back. The muzzle began absorbing any and all sources of dark energy from within the vast universe.
Two blazing streaks zigzagged across the nebula. The platinum giant struck with its shield, generating enough energy from the light and magnetic forces to cause a dimensional collapse. The space around them warped strangely in a wave-like manner. With that single strike, meteoroids drifting among the nebula exploded instantaneously.
This secluded place projected no sound, only immensely powerful vibrations and lights could be perceived. Any friction was rendered obsolete within the generated energy field. In the vacuous void of cold space, two archaic suits of metal sped faster and faster. The obsidian giant’s cannon continued collecting the energies of billions of meteors and space debris, their masses soon to be compressed into one.
The obsidian mecha traced a curved path along the crimson nebula. It pulled in scattered lights from around the galaxy wherever it passed, as though a tornado had raked across the cosmos. The stars and cosmic dust that existed for billions of years were annihilated under its destructive powers as they shrunk in size before transforming into a colossal burst of energy and ceasing to be.
A blackhole emerged as increasingly more matter collecting at the muzzle of the cannon.
The platinum giant’s blade glowed with light as it spread its metal limbs. Its shield spun rapidly to form an energy shield woven with a criss-crossed photon beam, churning as it charged into a storm of stardust that came like a tsunami.
The shock generated from the moment the two forces collided threatened to destroy the entire nebula. A wave of intense light rays filled their surroundings. The stars grazed by the photon beam began a chain of nuclear fissions that led to millions of supernova explosions. Waves of intense light and heat pulsated across the dimension in the chaos that was once order.
“Meister, you’ve lost.”
The man’s voice sounded in the communicator. His mecha appeared without warning in front of a massive star. It evaded the warped space within the gravitational field and released four energy bands to trap the platinum giant in place.
A piece of sharp blade materialized from the jet-black cannon and punctured the body of the platinum giant from behind. As the shot pierced through the man’s body, spilt blood began filling the cockpit.
“Self-destruction mode triggered. Molecular memory has been preserved. Activating emergency escape mechanism, Sea of Time.”
Blood escaped from Lektor’s lips. His fingers spasmed as they curled into a fist. With a low hum, the obsidian giant released its cannon, blasting the other mecha into specks of flying dust. In that moment, a glimmering particle appeared in the black void of the cosmos and disappeared in a flash.
In the next moment, the crimson dust-rendered nebula began falling into the centre of what was their battle ground. A catalyst in the series of reactions to come. The nebula that once stretched 100,000 light years would collapse into a dense black hole. But that would be hundreds of thousands of years into the future.
By then, it would have become a cold field of nothingness. Who would still be alive to care then?
The ancient astrolabe turned ever so slowly in the vast universe. The billions of years that it would take for countless stars to rise and then to fall was but a crevice in the river of time.
A wave rippled in the cosmic space. A small silver pod was thrown towards the Ignitis system,[3] still carrying with it the remnant heat of newly exploded stars.
It passed through the atmosphere of a rust-coloured planet, tracing a fiery path in its wake as it made contact with the oxygen in the air and descended into the expansive desert.
This was a mining planet called B-11. The planet was poverty-stricken. Its only source of trading goods was a limited supply of rhodovena crystals,[4] which were energy ores. As a source of clean energy, it had once been favourably regarded in the Galactic Republic. B-11 was under the jurisdiction of the Ignitis system, though it was far too remote. It would require three full cosmic years to get here from the capital planet.
Almost no one has set foot on this planet since it was purchased by a certain mining company 170 years ago.
Water was a precious resource on planet B-11. Most of the planet was covered in desert and gravel, sparsely sprinkled with arid ecosystems and patchy plants. Of course, there were also miners on the planet. They were the first group of immigrants, workers who had initially been sent to the planet to extract the rhodovena crystals.
The miners fought against dust storms and cyclones. They worked in the desert or mountains mining raw rhodovena crystal ores and smaller quantities of associated minerals, which would then be sold at a relatively low price to trade ships sent by commercial planets to purchase raw ores.
“The sandstorm is coming!” The miners bellowed as they struck hard at the clock bell. “Opal! Come back!”
The miners scattered to hide inside their stone huts. Opal, with his teeth clenched, dragged out the small trolley cart trapped in the sands and ran with it towards the well-covered buildings.
The clear blue sky from earlier in the morning was now concealed by a sand wall that shrouded everything in an endless shadow. The railroad tracks were already engulfed by the sandstorm. By the time Opal stumbled to his front door, his nose was packed with sand. He put his muscles into turning the door winch until the stones parted slowly. He pulled the trolley inside and shut the door with a forceful bang, sealing himself in the dark.
The lights came on. Opal took off his coarse work gloves and sat by the bed, pulling off his boots to shake out the sand inside.
He was sixteen years old, and had become a miner at the young age of twelve. Four years of being in the harsh sun had painted his exposed skin a healthy bronze and the intense physical work had thoroughly shaped his body.
His arms and shoulders were iron-tough, but with little bulk. His figure was long and lean. He was far stronger and able to labour far more than most his age.
Opal was technically not a citizen of this planet. His mother had been forced to land her small spacecraft on this planet sixteen years ago. Maybe she had fallen in love with a handsome miner and had him after arriving on this planet, or maybe she was already carrying him before she had landed here—he had no clue. But he did remember that when he was little, there was a big, tall miner who treated him and his mother very well, but had not lived with them.
Back then, his mother, like all the miners on this planet, had put on a helmet and a pair of gloves everyday to work at the mines to make a living. Sometimes she would hold him close and stare at the bright stars hanging in the sky on a summer’s night and tell him, “Opal, our home is in a faraway place. Once the ship is fixed, we’ll be able to find our way back.”
But before her wish could be granted, she had died in a mining accident along with her boyfriend without leaving any final messages behind. Not about her spaceship, and not about where she and Opal came from. After losing his mother when he was twelve, Opal had learned to work at the mines to survive like other children his age.
He would sometimes walk over to the open field by Crimson Sills and look up at the stars in the clear night sky. His mother had already been buried inside the mine. He hadn’t even an inkling as to which planet she had come from. The only thing she left with him was her longing hidden in scattered words for a planet that might have been his home.
Opal separated the ore stone and placed them on the shelf rack. A small quantity of high-purity ores could be traded in for no small amount of money, while those lower in purity he kept as backup, used as a power source so he could fiddle with all kinds of small mechanical trinkets.
The sandstorm outside raged on with increasing strength, sounding as though millions of giant stones were rolling from above. After organizing the ores, Opal sat in front of the table and activated a tiny robot with a flip of a switch on the table.
“E7, sift through the ores.” Opal turned on the robot. His mother had designed it.
Electricity hummed through the tiny robot. The radar screen on its chest glowed green, with a ray of light that traced around a circle, and the robot began filtering through the rhodovena crystals that Opal had brought back.
The radar revealed a blob of light that covered almost the entire screen.
Opal gave it a puzzled look.[5]
Is it broken? Opal thought and tapped on the robot a few times.
Beep beep beep—a large red light flashed on top of E7. Opal, in his confusion, heard a low booming sound rolling over his hut. The explosion of the booming sound was mixed with a shrill pitch, and everything inside the room began vibrating with the soundwave.
A silvery white dot of light dragged a trail of black smoke behind as it passed above the mining zone, shooting towards the desert. In the next moment, there was an enormous explosion in the distance.
What happened? Is it an earthquake? Opal stood up, but didn’t dare move as he held E7 in place lest it toppled. After several seconds, the quivering world returned to its peace and the swooshing of wind returned.
What’s happening outside? Opal carried E7 with him as he exited the hut. The sandstorm had somewhat died down. He could now vaguely make out things that were within fifty meters. He placed E7 on the ground. The mini robot beeped, tried to turn around, and fell down on its side as it bumped into the wall.
“E7!” Opal called as he battled the sandstorm, “Energy detection! Head towards where there’s energy!”
He hopped on a mining truck and placed E7 at the front of the vehicle, following its radar signal and drove deep into the desert.
E7 didn’t seem too enthusiastic about working in a sandstorm. Opal gave it a gentle kick and the little guy went somersaulting on the sand. It steadied itself back on its feet clumsily, and trekked along the desert with its cassette tape-like rollers.
Beep, beep, beep—E7 rotated its camera to scan the surroundings and the little green screen with the radar activated.
“It’s over there, I see it!” Opal said. “Don’t head back! Wait right here!”
Brick-red sand covered the sky. A silver emergency escape pod laid serenely on the desert floor. Its parachute had blown off, far into the distance. Signs of the recent explosion were still in sight. The sand around the pod had been burnt into pitch-black crystals revealing remnants of radioactivity.
Opal approached the pod entrance in awe, and discovered that the life pod was extremely narrow in size. A man was lying inside. No, half a man.
The man’s upper body was bare. Everything below his abdomen has been destroyed. The pod was filled with a light blue liquid. The man’s nose and mouth were covered in an oxygen mask to provide life-support. His blood seeped out, mixing together with the nutrient solution. The light beside the life pod flashed in warning. Opal began to examine the man from outside the transparent window.
His eyes were closed and remained unmoving. Pieces of lung tissue floated inside the nutrient solution like broken strings of cotton. More and more blood began filling inside the pod and started to dye the liquid inside purple.
There were very weak signs of life. When Opal noticed that the battery light hovered at 3%, there was only one thought that passed through his mind: this man was dying!
Opal backed up a few steps while still keeping his eyes fixed on the man inside the life pod. Then, he turned and ran towards the car, and drove it off.
An hour later, Opal brought a few batteries back with him. His heart was beating rapidly. He connected one end of the batteries to a universal port and bent down beside the life pod to look for an inlet for the other end. The pod was completely smooth as though it was shaped from a single piece of material. Opal hunched down and felt around its outer surface, but could not find anything that he could plug the batteries into.
Then, a small box jutted out from outside the pod with a pop.
Found it! Opal let go of the breath he was holding. Then a thought suddenly slipped into his head. Had this thing just popped up automatically? And the inlet model had just been the right one?
He straightened up and glanced at the emergency escape pod. The man’s eyes remained shut. His life signal was at 5%. There was no way he could have been the one to control the pod. What was going on?
Nevermind. Opal plugged the batteries in to recharge the pod. Its energy level had gone up to 27% and the purple in the nutrient solution began to lighten. Blood seemed to flow back into the man’s body and his life signal began steadily increasing.
Opal stared at the life pod some more and began speculating about where this man had come from. Perhaps there had been a war and he was forced to land on this planet? Or maybe he was a wanted criminal…. Opal felt a wave of anxiety wash over him. What if he was a bad person? Then again, the deed was already done, and he didn’t know whether his decision had been right or wrong.
Hopefully he was going to get better.
Opal strolled backwards for several steps then turned on his heels and went home with E7.
The sandstorm had lasted three whole days. The weather was better some of the time and worse at others. Opal made sure to spend a little bit of time everyday to check on the spacecraft deep in the desert.
The man’s conditions gradually improved. His wounds showed signs of healing every time he went to check on him, and his destroyed limbs had begun to regenerate. The fact that such extensive damages could still be treated was quite astonishing in and of itself. Opal thought that the nutrient solution must have been a very special kind of life support device. It retained the vitality of the blood cells and directed it back into the wounded body when the energy of the life pod reached a sufficient level.
While the storm raged, Opal had to recharge the batteries twice. On the last day, he saw the man’s life signal had returned to 55% while the light on the pod’s energy level remained at 10%.
What does it mean? Opal was baffled and was about to turn and leave. The weather had brightened up. This was the last day of the sandstorm. Just as he was hopping onto the mining truck, the sound of metal pieces falling apart came from behind him.
Opal turned his head in confusion, but noticed that the life pod had disappeared. The man lay wetly on the sand floor.
“Hey!” Opal called as he turned and ran towards him. “Are you okay?”
The older man’s skin was pale, but his shapely figure looked strong. He was more handsome than any miner that Opal had ever encountered, all slender limbs and toned muscles. Opal couldn’t help but marvel at how well-built his body was. This was truly a perfect man.
Yet, the man’s eyes remained shut, clearly in a coma. Opal brought a piece of canvas from the car and wrapped him inside, carrying him into the backseat of the truck. He was taller than Opal by at least half a head and weighed considerably more. Opal placed his hand under his nose—and felt him breathe.
His chest rose and fell rhythmically. His wounds had been healed.
Another three days passed.
Dusk peered into the hut. The man that Opal had brought back several days ago opened his eyes. He shifted with discomfort, and knocked over the metal box overhead in the process. The desert needled-ruby flowers,[6] along with the soil they were buried in, tipped over with a bang that woke him up completely.
He got up in an abrupt motion, which aggravated his wounds. After a round of violent coughs, he narrowed his eyes and began recollecting what had happened before falling onto this planet.
His memories returned and he began scanning the hut with his eyes in what little light the setting sun was able to lend him. The toppled metal pail was splattered on the floor. He picked it up carefully and placed it back on the lop-sided bedside drawer. He moved to sit in a wooden chair while eyeing the three-legged table supported on its fourth leg by a large rock block. It appeared to be glued to the table and the rock’s base looked as if it was part of the hut’s foundation.
There were quite a number of crystal ores on the shelf racks. This appeared to be a mining planet. The man squinted his eyes and assessed the picture stuck on the wall.
A strong-looking woman in a helmet cradling a child who appeared barely ten years old. She smiled at the man from across the yellowed, old photograph.
The man got up from the bed[7] and noticed that his silver bracelet was placed beside his pillow. He put the bracelet on, pulled a piece of linen at random to wrap around his waist like a long skirt and paddled around the small hut.
The entire space was barely ten square meters in size. Aside from the bed, table, bedside drawer, and storage shelf, there were no other pieces of furniture.
The door rumbled open. Opal, carrying a large jug of water with him, exclaimed in excitement. “You’re awake?”
The man raised his head. “Hello, friend.”
Opal placed the jug of water beside the bed. “I saw that your spaceship had fallen into the desert.”
Opal began describing how he had found the spaceship, then asked casually, “Are you feeling better? What’s your name? How did you get here? You looked like you were pretty badly wounded a few days ago, make sure you rest well.”
After a moment of silence, the man opened his mouth. “Why did you save me?”
Opal couldn’t explain why he had saved him either. He looked at the man and felt a bit strange.
The older man sat on the bedside, his bare chest and shoulders possessed a kind of male power and beauty. His light grey hair was not too long, just managing to cover his ears. His neck was clean and pale, the bridge of his nose was high and straight, and his eyes held clarity.
His lips were shaped gently. Though having slept for six whole days and being critically wounded has made him look slightly too pale.
“No reason in particular. I didn’t…want to watch you die, I guess. You were in danger, so I just wanted to help.”
“You knew that the life pod needed energy?” The man asked.
“I took a guess. If I had left you alone, what would have happened? Would you be dead?”
The older man paused for a moment. Opal bent down and sat beside him on the bed and spoke after pondering some more. “I guess…um, probably not, right? Maybe you’d have kept sleeping. What’s that term called? Right. Hibernation.”
“I would have died. Blood cells can only survive in the life-support solution for 72 hours.”
Opal shuddered with lingering fear. The man nearly didn’t survive.
The older man spoke as he turned his head towards him. “My name is Lektor. Please keep it a secret for me.”
Opal could still barely process anything, and nodded his head perfunctorily. “Okay.”
“Promise me that you will,” Lektor insisted.
Opal thought that he was rather ungrateful, not even bothering to say a word of thanks after all that had happened. But it was his idea to save the man, so there was no point in bringing it up. Rather, he felt that since he had already helped him once, he might as well follow through with it. Besides, it’s not like he would just kick the man out right after he had just managed to revive him.
“I promise!” Opal answered. “Do you want some water?”
Lektor was indeed parched, taking the water jug that Opal handed him and gulped down nearly half of it. Opal looked on, slightly pained. “Drink it slowly. There’s only so much water for the next three days.”
Lektor swiped at the corner of his lips with his wrist and asked after a moment of silence. “Why do you have so many rhodovena crystals?”
“To sell for money. And to keep some around for fun.”
“Are there any spaceships nearby? The regular smaller low-altitude ships would suffice. Phoenix A-types or A12—”
Opal stared at him blankly. “No. What are those? Are they the newest models?”
“Small transport spacecraft then. Pioneer III. Are there any of those?”
Opal shook his head.
“What about space shuttles from Aquablue?”[8]
Opal finally heard a term he understood and smiled. “Is it this?”
He turned on the projector on E7’s head. It showed an advertisement on a screen billboard—Planet Aquablue’s New Age Cruise Space Shuttle, Good for Water, Land, and Sky.
It was an ad from ten years ago, showing a charming small two-seater spaceship against the backdrop of an indigo ocean that stretched on.
Lektor rejoiced. “Yes, exactly this. Where is it? Take me there.”
“There isn’t one.”
“….”
“I’ve only seen it once.”
”Where?”
“On an e-zine. Here. A merchant who travelled to this planet a while back gave it to me.”
Lektor was completely lost for words.
Opal took out a stick of rye baguette and broke it in half, handing Lektor one of the halves. Lektor took the bread and bit into it. The texture of the bread felt dry and coarse, and swallowing it was like swallowing sand. Lektor ate his piece, only managing to swallow it with a gulp of water after every bite. Opal, on the other hand, nibbled at his slowly and only took a sip of water once in a while.
“Water seems to be a precious resource.” Lektor stated. “Why not live on a different planet? You seem to be in good shape. You could consider settling down elsewhere.”
“But where though? I’ve never left my home planet before.”
His eyes were fixed on the delicate silver bracelet around Lektor’s sturdy wrist as he spoke. Lektor took it off. “This is your home planet? Do you like the bracelet?”
“I don’t want it. I’m just curious,” Opal said. He took the bracelet in his hand and examined it for a bit. The bracelet seemed to be made of a special kind of material, probably a memory alloy. He returned it to Lektor.
“How do you communicate with the central regions of the Ignitis system?” Lektor asked.
“There’s a spaceship that comes here every orbit to transport the ores and to bring necessities to sell to the miners here.”
“How many full rotations comprise one orbital period on this planet?”
“About a thousand. A thousand and some.”
Lektor glanced outside the window. “A full day here seems to be about 25 Cosmic Hours. Between now and a little while ago, the angle of the shadow has moved just over two centimeters.”
Opal nodded his head slowly. “You’re pretty observant.”
Lektor couldn’t finish eating the bread and soaked the rest of it in a small glass of water. “Some planets have two suns and others have six moons, with some rising while the others set. Don’t you want to leave here and see the vast expanse of this universe?”
“I…don’t really know where to go. The people here aren’t supposed to leave at will. Besides, spaceship tickets are expensive. Really, really expensive.”
Lektor wrinkled his brows in confusion.
Opal shrugged. “A single ticket would cost the equivalent of a hundred thousand Energy Units in crystal ores.”
“What era do you live in? Why are Energy Units still being used as the standard currency?”
Opal looked confused. “What are we supposed to be using?”
Lektor suddenly realized something, looking alarmed. “This is a slave planet in disguise, isn’t it?”
“I don’t think so,” Opal responded. He did recall that one time from a while back, the scholars that came to observe their planet on a spacecraft had also mentioned a similar term. “What’s a slave planet?”
“I see,” Lektor muttered in a low voice.
Opal looked at him strangely. Lektor spoke, “Interstellar slavery should have been abolished. The keeper of this planet shall be brought to the Cosmic Court.”
Opal had already heard too many new words at this point and didn’t know how to give a proper response, so he asked instead, “Is ‘slave’ referring to miners like us?”
Lektor stayed silent for a long, long time. He spoke, but didn’t answer his question. “I need to get out of here.”
“Where to? Do you have a spaceship?”
“No. But starting tomorrow I’ll have to live somewhere else so that I don’t bring unnecessary trouble your way. My opponent is extremely dangerous and might even follow me to this planet.”
Opal’s heart skipped a beat. He recalled the wounds on Lektor’s body when he first saw him. Lektor seemed to know exactly what he was thinking and added casually, “But it’ll at least be safe for the time being. Sleep now. Sorry that I took your bed.”
“Oh no, you can keep sleeping there. Your wounds aren’t even healed yet,” Opal said hurriedly.
He organized his things and laid a piece of cloth on the floor, and closed his eyes. “Is that your mother in the photo?” Lektor asked in the dark.
Opal hummed in agreement, and Lektor continued. “Where is she? Can I speak with her?”
“She died in a mining accident.”
“What about your father?”
“I don’t know who he is.”
In the quiet of the night, Opal, who was forever carefree, gradually fell into a slumber.
Translator’s Notes:
If you would like to navigate to the next chapter quickly, you can scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page (past the comments section) where you’ll see the next chapter button.
Ivory Crescent 
If Opal’s mom couldn’t escape before, then Lektor can’t either. But I bet he’s not gonna accept that fate.
Opal is so awesome! He’s so young, yet compassionate and clever. His carefreeness must be necessary to keep on living on that harsh planet.
I’m really intrigued. Count me in! Thanks for your Hard work!
Hi, I love this story. Thank you for translating into English. I intend to translate it into Spanish. Would you give me permission to translate it? I will put the corresponding credits
Hi! Yes, feel free to translate it into Spanish. In addition to noting that it’s a secondary translation (if you plan to base your translations on our English translation), could you please provide a link to the original work on jjwxc (http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=1455190)?
Also, if you would like to provide a link to your translation once it’s posted, I can make the link available on the story’s summary page as well.
ahhh this sounds amazing so far, i’m excited to spiral further into my feitian spiral. thank you for your hard work!! ^3^)♡
Hello, I really like Fei Tian’s novels and I was wondering if I could get your permission to use your translation as a basis for Brazilian Portuguese, I will give the credits, and if you want I will send you the link when you post.
Hi! Of course, you’re more than welcome to do so! Feel free to send me the link to your translation when you decide to post them and I can add the link to the main page. Just as a heads up, there may be some changes to the text here and there, as new information is revealed throughout the novel. If you would like for me to update you on these changes, feel free to bug me on twitter or the feitian server!
Leave it to me! I’ll try to post tomorrow to send you the link.
Hello, I posted the first chapter of The Star Knight, here is the link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/249313261-o-cavaleiro-estelar
Thanks for the link – I’ve added it to the summary page (do you prefer to be credited as Binghua as per your Wattpad id or kjuchan?)
Sorry I didn’t answer you earlier. It may be Binghua, I am used to being called by that name.
Sounds good – that’s what I had on the summary page but wasn’t sure if you wanted to go by a different name so I thought I’d ask 🙂
Hi, sorry for the inconvenience. I temporarily removed The Star Knight from Wattpad as there are many cases of banning, so I decided to post on a website to be more secure. If you want to change the link from the novel on Wattpad to the one on the site feel free, here is the link: https://blnovels.net/novel/o-cavaleiro-estelar/
Okay no worries at all! I’ve updated the link on the summary page now 🙂
This novel is interesting! I am excited for the MC’s life journey. And also, I like his attitude. Thank you for this, I am really a fan of Sci-fi/Mecha Yaoi setting. As long it is futuristic genre, I will read it surely.
Yay another scifi-lover! Hope you enjoy this one (´▽｀)
Hi Naphyla, how are you? Sorry to bother you again. I wasn’t translating “The Star Knight” because I was busy these months. But now I am continuing the translation and I posted it on Wattpad again, if you want to put the Wattpad link, because it is more advanced. Here the link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/249313261-o-cavaleiro-estelar
I’m loving the novel, thank you so much for making this wonderful story available.
Yeah of course that’s not a problem 🙂 I just updated the link on the summary page. And take your time with the your translations! Just do it at whatever pace feels more comfortable for you! 🙂
Sorry, I’m probably not as responsive on wordpress as I should be, but if you need to get a hold of me quickly in the future, I’m pretty active on twitter and the Feitian discord!
Thank you for understanding. If it is not a nuisance, could you send me the link to the Feitian Discord?
Yup for sure – here you go! https://discord.com/invite/dSzPNq4