Chapter 13
It seemed that Kadir must have mentioned something to the interstellar police in advance, as they didn’t bother questioning Opal when they arrived. Instead, they only brought Ugo onto a spaceship and quickly asked him about some of the recent events. When Opal called his workmates out from the caves they had been hiding in, the crowd surged with emotions, so overwhelmed that they could barely speak coherently.
By the time Ugo returned from the spaceship, his leg had been treated using the medical equipment onboard.
Meanwhile, the mechanics on Kadir’s ship were helping Opal fix his spaceship. Kadir had graciously offered one of the spare engines from his ship and installed it on Opal’s spacecraft.
“Thank you, Kadir,” Opal said, pressing his left hand against his right shoulder and bowed to the other man.
“This…this is….” Kadir hadn’t expected to be shown such an honour and quickly thanked him, “You’re most welcome.”
He took out an identification card and handed it to Opal. “With this card, you’ll basically be able to get by in most civilized sectors of space without issue.” Opal put it away and thanked him again. The medic that Hollens & Co. had brought along on their spaceship walked over and covered Opal’s wound under a device. The device worked by producing cosmic rays that would help stimulate muscle regeneration.
Opal and Kadir Hollens sat side-by-side in front of the rift valley, looking on at the interstellar police interviewing the local miners. They asked each of them questions, made records, and then collected their fingerprints and retinal scans.
“What are your plans after this?” Kadir asked.
“I’m leaving. Coccina isn’t for me,” Opal responded.
“You’ll keep supporting me, won’t you?”
Opal cast a strange glance at Kadir before nodding. “Of course.”
Kadir relaxed. “My friend, if I want to get in touch in the near-future, how do I—”
“I’ll find a way to contact you,” Opal interjected quickly.
Kadir nodded and Opal continued, “If you run into trouble, I’ll be sure to lend you a hand.”
As soon as Opal mouthed those words, Kadir looked as though a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders, turning to pat Opal’s shoulder gratefully. “Thank you!”
Understanding dawned on Opal in that moment. He was the Dark Star Knight Klorin’s protege in Kadir’s eyes. The man only held him in high regard in order to gain Klorin’s favours.
And according to Lektor’s description, this Klorin person was a cruel man who killed others without even batting an eye. If Kadir were to become acquainted with his student and received a pledge in return, it would go a long way for him and his company.
Once Opal connected the dots, he was a bit disheartened by the kind of friendship this turned out to be, but he also didn’t plan to come clean about who he really was. Kadir had provided a great deal of help, certainly. But on the flip side, Opal had, in a sense, also helped him obtain the extraction rights on B-11 and offered him the opportunity to bring down a major competitor. It was tit-for-tat and things between them should have evened out, but no one could predict what might happen in the future, so Opal only nodded slowly. Then, as though struck by a sudden thought, he opened his mouth with a casual request. “Kadir, I would like for you to help keep my identity a secret for the time being.”
“Of course,” Kadir responded.
“Including my meister. But…I think you won’t have to keep it a secret for long. He’ll find out sooner or later.”
It was a bit of a sleight. The person Opal referred to was Lektor, but to Kadir’s ears, he was addressing Klorin. Opal didn’t quite feel at ease about his trick either. He didn’t want to think about what might become of him if the man not even Lektor could defeat found out that someone in the universe dared to pretend to be his protege.
Kadir looked a little surprised, but thinking that Opal might have had his own reasons, simply nodded in acknowledgement. “Of course.”
Opal flashed Kadir a smile and gave him a pat on the back. His now-healed shoulder was as good as new. “I need to go move some stuff. I left quite a few things inside the warehouse.”
“Actually, I’ve prepared some credits for you—”
“No, no. You’ve already helped me enough,” Opal declined his offer immediately.
Opal was adamant in his refusal, leaving Kadir to concede with a nod of his head. The interstellar police force had started their manhunt and began going after the remaining Black Rock Mining employees on B-11.
Kadir returned to deal with any loose ends and assisted the police in temporarily taking over management of this planet, leaving Opal to stand to one side as he watched the mechanics work on his ship. They were well-equipped with tools: maglev jacks, light meters for making meticulous measurements, even a metal melting furnace. After pulling up the engine model on the computer, the mechanics cast a mould by pouring molten metal directly from midair while leveraging anti-gravity technology to create the cast.
“This engine model was made more than 30 years ago, Empire-built,” the mechanic said. “We don’t have a detailed blueprint of it, so we installed a newer engine model made by Cruise Discovery. The ship’s outer shell had also been patched up for you, sir.”
“Thanks. Could you give me the original engine model and manufacturer?” Opal asked.
This was his mom’s ship. If he found the manufacturer, maybe he could uncover the circumstances surrounding his birth.
“Of course.” The technician handed over a microchip containing specification information about the spacecraft.
Opal drove the mining truck and moved the rhodevena crystals from inside the cave onto his ship as the two mechanics watched. “You don’t have a stellar chart. It’s quite important for interstellar navigation. Would you like to have one requested from headquarters for you?”
“No, I’ve got one. Thanks though,” Opal answered.
Stellar charts were like nautical charts used to navigate the oceans. They contained records of the relative position of every galaxy to one another. Currently, the majority of spaceships used the Grand Cosmos Stellar Chart made in the Republic and were extremely expensive. The mechanics didn’t want to make any assumptions despite the apparent good relations Opal shared with Kadir.
The vast majority of spaceships were equipped with only one stellar chart system. The more expensive a stellar chart was, the more detailed its mapping. Countless sectors within the universe were still left unexplored by humans, so a stellar chart with more detailed information would help point to areas not known to many others. As such, a stellar chart was like the soul of a spaceship. The reason why Opal’s mother had been left stranded was precisely because she had lost her stellar chart.
Adventurers favoured a thoroughly detailed stellar chart system above all else. Some might even choose to sell all of their assets in exchange for a stellar chart with an even more complete set of coordinates than what they had.
Opal inserted the stellar chart that Lektor had left him into an indent in the centre of the navigation system, letting the transparent board sink into the slot gradually.
A giant holographic screen lit up in the middle of the spaceship, displaying an endless sea of stars. With the 3D holographic projection in front of it, the control panel looked almost like a ring-shaped universe. Myriads of micro nebulas twinkled, appearing like a million specks of light as they gently revolved around him.
Opal spun the 3D navigation stellar chart in his hand, giving it a blank look as he examined it from top to bottom.
The two mechanics both let out a gasp. “This stellar chart is quite exquisite. Which company produced it?” one of them asked.
“I’m…not quite sure myself. My meister gifted it to me.”
The mechanics left after they packed up their things. After some more exploring, Opal came across one particular galaxy—the Ares system of the Hydra constellation.
He shut off the navigation station. The stellar chart folded into a thin sheet of light then shrunk into a single ray before finally retracting into the navigator.
Opal picked E7 up and placed it on the afterdeck. A camera lens protruded out from E7, photographing a view of Crimson Sills with a click as Opal contemplated whether he should slip off without a word, or to bid the others farewell before taking off.
“Opal!” Armann jogged over, bringing the others with him.
“How did things go?” Opal asked with a smile on his face.
“They brought everyone out already. Some of them stole some stuff and they’re still making an inventory…. Are you…”
Armann and Locke glanced at the ore-filled interior of the small battleship. “Opal? Where’re you going?” Locke demanded.
“He’s leaving.” Ugo came over to bring Opal into an embrace. “Opal, where do you wanna go? Can’t you take us with you?”
“No, that won’t do. Your wife’s still getting treated on Coccina,” Opal said.
Locke jumped in, “Then I’ll—”
“You guys can’t either. Especially Armann. You’ve gotta take care of your little sister. No, there’s no point in asking. I’ve already made up my mind.”
“Why don’t you wanna go to Coccina? The policemen said that the government will give us jobs. Everything will be okay,” Armann insisted.
Only after a long moment of silence did Opal finally respond. “There’s something I want to do. It’s a dream of mine, Armann, just like how your dream is to live a better life. No, Locke, you can’t! Get down here! I won’t be able to protect you.”
Opal giggled as he dragged Locke down from the spaceship. “Let’s get a photo together. E7, take a picture for us.”
So the others left it at that. The four of them stood against the backdrop of Crimson Sills and its brown mountain range, arms around each other’s shoulders. E7 extended the light-sensing camera, sealing their silhouette in this moment in time with a click.
Opal waved at him as he boarded his ship. “I’ll return in the future! I’ll come find you guys on Coccina. See ya, buddies!”
The others watched as the small battleship made its ascend gradually, spinning around to head up in the blue sky. A rapid burst of flames from its tail propelled the ship forward as it gained speed before it eventually disappeared beyond the planet’s atmosphere.
Opal stood in the middle of the navigation station with the stellar chart displayed in front of him as he pored over the positions of billions of stars. “Navigator?”[1]
A masculine mechanical voice sounded. “Spaceship robot Epoch-VI at your service. What would you like?”
“Hydra constellation, star Ares.”
The stellar chart expanded to show a ringed planetary system as all the other surrounding stars in the area disappeared without a trace. “Is this where the Kingdom of Mercenaries is?” Opal asked.
“Unrecognized prompt,” Epoch-VI responded rigidly. “Please input a new command.”
The voice-prompted machine wasn’t even an AI. The equipment on this ship was seriously behind the times. “This place is fine I guess. Search for planets with civilization.”
The enlarged images of three planets appeared as Epoch-VI began to explain. “Ares system, planet Styrkr.[2] Headquarters of the Interstellar Mercenary Association. Capital planet. Kirgr-5. Conservatory planet. Krigr-7.[3] Mining and energy site.
“Destination, planet Styrkr. Draw up a navigation route,” Opal instructed as he sat down in front of the control panel.
A trace of white light shot out from the dark green planet, passing through nearly half of the planetary system before disappearing at a specific point. Abruptly, the scene cut to Ignitis where the broken light tracks connected once more.
“Position successfully located,” Epoch-VI reported. “Teleportal point: Star Gate Y1750074 to Star Gate T107.”
Opal took in a deep breath. “Begin navigation.”
Epoch-VI left a streak of energy residue as it sailed towards the far-flung Hydra Cluster, 14 million light years away.
—— End of Prologue: A Visitor From the Sanctuary ——
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Translator’s Notes:
Ivory Crescent 
ah damn what a prologue!! and still no ml in sight….or at least i think? you’re a sly one, fei tian. and thank you for the update! 🤍
Haha, he’ll show up soon enough!
Thank you for your comment (灬º‿º灬)♡
And Opal has left his planet of birth behind… And the adventure begins!!
I’m really happy for the miners.
Thanks for the chapter!
i can’t believe this was just the prologue! what a ride that was.
thank you so much for translating!
I’m glad you enjoyed the story so far! 😊
I’m so proud of Opal 😭 he’s going to love his dreams
This gotta be one of the best prologues I’ve read!!
I’m glad you enjoyed the prologue and the story so far (*´ω｀*)
Hello,
Thank you so much for translating ! This story is beautiful ! I love Fei Tian Ye Xiang’s stories 🙂
I’m glad you’re enjoying the story so far 😊