Chapter 145: Chapter 144: Saved

PS: I worked overtime last night and got back late. I’ll try to get another Chapter out by noon. Apologies!

As for his identity as a Lord, Yang Bo considered it an excellent contingency plan. Green Demon Star gave him the distinct feeling that it was harboring some massive hidden secret. Why else would this planet have so many Mutant Animals?

Unfortunately, he knew far too little. The Alliance definitely had the records; he just didn’t have access to them.

Following amicable discussions between the Green Demon Star Council and the Alliance Council, Green Demon Star officially achieved autonomy. Third Huang became its first Chief Executive, alongside various newly appointed Speakers and Deputy Speakers. As for judges, however, there were none yet. Given the current state of Green Demon Star, unless surveillance cameras were installed throughout the entire Underworld, gathering criminal evidence would be impossible.

The Alliance had restored the Sentry Base, but it now served primarily as a staging ground for commercial activities. Members of the Mutant Tribe could visit any nearby base to trade various goods. On the flip side, any other Alliance citizens—even those arriving strictly for business—were restricted to the bases and their immediate surrounding areas. Unauthorized entry into Mutant territory was strictly prohibited.

Yang Bo felt completely exasperated. He had been hiding for a month, and the patrols of unmanned Warplanes had grown increasingly frequent, yet he still hadn’t been discovered. Looking at the burrow he had dug, he grumbled inwardly, "Did I do too good of a job digging this thing?"

For the past month, Yang Bo had genuinely stayed holed up in this burrow. His appearance, however, was dreadful, as he was still wearing the same clothes from his time on the Warship.

Meanwhile, the Alliance had intensified its search efforts. However, their attention was divided: a new Fleet had arrived, requiring a rotation of defenses, the restoration of base infrastructure, and the re-establishment of the planetary defense system.

Furthermore, they had to prepare for the handover of suspects detained by the Mutants. These individuals—hailing from various institutions, corporations, and prominent families—were suspected of conducting unauthorized research on Green Demon Star. Regardless of the specifics, these thousands of prisoners had to wait for a Spaceship from the Alliance Ministry of Justice to arrive and take custody.

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

Accompanied by a blaring alarm, Yang Bo breathed a sigh of relief. Because the wild grass had been interfering with their scans, the unmanned Warplanes had to perform an ultra-low altitude sweep before finally detecting his smartwatch signal.

Aboard the newly arrived Warship, a middle-aged man stared at a monitor showing that an unmanned Warplane had located a surviving resident.

"There’s still someone alive down there. I didn’t expect these civilians to be so resourceful."

"No kidding. If it were me in that environment, I probably wouldn’t have lasted an hour."

"Exactly. Not to mention how utterly chaotic it was during the incident."

Inside the Warship’s control room, the crew watched the screen as a man timidly crawled out of a burrow. His hair was matted into clumps, and he was nothing but skin and bones. Judging by the state of the burrow, he had been surviving in it for a long time. In his hand, he still clutched a half-eaten wild grass root.

"He’s actually just a civilian resident." The Warship Captain was astonished as he read the data retrieved from Yang Bo’s smartwatch. In the eyes of the military crew, regular residents were the lowest class, practically useless individuals.

"The Alliance is going to have to pay out a massive sum this time—more than enough for this resident to live out the rest of his life in comfort," the Captain mused, realizing another implication. Ironically, the compensation for the deceased wasn’t actually that high. But for a survivor seeking damages for psychological trauma, a lawsuit could result in an astronomical payout—especially since this entire incident had to be kept strictly under wraps.

Yang Bo was placed into a medical pod, which was then loaded onto a Warplane.

"I demand to see a lawyer! Do you have any idea what I’ve been through these past few months?" Just as Yang Bo climbed out of his medical pod upon arrival, he heard someone shouting at the top of their lungs.

Looking over, he saw several other surviving residents. They were in a similar state to him, though they had already been cleaned up and given fresh clothes.

Yang Bo also refused further medical examinations. After washing up and changing his clothes, he grabbed a carton of milk and walked back out, once again encountering the man who had been demanding a lawyer.

"Brother, you’re incredibly lucky to be alive too," one of the emaciated residents said as the group quickly surrounded Yang Bo.

"You are...?" Yang Bo looked at their gaunt faces, unable to recall who any of them were.

"We’re all immigrants from March Star, brother! I remember seeing you back then. You like to read, right? You were always reading on the Warship every day," one of the men quickly explained.

"So, guys, how much money are we planning to demand this time?" Yang Bo still didn’t recognize them, but that didn’t stop him from discussing the impending compensation.

After all, who would turn down more money? He planned to use the funds to build his own laboratory and perhaps even a small Shelter once he settled down. The justification would be perfectly simple: he had been deeply traumatized by this incident. Then, he could secretly try his hand at manufacturing a Mecha, or even attempt to build a Spaceship. If anything went wrong, it would make for a convenient getaway.

"At least one hundred million Credit Points each." The one who had just spoken to Yang Bo was a middle-aged man. He was so emaciated that he was essentially a walking skeleton, and much of his hair had fallen out. He looked like a genuine, suffering resident.

Another survivor, a gaunt young man, scoffed dismissively. "How is a hundred million enough? There’s clearly something bizarre going on with this planet. They’re definitely going to make us sign non-disclosure agreements."

"Exactly," the other two survivors nodded in agreement.

In total, there were four other survivors besides Yang Bo, including one woman. However, given their current state, they all looked more like walking Skulls than living people.

"That’s right. If they don’t give us a satisfactory settlement, we’ll refuse treatment."

"Yeah! We absolutely must see a lawyer!" The group was incredibly agitated, clearly having suffered more than enough over the past month.

Sipping his milk, Yang Bo simply nodded. "I’ll follow your lead."

"Good."

Over the next few hours, more scattered residents were gradually discovered, along with a few surviving Fleet soldiers.

"Mr. Yang, we are from the March Star Special Affairs Office. We have been granted full authority to handle the fallout of the Pado Star immigration incident. If you have any demands, Mr. Yang, please feel free to state them." Sitting across from Yang Bo were three officials: a young man, a woman, and a middle-aged man.

"I want to know the truth of what happened," Yang Bo said, leisurely drinking from his carton of milk.

"Mr. Yang, I must warn you: this incident has extremely broad implications and involves several extremist organizations. If you insist on going through formal legal proceedings, I’m afraid you might make yourself a target for those very organizations," the middle-aged man cautioned, staring intently at Yang Bo.

With a single glance, Yang Bo could tell that these three were playing a classic good cop, bad cop routine. However, he had only asked out of curiosity; he never actually intended to pursue legal action.

Feigning hesitation, Yang Bo asked, "Alright then. What is the absolute maximum compensation you can offer?"

"Fifty million Credit Points," the young man answered immediately, keeping a close eye on Yang Bo’s reaction as he spoke.

"Plus a prime piece of real estate," he added. "And if you agree to sign an early settlement, Mr. Yang, you’ll be given first pick of the best properties available." The young man continued monitoring Yang Bo’s expression, carefully using it to gauge whether he should push further or hold back.

Yang Bo shook his head. "One hundred million Credit Points. I don’t want the real estate, but I do want the right to purchase a plot of land with tax-exempt status. As long as I reside there, both the land and any structures built on it must be completely tax-free."

"Mr. Yang, about that..." The woman hesitated, looking directly at him.

Yang Bo shook his head again, cutting her off. "If you refuse, then we’ll settle this in court. At worst, I’ll take my payout and immediately emigrate to another nation to hide. The extremist organizations won’t necessarily hunt me down—after all, I’m far from the only survivor involved in this."

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