The Star Knight - 4. Chapter Four

The last wave of trade ships before winter landed on the B11 star. Hundreds of thousands of miners walked out of every hole and village on the planet to the Central Rift Valley. The merchants from the Chiyan Star set up a protective shield at the top of the canyon that stretches for thousands of miles. The color and light change like a safe haven, which can effectively avoid sandstorms and electromagnetic interference on the B11 star.

The foremen held a thick sheet in their hands, on which the energy units accumulated by the miners were registered. Those who were called came to receive a receipt, holding it, they could enter the market and trade with the merchants.

Opal ran down the rift quickly, took his order, and checked the data above.

“Hey! This is not right!” Opal exclaimed angrily: “I have at least 150,000 energy units, why do I deduct so much!”

Several other foremen came over and said loudly: “What’s the problem! Hey! It’s you who are talking over there!”

Opal retreated half a step, the foreman looked at him coldly, Opal hurriedly collected the order, a small-scale riot was calmed down, Opal suppressed his anger in his heart and turned to enter the market.

“What happened?” Reckett stood in an inconspicuous place on the edge of the market, his cloak covered his face, but this handsome man was still tall and outstanding, and many miners looked at him in surprise.

Opal said: “They used the excuse of ore precision to deduct 30,000 energy units from me!”

Rick nodded his head, and walked into the market side by side with him. There were crowds of people everywhere. Opal’s anger had not yet completely subsided, and he thought over and over again, why? This year more than last year… 150,000 energy units may have been enough to supply Reckett’s spacecraft, so many of them have been deducted somehow.

“Opal.” Reckett said suddenly.

Opal: “?”

Reckett said: “Forbearance, to fight and fight, you need to become stronger.”

Opal was silent, and after a long time he nodded and sighed.

In the bustling market, the miners were rough-necked and bargained with merchants for a few energy units. The merchants have the best fabrics, ornaments and some artificial gems for ornamental use, and eating utensils from the Chiyan galaxy.

These are cheap, lowest-end wholesale products on the commercial planet. However, after passing through the starry sky gate, on this devoid of minerals planet, it was easy enough to sell at sky-high prices and earn the money that miners made after a year of hard work with blood, sweat and lives.

“A penny can’t be less!” The merchant yelled, “Look, this is the plant flower wine from the green Mercury!”

He clinked the bottle and said angrily: “This bottle alone is worth seven hundred energy units! Even a bottle of wine will only sell you one thousand! What else? This is the wine that the imperial nobles drank!”

A group of businessmen around looked mockingly at the group of unseen miners, and Locke asked one of his companions: “Do you want to drink it? Buy a bottle and try it.”

“Drink this in winter, you can smell the plant aroma of green mercury!” The merchant said: “There is a label on it, look good, a bottle of one thousand, a penny can not be less.”

Reckett said: “It’s just the cheapest grass beer in the Green Mercury galaxy. It only takes three credits to drink a bottle in the bar. They changed the bottle and affixed their own printed label.”

Opal asked: “What is the credit point?”

Recht replied: “One credit point a thousand years ago is equal to one energy unit. Since the collapse of the Interstellar Trade Alliance Energy Community, energy units are more valuable than ever. In recent years, they have been raised to about six credit points for one unit. The price of energy units.”

Opal said: “I was cheated, I’m going to remind them.”

“Rock! I tell you!” Opal squeezed through the crowd, but Locke and his partner each bought a few bottles of wine and asked: “Opal, can you get some?”

Opal said helplessly: “Oh, nothing, I just want to tell you that this wine tastes good.”

“I heard that this year’s passes and ferry tickets have risen to 800,000 energy units.” Locke said, “How many have you saved?”

Opal scratched his head and waved his hand: “I won’t buy ferry tickets.”

Reckett has nowhere to go. Opal is walking slowly along the market. The winter here is very cold. He wants to buy an energy battery to make sure that he won’t get frozen. He also needs to buy some 3D electronic magazines to use. Through the long winter. Maybe some video games-Predator II and Ancient Civilization Tomb Exploration. These games are said to be very old, but they are very fun and very expensive.

A game machine requires eight thousand energy points, and each game chip requires two thousand.

“This is the latest release this year, the formation of interstellar romance!” The boss hurriedly said when seeing the business, “Buy one, dew point, you are satisfied!”

Opal took the chip introduction sheet and looked at it over and over again. As soon as it was the coldest time, he would be frozen when he stepped outside. Reckett could only move back from the cave and live with him.

But Reckett knows a lot. Talking around the furnace in the cold winter is also good. This money can be saved. Opal thought for a long time, but decided not to buy it.

“Anya!” Opal called to a girl from a distance.

The girl with the name Anya smiled and turned her head back, with a bright smile on her face, like a flower blooming in a gloomy canyon.

“What are you buying?” Opal said.

Anya said, “This gem… is really beautiful, but it needs 400 energy points.”

Opal looked down for a while. There were many girls gathered in front of the stall. They were the daughters of miners. Every day they walked a long way to fetch water, lift water, knead flour for the foreman, make bread, and some went with the men. Mine work.

“It’s really beautiful.” Opal thought of Reckett having a bracelet, and his bracelet is also very beautiful.

“Opal.” The dark-skinned girl teased: “Are you going to give it to Anya?”

Opal selected for a while, and the girls joked. Opal was teased and blushed and said unnaturally: “We… uh, nothing.”

Anya burst into laughter, like a shy kitten, and said, “Don’t bully him, he doesn’t know anything.”

Opal still knows a little bit about love. He once had the hazy feelings of his youth, but he didn’t have any objects. Mother and father had him because of love. This is the rule of life in the universe. The old people have said that when the time is up, life will blossom and bear offspring, maybe he will have such a day.

In fact, there are many families of miners who have lived on this planet for generations. They have been developing minerals here since a hundred years ago, and their descendants are also miners.

Opal picked one and plans to give it to Reckett in the future, because he will leave sooner or later and keep it as a souvenir.

Suddenly he felt that it was not good to just buy this one, so he took the initiative: “I will give you one too, Anya, what do you like?”

Anya smiled and said, “Thank you then.”

Opal and Anya’s bought a metal bracelet, Opal put it away, and wandered around the market for a while. There were more and more people. Anya didn’t know where he went, nor did Rekert find it. Opal was ready to purchase Materials needed for the winter-a little wine, something with sugar, flour, meat and vitamin pills, energy batteries.

He spent a while in front of the gem stand, silently counting how much it would cost.

“Don’t buy this.” Reckett didn’t know when he would be back.

Opal said: “What?”

Reckett said: “These are not gems, they are mass-produced cheap synthetics.”

Opal had a shock in his heart, and he just bought a bracelet by himself. Reckett probably wouldn’t want it, so he smiled and said, “Are you drinking?”

Reckett said: “I don’t drink the wine here, don’t waste it.”

Opal said: “What about electronic holographic games?”

Reckett looked down where he was pointing, pondered for a moment, and then said: “Don’t do this. You ask him if he has a textbook on the basics of the universe.”

Opal asked in the past, and the boss said: “Yes, this, do you want to read a book? Do you want to watch a movie? There are projectors, a few chips, all made in the Republic… and a collection of Ledgerson’s concerts.”

“Don’t want that.” Reckett’s voice suddenly sounded in Opal’s mind: “Just textbooks.”

Opal’s heart was shocked, and Reckett’s voice echoed in his head again, saying: “Don’t look back, do what I said.”

Opal said: “Just textbooks.”

The boss said: “Not only do you want to sell, who do you want me to sell the projector to? It’s all matching. A total of 18,000 energy points.”

Opal shouted: “Eighteen thousand?!”

The boss said: “No bargaining.” Said Bi and nonchalantly went to introduce another miner: “This is the prince of opera’s ball! A compilation of 1903! Buy one? But it is more beautiful than a woman.”

Opal turned around.

Reckett said: “If you buy it, you don’t need a projector or an opera. Ask him if he has a newspaper? The latest one, the one on the Scarlet Star.”

Opal frowned and asked: “Why? This is a supporting drama, don’t do it for nothing.”

Reckett insisted: “No.”

Opal went back and bought everything that was bundled with the textbooks, and shouted, “Oman!”

Oman was not far away, Opal said: “Let you see this. It’s a movie.”

Opal gave the movie and the opera to Oman, he left the textbook chip, Rechter took it, looked down, and said: “Used goods, a bit old, but barely able to use. Go back and put it in the E7 projector. use.”

Opal asked: “Why not Ledgerson’s opera?”

Recht said casually: “Ledgerson is not a good thing, meaningless, it will attract you to indulge in his singing, you will know later. Please come with me now, I need your help.”

“Why can you speak in my head? This is… what ability?”

“Don’t ask too much, you will know later…”

Opal and Reckett stood not far from a stall, Reckett told: “In the past, I asked for the price. He has two small dark matter batteries.”

Opal went over and asked: “Boss, how do you sell this.”

The boss said: “Don’t touch it randomly. Each 100,000-point energy unit contains dark matter energy equivalent to 150,000 points.”

Reckett’s voice sounded in Opal’s mind: “Bargain, ask him if he can sell two 80,000.”

Opal: “…”

“Can you sell it for two 80,000?” Opal said, “It’s not worth that much money.”

The boss said: “What a joke! There are 300,000 points of energy here! Don’t buy it!”

Reichert said: “This kind of battery is very unstable.”

Opal said: “This battery is very unstable.”

The boss said: “It can be used even if it is unstable, do you understand?”

Reckett said: “This is bought from a pirate, am I right?”

Opal repeated Reckett’s words once, and the boss’s face changed. Opal followed Reckett’s instructions and said: “Dark matter batteries are regulated, and these two are already old. Let me guess… …It should have been taken down from a certain battleship by interstellar pirates.”

The boss said: “He also charged me 120,000 for these two batteries!”

Opal repeated Reckett’s words and said: “If you can’t take it back to Chiyan Planet, look at the manufacturer’s batch number. This should be the warship that sank in the Helix Nebula not long ago. I heard that the spaceship explosion accident is being investigated over there. If you return to the Chiyan Galaxy, you will be arrested, so why bother?”

The boss looked at Opal suspiciously, and Opal said again: “A pirate named Yiluo sold it to you?”

The boss turned blue immediately, and he trembled: “How do you know?”

Opal licked his lips and didn’t speak. Recht seemed to be thinking. Opal said, “Let’s do it, two of them are sold to me at the original price you bought back for one hundred thousand. You have nothing to do with this matter. I I believe you don’t want to get into unnecessary trouble.”

The boss was silent for a moment, and Opal said again: “You will be in danger when you go back with this battery.”

The boss asked: “What do you want dark matter energy for?”

Opal said: “Don’t worry, think about it, I will be back later.”

Opal turned to leave, and the boss hurriedly said: “Don’t think about it, sell you.”

Opal took a deep breath, and Reckett’s voice said: “Take it carefully. It is easy to explode. This is a dangerous product.”

Opal bought two batteries with one hundred thousand energy points, handed them to Reckett, and asked: “Who is Yiluo? Do you know him?”

Reckett said: “I don’t know, I just spied his thoughts and saw this name.”

Opal asked: “Can you know what other people are thinking?”

Rekert: “Only under certain circumstances.”

Opal: “What’s the situation?”

Rekert: “I’m particularly scared, nervous, happy, nervous. When the emotions are strong, I can directly sense it. He was originally annoyed because he couldn’t take these two batteries away, so he could only shoot on the B11 star. This It was a wrong sale, but it was lucky for us.”

Opal suddenly remembered something and said: “That’s it!”

Reckett watched him, and Opal said, “I have spent all my money on batteries. We have not prepared supplies for the winter!”

Reckett put it aside, and Opal said, “What should I do?”

Reckett said, “Go back and pack your things and live in the cave.”

Opal said: “But we will starve to death if we don’t eat.”

Reckett said: “There will be a way, trust me.”

Opal thought about it clearly, and Reckett felt very reliable. Since he said that, he should have figured out a solution, so he went back to pack up his things. That night, a huge merchant ship lifted off, illuminating the dark winter night on the Mining Star. Like the day, leading the foremen and merchants to leave this barren land to spend the winter on other planets.

“I heard that Old Crowe and his son bought tickets for 800,000 energy units.” The miners talked: “I don’t see that he usually saves so much!”

Locke said: “Where can 800,000 go? It’s not about changing to another planet to immigrate, continue mining and work, don’t think about it.”

“Don’t buy it now.” Several miners talked: “It will be more expensive in a few years, hey, opal!”

Opal packed up a baggage and came out of the house, loaded his own supplies, and hugged the small robot E7. He greeted the workers and said, “I’m going to the cave to the west to live for a few days.”

Locke said: “You are crazy! You will be frozen to death!”

Opal said: “No, I will come back too cold.”

Locke said: “Don’t go! It’s ready for winter, let me see, you haven’t bought anything to eat? How do you want to live?”

Opal walked backwards, and smiled as he walked: “I have a way, believe me.” Then he pointed at Locke and took E7 to leave the village and disappeared on the horizon.

The wind blew, Opal walked forward with difficulty against the sandstorm, and a hurricane that obscured the line of sight was set off on the red rock bed. He shouted: “Teacher–! Teacher!”

Opal’s voice was subtle and inaudible, but Reckett heard it. He stretched out his hand and hugged Opal into a cave.

Opal coughed loudly, two simple beds were laid in the cave, two dark energy battery shells were taken apart, and the energy was used up.

“Used up?” Opal asked in surprise.

Lake nodded, and said, “How many days are there enough food and water?”

Opal said: “Less than ten days.”

Reckett pondered for a moment and asked, “How many days will the sandstorm pass?”

Opal said: “It should be sunny tomorrow.”

Reckett said: “Take a rest, I promise you will not starve or die in the cold this winter.”

Opal sat down by the bed in the backer cave, and Reckett inserted the chip into the projector on E7’s head.

“You can read now.” Reckett said.

E7 projected a light screen, and Opal began to teach itself the elementary content of Interstellar United School.

This process took five days. After reading the textbook, Opal’s chip is a bit old. The basic mathematics, mechanics, and simple knowledge of chemistry in it were taught by his mother during his lifetime. The amount of information is too much and too wide, and he can hardly remember anything after reading it.

Five days later, Recht changed a chip and said: “This is some information records and knowledge of the Star Knights. I need you to swear to me that you will never mention to anyone what you have known during this period of time and my name. , My identity.”

Opal said: “I promise.”

Reckett did not speak any more and turned on E7.

This time the projector did not unfold the light screen, but the chip scatters two lights in the light of the projection device and starts to scan the pupil of the Opal.

With a beep, countless information and memories were injected into his mind, cosmic star maps, knowledge of atoms and molecules, energy thrusters, the principles of spacecraft navigation, the generation of black holes and the explosion of stars… tens of thousands of information It made him dizzy.

I don’t know how long it took, Opal stumbled out, holding on to the rock and vomiting loudly. Accepting so much at once, or forcibly injecting it into his memory, caused a strong sense of rejection in his brain.

With a tinkling sound, Reckett was hitting a piece of steel, which was an abandoned mine support he had picked up from nowhere.

“If you are tired, take a rest,” Reckett said.

Opal said: “Is it true?”

Rick nodded, and Opal said: “Can I use this knowledge to repair my mother’s spaceship?”

Reckett said: “The content inside is just the basic principles. I suggest you hire a technician in the future and you can follow along. The world of knowledge has no boundaries. It is impossible for one person to understand everything. Give up some areas appropriately. It can make you more specialized in your own way.”

Opal recalled the principle of the spacecraft. He did not understand too many things, but the computer inside had auxiliary maintenance functions. According to what we saw before, the mother’s spacecraft had a problem with the large atomic furnace, plus her star. Picture… She has no navigation system! Has the star map been stolen? Or is it broken, so it will be stranded on this planet?

Opal thought of the star map given to him by Reckett. Can it be used?

He got up immediately, and Reckett said, “Sit down, there will be a chance in the future.”

Opal walked around in the cave, too excited to describe it in words, the sky was completely dark, and the wind raging around the world was still roaring outside the cave. He wants to know more, sit back and want to put on his glasses.

Reckett knocked on the iron piece without raising his head and said: “Forced information instillation is not very effective. You lack a process of understanding and understanding, so as to avoid greed and chewing. You’d better spend more time thinking now.”

Opal said: “Thank you, teacher.”

Reckett smiled and nodded, Opal asked again: “What are you doing?”

Reckett said: “Build weapons.”

Opal watched his movements, Reckett was shirtless, unscrewing the hot flames on the atomic furnace, the heat made him sweaty, and his muscles were covered with sweat, giving him a majestic beauty.

“Where did the core of the weapon… come from?” Opal looked at the complicated machine in surprise. Is it all handmade by Rekert? Not too possible?

Was it taken down from his spaceship? But where is his ship? Even the rescue capsule was gone… I recalled the first time I saw Reckett, there was only a bracelet on him, nothing else.

Reckett said: “You will know in the future.”

Opal has become accustomed to this answer, so he stopped asking, lying on the blanket and thinking. Too much knowledge these days has brought an unspeakable shock to his thoughts, and his soul seems to experience the deepest tremor. .

It is as if a person finally opened his eyes and saw the vast world and the boundless universe.