"Sister, are you kidding me?"
In the Origin Base lounge, Yuan Mei lay on the bed, watching Shen Qingling walk back and forth, packing her things, unable to believe what he was seeing.
A chance encounter, a tacit cooperation—he had originally thought they would part ways.
He never expected that when Shen Qingling heard he planned to expand his territory in Prison No. 7, she would choose to join him without hesitation.
Yuan Mei was a bit bewildered. He had already made his goals sound ridiculous enough: a Prison inmate telling you his goal was to unify the Saint Federation and conquer the entire universe.
Wouldn't any normal person find that abstract?
But Shen Qingling, after seemingly serious consideration, directly agreed.
"Of course not. Do I look like someone who jokes around?" Shen Qingling looked at Yuan Mei expressionlessly.
"Hold on." Yuan Mei raised a hand, interrupting her. "I speak pretty directly, but what are you after? I really think you have ulterior motives."
That was true; there was no free lunch in the world, and he didn't believe Shen Qingling would blindly offer herself up.
"What am I after? Survival, of course." Shen Qingling raised an eyebrow, her gaze carrying a hint of inquiry:
"You wouldn't think that most people want to escape this Prison, would you?"
Shen Qingling's words stirred Yuan Mei's heart; he sensed her hidden meaning.
"Sorry, I just got caught and don't know much about Sand Mine Star." Yuan Mei waved his hand, signaling Shen Qingling to continue.
"Tsk." Shen Qingling, unsurprised, pulled over a stool and briefly explained the current situation to him.
Shen Qingling was indeed a prisoner from the logistics area; not only her, but her parents were too.
According to her, Sand Mine Star used to be purely a planet for exiling criminals. There were at least nearly ten Prisons in the vast desert.
The administrators of the distant star system sent a group of people to set up camp there, responsible for maintaining the basic operations of the Prisons, which later became the predecessor of the Upper District.
Those who had served their sentences built houses and stayed on the edge of an oasis in the east, where living conditions were slightly better.
As time passed, generations developed, and the Lower District was formed.
Today, in the year 2237 of the Starlight Calendar, Sand Mine Star, although still a remote backwater on the edge of the star system, has formed a very complete social structure.
There is a huge disparity in technology and living standards between the Upper District and the Lower District. The Upper District is even a floating sky city, enjoying most of the resources.
The Lower District remains a slum. People born here are locked to the hot, barren land for life. Some, unable to survive, even voluntarily enter the mines or logistics positions in the Prison to make a living.
In fact, this is a last resort. During the hottest part of the day, the outdoor temperature on Sand Mine Star can reach over 70 degrees Celsius.
Aside from a few specific oases where it is barely habitable, the rest of the Lower District far exceeds the limits of human survival.
Even inhumane places like Prison No. 7 have installed special ventilators in the prisoners' cells to ensure that the entire labor force doesn't die from the heat.
Running away means death; staying in Prison without supplies means death eventually.
Rather than that, it's better to cooperate with Yuan Mei. After all, they had teamed up once. Although she thought he was full of hot air and rarely spoke the truth, he was still a reliable person.
So, while it seemed Shen Qingling had ulterior motives for joining Yuan Mei, in reality, she was out of options.
"I'm really curious, I'm not some decorative vase that eats your food for free. Is my combat power insufficient, or am I not pretty enough?"
Shen Qingling's words were direct. She placed her portable fire suit on the table, spread her hands, and a rare hint of confusion appeared on her usually cold face.
"I'm not that superficial."
Yuan Mei looked at Shen Qingling's face seriously. Although she was indeed very attractive and had the 'older sister' type of figure, none of that mattered to him, a straight man of steel.
What he cared about was whether Shen Qingling could create value for him.
"Then you must be interested in my special ability, right?"
At these words, Yuan Mei's pupils contracted slightly.
"You hesitated. Just as I thought." Shen Qingling's lips curved slightly, looking somewhat smug.
"You're clearly a very observant person. I don't believe you didn't see me use my ability when we were fighting the Hanged Man earlier."
Seeing that he had been seen through, Yuan Mei no longer pretended to be foolish:
"Do you know what your ability is?"
This question finally stumped Shen Qingling. She shook her head and said, "I don't know. I only know I suddenly had it when I was ten."
"It's right that you don't know." Yuan Mei slapped his thigh, looking like a wise old man. "Psionic power. Throughout the entire Saint Federation, it's hard to find a second one."
"You seem to know a lot?"
"Nonsense, I'm a scientist!"
"But you said you were a Prison guard earlier."
"You also said you were a pri—" Yuan Mei stopped mid-sentence, realizing his mistake, and quickly changed the subject:
"When you're out and about, your identity is what you make it."
"No need to talk so much, it's settled. I have a favor to ask of you, and you want to study the Psionic power in me. Mutual benefit, how harmonious!"
Shen Qingling had achieved her goal and was too lazy to argue with Yuan Mei. She picked up her fire axe, ready to get up and leave.
"I'm going to the logistics area to get some food. Don't die on me."
"Can't you wish me something good?"
Before Yuan Mei could finish his complaint, Shen Qingling's figure had already disappeared down the corridor.
This kid, everything about her is great, but she just has a mouth. She looks cold, but she's actually a scheming woman... After two coughs, Yuan Mei closed his eyes to rest, resuming his calculations for the upcoming plan.
Shen Qingling was right about one thing: he genuinely wanted to research the Psionic power within her.
The number of empires in this universe was countless, and the differences between races were often vast.
In his previous life, Yuan Mei had unexpectedly come into contact with a scientific officer from a mysterious ancient empire. Very few people knew of their existence, and he happened to be one of them.
The species of this empire believed that no matter how advanced technology was, it was merely an external tool. Therefore, their citizens all pursued sensing a universally existing energy in the universe—Psionic power.
Psionic power itself is an energy universally present in the sub-planes of the universe; it can strengthen the biological entity itself.
The scientific officer from the ancient empire told him that it was extremely difficult for most species to sense Psionic power.
However, for their empire's species, through evolution and adaptation, awakening Psionic power had become a very common occurrence.
Unfortunately, he hadn't researched much in this area in his previous life, and the matter eventually fell by the wayside.
He never expected that in this new life, in this small Prison, there would be a human awakened to Psionic power.
Yuan Mei could hardly contain his excitement. Although his understanding of Psionic power was limited to playing games, years of research memory told him that this Psionic power definitely had great potential.
With some research, he might be able to integrate Psionic power into technology, opening up an entirely new technological direction!
This was also the most important reason he had recruited Shen Qingling to join his empire.
Furthermore, the sincerity she had shown so far was more than enough. In the early stages of pioneering an empire, having such a high-level combatant would make things much easier.
It wasn't just about fighting; she was also a perfect worker.
Yuan Mei exhaled deeply, looking at the dim lounge, intending to rest for a moment before beginning to repair the generator and water pump...
