On the Star Network, a netizen was idly scrolling through videos. Suddenly, their eyes lit up:
“Wow, which rookie actor is this? So handsome!”
The video the netizen had come across was titled “Super Intense! Watch a Handsome Guy Hunt a Mutant Beast with His Bare Hands.” Unlike Lin Yi’s plain, low-profile live stream, the person who uploaded this video clearly knew how to grab attention. Not only did they choose an eye-catching title, but they also cunningly set the moment Lin Yi turned his head as the video’s thumbnail.
That highly impactful image drew many curious viewers to click on the video.
Before playing the video, the netizen assumed it was a clip from some action movie. After all, the young man in the shot was incredibly handsome, no less so than any popular influencer or actor.
Marveling at how realistic the special effects looked, the netizen hit play. But a moment later, they began to wonder: “Which production studio is this broke? The video quality is terrible.”
They kept watching, and the more they saw, the more astonished they became. The realistic visuals, the occasional shaky camera movements, the rough quality, none of it looked like post-production special effects. Instead, it seemed more like… footage shot on location!
By then, the video was nearing its end. The fresh-faced young man slashed the mutant beast’s throat in one stroke, then looked up at the camera with an expression of wildness and killing intent that contrasted sharply with his appearance.
Even though they had already seen this moment in the thumbnail, the netizen couldn’t help but catch their breath, having watched the entire hunt unfold, the final scene felt even more powerful, leaving them stunned for a long time.
It was just… too cool. Not just his features, but more importantly, the natural aura he exuded, it utterly outshone the stars and actors on the Star Network who had nothing but good looks.
The video ended abruptly there, but those who watched it took a long time to snap out of it.
No one knew who posted the first comment: “One minute. I want all the information on this man. Don’t make me beg!”
This comment was pushed to the top of the likes, clearly, many netizens shared the same sentiment.
But this was only the beginning. As more and more people liked and commented, the video’s popularity began to climb at an astonishing rate…
Having no time to log onto the Star Network, Lin Yi was completely unaware of what was happening around him. The next day, feeling refreshed, he waited at Blue Star’s only spaceport for the cargo spacecraft to arrive so he could trade for supplies.
This time, he came well-prepared, bringing not only the mutant leopard he had hunted the day before but also making a trip to the seed bank to retrieve the alpha wolf’s corpse, which he had been thinking about all along.
After being stored underground for several days, the meat of the alpha wolf was naturally no longer edible, but its pelt remained intact and could also fetch a decent price.
Apart from Lin Yi, a few other refugees were also waiting there, all hoping to trade supplies with the spacecraft.
Seeing the mutant beast carcass beside Lin Yi, the others showed looks of surprise and envy, curiously sizing up this handsome, unfamiliar young man.
Lin Yi simply pretended not to notice the refugees’ peering glances. As soon as the spacecraft landed, he stepped forward to exchange his goods with the person in charge.
Although Blue Star was home to many mutant beasts, hunting them was extremely dangerous, so the spacecraft’s officer rarely encountered people bringing in such prey, let alone two at once.
Surprised and impressed, the officer offered a generous price, and the two beasts sold for a total of three thousand star coins.
Lin Yi had checked the Star Network in advance and knew this was a fair price, so he didn’t haggle. The transaction went smoothly.
Then came the part he had been looking forward to: shopping.
Perhaps considering how poor the refugees on Blue Star were, the spacecraft carried mostly practical goods that were affordable and high-quality. The dazzling array of shelves left Lin Yi spoiled for choice.
In the end, he picked up a bundle of wooden panels to repair the shack, a few bottles of pesticide, a simple folding bed, and a large pile of synthetic ingredients, costing him less than five hundred star coins in total.
He was about to leave when he noticed a crowd gathered around an unassuming shelf. Nearly all the refugees were gathered there.
Curious, Lin Yi went over to see what the fuss was about and squeezed his way to the front.
But after seeing what was on the shelf, he felt somewhat disappointed, it was seeds. Having a seed bank of his own, he naturally had no need to buy seeds. Moreover…
He grabbed a handful of seeds and examined them. They were dry and shriveled, the kind of low-quality seeds that would have been weeded out early under the seed bank’s selection standards. Yet in the interstellar era, they had become treasures that everyone scrambled for.
Seeing that he still had time, he struck up a conversation with the refugee next to him and soon understood the situation:
In the interstellar era, food synthesis technology had indeed been invented, capable of replicating the taste and texture of natural food. But it was too expensive, so poor refugees still chose to grow crops for food.
However, there were only seven or eight types of crops left that could be cultivated, and due to mutation effects, their germination rates and yields had greatly decreased. The seeds Lin Yi had just seen were already the highest quality available. That explained why so many people were fighting over them.
I see… Lin Yi nodded along in the conversation, but his mind was on the seeds still sitting in the seed bank, waiting to be distributed.
If only he could find an opportunity to give those seeds to these people. Unfortunately, he was a stranger here, unfamiliar with the refugees, and speaking out rashly would only arouse suspicion.
He would need to find a way to earn their trust first.
Lin Yi left the spacecraft with a heavy heart, heading back home. Along the way, Professor Zhou’s earnest instructions from the past and the current scarcity of crops in the interstellar era kept surfacing in his mind, stirring his thoughts into turmoil.
It wasn’t until he returned to the house and saw Ah Yun’s excited smile that he finally set aside his worries. He gestured to the bags and bundles in his hands and said, “Big brother brought back a lot of ingredients. What would Ah Yun like to eat? I’ll make it for you.”
Ah Yun’s eyes lit up at the mention of food. She hugged the bag of ingredients and refused to let go. “So much food! I want everything!”
Lin Yi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He flicked the little glutton on the forehead, gently took the bag from her reluctant hands, and carried it into the kitchen. Today was a rare day of bounty, so he generously prepared several dishes.
Soft, sticky rice, melt-in-your-mouth braised pork, and tangy-sweet tomato and eggs were set on the table. Ah Yun could barely contain herself, grabbing a spoon and wolfing down the food.
Lin Yi smiled and told her to eat slowly. He took a bite himself and frowned slightly. He had great confidence in his cooking skills, but with these synthetic ingredients, something seemed to be missing, the natural aroma and flavor of real food.
Take the tomato and eggs, for example. What he had bought was not actual tomatoes but a paste resembling tomato sauce. When used in cooking, it had the sourness of tomatoes but none of the sweetness or fragrance.
Looks like I really need to focus on farming, Lin Yi mused to himself.
After the meal, as usual, he warmed the medicine in the pot and instructed Ah Yun to give it to Lu Jinghan when he woke up.
Come to think of it, it was strange. Lin Yi had checked the man’s injuries and they had clearly improved, yet Lu Jinghan remained unconscious most of the time, only waking up intermittently for short periods.
Lin Yi had looked up this condition on the Star Network, and most answers suggested it might be the result of spiritual power damage. The stronger a person’s spiritual power, the greater the likelihood of a spiritual power surge, and after such a surge, the resulting damage could leave one unconscious.
There was nothing Lin Yi could do about spiritual power issues. All he could do was provide medicine and food to help the wound heal. Fortunately, the man’s vital signs remained stable, and his previously pale complexion seemed to be slowly improving.
With that done, Lin Yi shouldered his hoe and headed out. The land near the house had already been planted with corn. If he wanted to grow other vegetables, he would need to find another place to cultivate new fields.
Although there seemed to be plenty of open land here, finding a plot that was flat, fertile, and unclaimed wasn’t so easy. Lin Yi wandered aimlessly for a while without finding a suitable spot. Before he knew it, he had unconsciously made his way to the settlement where the other refugees lived.
On a patch of farmland near the settlement, a refugee was bent over, working the soil.
Lin Yi stopped to watch. Then, after a moment, he frowned.