When Cheng Li woke up, she found herself lying inside a transparent chamber. Her eyes moved slowly, while her body remained in a semi-paralyzed state.
Could it be that she hadn’t died?
Impossible. She had already detonated her crystal core!
Cheng Li was certain she should have died, yet she could not explain the situation before her. Her gaze swept across the surroundings. It was a spotless white room filled with all kinds of equipment she did not recognize. It resembled a hospital ward, yet it was completely different from the wards before the apocalypse. It possessed a far stronger sense of advanced technology.
Just then, the sound of several footsteps approached from afar.
“A prodigy from the First Military Academy ending up crippled like this is truly regrettable.”
“If they had implanted cultivated bones the moment he was admitted, it wouldn’t have been impossible for his legs to grow back.”
“Even if they regrew, the new legs might not function as well as the original ones. If he wants his strength to return to its former level, that’ll be difficult!”
“That’s true as well. Besides, the cost is too high. Even for a family as wealthy as the Yuan family, cultivating a pair of leg bones would severely damage their finances and vitality.”
“Money can always be earned again. In another family, people would bankrupt themselves to save their own child. The Yuan family refusing treatment ultimately comes down to the fact that the current matriarch isn’t Yuan Mu’s biological mother.”
“Ah, what a pity for such an exceptionally talented young man.”
“But if we’re talking tragic, the girl in this ward has it even worse. She lost an arm, and not a single family member has come to see her.”
“……..”
The footsteps drew closer and closer, and Cheng Li finally saw the newcomers. They were several women dressed in white uniforms. From their conversation, she could tell they were doctors or nurses.
“You’re awake? How are you feeling?” one of them asked Cheng Li.
Cheng Li blinked. Just as she was about to speak, she realized her throat was terribly hoarse.
The woman pressed some sort of switch, and the transparent chamber lowered. She helped Cheng Li sit up and handed her a cup of warm water. “You’ve been asleep for three days. Drink some water before you talk.”
Out of habit, Cheng Li reached for it with her right hand, only to notice something wrong. Her entire right arm was gone from the shoulder down!
The nurse’s eyes were filled with pity and sympathy. “After your injuries recover, you can consider installing a mechanical arm. A mechanical arm is just as flexible as a real one. It may even be more useful, since it has many functions that human arms don’t possess.”
Cheng Li nodded calmly and accepted the cup with her left hand, draining it in one go. “Can I have another cup?”
Cheng Li was later transferred from the treatment pod to a regular ward. Sharing the room with her was an elderly grandmother with a head full of white hair. When Cheng Li learned that the old woman was already one hundred and fifty years old, her jaw nearly dropped.
What kind of world had she come to?
Several days later, she finally figured out her situation. Her soul had transmigrated from the apocalypse into the interstellar era, into the body of an eighteen-year-old girl who shared her exact same name, Cheng Li.
The people of the interstellar era were divided into three categories: ordinary humans, guides, and sentinels.
Ordinary humans were different from the people in her original world. Their physical abilities were several levels higher. Sentinels were even more remarkable. Besides possessing extraordinary physical strength, they also had powerful mental abilities, making them outstanding talents in every field. As for guides, they stood between ordinary humans and sentinels. Their physical strength was not the greatest, nor was their mental power the strongest, but their abilities were the gentlest. Their mental power could calm violent sentinels and soothe the chaotic mental seas of sentinels.
Sentinels could not live without guides. A sentinel without a guide was nothing more than a maddened beast, violent, bloodthirsty, and mentally unstable, eventually dying in agony.
Guides without sentinels had it just as bad. First, they could not endure the monthly heat cycle that came after adulthood. Second, they would be unable to find emotional support. Over time, this would lead to psychological illness.
Cheng Li secretly felt relieved. Fortunately, this body of hers was neither a sentinel nor a guide.
The Cheng Li of this identity was the illegitimate daughter of the Cheng family. Her mother was a pleasure-seeking mistress. After giving birth to Cheng Li, she extorted a sum of money from Father Cheng, then dumped Cheng Li on him and went off to enjoy life freely.
Cheng Li had lived timidly in the Cheng family for seventeen years. Last year, she entered the First Military Academy. This year, during the midterm examination, her arm was bitten off by the insectoid race. During treatment, the current Cheng Li replaced the original one.
As for where the original host had gone, Cheng Li did not know either.
The school had paid for the medical expenses. From the moment Cheng Li was injured until now, not a single member of the Cheng family had appeared, including the man who was this body’s nominal father.
“Bed 76, you can complete your discharge procedures tomorrow,” the nurse said to Cheng Li. Number 76 was her bed number.
Cheng Li responded with an acknowledgment and began considering where she would stay after being discharged. She could not return to school for the time being. Her body had not fully recovered yet and still needed rest. Moreover, as the number one military academy in the Alliance, it probably had no place for a student missing an arm.
She did not want to return to the Cheng family. She had not inherited the original host’s memories and therefore had no emotional attachment to the Cheng family. The Cheng family likely felt the same toward her. That much was obvious from the fact that none of them had shown up until now.
Looking at it this way, she would have to rent a place.
“Grandma, do you know where I can find cheap rental housing?” Cheng Li asked the elderly woman in the neighboring bed.
“Cheap?” The old woman shook her head. “I don’t know about cheap ones, but I can recommend expensive ones.”
Poor Cheng Li: “………” The original host’s savings did not even reach five digits.
“Go check the StarNet. It has everything on there,” the old woman suggested.
On Cheng Li’s wrist was a smart terminal, a device far more technologically advanced than phones or computers. Besides being more futuristic, convenient, and mysterious, it shared many functions with mobile phones. After fiddling with it for several days, Cheng Li had already become familiar with how to use it.
The planet she was currently on was Alpha Star, one of the Alliance’s main planets. Housing prices here were absurdly expensive, and the cost of living was also extremely high. To Cheng Li’s despair, she discovered that the money in her account was only enough to cover one month’s rent for the cheapest single room available. After renting it, she would be completely penniless and unable to afford food!
Looks like she still had no choice but to return to the Cheng family!
The moment Cheng Li thought of the Cheng family, a communication request popped up on her smart terminal. The contact note read: Father.
Cheng Li accepted the call, and the stern yet handsome face of a middle-aged man appeared before her.
“Come home tomorrow.” There was no concern or greeting. The moment he spoke, it was an order.
“Understood.” Cheng Li thought the timing was perfect. She had been planning to stay at the Cheng family residence for a few days anyway.
The man frowned, seemingly dissatisfied with her attitude. After coldly saying, “The driver will pick you up tomorrow,” he ended the call.
The next day, Cheng Li completed her discharge procedures herself and got into the car sent to pick her up, heading toward the Cheng family residence.
Cheng Li had looked into it before. On Alpha Star, the Cheng family could only be considered a second-rate noble family. Cheng Li’s grandfather had once held real military power in his younger years, and that period had been the Cheng family’s most glorious era. By the time it reached Father Cheng’s generation, although he was a sentinel, his talent was only B-rank. He did not follow the old master’s military path and instead chose business. Relying on the old master’s connections, Father Cheng’s business ventures had done fairly well.
The Cheng family lived in a detached villa. On Alpha Star, where land was worth its weight in gold, that was an extremely rare luxury.
Cheng Li kept her gaze forward, calmly entered through the gate, and walked inside.
The old master had only one child, Father Cheng. Yet Father Cheng had six children. Aside from the three born to Mother Cheng, the other three were born to women outside the marriage.
The moment Cheng Li stepped into the living room, everyone’s gaze swept toward her in unison. More precisely, their eyes landed on her completely missing right arm.
Their gazes held indifference, ridicule, and schadenfreude. The only things absent were sympathy, pity, concern, or heartache.
“Grandfather, Father.” Cheng Li greeted the old master and Father Cheng.
“We called you back today to discuss your marriage.” The old master stared fixedly at Cheng Li with his cloudy eyes, unable to suppress his surprise. So this granddaughter he had always ignored actually possessed quite an outstanding appearance.
Cheng Li froze. This body was only eighteen years old, so why were they already discussing marriage?
“My older brothers and sisters aren’t married yet. There should be an order according to age. Skipping directly to me doesn’t seem very appropriate, does it?” Cheng Li had no interest whatsoever in the marriage they were talking about. Her instincts told her this was definitely not a good match.
“Because you’re the only suitable one.” Father Cheng wore a stern expression.
Cheng Li: “……….. Why am I suitable?”
“Because the other party is disabled too.” The one who answered was Cheng Li’s eldest sister, Cheng Yingying.
“You’re missing an arm, and he has no legs. Aren’t you perfectly matched?” Second sister Cheng Yueyue said with a faint smile.
“He’s the eldest son of the Yuan family and an SS-rank sentinel. If he hadn’t lost his legs, even if you wanted to marry him, he wouldn’t even look at you.” The speaker was third brother Cheng Haoyu.
Fourth brother Cheng Rui and sixth sister Cheng Yan were both illegitimate children as well, so they did not join in the mockery.
Cheng Li raised an eyebrow. Surnamed Yuan, missing both legs… why did that sound somewhat familiar?
“He’s willing?” Cheng Li asked in return. Toward this man she had never met, who shared the same unfortunate fate as her, she suddenly felt a trace of sympathy and mutual understanding.
“This is a marriage agreement decided by both families,” the old master said. His meaning was clear. Whether it was Cheng Li or the legless young master of the Yuan family, neither of them had the right to refuse.
Cheng Li obediently shut her mouth. After surviving several years in the apocalypse and repeatedly hovering on the brink of death, she had long since become indifferent toward love. As for marriage, her attitude was even colder. It was nothing more than something optional and insignificant.