“An inheritance?”
The nurse’s words completely stupefied Julianna Garland.
Her eyes widened as she turned to the nurse in disbelief.
“A wealthy relative?”
In her memories, the original Julianna’s parents were both Interstellar Remnants.
They had settled in the First Sector of Novus over two decades ago and had never associated with any relatives.
The Astral Domain of Novus was composed of countless planets.
They varied in size, and some of the smaller ones suffered from such harsh environments that they were no longer habitable for humanity.
Julianna’s parents used to live on one such planet that was on the verge of being abandoned.
When they were alive, her parents had mentioned this forsaken land.
The planet was shrouded in miasma, which infected the human body with chronic toxins over the years and led to unpredictable complications.
Since the planet itself was uninhabitable, it could not sustain a food supply.
Consequently, masses of factories, merchants, schools, and even the government withdrew one after another.
It soon became a derelict world.
The couple had exhausted more than half of their life savings to purchase two transit passes to escape that Astral Domain, eventually making their way to the main planet to survive.
Given her parents’ circumstances and their origins on a minor planet, they hardly seemed like the type to have wealthy relatives.
In fact, Julianna had long assumed that they had no surviving family left in the world.
In a daze, Julianna suddenly recalled the moment she first opened her eyes last night.
She had indeed seen a crowd of people gathered around her hospital bed.
A spark of hope ignited within her.
She wondered if there was always a way out, and if, at her lowest and most destitute point, she had miraculously snatched salvation from the jaws of defeat by stumbling upon an unexpected inheritance.
“Yes,” the nurse nodded.
“That’s what I heard.”
Glancing around to ensure no one was listening, she leaned in with a gossipy expression.
“When I came to work this morning, I heard my colleagues say that those lawyers belong to the Aeturnum Law Firm in the First Sector.”
“The Aeturnum Law Firm?” Julianna’s eyes widened.
Having been born in the First Sector, she had naturally heard of them.
It was said that the firm originally originated from Aeturnum.
The planet was initially obscure, but once the Aeturnum Firm made a name for itself across the Astral Domain, the planet subsequently rose to become one of Novus’s Major Quadrants, bustling with prosperity.
The Aeturnum Firm’s headquarters was located on Aeturnum, but beyond their main branch, their elite personnel were also gathered within Novus’s primary Astral Domain.
These distinguished lawyers were masters of the law and frequent guests on the Interstellar Net as well as various television legal channels.
Naturally, their legal fees were exorbitant.
If the nurse was mentioning that some unknown relative had left her a massive inheritance through the Aeturnum Law Firm, then her having a wealthy elder might actually be true!
Julianna nearly wept tears of joy.
But before she could laugh out loud, she suddenly asked, “Is this true or false?”
The nurse replied, “That I don’t know, but my colleagues on the previous shift swore it was true.
One of the lawyers is named Cedric Sutton.
He’s a frequent guest on the Interstellar mediation channel’s program, Inheritance, and a core member of the Aeturnum Firm.
He’s the one leading the team this time.”
“Inheritance?” Hearing this, Julianna immediately felt relieved.
Inheritance was one of the most popular programs on the Interstellar Net.
Airing on a weekly basis, it specialized in mediating inheritance distribution disputes among the wealthy.
Novus’s various Astral Domains, both large and small, supported a total population of over ten billion.
Although the majority of these people lived lives bogged down by a daily grind of trivial struggles, they were incredibly enthusiastic about watching the drama of the rich.
Since its launch decades ago, the show had remained one of the flagship programs of the Interstellar Net.
As the program’s popularity skyrocketed, the lawyers invited to witness and divide the assets became increasingly authoritative.
If this nurse wasn’t spouting nonsense, and Lawyer Sutton, the long-standing fixture of the Inheritance channel, was truly here to bring her an inheritance, then Julianna had hit the jackpot!
That unknown wealthy relative of hers must have left her a mountain of gold!
“Where is this Lawyer Sutton?
Did he leave any contact information?” she hastily pressed.
The nurse answered, “Lawyer Sutton himself seems quite busy.
After you fainted last night, he left temporarily, but he kept some firm personnel here on standby.
A quarter of an hour ago, someone already notified him that you had woken up.
I believe he will appear at the hospital within half an hour.”
She added happily, “It’s such a coincidence.
I definitely have to get a picture with Lawyer Sutton later.”
Half an hour later, just as the nurse had predicted, the rumored and highly renowned Lawyer Cedric Sutton indeed appeared before Julianna.
This undoubtedly proved that the gossip circulating around the hospital was true, which greatly settled Julianna’s heart.
She began to examine the lawyer.
Lawyer Sutton appeared to be around thirty years old, boasting a perfectly toned physique and wearing a sharp, tailored business suit.
Since the hospital in the First Sector had already confirmed that Julianna was not infected by any unknown viruses or parasites, Lawyer Sutton did not wear a protective mask, revealing his handsome face.
He had a lean face and wore gold-rimmed glasses as an accessory, which gave him a gentle and refined aura.
Outside the ward, a large crowd gathered behind the transparent glass to watch.
They held up their wrist communicators, endlessly snapping photos and contacting their friends and family.
Cedric seemed long accustomed to such a spectacle.
Three young men and women followed behind him, each carrying a briefcase.
Cedric looked at Julianna.
“Ms.
Garland?”
Julianna nodded.
He read out the information in his hands piece by piece:
“Julianna Garland, twenty-two years old, born in the Interstellar Era Year 431.
Father—
“Mother—”
After finishing the long string of data and verifying that all the statistics were correct, a faint smile finally graced Cedric’s face.
“Ms.
Garland, in truth, the ancestral home of your father, Howard Garland, is not the abandoned Riven Star listed in your household registration.
The records indicate that his father—your grandfather—was originally from Argentia.
Furthermore, he was not an only child.
He had an older sister.
Before Argentia was abandoned, this Ms.
Garland fled separately from your grandfather, and they lost contact ever since.”
Lawyer Sutton’s words left Julianna completely dumbfounded.
Good heavens.
She had originally thought she was part of the 2nd ‘D’ Generation of Interstellar Remnants.
She never expected that tracing back her ancestry would reveal she actually belonged to the 3rd ‘D’ Generation of the poor!
A vague sense of unease rose within her, but she gave a constrained nod.
Cedric had spent years dealing with people and was as sharp as a tack.
Observing her expression, he had already guessed her inner thoughts and immediately asked, “Ms.
Garland, are you alright?
Can you continue to hear me out?”
Julianna could no longer hold back.
“We’re here today to discuss an inheritance, right?”
Cedric couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Yes.”
Julianna asked again, “Are there any debts?”
Her personal situation was completely transparent to this group of lawyers.
Seeming to read between the lines, Cedric shook his head upon hearing her question.
“The inheritance itself does not come with any debts.”
She let out a sigh of relief.
“Then please, continue.”
Cedric explained, “Your great-aunt, Ms.
Samantha, worked hard her entire life and used all her savings to purchase a planet.
She never married, and in her later years, she had been continuously searching for her relatives.
Half a year ago, using the entry and exit registration records of the Remnants from back then, she finally pinpointed your existence.”
To sum it up in one sentence, he added, “With no one to succeed her, she designated before her passing that this planet would be handed over to you to inherit.”
These words shocked Julianna so profoundly that she couldn’t recover her senses for a long time.
She had initially thought she was inheriting a sum of wealth.
If it could pay off her medical debts and student loans, that would be wonderful.
If there was any left over, it would be best used to buy her a place to live, helping her tide over the gap until she found a job.
Yet, she never expected Cedric to say that the great-aunt she had never even met had gifted her an entire planet.
A look of hesitation appeared on Julianna’s face.
Right at that moment, a notification sound abruptly rang out within her sea of consciousness.
“DING!
Earth Recovery System officially activated.”
Mission 1: Report to Earth Star and initiate the system missions.
Mission 2: Unlock conditions not met.
Please complete Mission 1 to reveal the hint.