Xie Jianxun said, “No, my family are hunters.”
Xun Jia thought it made sense, but he also felt like he was being fooled.
Xie Jianxun stored the gun back in his Light Brain, not planning to keep it out all the time—it seemed like it would scare his new friend’s nerves. The guy apparently came from a peaceful planet where weapons were never seen in everyday life.
The two walked about two kilometers together, and nothing unusual happened.
Birds circled in the trees around them, and occasionally, sneaky rodents darted by in the distance, startling them both time and again.
As if struck by a thought, Xun Jia kindly reminded him, “Once you’re in the city, you’d better not take the gun out of your Light Brain. Guns are banned in the city.”
Xie Jianxun asked, “Will they scan Light Brains?”
Xun Jia shook his head. “I don’t know. So you’d better get rid of it soon. But speaking of which, how does your Light Brain have such huge capacity? It must have cost a fortune!”
Xie Jianxun tilted his head slightly and observed the young man’s expression from the corner of his eye. He only saw envy and curiosity—no greed showing on his face.
With that reassurance, he began spouting nonsense in all seriousness. “You don’t know, but those big brands are all just rebranded knockoffs. They don’t actually need to be that expensive. I found a bootleg factory that made me a Space Optical Brain for just a hundred thousand!”
Xun Jia listened, stunned. “R-Really? Which factory? Introduce it to me! When I have money later, I want one too…”
The two suddenly fell silent and retreated warily behind a tree trunk.
Two blinding beams of light pierced the night forest—special searchlights from the forest patrol that illuminated every flying speck of dust in exquisite detail.
Faint footsteps sounded as someone appeared around them, stepping on the fallen leaves and heading their way.
Xie Jianxun and Xun Jia hid behind the large tree, not daring to make a sound.
Xun Jia mouthed tensely, Fuck, who’s this? Will they find us?
Xie Jianxun was tense too. If he got caught, wouldn’t he be sent back to the East Territory in one go, all his efforts down the drain?
Don’t know, he mouthed back.
The two squeezed themselves under the tree roots as much as possible, determined not to leave even a single hair exposed.
The light swept over the outline of the tree trunk above their heads, then moved elsewhere.
From that direction, two unfamiliar voices rang out. “Looks like they’re not here.”
“It said they’re nearby. Let’s search more. You go that way.”
Hearing the content of their conversation, and with the footsteps fading away, Xie Jianxun let out a breath of relief. Xun Jia beside him did the same.
Xun Jia patted his chest and was just about to stand when Xie Jianxun hurriedly yanked him back down.
He frowned tightly, wondering if he’d misheard.
…Hadn’t he just heard a very faint, fragmented sound of footsteps—something that didn’t sound human at all?!
A flat, emotionless voice sounded from right above them. The two sets of footsteps halted, then rapidly approached, catching the pair red-handed.
Beep beep. Life signs detected.
Beep beep. Life signs detected.
Xie Jianxun: “…”
Xun Jia: “…”
They didn’t even need to use their eyes—these guys had specialized scanning electronic eyes!
The ones who caught them were forest patrolmen, tasked with capturing poachers and illegal miners in the area. They were armed to the teeth, wearing face masks and carrying guns, which left the two young men dumbfounded.
The thing that spotted them was an Intelligent Mecha with orange-yellow paint, only as tall as a forearm. Through the electronic eye on its head, it could scan a full 360 degrees without blind spots.
Dejected, they were escorted to a watchtower on the forest’s outskirts, where local guards took custody of them.
Inside the guard station, the guards were verifying their motives and documents to decide whether to deport them or supplement their info and reprocess their entry qualifications.
Xie Jianxun was taken to a room on the left, separated by heavy iron bars that blocked his view, but Xun Jia was probably in the next room over.
Seeing his companion’s ashen face earlier made him uneasy too—were they about to end up in jail?!
After having his mugshots taken—front and profile—the questioning officially began.
“Name.”
“Xie Jianxun.”
“Year of birth?”
Xie Jianxun gave the date, and the other side glanced at him in surprise, probably not expecting him to be underage.
Then they asked him to briefly explain why he was in the forest. Xie Jianxun organized his words and recounted how he’d been forced to separate from his entry team and crashed down.
The person behind the iron-barred window fell silent for a moment, probably stunned by such rotten luck.
Evidence was submitted from outside. In Xie Jianxun’s Secondary Ship, they found complete documents: proof of being chased by space pirates and applying to land for refuge.
He barely scraped through and was sent to the rest room.
Standing at the rest room door, Xie Jianxun asked, “How long do I have to wait?”
The other reassured him, “Wait for the embassy to verify and stamp the authenticity, then it’ll be handed to the entry office for re-verification. Then you can go.”
Xie Jianxun breathed a sigh of relief. It should be quick.
Xun Jia had said something similar.
He hung his head, admitting he’d bought a Secondary Ship at second-hand prices, then the controls malfunctioned, forcing him to crash-land.
After inspection, the guard told him that Secondary Ship was actually scrapped—it wasn’t even worth second-hand price. Xun Jia had been completely scammed.
But his system had no corresponding documents, meaning he’d planned to force-land and sneak in as an illegal immigrant from the start.
The result: deportation, banned from entry for two years.
Hearing this, Xun Jia despaired. He’d scrimped and saved for that ship, only to still get sent back.
“Can’t… can’t we just supplement the paperwork?”
He pleaded, “I’m a formal citizen of the Western Border too. Supplementing should be easy, right?”
The guard said flatly, “That’s the rule in 198. Strict enforcement for anyone entering without entry documents.”
The young man deflated completely, his mentality shattered. He was led out of the interrogation room, wishing he could faint on the spot and refuse to get up—surely they wouldn’t carry him out if he did!
At that moment, someone jogged over from the side, waved some documents at the guard, and whispered a few words.
The guard blinked, then glanced back at Xun Jia.
Xun Jia asked nervously, “Is… is there a change?”
“You’re lucky, kid. No deportation.”
The guard looked at the documents and sucked in a breath. “198 welcomes you. Remember to obey the law and don’t do anything illegal. Alright, go process your paperwork.”
And so, Xun Jia left the guard station in a daze. The sun shone brightly outside, but he was utterly bewildered—what had happened? How had he been allowed to stay?
He’d just signed a pile of documents and was still dizzy.
Turning his head, he spotted Xie Jianxun sneaking out along the wall. His brain jolted awake.
Xun Jia rushed forward and grabbed Xie Jianxun excitedly. “You got out too!”
He’d thought they’d hug and cry together, lamenting the hardships of their journey. But Xie Jianxun turned, saw him, and said tensely, “Hurry, let’s go!”
Xun Jia was dragged into a sprint. People at the guard station entrance stared at them oddly.
“Wh-what? What’s going on!”
He panted out, “Fuck, let me tell you, I have no idea how I got out! They suddenly decided to let me stay. I was about to be shipped off into space!”
Xie Jianxun quickly explained, “The entry office is sending people here, and the embassy too. Probably some big shots.”
Xun Jia: “What does that have to do with us… Oh! I get it. They can’t let some shady illegal immigrant stay in the guard station—it’d tarnish their image!”
A bunch of unspoken special reasons flashed through his mind, quickly convincing himself.
Thanks for your self-explanation, Xie Jianxun thought. It was me who got you out, but you’ve covered all the bases so I don’t have to make excuses.
This time, Xun Jia didn’t need pulling—he overtook Xie Jianxun, and the two dashed around the street corner into a hiding spot.
After a moment, Xun Jia remembered something and frowned. “Wait, that’s not right. I’m the illegal one who can just run, but don’t you have documents?”
Xie Jianxun: “…”
Why’d your brain suddenly get sharp and remember that?!
He couldn’t exactly say that the embassy had reviewed his docs, projected a hologram into the guard station, and begged in fear to invite their lord’s young master to the seat of honor, right?
He hemmed and hawed for ages, unable to speak under Xun Jia’s puzzled gaze. “That’s because… I, I…”
Xie Jianxun closed his eyes and blurted in collapse, “…because mine are fake documents!”
Xun Jia admired, “Holy shit!”
Bootleg Light Brain, forged documents.
His bro had some serious skills.
