323 years of the New Galactic calendar.

Letter D galaxy, D13 planet. On the second floor of an ordinary house in the town of Linus, the black-haired boy lying on a simple wooden bed trembled uncontrollably, it was obvious that he had not woken up yet, and a few tears fell from under his closed eyes.

His hands clenched tightly on the sheets made of thick linen, and suddenly his legs kicked violently, and the boy shouted, "Don't! ”

He woke up, his eyes staring at the ceiling in horror in the darkness.

At this moment, the door to the boy's room was pushed open from the outside.

Louis walked in with a candlestick, still in loose white pajamas, sleepy-eyed, apparently awakened by the boy's screams.

"Shen Ling, what's wrong with you? Got a nightmare? Louis put the candlestick on the bedside table, sat on the edge of Shen Ling's bed, and reached out to touch Shen Ling's forehead.

Seeing his adoptive father, Shen Ling couldn't help but think of the scene of the conversation between his adoptive father and the general Langton in his dream.

He subconsciously dodged his adoptive father's outstretched hand, lowered his eyes, and did not dare to look directly at his adoptive father, for fear that the sound of the guide's rapid breathing would be particularly clear in the quiet of the small room at night.

Louis didn't expect his always obedient adopted son to resist his kindness, but it was also possible that he was frightened by nightmares, which at this age always have a deep psychological shadow. He said to Shen Ling gently: "Don't be afraid, the dreams are all fake. ”

Is it really fake?

Thirteen-year-old Xiao Shen Ling even remembered the burning pain of being engulfed alive by tongues of fire in the burning hovercar, the feeling that life was worse than death, he definitely didn't want to come a second time. But he was still too young to distinguish between dreams and reality, and even though he was very scared, he felt more at a loss at the moment.

"If you're scared, I'll sleep with you tonight?" Louis said.

Shen Ling, who had been silent for a long time, finally refused in a hoarse voice: "No, no. ”

"Are you shy?" Louie rubbed Shen Ling's hair amusedly.

"I—I want to sleep alone." Shen Ling shyly refused. He lay down, obediently closed his eyes, and said "Good night" in a crisp childish voice that had not yet changed his voice. ”

"Good night." Louis lowered his head and kissed Shen Ling on the forehead.

Shen Ling closed his eyes tightly until he heard the sound of his adoptive father getting up and walking out of his room and closing the door, and then stared at the closed door in a daze until he fell asleep again unconsciously.

Mornings in the town of Linas always come very early.

Shen Ling got up and was busy in the kitchen as usual, and when he made a simple breakfast and brought it to the table, his adoptive father had already dressed and walked downstairs.

"Good morning father."

"Good morning." Louis sat down at the table, picked up a piece of hard bread and nibbled on it. The hard bread of planet D13 was like a rock, and Louie's teeth hurt. But what kind of food can you ask for on planet D13? Even this kind of hard bread is not affordable for every household.

Louis thought in his heart that sooner or later he would have to go back to the main star of Camilla and have a good meal. His gaze fell on Shen Ling, who was walking over with a jar of rice mouse beast milk, Louis smiled slightly, and put down the hard bread in his hand.

"Did you eat anything this morning?" Louie asked.

Shen Ling shook his head with big dark eyes.

"You come with me, I'll give you a physical examination." Louie got up and walked out of the dining room.

Shen Ling put down the milk jar and obediently followed.

Louis took Shen Ling to the door of a small room in the innermost part of the house, turned on the dim incandescent light bulb, and all kinds of medical and computer equipment in the room that were extremely incommensurate with this humble house immediately appeared in front of the two of them.

Louie walked in, plugged in the main plug, and the hum of various devices being turned on sounded. He beckoned to Shen Ling and motioned for Shen Ling to lie in the coffin-like cylinder instrument in the innermost part of the room.

It was not the first time that Shen Ling had been examined by Louie, so he walked over obediently and lay down in the cylinder instrument. The lid of the cylinder instrument slowly closed, and after three rays of light flashed quickly through him, the lid opened again. Shen Ling jumped off the instrument and walked over to Louie.

Louis gave him a few more simple examinations, and when he saw that Shen Ling had bruises on his small body, his face sank, and he wanted to say something, but in the end he still didn't speak, and selectively ignored it. He used a needle to draw a tube of blood on Shen Ling's arm, waved his hand, and asked Shen Ling to go out for breakfast.

Louis carefully sealed Shen Ling's blood in a transparent test tube and marked it with a code. When he returned to the restaurant after finishing a meal, Shen Ling had already finished his breakfast and was ready to go out.

"What's the matter today?" Louie asked with a smile.

Shen Ling turned his back, dodging Louie's gaze and said, "Daryl asked me to help his family's farm harvest the jacarandas, which is said to be sold to the prospecting spaceship. ”

"yes, then you remember to come back early."

"Okay."

As soon as he walked out of the house, Shen Ling's heart, which had been uneasy since last night, finally let go.

Xiao Shen Ling, who has been introverted and a little shy since he was a child, still can't tell the meaning of last night's nightmare, but the greedy appearance of his adoptive father when he sold him to General Langton in the dream is deeply imprinted in his mind.

For as long as Shen Ling can remember, he has been living in the town of Linas River with his adoptive father Louie, who is not kind to him, but he is not bad, and he has never beaten and scolded him. Shen Ling and Louie are not intimate, since he was still a little old when he was first drawn by his adoptive father's blood, Shen Ling has been inexplicably afraid of Louie.

……

The D-shaped galaxy can be said to be the most backward galaxy in the New Galactic Empire, and the technology here has not even reached the distance of the Earth, the home planet of mankind, which was three hundred years before the explosion.

Most of the planets here are vast and extremely sparsely populated. In the minds of the people of the other galaxies of the New Galactic Empire, this is not even a planet inhabited by humans. When people think of the D-word galaxy, they can think of alien beasts, fierce and terrifying monsters. Without high-tech weapons, even the most powerful orcs can't compete with it.

However, for Shen Ling, who has lived on planet D13 since he was a child, the alien beast is not a terrible monster.

The town where Shen Ling lived was built against the Linas River, hence the name Linas River Town. The upper reaches of the Linus River is an ancient primeval forest, known locally as the Forest of Alien Beasts. Although Shen Ling had never been to that forest, he had also seen small beasts that occasionally ran out of that forest. The beasts were so afraid of people that they would jump into the bushes and hide when they saw humans, and when they found an opportunity, they would run back into the forest.

It is said that in the depths of that primeval forest, there are ordinary beasts as well as all kinds of strange and ferocious beasts. Some old people even said conclusively that they had seen the legendary phoenix, a burning bird, a red dragon that breathed into flames and hovered in mid-air to cover the heavens and the earth, and a mermaid whose wings were like a beautiful light veil, stretched out to shuttle freely in the rainforest.

It's just that compared to those magical creatures in the legends, Shen Ling prefers the Mickey Mouse Beast, which is fat, cute and close to humans. In particular, the Mickey Mouse Beast can produce sweet and delicious animal milk, which is one of the few good things in the food that young Shen Ling can eat.

The early morning Linus River town had already begun to liven up, and when Shen Ling walked through the gray streets of the town, he could clearly feel that the industrious people of Linas River Town were looking at him with very contemptuous eyes, and then exchanging evil gossip related to him with the people around him.

Shen Ling was used to the people in the town talking about him behind his back, unlike the black townspeople in the town, Shen Ling's skin was too fair, and his facial features were too small and exquisite, and he looked like a foreigner. As a foreigner, Shen Ling's life in the extremely xenophobic Linas River Town will naturally not be too good.

Shen Ling even heard the voice of the mayor's favorite son, Gildas, and his two stupid henchmen behind him.

"Look who that is—our cute little Shen Ling who won't grow up." Gildas whistled loudly, he was a tall, strong black teenager, a terrible scar like a disgusting worm lying between his slumped nose and dark cheeks. The desert wolf, a strange beast with desert-colored mottled fur standing beside him, roared mightily at Shen Ling's thin back.

Shen Ling had already had enough of this desert wolf's suffering, and there were even tooth marks left by this desert wolf on the inside of his calves. His footsteps paused for a second, and then the next, he ran wildly.

The desert wolf reacted the moment Shen Ling fled, and chased after him, only running a short distance before its owner stopped him.

"Come back, Warrior!" Gildas shouted with a wild laugh.

"Just let him go?" Demer, one of Gildas's henchmen, muttered discontentedly. "Yesterday in the free trade zone, I was not less angry with those outsiders."

"I really want to beat him up in that nasty little white face." Kerry, another younger, but burlier follower, said eagerly.

"There's no hurry." Gildas crunched his fingers, "I've thought of a more fun game to entertain our little stranger." ”

Running wildly all the way, Shen Ling soon arrived at the Darryl's family's farm, and seeing that Gildas and his gang would not catch up, he breathed a sigh of relief and slowed down. Now is the time of the jacaroli harvest, and the broccoli of Daryl's family are growing very well, presumably when the prospecting spacecraft comes, they will be able to sell it for a good price.

Daryl is sitting outside the farm fence feeding an adult Mickey Mouse beast. The Mickey Mouse Beast, which looked like a huge gray pom-pom, was as tall as the young Shen Ling, but it was four or five times heavier than Shen Ling. It's called Big Fat, and it's a strange beast pet raised by Daryl and Shen Ling together. For alien beasts like Mickey Mouse Beast that are not afraid of humans, families with conditions in Linas River Town will raise one or two.

"Daryl, big fat!" Shen Ling shouted and ran over.

As soon as the big fat saw Shen Ling, his big black eyes flashed with excitement. It didn't even eat the food in Daryl's hand, and squeaked and pounced on Shen Ling, knocking Shen Ling to the ground.

"Big fat, you take it easy." Daryl said with a smile. He stood up and pulled the big fat off Shen Ling's body.

Daryl is even two years younger than Shen Ling, but if you stand with Shen Ling and compare them, no matter who you are, Daryl is already an adult, and Shen Ling is still a child.

Eleven-year-old Daryl is one hundred and seventy centimeters tall, and because he has been working in the fields all year round, he is not strong, but he is by no means thin. His skin was as dark as a freshly mined coal mine, his facial features were basically fixed, his eyebrows were thick, his lips were thick, and his chin was covered with green stubble. In terms of local aesthetics, he is a standard handsome guy.

Just a month ago, he had just passed his eleventh year of coming-of-age, and now he was a young man who could marry and have children. It is said that his parents have long been looking for a suitable girl for him.

"Thank you." Shen Ling got up from the ground and patted the dust on his pants. "Big fat seems to have lost weight." He said, looking at the big fat gaze a little distressed.

"It gave birth to the child." "I just don't know where I was born." ”

Shen Ling tilted his head and said expectantly, "I really want to see the big fat baby." ”

"When they grow fluff, Big Fat should be willing to take them out to bask in the sun." Daryl glanced up at the morning sun, the perennial hot planet D13, and only in the morning the sun will be milder. He picked up a straw hat that was placed on the ground to shade the sun and handed it to Shen Ling.

Shen Ling took the straw hat and put it on, and skillfully tied the belt.

"Do you want to go to the doctor for a check?" Daryl looked at Shen Ling condescendingly and said worriedly, "You haven't grown up, and now you still look like a five-year-old child." ”

Shen Ling's heart sank, pursed his lips, and did not answer.

"I don't mean anything else." Realizing that he had probably said the wrong thing, Daryl scratched the short hair on his head and explained awkwardly, "I'm just worried about you." ”

Darryl is Shen Ling's only friend, he is a gentle and considerate good boy, unlike Shen Ling, in the town of Linas River, he is very popular, almost all the boys are his friends, and all the girls have a crush on him.

Daryl doesn't have any bad intentions. Shen Ling knew this very well, he just didn't like others to talk about it. He was different from the rest of the town, and he knew it well from the time he had a consciousness of his own.

"I'll grow taller." Shen Ling recalled the scene he had in his dream yesterday, and he was already a teenager of standard height in the dream. "It's just a little bit slower." "Just a little slower," he stressed. ”

"Okay." Darryl shrugged, "But before we do, we'll harvest the jacarandas first." ”

He pushed open the fence gate and walked into the farm, and Shen Ling followed.

Looking at Daryl's strong back, the scene of himself sitting in that magical hovercar ** and dying in his dream last night resurfaced in his mind.

When I grow up, will I really become a mermaid?

Will I be taken by my father to the planet Mars and handed over to that terrible General Lanton?

Will I be hunted down and forced to die in the most tragic way ** in the hovercar?

Is that dream real?

If it's true, what should I do?

……

Daryl took Shen Ling into the vegetable field where the jacarandas were planted on the farm, and Daryl's father, Daryl Sr., was already busy in the vegetable field. Shen Ling greeted him in a whisper, and old Daryl responded to him with a smile.

They worked in the fields for more than an hour, and Daryl's mother came over with refreshments and beckoned the three of them to rest.

Daryl and his father chatted casually for a while, and Shen Ling lazily listened to their conversation with a teacup beside him.

"The day after tomorrow, the shipboard of the prospecting team will come to the town to recruit workers, and I want to go out with them once." Daryl said.

Daryl's father was in favor of him. "You can earn a lot of new Galaxy Coins on a single trip, and then we can start preparing for your wedding."

Daryl's face flushed slightly, and he pretended to be serious and took a sip from his teacup.

Busy until noon, after collecting three baskets of two jacarandas as tall as Shen Ling, he was going home. As a reward, Old Daryl gave him three new Galaxy Coins, and took three jacarandas and stuffed them into Shen Ling's hands for him to take back.

In order to avoid the people in the town, Shen Ling deliberately chose a remote path that needed to be detoured far away.

There were no people on this country road, but the white sun at noon was too hot, and Shen Ling, who was hurrying under the sun, was soaked with sweat.

Shen Ling was bent on rushing back to cook for his adoptive father, and he didn't notice that there were three sneaky backs behind him.