The Star Knight

The next day, the sky was clear, and the desert was like a piece of undulating khaki silk, stretching to the end of the sky. "Hey!" Opal was debugging a small mine cart, and he shouted to Recter who was walking out, "Where are you going?"

Rector was wearing a set of work clothes from Opal. He was tall and tall. After putting on the miner's clothes, his clean ankles were exposed, and the sleeves were a bit shorter than his wrists.

"I'll find a place to live," Rector said.

Opal put down what he was doing and came over, and said, "Are you rich? What do you eat?"

Rector: "No, let's think of a way."

Opal: "If you don't eat, you will starve to death in the rocky mountain! Don't go!"

Rector insisted on leaving, so Opal had to pack some food and packed a blanket for Rector, and followed him out. The two left the village and walked among the rolling rocky mountains.

Rector glanced at E7.

Opal explained: "My mother made it when she was alive."

Rector asked, "Did your mother crash-land on this planet?"

Opal nodded, remembering what she told herself before she died - Opal, leave this planet and go to the vast universe to find the meaning of living.

But he has no money, only a ruined spaceship left by his mother, the tools and materials for repairs, Opal has inquired from the merchants who came to Chiyan B11, and with his current ability, he can't afford it even if he digs for a lifetime .There may be a lot of secrets in this man, his escape cabin is something I have never seen before, can he take himself away?

Why did Rector come here with injuries all over his body?What about his rescue pod?Countless questions filled Opal's mind. He remembered that day after Rector's body recovered, the rescue capsule disappeared without a sound.

"What is this place?" Rector asked after walking for half a day.

"Red rock bed." Opal said: "The mine has been dug, and there are many caves in the mountain. How long do you plan to live here?"

The rescue capsule is gone, and Rector doesn't have a spaceship. Is he going to spend his whole life here like Opal's mother?Opal looked at Recter who was wearing a miner's uniform. He looked stronger than any miner, and he might be capable of many jobs.

Rector stood on a cliff and looked down, seemingly satisfied with this place.

"I had a fight with a tough guy near the C47 nebula." Rector frowned slightly in the rocky wind with dry sand and dust, and motioned Opal to follow him: "Later I lost, almost Died at his hands. Thanks to a supernova explosion there, I escaped."

Opal asked, "What is a supernova explosion?"

Rechter replied: "The dramatic changes before the end of a star's life, it has gone through a red giant or a white dwarf, and finally exploded, causing the surrounding space to distort, and may form a black hole."

Opal was confused and asked, "Where is it?"

Reckert said: "Ten million light-years away from B113000, I made a space transition in time and escaped here."

Opal asked: "Where is your spaceship? Is it destroyed?"

Rector pondered for a moment, as if it was difficult to answer, and finally said: "For now, yes."

Opal thought for a while, and he came up with a bold idea, saying: "Will you repair the spaceship? I have an abandoned spaceship. I think if I can fix it...wait!"

Rector walked in the wind, found an abandoned mine, let out a long breath, and seemed deaf to Opal's proposal.He glanced at the mine and asked, "Where do you want to go?"

Opal shrugged and said, "I haven't thought about it."

Reckert said, "I'm not going to overhaul the ship."

Opal sighed.

Rector was very satisfied with this place, and he started to tidy up the mine.And Opal still remembered what Rector said before going to bed last night.

"What is a slave?" Opal suddenly asked: "You said, I am a slave, what will happen to the boss of this planet?"

Rechter explained: "In this universe, every intelligent life is equal, and they have their own inherent freedom. But a small number of people oppress others for their own benefit, requiring them to live without any principles. Serving yourself, like your work, you have to do it whether you like it or not, and you can't leave it, that's slavery."

"It violates the principles of interstellar labor law, but the slave owners of this galaxy are very smart. They did not use violent means to imprison you, but used trade, material conditions and the isolation of the planet itself to restrict all workers."

"The ticket is sky-high, and you can only mine for him for a lifetime, so you are not free."

Opal understood.

My body is imprisoned, but my heart is free, Opal thought.

Rector stared at him with dark blue eyes, and there seemed to be a look of prying into people's hearts in the deep pupils.

"How can I be free?" Opal asked.

Rector said: "Resist, take up the weapon in your hand to resist, fight, bleed and sacrifice."

Opal said, "I won't fight."

Reckert said: "Then, you can only be a miner for the rest of your life."

Rector removed the metal that supported the inner mine. He was very strong, and he took down a lot of supports lightly. He took it outside the mine and looked at the materials at hand, as if thinking about how to use them.

The yellow sand rolled on the ground, and the exposed crimson rock bed carried a desolate atmosphere. His cloth robe fluttered in the wind full of yellow sand. Opal said to him, "Can you help me?"

Rector glanced at him, and Opal said, "I mean teach me how to get out of here. I don't have a working spaceship, and I don't have money."

Rickett said casually: "When you start thinking about this problem, you are already thinking of ways to help yourself, why not continue it?"

Opal seemed to understand something.

What Recter said had a great impact on him, as if a ray of light had been injected into his chaotic consciousness, Opal vaguely felt that he would be an important person who would change his life, and he could not be allowed to leave no matter what.

After a long time:

"I am a star knight." Rector sat down on a rock and said seriously: "Now I must tell you officially that I need your help, Opal."

Opal asked confused: "What is Star Knight?"

He looked at the man in front of him. He had thick eyebrows and fair skin. When he was sitting upright, his figure was as tall as a mountain. His nose was high and his lips were moist. His eyes were like stars in the sky, spotlessly clean.

Rector thought for a while and said, "Help me get out of here."

Opal took the initiative: "I can lend you my spaceship, as long as you can drive it."

Rector shook his head and said: "No, I don't need a spaceship, I just need energy, a lot of energy. Can you try to help me get the rhododendron? About 50 energy units."

Opal was taken aback and said, "I can't do it!"

Rector said: "Then I will find a way by myself, please don't tell anyone what I am here."

Opal said: "Let me try, you only have this request?"

Rector thought for a while and said, "I still need drinking water and food. In return, I am willing to teach you something."

Opal was stunned, and asked after a while, "Teach me what?"

Reckert said: "It depends on your qualifications. There is no way to promise now. Do you know how to read? I think your E7 can read information magazines, so you should know how to read."

Opal immediately nodded and said: "Yes, my mother taught me, I will find you a spar mine, and I will work hard."

Rector pointed to the cave and said, "I will recuperate here during this time, you can come and find me anytime."

Rector stayed in the cave, and Opal returned to his hut. He put the E7 on the table, thought for a long time, the bell rang, and the miners came out of the residence and went to work along the tunnel.

Opal was wearing a hard hat, and his headlamp illuminated the flickering underground space.

"Did you know?" Opal said to his partner Locke, "We are slaves."

Locke said absently, "Yes, a slave to money and material things."

Opal asked: "Haven't you ever imagined that one day you would be able to leave here?"

Locke replied: "Of course, I will leave when I save enough money."

"There is always not enough money." Some people echoed: "It is said that the prices outside are getting more and more expensive. I don't know who I am working for, who I am working hard for, and I am so busy that I can't even afford a passport. Can you What to do? Let’s dig mines honestly.”

"Opal." A tall, thin man came over and asked, "How much money have you saved?"

This man is the captain of their mining team. There are five people in the team, including Opal and Locke. Inside, each squad is a special small group with deeper feelings than others.

But not long ago, two old miners suffered from serious underground diseases, and could no longer participate in cave operations, so they could only wait outside to pull mines.The foreman didn't regroup them, and used the only remaining team of three as five.So Opal, Locke and Oman as the captain remained in the team.Opal with greater strength is responsible for cutting minerals, while Rock and Oman are loaded and transported.

Oman has a younger sister named Anya, who is responsible for making bread for many people and doing some handy work.Oman's only wish is to buy a boat ticket and send her sister away so that she will no longer suffer with them on this planet. After all, she is 16 years old.

"15 energy units." Opal said without raising his head, "What's wrong?"

Locke asked: "Aman, do you want to chip in to buy a boat ticket?"

Aman said: "I heard from the merchants that there are many places in the Chiyan galaxy that hire waiters. They like to ask people to order and serve dishes. Anya can also sing. I want her to apply for a pass and buy a boat. Tickets, get a job on the Crimson Star."

Locke said, "The boat ticket costs 80 now, how much do you have?"

Opal said: "You only have 20 energy units, Oman."

Oman nodded, and Locke said, "How do you plan to return it to us?"

Aman said: "Anja said that she would also like to stay on the Crimson Star, provided that she can find a job, work part-time to earn money, save the money, and then entrust someone to bring it to us."

Locke whispered: "I heard that all people who leave B-11 must sign a contract first, and they can no longer contact people here, and they can't tell anything about this place. Is it true?"

Aman said: "Impossible! She is my sister! Where did you hear that?"

Opal used a magnetic drilling machine to buzz and vibrate against the wall of the mine tunnel, shaking down the ore of rhododendron. Locke pushed the mine cart to load it behind. Opal was thinking about the alien visitor all day long. , what the man said.

The magnetic drill is stuck.

"Be careful!" The foreman slapped Opal on the head and shouted roughly, "You won't be able to pay for it if you sell it."

Aman immediately blocked the foreman's hand and said, "I will pay attention, don't hit my team members!"

Opal looked at the foreman angrily, and Locke hurriedly apologized and signaled Opal to move on.

Locke said as he walked, "You are still not enough."

"Yeah, not enough." Oman said absently, "Maybe wait a few more years."

The mine tunnel was opened, and the soil fell from the top of his head, and Opal was relieved.

"The mines here have been dug." Opal said, "Oman, how much do you need in total?"

"Change the direction." Locke buried himself in the map.

Aman said: "Together, if we have 100 million energy units, it may be enough. I heard from businessmen that they have to pay an introduction fee to work on the scarlet planet. If you don't find a job agency, maybe It can be cheaper. Forget it, think about it in a few years.”

At noon, several miners gathered together to rest, have lunch, and exchange work progress with each other. Someone dug up a corpse deep in the new mine tunnel. It was a worker who died in the mine pit collapse a long time ago.

The planet was nearly hollowed out, and they had to explore along the once dangerous terrain.

Opal has been thinking about the 50 energy units Rector needs, 50, a kilogram of high-quality rhododendron is ten energy units, and Rector needs [-] tons of purified ore energy.

So much energy, where to inject it?He has loads?

Before the sun went down, Opal dragged a small cart of mines out of the tunnel, which contained the mines he left behind - the B11 star is not strictly controlled, after all, there is no place to hide the mines, and eventually they have to be exchanged for supplies , the overweight ore cannot be taken away.On such a barren planet, in addition to ore is ore, and even metals cannot be extracted, can it be used as a spaceship to escape?

Opal banging, he returned early today with clear skies and no sign of a sandstorm.He pulled the cart away from the miner's village and headed for the abandoned mine in the crimson rock bed.

"Recter." Opal shouted.

Rector came out of the cave, and Opal handed him a bottle of water and a piece of black bread.

Rector said: "Is there a way?"

Opal said: "I only have this spar on hand, but how do I convert it into energy?"

Rector said: "I'll teach you, follow me."

There is a strange thing in the cave, it is less than half a meter high, like a furnace, the exposed wires are thrown on the ground, exposing the inner core.

Opal said, "I've seen this."

He had indeed seen this thing in the spaceship left by his mother, but he didn't know its purpose.

Rechter said: "This is called an atomic furnace, which can dissolve ore and convert it into universal energy for the universe."

"What is this?" Opal looked at a palm-sized round box curiously, and Rector immediately said, "Don't touch it."

The sixteen wires on the atomic furnace are directly connected to that round box.

"This is called the heart of the universe." Rector said, "I will explain its function to you slowly in the future."

"I'll help you." Opal stepped forward and joined forces with Rector to pour the spar into it. Rector activated a button, the spar rolled and shattered, the slag sank to the bottom, and the high-purity spar aggregated into a small piece. Energy crystallization.

The red light on the crystal flickered and was completely evacuated, and a faint light glowed on the edge of the round box.

"Three percent." Reckert said, "There is still a long way to go."

Opal said: "This is all my property."

Rector stared at him without saying a word. Opal didn't feel distressed because his ore was broken down like this. On the contrary, being able to help him was a bit of a sense of accomplishment, as if it was his goal - it was sure to be achieved, and he was accepted. quantified goals.

"How much does it need to reach?" Opal asked.

"About 70.00%," Reckert said.

Opal said, "Then what happens?"

Rector said: "This is a part of my spacecraft, which is equivalent to an energy pool. When its energy storage reaches 70.00%, it will automatically perform mass-energy conversion, repair damaged parts, and I can leave here."

Opal asked in surprise, "Do you still have a spaceship? Where is it?"

Rickett said, "I'll let you see when I have enough energy."

Opal nodded without doubting his words.

"What is mass-energy conversion?" Opal asked.

The two sat in front of the cave and shared the opal dinner. Rector absently broke the bread and said: "The mutual conversion of mass and energy comes from a constant axiom in ancient physics, just like you burn Wood can emit light and heat, and continuously radiate to the surroundings, the mass is consumed and becomes disordered heat. Similarly, pure energy can also be transformed into matter as long as certain conditions are met. 30 energy units are enough to be converted into repair What the ship needs - breaks in the shell, core, etc. 20 energy units to keep it going."

Opal nodded and said, "You know a lot."

Rector looked at Opal and said: "This is the preliminary knowledge of the Interstellar United School. After you leave here, you can find a place to go to school. The whole universe has compulsory education."

Opal said: "Will the Interstellar United School let me in?"

Rickett said, "I think so."

Opal sighed, managed to eat half full, and lay on the exposed rock bed, looking at the starry sky above his head.

The night sky was full of stars, and the two were lying side by side. Opal recalled what Rector said yesterday, and asked, "You said you were a Star Knight, what is that?"

Rector stared at the sky full of stars, and murmured: "I don't know what Star Knight is, and I'm also very confused."

Opal: "?"

"You talk about these stars." Opal has too many questions. In the past many years, he has never had anyone to ask and answer. At this moment, he is like a child who finally has a teacher. He asked curiously: "All and Are we the same here?"

"No." Rector laughed and said, "Of course it's different. There will never be two identical grains in the desert, and there will never be two identical stars in the universe."

Opal asked, "What are they like?"

"Blue ones, golden ones, orange ones." Rector said: "Glowing ones, not luminous ones, some planets burn themselves, we call them stars..."

Opal said: "I know this. Those that don't emit light are called planets. Not all planets have life on them."

Rector nodded slowly, Opal smiled and said: "My mother taught me."

Rechter praised: "You know a lot. There are still many places in the universe that hide very high-density stars. They are called black holes. You can't see them, you can only feel the gravitational force they produce. There is also a substance called Dark energy, it can’t even be called matter, it’s just the projection of massive objects in the higher-dimensional universe, formed in our four-dimensional space, the place where dark energy gathers is empty, there is nothing there, but the space will be in this projection bending under the effect, thereby creating gravity."

Opal didn't understand at all: "What? What is that?"

Rector didn't explain further, he changed the subject and said, "The brightest star on your left is VCU07, the main star of the Red Flame Galaxy."

Opal nodded in confusion, Rector got up and went into the cave, took out a transparent crystal plate, pressed a button, there was a beep sound, and a line of small characters appeared on the edge of the crystal plate: X337, Y160, Z19γ-B11.There is a series of long numbers behind it.

Opal took the board, Rechter said: "The number in front represents the position of this planet in the universe, γB-11 is its name, and the number behind is the current time point."

"Interstellar voyage uses three-dimensional space, plus a time coordinate to locate each planet. So this is a self-positioning star chart, try to put it in front of your eyes."

Opal raised the crystal plate, and the blue lines criss-crossed, dividing the starry sky into many small areas, and the stars visible to the naked eye immediately became a star map.Each star is labeled with a name.

"I've been to many places," said Rechter. "I've even been to some stars. Some planets are covered with plants, others are permanently shrouded in lightning and thunder, some planets are always raining, and others Filled with water, like a drop in space."

Opal was fascinated by hearing this, and Rector said again: "Among the stars around the Sirius double star, there are six planets suitable for life. The creatures on them are grotesque, and they are all barbaric civilizations. They are eight thousand light away from here. Year."

Opal said, "What does light year mean?"

Rechter said: "It's a unit of length, and you don't have a way to understand it yet."

Opal listened with relish, and said, "Let's talk about something else."

Rechter said: "The Milky Way is 200 million light-years away from here, and there is a Perseus galaxy on one of its spiral arms. The civilization there is highly developed, and the planets surrounding this star system form a republic, which is regulated by the parliament."

Opal heard many unfamiliar words, but did not ask questions one by one, just blindly memorized, Rector said: "The residents of the Republic only need to do a small amount of work to support themselves. Their social welfare is very good, and their materials are abundant. If you live there, you can drink fresh grass milk every day when you wake up. The development of technology does not even require you to do anything. Just say a word, or connect to a brain wave capture device, and a robot will solve everything for you. thing."

Opal said, "Then what do they do?"

Rector replied: "Entertainment, obsessed with art and philosophy, looking for the ultimate state of the development of intelligent biological civilization."

Opal said, "I don't understand. Do they get paid for doing nothing? What if someone gets sick?"

Rector said: "People who are sick have robots to take care of them. Those who are willing to work can use the way of work to accumulate wealth. Those who don't want to work can enjoy government benefits as long as they complete a small amount of labor quota. Perfect legal constraints For everyone, such as the Interstellar Human Rights Charter-this law must be obeyed by both the Empire and the Republic."

"It respects the right of every intelligent life to exist, and as long as it is within the republic, it should not be oppressed, at least on the surface, officials claim."

Opal asked: "Is B-11 also in the Republic? Why aren't we treated so well?"

Rector didn't answer, Opal asked: "Is it because it's too far away and no one found it?"

Rickett replied, "Yes."

"If they know." Opal frowned.

Rector replied: "Then it's a gamble. Maybe the court can be bought with money, or maybe it doesn't have any effect, or it may be - all the miners on this planet will be wiped out."

Opal was silent for a long time, neither of them spoke.

Opal asked again: "What else? Tell me more."

Rechter said: "In the other direction of the universe, 500 million light-years away from the Milky Way, there is a galaxy in the constellation Leo, which consists of three galaxies, and one of them, M66, also has a highly developed Civilization, which is headed by a centralized body that governs nearly 3000 billion stars, is called an empire. They believe that there is a single god in the universe and pray to him for guidance."

"They have a long lifespan, and they also pursue art and religious philosophy. Interstellar bards and singers only sing for the gods. The emperor of the Golden Lion Republic will hold a celebration every five years and invite performers from many small countries to come on stage."

Rector said: "This emperor was assassinated 70 years ago, and a certain dark force was involved in it. Some people believe that this is a conspiracy to stir up turmoil."

Opal could hear God, and Rector said: "In addition to the Empire and the Republic, there are many small countries scattered among the galaxies, forming their own civilization system and social rules. For example, the God of War galaxy is famous for its mercenaries... ...It's very late, this star map is given to you, you can take a look when you go back."

Opal said, "This is something very important to you, isn't it."

Rector said: "You're welcome, you saved my life, and I need to give you far more. I'm not a person who likes to say thank you verbally. Take it away and don't let others see it."

Opal said: "No, no, I didn't save you for your reward."

Rector was silent, he stared at Opal for a long time, as if looking at another person through him.

Opal smiled and said, "You..."

Rector waved his hand and said, "Go back and rest."

Opal said: "I will come tomorrow, and I will find a way to bring you more ore."

Rector nodded and said, "The premise is to protect yourself."

Opal took the board, walked backwards, and said, "Thank you, you told me a lot."