The Interstellar Queen of Scavengers

Chapter 6: Chapter 6: Iron Plate in the Mind

As the world spun dizzyingly around her, Ji You felt something was wrong. She suddenly felt her knees buckle, her body staggered for a moment, and her head almost collided with the dining table. In desperation, she grabbed the armrest beside her, and only then did she stabilize herself.

What’s going on?

Out of nowhere, not only did her heartbeat become irregular, but the previously faint pain in her head suddenly intensified.

Could it be—

The original owner of the body is trying to take back control?

I’ll give it to you.

I’ll give it to you.

Don’t fight.

I’ll return it to you.

...

However—

After a good while, Ji You’s body remained motionless, and on a spiritual level, she didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary either. It seemed that her initial guess was slightly off. It wasn’t the original owner fighting for the body after all, but just an episode of abnormally intensified heartbeat.

Sitting ungracefully on the floor with her back against the wall, Ji You kept breathing in and out... trying to control the abnormal heartbeat. It took a while before her heart rate began to slow down to normal.

But—

Her head still hurt a lot.

And—

She always felt that there was something very strange inside her head. She closed her eyes slightly. Besides the pitch darkness, it felt like there was something more in her consciousness. What could it be?

Ji You wanted to take a closer look, which made her involuntarily open her eyes wide, but as soon as she opened her eyes, the thing in her consciousness disappeared without a trace.

Ji You closed her eyes again and concentrated carefully; in her consciousness, there suddenly appeared a clump of something, rather dark and indistinct. Telling herself not to rush, she slowly and gently guided her feeble spiritual power towards that clump of darkness.

Bit by bit.

Bit by bit.

...

Getting closer.

When she finally could see clearly what it was, Ji You’s pupils suddenly dilated.

This—

This—

Isn’t this the Iron Plate that had knocked her unconscious before?

Back when the Iron Plate suddenly struck, Ji You, realizing the danger, tried to dodge but couldn’t get away in time. She only caught a glimpse of it, and what left a deep impression in her memory were the many beautiful, intricate patterns on the Iron Plate, emanating a profound and ancient strength that was unforgettable to anyone who saw it.

There’s no mistake.

It’s definitely the Iron Plate that hit her.

Iron Plate was just a name Ji You had randomly given based on its shape; as for its actual material, whether it was really made of iron, Ji You couldn’t tell at the moment.

In fact, getting struck in the head by a falling object from a great height, not getting one’s head cracked open was almost impossible, and Ji You knew her end was near. But strangely enough, when the Iron Plate hit her head, she didn’t feel any severe pain, just darkness that enveloped her vision before she lost consciousness, and when she woke up, she had already traveled to another world.

This was truly an amazing thing, completely beyond the scope of physics.

Ji You was utterly baffled.

And—now, this Iron Plate had not left; it was still nestled inside her head?

What on earth is going on?

Ji You rubbed her forehead, feeling her headache worsen inexplicably.

She now had every reason to suspect that the recurring headaches she had been suffering from over the past six months were definitely caused by this iron plate.

So infuriating!

It would have been one thing if it had just killed her or caused her to time travel, but now it had the audacity to take root in her consciousness without her permission, acting like a squatter. She must find a way to expel this despicable iron plate!

Ji You was propped on the floor, and after a while, she felt the headache finally stop. She calmed down and looked at the iron plate again, suddenly noticing that the color seemed to have faded, revealing a lustrous sheen—when had this change occurred? Ji You thought hard and recalled the event, gaining some insight.

The change in the iron plate occurred quietly after her headache stopped.

Because her headache was gone, the iron plate became more lustrous.

As for the reason behind the iron plate’s change, Ji You was still bewildered. However, she didn’t delve further into this for the time being but instead concentrated on examining the iron plate closely. She noticed that the complex patterns on it had become clearer, and amidst them, she could faintly make out a rune composed of countless lines, intricately twisted and entwined, ultimately forming a figure.

Suddenly—

A wave of intense pain flooded her head, and Ji You could no longer care about what the figure was. She quickly clasped her head, rolling around on the floor.

After a long time, limp on the floor like a gutted dead fish, Ji You convulsed stubbornly, then leaped up and sat up straight. Raising her hand, she rubbed her forehead and gently opened her eyes.

Huh?

How did it get light outside?

Ji You raised her wrist to check the time on her Light Computer and discovered that it was indeed already nine in the morning.

What happened?

Despite the pain that felt like she was standing on the edge of a blade, with one foot stepping into hell... the time couldn’t have passed that long. Ji You even felt that the pain lasted at most half an hour.

But in reality, a full nine hours had gone by.

Things were getting weirder and weirder.

Since she couldn’t figure out the reason, Ji You simply let it be, no longer probing into it. She rubbed her shriveled belly; she had only eaten half a nutrient solution last night, and now her stomach was growling with hunger.

Ji You took out the remaining half of the nutrient solution from the cabinet, arranged the chair and cutlery neatly, dusted off the plastic roses, and put them back into the vase—humph, no matter how tough life gets, one must never lose a sense of ceremony.

After satiating her hunger and thirst.

Ji You checked her schedule for the day: from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., work for 4 hours as a laborer; at 2 p.m., go to District 6 for an interview for a shop assistant vacancy.

Since time had been lost, it was impossible to complete the full 4 hours of labor in the morning. Ji You thought briefly and decided that laboring could be done at any time. The priority was to find a higher-paying job. The shop where she was interviewing offered a monthly salary of 1500 credit points to the shop assistant, and there were no physical strength or spiritual power requirements mentioned on their recruitment ad. If Ji You could land the job, it would certainly be better than picking garbage or laboring every day.

Thus, Ji You logged onto the Star Network, chopped wood for three hours, and then logged off.

After eating the nutrient solution, Ji You straightened out her attire to make sure she looked very fresh and capable before opening her door confidently and heading to the public transport stop.

As a pauper, Ji You obviously didn’t own a private vehicle and relied on the Floating Cars made available for public use between districts on Garbage Planet 101, which cost 2 credit points per ride.

Since she found public transport could be expensive, Ji You always resolved things on foot whenever possible and never relied on public transport unless necessary.

As soon as she stepped out of her home, she encountered Grandma Jenny.

Grandma Jenny smiled and said, ”You, are you going to District 6 for the interview?”

Ji You narrowed her eyes and replied with a smile, ”Yeah, I’m going to give it a try.”

Last night, when they were picking garbage together, Grandma Jenny had wanted to invite Ji You out again tonight, but remembering the interview in the afternoon and that traveling by Floating Bus from District 10 to District 6 took an hour, not to mention not knowing how long the interview might hold her up, Ji You estimated she couldn’t return before six in the evening and declined Grandma Jenny’s invitation. Hence, Grandma Jenny knew Ji You had an interview this afternoon.

Grandma Jenny said, ”Give it your all! You’ll surely succeed, young lady.”

Ji You responded, ”Yeah, I’ll do my best to make it happen.”