Picking Up An Alpha On Garbage Star - Chapter 33.1

The concept of rebirth seemed mysterious to Pei An, and after waking up, his brain went blank. According to a green novel he once read, whether he transmigrated or became a character in a book, he had taken over someone else’s body. If it was a book, he could console himself as a paper person. But what if he occupied a real person’s body? Wouldn’t he be no different from the ghosts in those supernatural stories?

Pei An felt uneasy about it.

He had no memories of the original host and didn’t know what kind of person they were. Besides, he had no intention of playing someone else; he wasn’t an actor. When the father of the original host came to feed him, Pei An voluntarily explained that he wasn’t his son.

The original host’s father was exceedingly gentle, placing a warm hand on his head, like being enveloped in warm light.

“I know,” the original host’s father said to him, “You’ve been mentioning the vaccine. My child passed away this morning.”

Pei An was at a loss and didn’t know how to console. In the post-apocalyptic world, people often died, some even right in front of him. With limited time, he couldn’t mourn each one individually. Over time, death seemed to carry less weight for him.

“I’m called Pei Ruyu. What about you? What’s your name?” Pei Ruyu asked him.

Pei An replied, “I’m called Pei An, ‘An’ from Chang’an.”

Surprised, Pei Ruyu said, “Your name is the same as my child’s. It seems we are destined to have a connection.”

And so, because of a twist of fate, Pei An became Pei Ruyu’s child.

Pei Ruyu’s original child had poor health from a young age, and despite Pei Ruyu’s efforts, they couldn’t live for long. However, after Pei An’s soul entered this body, he had to adapt to a fragile physique. Perhaps his own ability had come with his soul to this world, as the original host’s illnesses vanished. With some exercise, the body could gradually become as healthy as that of a normal person.

Pei An started to focus on recovering his body and learning the basic knowledge of this world. His self-explosion had side effects, and he still possessed his ability, but he dared not use it recklessly. Using his brain would cause a sharp, needle-like pain. Pei An didn’t want to torment himself, concentrating on restoring his body and studying the basics of this world.

Pei Ruyu provided him with a lot of information, but he needed a long time to read it. Otherwise, going out would reveal his true nature. His rebirth was a secret shared only between him and Pei Ruyu, and it wasn’t something he could casually reveal to others.

As Pei An recovered his body, he also focused on learning. His calm and focused nature made waiting for Pei Ruyu’s three meals a day not boring at all.

When Pei An finally restored his body, Pei Ruyu took him out to meet people.

They were on a starship named the Goddess of Light, currently the most advanced warship in the empire. This ship had not been officially assigned to any of the empire’s eight army groups, as it would easily cause opposition and dissatisfaction. After careful consideration, the military decided to hand over this warship to the Science Academy.

The people on the Goddess of Light, apart from the military personnel responsible for the daily operation of the warship, are some of the top experts from the Empire Science Academy. Their personal information is highly encrypted. These experts, who are often away from home due to long-term experiments on the Goddess of Light, are allowed to bring their families along.

Pei An is the one who managed to get a spot for relatives on the ship. Pei Ruyu’s research focuses on military applications, and he was the one who led the design and construction of the Goddess of Light. Despite his young age, Pei Ruyu’s outstanding achievements made him stand out among the top experts on the Goddess of Light.

“Pei An’s” health had been poor, and after being brought aboard the Goddess of Light by Pei Ruyu, he had been bedridden, never coming out to meet anyone. This outing with Pei Ruyu was his first time leaving the room.

Among the children on the Goddess of Light, there were several around Pei An’s age. Pei An, with his cute appearance and bright eyes, quickly became popular among the slightly older children, who enjoyed playing with him.

Pei An noticed that all these children were quite sociable, and each one of them was familiar with others. Pei An soon became friends with them, especially three children who were only a couple of years older than him – Li Chengrui, Xiao Xue, and Yan Yue. Their families, like Pei Ruyu’s, were affiliated with the Empire Science Academy.

Being a genuine adult soul in a child’s body, Pei An originally thought he wouldn’t have much to talk about with the kids. However, Li Chengrui and the others were not ordinary children; growing up around their families, they knew a lot of things. Pei An found himself fascinated by their conversations, unintentionally talking until his throat went dry.

Pei An started his new life on the Goddess of Light, staying there for several months. From being unfamiliar with this world to becoming familiar with it, the oppressive atmosphere of the post-apocalyptic era slowly faded away.

During his free time, Pei An would listen to Pei Ruyu talk about the “history” of his new identity. After hearing the story, Pei An would help Pei Ruyu curse the alpha named Mondray, calling him scum and a bastard. Every time, Pei Ruyu would laugh and ruffle his hair.

Was it really that enjoyable to have one’s head rubbed?

At the same time, Pei Ruyu opened the door to a new world for Pei An. Here, gender wasn’t just divided into male and female but also included a third gender: ABO. Serving as both a father and a physiology teacher, Pei Ruyu turned what was supposed to be a serious lesson into something that made Pei An blush.

Originally, he thought this relaxed life would continue. He would eventually enter the same university as Pei Ruyu, graduate, and become colleagues in the Empire Science Academy.

However, Pei An didn’t wait for a peaceful life.

On the day of the incident, Pei Ruyu didn’t go to the laboratory. He took Pei An to the kitchen of the restaurant to make desserts.

Before, Pei Ruyu had also taught Pei An to bake cookies. Despite Pei An’s efforts, he couldn’t bake decent cookies. This time, Pei Ruyu wanted to teach Pei An something simpler – making egg tarts.

The tart shells were already prepared, and Pei An only needed to mix the egg tart filling, pour it into the tart shells, and then bake it in the oven. Pei Ruyu even suggested adding some other fillings to the egg tarts.

Perhaps influenced by his time with Li Chengrui and the others, Pei An really started to add various fillings to the egg tarts. Besides normal fruits, he even opened a can and cut the beef into small pieces, adding it to the egg tarts. Pei Ruyu joined in the mischief, helping Pei An make many beef-filled egg tarts.

The oven was large, with three layers, allowing them to bake many egg tarts at once. Pei An filled all three baking sheets to the brim, making hundreds of them.

“When the egg tarts are ready, we’ll take them to share with everyone,” Pei Ruyu set the oven temperature and time.

Pei An didn’t wait for the moment the egg tarts were baked. Suddenly, an alarm sounded throughout the Goddess of Light, piercing the ears.

“What’s happening?” Pei An anxiously grabbed Pei Ruyu’s hand.

After hastily checking the message sent by the ship’s captain on the ship’s intelligent system, Pei Ruyu quickly picked up Pei An and ran towards the emergency shelter where the escape pods were stored.

Running and speaking at the same time, Pei Ruyu said to Pei An, “The access key to the defense system of the Goddess of Light has been leaked to the rebels. They’ve boarded the ship, and the situation is urgent. I need to return to the lab to destroy the data.”

“Then take me with you! I can fight!” Pei An struggled to get down.

Pei Ruyu didn’t agree because the number of rebels boarding the Goddess of Light was significant, and the defense system was disabled. The captain could only confront the rebels face-to-face with his team, and even survival wasn’t guaranteed. Moreover, the access key to the defense system had been leaked, and the rebels boarding the ship were likely targeting him.

He discovered that his husband, whom he had been married to for many years, was responsible for the poor health of his child from a young age. When he left the Mondray family, that person had threatened him, saying he would definitely kill him. Because disobedience was only resolved through death.

Pei Ruyu had initially not taken the threats of the Mondray family seriously. The Goddess of Light, designed and built by him, was supposed to be the safest place in the world. Moreover, the ship’s trajectory was a highly classified secret.

He had underestimated the power of the Mondray family.

Although Pei Ruyu’s family had some assets, and he had no worries about going to school from childhood to adulthood, compared to the colossal Mondray family, it was still far behind. The Mondray family’s influence reached too deep. They not only knew the trajectory of the Goddess of Light, but they could also obtain the access key to the ship’s defense system.

The access key to the defense system of the Goddess of Light, including himself, was known to no more than two handfuls of people. Pei Ruyu didn’t have time to think about how the Mondray family obtained the key. At the moment, all he could do was destroy the data completely. If it fell into the hands of the rebels, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Like Pei Ruyu, many people immediately brought their children and locked them in the escape pods before rushing to the lab.

They were all intelligent people and quickly realized that there must be an unshakeable force behind the scenes causing the current situation. Although the Goddess of Light was essential, it still wasn’t crucial enough to be mentioned in the same breath as the ruling powers. If the interests of the rulers were threatened, the Goddess of Light could be sacrificed at any time.

The captain said the situation was not good. After the defense system failed, they could only passively endure the attacks, and the best ending would be to drag the rebels down with them.

“Everyone, perhaps we shouldn’t destroy the data,” Pei Ruyu placed his hand on the superbrain and changed his mind on the spot, “We can re-encrypt the data.”

With their technology, the carefully encrypted data, once completed, would be impenetrable even by the Empire Science Academy headquarters. If they destroyed the data, no one would be able to seek justice for them in this calculated scheme. With the data still intact, the Empire Science Academy would never give up on these valuable records. As long as the data was encrypted again, and the split keys were handed over to their children, these children would have the keys to ensure the unwavering protection of the Empire Science Academy.
“Then let’s hurry!” Pei Ruyu’s proposal received unanimous support, and everyone began to encrypt their respective sections.

Pei Ruyu was never someone who would passively accept fate. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have argued with Mondray and fled with his child, making sure the child never returned to that den of wolves. Yet, the ruthlessness of the Mondray family exceeded his imagination. They were capable of treason. He wondered if, after their deaths today, anyone would be willing to seek justice for them.

Time was of the essence, and they could only rush to complete the encryption. The rebels had already entered the laboratory.

The rebels, who had been in a stalemate with the Empire for many years, were notoriously ruthless. Falling into their hands meant there was no hope of survival, and death would be a merciful release. Therefore, after the rebels blasted open the laboratory doors, these outstanding scientists chose to end their own lives, denying the rebels the chance to capture them.

The captain led the team in a fierce battle against the rebels, ultimately sacrificing himself. On the entire Goddess of Light, only a few hundred out of several thousand soldiers survived.

Wounded and bleeding, they crossed the smoke-filled battlefield to retrieve the children from the escape pods.

The emergency shelter also had a passcode. If the large door of the emergency shelter was attacked, it would detach from the hull of the Goddess of Light and fly out at the fastest speed, undergoing an emergency jump using all available energy.

After being carried out by Hedun, Pei An asked immediately, “Where’s my dad?”

Hedun responded with a silent gesture.

Having witnessed countless moments of such silence in the apocalypse, Pei An understood its meaning – death.