303: Chapter 306 Wang Kai, the former rich second-generation, is now mining coal on a mining planet.

Mars, on the edge of the Arctic Circle, is the mining base of resource planet S-778.

The air here is thin; even inside the domed base, one can feel the cold, dusty atmosphere.

In the sky, there is no blue; there is only a dark red storm that never dissipates, frantically tearing at the energy shield on the outer layer of the base.

In the mining area, rows of figures wearing earth-yellow work uniforms are mechanically swinging laser pickaxes.

This group of people were once the powerful, the rich second-generation, or elites in some industry on Earth.

But now, they have only one common identity—the "interstellar porters" of Chenxing Technology.

Wang Kai wiped the coal dust from his face, feeling as if his lungs were stuffed with fine gravel.

He used to hate this kind of cheap work uniform, thinking that wearing it was an insult to his status as the young master of the Wang Group. But now, not only does he wear it, he even finds speaking a luxury just to save a little oxygen.

"Brother Kai, let's take a break."

Beside him, a fellow sufferer, equally covered in dust, threw down his pickaxe and collapsed onto the pitch-black slag, gasping for air. "The foreman said we have to dig one hundred tons of spirit stones today, or we won't get dinner tonight."

"Dinner?"

Wang Kai sneered, his eyes filled with a dead, numb look. "Is that stuff meant for humans? What we eat now is that nutrient paste containing trace radiation; if you eat too much, your teeth turn black."

He looked up at the huge holographic broadcast screen constructed by the anti-gravity suspension system overhead.

That was established by Jiang Chen's order, a welfare facility specifically for the miners to "combine work and rest."

On the screen, a live broadcast from Earth was playing in a loop.

It was the celebration banquet of Chenxing Technology, the image of that man standing on the deck of an interstellar warship, receiving the worship of ten thousand races.

Golden brilliance, dazzling stars.

And standing beside him were the Empress and the female Academician Chen Shuyin, as proud and gentle as queens.

Wang Kai stared fixedly at the man's face.

That was Jiang Chen.

The one who was once trampled under his feet, forced into a broken family, and whom he had deemed destined to only deliver food for the rest of his life—Jiang Chen.

"Damn it..."

Wang Kai clenched his fists violently, his nails piercing the skin of his palms, but he couldn't feel the pain.

Humiliation.

That bone-deep sense of humiliation gnawed at his heart like a poisonous snake.

Why?

Why could he, Jiang Chen, turn things around? Why could he fish for aircraft carriers like they were toys? Why could he possess those dark technologies capable of changing the universe?

If he hadn't fired him back then, if he hadn't snatched away that so-called school beauty, could he have had a share of the spoils too?

"Stop looking."

The fellow sufferer beside him sighed. "The more you look, the more painful it is. He is a true god, and we are just a bunch of coal miners. Accept your fate, Brother Kai."

Wang Kai ignored him.

He stared straight at the screen, a hissing sound like a trapped beast emanating from his throat.

Even at this point, he was still unwilling to give up.

He hated Jiang Chen.

He hated even more that damned fate that had reduced him to this point today.

Just then.

A heavy sound of footsteps approached.

It was two "Wasteland Tactical Robots" responsible for supervision.

Their electronic eyes, flickering with cold red light, scanned the area precisely and finally stopped on the still-dazed Wang Kai.

"Employee ID: 4492."

"Time spent slacking off: 3 minutes."

"Number of disciplinary violations: 5th time."

The cold mechanical voice echoed through the mine, carrying an unquestionable dead silence: "According to the interstellar labor contract."

"You will lose today's nutrient paste ration."

"And be subjected to the punishment of 'running around the mountain with a load'."

Before Wang Kai could react.

That huge mechanical arm locked onto the back of his neck with precision, just like grabbing a chick.

That unrivaled strength left Wang Kai without even a chance to struggle, and he was lifted directly into mid-air.

"Don't... don't do this!"

Wang Kai kicked his legs desperately, screaming at the indifferent robots, "I just lost my grip for a second! I am the young master of the Wang Group! You can't treat me like this!"

"I've been framed! I want to see Jiang Chen! I want to report him!"

"I am a victim!"

The robot remained unmoved.

It carried Wang Kai like a bag of trash and strode toward the steep ramp leading to the punishment zone.

"Click."

When passing a huge pile of slag, the robot casually threw Wang Kai down like a stone.

"Get down there."

"Move that pile of waste slag over there to the storage point five hundred meters away. If you don't finish it, you won't eat tomorrow either."

Wang Kai fell to the ground, the pain shifting his internal organs, but he could no longer scream.

He lay on the ground, watching the slowly departing mining cart, and then looked at the distant, huge holographic screen, at Jiang Chen's spirited profile.

An unprecedented, desperate regret surged in his heart.

If... if it was just an if back then...

If he hadn't been so arrogant, if he hadn't been so snobbish, if Jiang Chen had been an ordinary person back then...

But he remembered that even back then, Jiang Chen was calmer and more composed than him.

Jiang Chen was long past being that "good-for-nothing."

It was he, Wang Kai, who had been a self-righteous clown from beginning to end.

He was dragged away.

As the low mechanical sounds echoed across the Wasteland, his figure disappeared into the rolling red dust.

This is a mining area; there is no dignity, only endless labor.

...

At this moment, at the Lunar Command Center, three hundred and eighty thousand kilometers away.

Jiang Chen was holding a cup of coffee, standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the command room, overlooking the mining area below that looked as small as an ant colony.

Through real-time monitoring, he happened to witness the whole process of Wang Kai being dragged away.

Jiang Chen didn't even take a second look.

It's like passing by an anthill and accidentally stepping on an ant; would you feel anything?

No.

It doesn't deserve to be felt.

"Boss, everything has been handled."

Zhao Gang stood behind him and respectfully handed over a list. "Those companies that participated in the technical blockade against our company are now either bankrupt or queuing up to buy our chips. As for those troublemakers..."

"The troublemakers have all gone to move bricks." Jiang Chen added.

He put down the coffee cup, withdrew his gaze from the mining area, and looked toward the laboratory, where Academician Chen Shuyin was conducting the final experiment.

"The current Earth is already stable."

"The trash that needed to be swept has been swept, and the protection money that needed to be paid has been paid."

"Next, we can get down to some real business."

Zhao Gang's heart stirred: "Real business?"

"Yes."

Jiang Chen turned around and looked at this personal bodyguard who had followed him all the way, a serious expression appearing on his face: "Notify the highest command of the Dragon Kingdom."

"Since we have already obtained that 'ticket,' let those scientists stop their low-end physics projects."

"From now on, the entire Dragon Kingdom..."

"We are going to start compiling a..."

"Universal-level 'Infrastructure Textbook'."

"Textbook?" Zhao Gang was completely dumbfounded. "We are going on an interstellar expedition, not to teach and educate people!"

"Old Zhao, you don't understand."

Jiang Chen walked to the control console, watched the constantly flowing data, and took a deep breath.

In his eyes burned an unprecedented ambition belonging to a great power, that crazy logic of turning the entire Milky Way Galaxy into a "Dragon Kingdom Branch" made him glow.

"Conquering a civilization requires slaughter."

"But to conquer a universe, what is needed is—"

"Assimilation."

"I want them to learn the technology of the Dragon Kingdom, learn the logic of the Dragon Kingdom, and even..."

"Let them learn to sing 'Good Luck Comes' with the awkward pronunciation of these aliens!"

He turned his head to look in the direction of Academician Chen Shuyin, his gaze revealing a hint of imperceptible expectation: "Once this set of thinking templates is printed into their genes..."

"By that time..."

Jiang Chen's mouth curled into a playful arc: "Whose surname does this Milky Way Galaxy bear? Isn't that up to us to decide?"

"Let's go."

"Go call those researchers."

"We have to give these 'academic underachiever' alien civilizations a proper—compulsory course."

Jiang Chen strode toward the exit of the command center.

Every step carried a confidence and arrogance belonging to Earth civilization.

The hatch behind him slowly closed, temporarily blocking off this starry sky that belonged to him.

Under the rule of this "Universal Village Chief," a... concerning the cognition of civilization...

Great Purge is about to begin.

And at the end of this chaos.

Jiang Chen looked at the emergency signal that had just come from the system, carrying a hint of trembling.

He knew.

The final "The Keeper" finally couldn't hold back and was preparing to make a move against him, the disobedient "shepherd."

He didn't back down.

In fact, he even wanted to laugh.

After all, the gift-givers had arrived.

"Get ready."

"For this last battle, we..."

"Must properly accompany them... to practice."

Jiang Chen strode away.

Leaving behind only the humming main console, recording the crazy code that was enough to rewrite the entire history of cosmic civilization.

And on the other end of the communicator, the Empress from the Wasteland had already turned the muzzles of all her warships.

His era.

Ultimately, in this universe completely crushed by logic and rules, it would blaze a true—

Path to the heavens.