The Sea City Waste Processing Plant.
Countless robots were busy sorting all manner of garbage into categories, while behind the processing plant stood mountains of refuse.
Yet these trash mountains were remarkably clean, consisting only of discarded electronics, old furniture, and wrecked starships. Kitchen waste and personal garbage were compressed, packaged, and transported by transport ships to dedicated garbage planets.
Several planets in the vicinity of Crescent Bay served as designated garbage planets, used exclusively for dumping waste.
Rumor had it that several races had an immense fondness for eating garbage and had settled specifically on those planets. They had even fought several planetary wars over territory and trash.
Furthermore, when the Crescent Bay waste processing plants delivered garbage to those worlds, the garbage-consuming races actually had to pay a fee to the plants.
It was considered a meal delivery fee.
At that moment, Yu Xian and Little Nora were walking along a path between two mountains of scrap.
Both looked around with curiosity; this was their first time seeing so many bizarre appliances and electronics.
Because different species varied in size and living habits, the products they used were exceedingly diverse, with varied shapes and even stranger functions. The two felt as if they had stepped into a wondrous wonderland where everything was completely novel.
"Big Brother, look at that robot! Doesn't it look like a Garuda?" Little Nora suddenly spotted a battered robot and pointed at it.
Yu Xian followed its finger and indeed saw a dilapidated robot whose appearance closely resembled a Garuda.
He smiled and nodded. "It really does look like one. Let me look it up. Maybe Crescent Bay even has fans of the Garuda clan."
He then checked his Star Ring, but the smile on his face vanished in an instant, replaced by silence.
It was indeed an imitation Garuda robot.
However, its purpose was to serve as a punching bag for the dragon clan. They were typically placed in martial arenas and similar venues, left at the mercy of dragon clan members to beat or spar against.
The Garuda robots here on the scrap heap were basically all units that dragons had smashed to pieces.
"Big Brother, what's wrong?" Little Nora asked, puzzled by the sudden disappearance of Yu Xian's smile.
Yu Xian said helplessly, "Check for yourself and you'll see."
Little Nora activated its Star Ring as well. After searching, it fell silent. But it soon recovered and smiled. "It's fine, Big Brother. I'm not a Garuda anymore anyway—I'm a Victorious True King Bird!"
"Little Nora, even if you do care, that's completely fine. Racial identity is the foundation of your existence. Look at me: even though my species is a vampire, I've always considered myself a human, so I'll always be a human, not a vampire." Yu Xian rubbed Little Nora's head, speaking earnestly.
Little Nora pondered this for a moment, then nodded. "Understood. I knew it—I really am still angry! Sooner or later, I'm going to make a robotic dragon and beat it to scrap!"
"Keep at it! I'm sure you can!" Yu Xian encouraged with a smile.
Its spirits reignited, Little Nora immediately dashed over to the surrounding scrap heaps to rummage around, searching for machinery resembling a dragon with the intention of kicking it a few times to vent.
"Brat, don't go messing with this granddaddy's stuff! These treasures all belong to someone!" an aged voice called out from atop one of the scrap mountains.
Yu Xian and Little Nora looked up toward the sound and saw, perched on the peak of a trash mountain, an old man barely half a meter tall piloting a three-meter-tall robot, salvaging usable materials.
"Senior, are you Daoist Softshell Turtle?" Yu Xian asked, noticing the old man's hands.
The old man's hands were tinged green, and his fingertips resembled softshell turtle claws, leading Yu Xian to guess that he was the person he and Little Nora had come to find.
Sure enough, hearing Yu Xian's inquiry, the old man shot him a surprised glance.
He then piloted the robot to leap down from the scrap mountain dozens of meters high. The ground shook upon landing, and the very next instant, he drew right up to Yu Xian.
He took a sniff of Yu Xian, his expression turning lecherous. "You have Niman's scent on you. Tell this granddaddy, what's your relationship with Niman? Have the two of you... hehehe?"
*Slap!*
Yu Xian slapped Daoist Softshell Turtle across the cheek, then said with an innocent face, "Niman said you'd definitely ask sleazy questions, so she asked me to deliver this slap for her. Her exact words were: 'Hit him hard—this old man deserves a beating—and tell him to hurry up and pay back his debt.' That was it."
"As expected of Niman! That slap really packed a punch!" Daoist Softshell Turtle did not mind the slap in the slightest; instead, he let out another sleazy chuckle.
Yu Xian sighed and said, "Niman also said that if you remained unrepentant, I should give you another slap on her behalf."
With that, he slapped Daoist Softshell Turtle's other cheek. This time, the old man's defenses completely shattered, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Clutching both cheeks, he asked warily, "What else did Niman say? Spill it all at once!"
"Niman sent me to collect the Abyss Battle Armor she commissioned you to make. She needs it today." Yu Xian did not strike him again, stating the truth instead.
Daoist Softshell Turtle finally grew serious. He looked Yu Xian up and down and asked, "The Abyss Battle Armor... Is Niman planning to head into the Abyss with you kid?"
"Yes. Is there a problem?" Yu Xian nodded, then asked.
From the old man's earlier reaction, it was clear that Daoist Softshell Turtle shared a close bond with Niman; both knew each other very well. Yu Xian wanted to learn a bit more about Niman. After all, they were partners now, and he was curious what kind of person she was through the eyes of others.
"That girl's journey to Crescent Bay was a narrow escape from death," Daoist Softshell Turtle said, observing Yu Xian closely with a solemn expression, speaking in a profound tone. "She harbors a deep dread of the Abyss. What's more, when she arrived at Crescent Bay, she was afflicted with several kinds of Abyss diseases. If this old man hadn't happened to find her, she would have turned to dust by now."
Yu Xian asked curiously, "Then why did it end up with you owing her, rather than her owing you?"
"Nothing much, just... I made a bet with someone and almost lost the entire waste processing plant. It was Niman who bailed me out. But kid... how did you manage to win over a fine woman like Niman?" Daoist Softshell Turtle asked, full of curiosity, his expression turning lecherous once more.
Yu Xian raised his hand. Daoist Softshell Turtle hastily clutched both cheeks again. He was about to speak, but Yu Xian beat him to it.
"Niman said you'd claim a gentleman doesn't hit someone in the face, so this one's for your head!"
With that, Yu Xian gave Daoist Softshell Turtle's head a hard thwack, leaving him completely cross-eyed.
Holding a mushroom capable of communicating with Niman, Little Nora piped up indignantly, "You old fraud! When did you ever save Sister Niman? Sister Niman was the one who saved you! Seeing that you knew how to forge battle armor, she even invested a sum of money in you, but you've been losing money non-stop! Don't you blush when you lie?"
"Ahehehe, busted!"
Daoist Softshell Turtle had not expected Little Nora to be in contact with Niman. He chuckled sheepishly, still without the slightest hint of shame.
At that moment, Yu Xian's face darkened. He had genuinely believed the old man just now, picturing a battered Niman appearing near the waste plant and being rescued by Daoist Softshell Turtle.
Turns out the old turtle had been bragging all along.
To be honest, even without Niman's request, he felt like giving Daoist Softshell Turtle a beating himself. The old rascal had no shame.
"Cut the nonsense. Take me to get Niman's Abyss Battle Armor, right now," Yu Xian said to Daoist Softshell Turtle, thoroughly exasperated.
Knowing his credibility was bankrupt, Daoist Softshell Turtle turned around and said, "Follow me, then. Niman's armor is already finished. Its performance is a hundred times better than those run-of-the-mill Abyss suits out on the street—no, a thousand times better!"
Yu Xian did not believe a single word of it...
Chapter 259