Ye Mu continued, "There are many garbage planets in the universe. These planets might have been prosperous a long time ago, but their value was drained by the river of time, and they eventually declined.
Minerals were depleted, vegetation was felled, and water sources dried up or became polluted.
In the end, only a bare, dark, empty shell remained.
Many major races in the interstellar era possess numerous planets, so they wouldn't care about one or two planets that have lost their value.
Even Earth, as far as I know, has garbage planets specifically used for dumping waste."
Luo Qi furrowed his brows, "Then the people on them..."
Ye Mu nodded, completely shattering Luo Qi's last shred of illusion, "Yes, people forgotten on garbage planets naturally become garbage planet dwellers."
"Then how do they live? I mean, what do they eat? What do they drink?"
Ye Mu rubbed Luo Qi's head. At this moment, Luo Qi suddenly wished Ye Mu would stop talking, but he didn't truly voice his objection.
"On garbage planets, life can only be found among the refuse. Scraps and leftovers picked up are sometimes their entire day's meal."
Luo Qi wanted to ask why they didn't run away. Why didn't they find new planets to inhabit, at least to get enough to eat?
But he didn't ask.
The people on garbage planets included thieves and bandits with nowhere else to go, as well as exiled criminals, and more often, the original inhabitants of the garbage planets.
They had no household registration from other planets, so they naturally couldn't go to other planets. If the garbage planets could no longer accommodate them, then death was their only option.
Luo Qi suddenly felt a pang of sadness. While he was worrying about a minor challenge, perhaps someone else was worrying about whether they could survive tomorrow because they couldn't get a single meal.
Ye Mu tapped Luo Qi's head, "As far as I know, the insect race has no garbage planets. The reason I didn't tell you is because I was afraid you'd make this face."
Luo Qi touched his face, "What face?"
Ye Mu extended two fingers and gently pressed on the corners of Luo Qi's lips, pulling them upwards together, "A face that looks like it's about to cry."
Luo Qi gave a helpless laugh, "When did I?"
Ye Mu took off his shoes and climbed onto Luo Qi's bed. He removed his outer clothes and squeezed under his blanket, "No, you didn't, I was just worried you would.
My little bug cub's heart is softer than a small cake; a gentle touch makes it tremble and reveal a dimple.
I don't want his heart to be poked with two dimples, so I can only smear it with lots of sweet cream. Otherwise, I can only protect the little cake and make sure no one else touches it."
Luo Qi shifted in the blanket and snuggled closer to the source of warmth beside him, "How am I like a little cake? I just feel that He Ning and He Yuan must have suffered a lot too, right?"
Ye Mu nodded, "Yes, excessive growth often comes from enduring pain prematurely."
Luo Qi sighed, "Then we..."
"Stop!" Ye Mu stopped Luo Qi from saying what he was about to say.
"Don't you dare make that face in front of them, and don't you dare say you want to help them."
Luo Qi's lips moved, "Why not?"
Ye Mu rolled over and pulled Luo Qi, blanket and all, into his arms, taking a deep breath of the faint sweet cake scent on him.
"After all these days, haven't you realized? Neither of them wants others to know about this, nor do they want to accept help from others.
Their hearts are strong enough that they could leave a garbage planet at such a young age. So why would they need us to give them money or any other assistance?"
Luo Qi nodded, "You're right, but I feel that if you know a friend is in trouble, it's wrong not to help them."
Ye Mu smiled, "True friends don't mind these things. Instead of that, why not bring more small cakes to eat? I see they both like them."
Luo Qi was immediately distracted, "Do you think they like them? Then I'll send a message to Dad later!"
Ye Mu smiled and nodded.
Luo Qi scrambled out of bed and took out his terminal to send a message to Cecy.
Speaking of which, he hadn't seen Cecy in many days. If he didn't send a message soon, the clingy dad would come looking for him again.
However, before he could send the message, the dormitory door was pushed open, and He Yuan walked in with a smile, "Let's go, let's go see the excitement."
Ye Mu rolled off the bed, "What excitement?"
He Ning, following behind, said, "The challenge."
Luo Qi put down his terminal, "You mean someone has started challenging? So soon?"
He Yuan nodded, his voice laced with teasing, "To my surprise, the challenger didn't challenge Little Luo. They challenged the 99th person on the leaderboard."
Luo Qi: "..."
He Yuan burst into laughter, "Let's go, it'll be fun to watch the excitement together."
Luo Qi thought for a moment, his fingers moved, and he sent a message back.
"Most, most, most, most favorite Dad! Little Luo's dear little cake is all gone. Hope Dad has time to send Little Luo more cakes! Mua"
Luo Qi chuckled and clicked send.
Facing He Yuan's undisguised mockery, Luo Qi didn't "curse" back. In his heart, He Yuan and He Ning were equated with the word "poor little things."
In Luo Qi's eyes, he couldn't bully two starving little things like this; it wouldn't be friendly, nor would it be moral.
He frowned and sighed. Combined, he was two full cycles older than He Ning and He Yuan. Why should he bother with them?
Luo Qi's intermittently appearing fatherly affection suddenly activated. He pondered that this time he could give all his small cakes to He Yuan and the others.
He glanced at He Yuan, who was still laughing with a mocking expression.
Luo Qi tutted. Although he was a poor little thing, if he mocked himself, one small cake would be deducted.
Luo Qi successfully allocated the small cakes, walked over, patted He Yuan's shoulder, and led the way towards the door.
Leaving He Yuan looking bewildered, his laughter cut short, he pursed his lips and looked at Ye Mu, hesitantly asking,
"His expression when he looked at me just now, was it a bit sympathetic?"
Ye Mu picked up his bag, his expression calm, "No, you must have seen wrong."
He Yuan: "..."
He Yuan scratched his head, "Huh? Really? Why do I feel like it was?"
Ye Mu, walking ahead, turned back, "Has the challenge started? What's the content of this challenge?"
He Yuan shook his head, "It starts in half an hour. The challenge content is unknown."
Ye Mu tutted, "How can you not know this?"
He Yuan's eyes widened, "Wasn't I rushing back to give you the heads-up? I initially thought someone was going to challenge Little Luo."
Luo Qi: Hmm, deduct another small cake.