章 16: S-tier Beta

The Rock-digger was in bad shape. And the surrounding was filled with a constant, annoying buzz. Exhausted, Yuri leaned against the rocky wall and fell asleep.

Tuss, given the job to fix the Rock-digger, slowed down when he noticed Yuri sleeping. What should have been a quick fix turned into a two-hour job.

When Yuri woke up, Tuss was still busy working. He was covered in dirt, his usually good-looking face barely visible. All she could see were his standout features, especially his eyes, dark as night and so captivating they could draw other people in.

"You awake?" Tuss's voice was raspy.

Yuri grumbled in response, getting up and asking, "Can it be fixed?"

"It's done," Tuss said, putting away his tools. "Give it a shot."

Yuri raised an eyebrow, finding the timing a bit too perfect. The machine was fixed the moment she woke up.

She got into the Rock-digger and turned the key. It started up without a hitch.

A gong bell rang out, causing everyone to stop in their tracks. Then, a voice, cold and unsympathetic, came over the loudspeakers. It was a pirate. "Listen up. You've got four hours to rest. After that, back to work."

Yuri hopped off the digger, squatting in front of Tuss. "Get on, we need to make the most of this break and head up."

Tuss didn't argue and awkwardly climbed onto her back. He hadn't had a proper rest in over thirty hours, and the pain from his lost limb was overwhelming. His hands shook from tiredness, making it nearly impossible for him to get back up to the surface.

With Tuss on Yuri's back and Zeek by her side, the three headed for the elevator.

Leaving the mine meant going through a full-body scanner, supposedly made to find any hidden Blue Keystone on the "miners."

As Yuri, with Tuss on her back, trailed behind the crowd, she pretended to be tired. Suddenly, a high-pitched beep sounded.

"What's going on?" Yuri's eyes widened in surprise.

Tuss lifted his head, speaking calmly, "Someone must have hidden a Blue Keystone."

Just as he predicted, a pirate's frosty voice came next. "Hand it over, or do I need to search you?"

The man turned pale. "I... I messed up. Here it is."

Shaking, the man clumsily reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue gem the size of a soybean. Pirate grabbed the Blue Keystone, pushed the man away, and pointed his energy gun. Before the man even hit the ground, he had turned into dust.

A terrified scream filled the air.

"Quiet." The pirate's chilly order echoed, his gun now aimed at the one who screamed. "Move along."

Yuri tensed up, activating her Enova and wrapping it around her hidden Blue Keystone.

"Don't worry," Tuss's voice was soft, barely audible in her ear, "If you're not hiding a Blue Keystone, the scanner won't go off."

Yuri was even more worried now, and wondered what was she supposed to do.

"Blue Keystone may be valuable, but it doesn't help with lost limbs," Tuss added.

Yuri was taken aback, thinking, "Has Tuss noticed my hidden Blue Keystone? Is he trying to discourage me now?"

Yuri had a hunch that her Enova could help her bypass the scanner's detection.

Soon, it was their turn. Carrying Tuss on her back, she walked through the scanner, keeping her face calm.

No alarm went off.

Yuri let out a silent sigh of relief. Being sure of something was one thing, but seeing it happen was another. Now, she was pretty rich.

She thought to herself, "How much can a single Blue Keystone be sold for? Fifty million astracredits, or maybe even a hundred million?"

Once they reached their room, Yuri, Tuss, and Zeek fell into a deep sleep.

After what felt like forever, Yuri found herself back in that chaotic, cold, and gloomy place filled with dead vines, much like the underworld.

"Wow, it looks worse than the last time I was here," Yuri said to herself.

She didn't know why she was here, or why she felt a little sad about how bad this place looked.

"Could I change it?"

"If this is my dream, I should be able to change it, right?"

This time, Yuri didn't use her hands. Instead, she used her imagination and the psychic power she had just started to learn about in her past life. She tried to change this place, or rather, this world.

In the darkness, Tuss was grimacing, one hand on his head, the other on the spot where his leg used to be. His head was pounding, and the spot where his leg used to be was hurting—

It was pure torture.

He had tried to stay strong, to get used to life without his legs, but it was much harder than he thought.

Besides the discomfort and random sharp pain of not having his legs, the worst pain came from his Sea of Consciousness, which made him think about death—

A soft groan came from Tuss as blood dripped from his lips, which were tightly clenched.

There were no betas here to help him organize his Sea of Consciousness. Rather than die in pain or go crazy and lose his mind, he thought it was better to just die—

He knew if he died, he wouldn't be a burden to Yuri and Zeek anymore.

Tuss turned to look at Yuri, who was just a few feet away. The sky outside was starting to lighten up, and he could see her dirty little face. He didn't know why, but he didn't want to leave her.

But, it was time.

Tuss tried to smile, but the intense pain twisted his face, making it even harder for him to bite his own tongue—

"Goodbye." Tuss thought to himself, his eyes filled with sadness and relief.

"Umm~"

Yuri moaned in her sleep, startling Tuss who was about to bite his tongue. The next moment, the intense pain in his Sea of Consciousness went away, replaced by a feeling of relief he had never felt before.

"What's this? A sudden break from the pain before I die?" Tuss felt like he was back to before he became an alpha. Back then, he didn't have any special abilities, nor the worries of his Sea of Consciousness.

"No, that's not it. I haven't bitten my tongue. I'm dead yet." Tuss's eyes went wide in surprise. "What was going on?"

On the side, Yuri's forehead relaxed, and she turned over to continue sleeping. Finally able to sleep peacefully, she even started snoring lightly.

Hearing the soft snoring, Tuss slowly came back to his senses. He quietly sat up in the darkness, his deep eyes scanning the room, finally stopping at the door.

His Sea of Consciousness was calmed without any physical touch, and the result was more soothing than anything he had ever experienced, even outperforming an A-tier beta who had previously assisted him.

He wondered about the rank of this beta who had helped him. "Was the person an S-tier? Or possibly even an SS-tier?"

Tuss shook his head. He had never heard of the Alliance possessing SS-tier betas, so it was likely an S-tier. However, around them, there were either pirates or folks like them who had been taken for mining. Betas and alphas were kept strictly separate in different areas and under close watch; they couldn't possibly be in this place.

Also, as far as he knew, the Alliance's S-tier betas had been heavily guarded by the Alliance for a long time; there was no way they could show up here.

Tuss was at a loss. His weary body couldn't hold itself up any longer. He gradually slid down the wall, lay flat, and in the next moment, he was fast asleep.