Fifty-five, fifty-five.

It was eleven o'clock at night. The lights in the central district of the outer city were gradually dimming, but for the Black Street—where the neon lights burned bright day and night—this was the true beginning of its most lively hours.

Mercenaries in leather jackets and heavy broadswords strapped to their backs, special operatives making a living on the edge of a blade in combat gear, and even space pirates walking the streets draped in the banner of the Star Pirate Alliance—these gray-market individuals who rarely showed themselves in the outside world were a common sight in the Black Street.

The casinos were awash with neon and spinning psychedelic lights, their revolving louvered doors resembling a seductive, gaping maw, tempting everyone who passed by.

Yuan Hanshuang didn't even spare them a glance, instructing her hover-car to drive straight to the information bureau.

Yet, regretfully, the information bureau had no further purchasable intelligence on how to sneak into the military academy library's archives. Of course, such information might exist, but given her current Diamond rank, she simply lacked the clearance to access it.

Left with no other choice, Yuan Hanshuang had to head to the combat arena next door, intending to exchange all the Star Coins she had won from a week of team combat training into Tier 3 and Tier 4 crystal cores, restocking her granary with fresh ammunition.

"Hello, respected Diamond martial artist. These are the items you exchanged for. Please check them."

After paying the Star Coins, the young woman at the exchange counter pushed a packaged bag of crystal cores across the desk.

Having verified that everything was correct, Yuan Hanshuang was about to leave when, halfway toward the exit, she suddenly noticed a bustling crowd crammed into a corner of the arena. Curious, she stepped over and craned her neck to take a look.

"I'm sorry, but the Martial Artist Star Project requires applicants to be Diamond-tier fighters under the age of nineteen."

The staff member guarding the registration desk wore an apologetic expression. "Anyone over the age limit or lacking the required rank is ineligible to apply."

As soon as these words fell, the martial artists gathered around instantly erupted into an uproar.

"This requirement is far too harsh!"

"Exactly! A Diamond-tier fighter under nineteen? Doesn't that mean having the strength comparable to a Tier 5 combatant by the age of nineteen?! How many such peerless geniuses exist across the entire interstellar sphere?"

"No wonder the project's rewards and return rates are so high; it's a program specially designed by the Black Street to screen for geniuses. To be honest, compared to the national college entrance examination, this requirement is at least equivalent to a near-perfect score. Such exceptional saplings are either future heirs nurtured by great noble families through a mountain of resources, or freaks of nature with heaven-given talent. It's simply too difficult."

"Can't you lower the requirement just a bit? I'm only a few years older than the cutoff."

"I am sorry, but that is not possible."

Even upon hearing the martial artists' disputes, the staff member maintained a polite smile and an impeccable demeanor. "These are the regulations of the project and cannot be altered."

Yuan Hanshuang had initially only intended to take a casual look, but she was startled to notice that the name tag pinned to this staff member's chest was green.

Because she had concealed her identity, she had operated within the Black Street for the five years she spent on Planet 1999.

As a remote frontier planet, the standard of martial artists on Planet 1999 was naturally not very high. Yuan Hanshuang's cultivation speed had been rapid, and her mimicry rank had soared from a C-class ordinary bird to an A-class powerhouse alongside her cultivation. Combined with her mastery of ancient martial arts, she quickly caught the attention of the upper echelons of Planet 1999's Black Street, who extended an olive branch to her.

Intending to use the Black Street's intelligence network to search for clues, Yuan Hanshuang gladly accepted the recruitment and cooperated extensively with the higher-ups. Through these interactions, she inevitably touched upon various Black Street operations and unraveled several unknown inside secrets and pieces of intelligence.

For instance, the ruling power behind the Black Street was the Black Tower, and the Black Tower's main base was located on Dark Star.

Another example was that within the Black Street, not only were martial artists graded by rank, but even the staff members were categorized by a color system. They were ranked through seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet. Among them, red was the highest rank, usually worn only by the top leadership of the Black Tower.

Elevating one's rank was extremely difficult; entry-level staff members wore the lowest-tier violet name tags, and even the head of the Black Street on Planet 1999 held only a cyan-tier designation. For a green-name staff member to suddenly appear here, managing nothing more than standard registration, how could it not shock Yuan Hanshuang?

She simply went with the flow of the crowd and walked over to see what was happening.

In front of the green-name staff member lay a floating light screen.

*Martial Artist Star Project,* Yuan Hanshuang silently read the text displayed upon it.

The light screen displayed nothing else, focusing entirely on a talent recruitment program launched by the combat arena.

The Black Street occasionally rolled out similar talent acquisition programs, signing and nurturing talented martial artists to elevate the quality of the arena's live broadcasts. The supported talents would receive favorable cultivation resources, Star Coin rewards, higher match revenue splits, and more.

From a macro perspective, this superficial talent program was essentially a recruitment drive, with the Black Street barely concealing its ambition; yet for individual martial artists, the benefits gained were quite substantial.

In the interstellar society where the strong were revered, physical might was everything. Therefore, for those with talent, money and cultivation resources were paramount.

Yuan Hanshuang had previously joined a similar talent program. At the Planet 1999 arena, she not only possessed her own lounge but also gained the right to use a private cultivation room. The Black Street's talent program had contributed immensely to her current cultivation level.

However, the "Martial Artist Star Project" listed on the light screen before her was vastly superior to the ordinary talent program she had joined years ago. The array of accessible resources alone completely crushed the latter.

"Martial artists who pass the project's assessment and successfully sign the contract can enjoy private gravity cultivation rooms in the Central Galaxy's Black Street, specialized promotional placement on the homepage of Black Street broadcasts, billboard recommendations in central commercial districts, priority match reservations half a month in advance, dedicated private butler assistance, a ten percent discount at the Black Street Treasure Pavilion, usage rights to the penthouse presidential suite in a luxury Black Street hotel, unlimited dining privileges at the hotel, and an eighty-twenty revenue split favoring the martial artist. Furthermore, they will receive a supreme first-class ticket to Dark Star and a letter of recommendation to enter the inner sanctum of the Black Tower for advanced training."

Even after reading through it, Yuan Hanshuang felt a faint stirring of temptation. "Such incredible resources—there has never been a precedent. They are really sparing no expense. No wonder all these unqualified martial artists are desperate to register and compete for a spot."

Gravity cultivation rooms were scarce resources. Given the current technological level of the interstellar civilization, they could not be artificially manufactured. All existing gravity cultivation rooms were constructed by exploring ancient civilization ruins and extracting gravity crystals from within them. Every single piece used meant one less remaining, making them non-renewable resources.

As far as Yuan Hanshuang knew, even the wealthy, top-ranked Imperial First Military Academy—which enjoyed a massive tilt of imperial resources—allocated fixed, pathetically limited hours for students to use its gravity cultivation rooms. Only the academy's chief and student union president enjoyed unlimited access. As for Star Silver Academy, Xiao Hua hadn't mentioned it at all during introductions; they probably didn't even have one (.)

Not to mention the other conditions, such as increased revenue shares and large-scale promotions, all of which translated directly into cold, hard cash. That was completely separate from the unprecedented offer of a letter of recommendation for training inside the Black Tower.

Any martial artist with even a shred of well-informed intelligence knew that Dark Star itself was a massive ancient civilization ruin, and the Black Tower was an entire edifice constructed from gravity crystals, complete with various life-or-death dueling arenas. It was regarded as a sacred cultivation ground in the minds of many Black Street talented adepts.

Setting aside the cultivation resources for a moment, establishing a connection with the Black Tower meant supreme glory, status, and power—everything one could possibly desire.

Of course, Yuan Hanshuang was unmoved by any of that.

The only things that caught her interest were the luxury hotel's unlimited dining rights and the private gravity cultivation room. Naturally, the ten-percent discount at the Treasure Pavilion was also quite nice. Just think about buying crystal cores at a discount in the future—wasn't that a wonderful prospect?

"Hello, is the registration requirement under nineteen years of age?"

The moment she thought of securing a place with year-round unlimited free meals, Yuan Hanshuang squeezed her way to the front row and presented her Black Street combat license.

The person she shoved aside was displeased. "Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? Didn't you hear the requirement for a Diamond-tier fighter under nineteen? Don't get in the way here."

However, the moment he turned back and caught sight of the Diamond icon on Yuan Hanshuang's combat license, he swallowed his words and fell silent in chagrin.

"Very well, please wait a moment."

Confirming that her combat rank was indeed Diamond, the staff member retrieved a scanner and tapped it against Yuan Hanshuang's wrist.

Seeing the green light flash, indicating she had passed the bone-age verification, a flicker of surprise crossed the staff member's eyes. "Congratulations on meeting the registration criteria. Please come with me."

After Yuan Hanshuang departed with the staff member, the people lingering on-site, who had failed to process what just happened, erupted into an uproar.

"What? That Diamond fighter from just now was under nineteen?!"

"Holy crap, there really are Diamond fighters under nineteen?! Damn it!"

"Goodness me, I've watched that green-name staff member recruit here for days, and I didn't think anyone would actually meet the criteria. As expected of the Central Galaxy; heroes truly emerge from the youth, and dragons and tigers lie hidden here."

However, Yuan Hanshuang could no longer hear any of these discussions.

Following the staff member, she traversed the Black Street arena and arrived at the VIP lounge in the backstage area.

Yuan Hanshuang had frequently visited the VIP lounge on Planet 1999, but this was her first time experiencing the one in the Central Galaxy. The interior decoration alone highlighted the vast gap between a remote star system and the core of the galaxy. After all, in the Central Galaxy, only those who reached the Master tier were qualified to have their own private lounge.

"Please wait here for a moment." The staff member brought over a cup of tea and gestured for her to rest. "A specialist will arrive shortly to conduct a targeted consultation with you."

Soon enough, the designated liaison officer arrived in a hurry, clutching a folder. Wearing flat-framed glasses, this person exuded the financial elite aura of a graduate from a prestigious university.

"Hello, SpongeBob."

Even when uttering Yuan Hanshuang's somewhat bizarre combat arena ID, the liaison officer's expression remained completely unchanged, indicating professional training that prevented them from laughing aloud unless the impulse became truly overwhelming.

"Hello."

The two exchanged a polite handshake, and Yuan Hanshuang noticed that this liaison officer also wore a green-tier name tag. This only deepened her curiosity regarding the Martial Artist Star Project.

Not only was the financial backing immense, but it had also mobilized so many green-tier Black Street personnel; the project undoubtedly went far beyond the ordinary.

Sure enough, their subsequent conversation validated her suspicions.

"To put it simply, this Martial Artist Star Project is the primary focus of the Black Tower's specialized publicity campaign this year. In terms of both resources and treatment, it is undoubtedly the top-tier talent cultivation program of the past several decades."

The liaison officer pushed up their glasses. "Once the project was issued, the Black Street branches across various star systems initiated recruitment simultaneously. However, quotas are strictly limited, and the number of martial artists who can pass the screening and successfully sign contracts is only ten."

"Next, I will need to conduct a detailed questionnaire with you to determine whether you can join the program."

Yuan Hanshuang nodded. "Alright."

As they conversed, she sensed a familiar feeling of being watched.

Presumably, aside from the liaison officer before her, there were other Black Street personnel participating in the review process via synchronous monitoring.

Although she learned that there were only ten quotas, Yuan Hanshuang remained quite confident. The single requirement of being a Diamond-tier fighter under the age of nineteen had already filtered out ninety-nine percent of candidates. Even Gu Dong—despite that wealthy assassin master also being a Diamond-tier fighter—failed to meet the age requirement.

The first question.

"Are you currently a student at an advanced academy?"

Yuan Hanshuang offered a shy smile. "No. I am not in school, and I plan to take the national college entrance examination this year."

After returning from the contaminated planet five years ago, she had used the Black Street's influence to forge a new identity document. Of course, given Yuan Hanshuang's cautious nature, it was naturally impossible for her to operate openly in the Black Street using solely that identity. After all, even now, the high-ranking bounty on the mythical mimicry of the "Little Black Bird" initiated by the Black Street remained firmly at the top of the wanted list; the slightest misstep would spell absolute doom.

This demonstrated how bitterly the crown prince of the Black Tower—whose peach had been stolen by Yuan Hanshuang on that contaminated planet years ago—resented her. Five years had passed, and not only had the bounty not been revoked, but the prize money had even been increased.

To pull wool over people's eyes, the younger Yuan Hanshuang had turned around, taken the certificate issued by the Black Street, and run off to the public security bureau on Planet 1999 like a Matryoshka doll to open a brand-new imperial identity account.

This meant that currently, she simultaneously possessed two identity accounts. One was registered through the Black Street, kept in the open, portraying her as a first-year close-combat student at Star Silver Academy who had participated in the college entrance examination; the other was registered through the empire, kept entirely in the shadows. If anyone noticed her fighting in the Black Street matches, checking her credentials through this secondary identity would reveal only an ordinary seventeen-year-old imperial citizen currently registered as unemployed.

The genius of these dual identities lay in the fact that the Black Street and the imperial citizen archives were not interconnected. Furthermore, since she had used the documents provided by the other party to register on the reverse side, they served as mutual cover—a truly seamless arrangement.

"Splendid." Whether it was due to hitting some hidden criterion of the recruitment program, a look of pleasant surprise appeared on the liaison officer's face. "What is your adept combat class?"

"Close-combat class."

"Your cultivation level and mimicry rank?"

"Tier 4 intermediate, A-class."

"A-class? Considering your age of seventeen and your mimicry rank, this cultivation level is astonishing."

The liaison officer nodded repeatedly, full of praise. "The final question: among the various rewards offered by the Martial Artist Star Project, which one holds the most attraction for you?"

Following a series of answers where the other party's joy grew increasingly apparent, Yuan Hanshuang knew the matter was practically secured.

Without hesitation, she replied smoothly, "At this stage, the reward of the gravity cultivation room holds the greatest appeal for me. Of course, looking at it from a long-term perspective, the letter of recommendation from the Black Tower is naturally of greater weight. I am very much looking forward to traveling to the Black Tower for my cultivation."

Yuan Hanshuang was not a sheltered seventeen-year-old child who had yet to step foot into society.

The final question sounded entirely like a routine test requiring a declaration of stance and loyalty.

Naturally, if one asked for Yuan Hanshuang's true internal thoughts, she actually considered the Black Tower recommendation letter to be the least tempting thing of all. Because the Black Tower was built on Dark Star, she had always held a deep aversion to that cesspool of dragons and fishes, and she wouldn't go there even if they carried her in a sedan chair for free!

Clearly, having lived through two lifetimes, Yuan Hanshuang understood the game completely.

The moment she finished her response, the liaison officer immediately pressed their earpiece.

"Hello, to ensure complete authenticity, the questionnaire and survey just conducted were monitored and reviewed synchronously by Black Tower personnel."

Just like a job interview, every answer prompted investigators to verify and cross-reference whether her claimed cultivation level and mimicry rank matched reality.

"Judging by the information just transmitted, all reviews have passed."

The liaison officer smiled and shook her hand. "Congratulations, you have successfully passed the screening."

Yuan Hanshuang hastily put on a flattering expression of pleasant surprise.

Next came the formal procedure of signing the contract.

"You are the eighth person admitted to this project. While you may not possess the highest mimicry rank among them, you are the candidate whose qualifications best match all criteria."

Aided by some internal rumors, the liaison officer knew that the lucrative conditions displayed by this elite talent cultivation program were merely the tip of the iceberg, and now intended to build a favorable rapport by leaking a bit of intelligence behind the scenes: "Based on what I just heard from the higher-ups, you contracted star fighters might even get to meet a truly extraordinary VIP."

An extraordinary VIP?

Yuan Hanshuang's hand, flipping through the contract, paused slightly.

Could someone addressed as a VIP by a green-tier staff member possibly be a yellow-tier or even an orange-tier operative?

Clearly, Yuan Hanshuang's imagination still fell a bit short.

The visitor might not just be an employee; they could very well be the boss.

Once she signed the contract, she was respectfully escorted into another, more spacious lounge. Aside from herself, several other star members who had also signed contracts to join the project were present. They had reportedly been recruited from Black Street branches in other star systems and transported via specialized transport flights to the Central Galaxy specifically for this.

In the center of the lounge stood several reflectors and studio lighting equipment. The members stood on them one by one, taking turns posing for the official promotional photographs of the Star Martial Artist Project.

Fortunately, fighters were permitted to wear molecular visors that obscured their faces, concealing their identities. Otherwise, given the Black Street's financial resources, Yuan Hanshuang suspected they wouldn't hesitate to plaster billboards all around Star Silver Academy—a scenario that would truly constitute a social death.

Unlike the excitement of the other fighters, by the time the photo shoot concluded at two in the morning, Yuan Hanshuang was yawning with exhaustion. Just as she was about to ask if there were any further matters—and if not, express her desire to return to sleep—a commotion suddenly erupted at the entrance of the lounge.

Lifting her gaze, she saw several individuals wearing yellow-name tags walking in, accompanied by someone bearing an orange-name tag. According to the whispering among the others, this orange-tier individual was reportedly the supreme head of the Central Galaxy's Black Street.

An actual big shot! Yuan Hanshuang's expression turned solemn out of respect.

Yet, upon entering, this supreme head did not converse much with them. Instead, he walked to the very center of the lounge, stood respectfully, and assumed a submissive, flattering posture.

"Beep, connection successful." A cold mechanical voice rang out.

The next second, a cubic holographic projector activated, and particles gradually gathered in mid-air to form the projection of a figure.

Initially, the figure was quite blurry, revealing only that the person wore a ferocious black iron mask while seated in a crimson high-backed chair, posture cold and languid.

Yet, from that blurred silhouette, Yuan Hanshuang discerned an eerie sense of familiarity.

Wait a minute—isn't this that exact same sucker whose peach she stole?!