Fall of The Phantom
Ge Xiu had been arrested.
This shocking news spread through the interstellar network with almost terrifying speed, multiplying and disseminating like a virus, occupying every functional intelligent display.
No one could believe it: the most wanted criminal, whose whereabouts were unpredictable and whose real identity was shrouded in mystery, had actually been captured!
How could this be?
For a moment, all eyes were focused on the Interstellar Referee at the edge of the Milky Way.
It was said that Ge Xiu was being held in secret there.
---
The long-serving judge glanced at the flood of information pouring into his personal brain with growing frustration. Each time he opened one message, thousands more followed. These inquiries came from the ruling families of countless planets across the galaxy. Notably, powerful figures from various sectors—some discreet, others overt, some vague, and some direct—sought the same information about the same person.
Ge Xiu's name represented not only a staggering list of crimes and a reward of trillions of interstellar credits but also countless mysterious and ghostly appearances, including a vast fleet of unknown capabilities.
Each aspect alone could incite unprecedented turmoil across the galaxy.
Since the hot potato had been handed to him, the judge's personal brain had crashed three times, and even the top-tier processors urgently installed were on the brink of collapse.
He had even been relocated from the court to a secret base in the galaxy, where only the specialized equipment could ensure that the wanted criminal remained securely contained.
Fortunately, this ordeal was nearing its end.
Two hours earlier, the jury had reached a decision, and the result of Ge Xiu's trial was now available on his desk.
The judge took a deep breath and turned to the light screen suspended nearby.
The screen displayed a real-time monitoring feed of a room.
The narrow ten-square-meter cage was made from special metal that could block any level of mental power detection. Even the highest-intensity quantum lasers from interstellar cannons could not penetrate it. The intricate power grid outside, combined with a fleet stationed nearby, made this the safest place in the galaxy, impenetrable and escape-proof.
Within this cold, confined space was the galaxy's most dangerous criminal: Ge Xiu.
Yet, strangely, through the monitor, he appeared quite... ordinary.
In the surveillance footage, the young man sat against the wall, knees drawn up. His figure was thin and slight, and the oversized prison uniform hung loosely on his shoulders, giving him a somewhat frail appearance.
Aside from the blue-violet electric shackles on his wrists, this most-wanted criminal seemed no different from an ordinary person.
His physical readings were extremely average. The appraisal report, released a few days earlier, showed no genetic enhancements or improvements, and his physical and mental capabilities were rated as B-level.
The only remarkable feature was his appearance.
His exquisite facial features and flawless skin combined to form an almost otherworldly face, more captivating than even the most adored star idols. It was hard to reconcile this beauty with the galaxy's most dangerous wanted criminal.
Ge Xiu, in the monitoring screen, had his eyes tightly closed, his posture relaxed and careless, not at all befitting an unarmed death-row inmate.
The judge turned his attention back to the brain reminder that had just activated.
It was time.
He began to pronounce:
"The person on trial, Ge Xiu, the current captain of the Leviathan Star Pirates and the head of the criminal group of the same name, is charged with 33 S-class crimes, 147 A-class crimes, and 2,538 B-class crimes..."
In the narrow prison, his voice echoed off the cold metal walls, delivering the condemned's list of offenses with high authority and severity.
At that moment, Ge Xiu finally stirred.
He opened his eyes, looked around sleepily, and yawned.
He had been sleeping.
"Do you deny your guilt?"
The judge's voice took on a harsher tone.
Ge Xiu drooped his eyelids, yawned again slowly, and with a lazy, half-asleep voice, asked, "Will recognizing crimes I don't even remember help?"
"Even if you choose to isolate yourself on a barren star with no memory, you cannot escape these crimes. The evidence is conclusive. The jury has reached a decision. The result will now be announced." The judge's voice remained cold and uncompromising.
"According to imperial law, prisoner Ge Xiu is sentenced to 1156 years in Black Prison without the possibility of commutation."
The Black Prison, a secret facility for extremely dangerous criminals above Class A, has a history almost as long as the Galactic Government itself, and no one has ever been released from it.
Ge Xiu's lips curled in boredom, and he shrugged casually:
"...Oh."
His indifference almost made it seem as if he did not comprehend the seriousness of the trial.
The judge hesitated but continued, "Alternatively, you may choose to enter the newly launched mandatory punishment and transformation system, serve your sentence in a virtual world, and be punished there. Upon completion of 1156 points of evil, you may gain freedom. The time ratio between the virtual world and the real world is 1,000 to 1, significantly shortening your actual sentence."
Ge Xiu's eyelids lifted as he stared intently at the monitoring equipment.
His eyes, now sharp and calculating, seemed to pierce through the screen and cut straight to the core.
The intensity of his gaze was chilling.
The judge's heart skipped a beat, and he felt an inexplicable sense of dread, as if he were falling into an abyss.
In that instant, he momentarily forgot the context, recoiling instinctively against the back of his chair before snapping back to reality.
Suddenly, Ge Xiu smiled.
His previously languid demeanor seemed to come alive with an unsettling excitement and eagerness, a dangerous allure beneath his almost angelic exterior.
He spoke slowly, "I'll choose the second option."
His calm voice belied the electric thrill of anticipation and excitement.
Despite the multiple layers of protection between them, the judge felt an icy chill down his spine.
He quickly pressed the long-prepared button.
In the narrow cell, a mechanical voice announced:
"Punishment mode selected successfully."
Moments later, blue lines on the metal walls illuminated, converging into high-precision bio-metal chains that extended rapidly toward Ge Xiu. Each chain's delicate tips integrated into his skin, embedding numerous nerve synapses.
The mechanical voice, now distant and distorted, declared:
[The trial takes effect]
[Generating Virtual World]
---
Ge Xiu's eyes snapped open.
His consciousness seemed to be pulled from a cold abyss, and the sudden influx of sounds, lights, and changes in pressure hit him vividly, bringing him to full awareness.
The first thing he noticed was an overpowering stench that almost overwhelmed him.
The smell of rotting carcasses and deteriorating water, mixed with a rancid odor, pervaded the air. Swarms of mosquitoes and flies buzzed around, dominating the environment.
Ge Xiu's eyes adjusted as he surveyed his surroundings.
He was lying under a makeshift shelter on a black cloth that seemed to be his bed.
Through the leaky roof, he could see the dismal sky and towering heaps of garbage outside. The sight was obscured by layers of filth, with every visible area filled with decay.
Ge Xiu stood up, feeling a wave of dizziness and a sharp pain in his stomach.
He glanced at his hands, now thin and dirty, with protruding knuckles and fragile bones wrapped in a thin layer of skin.
Interesting!
Ge Xiu was intrigued by this novel experience. He clenched his fists, fascinated by the sensation of weakness from hunger and malnutrition.
At that moment, the sound of hurried footsteps approached from outside the shelter. A skinny, half-grown child crawled in and, upon seeing Ge Xiu, exclaimed, "Xiao Qi, you're finally awake!"
The child scrambled over, nearly tripping over the trash strewn about, and grabbed Ge Xiu, pulling him toward the exit.
"The selection starts in five minutes! Hurry up! If you miss it, you'll have to wait another seven years!"
Ge Xiu was dragged out of the decrepit shelter and stumbled forward.
He looked up, and the full extent of his new environment was revealed.
Mountains of refuse stretched as far as the eye could see, with the entire planet shrouded in a noxious haze. Above, a massive starship loomed, casting a shadow over the desolate world, which seemed abandoned by civilization.
A disembodied voice echoed in Ge Xiu's ear:
"Welcome to Punishment World One: Garbage Star."