High Martial Arts: Slay enemies to become stronger, forge invincibility from billions of corpses.

Thirty thousand years ago, the Winged People reached the assessment standard of a level 0.5 civilization.

The investment assessment envoy of the Cangxing Alliance released a Source Spirit Star Stone according to standard procedures.

Like on Blue Star, psionic energy has permeated every ecological corner of Emerald Star.

Within just a few decades, the Winged Humans achieved psionic awakening, giving birth to their first seventh-tier Star Core Realm expert and successfully advancing to a first-level civilization.

The Treaty on Civilization and the Repayment Treaty were signed on Flowing Star. The principal amount owed by the Winged Race was 80,000 Cosmic Crystals, which was much less than that on Earth because the investment process went very smoothly and the cost was relatively low.

During the initial ten thousand-year interest-free period, the winged people lived very well.

Using the low-level technology available through the alliance, they elevated their civilization several levels, from a tribal federation to a unified global system, and from terrestrial cities to space colonization, at one point establishing three colonies on alien planets.

The arrival of the repayment period did not worry them too much. Eighty thousand cosmic crystals, with an annual interest rate of one percent, would only amount to eight hundred in interest per year.

Given the economic development level of the Winged Humans at that time, they could easily afford to pay that amount of money.

The problem arose in the first millennium after the interest-free period ended.

The Winged Race's economic structure is overly reliant on the export of psionic cores. Their planet possesses a unique psionic mineral that is highly sought after in the cosmic market.

The Alliance has supported hundreds of millions of civilizations, many of which also produce similar psionic minerals.

Market competition was extremely fierce, and the Winged People's minerals were gradually squeezed out of the market due to their high mining costs.

After losing their main export revenue, the Winged People began to use their reserves to pay interest for tens of thousands of years.

After their reserves ran out, they began selling off their overseas assets. They sold off three colonies, half of their space fleet, and even dismantled the orbital elevators and sold them as scrap metal.

Ten thousand years have passed, and the Winged People have begun their most desperate means of self-preservation: selling out their own people.

Winged humans are a popular breed of slaves in the cosmic slave market.

They can fly, and their natural ability to fly in low to medium gravity environments makes winged slaves extremely valuable in fields such as construction, transportation, and aerial performances.

A healthy adult winged human can fetch between eighty and one hundred Cangxing coins in the best years.

Those with special talents, such as being skilled in wing dance and wind song, can even sell for over a thousand.

The Winged People maintained their civilization by selling off hundreds of thousands to millions of their own people every year.

However, prices in the slave market fluctuate; the greater the supply, the lower the price per unit.

When the Winged People exported 100,000 slaves a year, the price of a Winged Person could still be maintained at a decent level.

When the output reached 500,000 units per year, the price began to plummet.

Under intense pressure from debt collectors, the Winged People had no choice but to reduce their output to stabilize prices; instead, they had to sell more people to compensate for the drop in unit price.

In their most extravagant year, they sold two million winged people.

But the interest keeps increasing because of compound interest.

With a principal of 80,000 cosmic crystals, plus 20,000 years of accumulated interest, the Winged Race's total debt ballooned from 80,000 to 1 million.

The Winged Race's total annual export revenue is less than five thousand cosmic crystals, which is not even enough to cover the interest payments.

They are still selling their people, but they have sold all the ones they could. The remaining population is mostly elderly, young, or unable to work.

Slave traders were not interested in these defective products.

The Winged People then applied to the Alliance's Ministry of Justice for a fourth extension, but the Ministry of Justice refused.

Today, the Seventh Action Team of the Disciplinary Department was dispatched to handle this matter.

Song Chen turned off the information terminal, leaned against the wall of the rest cabin, closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.

The spaceship's warp drive emitted a continuous, low hum that traveled through the bulkhead.

He thought of the base cities on Earth that had been breached by alien beasts, and the city walls of Anning City.

Blue Star and Emerald Star have too many similarities. Both are investment targets of the Azure Star Alliance, both have experienced psionic awakening, and both are struggling to survive under the threat of alien beasts.

But Blue Star was much luckier. On a whim, Lal waived Blue Star's interest and debt collection, giving Blue Star a chance to breathe.

But there is no Lar on Emerald Star.

He suddenly realized something: if it weren't for Ral, Blue Star would be in almost the exact same position as Emerald Star.

Both owed more than a million cosmic crystals, both were new to the universe and knew nothing, and both faced the abyss of compounding interest.

The only difference is that Blue Star received permanent interest-free benefits immediately after signing the contract, while Emerald Star has already accumulated interest for 20,000 years.

Just then, the door to the rest pod slid open, and Kane stood in the doorway: "First time on a collection mission, are you nervous?"

Song Chen shook his head: "I'm not nervous."

"That's good. Just let me know if you need anything."

Song Chen didn't reply, but turned his head to look at the starlight outside the porthole, which was stretched into countless silver lines by the warp drive. The color of the starlight kept switching between blue and white, as if the universe was sending some kind of signal in Morse code that he couldn't understand.

Kane stood up and patted Song Chen on the shoulder.

"Your home planet has just entered the universe and has not yet experienced many things."

"But remember, you are now the Punisher, and your duty is to enforce the League's decisions, not to question the League's rules."

"Behind the ruling is the debt collection task, which has a clear objective: to ensure that debtors fulfill their repayment obligations in a civilized manner."

"As for how they fulfill their obligations, that's not our concern; we just need to make sure they do."

"What if they can't fulfill their promise?" Song Chen asked.

"Then we will proceed according to the Ministry of Justice's ruling. The job of the disciplinary officer is not to judge, but to execute. If you feel that you cannot do it, you can apply for recusal before the mission begins."

Song Chen thought for a few seconds, then said, "It's possible."

Kane nodded, turned and walked out.

He paused at the doorway, then said to Song Chen with his back to her, "By the way, there's your new equipment in the mission preparation room. It's custom-made to your face size. Go try it on."

The door to the rest cabin slid shut behind him.

Song Chen stood up, walked through the corridor, and entered the mission preparation room.

The preparation room is small, with a row of metal storage cabinets against the wall and a long equipment table in the middle.

On the equipment stand was an open black box containing a mask.

The mask is pure black and made of a lightweight, high-strength composite material with a slightly frosted feel.

The inner part of the mask that fits the contours of the face is a layer of memory gel that automatically deforms to adapt to the wearer's face shape when it comes into contact with the skin, and returns to its original shape after being removed.

The mask's built-in psionic jammer continuously emits a low-intensity psionic noise that masks the wearer's aura.

To others, a person wearing a mask is just a blurry shadow.

Next to the mask is a matching chin guard, which can be worn separately or locked together with the mask to form a full face cover.

Song Chen picked up the mask, turned it inside out, and saw a line of tiny characters engraved on the forehead: Deputy Captain of the Seventh Action Team.

This is his first identity in the universe: a person who wears a black mask to cover his face and specializes in collecting debts for the Alliance.

He put the mask back in the box and began organizing the other equipment.

He discovered a copy of "The Punisher's Handbook for Newcomers" next to the mask.

Song Chen flipped through it, and the first page read:

"Welcome to the Department of Punishment. You will become the guardian of the Alliance's order, the debt collector for civilizations in debt, and the maintainer of cosmic peace."

"Remember: punishment is not killing, but a means; order is not oppression, but the end."

"I wish you all the best in your career in the disciplinary department."

He flipped to the last page of the new employee handbook and found a line of small print at the end: "Note: The above content represents an ideal scenario. Please refer to the task briefings for actual conditions."