They differ in height, stride, number of limbs, and body coverings, and when they walk together, it resembles a chaotic animal migration, but they seem to have long been accustomed to this mixed formation.

The interior of the asteroid is deeper than it appears from the outside. Occasionally, you can see stacks of supplies and fixed equipment on both sides of the passage. Some of the equipment is covered with a layer of fine stardust, as if it has been used for quite some time.

Lin Mo followed the group through the main passage and into a slightly open transfer area, where everyone gradually stopped walking.

"Everyone lay down your weapons, personnel re-check!"

The sound came from the speakers at the top.

Several guards with handheld scanning devices stood at the entrance of the passage, checking each person's identity badge one by one to confirm that everyone was on the attendance list and that there were no unfamiliar faces or abnormal registration records.

When it was his turn, the man merely glanced at him, checked the number and Carter's name displayed on the device, and waved him through without asking any further questions.

Lin Mo didn't linger and followed the group into the entrance leading underground.

The underground city is much larger than it appears on the surface, as if most of the interior of an asteroid has been hollowed out to form a multi-layered settlement.

Fixed cold light sources are embedded in the walls on both sides of the passage, reflecting a grayish hue onto the exposed rock face.

The group stopped at the end of a relatively wide passage, where people were distributing supplies and rewards.

Each person received an energy booster, a small bag of euphoric hard currency, and a numbered metal tag.

Through the intermittent conversations of those around him, Lin Mo learned that this sign allowed him to go to the dungeon and choose a "useless prisoner"—someone to eat, use, or do whatever he wanted with, no one would care.

Lin Mo followed the direction of some people, making two turns along the passage, walking down a slope, and arrived at the entrance to the dungeon.

The guard at the entrance glanced at his sign and number, but didn't stop him, gesturing for him to go in and choose for himself.

The dungeon was darker inside than outside, and the overhead light sources were unevenly distributed, with some already out. Only the distant light sources maintained basic visibility.

The cells were distributed along both sides of the wall, most of the doors were open and the cells were empty, with only a few still holding people.

Lin Mo walked slowly along the corridor, his gaze sweeping over the figures huddled in the cells one by one.

Most of them were not primates, and their body structures varied. Some were chained to a corner, while others sat against the wall, their faces showing no emotion, as if they had been locked up for a long time and didn't even have a strong desire to look up.

As he walked past the second row, he suddenly stopped.

In the innermost cell, a human woman was squatting by the wall.

She was wearing a black, tight-fitting training suit, the fabric clinging to her body without any extra decorations. A metal choker was around her neck, the chain hanging down to the ground and the end locked to a fixed ring in the corner of the wall.

Her hair was casually tied back, revealing a face with clearly defined features.

His nose bridge was rather straight, and the distance between his eyebrows and eyes was slightly wide. The distribution of his facial features gave him a borderland mixed-race look, like a race from the northern border of the Great Xia Dynasty.

Her gaze was fixed on the ground, she didn't look up, and her breathing was very light, as if she was trying to minimize her presence.

"How can there be humans here? That doesn't make sense!"

Lin Mo frowned, but then noticed something else.

This woman possesses divine power, and at a considerable level, she is actually at the Earth Immortal level.

"A cultivator?"

Lin Mo stood in front of the cell door, filled with doubt.

He didn't have enough time to figure out the answer to that question.

He must take this woman with him; she definitely has a secret!

Lin Mo turned to the guard beside him and said:

"I want this one."

The guard glanced inside, seemingly somewhat surprised:

"Primate meat doesn't taste good; it's just good for eating."

Why not choose crustaceans? You can eat them and play with them; it's much more cost-effective than this.

Lin Mo did not respond, but simply handed over the metal plate.

The guard glanced at him again, as if he thought the guard didn't know his stuff, snorted coldly, and said nothing more.

He took the metal tag, bent down to open the cell door, untied the chain from the fixing ring in the corner, wrapped it around the cell twice, and handed it to him.

"Remember to register."

Lin Mo nodded, signed Carter's number on the registration board outside the door, then put the chain back in his hand, stood sideways at the cell door, and gestured to the people inside.

The woman in the cell visibly trembled when she heard the guard say, "Remember to register."

She squatted in place, her shoulders tense, her fingers gripping the knee fabric of her tight-fitting training suit.

A moment later, she slowly stood up and walked out of the cell, her gaze lowered, almost fixed on the ground within three steps in front of her.

She didn't look at him or make a sound; she simply stood quietly within the reach of the chain.

Lin Mo didn't say anything more, nor did he tighten the chain. He simply turned around and walked ahead, heading towards the fork in the road along the dungeon passage.

Occasionally, people would walk by in the passageway, their eyes sweeping over the two of them. Some would glance at them for a second, while others would just look away. No one stopped to ask anything, and no one showed any extra interest. Scenes like this were not uncommon in daily life on the asteroid.

Lin Mo maintained a steady pace, leading her along the passage toward the place Carter had mentioned earlier.

Upon arriving at the door of his residence, Lin Mo observed for a moment, then tried pressing a button on the panel on the side of the door. A facial recognition sound rang out, and the door slid open inward.

The room was larger than he had expected; it was a duplex, and its interior style was completely different from the rough metal and rock walls of the pirate stronghold.

The ground was covered with fine tree bark chips, and there were a few low, tree-like plants in the corner, with twisted trunks and sparse branches and leaves, but they were indeed growing.

Some vines climbed up the wall, bypassing two rows of storage compartments fixed to the wall, and extended to the edge of the upper level.

The entire space is like a small patch of primeval forest that has been transplanted, forming a stark contrast with the exposed mine tunnels and cold-light fixtures outside.

Lin Mo didn't pay much attention to these things. He leaped up and, imitating the movements of primates, landed on a thick tree trunk near the upper edge and sat down.

His divine sense spread out silently, scanning the room's walls, floor, ceiling, vents, and any gaps where equipment might be hidden.

The information fed back by the divine sense was very clean, and no active or passive monitoring devices were detected.

He looked at the woman standing in the doorway:

Tell me about your background.

The woman's body trembled slightly, her eyelashes lowered, her expression fearful. After a moment of silence, she stammered:

"My name is Nayi. I was originally a Kunlun slave of the Nuwa Group of Kunlun aliens."

Upon hearing that the language spoken by the other party was not any of those on Earth, Lin Mo's face flashed with disappointment, and he asked again:

"What is a Kunlun slave?"

"The artificial humans cultivated by the Nuwa Group were intended to be sold to various nobles as slaves or to serve as soldiers."

"Then how did you get here?"

"During a transfer, the ship was hijacked by pirates and taken to this asteroid, where it was imprisoned in a dungeon."

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