IBO -Chapter 44 Exploring the Orphanage – Previous Timeline

This novel contains sensitive and taboo content like R*pe, Mu**er etc. Read only if you are comfortable.

After returning to the orphanage, 555 was tinkering with the discarded lightbrain that Song Yiran had picked up from the trash earlier.

Today, he had followed Song Yiran to study the interstellar language tutorial and had now learned some basic interstellar vocabulary.

Although he still couldn’t pull up any mission-related information, he could hack into the Star Network to collect the data he needed.

Normally, upon entering a mission world, the system would receive all information related to the mission.

But due to encountering temporal turbulence on the way here, he only knew the most basic fact about this mission: he needed to raise the little ones.

All the other related information was gone.

But he was a high-tech system! Basic hacking was nothing for him!

However, because of that temporal turbulence, all the mission resources he had brought were lost, including the language pack. Like Song Yiran, he was illiterate in the interstellar world.

And the interstellar script was completely different from what he knew. Even with hacking skills, he couldn’t access the Star Network.

But now things were different—he had already mastered the basic interstellar vocabulary. Now was the time to show off!

He wanted Song Yiran to know that he, 555, was a useful system!

Dazzling streams of data flew rapidly past 555, and he used his short little hands to tap quickly on different characters on the lightbrain.

His eyes were full of determination, and the corner of his mouth curved into a mischievous, devilish smile as he murmured, “Hehehe! Song Yiran, just wait and see! I’ll show you how useful I really am! Hehehehe!”

From Song Yiran’s perspective, 555 looked like he was having a chuunibyou (delusions of grandeur) moment while stupidly laughing at the lightbrain.

Song Yiran held his forehead and chuckled softly, shaking his head. 555 was in the late stages of chuunibyou—completely hopeless.

Youth was wonderful. He had experienced his own chuunibyou phase long ago, probably back in middle school.

Back then, he was obsessed with comics and novels, always imagining himself as a hero saving the world.

One day, some knight from a kingdom would find him, asking him to help defeat the evil dragon and save the kingdom under attack.

At that time, he had given himself a cool title: “The Invincible Dragon-Slaying Warrior.”

Under the starlight, Song Yiran and the little ones finished the last four nutrient solutions left by the kind-hearted youth.

He was grateful to that generous young man once again!

From now on, he would have to rely on himself. He logged onto the Star Network to buy some nutrient solutions but had no idea what prices were like in the interstellar era.

Hopefully, prices weren’t too high here. He only had the 100 credit points he had earned today.

After logging in, Song Yiran entered a store specializing in nutrient solutions. Upon entering, he was dazzled by the shelves displaying a wide variety of nutrient solutions.

He hadn’t expected there to be so many types in the interstellar era.

Walking along the shelves, he noticed that many of the names were of species he didn’t recognize.

For example: Gluru Fruit-flavored nutrient solution, Kamaka Fruit-flavored nutrient solution, Stir-Fried Kama Beast-flavored nutrient solution, Meteor Fruit-flavored nutrient solution, Steamed Twisty Beast-flavored nutrient solution…

These names were all strange and unusual—likely species unique to the interstellar era. Song Yiran didn’t know them, so he had to search on the spot.

Through the search engine, he found images of the species and reviews from other netizens.

Gluru Fruit looked like an oversized watermelon, very large, but its outer skin was purple and its flesh yellow. Netizens commented: “Tastes great, very sweet, highly recommended!”

Kamaka Fruit resembled a tomato, but its skin was blue and its flesh white. Netizens said it tasted sour.

Kama Beast looked strange, like a combination of a cow and a sheep—it had a cow’s head, a sheep’s body, and the fluffy wool of a sheep. Stir-Fried Kama Beast was highly praised online.

Meteor Fruit looked like a star, with yellow skin and purple flesh. Netizens said it was slightly spicy.

Twisty Beast looked like a cross between a snail and a fish. It had a large shell but a fish-like body. Netizens said it was very tasty, especially when steamed.

Song Yiran finally bought the Gluru Fruit-flavored nutrient solution—sweet flavor was the safest choice. He wasn’t sure if the little ones would like the other flavors, so he started with sweet.

Prices in the interstellar era were similar to Blue Star’s, not excessively inflated.

A basic nutrient solution cost only 1 credit point, while the ones with special flavors or higher quality would increase in price accordingly.

The most expensive could even cost tens of thousands.

Song Yiran knew his current capabilities, so he bought ordinary nutrient solutions. Once he earned more money, he would buy premium ones for the little ones.

He purchased three days’ worth of rations, a total of 35 nutrient solutions. He chose the Gluru Fruit flavor, the most basic, costing 35 credit points.

When paying, he realized he hadn’t set a payment password, so he quickly set one. Every hard-earned credit mattered!

After paying, he needed to enter a delivery address. He didn’t know the orphanage’s address, but fortunately, there was a location feature.

Looking at the displayed address: C Star, C City, C District, 2C Street, Interstellar Orphanage—so many Cs! Was he just fated to be with C?

After completing the order, Song Yiran searched for a well-rated large supermarket online. After choosing one, he used the link to transport himself there.

Since there were dishes like Stir-Fried Kama Beast and Steamed Niuniu Beast, both receiving rave reviews online, there had to be a unique cuisine in this era.

Although he still didn’t know whether the orphanage actually had a kitchen—he had been too focused on finding a room that night to check carefully—he believed that even if there wasn’t one, someday he could save up enough money through his efforts, add a kitchen, and rebuild the orphanage!

So for now, he decided to first check the prices of vegetables and meat in the Interstellar Era.

The prices weren’t too expensive. Kama Beast meat was 15 credit points per jin, Niuniu Beast meat 10 credit points per jin, Gulu Fruit 5 credit points per jin, Meteor Fruit 3 credit points per jin…

Most of the prices were reasonable. Some were cheap, some expensive; different varieties had different prices.

Song Yiran finally felt relieved. In the novels he had read before, vegetables and meat in interstellar worlds were often sky-high, completely unaffordable for ordinary people, who had to survive on nutrient solutions.

Luckily, the interstellar world he had come to wasn’t like that. Otherwise, the thought of him and the little ones surviving on nutrient solutions every day would have been too tragic!

He still needed to work hard to earn money. Once he had enough, he would rebuild the orphanage: first repairing the walls, then fixing the rooms, and then adding some facilities for children to play in the yard, like slides and swings.

Oh, right—he almost forgot. Song Yiran suddenly remembered the ceiling in the room he had slept in still had a hole.

That hole needed to be fixed quickly, otherwise, if it rained one day, the room would be ruined.

Song Yiran searched on StarNet for items that could quickly patch building holes. With technology in the Interstellar Era so advanced, perhaps such products had already been developed.

Sure enough, under a help post from someone with the same problem, he found a reply from a helpful netizen:

“You can use building repair gel, cheap and effective. I’ve personally tested it—works perfectly!”

The netizen even kindly included a purchase link for the building repair gel.

Hehe, effortless! Song Yiran used the link and ordered a bottle.

After logging off StarNet, Song Yiran dragged his tired body to explore the rundown orphanage. The orphanage had only one floor, made up of many small rooms.

The room he had slept in last night was the director’s office.

The rest of the rooms were either collapsed or damaged. Under the rubble of one collapsed room were a dozen empty insulated boxes—what were those for?

Never mind, it didn’t matter; they were empty anyway.

Two rooms were relatively well-preserved, though parts of their walls were missing, making it easy for anyone outside to see inside.

One of these rooms was a kitchen, which was a huge surprise for Song Yiran.

Since there was already a kitchen, once he earned some money, he could buy ingredients to cook, letting the little ones enjoy a proper feast.

The other room was a combined bathroom and restroom. Song Yiran rushed over excitedly, wanting to check if the faucet still worked.

If it did, he could take a bath. He had worked all day, sweating all over, and now felt sticky from head to toe.

But when he approached, he found that the sink had no faucet at all. That wasn’t right… could there be some trick he hadn’t noticed?

When in doubt, search online. Song Yiran decisively searched for information.

After some research, he learned that faucets and showerheads had long been phased out. Instead, buttons were installed—press a button, and water would flow automatically.

Seeing this, Song Yiran squinted in puzzlement. What difference did this really make? He had expected some advanced technology, but in the end, you still had to press a button manually.

He looked left and right at the sink and finally found a hidden button.

He pressed it, and a fine stream of water suddenly appeared above the sink. He quickly put his hands in and scrubbed carefully.

Song Yiran examined the delicate water flow closely. He didn’t know where the water was coming from, and this way of washing hands felt truly magical.

The water formed a 15 cm × 15 cm cube right above the sink, only 5 cm above the counter.

The water was flowing and warm, just the right temperature—not cold, not hot.

The water fell into the sink and eventually drained away. Press the button again, and the water disappeared.

He had to retract his previous thought that “the changes were pointless.” This change was massive!