Chapter 161: The Imperial Star is About to Arrive

Life inside the starship was simple and pleasant. After finishing her bowl of dough drop soup and feeling somewhat refreshed, Du Yun resumed her grueling training routine, intending to cook lunch only after hunger struck again.

Since Du Yun was still at the beginner stage, her mental power training was quite simple—it involved changing the shape of her mental energy, specifically designed to train the strength and precision of her mind.

The method Dou Zhi provided for training the strength of her mental power was to expand it outward, extending and observing further distances.

When Du Yun first arrived in the zombie world, her mental power could only cover a range of about fifty meters around her. It was only after reaching the spaceport that this range extended to about one hundred meters, which was one of the benefits brought by the upgrade of her mental power.

Now, after continuous training, Du Yun had managed to barely reach a distance of one hundred and fifty meters. Such a distance was merely the span between Du Yun’s cabin and the kitchen, accounting for less than one percent of the entire starship's scale.

As for the precision of her mental power, it was trained by condensing her mental energy into much finer psychic bundles, meticulously tracing real-world objects.

In the beginning, Du Yun could only perceive the general shapes and properties of objects within her coverage area—for instance, knowing there was a zombie fifty meters ahead at a general level. But she had no way of knowing the zombie's gender, height, weight, exact tier, or threat level.

After practicing for such a long time, although Du Yun still could not clearly distinguish distant situations, she could now see everything within a one-meter radius of herself with absolute clarity. For instance, she could perceive the internal weave structure of the clothes on her body, or the intricate internal layout of precision electronic instruments.

"Still just a little over a hundred meters. When on earth will my mental power reach the legendary S-rank?" After driving her mental power to a certain limit, Du Yun felt a slight dizziness in her head.

Pushing herself through a little more strenuous effort and feeling that her mental power was nearing depletion, she stopped at the right moment. She changed into comfortable sportswear and began practicing body techniques.

These physical techniques were also specifically tailored for her by Dou Zhi based on her bodily condition. The movements were extremely scientific and rational, ensuring that every single inch of Du Yun’s muscles was thoroughly exercised and her overall physical fitness was comprehensively enhanced.

After completing two consecutive rounds of basic body techniques, stretching her body to its absolute limits, Du Yun was drenched in sweat. By this time, her mental power had recovered somewhat, and feeling the warm current slowly surging through her body, she felt immensely comfortable.

"Dou Zhi, how many energy crystals am I supposed to absorb today?" Finishing her mental and physical training marked the optimal time for absorbing energy crystals. At this moment, Du Yun's body felt like a hollowed-out vessel, urgently needing to be filled with abundant energy, and absorbing energy crystals was the best way to achieve this.

"Three first-tier zombie energy crystals," Dou Zhi quickly evaluated Du Yun's physical condition and provided the answer. True to the instruction, Du Yun retrieved three energy crystals from her storage compartment, held them in her palms, and slowly absorbed them. Within moments, the ruby-red energy crystals transformed into pure energy, dispersing throughout Du Yun's entire body.

"Phew..." Du Yun let out a long breath, feeling her entire body as light as if she could fly, brimming with energy.

She walked to the bathroom, washed away the sweat, changed into a fresh set of clothes, and stepped out of her cabin with high spirits, heading straight back into the kitchen. It was not because she was a glutton, but because those body techniques were extremely demanding—just a single set could exhaust an ordinary person, let alone the three sets she had performed in succession.

As Du Yun was pulling ingredients out of the refrigerator, she suddenly felt as though someone was standing right behind her. Turning around defensively, she saw it was Ji Yun.

"Cooking?" Ji Yun stood leaning against the kitchen doorway with his arms crossed, watching Du Yun without the slightest expression on his face, looking rather wooden.

"Yeah, cooking. What do you want to eat?" Du Yun nodded, reaching out to rub her arm to smooth down the goosebumps that had popped up out of nowhere.

Perhaps because the impression of their previous brush with life and death was still too profound, Du Yun felt that every time she saw Ji Yun, even though she knew he probably wouldn't attack her out of nowhere, she still felt a creeping chill down her spine.

"What to eat..." Upon hearing Du Yun's question, Ji Yun immediately fell into deep, serious thought.

"Anything is fine." Ji Yun’s eyes were a pale amber color; when looking at people, he somewhat resembled a cold, proud cat. At this moment, however, his serious expression made him look a bit silly and adorable, bringing a faint smile to Du Yun's lips.

"Alright, then I'll make what I want to eat!" There were many things Du Yun craved, especially after hard labor, but right then, what she wanted most was large chunks of meat, preferably tender, juicy, and easy to chew.

"Hmm, let's make braised beef!" At the mere thought of that texture and flavor, Du Yun couldn't help but swallow her saliva. She stuck out her tip of her tongue to wet her lips, pulled a large piece of top-grade beef out of her supplies, and her eyes lit up.

Beef, potatoes, and a tomato for seasoning—Du Yun boldly and decisively chopped all the raw materials into half-inch square chunks. After frying scallions and ginger in oil to heat the wok, she began stir-frying the beef chunks.

Having not eaten much good food previously, and upon arriving at Green Field Star only to see and eat food with a rough, rustic style, Du Yun's cooking methods were also very simple and direct: boiling over high heat and simmering over low heat, aiming purely for a satisfying, delicious flavor without any pretension of elegance or hidden culinary philosophy.

Naturally, the food Du Yun wanted to eat was prepared with great care. The beef in the pot was stewed until it was extremely tender; with a single bite, the rich broth and meat fibers seemed to melt away completely. Meanwhile, because the heat control was spot-on, the potatoes offered a soft, fluffy texture without falling apart, leaving the group of freeloaders on the starship shouting in utter delight.

"Sister Du Yun, where are you going after we arrive at Emperor Star?" After they had eaten their fill, dealing with the dishes was naturally not something Du Yun had to worry about. As they sat chatting around the table, Taozi suddenly ran over to Du Yun and asked in a low, stealthy voice.

"Arrive at Emperor Star? Isn't that still a long way off?" Du Yun was taken aback by the question. In her mind, Emperor Star was still at a vast distance; why would anyone suddenly bring this up?

"It's not far anymore. My dad said it's only about a week away. Our family doesn't have much of a foundation, so starting from now, we need to plan carefully for what comes next..." Taozi was an honest child, spilling every detail of the private discussions Dong Tiechui had been having right in front of Du Yun.

"Ah, only a week left?" Upon hearing this, Du Yun suddenly remembered that while she had been cooped up secretly in her cabin making clothes, the starship had continued flying forward. Calculating it this way, there really wasn't much time left at all.

"So, what about you? What are you going to do once we get to Emperor Star? Are you coming with us?" Taozi blinked her big eyes, her face filled with anticipation.

*I don't know!* Du Yun took a deep breath, but she gave no answer.