Sky Sovereign

In the vast, empty expanse of space, a battered, small spacecraft drifted aimlessly. Below, a hundred-meter-wide asteroid floated, and the ship lowered a mechanical grappling hook toward it.

A figure clad in a simple spacesuit hammered away at something atop the asteroid.

“Huang Yunshuo, damn it, hurry up! The hook’s energy is almost spent. If you don’t climb up now, you’ll be spending the night on that rock!”

A sharp, anxious voice rang out through the communicator.

Huang Yunshuo leisurely adjusted his slightly crooked helmet and replied irritably, “Why rush? Good work takes time! Didn’t a great person once say, don’t hurry, take it slow!”

“What I mean is, ‘Reforged Epoch’ is launching! There’s only one minute left on the countdown!”

Huang Yunshuo, clutching his miner’s pick, nearly coughed up blood.

“Haul me up, now!”

He shouted, stuffing several stones into his backpack, securing them, then slipped the pick into his belt and fastened the mechanical hook to his waist. “Pull me up, bro!”

The hook began retracting, but only halfway before it stopped.

“Keep going?”

The communicator’s voice sounded helpless. “Told you to come up earlier. Now look where you are? The hook’s out of energy. Maybe you should climb up yourself—it's only a few dozen meters.”

“To hell with climbing, games are more important! Who has time to climb now? I’ll just hang under the ship and not budge today. Let an asteroid come crash down if it dares!”

Cursing, Huang Yunshuo checked the hook, then activated the multi