Chapter 20: The Company Behind the Scenes, The Day the Stars Fell

Dusk was falling.

At twilight, the farmhouse villa stood silently in place, bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun. The farm had been abandoned for some time, so the wild grass had grown tall. As darkness steadily crept over the land, the surroundings became pitch black. For an ordinary person walking there, it would be nearly impossible to notice anything happening just a few meters away.

“The young man in the villa isn’t ordinary—he almost noticed our presence,” whispered one figure.

“You’re overthinking it. No matter how formidable he is, he’s just an ordinary person,” another replied.

“That’s right. Haven’t you noticed he’s made no move these past few days?”

Among the desolate weeds, three figures crouched low, moving with extreme caution, as if afraid of being discovered. They were dressed in black tactical gear, each gripping a compound crossbow. In the quivers on their backs, rows of alloy-made bolts gleamed coldly. The compound crossbows were incredibly powerful—able to fire multiple shots in succession. If used for hunting in the mountains, even wild boar or bears would fall to them. Their lethality surpassed that of most small firearms, and their use was strictly prohibited—yet the three carried them openly.

“In my opinion, we don’t need to be this careful. If we’re discovered, we can just shoot him—end of story,” growled one of them, a short man whose tone was chillingly callous, as if human life meant nothing to him.

“Watch your tongue,” the leader snapped, his brow furrowing. “The timing is too sensitive. We were told not to cause any deaths—otherwise, things will get out of hand.”

Though their backers were powerful, there were still lines they could not cross, especially since this wasn’t some remote forest. Killing someone would inevitably leave traces. Unless absolutely necessary, recklessness was out of the question.

“I was just saying,” the man muttered, lowering his head. Still, his eyes gleamed with the venomous glint of a snake.

The leader let it go, glancing at his watch. “According to the company’s projections, the meteorite should land around eight o’clock. When it does, remember—don’t hesitate, just act. Retrieve the item and our mission is complete.”

“Understood,” the others replied. Then one asked curiously, “Captain Zhao, I heard a lot of meteorites are supposed to fall tonight in different places. We’re just one of many teams, aren’t we?”

“That’s right,” Zhao nodded. “Probably more than a hundred teams. But some meteorites will burn up from friction in the atmosphere. We’ll see if we’re lucky enough for one to reach the ground. If we are, we’ll be set for life.”

Clearly, this man knew more than the others, and understood how important this mission was to the company—otherwise, they wouldn’t have mobilized so many resources.

“Over a hundred teams?” someone exclaimed. “Who on earth is our company’s boss?”

He knew that just equipping their one team cost over a million. Multiply that by a hundred teams, and the total was staggering—tens of millions at least.

“Don’t ask what you shouldn’t,” Zhao scolded sharply. “Otherwise, you might not even know how you lost your life.” The subject was clearly taboo. After all, they were little more than hired muscle, no different from servants in ancient times. And servants who pried into their master’s affairs were asking for trouble.

“Alright, I won’t ask,” the man said, realizing his mistake. The others shrank back, falling silent and fixing their attention on the villa ahead, ready to act at the first sign of trouble.

Meanwhile, inside the villa, Lu Yuan sat alone in the darkened living room, the lights already switched off.

“This is the last day. If the target is the meteorite, those lurking in the shadows will have to act tonight,” he murmured, gazing at the now completely dark sky.

Lu Yuan was certain now—someone was indeed hiding on the farm, but he was not their target. The reasoning was simple: if he were, they would have already made their move, not waited for so long. The only remaining explanation was the extraterrestrial meteorite.

He knew that certain forces, with their reach and modern technology, could observe the stars and calculate where meteorites would land. That was not difficult.

The question now was: did this mysterious force know about the Sword Embryo from beyond the stars? And if they were ordinary people, why could he not locate them with his current abilities?

Lost in thought, time slipped by.

Soon, eight o’clock arrived.

The moon shone bright, the stars glittered, and all was as peaceful as any other night. But then, gradually, the darkness began to brighten. Sudden streaks of fire appeared, tearing across the sky with deafening roars like jet planes screaming overhead.

Looking up, one could see tens of thousands of meteors, densely packed, falling like rain. Unaware of the situation, ordinary people hurried to capture the spectacle on their phones. The sight was both breathtaking and terrifying.

Most of the meteors would, of course, disintegrate from the friction of entering the atmosphere. But tonight, a few managed to break through into the stratosphere. Among them, one meteor plummeted straight down. Though small, its speed was immense, and if it struck the ground, the impact would rival that of a small bomb.

“It’s here,” the three hidden figures in the tall grass whispered together. They remained where they were, knowing full well that getting too close too soon could mean danger.

Boom!

At last, with a thunderous explosion, the meteor crashed to earth, erupting in a fireball dozens of meters wide and setting the surrounding grass ablaze.

“It’s less than a kilometer away. Move!” ordered the leader.

Their mission was simple: recover the meteorite as quickly as possible. At the command, they dashed forward with blinding speed, faster than any ordinary person.

Unfazed by the blaze, they charged straight through—protected by special fire-resistant, cooling suits.

Quickly, the three reached their destination. The impact had left a crater several meters across. At its center lay a steaming stone, surrounded by molten rock. Not large—about the size of a soccer ball—its surface was pitted and scarred, but within it faint golden lights could be seen if one looked closely.

“We’re in luck! We actually got a real meteorite. The company will reward us handsomely for this,” Zhao said, excitement gleaming in his eyes. He hadn’t dared to hope for such fortune, but now it was real. Out of a hundred teams, how many would actually witness a meteorite’s landing? This time, their futures were assured—the company would groom them with great resources.

The other two were equally overjoyed and immediately moved to retrieve the meteorite.

But just then, a young voice rang out suddenly.

“Gentlemen,” it called.

“To take something from me without so much as a greeting—that’s very rude, don’t you think?”