Just as the aftermath of this incident had yet to subside, another event burst into the public eye with lightning speed: the head of Wayne Industries on Riverside Star, William Lane, brought back his illegitimate son, whom he had abandoned on Haizhou No.12 Garbage Star.

The previous news might have made people sigh with regret, but the latter spread through the upper circles of Riverside Star like cattle lice.

Cattle lice are the bane of Riverside Star’s farmers. The planet’s climate makes it easy for such lice to thrive, and when they breed in large numbers, they become a nightmare for the fields. The term “cattle lice” has thus become a metaphor among gentlemen and ladies for a scandal spreading with disastrous speed.

And at this moment, the “louse” at the center of this “cattle lice scandal,” Henry Lane, was taking a spaceship out of the slums of Haizhou Garbage Star, heading to the Lin family estate.

The garbage star was black, the spaceship was black, and even the car waiting at the airport was black.

Black can convey solemnity and awe.

Sometimes... it is also a synonym for “low profile.”

Traveling in black spaceships and cars through a bustling city he had never seen before, Henry Lane pressed his lips together, sat up straight, and did not try to enjoy the luxurious leather seats—he seemed like someone completely out of place in this era.

In the suffocating atmosphere of the luxury car, Henry Lane looked at the stern, intimidating men in black around him.

As an illegitimate child who had spent twenty years in a place like the slums, modern society felt like another world to him.

To suddenly cross from a place like the garbage star into another world was like a fish thrown onto land, gasping for air.

Henry Lane felt a bit uneasy inside.

His hands trembled slightly from the uncertainty in his heart; he had no idea what awaited him in the future.

He didn’t know what his family, whom he hadn’t seen in twenty years, would be like—their personalities, or what kind of attitude they would have toward him.

For the first twenty years of his life, he had lived on the garbage star. His world, his understanding, his friends, had never left that place abandoned by the mainstream, where garbage piled up like mountains. He had never known what fatherly love was, had no concept of brothers, and was nervous about the “relatives” he might suddenly have.

He was actually very lonely, very insignificant.

And now, that insignificant young man from the garbage star was riding in a black car, speeding down the highway, heading straight for the heart of this metropolis.

……

Ring District 2 is the most prestigious area on Riverside Star, home to the wealthy and social elites. Compared to the vast lower-class residential areas, it is just a small corner, but at night it gathers the planet’s brightest and most dazzling lights.

The Lin family estate is located here.

The low-profile black car, carrying someone who had no choice but to keep a low profile, stopped at the side entrance of the square estate. When the men in black and the stern-faced steward saw Henry Lane’s shabby wooden box, their hands paused for a moment before taking it from him. At this moment, the circular driveway by the estate’s main entrance fountain was crowded with all kinds of cars—Wayne Industries was holding a meeting today involving key executives and both internal and external family members.

Henry Lane followed the men in black through the palace-like corridors of the mansion, preparing to go to the room arranged for him.

There were many people in the estate’s front hall; Henry Lane knew a meeting was taking place inside. As he passed through the corridor, he could vaguely see the front hall, where among the chatting socialites were young, handsome talents, elegantly dressed women, and portly middle-aged men holding cigars...

Unfortunately, these people had already noticed his abrupt presence.

“That lucky slum kid is called Henry Lane? I heard his mother was actually quite good-looking. Hey, otherwise she wouldn’t have had that brief affair with our Lin family head, William Lane, back then.”

“Exactly. But it’s a pity—she had the luck but not the fortune. That woman could never cross the high threshold of the Lin Group. With no background, how could she ever become Mrs. Lin? In the end, she left in bitterness. Only in recent years did rumors surface that she had ended up on Haizhou’s garbage star, and it wasn’t until she died last week that it was finally confirmed.”

“Heh... a woman with that bastard. Especially a woman with some looks—you can imagine how she’s lived all these years. How she managed to raise that country bumpkin boy... that’s still a question mark...”

A few old men in the crowd let out meaningful chuckles.

“Speaking of which, that woman has now died in the slums. That country bumpkin boy has been brought back—does William Lane intend to compensate him, maybe even give him an official status?”

“The Empire would never allow William Lane to pass his baron title to an illegitimate child. The Lily Nobles wouldn’t agree either.”

“Not just the Empire—even here on Riverside Star, it’s a joke. No matter what this kid does, he’ll always be labeled an illegitimate child.”

……

Illegitimate child, slum, country bumpkin.

These words, along with the whispers of those people, seemed to drift above the estate.

In the face of all this, Henry Lane felt no hatred, no anger.