Travelling through the interstellar world, starting with the real and fake daughter

“I can’t be certain whether he is Uncle Atom or not. If he is, then his identity is likely problematic. After the issue of the fake and real heiress was exposed online, your identity has become widely known throughout the entire Empire. Even people who don’t know about it can find the information by searching the StarNet, yet he hasn’t contacted you or tried to reach you. There must be something suspicious about it,” Ren Guang explained carefully to Mai Dongzi.

Although Mai Dongzi never gave him the impression of being inexperienced like an ordinary teenage girl, the matter was critical, so Ren Guang analyzed the situation for her in detail to prevent her from acting recklessly.

From what Ren Guang said, Mai Dongzi inferred that the Xi family likely didn’t know that the person who supposedly died in the fire back then wasn’t Atom.

Yet Ren Guang didn’t dismiss the possibility that the man he encountered could be Atom just because everyone believed Atom was already dead.

Despite the elders of the family urging him to keep quiet, Ren Guang still chose to tell Mai Dongzi about something so closely related to her.

Mai Dongzi had to admit that this cousin truly treated her well. Because of this, she wasn’t further disappointed in the Xi family as Ren Guang feared but remained indifferent as before.

After hearing Ren Guang’s description, Mai Dongzi’s instincts kicked in—she felt there was an 80–90% chance that the man was Atom.

Speaking of Atom, Mai Dongzi suddenly thought of Zhuang Yuelan, who had become a vegetative patient and was taken away by a mysterious man.

During their training period, Uncle Zhuang had already visited the planet where Zhuang Yuelan was last seen. He confirmed that Zhuang Yuelan had indeed been sleeping in a hospital on that planet for over a decade before being taken away by a group of mercenaries. However, Uncle Zhuang had yet to find any clues about where she had been taken.

Although the planet where Zhuang Yuelan was in a coma lies on the far outskirts of the Empire, and Liva Star is located in the central region of the Empire—separated by billions of kilometers—based on Ren Guang’s description, the man not only had significant strength but also wielded some influence. Could he have been the one who took Zhuang Yuelan?

Thinking of this, Mai Dongzi pulled up a photo of Zhuang Yuelan and showed it to Ren Guang, asking, “Did you see her around that man?”

“No,” Ren Guang replied firmly. Then, after a slight hesitation, he glanced at Mai Dongzi and asked, “This is your mother, right?”

Although Ren Guang had never seen Zhuang Yuelan, the resemblance between Mai Dongzi and the woman in the photo was striking—he could easily guess her identity.

“Yes,” Mai Dongzi confirmed.

Regarding the possibility that Atom and his wife might still be alive, Mai Dongzi felt conflicted.

After all, she wasn’t the original host of this body and couldn’t truly regard those two as her parents emotionally.

Still, she certainly wasn’t hoping for them to be dead. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have shared the potential clues about the Atom couple being alive with Uncle Zhuang, prompting him to search for Zhuang Yuelan.

Initially, Mai Dongzi had felt an emotional connection because Atom and his wife closely resembled her parents from her previous life.

However, after Ren Guang suggested that the man was likely Atom, Mai Dongzi realized that if she were to acknowledge them as her parents and spend time with them regularly, she would find it difficult to accept.

Therefore, she hoped that Atom and his wife wouldn’t seek her out. It would be better for everyone to live their own lives in peace.

Ren Guang had been worried that Mai Dongzi might react emotionally to the news, becoming desperate to find a way to Liva Star to meet the man.

But to his surprise, her expression remained calm and indifferent, without a trace of excitement.

She seemed far too composed, almost detached.

Ren Guang thought about it and realized that Mai Dongzi had never known her real parents growing up and had endured the treatment of Nigley and Zhao Fanni as her adoptive parents. She probably had no expectations of family love, which explained her detached reaction.

This was for the best. Before confirming the truth, Mai Dongzi had no expectations, so she wouldn’t get hurt.

Moreover, Ren Guang felt that if Uncle Atom were still alive, even if his identity was sensitive or hidden, it would have been nearly impossible for him not to find a single opportunity to contact Mai Dongzi over all these years—if he truly cared.

But then again, it wasn’t so simple. Ren Guang remembered that before the ‘real and fake daughter’ incident was exposed, everyone believed that Uncle Atom’s daughter was Erica. It was possible that Atom had privately contacted Erica.

However, based on the situation, Erica likely already knew her true identity. If Uncle Atom had contacted her, he would have inadvertently exposed himself.

If Erica, as scheming and heartless as she was, had deliberately tricked Atom into revealing information, thinking she was truly his daughter, she could have unintentionally leaked critical details, giving Zhao Fanni another chance to target him.

This might explain why Uncle Atom didn’t dare return to Imperial Star or contact Mai Dongzi directly.

The more Ren Guang thought about it, the more complicated the situation seemed. He couldn’t help but feel anxious but was also relieved that Zhao Fanni had been imprisoned. At least for the next few hundred years, she wouldn’t be able to harm Uncle Atom or his cousin.

However, Zhao Fanni’s sentencing and imprisonment had been handled secretly. Only those with strong connections—powerful families and influential figures—knew about it. The general public was unaware of the matter.

It was likely that Uncle Atom, far from Imperial Star, didn’t know about it either.

“Do you have anyone you can rely on? If not, I can send someone to Liva Star to investigate. We need to confirm whether it’s true or not,” Ren Guang said.

“Let me handle this,” Mai Dongzi replied. This was something she could leave to Uncle Zhuang.

If the man truly turned out to be Atom, it would be best for Uncle Zhuang to handle the contact. With Uncle Zhuang taking the lead, Mai Dongzi wouldn’t have to interact with Atom too much.

Her conversation with Ren Guang didn’t have much of an emotional impact on Mai Dongzi.

When morning came and the holidays officially began, Mai Dongzi couldn’t wait to leave the school to meet Jiang Zixuan.

Mai Dongzi initially felt no sense of belonging in this world, but ever since she learned that her younger brother had also been reborn here, life started to feel more real. This world now had a connection to her.

Because Prince Arthur had already dismantled the bounty lists in the underground market and several assassination organizations, there were no more active threats targeting Mai Dongzi for the time being. She only needed to remain cautious when going out.

For safety and to avoid exposing her identity, Mai Dongzi still disguised herself before leaving.

She didn’t call for Guard Su to pick her up. After taking a boat off the Imperial University’s island, she drove a hover car herself straight to Jiang Zixuan’s location.

The address Jiang Zixuan gave her turned out to be the Jiang Family Manor on the Third Ring Road of Imperial City.

From Mai Dongzi’s understanding, the Jiang family wasn’t one of the top ten aristocratic families of the Blue-Black Empire. However, those who lived on the Third Ring Road were far from ordinary. Most of the residents were second-tier aristocratic families or influential figures like Marshal Su.

When Mai Dongzi met Jiang Zixuan that day, she had been overwhelmed with happiness and reluctance to part.

It wasn’t until after he left that she remembered why the name Jiang Zixuan felt so familiar to her.

In the storyline, Jiang Zixuan was a supporting male character with a rather tragic background.