Chapter 3: The Perfect Half-Star

“Hey, Tian Dao…”

As Tian Dao rejoined the group, Kalolin immediately bumped him lightly with her shoulder.

Her emerald eyes sparkled with curiosity as she leaned in, lowering her voice. “What you told Chen Kong back there—was it true?”

Tian Dao adjusted his sunglasses, a sly smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “You tell me.”

Kalolin frowned, pausing to think. Then, slowly, she spoke.

“Star Core Surgery has a high failure rate. But every person who survived the procedure and still stands today… they’ve already adapted to the star core implanted within them.”

“Chen Kong hasn’t shown any signs of star core abilities over the past two years. Yet he’s never exhibited any rejection symptoms either—perfectly normal. Like someone who never underwent the surgery at all.”

“But if you think about it… too normal is suspicious.”

Her gaze flicked toward Chen Kong, who stood a short distance away.

She couldn’t help but wonder—how could someone who looked so weak, so utterly unremarkable, possibly fool everyone?

Could Chen Kong really be hiding something, as Tian Dao suggested? A star core unlike any other… just waiting for the right conditions to awaken?

Feeling her stare, Chen Kong shifted awkwardly, lowering his head, avoiding eye contact.

Kalolin never really bullied him.

But she was just like Chen Xing—arrogant to the bone.

The difference was in how they wore it: Kalolin’s arrogance was quiet, subtle, almost invisible.

Chen Xing’s was loud, flamboyant, impossible to ignore.

Either way, both of them looked down on Chen Kong—deep in their hearts, they considered him beneath them.

But out of respect for Tian Dao, Kalolin hadn’t said a harsh word to him in two years.

In fact, she hadn’t spoken to him at all.

To her, Chen Kong wasn’t even a person.

Just air.

Cold, silent, invisible.

And that was a kind of violence too.

As for Tian Dao…

In a way, he was even more arrogant than Kalolin or Chen Xing.

But his arrogance was different.

It wasn’t about superiority over others—it was equal disdain for everyone.

As Tian Dao himself would put it:

“To me, Chen Kong and Chen Xing are no different.

A human doesn’t care which ant is bigger or smaller in a colony.”

That was why Chen Kong could feel something strange in Tian Dao’s presence—respect.

It was embarrassing to admit, but…

Among the 36 Stars, Tian Dao was the only one who didn’t treat him like an outcast.

Even if he saw everyone as ants, he still saw Chen Kong.

Watching Kalolin study Chen Kong with narrowed eyes, Tian Dao smiled, pulling a mint from his pocket and popping it into his mouth.

Behind his sunglasses, his cobalt-blue eyes gleamed with amusement.

He wasn’t lying.

As a time traveler, he knew better than anyone just how special Chen Kong truly was.

The truth was, Chen Kong’s Star Core Surgery hadn’t failed.

On the contrary—it had been flawless.

In fact, he was the only one in the group—alongside Tian Dao and Chen Xing—whose star core was a perfect 100% match.

A Perfect Half-Star.

But unlike Tian Dao and Chen Xing, whose compatibility was obvious, Chen Kong’s was hidden.

Buried beneath layers of instinct and biology.

The reason?

Their mother.

She wasn’t human.

She was a rare, long-term resident of human society—a humanoid Stellar Beast.

So while Tian Dao and the others were artificial half-stars, forged by surgery, Chen Kong and Chen Xing were natural half-stars—born with star cores in their blood.

But due to strange biological imbalances, Chen Kong’s lineage leaned toward his father’s human side…

While Chen Xing’s leaned toward their mother’s beast blood.

That was why one looked plain, weak, unimpressive.

The other was stunning, powerful, legendary.

Had Tian Dao not stepped in early…

In the original story, the true strongest among the 36 Stars wouldn’t have been Tian Dao.

It would’ve been Chen Xing—the older sister.

The ultimate power fantasy: the strongest sister, the weakest brother.

A classic reverse isekai setup.

And Tian Dao knew the entire arc by heart.

He knew that right now, Chen Kong looked like an ordinary human—just a blank slate.

But that was only on the surface.

The truth?

His ability to appear human—to blend in perfectly—wasn’t just a trait.

It was a power.

An absurd, game-breaking ability: Stellar Energy Nullification, so complete it erased all traces of star energy detection.

But the power was so overwhelming…

It suppressed the star core within him.

Locked it down.

Made it inert.

All Chen Kong needed to do was realize this.

Then, by temporarily suppressing his own Stellar Beast bloodline…

He could awaken the star core.

In that sense, Chen Kong and Chen Xing were both true anomalies in the 36 Stars.

Everyone else—Tian Dao included—had just one star core.

But these two had two:

One innate, born of blood.

One implanted, forged through surgery.

It was cheating.

Open, blatant cheating.

If Tian Dao hadn’t unlocked his own “cheat code” early on…

He never would’ve been able to hold his own against Chen Xing—born with a full-level advantage.

As for Chen Kong?

Tian Dao didn’t really care.

Yes, he had immense potential.

But without the final trial—the key to unlock his power—he couldn’t do anything yet.

This was the original plot of the first six episodes of Stellar Origins: Embers.

A story built around the sibling rivalry between Chen Xing and Chen Kong.

But that story was written for a world where Tian Dao didn’t exist.

Now that he was here…

He wasn’t going to let two siblings steal all the spotlight.

After all—just because you’re the protagonist…

Doesn’t mean you’re the most popular.

And the number one spot in the hearts of the audience?

That one belonged to Tian Dao Siming.

Just as Tian Dao and the others waited for Yun Meng to announce the final trial…

Deep beneath them, 100 meters below the surface, in a private chamber of the Yujin Organization’s 13th Base…

A gathering of unfamiliar faces began to assemble.

Men and women. Young and old.

But they all shared one thing: the unmistakable aura of power, the effortless bearing of those who’ve ruled from the top for years.

No matter their names, their titles, their origins—

They were here for one reason.

To see for themselves what the “revolutionary” Stellar Plan was truly capable of.

If this plan lived up to the rumors…

They wouldn’t hesitate to pour resources into it.

Even now.

Before anyone else.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end