Age of Cosmic Exploration Chapter 364

Guang Zhen checked his outfit again. In reality, he wanted to wear the normal Defense Unit battle suit but was stopped by many people, including Yao Yuan. Therefore, he had no choice but to put on the second generation Space Armor specifically designed for him.

After their meeting, the related personnel related for a full 24 hours. Fully refreshed, Guang Zhen personally selected the most powerful elite soldiers from the Defense Unit to wear the newest battlesuit and equipped them with enhanced Gaussian rifles and a long distance communicator. This was the troop led by Guang Zhen.

Blue 6 was unsatisfied. His initial plan was to gloat with his special unit of Black Star Troopers, but due to the latest order that prevented all Homo Evolutis or cosmic adapters other than himself from leaving the Hope, he had no choice but to settle with the Defense Unit that was assigned under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The group of people gathered at the Hope's entrance early in the morning. After a brief conversation between Guang Zhen and Yao Yuan, the group of about 100 set off from the Hope and entered the Shelter.

The Shelter was so huge that it couldn't be described using words… Fine, perhaps it could be described using words if one was to force it. For example, this area the Hope was parked in was about 40,000 meters tall… Yes, you saw right, this space harbor alone was 40,000 meters tall. According to rumors, this harbor was for mid-sized spaceships. There were others for large spaceships and super large spaceships. The ones stopping there were basically super large moving castles or the motherships of various races.

The harbor the Hope was in was large enough to make the people standing in it feel like they were in the legendary pavilion of the titans… No, it should be the pavilion of gods. The size alone was a great pressure on the people, it made them feel small and insignificant.

Therefore, venturing deeper into the Shelter was not something that could be done on foot. The distance from the Hope to the interior of the Shelter was like from China to the US; was that a distance that could be walked?

Therefore, specialized transportation was needed. Due to the unique situation of the Shelter, the transportation of the races themselves was not allowed. After all, there was no way of telling whether it was a weapon or not. Of course, this was another method to earn money. The amount used in renting the vehicles to traverse the Shelter was almost as much as the entrance tax.

"This is the culture even for level 4 Shelters… Of course, if you can locate a level 4 Shelter, the entry fee is always low, but the service price after entering the Shelter is sky high, and that includes the trade tax and the renting fee for various goods. Therefore, don't go in unless you are loaded, or you might not be able to leave with your life intact," Blue 6 said to Guang Zhen with a smile.

Guang Zhen studied this large vehicle before them. It looked like a large front end of a train. It was large enough to fit 500 people. It used a particle flux engine and had an aerial floatation device underneath. It was perfect to move through the Shelter with incredible speed. Then Guang Zhen jumped into the vehicle… Yes, the gravity outside of the Hope inside of the Shelter was very low. This Shelter relied on centrifugal force to create gravity. However, other than specific locations, the general gravity was low. A normal person could jump 5 meters easily; it was similar to walking on the moon.

"Speaking of which… How did we pay for the entry fee? And the renting fee for this vehicle?" After sitting inside the vehicle, Guang Zhen suddenly turned to ask Blue 6 beside him.

Blue 6 had always maintained a respectful tone towards Guang Zhen. He continued with a polite smile, "Very simple, using credit. This is also why I said 'don't come in if you don't have money' earlier. If you have enough supplyIES, then you can exchange them for credit to enter the Shelter. Then, after trading, you clear the credit debt. If you are unable to clear the debt in a year or you wish to leave the Shelter before clearing your debt, then I'm sorry, the owner of the Shelter will have to repossess the things in your spaceships as compensation… And the price used during repossession is only one-fifth to one-tenth the market price. If all the supplies in the ship are not enough to cover the debt, then they will start claiming the lifeforms, and then the spaceship itself. When it reaches that stage, you can say the civilization has been tossed into the slaughterhouse."

"…That's so cruel." Guang Zhen sighed.

Blue 6 chuckled and continued normally, "The cosmos is cruel, Your Highness."

After everyone got into the vehicle, they sped into the Shelter. This vehicle belonged to the Shelter and thus its AI and navigation did not need manual intervention. After loading in the location one wanted to go to, it would move there automatically.

"Now we are heading towards the supply market. Other than the supplies and energy we need for restocking, it is also a good place to trade for food. Of course, the taste might not be suitable for human consumption. After all, the amount of soul cannot be compared to what we have on the Hope. However, some of them are rare space delicacies and others have beneficial benefits to mammals like ourselves. After raising them for a few generations on the Hope, they will be wonderful food sources. If we raise them well, we can also sell them to other civilizations in the future.

"After that, we will go to the mineral trading depot to sell the Star Dust Gold. We have with us 20 kilograms of purified Star Dust Gold with a purity rate of 97 percent. After selling all this, we will have enough money to pay off all our debt and have quite a bit left. We can look for rare minerals that we need there too…

"Then it will be the machine factory and technology trading center. Other than these locations, we can also visit the information trading center and traders for cosmic curiosities. The whole schedule will take up eight days."

Along the way, Blue 6 kept introducing the crew to the places of interest in the Shelter. Even though it was his first time there as well, as a member of a level 3 space civilization, one that was going to lead the race at that, he knew more than most. Furthermore, Blue Race was an influential party of a level 3 large-scale Shelter, so it was natural for him to know a thing or two about Shelter culture.

Guang Zhen did not stop him and allowed Blue 6 to handle most things. He was only needed to make important decisions… and to observe Blue 6.

Just like that, after four hours in the vehicle, the group reached their first destination, the supply market. Here they would select the things needed to resupply the Hope, including energy and materials.

These kinds of things did not require Guang Zhen's attention. There were more than 10 actuaries among the 100 people. They were working with the quota needed to restock the Hope and the vassal spaceships. Guang Zhen left this to the professionals.

At the supply market, other than Guang Zhen's group, there were other alien buyers. Furthermore, there was more than one company selling supplies. In fact, this was not a government-mandated market; any civilizations residing at the Shelter could set up a store there. Of course, that was after one had paid the necessary taxes.

If there was one word to describe this place, it was huge!

On the surface, it looked like a gigantic collection of buildings. The area had buildings in various shapes and sizes. Outside each of the buildings there was a communication port that detailed the items sold by the seller within. There were also a few large 3D billboards. They showcased a series of alien words and pictures. According to Blue 6, those were the supplies currently collected by the Shelter.

There were plenty of alien lifeforms there. However, due to the size of the place, they didn't appear often. After Guang Zhen's group descended from the vehicle, they connected their carried laptops to the communication ports outside the buildings, and through AI analysis and restructuring, they would be translated into human language.

"Oxygen, hydrogen, rare gas… Heavy water, super heavy water, gaseous water, liquid alcohol…"

In conclusion, there were plenty of materials on sale, some not even humans had heard of before. There were some that could not be translated. For example, there was something called Atomic Solid Water sold by level 3 space civilizations. According to Blue 6, after dissolving one drop of this water, it would expand to one thousand plus square meters. It is the most perfect way to store water across long space travels.

There was also something called super solid gas. One cubic meter of this thing could expand to fill up the whole the Hope. It could be created from any gases, like pure oxygen. Of course, since it was a level 3 space civilization's product, the price was insanely high.

It was supposed to be a simple supply trip, but after seeing so many wondrous materials, other than the few Blue Race members, the rest had glows shining out of their eyes. So many cosmic curiosities and creations from high tier space civilizations were laid before their eyes. There were things beyond their wildest imagination, and they wanted to buy everything…

Chapter end