Beginning the Trade

Zhou Yi's biological clock was truly remarkable. By the time she woke up, they were already not far from their destination, A58 Star Block.

You really could sleep.

Xiao Fu was not mocking her; it was simply astonished.

It clearly remembered that she had only just woken up, yet she had immediately been able to fall asleep again.

"I'm still growing," Zhou Yi said as though it were only natural.

This body of hers was not even seventeen yet. If she worked at it, maybe she could still grow a little taller.

Once she woke up, she started feeling hungry. Zhou Yi opened her backpack and took out the little box the curly-haired man had given her earlier.

Zhou Yi had opened it afterward and found that it was a box of small biscuits, perfect for eating as travel rations.

The little biscuits were fittingly shaped like tiny Star Ships, individually wrapped, with ten pieces in the box.

Zhou Yi opened one and took a bite. Mm, it was fragrant—the taste of grain filled her mouth.

They were called biscuits, but compared with those on Earth, they were less sweet and tasted more like dried, toasted mantou slices.

Each biscuit was two sizes smaller than her palm, and Zhou Yi finished one in just a few bites.

Perhaps because she had drunk too much Nutrient Solution, Zhou Yi unexpectedly liked the taste.

After eating one biscuit and drinking a little water, Zhou Yi was actually full!

Normally, even three tubes of Nutrient Solution in one meal were not quite enough for her.

Good stuff!

It tasted good, and one piece was filling.

Zhou Yi immediately opened the Star Net to look up the biscuits, ready to place an enthusiastic order.

There were all kinds of similar little biscuits on the Star Net, in every imaginable shape. Zhou Yi took one look at the price: 100 Star Coins per piece.

Mm...

Zhou Yi swiftly shut off her Star Brain, put the biscuit box back into her backpack, and looked out the window as though nothing had happened.

This wasn't business. This was robbery.

No wonder it tasted better and was more filling than Nutrient Solution. It also cost ten times as much.

Although Zhou Yi was rich now, until she got her mech, she decided to uphold the fine tradition of frugality practiced by the poor.

"I'm not buying them, I'm not buying them. Nutrient Solution comes in strawberry flavor too. That's great," Zhou Yi consoled herself.

The biscuits came in strawberry flavor too. Not only strawberry flavor, but also... Xiao Fu was best at striking precisely where it hurt.

"Shut up."

Fortunately, they soon arrived at A58 Star Block. As she got closer and closer to the mech, Zhou Yi gradually suppressed her urge to spend money.

Unlike low-level Star Blocks, A-Class Star Blocks had natural day and night cycles, with a clear boundary between daytime and nighttime that required no artificial maintenance.

Zhou Yi had set off at noon, but by the time she arrived, the sky was gradually darkening.

Fortunately, she had looked it up before coming. Every Alliance Merchant House was open twenty-four hours a day.

"A-Class Star Blocks really are different. Even the soil is soft, like it could grow things."

This was the first time Zhou Yi had gone somewhere other than a D-Class Star Block since coming to this world.

Unlike the gravelly ground on D-Class Star Blocks, A58's soil was darker and softer, not much different from the earth on Earth.

A-Class Star Blocks were not open for just anyone to enter. There was an entry point five hundred meters from the Star Ship drop-off point. Aside from residents, all other visitors had to pay a fee of 100 Star Coins to enter.

After Zhou Yi watched the staff member scan her Star Brain with a device, a small green A58 icon appeared on its homepage.

The staff member told her that the icon was valid for seven days. If she had not left after seven days, the icon would turn red and automatically sound an alarm.

"So scientific. It's to stop people from refusing to pay the relocation fee and staying here, right?"

Zhou Yi nodded in complete understanding.

Everyone wanted to live somewhere with such a good environment and abundant resources. The relocation fees for high-level Star Blocks were very expensive.

The Alliance had come up with this method precisely to prevent people from secretly settling down on high-level Star Blocks and refusing to leave.

Although night had already fallen, there was no shortage of lighting on the streets. Various luminescent materials were fashioned into attractive shapes and hung above the shops.

Unlike the chaotic layout of D-Class Star Blocks, the buildings here were arranged in an orderly pattern, forming streets and alleys.

Most of the buildings were constructed from neatly cut stone, while a small number were built with high-tech materials.

In Zhou Yi's view, the atmosphere here resembled the bustling streets of ancient Huaxia.

Of course, that was only if she selectively ignored the blond, blue-eyed people all over the streets.

A58 was not a Star Block of Huaxia descent. Although the Star Brains worn on everyone's wrists could translate their languages into forms the other party could understand, the differences in appearance still made Zhou Yi somewhat unaccustomed.

But she had not come here to experience the local customs. She had serious business to attend to!

Following the location provided by her Star Brain, Zhou Yi quickly found the Alliance Merchant House.

According to incomplete statistics, there were over a hundred Alliance Merchant Houses across the universe. They were all chain stores operated by the Interstellar Alliance, and every one of them was at least three stories tall.

After entering the trading house, Zhou Yi gave the place a cursory glance.

Four beautiful women in matching uniforms stood on the first floor, introducing all kinds of goods to customers.

Although it was getting late, there was still a steady stream of people coming and going from the trading house.

After all, it served not only the customers of A58 Star Block; people from the nearby low-level star blocks also had to come here to buy things.

"Hello, where do I go to sell something?"

Zhou Yi stopped a woman who looked relatively unoccupied and asked.

"Hello, I'm Xiao Yin. It's my pleasure to serve you. May I ask what you'd like to sell?"

The beautiful attendant asked with a warm smile, not slighting Zhou Yi just because he looked poor.

In fact, Zhou Yi looked like more than merely poor—calling him down-and-out would not have been an exaggeration.

After all, he only had a few outfits in total, which he rotated every day while mining. It was quite hard on the clothes.

"Crystal Stones."

"About how many would you like to sell?"

There were many Crystal Ore mines throughout the universe, and not all of them were controlled by the Alliance.

Aside from the larger factions, many small Crystal Ore mines were accidentally discovered by individuals.

There was no shortage of people who came to sell Crystal Ore.

"Mm, about twenty."

In truth, Zhou Yi still had more than two hundred Crystal Stones. But with a treasure like Crystal Marrow, selling all his Crystal Stones as Primary Crystal Stones would be far too wasteful.

These Crystal Stones would only become scarcer the more he used them. He was unwilling to sell too many.

"Alright, please come with me."

Xiao Yin led Zhou Yi into a small room on the right side of the hall. There were many such rooms in the hall.

"Please take out the Crystal Stones so I can inspect them."

There were no chairs in the small cubicle, only an enormous table.

Zhou Yi directly took twenty Primary Crystal Stones from his ring and stacked them on the table.

At some point, Xiao Yin had produced a small detector. She pressed it against the Crystal Stones Zhou Yi had taken out and tested them one by one.

This method was far more convenient and efficient than Gal judging them by eye.

"No problem. Twenty Primary Crystal Stones. How would you like to conduct the transaction?"