Vita the Lobster Spirit was quite good at reading the room. After all, in ancient times, someone in his profession would have been a parking attendant and designated driver. The only difference was that he was parking spaceships instead of cars.
Once these "cargoes" had been inspected and confirmed to be headed to the ship hangar, the Lobster Spirit hurried over. He first glanced at Du Zhaodi with some awe, his artificial eye startled by the mechanical conduits on Ms. Du's body, then turned toward Gao Gong. He had clearly recognized who was in charge.
"Esteemed sir, may I ask whether you require a guide? As Parking Attendant No. 114 of the Mechanical Serpent Constellation, I've been stationed here for forty years. I know all the prices and market conditions in this trading market. With me accompanying you, those black-market merchants wouldn't dare cheat or swindle you. All you need to pay is a small amount of Civilization Credit Points—200 points from any second-level civilization, whether the Milta Federation, the Galen Republic, or the Singa Freemasons—and I will accompany you for the entire journey."
The Singa Freemasons were the name of yet another second-level civilization.
Gao Gong did not answer. Instead, he looked down at the planet with great interest.
It was a highly mechanized planet, but compared with the planets inhabited by some machine races, its "greenery" was far too well-developed. All kinds of plants covered the planet's surface, along with blue skies, white clouds, and virtual stars. Even the atmosphere seemed artificial, capable of transforming into all sorts of dazzling scenery. Some civilized planets were no better than this.
It was hard to imagine that this was a black market.
Even more astonishing was that this planet had far more than one satellite.
Aside from the interstellar spaceport