Molian Star

Kun Zhu watched the blue dot racing across the holographic projection and said, "I hope everything goes smoothly."

Whether it was Kun Zhu or Shen Jian, neither could help feeling nervous about entering the universe for the first time.

To be honest, Yu Duan wasn't much better off.

At the peak of the first Planetary Level, his own strength was simply too weak. Far too weak.

A weak prodigy with monstrous talent might be fine if he ran into a discerning powerhouse. They knew that a genius who had been enslaved was worthless.

But what if he ran into some idiot "rich kid" who was jealous of talented people and enslaved him on the spot? There'd be nowhere to appeal.

The odds were low, but caution never hurt. This wasn't the sort of thing where he should gamble with his life.

So Yu Duan had already made up his mind. On this trip into the universe, he had just four goals: get in and out quickly, to avoid any complications.

The four goals were: register a legal identity, register an account on the Virtual Universe Network, purchase an A1-level Celestial Energy Shield, and open a bank account.

As for the bank account, the only realistic option was the official bank of the Chilian Divine Empire.

As for opening accounts with the Universe First Bank or Universe Galaxy Bank, the two peak powers, he could forget about it.

The reason was simple: he had no money.

Just to register an account with either bank, he would need a net worth of over a hundred million Chilian Coins.

After the spaceship's previous owner, Batu, died, the Crimson Empire had seized his bank account.

Aside from the spaceship, worth over a million Chilian Coins, he had lost virtually all his other wealth. All that remained was a B9-level Alloy Combat Suit and a B9-level Alloy Combat Blade that Batu had discarded.

Batu had received the Alloy Battle Suit and Alloy Battle Blade as a reward when he became the commander of a slave army.

Alloy weapons and battle suits were nothing like Force Weapons and battle suits. They were the lowest-grade equipment available at Star Level.

Later, Batu had saved up some contributions and exchanged them for a better set of equipment, leaving the old set behind.

Since it wasn't worth much to begin with, Batu hadn't bothered to sell it. He'd kept it as a memento—a reminder that he had escaped the ranks of ordinary slaves. It was the first step toward freedom.

According to the AI assistant Number One, the B9-level Alloy Combat Suit and Alloy Combat Blade were worth no more than about 200,000 Chilian Coins combined.

Besides, even if Yu Duan wanted to sell them, he couldn't. Alloy equipment was too cumbersome.

Unlike the high-end, precious Force Weapon series, the power of alloy weapons came entirely from their sharpness, toughness, and the force of the swing.

So alloy weapons were specially weighted to let Fighters bring their strength to bear.

A B9-level War Blade alone weighed a million tons, making it easier for a powerhouse to wield and more powerful in combat.

Neither Yu Duan nor Kun Zhu could even lift something that heavy.

They could only trade it through a spatial storage device, but those were even more precious.

Fortunately, there was still a little cash aboard the spaceship: a total of just over 24,000 Chilian Coins.

For a ninth-level Star Level expert, a little over 20,000 Chilian Coins was pocket change.

It wasn't much, but it was enough for Yu Duan and the other two to register their identities, sign up for the Virtual Universe Network, and open an account at the Chilian Divine Empire Bank.

"This is a rough start, but fortunately an A1-level Celestial Energy Shield usually costs less than 10,000 Chilian Coins."

Thirty-six days wasn't very long for Yu Duan and the other two.

As they reached their destination, the Chilian Star began to slow down, eventually coming to a complete stop before being kicked out of the Dark Universe.

That was the Dark Universe's rule: macroscopically stationary objects weren't allowed to exist there.

In the outer reaches of the Molian Star System, the three watched as the external view simulation switched on at 100 percent, revealing a dark purple life-bearing planet: Molian Star.

"Beep!"

"Master, we've received a guidance signal."

Number One's voice sounded. "The spaceship will follow the signal to the planet's docking port."

Ever since Yu Duan had demonstrated his domain, Master Zhen Li had taken the initiative to ask Number One to recognize Yu Duan as its master.

As a basic artificial intelligence, Number One had few emotions and no attachment to its former owner, so it had accepted Yu Duan as its master without hesitation.

The Chilian Star entered the atmosphere, followed the guidance signal, and finally landed in a Class B docking area at the spaceport.

"Psst!"

The hatch opened, and Yu Duan, Kun Zhu, and Shen Jian flew out side by side.

A woman in a black uniform patterned with red lotuses flew toward them. She was less than two meters tall, with transparent wings growing from her back, and landed in front of them.

"Welcome to Molian Star, honored sirs."

A respectful smile appeared on the black-clad woman's lovely face. "The estimated docking fee for your spaceship is 36 Chilian Coins per year. If it remains docked for less than a year, you'll still be charged 36 Chilian Coins. Here's your docking card."

Everything went smoothly. Faced with three Planetary Level beings aboard a B6-level spaceship, the woman wasn't overly enthusiastic, but she didn't slight them either.

After paying and collecting their docking card, Yu Duan and the others left the spaceport.

Naturally, their first priority on Molian Star was to register as citizens. Following the navigation, the three headed straight for the Chilian Divine Empire Administrative Building.

Registering as a citizen in the universe was fairly simple. Anyone who had reached Planetary Level could register just by paying a fee.

The process was simple, too: fill out some forms, pay 50 Chilian Coins, and that was it. There was no review at all.

After leaving the Imperial Administrative Building, Yu Duan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

With citizenship, they would be protected on Molian Star. In particular, fighting was generally forbidden inside cities.

Of course, if a powerhouse really did kill someone—and the victim was a nobody—the penalty would basically amount to nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

"Junior brother, where do you want to go next?"

Shen Jian sent the message through Spiritual Force. Even in a private transmission, he was careful, using the agreed-upon form of address.

"Let's visit the Virtual Universe Company. The old man keeps a tight leash on me. Now that I've finally slipped out, I have to register for a virtual network account," Yu Duan replied through Spiritual Force, just as carefully.

Then the three headed straight for the Virtual Universe Company building.

After entering the service hall on the first floor, Yu Duan and the others followed the procedure: they took a number, waited in line, and then completed their business.

"Sir, how may I help you?"

A woman in a red uniform, somewhat like a catgirl, bowed slightly to Yu Duan and greeted him politely.

"Open an account."

"Certainly. We offer three account plans: 100 years, 1,000 years, and 10,000 years. The annual network fee is 10 Chilian Coins or 0.008 Beiming Coins."

Beiming Coins were the official currency of the Beiming Universe Kingdom, a higher-level civilization. The Chilian Divine Empire was one of the tens of thousands of mid-level civilizations under its jurisdiction.

"I'll take the 100-year plan, and I'd also like to buy two anonymous accounts."

One anonymous account was for Master Zhen Li, and the other was for Yu Duan himself.

Yu Duan had no intention of displaying his domain mastery in the real world. Even on the virtual network, he planned to make waves under an anonymous account.

As long as he caught the attention of the person in charge of the Chilian Divine Empire branch of the Virtual Universe Company, that would be enough.

The attendant nodded politely and spoke gently. "Certainly. The 100-year network fee is 1,000 Chilian Coins, and each anonymous account costs 2,000 Chilian Coins. That comes to 5,000 Chilian Coins in total."

"I'll pay in cash."

Yu Duan promptly pulled out five Chilian Coins, each worth 1,000.

"Certainly, sir. Your account has been set up."

About three minutes later, Yu Duan waited for Kun Zhu and Shen Jian to finish opening their accounts. Then the three left the building together.

"We've already spent over 7,000 Chilian Coins. Our balance has shrunk by nearly a third." Kun Zhu couldn't help clicking his tongue. Chilian Coins sure didn't go far.

This time, the three were speaking through the Virtual Universe Network, so they didn't need to worry about nearby powerhouses overhearing them.

"It's enough. We still have over 18,000 Chilian Coins."

Yu Duan smiled and started the navigation. "Come on, let's open an account at the Chilian Divine Empire Bank. We'll deposit all the money we have left, then buy an A1-level Celestial Energy Shield, and we can head home."

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