"That's Moss Starport in Subspace. We'll fly straight through without slowing down."
Feng Xiao gestured to the two of them. Ahead, a massive pentagonal starport stood in the void. A force field generated by special equipment protected it from the ever-present spatial folds of Subspace.
Now and then, they saw starships enter the starport for supplies. Far more ships headed straight for the star gates positioned at its five corners.
The spatial curtain rippled faintly as the Star Origin shot into one of the gates.
Their view changed.
Silver light filled all three of their fields of vision. The next moment, when they could see clearly again, they had arrived in an incredibly bustling region!
Twelve fully terraformed planets orbited a natural star at the center. Multiple layers of functional orbital rings and traffic starports crowded the space around them.
Countless space cities and outpost buildings were scattered between the planets, drifting along their assigned routes.
Numerous traffic beacons connected every planet and space city. Even some military outposts were linked to the traffic network.
Dense streams of space trains and interstellar vessels came and went, traveling between the planets and space cities.
A special shield enveloped the entire star system, so sound traveled freely throughout it, and the energy concentration was high.
Now and then, a ship bearing advertisements drifted past one of the outer star gates.
Wang Hao and Ilde stared in amazement.
"So this is the Violet Kingdom. No wonder it's the strongest nation in the Morton Galaxy. It's unbelievably prosperous. Even private cars can drive through space?"
Feng Xiao smiled. "Guess what kind of administrative unit this star system is in the Violet Kingdom."
"Isn't it just a star system?"
This star system might have generated more economic value than the entire Blue Crystal Federation.
At Wang Hao's answer, Ilde patted him on the shoulder. "Wrong. This is Red Mountain City, a financial city directly administered by the Violet Kingdom."
"A city?"
"You heard right. It's a city. Under Alliance Law, one-third of each planet has to be set aside for the ecological environment.
"The rest is crammed full of high-tech buildings.
"This area alone has a resident population of around two hundred billion. It's one of the Violet Kingdom's core trade zones."
Wang Hao said, "A major economic center."
Following the smart guidance system, the Star Origin entered a high-speed lane reserved for starships, then headed for a starship docking platform.
"Are you two coming with me, or do you want to go off on your own later?"
Wang Hao grinned. "Boss, I want to wander around."
"I'll stick with the captain."
Ilde had no interest in exploring.
After the starship was parked, Feng Xiao and Ilde left the docking platform, while Wang Hao excitedly took his vacation funds and headed off.
"Let's check out the commercial district first and see if there's anything we can use." Feng Xiao opened the Star Origin's cargo hold, summoned a Fatley hover supercar, and took Ilde off at speed.
As a luxury supercar costing tens of millions of Alliance Coins—one that required two thousand Star Points to buy even on the Star Net—it was beyond the means of most elite-class starship owners.
But as an explorer who didn't put improving his strength first, Feng Xiao naturally wanted to enjoy himself.
With several legendary items in his possession, even without pursuing strength, he could improve the Star Origin just as efficiently as most people.
Sleek lines covered the Fatley supercar from end to end, its body gleaming with a crystalline silver light as it raced onto the traffic lane and shot forward.
Equipped with a personal shield and capable of a top speed of thirty-five Mach, the supercar accelerated to five Mach in barely two seconds.
With the smart collision-avoidance system engaged, Feng Xiao gleefully weaved through traffic.
"Woohoo!"
[Attention: The speed limit for hovercars in this lane is twenty Mach. You are about to exceed the limit.]
Feng Xiao hurriedly slowed down. It was no easy matter to get an Alliance driver's license. With a resigned turn, he entered a short-range star gate five kilometers in diameter.
In less than a second, he and Ilde crossed two million kilometers and arrived at their destination: a space city.
"Star gate technology is incredible. It doesn't seem to consume much energy, either."
"I heard that powerful nations use teleportation for long-distance travel. They use special equipment to spread spatial waves across their entire territory. Pay a fee, and you can teleport once."
The two chatted casually, not worried in the least that anyone would dare attack them.
In designated areas, armed conflict was strictly prohibited between any nations recognized by the Alliance. Fighting and warfare had to take place in space or in designated regions.
As for banning it completely, that was impractical to begin with—and the Alliance Council would never agree to it anyway.
The Alliance wouldn't even interfere when two or more ordinary nations went to war, as long as they fought normally, without massacring civilians or causing large-scale ecological destruction.
If they massacred human civilians or kept destroying living planets and resource planets, the Alliance enforcers would have no choice but to send them off for a new life.
Reasonable armed competition was allowed to spur progress; violating the basic order of humanity was forbidden.
Once a nation became a powerful nation, war was completely off the table. Instead of going to the front lines to attack alien civilizations and seize their resources, you wanted to fight among yourselves?
If you had a dispute, there was the Alliance Court. If you still couldn't resolve it, take your representative troops to the Second World or the Star Net and settle things there.
There was no conflict that couldn't be resolved through interests.
In short, every level had its own rules.
Anyway, even if a powerful nation or a major nation lost a border war, it didn't matter. Their territory was inside human space—what was there to fear from an enemy breaking in?
The Fatley sped unhindered into the space city ahead, designated K8. Though it was a special city that drifted slowly through space,
its usable area spanned several million square kilometers. Sci-fi skyscrapers, each a thousand meters tall, stood everywhere, while floating islands covered in beautiful plants drifted past from time to time.
Animals full of life and citizens walked all over the city. Anti-gravity technology and basic nanotech life-support robots were fully mature. Even if humans floated out into space, they would be fine.
Oxygen?
Who needed that stuff?
Feng Xiao's Fatley entered the space city, immediately drawing everyone nearby's attention. Even in a place like the Violet Kingdom, supercars like his were a rare sight.
[Bro, you're not from around here, are you?]
Feng Xiao paused, then looked toward a supercar that had appeared beside him at some point and was now keeping pace. It wasn't as good as his, but it was no ordinary car, either.
[No.]
[Heh, if you can afford a supercar like that, you must be someone special. I've got something you're bound to be interested in.]
Feng Xiao smiled faintly.
[Let's hear it.]
[The Nova Club here in K8 and clubs from other space cities are holding a supercar race soon. The first-place prize is a purple main cannon Star Weapon.
[Interested?]
A purple main cannon?
Well, the second generation in the Violet Kingdom sure had a lot of pull.
[A purple main cannon Star Weapon?
[Why not use it yourself?]
[The sponsor's a super-rich second-generation kid. Even for him, a purple Star Weapon is a painful loss, but you can't imagine how much he loves supercar racing.
[I'm only asking you because I'm desperate. If you can make the top ten and save K8's reputation, you'll become a platinum VIP at the club!]
A faint smile curled Feng Xiao's lips. He was getting excited.
[Sounds good. Send me the address and time.]
[Sure. I'll keep looking for racers.]
After glancing at the private messages in the local channel, Feng Xiao shook his head with an amused smile.
What was this?
It was like someone had brought him a pillow just as he was getting sleepy. Sure, the unspoken rules forbade using outside assistance, but no one—not even the Violet Kingdom—could detect a legendary ability when it was used.
Underhanded?
That was called having a skill!
"Come on. Let's check out the Li Group's flagship store first and see if they've got anything good."
"Right away, Captain."
Before you continue