After returning from Herta Space Station to the Interastral Astronomical Society, Bai Heng had successfully completed this mission and gained the opportunity to travel to Pillars of Creation, the Company's headquarters.
Moreover, in light of his outstanding contribution in successfully recruiting two members of the Genius Society, the Company directly promoted him four grades, from P36 to P40.
He had truly become a mid-level leader within the Company.
After achieving this leap in status, Bai Heng arrived at Pillars of Creation.
Just as the Company advertised to the outside world, it was a place where one could realize one's self-worth.
Without exception, everyone living here was an internal elite of the Interastral Peace Corporation.
They enjoyed honor, power, and wealth throughout the universe. Under the protection of the great Amber Lord and the largest economic entity in the cosmos, they could fulfill all their material pursuits.
Palace-like executive lounges, spa clubs with the finest service, bars staffed by teams of a thousand, lava hot spring mountains—these were the entertainment venues frequented by these elites.
However, prosperity was still only an illusion.
Pillars of Creation still possessed an enormous class divide.
At Bai Heng's current rank, he actually had few chances to meet such renowned figures within the Company as the Ten Stonehearts or the board of directors.
Topaz, who had worked with Bai Heng once before, would occasionally bring several bottles of fine wine to visit him at the private villa the Company had arranged for him.
Time passed in the blink of an eye, and Bai Heng spent a period at Pillars of Creation much like a year-end vacation.
When that month-long holiday came to an end,
Bai Heng received his next assignment—to travel to the Xianzhou Alliance.
He was still employed by the Interastral Astronomical Society, so his mission to the Xianzhou Alliance was naturally to gather information regarding the Path of Abundance and the Reignbow Arbiter of The Hunt.
Among them, the documents issued by the Interastral Astronomical Society especially highlighted intelligence concerning the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
They claimed that this could be used as an entry point.
In addition, the Company had planned to assign Bai Heng a group of subordinates to assist with the project.
But Bai Heng declined the Company's goodwill.
For this sort of mission, he felt it was best to proceed discreetly. In the end, he only brought Xiao Si, who was responsible for piloting the starship.
From Pillars of Creation to the spaceport closest to the Xianzhou Alliance, Xiao Si's reckless driving took less than two days.
Though during the journey, Bai Heng had nearly vomited up half his life.
After arriving at the spaceport, Bai Heng took quite a while to recover before boarding a Xianzhou commercial skiff. Under the identity of an outworlder traveling for leisure, he entered the Xianzhou 'Luofu', one of the Xianzhou Alliance's six starships.
As for Xiao Si, Bai Heng had him remain at the spaceport to refuel and maintain the starship.
On the skiff, Bai Heng saw many local Xianzhou residents buying a beverage called Immortality Joy Tea from the vendors. They would pair their edited photos with the caption, "Autumn's first cup of Joy Tea," then post them to their Hyper-Sensory Remote Sensing social feeds.
The sight gave him the strange feeling that he had never transmigrated at all.
But honestly, the Xianzhou really was the place Bai Heng knew of that most resembled his hometown.
So as he watched the many different Xianzhou natives aboard the skiff, he was inexplicably overcome with homesickness.
Thus, he also bought a cup of Immortality Joy Tea made from milk, sugar, tea... and sent Ruan Mei a message along with a photo.
"I'm on a business trip in the Xianzhou. If I get the chance, I'll let you try it."
A few seconds later, Ruan Mei also sent over a photo.
The image was somewhat hazy, filled with mist and rising steam. Lotuses, crabapple blossoms, daffodils, cornflowers, and flowers and leaves of every kind soaked in the water. Jade-green ripples swayed softly, warm as spring.
"Noted. I'm preparing to bathe. We'll talk later."
Bai Heng has initiated a video call with you.
The other party has declined.
The skiff continued onward for another half day.
Only sixteen hours remained before it reached the Sea of Stars Skiffs on the Xianzhou 'Luofu'.
That night.
Bai Heng was resting in the skiff's passenger cabin when he suddenly heard a roar from outside.
Opening his eyes and looking through the gauze window, he could vaguely see flashes of fire outside.
"Fireworks?"
That was his first thought, but he quickly realized something was wrong.
Because faint curses could be heard from outside the cabin.
"Something's wrong."
Bai Heng raised a hand, and a small-caliber short-sword Micro-Rail Orbital Cannon issued by the Company appeared in his grasp.
But when he rushed out of the passenger cabin, he discovered that the scene before him was completely different from what he had imagined.
In Bai Heng's imagination, the skiff had perhaps been hijacked by pirates or some cosmic horror faction, and he would make a heroic entrance to resolve the crisis.
But the reality was—
A group of neatly arrayed Cloud Knights, clad in Xianzhou armor and wielding standard-issue longswords, were all staring at him.
Meanwhile, many passengers aboard the skiff were crouching on the ground with their hands clasped over their heads.
After he became one of those passengers as well,
Bai Heng finally understood that this skiff was actually a black ship smuggling contraband drugs. The reason they had allowed tourists like him aboard was purely to confuse the authorities.
"Name."
"Bai Heng."
"Gender."
"Male."
"Identity."
"An outworlder traveling here for leisure."
After the Cloud Knight Lieutenant responsible for reviewing the skiff's passengers recorded Bai Heng's information, he had Bai Heng wait in a uniformly arranged guest room for the results of further investigation.
Bai Heng felt that the Cloud Knights had handled this rather fairly.
At the very least, before determining that he was a criminal, they merely confined the passengers to guest rooms on the Xianzhou 'Luofu' instead of throwing them straight into prison.
Since all his belongings were temporarily under the Cloud Knights' custody, Bai Heng could only sit cross-legged at the tea table in the guest room, drinking cup after cup of tea.
But as he raised his teacup, he suddenly remembered that it seemed to have been a month since his last simulation.
He lifted a finger slightly, and the Life Simulator interface appeared before him.
Bai Heng Life Talent: Alluring Youth Stamina: 170 Endurance: 170 Strength: 170 Agility: 130 Spirit: 300 Charm: 700 Notice: For ordinary humans who are not Pathstriders, the average value of all attributes is 100. Current simulations: 1, refresh time: 27 days
"Since that's the case, I'll use this time to start the second simulation."
Please urge for updates, recommend the book, send gifts, and leave reviews. Thank you, everyone.
Before you continue