The most extravagant Zhang Huaiyuan often went to the training room equipped on the ship.
During that time, he even caused a bit of a farce. Ge Hong stayed in his room for so long that the crew knocked on the door multiple times without a response, frightening them into thinking something had happened.
It wasn’t until they forcefully broke into the room that they discovered that this chubby guy was so exhausted that he slept like the dead.
When the progress of Li Ming’s development reached 61%, they finally arrived at the Capital Star.
Capital of Blue Star—Jingnan Star, where the government of the Blue Star Civilization originated.
After experiencing wars, unifications, turmoil, and development, the civilization finally left the surface of the planet, ventured out of the star system, and aspired to great achievements, but then it made contact with the Interstellar Alliance.
Compared to the desolation of Silver Grey Star, this planet was much more prosperous, even though over 80% of its surface was covered with water.
But the remaining land still supported a population of over a billion; it was said that at its peak, it housed over five billion people.
The entire planet was shrouded in a Sky Space Shield, leaving almost no leeway for stowaways.
Around Jingnan Star, there were four star ports, each with forty-eight parallel docking tracks. A multitude of ships were guided into the tracks, with even more ships lined up waiting.
The only intercivilizational star gate within the territory of Blue Star was near the largest port—Dusk Bell Star Port.
Stepping out from the cabin door, they were hit by a wave of heat mixed with noise—it was as if countless voices buzzed around their ears, yet listening closely, they couldn’t make out anything.
The hall was extremely spacious, with elevators moving up, down, and sideways in a crisscrossing pattern. Species of various skin colors, long-nosed, cyclopean non-human species finally became more common, and translators had become a standard accessory to wear around the neck.
"The hotel we’ve booked is in Jiangzhou. It’s going to take us half a day to get there from this submerging star port," Zhang Huaiyuan shouted out loud. They wouldn’t be able to hear each other otherwise.
"Let’s go, it’s too noisy in here," Ge Hong was quite uncomfortable with the noise, and the group, following the directions, quickly left and boarded a hover vehicle.
The destination was a popular commercial street bustling with various interstellar species coming and going.
The pedestrian flow here was substantial. The streets were wide, with a fountain square in the center and all kinds of shops along its sides.
Following the address, the group arrived in front of a rather large hotel. The traffic in front of the hotel was non-stop, with more than just humans coming and going.
After giving their identification information, the group noted that the price of the hotel had skyrocketed in tandem with the opening of the schools on Jingnan Star.
The facilities of this hotel were nothing fancy, but the price was not cheap; it cost 1,200 Star Coins a night, and the bill for Liang Long was footed by Zhang Huaiyuan.
They were all on the same floor, and after putting away their luggage, Ji Ya excitedly suggested, "It’s been several years since I last came to Jingnan. Should we go out for a walk?"
Zhang Huaiyuan shook his head, "Li Ming definitely won’t go. If he doesn’t, Yang Yu likely won’t either. If Yang Yu doesn’t go, do you still want to go? If neither of you go, what’s the point of us guys going out?"
Ge Hong munched non-stop on a bag of fries.
"Let’s go. It’ll be good to walk around," Li Ming’s response surprised everyone this time.
"That’s unexpected, I thought Li Ming would go to the hotel’s gym," Ge Hong mumbled.
"I ran out of nutrient fluid," Li Ming sighed.
A few stepped out, except Wang Bing who didn’t go, as he had no interest.
They visited several large malls, but Li Ming’s main purpose wasn’t just to buy nutrient fluid; he also wanted to see if there was anything good for sale in Jingnan.
It wasn’t until late afternoon that the group returned with bags large and small.
"Damn," Zhang Huaiyuan cursed, "They really treat college students like cash crops here. I don’t remember it being this expensive last time I came. Nutrient fluid selling for a 20% premium?"
"Why isn’t the Price Bureau dealing with this?!"
The two girls also joined in complaining, and the group didn’t purchase much because it was just too expensive.
Even the slightly richer Zhang Huaiyuan’s assets didn’t amount to much in Jingnan.
Li Ming bought a few tubes of nutrient fluid. He didn’t buy many, indeed they were too expensive, and he felt the unpleasant sensation of being ripped off.
Moreover, what disappointed him was that although Jingnan sold a wide variety of items, the weaponry was not much different from Silver Grey Star’s, and might even be less advanced.
The control on Silver Grey Star was a little more lax, while here, anything with even slight lethality was unlikely to appear on the market.
On the other hand, there were plenty of other items.
He saw a Genetic Radiation Device in a large store, priced at 500,000 Star Coins.
Half a million Star Coins could buy a small villa in Silver Grey City, of course, this was the price after inflation.
They put the items back and went to a restaurant for a meal. They ordered a full table with both hot and cold dishes, complemented by colorful beverages.
Zhang Huaiyuan also ordered a few bottles of wine, and they chatted as they ate.
"Ha..." Ge Hong, who was simultaneously flipping through a virtual screen and shoveling food into his mouth, suddenly let out a pig-like snort.
"Nuo Xing is actually in our batch too, we’re classmates," he said, eyes gleaming, even forgetting to eat, his expression excited.
"Nuo Xing?" Zhang Huaiyuan seemed also energized: "Fatty, where did you get that news?"
"From the new students’ discussion group, of course. It’s set up every year, someone on there mentioned it," Ge Hong enlarged the virtual screen to display various posts and real-time chats.
"Nuo Xing debuted at sixteen, and counting the age, it does add up." Wang Bing speculated: "With her family background, she won’t lack resources; it’s normal for her to get into the University of Science and Technology."
"Hehehe..." Ge Hong let out a foolish chuckle: "It would be great if we could be in the same class as Nuo Xing."
Li Ming vaguely felt the name sounded familiar but didn’t pay it much mind as he picked up a live Seven Star Octopus from his plate, savoring its sweet flavor.