"Ah... this seat is so uncomfortable. We have to sit here for five days until we reach another starport, where we can transfer to a better spacecraft..." Ji Ya chirped non-stop next to her.
"Taro, look at the Star Ring—it’s become slanted. When I last traveled with my parents, it wasn’t ."
"Ji Ya..." Yang Yu gently pushed her, immediately pouting Ji Ya’s lips and bursting into tears before hugging Yang Yu tightly: "Taro, I... I’m so scared..."
Yang Yu gently patted her back, her eyes also getting slightly red, lost in thought.
"Need tissue paper?" A somewhat familiar voice came from behind their seat.
"No, thank you." Yang Yu responded subconsciously, then stiffened, turning her head stiffly as tears streamed down her face.
Xiaoyun Port, located in the Berna Star System, is relatively more prosperous than the Sterl Star System where Silver Grey Star is located.
The Berna Star System has two habitable planets and three mineral stars and, consequently, has a large starport.
They were to transfer there to the "Temple Dragon," an interstellar ship far surpassing the "Short Flute" they were on in regards to specifications and configurations.
Xiaoyun Port has twelve docking tracks and special extendable connecting cabins to dock with spaceship doors.
The doors, composed of four inverted triangular metal plates, parted in the middle and retracted into the walls. The passengers followed the directional lights and disembarked one by one.
After five days of travel, these young boys and girls had naturally formed small groups, familiarizing themselves with others from their schools.
The group with the highest status was the seven from the capital’s University of Science and Technology, including Li Ming.
There should have been one more, but since he had left earlier, he had already arrived.
"I’ve been here before, it seems to have been renovated, and improved a lot." Zhang Huaiyuan said with an appearance of familiarity as they passed through a metal archway; the nearby display screened various data.
After verifying their identities, automatic devices provided navigation information, and a little arrow appeared at their feet, directing them where to go.
Liang Long looked around, his actions cautious and deliberate.
"During the ride on the Temple Dragon, we mostly won’t make any stops, except for meals. Things on the ship are outrageously expensive, so if you want to buy snacks, you’d better buy them in advance," Zhang Huaiyuan said with a hint of leadership and a chuckle.
"Liang Long, let’s go buy some together," he offered, apparently noticing Liang Long’s discomfort.
"I need to buy some Nutrient Liquid," Li Ming said, with Yang Yu immediately responding, "I’ll go with you."
"Then I’m going too," Ji Ya raised her hand.
"Alright, everyone, stop looking. The two ladies are taken, leaving just us guys together," Zhang Huaiyuan said, spreading his hands.
"He’s really something," a pudgy boy next to him said enviously.
"You all go on, I’ll wait in the departure lounge," said the expressionless bespectacled guy as he left straight away.
"You bought quite a lot of stuff too," Li Ming returned to the departure lounge carrying several large bags, with Yang Yu and Ji Ya both looking a bit awkward.
Zhang Huaiyuan greeted them and offhandedly asked, "Didn’t you two buy anything?"
"Oh, we didn’t really have anything to buy," Ji Ya explained.
"Li Ming has bought quite a bit though," Zhang Huaiyuan remarked curiously, peeking into the bag: "All Nutrient Liquids."
"Which brand? I heard that recently one brand was exposed for adding too much melamine."
"The brand I usually eat is pretty good, you..." as he said this, he rummaged through a bag and glanced inside, his expression suddenly stiffening.
"This...purple metal tube, Tenglong Technology? E-grade Nutrient Liquid?" Zhang Huaiyuan did indeed have good eyesight, recognizing them at a glance.
As this was mentioned, the others also looked over.
There weren’t any explicit rules about what level of Life Form had to consume what level of Nutrient Liquid. However, Advanced Nutrient Liquid contained too many nutrients for low-level Life Forms to consume without it being somewhat harmful.
Zhang Huaiyuan smiled sheepishly and asked in a lower voice, "You... you’ve reached E-grade Life Form status?"
"Yeah," Li Ming nodded. These kids were too young, their thoughts were written all over their faces.
This guy named Zhang Huaiyuan, coming from a somewhat well-off family, had traveled quite a bit, was somewhat proud inside, but not a bad person.
As for Liang Long, due to family issues, he felt somewhat inferior inside.
Along the way, Li Ming hadn’t really spoken to these few young guys.
Everyone exchanged glances, reaching E-grade status as a Life Form so quickly was quite surprising.
Especially for Zhang Huaiyuan, coming from the best background among them, who had fully matured his genes by age sixteen and merged with the gene seed less than a year before his seventeenth birthday, yet his developmental progress had barely passed 90%.
"Is the disparity in gene seed development rates among individuals really that big?" he couldn’t help but wonder, feeling somewhat disheartened.
"That cost a lot of money, right?" Liang Long asked enviously.
"One tube is ten thousand, and there are twenty tubes here," Ji Ya chimed in eagerly.
Apart from Zhang Huaiyuan, the youngsters were quite staggered by the amount.
The sum in Star Coins was substantial, but more importantly, it was a sum Li Ming, at his age, could freely spend.
"The journey ahead will take about twenty days; planning on training aboard the ship?" Zhang Huaiyuan speculated.
Without intense activity, Advanced Life Forms don’t need Nutrient Liquid for sustenance.
"Might as well, since there’s nothing else to do," Li Ming said casually. He had intended to buy some more developmental medicines, but E-grade developmental medicine was simply too expensive, and he couldn’t afford many tubes.