The weapon refiner is not doing her job properly

Chapter 102 The Strange Robot

Half an hour later, the starship passed through the Great Stargate and jumped to another star system.

The starship hovered in space, waiting to jump through a small stargate on a nearby planet. Small stargates could also be used by small starships, but the procedure was a bit more complicated.

After completing their entry declaration, they joined the long queue. During the three hours and forty-seven minutes of waiting, Su Ninglong tried to pass the time by reading, but her e-reader contained books she had already read, and the more she read, the sleepier she became.

When she reads the news, the first thing she sees is news about her local area, such as regime change and price controls... but she's not interested in any of that.

Bored but unable to sleep, the cramped car seat lacks comfort.

They cannot leave the starship, otherwise they will be considered illegal immigrants, and can only occasionally stare out the window in a daze.

The Starship Control tower finally gave the order that the starship could proceed. After a second jump, it finally arrived at its destination.

N711, a spiral galaxy, YMU9, the planet of the darkest star.

The moment Su Ninglong stepped onto solid ground, she felt a sense of relief despite her fatigue.

The trip wasn't uncomfortable, but it was agonizing; the time seemed to stretch on endlessly. Next time she travels, she'll definitely put more reference books and science documentaries on her e-reader.

Their starships were kept at the Starship Building and were not allowed to be brought into the planet Youju.

The subspace aftereffects of the small stargate are as terrible as ever.

Apart from Suninglong, hunters of three stars or above, and the navigator, everyone else was frantically vomiting with vomit bags in hand.

Xingyuan and Lei Qingya squatted on the ground, almost vomiting bile, their faces looking extremely pale.

All of these were expected reactions. Su Ninglong looked at Funi, who seemed perfectly normal, and asked, "Teacher Funi, you didn't vomit even after passing through the Little Star Gate?"

“I used to travel a lot, crossing the small stargate four or five times a day. You get used to it.”

Lian Xinyi, a history researcher who had to pass through the small star gates four or five times a day to successfully eavesdrop on secrets, felt that he had to exclude excavation tasks from his long holiday mission.

"vomit……"

The vomiting continued for a while before they set off again. The mission point was not near the Starship Building, so they transferred to transportation within the planet Youmu.

The atmosphere of Youmu Star is naturally formed, hence it is called Natural Star. It has an ecological environment similar to that of Kebi Star, but unlike Kebi Star, it has not developed a complete ecotourism industry. Instead, it is used to settle star refugees.

Starbound people, homeless people, refer to those whose planets have been destroyed and who can only wander among the stars.

Two hundred years ago, they had no household registration and could not settle on prosperous planets.

It wasn't until the interstellar government was established that these people were gathered together, given household registration, and then settled on planets relatively far from the Great Stargate.

This is for screening purposes. Those who perform well can be given the right to freely enter and leave various planets or move away from that planet. Those who perform poorly, have committed crimes, or have low credit scores will have their entry and exit restricted.

After two hundred years of reproduction, most of the Starfolk settled down on Youmu Star and became local "natives".

As it is a community of Star Drifters, the religious beliefs here are quite complex. Everyone who is religious has their own rules, and you cannot make gestures or shake hands blindly.

Yun Fei instructed Su Ninglong, "Don't offer food to people casually. Some people here only eat vegetarian food, some don't eat meat with soup, and some refuse to use mechanical items. Your snacks can only be shared with the people on the starship or eaten by yourself."

Su Ninglong was puzzled. She understood that people should be vegetarian or eat meat prepared in a certain way because of religious reasons, but why not even use mechanical items?

The founder of this religion is probably mentally unstable; he may have formed bizarre views simply because he had a pitiful amount of power in his hands.

"I understand. I'll definitely act selfish and not give you any, not even if it's you."

Yun Fei tilted his head back, pressing his fingers to his throbbing temples: "Are you determined to go against me?"

"No, I just wanted to say I'm stingy." Su Ninglong swung her legs, which were dangling in the air, and handed him the rope tied to the front of her luggage. "If you hold it, I won't run off."

The logic was so perfect it left her speechless. Yun Fei reluctantly took the rope, wrapped it around his wrist twice, and pulled her to board the rented vehicle.

The mode of transportation to the mission location was not the hoverbus common in the Gemini system, but an old-fashioned gasoline-powered land vehicle.

In advanced star systems where anti-gravity transportation is widespread, these terrestrial antiques with no way to avoid the feeling of shock have almost disappeared.

Su Ninglong was assigned to sit with Yun Fei. She sat by the window and initially counted the ferns outside the window with great interest, until the tires rolled over the third pothole.

Old Ancestor Su's face turned ashen.

An hour later, Su Laozu was already questioning the meaning of life and forced himself to review the Turtle Breathing Technique.

After suffering for two whole hours, feeling weak all over, Su Ninglong got off the bus and looked back at the old blue bus. "Couldn't they have installed a levitation device? At least they should have installed a buffer force field device."

“There are many types of energy. Gasoline only costs two star coins per liter.” Xingyuan wiped the sweat from Su Ninglong’s forehead. “And the energy required to counteract the planet’s gravity is a bit much for it. It’s more economical for the people of this planet to walk on land.”

He turned around, and the crumpled tissue landed precisely in the roadside trash can.

The finances of remote planets are generally okay; at least the roads are well-connected and all paved with asphalt.

Unlike more primitive planets, where even a decent dirt road is a luxury, let alone a road.

Looking up at the building in front of me, I saw that its architectural style had a distinctly exotic feel.

Almost all of them are very short, two or three stories high, with no use of vertical space, and they are densely packed on both sides of the street.

It was 2 PM interstellar time, but it was nighttime on this planet.

A day on Youmu Star has thirty hours, and there are still twelve hours until dawn. They need to adjust to the time difference and recover their energy.

Tong Zi led them into a large hotel and booked five suites. "Go and rest first. We'll meet again in ten hours. You're only allowed to stay within the hotel grounds. Anyone who violates this rule will be disqualified from the mission."

Being able to rest would be wonderful; Su Ninglong had never been this tired while traveling.

She took a shower and then lay in bed, not wanting to move.

Lei Qingya knocked and entered her room. "Ning Long, I have some news here about DI Company. Do you want to hear it now, or..."

"Listen, listen now." Su Ninglong got up. Lei Qingya had managed to get to the follow-up information, and even though her eyelids were drooping, she had to finish reading it first.

Following up on the information provided before departure, DI apologized to the public but made no mention of compensation.

Such actions are truly baffling, but there must be a reason behind them.

"The chips manufactured by DI may involve the theft of other people's information. Someone has filed a lawsuit claiming they were completely unaware that their child had obtained a certificate from the hospital to use an endorphin chip. Since the complainant's child is studying at a police academy in another star system and cannot be contacted at the moment, the matter requires further investigation."

Su Ninglong couldn't help but ponder, "Would an ordinary person, after seeing the news, specifically investigate whether their child has a medical certificate?"

"It might be a follow-up after the Star Police came knocking. I don't think Xue Wancheng is the kind of person who gives up so easily," Lei Qingya speculated.

The two exchanged a smile, and Su Ninglong said, "Tell me as soon as there's any follow-up."

Lei Qingya nodded, pushed open the door and left the room, yawning as he walked towards the washroom.

……

The streets near the hotel were quiet and peaceful. Su Ninglong took three hours of sleep and regained her energy.

I got up, rubbed my eyes, and checked the time: 9:00 PM on Youjuxing.

She combed her hair and tied it into a ponytail. She pushed open the door to Xingyuan and Lei Qingya's room. It was quiet. From under the bulging blankets came steady, long breathing sounds. They were still asleep.

A large tail wrapped around Su Ninglong's feet, emitting a soft meow.

"Shh!" Su Ninglong put her finger to her lips.

When she got up, her two alert pets were already awake, curiously following her, wanting to know what she was up to.

"Oli, Kiri, let's go find something to eat."

Her snack cart was filled with dog food, but how could a rich girl like her not enjoy the local cuisine when she's out having fun?

The two pets happily followed Su Ninglong out, forgetting to say goodbye to Xingyuan.

Since there was no elevator, Suninglong walked up the stairs.

The dim light flickered incessantly, and the sound of dripping water echoed from somewhere.

Su Ninglong was not intimidated at all and strode into the lobby.

The people of Youmu Star are used to a fifteen-hour work-rest schedule, and the woman at the front desk has placed a folding bed behind the counter to catch up on sleep.

A neatly designed (square-shaped) robot looked at the little girl who had come alone (ignoring the two pets) and asked, "What do you need, sir?"

"I want to eat a late-night snack."

Are you hungry?

"Uh-huh."

"I can take your order here, but you may have to wait a while. There is only one chef in the kitchen right now."

“Okay.” Su Ninglong’s fingertip swept across the menu displayed on the robot’s light screen, and she muttered to herself, “What is this? Raw meat sashimi? I don’t eat raw meat, I can’t handle it. Hmm, this crystal pork jelly looks pretty good.”

In the end, Su Ninglong ordered more than ten dishes, all of which were specialty dishes she had never seen before.

The screen finally displayed a settlement amount of one thousand star coins, and Su Ninglong blinked.

The prices are incredible, ridiculously cheap! The dozen or so specialty dishes she selected all look very large in the pictures. Hopefully, they're not just pictures for reference only.

After ordering, the little girl sat quietly in the restaurant, and the robot turned on two warm yellow lights for her.

The chef on night duty stared at the menu and gasped in astonishment. Who was so extravagant late at night, eating up two months' salary for someone else?

Youmu Star has its own independent currency, but as a gathering place for interstellar migrants, it is not lacking in knowledge about things outside the stars, and exchanging star coins to buy things is very common.

However, the exchange rate between the common currency and Star Coins is quite different, with a ratio of one to ten, giving outsiders the illusion that they are spending money like water.

Based on the price of taking the bus, 1 Youmu Coin can buy a ride on the entire city's circular bus.

One thousand star coins can be used for ten thousand rides.

The cook figured there might be a dozen or so wealthy travelers sitting outside, waiting to fill their stomachs, so he quickly started cooking.

Soon after, the robot served Su Ninglong the first dish: pickled meat in a jar. Su Ninglong took a bite, and Aoli and Qirui watched her expectantly.

"You can't eat this." Su Ninglong's eyes were glistening with tears. Her tongue was numb from the spiciness. She had just noted that the dish would be refunded if it wasn't spicy, but the chef had added an extreme amount of chili.

Ollie nuzzled her, suspecting she was lying.

"Don't blame me if you get overwhelmed by the spiciness."

Su Ninglong switched to a different pair of chopsticks and gave the food to Aoli. Aoli's tongue was more sensitive, so he immediately spat it out, and tears streamed down his face like a string of pearls.

"Right, I didn't lie to you, I have a conscience."

Ollie's eyes were vacant. When do bad people ever have a conscience?

If it weren't for the fact that you're always digging into different new things, who would want to play with a cunning child like you?

The first dish, Suninglong, was served lightly, while the second dish was local specialty poultry, which was braised and then deep-fried until thoroughly cooked, leaving a lingering fragrance in the mouth...

When the last two dishes were served, Su Ninglong stopped.

"Waiter, can I tell you what kind of meat this is?" Su Ninglong pointed to the last dish, which looked like a white, jelly-like substance. When she touched it with a spoon, it was a bit hard, like dry chicken breast.

"Gesar fish roe. This is for you to eat. It's a dish that the Gesar sect believers on Youmu Star would make for celebrations. The Gesar sect originated from..." The robot's intelligence level seemed average. It awkwardly read out the origin of the dish from the data version, while also promoting the faith.

"Is your boss from Gesar Dzong?"

The robot tilted its head, the ball core slightly malfunctioning, processing Suninglong's words.

"I don't know."

Su Ninglong pursed her lips, logged onto the internet to search, but found no such sect; it was just a tiny, insignificant religion on Youmu Star.

Afterwards, Su Ninglong took a picture of the white fish roe and searched for it, and found several similar ingredients.

But none of them are called Gesa fish roe, and they are generally expensive, with the cheapest of the same kind costing 200 Star Dollars per kilogram.

"Guests can have a taste." A happy pixelated face appeared on the robot's screen. "It's delicious."

Inside the restaurant, except for the area where Suninglong was dining, which was lit up, the rest of the place was shrouded in darkness.

The robot's synthesized voice emitted pleasant syllables that it didn't have when ordering food, adding a touch of eeriness to the quiet environment.

Su Ninglong raised her eyelids slightly. "What if I don't eat it?"

"It takes time for ingredients to grow and reach the table. Every dish is made with the chef's hard work, so it's best not to waste ingredients."

"If we'd like to eat this dish again tomorrow, could you give it to us for free?"

"Of course, guest, if you enjoy it now, I can give you even more." The robot took the initiative to serve, cutting out a piece of white seed and placing it near Su Ninglong's mouth, preparing to feed her.

Su Ninglong and Aoli suddenly made their move. Aoli teleported down from the sky and pounced, pinning the robot to the ground.

An alarm immediately went off in the hotel lobby, and the woman who had been sleeping at the front desk jumped up. Still half asleep, she looked around, wanting to ask the robot what had happened.

The robot wasn't nearby, so she went to look for it. Before she did, she grabbed a wrench and called out, "Ah San, Ah San, where did you go?"

The Star Alliance night watchmen also heard a commotion and quickly went downstairs to investigate.

Recently, I've gotten quite used to disassembling the core of the ball. When Suninglong heard the noise, he quickly shut down the robot's power, but unfortunately, the power was limited and he couldn't stop it immediately.