Chapter 364 – The Ruler and S.Erso
“Make your bid.”
Regardless of whether the blood was from the green-eyed people, the meaning in the guide’s words was clear enough: this was a treasure, and while it could be obtained, there were risks involved, so the price… would definitely be a bit lower.
The guide couldn’t help but smile widely at having such a straightforward customer like Tu Ran.
“One hundred thousand star coins,” he said.
One box for one hundred thousand, eight boxes for eight hundred thousand.
For Tu Ran, who had just arrived in this world and wasn’t familiar with the prices, she cautiously asked, “What can 800,000 get you here?”
“It will cover ninety-nine percent of the services at our shop.”
“Do you have a lot of services?” Tu Ran asked in return.
The guide gave a meaningful smile. “Compared to other stores with a similar business model, we offer everything they have, and we also have things they don’t.”
Tu Ran was somewhat satisfied. She stood up and slowly smoothed out the creases in her skirt. “Alright, let’s go then. Show me your services.”
The guide beamed. Tu Ran’s words meant the transaction was likely a success.
He immediately stood up, put on a professional smile, and gestured for Tu Ran and Tang Ying to follow. “For customers new to the Ruler’s World, we have specially designed a full service package, covering basic needs like food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, as well as some custom special services. Let me show you.”
With that, he walked toward the light screen outside the booth.
Tu Ran kicked at the metal box beside her, which had opened. “Will these boxes just be left here?”
The guide turned around to explain, “After we leave, other attendants will take these boxes, verify them at a designated place, and transfer the money to your accounts. Oh, by the way… you haven’t set up your Ruler account yet, have you?”
Tu Ran: “No, we just arrived.”
“It’s alright, we’ll handle it for you free of charge. The 800,000 will be transferred to your account, and from now on, any expenses in this place will be deducted from your account,” the guide said thoughtfully.
Tu Ran nodded. “Then lead the way.”
The guide led them through the bustling banquet hall, walking across the brightly shining, almost reflective floor, and pushed open a brown door.
“This is a shop for essential equipment for travelers entering the Border City. What’s the biggest difficulty you’ve encountered when entering the Border City?”
The guide enthusiastically introduced, answering his own question.
“It’s the language barrier! The Border City is a melting pot of hundreds of worlds with different species, and each species has its own language. It’s impossible to learn all of them, and the city doesn’t have an official language. Everyone speaks their own, so if you want to get around freely in the Border City, a language translator is a must-have.”
Before them stood rows of transparent display cases, filled with a dazzling array of goods.
The guide opened one of the glass display cabinets, taking out a small object resembling an earbud.
“This is the latest technology from the Rulers, the language translator. As long as the world you’ve entered has a contract with the Rulers, their language will be recorded in this device. Once you wear this, there’s no language you won’t understand, unless you don’t want to listen.”
Tu Ran reached out to pick one up.
The guide had already taken out a second one from the display case. “Two, the latest model, only 2,000 star coins.”
Tu Ran paused with her hand still in the air but then lowered it, picking up both earphones and handing one to Tang Ying. “Put it on the account.”
“Got it.”
The guide exchanged a few words with the attendant at the counter before leading them to the next place.
After a round of shopping, Tu Ran spent 20,000 star coins.
She bought two copies of essential items for surviving in the Ruler’s World—one for Tang Ying and one for herself.
The prices were all quite reasonable.
Her account had been set up, and there was still 780,000 star coins left in it.
Tu Ran also paid to listen to an entire overview of the Ruler’s World, including its history, the distribution of various powers, the characteristics of different species, the current situation, stories about famous people, its external strategies, and some information about other worlds that had submitted to the Ruler’s World.
She made sure to learn everything she could, and within three days, spending fifty thousand star coins, Tu Ran and Tang Ying had gained a basic understanding of the Ruler’s World.
The fifty thousand star coins were well spent—not only did they have professionals come and personally explain everything to them every day, but the costs for their stay and daily expenses in the luxurious suite were also included.
But Tu Ran knew that the real spending hadn’t started yet.
What she had learned in these three days were mostly basic things, not secrets in the Ruler’s World. Anyone could inquire about them with a little effort. However, by spending money to learn, they saved time and ensured the accuracy of the information they received.
Tu Ran had not forgotten her ultimate goal: the Order Cube.
Among all the information she had absorbed over these three days, there had been no mention of the Order Cube fragments. In fact, even in the list of nearly a thousand worlds that had been conquered and destroyed by the Ruler’s World, she hadn’t seen the name “S•Erso.”
The S•Erso star system was being deliberately concealed by the Rulers.
The sacred artifact of S•Erso had been taken by the Rulers, causing the collapse of the cosmic order. This had allowed the Ruler’s World to find and conquer so many other worlds in such a short time. Yet, none of this explosive information had leaked out.
The Rulers were also afraid that once other worlds learned about the Order Cube, they would unite against them.
They weren’t as confident as they had seemed.
As Tu Ran sat at the desk, flipping through the list, she couldn’t help but sneer at this thought.
Tang Ying, doing push-ups on the floor, heard the laugh and looked up in confusion.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Tang Ying got up from the floor, wiped the sweat from her forehead, grabbed the black cloak draped over the chair’s back, threw it over herself, concealing her face, and pulled the door open.
The guide, with a beaming smile, stood outside, standing upright. “Did you need something? Any new services?”
“Come in,” Tang Ying stepped aside to let him in.
“Alright.” The guide stepped across the threshold.
Tang Ying closed the door behind him.
In the living room, Tu Ran was already sitting on the couch, legs crossed, watching the guide as he walked toward her.
Tu Ran gestured to the couch opposite her. “Sit down, let’s talk.”
The guide quickly sat down, rubbing his hands eagerly as he looked at Tu Ran, full of expectation.
Tu Ran pushed a glass of drink in front of him. “I’ve gone through the materials you sent me these past few days. They’re quite detailed, but none of them are anything rare. What I want are… secrets that ordinary people don’t know.” She raised her eyes, with a pointed look. “Do you have those here?”
“Of course,” the guide slid the drink closer to himself but didn’t drink it. “However, about the price…”
“Price isn’t a problem.”
The guide immediately switched into professional mode, pulling out a small notebook from his pocket and quickly flipping through it. “We have two pricing methods. One is by the hour, at one hundred thousand star coins per hour. The other is by questions. Each question is divided into three levels: high, medium, and low, with prices of twenty thousand, five thousand, and one thousand star coins per question, respectively. Which one would you prefer?”
Tu Ran, sitting on the couch, absentmindedly tapped her fingers on the armrest. “By the hour.” She had many questions and felt that paying by the hour would be more cost-effective.
“Alright, I’ll call a professional over right away to answer your questions. Please wait a moment.” The guide stood up, put his notebook back in his pocket, and left the living room.
Only Tu Ran and Tang Ying remained in the living room.
Tu Ran stayed on the couch, picked up a blank notebook from the table, and quickly jotted down the questions she intended to ask. Saving time meant saving money. Although she wasn’t short on money now, she didn’t know what other expenses might arise later. Saving even a little was better than nothing.
Tang Ying, on the other hand, stood quietly by the door, looking down, lost in her thoughts.
The doorbell rang again, and Tang Ying turned to open it.
This time, it was a different attendant who entered.
He sat in the spot where the guide had been.
Tang Ying sat on the couch between the attendant and Tu Ran.
Tu Ran lifted her gaze from the notebook and looked at the attendant across from her.
He had well-proportioned features, pleasant to look at, but with no distinctive qualities. The kind of face you’d glance at once and then forget about immediately.
But Tu Ran couldn’t help but memorize the attendant’s face. Not because of anything special about the features, but simply because this face seemed to be identical to every other attendant’s face in this place. No amount of cosmetic surgery could have made them look so alike, and their movements, gestures, and voices were also exactly the same.
If this were the old Tu Ran, she would have leaned toward thinking they were robots produced on a mass production line, just with higher precision.
But now, after experiencing the diversity of cosmic species, Tu Ran thought: Hmm… Anything is possible. Maybe in some world, all the species are designed based on one template?
“Shall we begin?” The attendant was placing a timer on the table. Upon seeing Tu Ran look up, he quickly asked.
Tu Ran snapped back to attention, glanced down at the list of questions she had written on the paper, and nodded. “Let’s begin.”
The attendant adjusted his bowtie, straightened up, pressed the timer, and looked at Tu Ran.
“Where does the Green-Eyed Tribe’s leader live?”
The attendant’s eyes momentarily lost focus, staring in Tu Ran’s direction, but there was no sense of being watched.
Tu Ran patiently waited. Three minutes later, he refocused his eyes. “The leader is located in the No. 111 key protected area within the Green-Eyed Territory.”
“Where is the Red Crown Tribe’s leader now?” Tu Ran asked, twirling her pen.
Another long three minutes passed. “The leader of the Red Crown Tribe is currently in the Claude Nebula. Two months ago, he set out for the Claude Nebula. One month ago, he stopped transmitting his location. The last recorded position was at the edge of the Claude Nebula. We are currently unable to determine his exact location.”
Tu Ran crossed off that question.
Tu Ran didn’t mind not getting an answer. She hadn’t planned to assassinate the leaders of these three tribes one by one.
The first two questions were just a prelude to the third.
Her pen stopped over the third question, and she fixed her gaze on the attendant’s face. “When was the S•Erso star system destroyed?”
The attendant’s eyes glazed over, and Tu Ran waited patiently.
“1,764 years ago.”
Tu Ran uncrossed her legs and exchanged a glance with Tang Ying.
There was news about the S•Erso star system!
She suppressed her excitement, keeping her expression neutral as she continued asking, “What spoils did the Rulers seize?”
“They didn’t seize anything. S•Erso was the Rulers’ arch-nemesis, in opposition for over ten thousand years. They didn’t need anything from the S•Erso star system; they just wanted it destroyed.”
Tu Ran frowned. “Think again.” The sacred artifact of S•Erso had clearly been taken by the Rulers.
The attendant thought for another five minutes, then shook his head firmly.
This question was a dead end, and the following questions couldn’t be asked either.
Tu Ran tossed the notebook back onto the table, crossed her arms, and added a new question. “Who led the army to attack the S•Erso star?”
“The Rulers fought S•Erso for over ten thousand years. All three major races of the Ruler’s homeland sent armies to attack the S•Erso star system, and S•Erso also came to fight the Rulers,” the attendant answered earnestly.
Tu Ran emphasized, “One last time, who led the final attack that caused the destruction of the S•Erso star system?”
“The 99th leader of the Green-Eyed Tribe,” the attendant looked at Tu Ran’s expression carefully before adding, “He’s already dead. The current leader of the Green-Eyed Tribe is the 121st.”
Tu Ran took a deep breath. “Why did S•Erso and the Rulers oppose each other for over ten thousand years? Why have these records about S•Erso been hidden?”
“The Rulers have been dedicated to conquering the universe ever since they first ventured into space. The S•Erso star system was the first one they encountered.”
“At first, when the Rulers didn’t show hostility, S•Erso was very friendly, sharing much of its technology with the Rulers, who rapidly advanced because of it.”
“Later, when the Rulers considered themselves strong enough, they started coveting the vast lands and limitless technology of the S•Erso star system, and they waged war against S•Erso.”
“The cover-up is likely because the Rulers didn’t want other worlds to know about their previous weakness.”
This explanation did make some sense, but Tu Ran, who knew about the Rulers’ theft of the S•Erso sacred artifact, didn’t buy it.
The Rulers were just using this reasoning to conceal the existence of the Order Cube.
