Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
The capital was actually just a general term; it was more accurate to call it a capital ring. That was because twenty-three habitable planets, as well as seven militarized planets, were all located in the Venal galaxy and made up what was known as the capital.
Earth was merely the only habitable planet in the Milky Way, while the Venal galaxy had a total of fifty-one planets, with twenty-nine of them being habitable. It was simply God’s gift to mankind.
Every single planet had its set of coordinates. Venal-17 was where the Alliance Congress, Alliance Parliament, and Supreme Court; in fact, most government agencies were based on this planet.
Venal-20 was the Alliance’s commercial hub, filled with pretty much the headquarters of all the heavyweight banks, securities firms, and financial companies.
Venal-36 was the main camp of the Alliance army, where the general staff center of operations, naval headquarters, equipment depot, and other military organizations were based.
It was said that mankind originated from the Venal galaxy many centuries ago. It was historically the place where the first humans had learned to stand on their two feet, use tools, and created their respective language.
Due to how long ago this was, there was no way to prove the validity of the theory, but no one could deny the prosperity of the Venal galaxy.
Xia Fei had yet to enter the capital ring, but he was already awestruck at the view that greeted him. Countless spaceships were on the other side of the porthole, and even further was a sea of battleships.
The Venal galaxy was under stringent ship restriction. Every foreign warship was not allowed into the capital ring, and these ships of varying sizes could only wait to be led into their berth at the edge of this galaxy, while those onboard the spaceships were only permitted entry through the Star Transit Company.
Somewhere far away from where Vampire was, a massive defensive fleet was slowly floating in the inky black space. A normal, combined fleet would comprise a single capital ship as well as twelve battleships, while this super fleet, which was in charge of protecting the capital, had two large carriers, twelve small carriers, and twelve Dreadnoughts. The battleships and ships smaller than that were all like ants, uncountable in the vast backdrop of darkness.
It was rumored that there eight such super fleets were stationed near the capital, which could very well be seen as a super defense force.
Xia Fei’s eyes did not stay on the fleet for long. He was anxiously waiting to enter the capital ring. The closer he got to Avril’s location, the more excited he felt.
‘I only hope nothing bad happened to her,’ thought Xia Fei as he lit a cigarette.
The Star Transit pilot led Vampire toward a planet beyond the galaxy especially used for docking ships. After paying the berthing fee, Xia Fei hurried to Star Transit’s visitor center and prepared to disembark in the capital ring.
After some miscellaneous procedure, Xia Fei was finally able to board a high-speed passenger spacecraft as he wanted, heading straight for his first destination: Venal-15. Before dropping by to see Avril, Xia Fei needed to visit the Adjudicator Union’s headquarters and deliver Qin Mang’s letter to someone named Thuram, then proceed to Venal-21 for the patent registration of his energy-shield booster, and finally go to Venal-24 to see Avril.
Xia Fei was very nervous about this seventy-two hours window he had, but it was a good thing that the passenger spacecraft of Star Transit was fairly efficient, shuttling people between the planets twenty-four seven, non-stop.
There would be a passenger spacecraft going off every five minutes, spending no more than an hour from planet to another, making it as convenient as riding a train, except the speed they were going between planets was much faster.
Just like the other planets in the galaxy, Venal-15 had its own coordinates as well, and this was where the headquarters of Adjudicator Union and Monastic Order was located. The headquarters of other warrior and mercenary organizations of varying sizes were also based there, and it could be said that this was the main camp of many independent forces in the Alliance, where tens of thousands of elite warriors gathered.
Walking off from the spaceport, Xia Fei could feel the difference in Venal-15 from the local conditions; the wide streets had elite warriors everywhere, each of them dressed in different organization uniforms. Shiny emblems shone on their chests as these men walked around, looking all heroic and upright.
Xia Fei got into a taxi to make his way the Adjudicator’s headquarters. The old taxi driver was very talkative, and upon hearing Xia Fei’s destination, he began praising the organization to high heavens, professing his admiration toward it and its contributions.
Xia Fei had plenty of things in his mind, so he did not really care for casual chatter, vaguely engaging in the conversation as they traveled.
The hovercar entered an underground tunnel and began speeding off at top speed. About thirty minutes later, the hovercar emerged from the tunnel and, in front of Xia Fei was a huge metropolis.
This metropolis was constructed on an island, with dozens of cross-sea highways connecting it from every direction. The clear, blue sea with its rolling waves made for a breathtaking view.
Opening the car door, Xia Fei stepped out and took a deep breath of the salty sea breeze, instantly feeling his senses come alive. The headquarters of the Adjudicator Union built here was rather delightful.
The headquarters of the Union was open to the public; as long as anyone was willing to pay the required fee of a million star coins for a tour. There were also additional surcharges if anyone wanted to gain entry into the various departments within.
“Even the headquarters could be turned into a tourist attraction for a fee; the commercialization of the Adjudicator Union has been bred in the bones to such a degree!” Phantom said excitedly beside Xia Fei. This was also his first time entering the Pan-Human Alliance capital ring, and his excitement was no less compared to Xia Fei’s.
Xia Fei smiled. “I, instead, find this to be very normal. How many of the warriors in the Union will be fighting for scraps if they don’t engage in commerce? Besides, doing it this way can create a sense of endearment toward the citizens, letting the public feel that the Union is approachable. The leaders of it are sure shrewd.”
Phantom did not agree with Xia Fei’s assessment, gravely saying, “Don’t forget that we are warriors. How could warriors have money earning at its forefront? We should be devoting ourselves to cultivation.”
Xia Fei flashed the official ID the Union had given him and easily gained access into the headquarters.
The city where the headquarters was located had a very simple layout. Not only was the road narrow and cramped, even the buildings along it looked as if they had been constructed a long time ago, all of various heights, made of red ceramic tiles and whitestone bricks, similar to Rome on Earth.
What made it all the more remarkable was the existence of bars, shops, nightclubs, and casinos on the main street. The vibrant nightlife here was apparent, and the elite Adjudicators stationed at the headquarters were sure never to feel lonely.
The city was huge, so the taxi took seven or eight turns in over an hour before they arrived at Xia Fei’s destination: Adjudicator’s headquarters, weapon and equipment department.
Xia Fei had the taxi wait for him as he still had another place to go after he was done here. Time was of the essence, so he needed to seize every minute.
From its outer appearance, the weapon and equipment department was made up of several old castles, its white sandstone walls had long become mottled, with green creepers climbing all along the outerwalls. The place looked like it had borne silent witness to the many lives passing by.
There were four guards outside the entrance, the badges from the Union pinned on their chests. The highest among them was a silver 4-star, while the lowest was silver 2-star.
“The headquarters sure is different. A silver-rank Adjudicator in Endaro Star Region can be considered the Union’s pillar and is responsible for very important tasks, yet they can only be guards here,” Phantom gleefully gloated.
Xia Fei agreed with his observation. Using silver-rank Adjudicator as guards was indeed a little too extravagant. As an apprentice Adjudicator, he would not even qualify as a help here in the headquarters.
The moment he presented his official ID and showed the letter he was requested to give to Thuram, the guard took out a phone. A curly-haired, young man bearing a silver 5-star badge soon came walking out from within the castle.
“Hello, I am the personal secretary of department head Thuram. Are you Xia Fei?” The curly-haired young man extended his hand and smiled in greeting at Xia Fei.
“Department head?” Xia Fei was somewhat puzzled, shaking the person’s hand. “Yes, I am Xia Fei. Old man Qin Mang asked me to pass this letter to department head Thuram.”
The curly-haired man was slightly taken aback, his eyes revealing some degree of shock by how casual Xia Fei had referred to Qin Mang as ‘old man’. He was quite flabbergasted by it, and his gaze on Xia Fei turned respectful.
“Please follow me.”
What greeted his eyes upon entering the place was a large garden, with four castles to his left and right. Right in the middle was a five-story quaint building. This one at the center was the largest out of all the structures within, and the curly-haired young man brought Xia Fei directly to it.
The old castle was dimly lit, and several portraits of men from different eras hung on the walls. From the description text, Xia Fei learned that these were all elite Adjudicators who had once made great contributions to the Union, and each of them had since passed.
Taking the stairs to the fifth floor and going left to reach Thuram’s office, the curly-haired, young man first got Xia Fei to wait outside as he went in alone to report.
Several minutes later, Xia Fei was invited into the office, and he saw a man, who looked to be in his seventies, propping his chin on his two hands, his eyes staring right at Xia Fei. This man was wearing the Adjudicator Union’s uniform, a transparent badge on his chest.
‘Diamond-rank Adjudicator!’ Xia Fei exclaimed in his heart. The transparent badge represented the highest rank in the Union. It seemed that this elderly man was Thuram. To think Qin Mang’s friend was actually a diamond-rank Adjudicator; Xia Fei was quite surprised at this realization, though he did not reveal any of these emotions outwardly and still maintained his calm and placid countenance.
Though he was getting on in years, Thuram’s two eyes were still as sharp as an eagle’s. His piercing gaze shot forth as a cold killing intent was directed at Xia Fei.
“Killing intent!” Xia Fei was completely baffled on why this calm and collected department head would show such a killing intent toward him.
Only
His finger hovered over his spatial ring. No matter who he was up against, no matter their goal, that icy-cold killing intent had already stirred Xia Fei’s vigilance. Thuram might be very powerful, but Xia Fei was not one to give up without a fight. As long as this other person made any peculiar move, Celestial Moon would immediately be unsheathed without any hesitation.
This strange atmosphere between the two men, who were seven or eight meters away from each other, continued for some time. Thuram wielded his gaze as a weapon, which he unleashed on Xia Fei, an unseen challenge unfolded soundlessly. That curly-haired, young man at the side sighed helplessly, shaking his head as he thought to himself, ‘Oh, dear. Looks like the department head’s old habit is rearing its ugly head again.”
Xia Fei, who had seen plenty of death in that year he was on Heritage Planet, had experienced all kinds of killing aura. Though Thuram’s killing intent was strong, it was still within realms that Xia Fei could bear; both his heart and mind were unfazed by this assault.
Thuram was slightly amazed, and the more Xia Fei defied him strongly, the more it roused his long, silent warrior’s heart.
“Hmph!” Thuram coldly harrumphed, his figure suddenly moving.
Leaping up high like a hawk striking from the skies, Thuram pounced right at Xia Fei.
Conversely, Xia Fei made his move right where he stood.
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