Chapter 980 Toad
"Brother w.a.n.g is a legendary figure. When we reach the Star Alliance, please take care of me."
"Let"s take care of each other."
The people around them talked about insignificant matters. They were young and arrogant. In fact, no one cared much about w.a.n.g Zhong. Was a legend who had disappeared for two years still a legend?
As they spoke, the transmission array was now ready. Dazzling light shone from the circular transmission array, which was stuffed with black crystals that contained shocking amounts of energy. When the transmission array activated these crystals, they shone brightly and transmitted their energy to the array. They were connected, forming dense lines that covered the entire edge of the transmission array.
"Summoned creatures like Soul Guards cannot pa.s.s through the long distances to the star territories. They will cause a backlash of energy." The staff member briefed them for the last time. "Do not think that you will be the lucky one. During the first transmission, someone had brought their Soul Guards, causing a jam in the transmission array. As a result, that person could not go over. You will lose your opportunity to migrate because of this and will have to wait for the next migration. — Okay. Once you are prepared, please step into the transmission array."
Everyone who was standing here had settled their affairs with the Patriarch Society. Everything that was supposed to be dealt with had already been done. Everyone took a large step into the transmission array. w.a.n.g Zhong stood inside with a calm expression on his face.
"Respected Heavenly Soul Great Teacher, we wish you good luck. Establish a name for the human civilization!"
All the staff members saluted in a neat fas.h.i.+on. The transmission array shone brightly, and the star stones connected to the array released powerful energy, forming a white pillar of light. The small accessories on some of their bodies were instantly broken into pieces when they came into contact with the pillar of light. Everyone felt that their bodies were being swept along by the pillar of light, as if they were becoming pure and transparent, and even their souls could be seen.
Closely after, the pillar of light soared into the sky. A ma.s.sive ripple appeared in the sky and broke through the void. The pillar of light swept everyone along. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared completely.
…
This was a very long journey. To the other Heavenly Souls, this was too foreign and mysterious. They felt as if they were walking in a ma.s.sive pa.s.sageway of light. Outside the pa.s.sageway was a boundless void. The speed of transmission was very fast, and countless stars flashed past outside the pa.s.sageway. The stars rotating beneath their feet were like small ponds. The speed of transmission continued to accelerate. Later on, even with the vision of these Heavenly Soul Experts, they could not see the void outside the pa.s.sageway. Everything flashed past at the speed of light.
Even with this extreme speed, they traveled for a full five or six days. Then, the speed of the pa.s.sageway gradually decreased, and a magnificent sight appeared in the universe before them.
It was a ma.s.sive pillar of light. Terrifying milky-white energy flowed down from a place high above, spreading throughout the entire universe. It was as if this was the center of the universe. They could feel the vast and boundless energy even though the transmission pa.s.sageway.
The Heavenly River flowed from the sky and spread throughout. It was connected to two continents, one on top of the other. —No, they did not look like continents.
When they got closer, everyone could see the general appearance of the "continent". It was not made out of rock. It was square-shaped with a flat man-made surface. It was a platform that had been constructed by machines and did not seem like a natural object!
"The divine territory!" The young Heavenly Souls, who had been in the transmission pathway for five or six days, revealed their great yearning and excitement. Although they had heard various unfavorable news before coming, that many people from the previous batches had become slaves, they were all heavenly favored to have advanced to the Heavenly Soul Stage before the age of 40. It was hard not to feel arrogant.
Even if others were not successful, they might be successful! They did not have to create a great name for themselves. As long as they could gain a firm foothold and survive in the divine territory, they would be the forerunners and outstanding figures who helped the human civilization develop this territory… Those who did not have dreams were no different from salted fis.h.!.+
Amidst their uneasiness and excitement, the magnificent scenery of the Heavenly River expanded in front of their eyes as they grew closer.
Boom!
Light and shadow fluctuated. Their bodies that felt extremely light in the pathway suddenly grew heavy as their feet landed on the ground. Before w.a.n.g Zhong had the chance to look around, he felt a ma.s.sive and terrifying gravity from beneath his feet, as if a terrifying mountain had been placed on his back. Even with w.a.n.g Zhong"s strong body, he felt that his legs were extremely heavy.
Although he had known that this place had a high gravity environment before coming, he thought that it would not be much different from the high gravity environment he had fought Solomon in two years ago. However, he was mistaken. The gravity here was much greater than the gravity there, and the ground was much more solid. The material density here was simply unimaginably high. It was no wonder that the Patriarch Society had ordered customized clothes before they came here. If they were to wear ordinary clothes from the Holy City, the gravity here would tear them apart. It would be inconvenient to wear tattered clothes.
w.a.n.g Zhong took a deep breath. It felt as if there was no problem with breathing normally, but the spiritual influence here simply could not be absorbed as it was too thick. The spiritual influence was as heavy as a block of metal. More terrifying was that even activating his Soul Power became extremely difficult. His Soul Sea swelled as the thick spiritual energy was like another kind of "gravity" that affected the Soul Sea and Soul Power, making them feel extremely heavy. He could not even activate them.
This…
Even though everyone was mentally prepared, they were very shocked by this harsh environment. It was no wonder that only Heavenly Souls had the qualifications to migrate here. If a Heroic Soul came here, the moment they stepped on the ground, they would have been squashed into a biscuit by the gravity.
w.a.n.g Zhong rapidly adjusted his condition. With his divine cells, even if he did not use his Soul Power, he could quickly adjust to this place just using his body. A few weaker Heavenly Souls behind him, especially those with weak bodies, evidently faced more difficulty in adjusting. At that moment, even taking a step forward was very strenuous, and their faces turned red. The excitement and yearning they had felt in the transmission pathway had already vanished into thin air.
w.a.n.g Zhong observed his surroundings. This seemed like a transmission area. In the vast surroundings, there were empty transmission arrays of different sizes several hundred meters apart. This place was like a receiving platform. Occasionally, pillars of light would descend from the sky and charge towards the transmission arrays. After a spark of energy, several dozen strange races would appear from within.
This transmission area was surrounded by tall machinery and walls. Races of all shapes and colors were busying about. Only half of them were humanoid creatures, and the rest completely lacked human features. For example, there were large and strange insects, will-o"-the-wisps that looked like spirits, as well as races with obvious animal characteristics, all traveling about in the transmission area. Some seemed like staff members who were helping to carry luggage. Some were guarding the transmission arrays and continuously mounting valuable star stones into the transmission arrays, while others were removing the star stones that had been used up. But most of the people here were travelers from various races who walked away from the transmission platforms in large groups. They spoke in a language that none of the humans understood.
Meanwhile, the loud sound of an announcement continued to play in the area, reverberating throughout the surroundings. Of course, it was in a language that they did not understand… The entire area was bustling.
However, this crowd evidently had nothing to do with these 16 humans. There was no beautiful tour guide like they had imagined, or anyone receiving them at all. Instead, a black insect that was only one meter tall and had ma.s.sive pincers was howling continuously at them beside the transmission array. It sounded rather impatient. It waved its large pincers, as if they were blocking the transmission array. It was chasing everyone to leave quickly, its round, black eyes showing hate that no one had expected to see.
d.a.m.n… Even insects could hate humans?
The 16 of them looked at one another helplessly. They were high above the ma.s.ses in the Holy City as Heavenly Souls who were respected by everyone. They were the elites among the elites in the human civilization, but they were given the cold shoulder by an insect.
They were not familiar with this place and could not even speak the language. Everyone quickly walked out of the transmission array.
The language of the Star Alliance was a great problem that the human immigrants had not been able to resolve at all over the past two years. Translation itself was not difficult, but they encountered difficulties with the materials that the translation devices from the Holy City were made out from. They could not be transmitted over to the distant star territories. Even if they were transmitted over, they would be crushed into pieces by the powerful gravity and spiritual influence in this world. However, they could still tap on the experiences of previous immigrants. According to the basic information from the Patriarch Society, there were many small shops in the star territory that sold a refined product called "Khris Candy". Once they ate this candy, they would resolve the language barrier.
Everyone stepped out of the transmission platform and looked around to find the small shops in the star territory. w.a.n.g Zhong immediately saw an obese creature squatting on the ground with its thick legs. Its entire body was covered in fat, and its stomach was almost touching the ground. It even wore a pair of sungla.s.ses, raised high by its round eyes. It was extremely comical.
"Gu la gu la! Gu la gu la!" It had an arrogant expression on its face and was shouting at w.a.n.g Zhong and the rest.
It was a…
"A toad with sungla.s.ses?" Wales Karon almost laughed out loud.
Although there were many strange races in the Holy City, they were all fundamentally human-like; even the taurens they had seen in the Mizobudapi World had human characteristics. They had even tolerated the insect that had waved its pincers. However, as for this toad, other than the pair of sungla.s.ses it was wearing, there was nothing human about it. It even looked arrogant… What kind of arrogance was this? Could you imagine how it felt like when a two-meter-tall toad with a pair of sungla.s.ses was staring at you with an arrogant expression?
"That should be a star territory vendor."
Everyone walked over while laughing. They saw the toad stretching out its fat "hand" at them. Its four fingers were connected by a thick web.
One of the Heavenly Souls thought that it wanted to shake hands with them and smiled as he stretched out his hand. However, a look of anger appeared on the toad"s face, and it withdrew its hand. It fiercely said, "Gu la gu la! Gu la gu la!"
Everyone looked at one another helplessly. Meanwhile, w.a.n.g Zhong took out four Star Coins, and the toad"s expression became more friendly as it took the Star Coins. Then, it took out a round candy that was as large as a longan from the stall beside it and pa.s.sed it to w.a.n.g Zhong.
It looked like the "Khris Candy" that could translate all the languages in the Star Alliance.
w.a.n.g Zhong did not hesitate and ate the candy. The moment he tossed the candy into his mouth, a cooling sensation that was similar to peppermint rose from his throat to his head.
"Gu la gu la!" The toad nodded at w.a.n.g Zhong.
Its voice still sounded strange, but mysteriously, it was as if their souls communicated. He understood what he was saying. "Smart human!"
"How is it?" Wales and the rest nervously looked at w.a.n.g Zhong.
"It is the Khris Candy. Go ahead and buy it." w.a.n.g Zhong smiled.
Four Star Coins… Everyone knew how valuable these were in the Holy City. This was enough to buy a few airs.h.i.+ps in the Holy City, but they were only enough to buy one candy here.
They had no choice. They had to buy it no matter how expensive it was.
Everyone tolerated their distress and ate the translation candy. Then, the sounds in the surroundings became much clearer.
"To the staff at the 28th transmission area, please take note. The star transmission from Krypton Star is about to arrive. Please prepare to receive them."
"To the travelers heading towards the t.i.tan star territories, please take note. To the travelers heading towards the t.i.tan star territories, please take note. t.i.tan transmission gate S18 is about to open. All travelers, please head towards the 128th transmission area to prepare for transmission."
The loud announcement continued to reverberate throughout the transmission area, and everyone felt that this was novel and interesting. Many alien races brought their families together with them and were dressed in a relaxed manner, as if they were bringing their family on a holiday.
w.a.n.g Zhong could not help but feel wistful. "They are able to transmit ma.s.sive amounts of energy over such long distances with pa.s.sageways that our civilization cannot build. However, it is the norm here…"
"Is no one coming to receive us?" Wales was more concerned about this. Humans had not established an operations base. The Patriarch Society was only in charge of sending people over and did not make any other arrangements. When they stood in this ma.s.sive transmission area and looked at the alien races of all shapes and sizes, they did not know what to do or where to go. This was completely different from what they had imagined.
"Are you new immigrants? Can"t find your way?" The toad beside them glanced at them through the corner of its eye. "Heh heh, do you want me to point you in a direction?"
Everyone looked at it with great antic.i.p.ation, but it simply stretched out its hand and displayed its four fat fingers.
"Isn"t that too much?" Wales furrowed his eyebrows. It was fine for them to spend four Star Coins buying the translation candy, but they had to pay for information as well?
The rest were not willing to part with their money. They were all from top families and had some understanding of the Star Coins. Even though the Patriarch Society had only given each person 50 coins, the higher-ups in the Holy City gritted their teeth to obtain these. Humans simply could not produce star coins and relied on exchanging rare materials with other civilizations. They were cheated in those transactions, and these Star Coins were extremely expensive to get. Furthermore, they knew nothing about this place. How could they spend all their money just after arriving here?
Meanwhile, w.a.n.g Zhong simply pa.s.sed four Star Coins to the toad.
The toad happily weighed the Star Coins in its hand. "It seems like you are not from an advanced civilization. You must be a level-4 civilization who just joined the Star Alliance, right? Do you see the hall over there? Go to the migrant counter and spend some money to get a seal and gain your status. If not, once you step out of this transmission area, you will be captured within minutes."
"Then?" Wales asked.
The toad glanced at him and laughed coldly. "What else do you want? Looking at your wallets, I can tell that you are extremely poor! Let me teach you, find a job to feed yourselves. Don"t starve in a few days!"
Heavenly Soul experts were unlike ordinary people, who needed to eat three meals a day. Typically, they would not feel too hungry even if they had not eaten for a few days. Most importantly, Heavenly Soul experts could absorb the spiritual influence in the world, which could replenish the nutrients that their bodies needed to a large extent. During the several days that they spent in the transmission pa.s.sageway, they only needed to drink a bit of water and did not feel hungry. However, after arriving here, the exhaustion they felt from the ma.s.sive gravity was obvious. Furthermore, the spiritual energy in this world was difficult to absorb. Even w.a.n.g Zhong felt his stomach rumbling, let alone the weaker people like Wales and the rest.
A job… Frankly speaking, all those who were able to advance to the Heavenly Soul Stage in their twenties were all the treasures of their families. A job? That did not exist! Among the 16 people here, other than Lao w.a.n.g, who had become a taste tester for a few days, none of them had ever worked properly…
Everyone looked at one another helplessly. w.a.n.g Zhong coughed lightly. "Let"s go to the migration counter and go through the procedures."
"Hey." The toad shouted loudly. "You are not bad and rather obedient. I will give you this piece of advice for free. Don"t act as if you are in your civilization."
It flashed a profound smile. "You will suffer."
…
The migration counter was easy to find, and the procedures were very easy. The Patriarch Society had prepared the names and resources of every single migrant here. The staff that was in charge of settling affairs was a pretty elf with sharp ears. She was rather warm. However, when she retrieved all the information on them from her archives, her pretty and welcoming expression became lazy and dull.
They were humans from the Earth, a level-4 civilization? They looked similar to the Heavenly Race, and she had thought that an advanced civilization had arrived. This… She could not even be enthusiastic even if she wanted to.
"30 Star Coins." The pretty elven girl lazily stretched out her hand.
"So expensive?" Wales Karon was shocked. They had to pay 30 Star Coins just to establish their status? The money they had received from the Patriarch Society was barely enough.
"Is it too expensive for you? Don"t regret when you are captured as a slave outside. Next." The elven girl was too lazy to even look at him.
Where was her warmth?
What about the civilization embrace?
Everyone instantly thought about the elites who had been sent in the last two batches. When they heard the Patriarch Society say that many of them had become slaves, they thought that it was unthinkable. After all, humans were official members of the Star Alliance. Were they unable to even defend their status? It looked like this was the source of the problem.
"I"ll pay!"
He handed over the money and placed his hand in an intricate instrument. Dense bright spots shot out from the instrument. In the short span of two to three seconds, a three-dimensional outline of the Earth appeared on the back of his hand like a tattoo. It looked crystalline and realistic. This was also the symbol that the humans had registered when they joined the Star Alliance as a level-4 civilization. Compared to the Holy Land, the Earth was a better representation of the origins of the human civilization.
They now had their status, but when they squeezed their wallet, there were only about a dozen Star Coins left. Everyone"s expressions were extremely awkward. The excitement and superiority they had felt when they set off from the Holy City had sunk to the bottom.