Chapter 6
“Dear interstellar travelers, welcome to Coribo’s No.13 trade enclave!”
“Are you still fl.u.s.tered and running around because your mech is not strong enough? Coribo has the materials you need! Are you still worried that your battleship isn’t as advanced as others? Coribo has the technology you need! Are you still worried about the imbalance of resources? Coribo has the market you need!”
“No matter what race or civilization you come from, whether it’s organic, intelligent, materialistic, or idealistic, everything you need is here!”
…
The broadcast from the exchange center was being broadcasted throughout the entire galaxy. Li Wenyuan, who had just entered this galaxy, naturally received it as well.
“Coribo Interstellar Trading Company? From their tone, I’m afraid they’re quite powerful!” He sighed in amazement. Such an enterprise that could operate exchange centers in various parts of interstellar s.p.a.ce must be extraordinary. Otherwise, the pirates wandering everywhere would’ve taken their lives.
If he was not wrong, the Coribo Interstellar Trading Company was a business in name but was probably stronger than an ordinary interstellar civilization.
Rather, some ordinary civilizations might even be “subsidiary companies” under its command. The lifeforms of such civilizations would then be employees of this company, responsible for providing resources and manpower.
At the thought of this, Li Wenyuan began to place more importance on this voyage. Not only did he have to ensure safety, but he also had to obtain enough information.
Just as he was hesitating about whether to approach the exchange center, a communication request suddenly appeared in the s.p.a.ceship’s system.
“A message from the exchange center’s guard? Are they going to chase me away because my ship is a pirate’s s.p.a.ceship?” Thinking of this, Li Wenyuan became a little nervous. After all, he wasn’t sure if the exchange center would accept a pirate s.p.a.ceship to dock.
After hesitating for a while, he still picked up the communication. Since the other party didn’t directly fire at him, there should still be room for negotiation.
As soon as the communication was connected, a big alien with brown hair, four eyes, and an overall appearance similar to a standing “bear” was displayed on the screen.
As soon as he appeared, he immediately cursed, “Hey, hey, hey? Tony, you filthy rat, since when did you upgrade the security system of the s.p.a.ceship to such a high level? I can’t even give you an identification signal! This time, your guarantee fee will have to be doubled, no, quadrupled…”
As he cursed, the alien suddenly realized that something was wrong. His four eyes widened as he looked at the synthetic humanoids in the cabin.
“You guys are… Oh, I get it. The Red Tongues have fallen, huh? I knew they wouldn’t be able to last long. Except for Tony, who has some smarts, the others are just a motley crew…”
The bear-like alien lifted his strong claws and wiped his eyes. He looked like he was reminiscing about an old friend and was extremely sad.
This scene made Li Wenyuan hesitant as to whether he should leave immediately. If the alien was determined to avenge the pirates, the s.p.a.ceship in his hand was no match for the other party.
However, the next moment, the alien returned to his original appearance as if nothing had happened. Everything before seemed to be a show, and there was unconcealable greed in his arrogant expression.
“You’re new here, so you might not know the rules here. This pirate ship of yours is wanted by the Laborn Federation. Logically speaking, I can’t possibly let you in. However, Coribo has always followed the principle of “anyone can come and make a deal”. The Laborn Federation is no match for us at all. Therefore, as long as you pay the sufficient guarantee fee, you can enter this galaxy as you wish.”
“That being said, looking at the shabby appearance of your s.p.a.ceship, I don’t think you have anything valuable to trade. Since it’s your first time here, I’ll only charge you a 30% transaction tax as a guarantee fee. In the future, it’ll be the standard 50%.”
The alien narrowed his eyes and said in a non-threatening tone, “Otherwise, I can’t guarantee that your pirate s.p.a.ceship will be able to leave safely.”
He deliberately emphasized the word pirate s.p.a.ceship, which made Li Wenyuan silent for a while.
In the virtual world, he frowned and wanted to refute.
But he quickly compromised. He didn’t expect that such a great corporation would have such an embezzling employee, but he didn’t have a choice either. There was no benefit in angering this alien who was like a “security captain” here.
The bear-shaped alien looked at the s.p.a.ceship with satisfaction and gave it a “pa.s.sable” label.
Li Wenyuan consoled himself as he approached the s.p.a.ce station, “Even if that silver metal is very valuable, it can’t be sold for much since it’s so small. It’ll be good enough if he can get a few coins.”
As the s.p.a.ceship got closer, it attracted the attention of many.
After all, such an old antique was no longer popular in interstellar s.p.a.ce. It was quite an eye-opener to see it now.
While the pa.s.sers-by were whispering to each other, the system on the s.p.a.ceship controlled the s.p.a.ceship to dock at a s.p.a.ceport in the s.p.a.ce station.
After some of the synthetic humanoids disembarked, Li Wenyuan could see the interior of the exchange station through their vision.
Countless strange species were walking around. Some looked like huge rocks, some were born with huge wings, and some were robots like synthetic humanoids, but their eyes were filled with wisdom. There were also some whose body was a piece of sponge, soaking in a machine water tank that could move freely, communicating with other creatures through speakers.
Li Wenyuan, who was now looking at the real interstellar s.p.a.ce, was greatly shocked. He didn’t dare to imagine that there were so many intelligent races in this universe.
Then immediately, he didn’t think too much of it. The universe was vast and full of wonders. Although death was the main melody of the universe, rebirth was also one of the main bodies that could not be ignored.
While commanding the synthetic humanoids, Li Wenyuan’s attention was quickly attracted by the dazzling array of products.
“Oh, there’s a s.p.a.ce battleship for sale? Let me take a look at the price… Ten thousand energy coins for an old frigate with a ten-year warranty? Is this cheap or expensive…”
“A level 2 civilization’s technology blueprint, the miniature controllable nuclear fusion technology. The price is … Six hundred thousand energy coins? Technology is really valuable…”
“They even sell planet coordinates? Coordinates of a suspected lost planet’s coordinates have a price of 10 million energy coins?! This…”
….
After looking around, Li Wenyuan couldn’t help but sigh that he was like an aboriginal who was curious about everything in interstellar s.p.a.ce.
It was a pity that he had nothing on him now. Although he wanted these goods, he had no choice but to go to the official exchange here, the Coribo Enclave Exchange Center.
This was a huge comprehensive facility located in the center of the entire s.p.a.ce station, with tens of thousands of people bustling in it at all times. It was also the real goal of Li Wenyuan’s trip.
He would take his first step in interstellar communication here.