Star Odyssey

Millions City had not been not built on a planet, and it was actually a lone city that floated through the universe with hot stars as well as countless satellites revolving around it. From afar, it seemed like a four-sided mainland, and it grew bigger the closer they got.

The city’s overall area was about equal to ten Zenyu Stars spread out. It looked like a colossal creature creeping through space.

Countless spacecraft were queued up, waiting to enter Millions City. To proceed, all of the vessels had to stop at a satellite near Millions City, after which the people would have to take a Millions City spacecraft to enter the city itself. Lu Yin’s group was no exception; they had to first pay the entrance fee before boarding the Millions City spacecraft, and they also authenticated their identities and assets while they boarded the spacecraft.

Authenticating one’s wealth was very simple. One simply had to report it on their own before verifying it with someone from Millions City. Reporting an amount lower than what the visitor actually possessed would cause them to receive a lower authentication status, which would only place the visitor at a disadvantage. Thus, Millions City didn’t care about such things.

Lu Yin didn’t have to sit around in the public transport spacecraft for very long, but while he sat there, he used his domain to observe the situation around himself.

“Your Highness, we can actually contact the masters of Millions City and enter straight away,” Yan Yan mentioned. Many disciples from the great powers have their own means to directly enter Millions City, as they enjoy the same elite status no matter where they go. After all, the universe was not fair. Were Enlighters supposed to take the same public spacecraft when they arrived? Millions City was not run by fools.

Lu Yin laughed. “It’s fine, this is just an experience. This is the Outerverse’s wealthiest city after all.”

Using his domain, Lu Yin watched as others authenticated their statuses, and it turned out to be a simple procedure. As for the authentication itself, it was just a tattoo imprinted on the wrist of the visitor. Once they left the territory of Millions City, the tattoo would vanish, and it would only reappear whenever they returned. If they wanted to modify the tattoo, they would have to re-authenticate themselves.

It was Lu Yin’s turn soon, and an adorable girl stepped up to authenticate his wealth and status.

Lu Yin smiled gently. “50,000 star essence.”

The girl was stumped, and she paused for a long moment. “I’m sorry, how much did you say?” She felt that she must have heard wrong. 50,000 star essence? That was impossible. Someone with that much wealth would be a distinguished guest, and they would be able to enter through special means. Those people did not sit on public transports.

Lu Yin repeated the number again and then passed the girl his cosmic ring along with a drop of his blood.

The girl examined the ring before respectfully returning it back to Lu Yin. She then solemnly retrieved a certain seal that looked as though it was something that was seldom used. “Sir, your authenticated status is of the Qiong mark.”

“Is there some difference with this mark?” Lu Yin asked.

The girl became rather nervous, and she looked at Lu Yin with fervent eyes as she gave him a charming smile. “Our Millions City’s authenticated statuses are split into five grades. From lowest to highest, there is white, blue, gold, Qiong, and Millions City. You have been given the second highest grade, and guests with the Qiong mark can directly enter the City masters’ residence, as well as any public area in Millions City. You will not be obstructed in such places.”

She then very gently placed the seal against Lu Yin’s wrist, though her finger lingered on Lu Yin’s palm for a while, with clear hints of seduction.

Lu Yin smiled, but he did not say anything further, which left the girl very disappointed. She authenticated a blue mark for Yan Yan and Phantom Sting before leaving, though not without looking back a few times.

Not long after, Lu Yin was finally able to look down upon Millions City from up high, and he gasped in admiration.

This city had a simple and unadorned style, though many of its buildings felt like they were technologically advanced. The entire city was an amalgamation of modern and ancient eras, and there were many landmark buildings.

Lu Yin saw the Mavis Bank branch, which was very obvious, and that wealthy feeling could not be concealed.

When he entered Millions City, he saw countless stores and broad streets that were filled with people. The vehicles moving about had been manufactured with levitation technology, and they resembled flying saucers as they shuttled to and fro through the sky with their passengers.

Lu Yin stopped one and boarded it with Yan Yan and Phantom Sting. He then immediately chose their destination, which was the nearest hotel.

“The Mavis Bank is too overbearing. They actually won’t even allow people to withdraw money! And based on what? They’re just a bank!” Lu Yin’s trio ate inside the hotel while they listened to the conversations taking place around them.

“It’s all because of that cheapskate, Qiong Xi'er! She’s united all of Millions City’s merchants to suppress the outflow of star crystals and star essence. You can spend money, but they won’t give you any back, which has caused everything to be suppressed even further. Prices have been lowered by almost half compared to what the baseline was two years ago.”

“What does that slut want?”

“It’s simple—Millions City was sealed off, so the flow of resources in has been reduced. Thus, their purchasing power has greatly increased, and therefore, the price of all goods has dropped significantly. Qiong Xi'er instigated all of the major corporations to stock up on money without any restraint since they still have purchasing power. Then, they’ll wait to release their star crystals and similar resources, which will then once again increase the price of those goods. By repeating this multiple times, she can make a profit there.”

“Qiong Xi'er has reportedly already formed an agreement with the various corporations, and she draws a 1% commission from the profits. That woman is sucking our blood out.”

“That slut. Because of her, we’re earning much less.”

…

As he listened to the conversations taking place all around him, Lu Yin was astonished. Such blatant economic manipulation was allowed to take place? It was not easy to forcefully create a price differential according to what these other visitors to Millions City were discussing, as this involved certain financial patterns, market analysis, and other abstruse skills. However, it was certain that these people were earning less, and their former profit margins had flowed into the coffers of the commercial corporations that had been sealed within Millions City. This meant that those corporations were earning a significant amount more, and 1% of all that belonged to this Qiong Xi'er.

Just how much money did that 1% amount to? The value of all the daily transactions in Millions City was very exaggerated, and even if it was just a 1% commission, a single day’s worth of commissions was probably more than Lu Yin’s entire wealth. Qiong Xi'er: Lu Yin made a point to remember this name, which wasn’t quite difficult as everyone around them was talking about her.

At that moment, Lu Yin’s gadget rang: Tyrannical Weave’s communication network had been restored.

Wang Wen’s voice was heard. “Chesspiece Bro, you should be at Millions City by now.”

“How did you know that I came to Millions City?” Lu Yin asked.

“Ha! How can I not know something that you ordinary people think of? Deng Pu showed up, and he’ll definitely head to Millions City to sell off True Insight, so how could you not have made a move?” Wang Wen was pleased with himself.

Lu Yin smiled. “So, what are you calling for me for?”

“Nothing much. I just wanted to remind you to beware of a certain woman,” Wang Wen said.

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. “Who?”

“Qiong Xi'er.”

Lu Yin arched a brow, as this was the name that he had constantly been hearing ever since he had first arrived in Millions City. And now, apparently even Wang Wen knew about this woman. “You know her?”

Wang Wen sniggered. “In the entire Outerverse, there’s only two other people who are worthy of my attention since they can barely qualify to compare to me in intelligence: Wei Rong and Qiong Xi'er. I’m in the east, Wei Rong is in the center, and Qiong Xi'er is in the west. How can I put this? Nobody knows what that woman is thinking. She might suddenly trap you, and in the end, you might not even know how you died.”

“She’s that smart?” Lu Yin was taken aback.

Wang Wen leisurely replied, “Just be careful when you meet her. That woman has the ability to instantly deduce how a situation will develop from some minor details. A single gesture can allow her to deduce thousands of possibilities, and she’s very troublesome to deal with. I don’t want you to be finished before I can leave Ironblood Weave, so be careful.”

Lu Yin then repeated what he had heard about Qiong Xi'er from the complaining merchants to Wang Wen.

Wang Wen laughed. “That’s her style, though what you just mentioned is only a small path. Nobody even knows who she’s truly plotting against. This woman is just embarrassing those people, or it might be a bad joke for her. Don’t grab her attention. Right, there’s one more point to mention: this woman is a little strange.”

Wang Wen then abruptly disconnected.

Lu Yin rubbed his forehead, as he was most afraid of encountering such intelligent people.

He was not afraid of powerful opponents; rather, he was more wary of the smart ones. As long as there was not an overwhelming difference in strength, brains were usually harder to deal with than raw muscle.

He had to gain a deep understanding of Millions City, which meant that it was time to visit the Enlighter that the Nalan family supported, and she seemed to be called Villa Mistress Lian.

***

Fragrance Pavilion was Millions City’s largest brothel, and it also happened to be one of the largest money sinks in all of Millions City. It took up a large amount of land, and it had large numbers of clients all year round. The girls who belonged to the brothel were proficient at playing various musical instruments, adept at playing all sorts of characters, were of all colors and types, and had legendary outfits.

Unlike many other brothels, Fragrance Pavilion had a refined design, and it was separated into many individual courtyards with numerous small bridges that crossed over the running water and wound about the grounds.

Any man who visited Millions City dreamed of being able to freely walk about Fragrance Pavilion. The expenses in this brothel were high, and even if one could afford to enter, they still weren’t likely to be able to freely spend their money in the establishment.

Fragrance Pavilion looked like a sprawling garden filled with multiple courtyards.

As soon as Millions City reconnected with the rest of the Outerverse, countless people had flooded into the city, and a large number of visitors had also entered Fragrance Pavilion.

One particular courtyard within Fragrance Pavilion was filled with laughter, joyous sounds, and music. At the moment, more than ten beautiful ladies were being chased around by a thin, blindfolded person, and the girls occasionally let out excited shrieks.

A more adorable looking girl suddenly entered the courtyard, although she did not seem to find the situation before her strange. “Young Master, a few important characters who have entered the city.”

That figure chasing the girls around suddenly dashed over to hug the adorable newcomer, and he ran his hands all over her body, causing the girl’s face to flush red. “Young- Young Master, do you want to see?”

That person let out a strange laugh, and hearing their voice would allow one to realize that this person was actually a girl, though her tone was gender neutral. “Read out which important characters have arrived to Young Master.”

The girl did her best to push the person’s hands groping her away to prevent any improper touching while quickly saying, “Shamrock Enterprises’ Western Chairman Mr. Hoffman, Aurora Enterprises’ Blaze Engineer, San Dios Councilor Moore, the Dark Phoenix family’s Senior Sall Phoenix and Taylor Phoenix, Armament Weave’s Wei family’s Wei Rong, and the Great Eastern Alliance Leader Lu Yin. Ah, right, there are also many spacecraft from Endless Borders waiting outside the weave.”

“Wei Rong? That treacherous fellow is also here?” The person pulled down the cloth blindfolding them to reveal an exquisitely beautiful face. She was a girl with short hair, and even though she was wearing male clothing, she also had lipstick on, which gave her a peculiar beauty.

This person was clearly a woman, but she liked to tease girls and took pleasure in pursuing them. This was none other than Millions City’s Qiong Xi'er.

“Young- Young Master, could you please release me?” The adorable girl’s face had flushed a deep red, as the most sensitive parts of her body were still being touched by Qiong Xi'er. It was very uncomfortable, but also strangely comfortable, making it a contradictory feeling.

Qiong Xi'er laughed and kissed the girl. “Nans, you’re developing nicely under Young Master’s servitude. In the past, that old man even wanted to marry you out, but let me tell you that that’s impossible. You’ll be Young Master’s girl for your entire life, hehe.”

Nana lowered her head, looking extremely embarrassed.

Qiong Xi'er waved her hand and dismissed the girls from Fragrance Pavilion. She then activated the screen on her gadget to look over the report listing all the names that Nana had just shared with her, along with an introduction to each person.

Millions City was naturally not able to obtain so much information in such a short period of time; instead, all of this information had been bought from Amethyst Exchange. Amethyst Exchange considered Millions City to be one of its more distinguished clients, as they were incredibly wealthy.