Chapter 291: A Penny To Stifle Bone Growth
Translator: Pluto Editor: Vermillion
Even though Lin Sanjiu’s current speed and stamina were at an incredible level, she didn’t think she could travel 10,000 kilometers on foot. Although she could move fast enough to leave afterimages when she was fighting in Kisaragi Station, she was mainly creating sprint-like bursts with her leg muscles. If she had to run for long distances and keep up her pace, she couldn’t run faster than 300 km/h.
Using 300 km/h as her average speed, she would need more than 30 hours to reach the Free District where Seagral Square was located. Even though traveling at this speed was faster than most vehicles and seemed slightly feasible, the journey between the Cyber District and the Free District wasn’t just flat land. If Lin Sanjiu included the time that she needed for eating, resting, crossing the ocean, climbing through mountainous terrains, among others, she reckoned that she would need at least one to two months to cover this 10,000 km.
That didn’t even include the possible unpredictable mishaps that may happen along the way. If she was unlucky, in extreme cases, she might need to go to another world before she could even reach the Free District.
“Damn it. Why was I thrown to a place so far away…” she grumbled as she looked at the map again, feeling unresigned. The two locations were not only far, but from the topological color codes, the terrains between them were also very complex. Setting aside the other issues, Lin Sanjiu had no idea how she could cross that stretch of sea which was the size of a corner of the Pacific Ocean.
Feeling frustrated because she didn’t know how she could travel to the Free District, she didn’t notice that her large wings and herself had totally blocked the view of the stall selling maps. The stall owner shot a glance at her every few seconds. When he noticed another “country bumpkin” posthuman walking past his stall without noticing, he finally couldn’t help calling out to her, “Hey, miss!”
“Huh?” Lin Sanjiu turned back to see a short, full-bearded stall owner who looked like a dwarf.
“Are you facing some problems?” the stall owner was certain apt at doing business, “Maybe, I could help you.”
“Um, I want to go to the Free District.” Lin Sanjiu smiled at him, feeling a little fretful. “But, it’s too far.”
“Are you planning to walk there?” the stall owner laughed. “I guess you are a newcomer. Look, let me explain things to you.”
As he spoke, he took out another map, gesturing over the map and showing it to Lin Sanjiu, “This map shows the transport system and the territorial boundaries of Red Nautilus. Can you see this yellow mark? That is Airship Registration Point. Taking an airship is fast and safe. As long as you have the money, you can board any of these airships. You just have to transit two to three times and you’ll reach the Free District.”
“Oh, so there’s just a place!” Lin Sanjiu was shocked. She immediately wanted to take the map from him but she noticed the stall owner smiling just as she reached for it. Then, she sighed, “How much is this?”
“Since you bought something from me just now, well, for a transport map and a territorial map, I will charge you one medium crystal.”
That was obvious a non-local price, but Lin Sanjiu didn’t really mind. She gave it a quick thought and finally handed the man a medium crystal.
The stall owner looked at her with a brimming smile and said, “Thank you! By the way, the prices of the airship tickets are fixed. You will see the prices outside the Airship Registration Point. Don’t get cheated.”
Lin Sanjiu looked at him with a somewhat helpless expression. She took the maps from him but she did not leave immediately. “Mister, from the gaps between the buildings, I saw a large area covered with many huge black shadows. What are those?”
“Those?” the stall owner was a little surprised, “You don’t know?”
Lin Sanjiu shook her head.
“Well, those are all Red Nautiluses! This world derived its name from those creatures.”
Lin Sanjiu was startled by that revelation and gawked. She knew that this apocalyptic world had been invaded by a foreign organism known as Red Nautilus, but she didn’t expect that they were so huge. Furthermore, she didn’t expect that they were still here. “You me-mean there are still people fighting them now?”
“The battle ended long ago. Those are just the Nautilus’ empty shells,” the stall owner waved his arm dismissively, feeling slightly pleased.
Lin Sanjiu found it very hard to imagine how humans could win the battle against such huge opponents. She was caught up in that thought for a few seconds, following which, she quickly asked, “Oh yeah, which faction governs this Cyber District? Mister, have you heard of the Puppeteer before?”
“Oh! Yes.” the short man suddenly seemed hesitant. He eyed her and mumbled, “But, I don’t know much. Alright, don’t try to find out too much. You will eventually learn about these things.”
Lin Sanjiu couldn’t help feeling suspicious after the stall owner shooed her away with a few words.
However, just as he mentioned, she would eventually find out the things she needed to know about Red Nautilus. Once she meets Reno and Rena, she would naturally get her answers. Her priority right now was to head to the Airship Registration Point.
Dragging her two large wings behind her, she opened her map. Sometimes, she would look at the street names and sometimes she would try to get directions. She got her bearings very quickly and found out that the nearest Airship Registration Point was half a day’s journey on foot.
As she had nothing else to do, Lin Sanjiu headed directly to the Airship Registration Point after getting the right directions. On her way there, she saw many novel, interesting and amusing sights but she didn’t face any particular trouble. Both posthumans who had arrived at the Twelve Worlds Centrum through their efforts and native residents maintained a sort of comfortable distance and decorum between each other. Such a phenomenon was built on the foundation that it was possible for anyone here to have very powerful combative abilities.
Lin Sanjiu did not know this, but a woman like herself, who obviously appeared foreign from the first glance, on contrary, was shown more respect. The reason was simple: anyone who could enter the Twelve Worlds Centrum, despite the natural disadvantages they faced, wasn’t simple people to deal with.
She reached the Airship Registration Point fairly quickly.
She heard that this particular registration point wasn’t even an exceptional large boarding terminal. However, its entrance and its waiting area were comparable to an airport departure terminal on Earth. The silver metallic building had the shape of an egg. From the dark-colored glass windows of the building, Lin Sanjiu could only see some lights but she couldn’t make out its interior.
Lin Sanjiu walked one round around the building and finally spotted a sign at the entrance hall some distance away. The word “Ticket office” was written in various languages. She immediately felt a little excited and walked briskly to the ticket office. Like many other posthumans, she looked up at the constantly changing digital signboard and tried to find the flight number and the price to her target destination. There weren’t any direct flights to the Free District. She had to either buy a flight journey with transfers or she had to make the transfers herself. Lin Sanjiu looked at the board for a while and suddenly felt an oncoming headache.
When she added the costs, the cheapest ticket price to the Free District cost 24 large crystal and 8 medium crystals.
All the money she had on her was only 2 medium crystals and 2 small crystals.
