“I’m glad you care about me, though there’s not much to worry about on the Solaris,” Lucas replied brightly, turning to leave. “See you later!”
“See you,” Lei Ting said. Once the blonde youth had walked away, he activated his optical terminal’s external unit and headed toward the shop bearing the sign ‘Far Light Fine Materials.’
As he approached, the man who had seemingly been watching them from the start noticed his movement. The fingers that had just resumed their work paused for a fraction of a second, though his operations remained calm and fluid.
A moment later, Lei Ting came to a halt beside him. He crossed his arms and stared at the man in silence.
For some reason, Lei Ting couldn’t detect any psychic feedback from this person that exceeded the level of an ordinary human. Yet, if his instincts were correct, this was the fellow who had overheard his conversation with Lucas from nearly twenty meters away.
That was abnormal.
The man looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties, while Lei Ting was only seventeen, his height barely reaching the man’s chest. Because of this, he had a clear view of the man’s features as he looked down to operate a translucent data pad.
The man was handsome, with the distinct features of the Orion race and a pair of eyes as blue as a shallow sea…
However, heavy dark circles hung beneath those eyes, practically screaming ‘Sudden Death Probability +1.’
Lei Ting raised an eyebrow.
In truth, he wasn't the type to be nosy or overly inquisitive. But this man had clearly been watching him and Lucas from the beginning. Lei Ting didn't consider himself someone worth such attention, so the target must have been Lucas, given his extraordinary background.
Thus, he had sent Lucas back first while he came over to investigate.
If this man truly posed a threat, the ‘Pacific’ system would react instantly. At that moment, even the smallest repair robot in this seemingly peaceful, beautiful campus would reveal its terrifying weaponized form.
The man being stared at: “...”
Lei Ting: “...”
The man, whose movements were becoming slower and slower: “...”
Lei Ting: “...”
The black-haired man silently deactivated the data pad’s display and turned to walk into the shop.
“Sir,” Lei Ting called out to him, “are you an ability user?”
“...”
the man lowered his head and sighed. He turned back slowly, sweeping a downward glance over Lei Ting. “No.”
“Then,” Lei Ting narrowed his eyes slightly as four small metallic calcium cubes drifted upward beside him, waiting for the right moment to strike a weakness, “how did you hear us talking? Don’t try to lie. ‘Pacific’ won’t care for your excuses.”
The man slowly tilted his head back, let out a weary sigh, and looked at him again.
“Because my terminal is equipped with auditory enhancement and micro-expression analysis modules, kid. I have to negotiate business, after all.”
His blue eyes, partially hidden under long bangs, met Lei Ting’s gaze. He raised a hand helplessly and tapped the external terminal unit on his right ear, which bore a corporate logo.
“Work requirement. It’s registered with ‘Pacific.’ Otherwise, I would have been hauled away already. Understand?”
…Oh. It was the invincible aura of a seasoned professional!
Lei Ting’s pupils shook. He felt himself being overwhelmed by the effortless, mature air of a member of society. “...My apologies. Sorry.” He took a step back awkwardly, and the silver-bright cubes beside him fell silent.
“It’s fine. You were just looking out for your classmate.” The man waved him off and turned back toward the shop interior.
But before he could take two steps, Lei Ting spoke up again. “Um, sir…”
The man’s back stiffened for a moment. He seemed to let out another silent sigh, but he politely turned around again. “What is it?”
“What does your shop sell?” Lei Ting asked.
Inside this relatively small shop called ‘Far Light Fine Materials,’ countless sealed jars of various sizes sat on counters and shelves that had yet to be illuminated.
These jars likely contained the shop’s merchandise, but their information hadn't been made public yet. Scanning them with an optical terminal yielded only a blank result.
The man remained silent for a moment, then gave a short, sharp tilt of his head.
His dark hair brushed against his skin as he issued a command, his gaze confirming the action simultaneously. His external terminal unit clicked twice, deploying a metallic structure like a monocle frame, within which a dim, lens-like light screen flickered to life.
Before Lei Ting could even register his surprise, a green, crosshair-like pattern lit up on the screen within the dim room.
The metallic calcium cubes floating beside him twitched slightly. They didn't transform, of course, because the man simply looked up and swept his gaze across the surroundings using that monocle-like peripheral.
A mechanical voice rang out from a stereo speaker hidden somewhere in the shop.
“Permissions confirmed: Eynam Valent, Plenipotentiary Supervisor of ‘Far Light Fine Materials’ Solaris Affairs.”
“Authorization granted. Executing command: ‘Open Product Information for Public Viewing.’”
The next moment, a wave of subtle sounds filled the air.
In the darkness of the shop, the outer walls of countless hexahedral sealed jars began to fold and compress, eventually retracting into the columnar structures supported between mechanical devices at either end.
Then, the internal lights of the jars and the shop’s main lighting system snapped on simultaneously with a heavy *thud!*
The glint of metal and the grain of wood were the most common sights within the jars. Beyond those were liquids sealed in bottles of various shapes, rolls of fur, a few floating scales, and items whose material was impossible to discern from their appearance alone… and so on.
A dazzling array of raw material specimens was revealed before Lei Ting’s eyes.
These items were all held in cage-like transparent devices fixed in the center of the jars by mechanical claws. Most of the outer jar casings were filled with liquid fillers of different colors and densities.
Naturally, some seemed to be filled with gas. There were even some fillers that released strange, shifting glows under the lights, looking like some kind of ‘plasma sparks.’
For a moment, the room was a kaleidoscope of bizarre sights. Yet everything was bound within the quiet, silver-white decor and the cold, hard sealed structures, forbidden from releasing any actual interference to the outside.
Under the bright lights, the black-haired, blue-eyed man straightened his back and gave Lei Ting a slight nod—a standard Orion greeting.
“Welcome to the Solaris branch of Far Light Fine Materials. I am the supervisor of this shop, Eynam Valent,” he said. “Of course, I say ‘supervisor,’ but I’m actually just a commander without an army. So, for now, I also serve as the sole salesperson, the sole shopping guide, and the sole inventory manager… all while receiving only one salary.”
It was clear he was extremely dissatisfied with doing four jobs for the price of one. But he had no other choice.
The next second, he dropped his business-elite posture and wandered lazily behind the checkout counter—which was actually quite unnecessary—slumping into a chair with a look of utter irritation.
This overwhelming aura of a slacking corporate drone hit Lei Ting so hard he nearly recoiled.
The Orion race was an evolved species that had undergone dozens, if not hundreds, of collective genetic adjustments, with a maximum lifespan of 230 years. How on earth did this man manage to project the aura of a two-hundred-year-old while looking like he was in his twenties?
“...Right, okay.” Lei Ting didn't know if he should offer some comfort. “Uh… Manager Valent…”
“Supervisor.” Eynam Valent lay in his chair, listlessly fanning himself with his data pad. “I finally managed to get promoted. Please respect my title.”
Lei Ting: “...”
Lei Ting almost laughed, but he held it in.
“Alright, Supervisor Valent,” Lei Ting said. “It’s like this: if I want to order some metallic materials later, can I go directly through your channel?”
Hearing this, Valent forced himself to pull back his blatant exhaustion and regained a shred of professional etiquette. He sat up and said, “You can. Want to add me as a contact?”
Lei Ting nodded. Both of their external terminal units flashed with a blue light. Contact invitations were sent and automatically accepted.
The ID of the new contact was 【Clocking Out on Time】. The name made Lei Ting’s lips twitch again. He then added a note—‘Materials Manager - Supervisor Eynam Valent’—and closed his screen with a serious expression.
“...【Everest Infinite Communication】?” Valent seemed a bit taken aback by Lei Ting’s ID. “That’s quite bold… I remember those extreme survival enthusiasts love using the names of Earth’s death zones as IDs…”
“No, no. I just happen to like the Ancient Earth section of Pan-Human History,” Lei Ting said, waving his hands hurriedly.
This comment earned him an extra look from Valent. “Not bad, kid. Not many people like reading history these days.”
“You don’t look that old yourself, so why do you talk like an old man…” Lei Ting’s mouth twitched.
Unbelievable. Why did everyone in this world love calling him ‘kid’?
He hadn't met a single person who called him that in the past seventeen years, and now two had appeared in just a few days. Was this some recent linguistic trend among people from prosperous planets?
Granted, given the current average physical standards of the Orion race, Lei Ting—as an Alpha—being only a bit over 1.7 meters at seventeen was a sign of childhood malnutrition… but he really didn't look like some ‘kid’!!
Speaking of which, he wondered what price that fake space pirate would pay. When Lei Ting had risked his life to land a blow on the man even after he was safe, it had become a personal vendetta. Since it was personal, the focus was no longer on compensation, but rather… he wanted to find an opportunity to kill an enemy he had crossed.
Lei Ting didn't believe that someone capable of such cruelty toward students would be magnanimous enough to drop the idea of revenge after receiving such a counterattack.
He was on the Solaris now, so he was reasonably safe. But the day he had to leave this giant ship would likely be the day the storm hit.
Supervisor Valent didn't say much more about his age. After a few more words, Lei Ting took his leave. He still wanted to walk around other areas to avoid making mistakes in the future due to unfamiliarity with the environment.
As he left, he didn't realize that the supervisor hadn't questioned him for a single moment. In an academy where points could do anything but everything required points, the supervisor never doubted whether Lei Ting, a newcomer, could actually afford to ‘order metallic materials.’
The black-haired, blue-eyed man didn't stand up to see his first customer out. He simply watched the boy’s retreating back, and his smile slowly faded.
“Traces of long-term mental interference…” he murmured. “...What’s going on?”
***
