211: Chapter 212 Jiang Chen: Hanging Ticket, Hanging it Outside the Spaceship

"What kind of VIP treatment is this?"

Hans glared, his face, frozen to a pale blue, appearing somewhat distorted beneath the visor of his spacesuit, and his voice came through the communicator with an undisguised tremor.

Jiang Chen picked at his ear, completely ignoring his angry roar.

He crouched on the exterior maintenance platform of the luan niao starship, watching the engineering robots tying Hans and his group to the landing gear struts, their movements extremely practiced as they tied a dead knot with the last carbon nanotube cable.

"Stop yelling, or your throat will freeze and shatter."

Jiang Chen patted Hans's spacesuit; it felt like he was tapping a piece of hard plastic. "This is called an 'interstellar hanging ticket,' get it? It's a limited edition! How many people want to hang here but don't even have the qualifications!"

"Hanging ticket?"

Hans's body was stiff as iron; even with the support of his exoskeleton, he was so terrified by the horrifying vacuum of space that his legs were cramping.

He looked back at the bottomless, maddeningly silent dark deep space, and then glanced at the engine beneath him, which was slowly starting up and emitting an eerie, deep blue glow; a wave of despair washed over him.

"You call this passenger service?!"

Hans roared in despair, his screams filling the communication channel. "This is abuse! This is an atrocity that seriously violates the Interstellar Human Rights Convention! I want to lodge a complaint! I want to see your captain!"

"I am the captain."

Jiang Chen casually tightened the knot symbolizing the "premium VIP seat," his tone as flat as if he were discussing tonight's weather.

"Besides, I don't provide meals here, nor do I reimburse personal accident insurance."

"If you can't handle the space radiation, or if you get scraped by a passing meteor, remember not to vomit on the hull."

"This paint is expensive; if you ruin it, you'll be fined."

Hans widened his eyes, as if he had heard something unbelievable. "A fine?! We paid one trillion US dollars! Is this how you people from the Dragon Kingdom treat your major clients?!"

"The money is for buying a ticket, not for buying your life."

Jiang Chen stood up, dusted off his hands, and turned to walk into the airlock.

"Just behave yourself."

"What a wide field of view this place has, right? Hanging here, not only can you enjoy the perfect galactic scenery, but you can also clean the hull of our starship at any time."

"It's not easy to find someone with such a 'interstellar sightseeing plus service' skill set."

Hans was so angry that he struggled wildly.

Unfortunately, those carbon nanotube cables were heavy-duty items capable of pulling even stars; there was no way his small frame could break free.

He could only swing wildly at an altitude of 30,000 meters, like a dried salted fish hanging on a utility pole.

"Bang!" The airlock closed, and the pressure sealed shut.

Through the thick transparent window, Hans saw that damn guy Jiang Chen sitting in the spacious and bright command room, drinking iced cola while giving him a "goodbye" gesture.

"This devil! This damn capitalist from the Dragon Kingdom!"

Hans cursed desperately over the communication channel. "God! Save me! I don't want to die here! I just want to go home! Can I just give back all those damn chip blueprints?!"

However, the only thing that greeted him was the dead, silent void.

"Buzz—" At that very moment.

The luan niao starship's astonishingly massive main thruster suddenly emitted a dull, low roar.

That was the terrifying energy brought by antimatter annihilation.

"Target: Centaurus."

"Initiating curvature space, countdown: five, four, three..."

Listening to the countdown broadcast coming from inside the cabin, Hans completely gave up struggling.

He stared blankly as that layer of blue light film rapidly unfurled around the hull, and the surrounding universe, which had originally been twinkling with starlight, suddenly began to undergo violent distortion.

Those stars began to elongate and twist. The originally circular stars turned into long lines of light, as if someone were crazily tearing apart the entire starry sky in front of him.

"What... what is happening?" Hans looked at the scene before him, his mind blank.

"This is curvature travel."

Jiang Chen's voice still came through his earpiece leisurely via the communication channel. "Don't be nervous, it's just running a little bit faster. It's much gentler than that 'physical transcendence' from earlier."

"Oh, by the way, Mr. Hans."

"As the first VIP user to experience the 'hanging ticket' program."

"I want to remind you of something."

"In the next second, we might cross several light-years. Although you are outside, remember to close your eyes."

"After all..." Jiang Chen paused on the other end, his tone filled with an extremely malicious playfulness:

"In case any passing aliens see you like this."

"They might think our Dragon Kingdom is performing some strange interstellar sacrificial ritual."

"..." Hans was beyond the energy to retort.

He felt as if his body had been thrown into a blender, being pulled, compressed, and kneaded.

Is this the... experience that one trillion US dollars brings? Whoever wants this kind of excitement can have it!

Just as Hans was preparing to embrace his fate of becoming an "interstellar meat patty."

"Click." The spaceship entered a stable curvature cruise state.

That blue light film blocked all turbulence outside; outside was the bizarre and kaleidoscopic starlight, while inside was a calm and peaceful harbor.

Hans finally felt the force that was about to tear him apart disappear. He tremblingly opened his eyes.

Looking at the seemingly stationary starry sky before him, looking at the battleship hull just a short distance away that was still emitting a deep blue glow, he finally understood one thing.

What chip sanctions? What technology blockades?

In front of a man who would just cross light-years on a whim, treat warships like ornaments, and treat agents like kites, those pathetic assets of the Eagle Nation... were simply a joke!

"We are going to lose..." Hans lay on the cold landing gear strut, tears mixed with the cold sweat inside his spacesuit, sliding down silently. "We have lost completely."

He watched the starlight receding at high speed.

This one trillion US dollars did not buy technology.

Instead... it bought the complete collapse of an era.

He curled his body up, burying his head into the armor on his chest, no longer daring to look at that deep and alluring universe.

Because he was afraid that if he looked, he would be unable to help but offer his own humble, yet hopeless... faith, before that great "Father God."

Jiang Chen sat in the warm command room, watching the "hanging ticket" shivering outside, and shook his head helplessly.

"Still too fragile."

"Already collapsed?"

"This is only the beginning."

He glanced at Academician Chen Shuyin beside him. "Old Chen, how many days until we arrive?"

"Barring any accidents, twenty-seven days."

"Alright."

Jiang Chen put his legs up on the console; Pikachu was sleeping soundly on his lap, the man and the mouse appearing incredibly harmonious.

"Then let's prepare."

"Since this journey is so boring."

"Then, let's play a few rounds of Fight the Landlord in this space."

"That's much better than letting him blow in the wind out there alone, right?"

Jiang Chen's smile, under the deep blue light, appeared both gentle and... absurd.