105: Hunger? In this world, the first priority is survival!

“Sister, let's look around and gather some information.”

“Okay.”

Lin Fei and his sister Lin Mengzi explored the spacious Starship for a while, gaining a preliminary understanding of this unfamiliar environment.

Although it was a traveling vessel, it was more like a miniature city.

At least tens of thousands of people were on this Starship.

And after reaching some stations, new people would get on and off.

However, the class divisions here were very clear.

No matter what you did, you had to spend star coins.

Ordinary people could only eat low-quality food, like compressed biscuits, to stave off hunger.

Wealthy individuals, on the other hand, could enjoy gourmet meals in high-end restaurants.

Lin Fei noticed that those enticingly glossy food dishes also provided special bonuses for players like them.

They could increase attributes, or provide short-term damage boosts, or lower sanity, and so on.

As for sleeping arrangements.

If you had no money, you could only sleep in the incredibly noisy hall, filled with the sound of snoring.

Luxurious suites with private bathrooms and scenic windows required a large amount of currency.

But the advantage was that they could increase resistance to mental madness.

In short, here, a privileged lifestyle could also offer some beneficial bonuses to players.

Moreover.

Along the way, through scattered conversations and public information screens, Lin Fei learned that.

This Starship had its own strict order.

Work was the main way to acquire star coins, and any illegal or disorderly conduct would face severe punishment.

Minor offenses resulted in detention and fines, while serious ones led to direct expulsion from the Starship, cast into the cold, silent universe.

The two of them wandered around for a while.

They met in a small rest pavilion decorated with artificial plants, exchanging the information they had each gathered.

“Sister, it seems we need to find a job here first,” Lin Fei mused, stroking his chin.

He felt a bit helpless.

I, Lin Fei, came here to complete missions and become stronger.

Not to work!

You know, I'm already the Grand President behind the scenes in reality, so why do I still have to do odd jobs after coming here!

The task of earning star coins felt like a waste of his time.

But in this special instance, without star coins, he would starve.

Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

“The initial one hundred star coins are barely enough to cover our expenses for one day.”

“Yes, the food consumption here is higher than expected; I’ve already lost quite a bit.

And it seems that after intense activity, satiety drops even faster.”

Lin Mengzi nodded, her bright eyes showing little worry, “But Feifei, don't worry, there's always a way out.

Slaughter Space brought us here not to capture and eliminate us.

If other players can make money.

We can definitely find a way to earn money too.”

She was never a pessimistic person; instead, she felt a faint thrill for this novel challenge.

Rumble~

Lin Fei's stomach rumbled.

His satiety had dropped to 45 points; he was already feeling hungry.

If it dropped to 20 points, all his physical attributes, including his mental state, would be affected.

“But we need to get something to eat first.”

“Yes! The satiety icon is constantly flashing now, which really gives a sense of urgency,” Lin Mengzi said.

Following the signs, the two of them.

Arrived at the lowest-level civilian restaurant on the Starship.

The restaurant was bustling with people, and the air was filled with the complex scent of various cheap foods mixed together.

Long queues stretched from the counter all the way to the restaurant entrance.

Most of those in line, like them, were ordinary crew members or travelers dressed simply and looking a bit tired.

Lin Fei and Lin Mengzi patiently waited in line for over ten minutes before it was their turn.

“Two standard nutritional meals, two cups of purified water,” Lin Fei said to the expressionless, mechanically moving food-dispensing robot at the counter.

A red light flashed in the robot's eyes, and a cold electronic voice spoke: “That will be 20 star coins.”

After 20 star coins were deducted, two servings of food on simple alloy trays and two cups of purified water in recycled plastic cups appeared before them.

The so-called standard nutritional meal was actually a grey, unappetizing paste made from a mixture of nutrient paste, synthetic protein, and vegetable fiber, accompanied by two hard compressed biscuits.

Although it looked bad, the satiety recovery was decent.

One meal could restore 35 points of satiety.

The two found an empty corner table and sat down.

Lin Fei took a bite of the paste; the taste was indescribable, like a strange mix of dirt and plastic, and the texture was like chewing wax.

“Sister, this stuff is really uncommonly bad! Add some chili oil!”

Lin Fei poured the chili oil from the table into it, then stirred.

“It tastes much better, as expected, heavy salt and spice make food palatable.”

Lin Fei commented.

To maintain his satiety, he could only shovel it into his mouth.

After all, Lin Fei had also lived through tough times, and although his living conditions had improved significantly after the Node Tower's arrival.

Lin Fei wasn't too picky.

Lin Mengzi, on the other hand, adapted well, even playfully shaping the paste into various cute forms with her spoon, seemingly not finding it hard to swallow at all.

“Feifei, does this look like a little bunny?”

She pushed the tray towards Lin Fei; the paste had been molded into a crooked little bunny, with compressed biscuits used as its ears.

Lin Fei looked at his sister's childlike demeanor, and the sternness on his face involuntarily softened a few degrees.

A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth:

“Sister, you are as cheerful as a sunny day.”

“Hehe, life always needs a little fun.”

Lin Mengzi blinked, then ate the bunny in one bite.

“And don't even mention it, although this stuff is a bit unpalatable, it provides quite a high satiety, and after eating it, satiety visibly increases.

I feel warm all over.”

She took another sip of purified water and continued, “We need to eat three such meals every day, so we really need to figure out how to make money, otherwise, even tomorrow's food will be hard to get.”

Lin Fei nodded; he could feel that the energy within him, after coming to this world.

Seemed to be suppressed by some rule, requiring him to constantly draw nutrients from food to sustain himself.

Furthermore, in this world, hunger was an unbearable thing!

Perhaps due to the satiety system's influence, severe hunger and thirst were even more painful than breaking bones, tearing muscles, or having one's testicles crushed.

“We must find a stable way to acquire star coins as soon as possible,” Lin Fei said gravely, “otherwise, just eating and lodging will break us.”

“Okay!

After we eat, we'll go check the public information screens; there should be some job postings there, or we can ask at the reception desk near the bridge; maybe we can find some suitable tasks for us.”

Lin Mengzi's tone was light and full of drive.

“If all else fails, I'll draw a few paintings, or tell stories to people.

Like 'Dou Qi Stage Three, a Young Man Tragically Betrothed, Thirty Years East of the River, Thirty Years West of the River,' maybe I can earn a lot of star coins!” she imagined, her thoughts running wild.

Lin Fei was amused by her whimsical ideas, and the heaviness in his heart dissipated considerably.

His sister was always like this; no matter what predicament she was in, she could maintain an optimistic and positive attitude, as if nothing could truly defeat her.

Perhaps, this was his sister's talent; one could say she was good at being content and finding joy in hardship.

But it is often such people who can paint the colors of hope in despair.