The last wave of trade ships before winter landed on the B11 star. Hundreds of thousands of miners came out of every cave and village on this planet and headed to the central rift. The merchants from Chiyan Star set up protective shields at the top of the canyon that spans thousands of miles. The changing color and light are like a safe haven, which can effectively avoid sandstorms and electromagnetic interference on the B11 star.
The foremen held a thick list in their hands, which registered the energy units accumulated by the miners. Those who called their names came over to get a receipt, and with it, they could enter the market and trade with the merchants.
Opal trotted down the rift, took his list, and checked the data above.
"Hey! This is not right!" Opal shouted angrily: "I have at least 150,000 energy units, why do I deduct so many!"
Several other foremen came over and said loudly: "What's the problem! Hey! It's you, over there!"
Opal stepped back half a step, the foreman looked at him coldly, Opal was busy collecting orders, and a small-scale riot was quelled like this, Opal suppressed his anger in his heart, turned around and entered the market.
"What happened?" Rickett stood in an inconspicuous place on the edge of the market, the cap of the cloak covering his head and face, but this handsome man was still tall and outstanding, and many miners looked at him in surprise.
Opal said: "They deducted 30,000 energy units from me under the pretext of ore precision!"
Rickett nodded and walked into the market side by side with him. There were people crowding everywhere. Opal's anger had not yet completely subsided, and he thought over and over in his heart, why? This year is even more deducted than last year... 150,000 energy units may be enough to supply Lecter's spaceship, so inexplicably so much has been deducted.
"Opal." Rickett said suddenly.
Opal: "?"
"Forbearance, to fight and fight, you need to get stronger," Recht said.
Opal was silent, and after a long time he nodded and sighed.
In the bustling market, the miners were stubbornly bargaining with the merchants, fighting for a few energy units. The merchants have the best fabrics, ornaments and some ornamental artificial gemstones and food utensils from the Chiyan galaxy.
These are cheap, low-end wholesale items on the commerce planet. However, after passing through the starry sky gate, on this mineral planet with nothing, it is easy enough to sell the sky-high price and earn the money that the miners made after working hard for a year with their blood, sweat and life.
"You can't miss a penny!" the businessman yelled loudly: "Look, this is a botanical flower wine from Green Mercury!"
He rattled the bottle and said angrily, "This bottle alone is worth 700 energy units! Even the bottle with wine only sells you 1000! What else? This is the wine that the imperial nobles drink!"
A group of businessmen around looked mockingly at the group of uninformed miners, and Locke asked a companion, "Do you want to drink? Buy a bottle and try it."
"Drink this in winter, and you can smell the plant aroma of green mercury!" the merchant said: "There is a label on it, look at it, a bottle of 1,000, and a penny can't be less."
"That's just the cheapest grass beer in the Green Water system," Recht said. "Drink a bottle in the bar for three credits. They change the bottle and put a label printed on it."
Opal asked: "What is the credit point?"
Rickett replied: "One credit point a thousand years ago is equal to one energy unit. Since the collapse of the Interstellar Trade Union Energy Community, the energy unit has become more valuable than ever, and in recent years it has been raised to about six credit points for one energy unit. The price of a unit of energy."
Opal said: "Being cheated, I'm going to remind them."
"Locke! I'll tell you!" Opal squeezed through the crowd, but Locke and his partner each bought a few bottles of wine and asked, "Opal, would you like some?"
Opal said helplessly: "Oh, nothing, I just want to tell you that this wine tastes good."
"I heard that this year's pass and ticket have risen to 800,000 energy units." Locke said, "How much have you saved?"
Opal scratched his head and waved his hand: "I won't buy a ferry ticket."
Lecter had gone somewhere, and Opal walked slowly along the market. The winter here was very cold. He wanted to buy an energy battery to ensure that he would not freeze, and to buy some 3D electronic magazines to use. through the long winter. Maybe some of the video games - Predator II and Tomb Exploration of Ancient Civilizations, which are said to be very old, but very fun and very expensive.
A game console requires 8,000 energy points, and a game chip requires 2,000 each.
"This is the latest release this year, Interstellar Love Cultivation!" When the boss saw the business, he hurriedly said loudly: "Buy one, the dew point, and you will be satisfied!"
Opal turned the chip introduction sheet over and over again. When it was the coldest time, he would freeze if he took a step outside. Rickett could only move back from the cave and live with him.
But Lecter knew a lot of things, and it was good to talk around the fireplace in the cold winter. This money could be saved. After thinking for a long time, Opal decided not to buy it.
"Anya!" Opal called to a girl from a distance.
The girl named Anya turned her head with a smile, with a bright smile on her face, like a flower blooming in a dark canyon.
"What are you buying?" Opal said.
Anya said, "This gem... it's beautiful, but it costs 400 energy points."
Opal looked down for a while. There were many girls gathered in front of the stall. They were all daughters of miners. They walked a long way every day to fetch water, carry water, knead flour for the foreman, make bread, and some of them went down with the men. Mine work.
"It's really beautiful." Opal thought that Rector had a bracelet, and his bracelet was beautiful.
"Opal." The dark-skinned girl teased, "Are you going to give it to Anya?"
Opal chose for a while, and the girls joked one after another. Opal blushed a little at the teasing, and said unnaturally: "We... uh, nothing."
Anya burst into laughter, like a shy kitten, and said, "Don't bully him, he doesn't know anything."
About love, Opal still knows a little bit. He also had the vague feelings of his youth, but he didn't have any object. Mother and father have him because of love, which is the rule for the reproduction of life in the universe. The old people have said that when the time is up, life will blossom and bear fruit, and it will reproduce offspring. Maybe he will have such a day.
In fact, there are many families of miners who have lived on this planet from generation to generation. They have been developing mines here a hundred years ago, and their descendants are also miners.
Opal picked one and planned to give it to Rector in the future, because he will leave sooner or later, so let's keep it as a souvenir.
He suddenly felt that it wasn't good to just buy this one, so he took the initiative to say, "I'll give you one too, Anya, what do you like?"
Anya smiled and said, "Thank you then."
Opal and Anya bought a metal bracelet, Opal put it away, wandered around the market for a while, there were more and more people, Anya didn't know where she went, and Rickett couldn't find it, Opal was going to buy Supplies needed for the winter - a little wine, something with sugar, flour, meat and vitamin pills, energy batteries.
He stood in front of the gem booth for a while, silently counting how much it would cost.
"Don't buy this." Rickett came back at some unknown time.
Opal said, "What?"
"These aren't gems, they're cheap synthetics that are mass-produced," Recht said.
Opal felt a sudden shock. He just bought a bracelet by himself. Rector probably wouldn't want it, so he smiled and said, "Are you drinking?"
"I don't drink here, don't waste it," Recht said.
Opal said, "What about electronic holographic games?"
Rickett looked at where he was pointing, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Don't do this. Ask him if he has a textbook on the basics of the universe."
Opal went over to ask, and the boss said, "Yes, this, do you want to read? Do you want to watch movies? There are projectors here, a few chips, all from the Republic... and Ledgerson's concert collection."
"Don't do that." Rickett's voice suddenly sounded in Opal's mind: "Just a textbook."
Opal was shocked, and Rector's voice echoed in his head again, saying, "Don't look back, do as I say."
Opal said: "Just a textbook."
The boss said: "Not just for sale, who do you want me to sell the projector to? It's all a package. A total of 18,000 energy points."
Opal shouted: "Eighteen thousand?!"
The boss said, "No bargaining." After speaking, he nonchalantly went to introduce to another miner: "This is the dance of the prince of the opera! The 19035 album! Do you want to buy one? But she is prettier than a woman."
Opal turned around.
Recht said: "Buy it, don't want the projector or the opera. Ask him if he has a newspaper? The latest one, the one from the Crimson Star."
Opal frowned and asked, "Why? The drama is a set, don't do it for nothing."
Rickett insisted: "No."
Opal went back and bought everything that was bundled with the textbook, shouting, "Oman!"
Aman is not far away, Opal said: "Lend this for you to see, there is a movie in it."
Opal gave the film and opera to Oman, he left the textbook chip, Recht took it, looked down and said, "Second-hand, a bit old, but barely usable. Go back and put it in the E7 projector. use."
Opal asked, "Why not Ledgerson's opera?"
Rickett said casually: "Ledgerson is not a good thing, it is meaningless, it will attract you to indulge in his singing, and you will know later. Please come with me now, I need your help."
"Why are you able to speak in my head? This is... what kind of power?"
"Don't ask too much, you'll know later..."
Opal and Lecter stood not far from a booth, and Lecter instructed: "I asked the price in the past, he has two small dark matter batteries."
Opal went over and asked, "Boss, how do you sell this?"
The boss said: "Don't touch it, each 100,000 energy unit contains the equivalent of 150,000 dark matter energy."
Recht's voice sounded in Opal's head: "Have a bargain, ask him if he can sell it for two 80,000 yuan."
Opal: "… "
"Are two eighty thousand for sale?" Opal said, "It's not worth that much."
The boss said: "What a joke! There is a total of 300,000 energy points here! If you don't buy it, get out!"
"This battery is very unstable," Recht said.
"This battery is very unstable," Opal said.
The boss said: "It can be used no matter how unstable it is, do you understand?"
Rickett's voice transmission said, "I bought it from a pirate, am I right?"
Opal repeated Rector's words once, and the boss's expression changed, and Opal followed Rector's instructions and said, "Dark matter batteries are regulated, and these two are old, let me guess... It should have been removed from a battleship by interstellar pirates."
The boss said: "But he also charged me 120,000 for these two batteries!"
Opal repeated Lecter's words and said, "You can't take it back to Planet Chiyan. Look at the manufacturer's batch number. This should be the warship that sank in the Helix Nebula not long ago. I heard that there is an investigation into the explosion of the spacecraft. If you return to the Scarlet Flame Galaxy, you will be arrested, so why bother?"
The boss looked at Opal suspiciously, and Opal said again: "Is it sold to you by a pirate named Yiluo?"
The boss's face turned blue immediately, and he said in a trembling voice, "How do you know?"
Opal licked his lips, but did not speak. Rickett seemed to be thinking, Opal said: "Well, two hundred thousand sold to me at the original price you bought back, you have nothing to do with this matter. I I believe you don't want to get into unnecessary trouble either."
The boss was silent for a moment, then Opal said, "You will be in danger when you go back with this battery."
The boss asked: "What do you want dark matter energy to do?"
Opal said: "Don't worry about it, think about it, I'll be back later."
Opal turned to leave, and the boss hurriedly said, "Don't think about it, I'll sell you."
Opal took a deep breath, and Recht's voice said, "Hold it carefully, it's easy to explode, it's a dangerous item."
Opal bought two batteries with 100,000 energy points, handed them over to Lecter, and asked, "Who is Yiluo? Do you know him?"
"I don't know, I just peeked into his mind and saw the name," Recht said.
Opal asked: "Can you know what other people are thinking?"
Rector: "Only in certain circumstances."
Opal: "What's the situation?"
Rickett: "I can feel it directly when I'm especially scared, nervous, happy, anxious, and emotionally strong. He was very troubled because he couldn't take these two batteries away, so he could only shoot it on the B11 star. It was the wrong deal, but lucky for us."
Opal suddenly remembered something and said, "Damn!"
Rector stared at him, and Opal said, "I've spent all my money on batteries, we haven't got anything ready for the winter!"
Rickett dismissed it, and Opal said, "What should I do?"
Rickett said, "Go back and pack your things and live in the cave."
"But what we don't eat will starve to death," Opal said.
Rickett said: "There will be a way, trust me."
Opal figured it out, and Rickett felt very reliable. Since he said that, he should have come up with a solution, so he went back to pack his things. That night, a giant merchant ship lifted off, illuminating the dark winter night on the mine star. Just like the day, with the foreman and merchants to leave this barren land and go to other planets for winter.
"I heard that Old Crow and his son bought a ticket for 800,000 energy units." The miners said, "I don't see how he usually saves so much!"
Locke said: "Where can 800,000 go? It's not about immigrating to another planet and continuing to mine and work, don't think about it."
"Don't buy it now." Several miners commented: "It will be more expensive in a few years, hey, Opal!"
Opal packed a bag and came out of the house, packed his own supplies, hugged the small robot E7, greeted the workers, and said, "I'm going to live in a cave in the west for a few days."
Locke said: "You are crazy! You will be frozen to death!"
Opal said, "No, it's too cold and I'll be back."
Locke said: "Don't go! It's ready for winter, let me see, you haven't bought anything to eat? How do you want to spend it?"
Opal walked backwards, laughing as he walked: "I have a way, believe me." Then he pointed at Locke, took E7 out of the village, and disappeared on the horizon.
The wind picked up, and Opal walked forward with difficulty against the sandstorm. The crimson rock bed set off a hurricane that blocked his sight. He shouted loudly: "Teacher! Teacher!"
Opal's voice was subtle and inaudible, but Rector heard it. He stretched out his hand and hugged Opal into a cave.
Opal coughed loudly, two simple beds were laid in the cave, the two dark energy battery casings were disassembled, and the energy had been used up.
"Run out?" Opal asked in amazement.
Rickett nodded and said, "How many days are there enough food and water?"
"Less than ten days," said Opal.
Rickett pondered for a moment and asked, "How many days will the sandstorm pass?"
"It should be sunny tomorrow," Opal said.
"Rest, I promise you won't starve or freeze to death this winter," Recht said.
Opal sat down beside the bed in the cave, and Recht inserted the chip into the projector on E7's head.
"You can read now," Rector said.
E7 projected a light screen, and Opal began to teach himself the primary content of the Interstellar Union School.
This process took five full days. After Opal finished reading the textbook, the chip was a bit old, and his mother taught him some basic mathematics, mechanics, and chemistry. The amount of information was so vast that he could barely remember anything after reading it.
Five days later, Recht changed a chip and said: "This is some information records and knowledge of Star Knight, I need you to swear to me, never mention to anyone what you know during this period of time, and my name , my identity."
Opal said: "I promise."
Rector did not speak any more and turned on E7.
This time, the projector did not unfold the light screen, but the chip scattered two rays of light in the light of the projection device and began to scan the pupil of the opal.
Beep beeping, countless information and memories were injected into his mind, cosmic star map, knowledge of atoms and molecules, energy thrusters, the navigation principle of spaceships, the creation of black holes and the explosion of stars... Thousands of information orders He was dizzy.
After an unknown amount of time, Opal stumbled out, leaning on the rock and vomiting loudly. After accepting so much at once, he was forced to inject it into his memory, which caused a strong sense of rejection in his brain.
There was a tinkling sound, and Rickett was hammering a piece of steel, which was an abandoned mine support he had picked up from nowhere.
"Take a break when you're tired," Recht said.
Opal said: "Is the above true?"
Rickett nodded, and Opal said, "Can I use this knowledge to repair my mother's spaceship?"
Rickett said: "The content in it is just the basic principles. I suggest you to hire a technician in the future, and you can learn from it. The world of knowledge has no boundaries, and it is impossible for a person to understand everything. Makes you more specialized in your own path.”
Opal recalled the principle of the spaceship, and there were indeed too many things he didn't understand, but the computer inside had auxiliary maintenance functions, and according to what he had seen before, the mother's spaceship was only a problem with the large atomic furnace, plus her star. Picture... She doesn't have a navigation system! Has the star map been stolen? Or is it broken, that's why it's stranded on this planet
Opal thought of the star map that Rector gave him, can it be used
He got up immediately, and Rickett said, "Sit down, there will be a chance later."
Opal walked around in the cave, too excited to describe in words, the sky was already dark, and the raging wind was still whistling outside the cave. He wanted to know more, and sat back to put on his glasses.
Rickett knocked on the iron plate without raising his head, and said, "Forced information indoctrination is not effective. You lack a process of assimilation and avoid chewing too much. You'd better spend more time thinking now."
Opal said: "Thank you, teacher."
Rector smiled and nodded, and Opal asked again, "What are you doing?"
"Building weapons," Recht said.
Opal watched his movements. Rector, shirtless, unscrewed the high-temperature flame on the atomic furnace. The scorching heat made him sweat, and the muscles covered with sweat had a kind of majestic beauty.
"The core of the weapon... Where did you get it from?" Opal looked at the complex machine in surprise. Was it all hand-made by Rector? Not too possible
Was it taken from his ship? But where is his spaceship? Even the life-saving pods were gone... Recalling the first time I met Rickett, there was only a bracelet on him and nothing else.
Rickett said: "You will know later."
Opal has become accustomed to this answer, so he stopped asking questions, lying on the blanket and thinking. Too much knowledge these days brought an indescribable shock to his mind, and his soul seemed to have the deepest tremor. .
It was as if a person finally opened his eyes and saw the vast world and the boundless universe.