Docking clamps screeched like tearing iron as the Taichu Sanctuary Flagship slid out of the Azure-Cloud wormhole. Blue spatial sparks showered across the titanium pier of Nebula Hub #1.
On the bridge, Lin Mo leaned back in the captain’s chair and steadied his teacup. Through the front viewport, the gateway to the 100-Planet Astral Trade Silk Road glittered against the dark void. Ten-mile neon towers, diamond-studded docking rings, and golden billboard ships crowded every lane of traffic.
So this is interstellar civilization, Lin Mo thought, watching a three-hundred-foot hologram advertise ninety-percent-interest oxygen loans. Different sky, same loan sharks.
“Forward thrusters locked, Boss Lin,” Tie Niu boomed from the tactical console. The scarred giant rolled his shoulders inside his black security uniform. “Three escort patrols already scanned our hull. They are staring at the scorch marks from Mount Kunlun like we just crawled out of a trash compactor.”
“Let them stare,” Lin Mo said, setting his cup down. “A dent in the paint saves us from having to talk to fake polite people.”
Beside him, Su Wan tapped her jade tablet. Her brow furrowed as the local port tariff schedule downloaded onto her screen.
“Chairman Lin, the fee structure at Nebula Hub #1 is completely rigged,” Su Wan said. “The Blood-Tax Star Chamber owns the air scrubbers, the gravity tethers, and the docking meters. They charge five thousand Astral Merit Coins just to lower a gangplank.”
