At 11:45 PM on the fifth night since the opening of the Dark-Rift Solar Highways, Twin-Star ETC Toll Booth #53 gleamed warmly at the end of Express Lane #1.
Inside the six-by-six glass booth sat Shadow-King Mo Ying.
He had been forced to put on a neat navy-blue Dry-Well Highway Toll Collector jacket over his pink duckie thermal undershirt, and an electronic barcode scanner hung by a lanyard around his neck. Every time a civilian grain-freighter glided through the gate, Mo Ying had to press the green button on his desk with a deadpan face while the automated machine went BEEP! Thank you for driving Dry-Well Highways!
Right outside the booth window, Elder Cold-Fang and Elder Blood-Dagger came strolling down the sidewalk after finishing their evening shift at Sunny Rest-Stop #53-A.
Both Rank 8 Elders looked ten years younger than they had five days ago. Their sunken cheeks had filled out with a healthy, rosy glow, their neon-yellow reflective vests were scrubbed spotless, and each of them was happily picking his teeth with a bamboo toothpick while rubbing a full, round belly.
“Ah, two bowls of Old Guo’s clear-broth beef noodles with extra tendon, followed by a cup of hot goji-berry tea!” Elder Cold-Fang sighed blissfully, stretching his arms without a single pop in his spine. “Brother Blood-Dagger, my Yin-Yang Breeze Qi is flowing so smoothly tonight I feel like I could punch through an asteroid!”
