With Shadow-King Mo Ying standing guard at the Twin-Star ETC Toll Booths like an iron-fisted traffic dog and ten thousand yellow-vested former assassins happily squeegeeing train windshields along the way, all ten Light-Speed Solar Highways were wide open.
WOOOOO—CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA!
One hundred gleaming Spirit-Furnace Star-Trains rolled smoothly out of the three-light-year Dark Rift and fanned out into the heart of Solar Systems #51 through #60.
On the central orbital station of System #55, Pei Xuan stepped off the flagship train with his hands tucked into his sleeves and tilted his head back to inspect the local sun.
Behind him stood Old Wei, Hong Ling, Old Guo, Abacus Su, General Tie Zhan, and Captain Lin Shan, along with Chief Toll-Collector Mo Ying—who had taken a two-hour break from Booth #53 to guide them through the inner systems and was currently munching on a leftover garlic-mutton bone wrapped in wax paper.
Even though it was twelve o’clock noon on Planet #55-A right below them, the sky was as dark and gloomy as a rainy winter evening.
Fifty million miles away at the center of the solar system hung Sun #55.
Instead of shining like a bright golden fireball, the star looked like a giant, crusty black charcoal briquette floating in space!
