Chapter 244: The Long Journey Home Begins
(Unova Syndicate- Planet Xerciam Prime)
(Nameless Port City)
Screech! Screech! Screech!
Sophie briefly took a glance upwards at the enormous sixty-feet-tall monsters that were soaring high above the crowded port.
Each beast had a long mouth, a thin nose and weird eyebrows that made them appear to have a permanent expression of shock or surprise.
Their bodies were slender and snake-like in appearance, but Sophie could see bulging muscles hidden deep beneath the flesh.
These monsters were domesticated animals called Dwen mainly used as transport vessels by the settlers on Planet Xerciam Prime.
Sophie was relieved to find out that the information she got from the mining town turned out to be correct and the port city was indeed built along the Caroni river.
Two days had passed since the encounter with the androids and Sophie had managed to seamlessly mingle into the port city along with Lily.
The situation on Planet Xerciam Prime was far more complicated than she had initially thought as the competition between the various financial groups for the increasingly scarce resources was beginning to intensify.
There was a noticeable atmosphere of tension seen on the faces of the residents in the port city and Sophie had already observed several fights that ended in bloody carnage.
This port city had been established by multiple neutral parties so there was no government or faction in charge.
This was both a blessing and a curse.
The buildings here had a noticeably less sturdy foundation than those in the mining town and several were just simply made from wood chopped down from the nearby forest.
Some were nothing more than makeshift tents hastily established and easy to tear down.
Of course, good hygiene was seen as a luxury and Sophie was in constant discomfort having to bear the overall scent of filth and garbage.
Lily was currently stuck in a hotel room that Sophie had booked as she needed to go alone to scout for information.
The little girl was a bit too young to experience the awful scenes in the port city and more importantly Sophie was afraid that her demeaner would attract attention.
Humans were a rare species in the eyes of the ordinary citizens of the Unova Syndicate.
Sophie had multiple safety and defensive gear in her storage bag, so it was not a problem to loan some to Lily in case of any emergency.
A qi tide cultivator was superhumanly fast so unless an enemy in the void stage showed up, Sophie was confident that she would be able to immediately rush to Lily's side.
Sophie had decided to visit the trading center to buy two tickets for the next ferry to King's Island.
On King's Island was a spaceport so it would be easy to escape from the planet once they arrived.
The only issue was that the journey by boat would take several months and Sophie had heard rumors that powerful sea monster lurked beneath the depths of the ocean.
So... it would be quite some time before they managed to escape.
Sophie was briefly hit with a sense of loss and fear as she pictured her father and her friends being extremely worried.
Did they know that she was okay?
Would they think that she died?
Could her father survive losing her?
What if she never returned home?
These questions constantly rang out in Sophie's head and caused the hybrid girl's steps to briefly falter.
"Oi! Look where you're going you stupid bitch!" a tiny green alien with knob-like limbs and hands scowled fiercely as a hooded figure bumped into him.
He raised his head slowly upwards to continue to curse and scold the blind moron when something made his voice crack.
The blind moron who bumped into him was a seven-foot tall, hooded figure with four wickedly sharp blade-like appendages jutting out of its back.
"Did you say something?" Sophie asked with a bemused feeling as the tiny creature was now obviously afraid.
"No... no!" the alien smiled flatteringly and quickly moved to the side.
Sophie smiled inwardly and paid the encounter no more attention.
It was indeed her fault for bumping into the alien, so she was not going to be offended from some cursing.
Plus, it helped her to briefly snap out of her depressive state.
Not too long after, Sophie finally arrived at a more well-kept area of town that was sectioned off with a metalloid fence.
Armed guards holding plasma rifles stood menacingly at the entrance to prevent anyone from having any bad thoughts.
Of course, this protection only extended to those inside the trading zone. As for the clients who came out of the area....
Well, that was not their problem.
Sophie spotted two simple signs hanging on the metalloid fence and leaned in a bit closer to get a better look.
[Trading Sector]
[No Fighting Allowed]
Sophie subconsciously checked her pockets to make sure that the money was still there and then joined the line to get in.
Maybe it was because the security team was present but the people in the line did not try to skip or make trouble.
There was one would-be thief who attempted to sneak through the metalloid wall, but Sophie saw a guard smoothly point the plasma rifle at the thief before unloading a clean shot.
The plasma shot instantly turned the thief into a headless body and his corpse fell to the ground with a dull thump.
No one in the line even battered an eye at the loss of life and Sophie's expression likewise did not change.
The line moved fairly quickly and soon it was Sophie's turn to enter the trading area. She gave a passing nod to the guards before stepping inside the enclosure.
Instantly she felt a subtle feeling.
The air inside the trading area was clean and pure with none of the traces of filth and garbage found outside.
Each merchant was allocated a certain area to set up his wares so although the scene was a bit crowded, it was not disorganized and messy.
There were many products and alien species that Sophie had never seen before. She could hear the confident calls of some merchants who were bragging about the goods in their shop.
"Top of the line mining equipment for a great price!"
"Fresh Xteph meat! Get your fresh Xteph meat here!"
"Tender slaves! Use them for food, pleasure or whatever you like!"