In the end, they used the Fishbone’s transport craft to haul away five tons of cargo.
At first, Luo Binhan had no idea what was inside the sealed metal crates. Then he saw Jing Huang tear open a steel plate with his left hand and pull out a handful of dazzling, bright red crystals that looked like Rubies.
Luo Binhan was stunned. He’d thought they would be looting superweapons or art pieces. At the very least, he expected some kind of energy source or Interstellar Currency made from special materials.
"Gems? You interstellar criminals are pretty old-school. Having a little renaissance, are we?"
"Gems, my ass," Jing Huang said. "This is high-purity concentrated sugar."
He tossed a Ruby the size of a pigeon’s egg into his mouth and started chewing, CRUNCH CRUNCH. Luo Binhan was dumbfounded. After a moment, he asked tentatively, "How is it?"
"Tastes like crap," Jing Huang said, his face expressionless.
"Mr. Xuanhong dislikes biosynthetic food and synthetic sugars," Momo Luo said gently. "But the quality of this sugar is excellent. The income from selling it should be enough to buy another medium-sized civilian ship."
Luo Binhan was finally beginning to understand just how bitter the lives of these Cosmic Beings were. Filled with boundless pity, he fished a heavy, soybean-sized crystal fragment from the crate, preparing to personally experience the taste of this ridiculously expensive sugar.
Jing Huang smacked the sugar crystal out of his hand. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
"Holy crap," Luo Binhan said. "Are you really that stingy over a piece of sugar?"
Jing Huang pushed the torn steel lid back into place, then shot him a scornful look. "The amount you just held was enough to kill you from sugar poisoning five hundred times over. What the hell are you trying to eat? Swallow that and you’ll be pickled through and through."
With that, he drove the transport craft away with the sugar.
Luo Binhan stood there, mouth agape. Beside him, Momo Luo gave his shoulder an understanding pat. "Ah, that’s right, Mr. Luo. For Carbon-Based lifeforms such as yourself, sugar is not only a source of physical energy but also the most common type of stimulant. Because you, Mr. Luo, are an Original Intelligent Species that has yet to undergo a civilization phase of self-modification, your body is naturally very weak. You absolutely must not ingest too much. Especially not architectural-grade sugar blocks. You must never eat those directly."
"Architectural sugar blocks?"
"The mineral-ornament sugar from just now," Momo Luo said. "That’s a compressed, composite, high-carbon artificial sugar. It’s a special material the Durand people use to build Sugar City, but it’s also very practical for famine relief. You just have to decompress it and toss it into a river to fully hydrolyze. It’ll form simple glucose and can help supplement the energy of a large population of refugees. Their sugar-making technology is simply incredible!"
Luo Binhan pondered for a moment, then asked, "But what about the people who prefer savory food?"
"What are ’people who prefer savory food’?" Momo Luo asked, blinking.
After moving the sugar, they continued to search the Fishbone’s other storerooms. Most of them held food and daily necessities. Luo Binhan even found a small pouch of gold.
"You guys still use gold as currency out here?" he asked, shaking the pouch.
"It’s still in use in some regions," Momo Luo said. "It’s quite popular on the Covenant Law side."
Luo Binhan found that fascinating. "Can’t you guys just synthesize gold?"
Momo Luo gazed at him with a loving look, like one would an infant. "It’s not like that, Mr. Luo," he said kindly. "In most known Star Layers, the synthesis of the Gold Element can’t be achieved through chemical reactions. It requires hadron collision. Furthermore, it has wide applications in the superconductor industry. As a result, outside the core Star Layers of the Alliance, the cost of artificially synthesizing gold far exceeds the cost of mining it. This has led to it still being treated as currency within certain areas."
"So what else do you use for trade? Bartering?"
"The more common methods include several types of promissory-payment-based electronic currencies recommended by the Alliance, and the White Tower Standard Apprentice Agreement package," Momo Luo said. "Since Mr. Xuanhong can’t open an account with his real identity, we’re currently using a fake account created by a Mr. ∈."
In the end, Luo Binhan decided to use the pouch of gold to decorate his private room.
They systematically toured and plundered the entire Fishbone, eventually returning to the bridge. The ship’s owner was still hanging upside down from the ceiling. His skin, which had originally looked like Chalk, was now turning slightly blue, and he appeared to be on the verge of death.
Jing Huang was sitting in the center of the bridge, legs crossed, toying with a stone rod. The stone was a milky, crystalline white, but its edges glowed with a vibrant rose-red. As he moved it, it shimmered with a brilliant light, looking incredibly pretty and cute.
"What’s that?" Luo Binhan asked, leaning closer.
"A Two-Phase Light-Gathering Crystal," Jing Huang said.
"In English."
"The laser cannon that shot at us earlier. This is the main component of the lasing medium," Jing Huang said, turning his head away impatiently.
Luo Binhan looked up. The ship’s owner was glaring at them lifelessly. His eyes seemed to be filled with blue shadows.
"Why’d you dismantle his cannon? Is it valuable?"
"The stone is pretty," Jing Huang said.
Luo Binhan, still clutching his Golden Pouch, was convinced. They sat there together, admiring the pretty stone.
Momo Luo walked slowly over to stand beneath the ship’s owner. He gazed up at the poor, upside-down man with a solemn, almost mournful expression.
"My condolences, sir," he said slowly and compassionately, pressing his palms together before his chest. "This sudden calamity may seem like a chance encounter, but it is, in fact, the fruition of karma sown long ago, the cycle of retribution turning. How bitter! How sorrowful! Know that all endeavors are transient, all dharmas are without self. Sir, why not seize this golden opportunity to turn back from the sea of suffering? Henceforth, keep your heart pure, and you shall find clarity and bloom anew."
Luo Binhan stared at Momo Luo, his mouth wide open, letting out a long, mechanical "Aaaaaah—"
"Don’t make such a big deal out of it. It’s embarrassing. Pan-intelligent People culture is just trendy in their parts," Jing Huang said, his eyes still glued to the stone.
Momo Luo’s face was overflowing with sanctity and deep emotion. He tilted his head back and continued, "Sir, in days past, as I traveled through the wilds, I passed by a dwarf planet during a great Jialan festival. There, the venerable Master Sanglian was teaching the dharma beneath a Water Cultivated Bodhi Tree Pot. The venerable one invited me to sit with him. Pointing to a lotus, he orally transmitted a Wonderful Technique. During our time together, he recounted ten short fables, each containing the very essence of cultivating purity and goodness. Today, fate has brought us together, and I wish to share all ten of these fables with you, hoping to awaken a seed of goodness within you and persuade this prodigal son to return. The first fable tells of a butcher from ancient times..."
Luo Binhan said, "Aaaaaaaaah—"
"Will you ever shut up?" Jing Huang said impatiently, clamping his mouth shut. "No noise."
Luo Binhan forgot about the pretty stone. He watched the upside-down ship owner swaying gently from the bridge ceiling, his bluish-gray face completely devoid of expression. They stared at each other quietly for a moment, and then the ship owner twisted his body, causing himself to slowly rotate like a baby’s mobile.
"He’s spun himself into unconsciousness," Luo Binhan said, a little heartbroken.
"He won’t die," Jing Huang said without even looking up.
Luo Binhan’s gaze swept across the bridge. He saw a Crystal Pillar in the center of the room, glowing with a silvery-white light. The inside of the pillar shimmered like liquid, giving it an air of profound, mysterious technology.
"Is that some kind of Energy Source?" he asked, nudging Jing Huang. "Can we take it?"
Jing Huang reluctantly glanced up. "Are you stupid?" he said. "Who would stick a huge Energy Source right on the bridge? It’s like playing your Jokers at the start of the game—are you trying to get bombed?"
"Then what is that thing?"
"Purely decorative," Jing Huang said. "Don’t you have a few ceramic vases at home?"
Luo Binhan was speechless. Feeling lonesome, he tried to entertain himself by scorching the floor with his lighter. It took several tries to get a flame. The flame was much smaller now, possibly due to a lack of oxygen or the fact that it was running out of fluid. He wondered if he’d ever find a suitable replacement fuel.
After a good while, Jing Huang finally got tired of looking at the stone. He stood up and said, "Let’s go."
The Fishbone’s owner dropped from the ceiling. The thin white cord tied around his ankles slithered like a snake toward Jing Huang and disappeared into his collar.
At that moment, Momo Luo was slowly intoning in a voice as warm as sunshine, "The third fable tells of an Immortal Island in the middle of the sea..."
Jing Huang kicked him. "Who the hell are you talking to? That idiot passed out ages ago!"
"It’s alright, Mr. Xuanhong," Momo Luo said with a hearty laugh. "My voice is the Call of Light! Even if the gentleman has temporarily lost consciousness, as long as his spirit isn’t destroyed, he can still hear me perfectly in his dreams! My message will definitely get through!"
"Just act like a normal person," Jing Huang said.
Tears glistened in Momo Luo’s eyes. "Yes! I am always prepared! Was it Mr. Luo who just spoke with you? Are you finally willing to become my Human Form, Mr. Luo!" he asked excitedly.
Luo Binhan summoned all his strength and shrieked, "Stay away from me!"