Chapter 240 - 216: Consignment
Unlike the 3.5 million Federation Coins it cost to teleport to Yunlan City, the trip from Zhonghai City to Qianshan City "only" cost 380,000, as it was much closer.
Of course, despite the word "only," that figure was still quite extravagant for an ordinary Beast Master. After all, it wasn’t just a meaningless number—it was cold, hard cash.
The number was a bit outrageous, but it was still within Li Qian’s budget, so he didn’t hesitate before tapping ’Purchase’.
The moment he reached out and tapped the purchase button, a red light suddenly shot out from the self-service terminal.
The red light swept over him and vanished just as quickly. Afterward, a line of text appeared on the terminal’s screen.
"Purchase successful. Esteemed passenger, please proceed to Basement Level 15 to board the Teleportation Array. We wish you a pleasant journey."
Li Qian couldn’t help but smile at the sight. He had transmigrated to this world several months ago, but every time he experienced its unbelievable super-technology, he felt as if he were in a dream.
After purchasing the teleportation ticket, Li Qian wasted no time and headed straight for the elevator area.
The elevator area was in the back half of the main hall. There were four central elevator shafts, each one square-shaped with elevators on all four faces. Each face had twenty elevators, meaning a single central shaft housed eighty elevators. With four such shafts, the total number of elevators was a staggering three hundred and twenty.
After a quick glance, he didn’t stop to stare. Li Qian simply chose the nearest elevator and walked over at a steady pace.
Just as he reached the elevator doors, a red light suddenly shot out at him. It appeared in a flash and vanished just as abruptly.
The light wasn’t intense. On the contrary, it was quite soft and didn’t cause any discomfort. In fact, it felt a bit like being touched by the first rays of the winter sun.
DING!
After the light faded, the elevator doors opened automatically. They didn’t look very large, only slightly wider than a standard residential doorway.
Li Qian stepped inside and found that while the doors seemed small, the interior was surprisingly spacious—at least twenty square meters.
Just as Li Qian was about to press the button for Basement Level 15, he was surprised to see that the elevator’s interior had no buttons whatsoever.
Slightly surprised, Li Qian glanced up and saw his destination already displayed on the overhead screen: Basement Level 15.
He thought for a moment and figured it out. It must have been from the scan by the red light just now. It had likely already registered his information.
’Pretty smart.’
After muttering this to himself, Li Qian didn’t give it another thought and quietly waited for the elevator to start. A moment later, it activated with a soft whooshing sound, so faint you could barely notice it unless you were listening carefully.
The whooshing lasted only a second or two. He barely saw the numbers change before the overhead display suddenly read -15!
Having already gotten a taste of the Transmission Center’s level of technology and intelligence, Li Qian wasn’t particularly surprised.
He stepped out of the elevator onto Basement Level 15. Li Qian glanced around curiously. The space was quite open, resembling a waiting lounge with about a hundred chairs.
Li Qian’s gaze swept onward, and he soon spotted the location of the Teleportation Array not far from the waiting area—or more precisely, the entryway to it.
It was a pair of doors, from which a misty light emanated. Above the doors, a display screen showed a line of text: "Next Teleportation Array to Qianshan City departs in 15 minutes."
"Fifteen minutes..." Li Qian murmured to himself, then found a chair and sat down to rest.
He scanned the area idly, noticing that there weren’t many passengers taking this teleportation to Qianshan City. Only twenty or thirty people were scattered among the hundred or so chairs.
After a few minutes, when the time was nearly up, a clear, pleasant chime echoed through the waiting lounge, announcing that it was time to enter the Teleportation Array.
Hearing the chime, the twenty or thirty people all began to move at once, making their way toward the boarding gate.
Some people, just like Li Qian, were also carrying Pet Beasts and had to check them in first. According to the Federation’s transportation laws, uncontracted Pet Beasts are not permitted to travel with their Beast Masters on a Teleportation Array.
Even without this law, however, Li Qian would have done it anyway. According to the evolutionary data Professor Yan had given him, a Pet Beast could trigger spatial fluctuations if it absorbed energy from the Void Stones during teleportation and began to evolve.
Theoretically, these spatial fluctuations were harmless. But it was always better to be safe than sorry—a point Professor Yan had specifically emphasized in his notes.
However, these small fluctuations, or even full-blown spatial turbulence, wouldn’t have much of an effect on the Pet Beast itself. So, Li Qian had already formed a plan before he even arrived.
He wasted no time, walking straight over and handing the Beast Taming Ball containing Xiaohui, his Extreme Fierce Storm Eagle, to a check-in robot.
The check-in robot looked like a small, winged pixie. A ray of red light shot from its eyes, and after a quick scan, it sent the Beast Taming Ball containing Xiaohui through a separate, glowing security gate.
Once that was done, Li Qian stepped toward the first security gate. A Mechanical Spirit was hovering in front of it as well.
A faint red light shone from the Mechanical Spirit’s pupils. Passing through the area bathed in this light completed the boarding process.
Because he had taken a moment to check in Xiaohui, Li Qian was one of the last to enter the security gate. Once inside, he discovered that the so-called Teleportation Array was actually a large circle of light.
The circle was surrounded by a hazy, swirling glow that obscured its specific form, making it nearly impossible for anyone to make out the true appearance of the Teleportation Array.
Li Qian could understand this arrangement. After all, the Teleportation Array was responsible for the passengers’ lives, so it was necessary to have extra safeguards to prevent anyone from causing damage inside.
Li Qian even suspected that besides obscuring vision, the glowing haze served other defensive purposes—secrets that weren’t meant to be easily discovered.
And the people who knew? They had probably already been sent to prison.