Starry Sky Railway: Starting with a furious outburst at Aha

Chapter 17: Startup in Progress, Yet No Money

Xing: "Exposed? What do you mean? Are you playing a covert infiltration game?"

Zhou Yuan: "It's nothing, thank you."

Zhou Yuan sighed. He hadn't revealed the plot to the three of them, so it was understandable that they didn't know Cocolia's true nature and did such a thing.

However, this means that Zhou Yuan doesn't have much time left.

"Looks like we'll have to get to the lower levels today." Zhou Yuan pondered, then opened Walter's contact information and sent a message: "Uncle Yang, do you know how to make a simple star core restraint device?"

"It won't take long, a minute will be enough."

Uncle Yang quickly replied, sending over a list of materials and assembly instructions: "Analyze each situation individually. If you don't have the materials, you can go back to the train to get them, or ask the experts at Yalilo."

"Thank you, Uncle Yang, that's exactly what I was thinking." Zhou Yuan replied, putting his phone back in his pocket.

As he was looking around, a voice suddenly came from beside him: "Hey, what are you doing here? I've seen you standing here for ages."

Zhou Yuan turned around warily and saw a blonde woman in a rock-style dress looking at him with a puzzled expression.

“It came so easily,” Zhou Yuan exclaimed, and greeted her, “Hello, Shiluwa.”

This blonde woman is none other than Silva Landau, the eldest sister of the Landau family and the founder of the Landau Machine House.

Upon hearing this, Xiluwa's eyes showed even greater doubt. She looked Zhou Yuan up and down, who was wearing a black suit and a top silk hat, and asked, "Who are you?"

“I forgot to introduce myself,” Zhou Yuan said, taking off his hat and bowing slightly. “I am Zhou Yuan, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

"Hello."

After greeting her, Zhou Yuan looked toward the entrance of the building she had come from, which was the Belleburg Library.

"May I go in for a visit?" Zhou Yuan asked.

If possible, he hoped to read about Belloberg's history to see if it differed from his own impression.

“It might not work,” Silva explained. “The museum is still under renovation, and many of the collections haven’t been put in yet.”

"That's a pity."

Zhou Yuan didn't force it if he couldn't get in; he said regretfully:

"I also want to solve mechanical problems."

"Mechanical aspects?" Hiluva caught the key word. "If you don't mind, I can take a look and see what kind of problem it is?"

Zhou Yuan smiled, leaned closer to her ear, and whispered, "About the star core."

"How could you..." Hiluva looked surprised, then looked at Zhou Yuan carefully, and then scanned the surroundings. "It's not safe here. Come with me."

The two arrived at Hiluva's mechanical house. As soon as they entered, Hiluva asked:

"Let's talk. How did you find out about the star core?"

“How did you know… my artifact detected fluctuations in the star core?” Zhou Yuan was pressed for time and didn’t play coy. He got straight to the point. “To be honest, I come from outside this planet. I’m here to help you solve the problem of the star core.”

“Help us? Why?” Hiluva was still somewhat puzzled by Zhou Yuan’s motives.

“Because we can’t leave without removing the star core,” Zhou Yuan said frankly. “This is good for both of us.”

As he spoke, he tapped away on his phone, showing it to Hiluva:

"These are the materials needed to make the star core restraint device and its role in it. Could you help me see what's unavailable on this planet? Can some of them be replaced?"

“Star Core Restraint Device…” Hilva carefully examined the materials list, then looked up after a moment and said, “No problem, most of them are included… but how can I be sure that this is its purpose?”

“Didn’t you do simulations before? You should be quite familiar with the shape of the star core,” Zhou Yuan said, pointing to the list. “You’re so familiar with Cocolia, yet she kicked you out. Didn’t you notice anything wrong with her? She was bewitched, or rather, controlled, by the star core.”

"The consciousness shielding device on it can temporarily block a person's consciousness, making them unable to perceive the existence of the star core, and thus the control will fail."

"What I need to do is rescue her."

This is Zhou Yuan's ultimate goal.

“Then what is the meaning of this Earth Essence Extract?” Hilva pointed out the suspicious point. “According to your structure, shouldn’t the device use the power of the star core itself for restraint?”

"As expected of a professional..." Zhou Yuan thought to himself, replying:

"This is to prevent the star core from actively gathering its overflowing power; it's better to be prepared than not."

“Is there such a thing as this…” Hiluva looked at the list, lost in thought, and remained silent for a long time.

“The crisis at Yalilo 6 is imminent. You should know this better than I, an outsider…” Seeing her hesitation, Zhou Yuan was about to speak again.

“That’s enough,” Hiluva interrupted Zhou Yuan, looking up at him. “I can get all the other materials quickly, but I can’t get the last three.”

"Which three?" Zhou Yuan asked in surprise, as this was far fewer than he had expected.

"Universal control system, consciousness shield, earth marrow extract fluid."

"I have no clue about the first two, and I don't know what can replace them. As for the Earth Marrow Extract... the upper and lower levels are now sealed off, and the Iron Guard has strict control over Earth Marrow resources. If we want to get it, we can only buy it at a high price on the black market, or buy it in the lower area."

Seeing that Zhou Yuan remained silent, Xiluwa continued:

“I’ve done a rough calculation, and the materials will require about seven million credits. I can probably come up with four million, and you may need to cover the remaining three million.”

"This is no big deal..." Zhou Yuan waved his hand dismissively. He had tens of millions of credits in his account, more than he could spend recklessly. But he quickly realized this wasn't a game. "Take, how much?"

“Three million credits,” Hiluva added, “and that’s without even considering those three materials.”

"Hiss..." Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuan's brows furrowed tightly.

To be honest, he has only been in the world for a day, and he doesn't have a single credit point, let alone any. How is he supposed to find those three million credit points?

“Three million? I’ll take care of that. You just need to find a good source and make sure you can buy it anytime,” Zhou Yuan replied. “It might take me two days.”

"no problem."

After discussing the matter with Hiluva, Zhou Yuan took his leave and left the machine shop.

The pioneering team's unintentional actions forced Zhou Yuan to expose himself to Cocolia, and he had to go to the lower district before the next day.

Perhaps with his current strength, he could easily conquer Cripple Castle and bring down Cocolia, but what would be the point of doing so?

Without training and development, how far can the train crew go with their limited abilities? They probably can't even get past the Immortal Ship.

Lowering his hat brim, Zhou Yuan stopped thinking about anything else and slowly approached the cable car station connecting the upper and lower city areas.

Zhou Yuan glanced in that direction, then turned and left. The reason was simple: there were just too many Iron Guards!

On the slope outside the station, a wall of people stood in neat rows, at least a dozen iron guards, completely blocking the road and making it impossible for anyone to get close.

With this path blocked, Zhou Yuan turned his attention to another place: the central furnace core.

That area used to be the main passage for transporting earth marrow from the lower city to the upper city, but it was abandoned after the blockade order was issued.

Due to structural reasons, the elevators have lost their power source and cannot operate at all, so there are far fewer guards here, only a handful.

Taking advantage of their shift change, Zhou Yuan successfully slipped inside. Glancing at the dark entrance leading straight down into the ground, Zhou Yuan sighed and picked up his top hat.

"the last time."

He jumped straight down.

Boom! ! !

A deep, muffled roar came from the heart of the furnace, sending coal dust flying everywhere. A black figure emerged from within; this person was Zhou Yuan.

He fanned the dust off his hat and clothes and was about to walk out when he noticed the iron gate in front of him slowly rising.

A robot made entirely of steel, wearing a black coat, walked in. It had only one eye on its head, which gleamed with a scarlet light.

"Swarovski?"

Just as Zhou Yuan was about to speak, he heard Schwarz's cold, mechanical voice.

"Danger level of the target... Detection result: Extremely dangerous, Response: Immediate annihilation!"

The next second, several missiles trailing white flames hurtled straight toward Zhou Yuan.