Dimensional Hotel
Chapter 390 Docking

Chapter 390: Chapter 390 Docking

The spaceship experienced a brief yet wondrous "tremor" when exiting hyperspace.

Although the ship remained quite stable in terms of physical structure and real-world coordinates, the moment of restored spatial curvature caused a short-term dislocation in everyone’s perception, as if they were simultaneously positioned at several different "locations," which all collapsed into one fixed point in the real world in an instant — for someone flying in a faster-than-light vehicle for the first time, it was an unprecedented experience.

Outside the massive observation window, the red-blue shift effect was rapidly fading, the closed spatial bubble turned open, and in the instant the warped space flattened, the stars suddenly regained their normal appearance from that two-dimensional film, presenting a completely different starry sky from what could be observed near the Taixu Spirit Hub to everyone’s eyes.

Erin pattered over to the observation window, climbed onto the platform, stretched her neck to look out at the vast starry sky, and exclaimed with exaggerated wonder: "Wow—"

Then she turned her head: "Hey Yu Sheng, where’s Shuji?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the starry sky outside the observation window slowly began to move, then a relatively dim orange-red constant star came into everyone’s view.

"We are now traveling at sub-light speed and expect to enter Shuji’s near-star deceleration zone in an hour," Yu Sheng mentioned casually from the Captain’s seat, "but the Otherworld Inn can’t directly land on the planet’s surface — there aren’t any civilian starports open to a large ship of this scale on this planet, so we’ll dock at a high orbit station and then take the Shuttle Girl into the atmosphere."

Erin listened, a bit stunned: "Shuttle Girl? Does our ship have that kind of configuration?"

Yu Sheng: "It’s Hu Li."

"Is, is it?"

The demon fox girl sitting next to Yu Sheng squinted her eyes with pride, seemingly quite pleased.

On the other side, Zheng Zhi, listening to the exchange between Yu Sheng and Erin, turned his head left and right, seemingly searching for someone to talk to, before finally muttering to Luna, who sat still as a statue: "Being around Brother Yu always makes me feel like my imagination isn’t rich enough..."

Luna ignored him, still standing there like a statue.

After about ten seconds following her "is it," Erin suddenly reacted, wide-eyed at Yu Sheng: "Hey, don’t we have a more normal landing tool? Like a small craft or something..."

"Uh, we originally had a few," Yu Sheng replied awkwardly, "but one of the small ships had an accident while transporting Ankaela Crystals, two others got damaged when intercepted by the Special Service Bureau, and there are three more parked in the hangar... I couldn’t figure out how to operate them. Those things aren’t on the same system as Otherworld Inn, they’re independent items. I didn’t take charge of those small ships when I took over the big ship, so they’re not synced now."

Erin thought for a moment: "Why not just figure them out in the hangar when you have time."

Yu Sheng turned green at the suggestion: "Does that sound like something a human being would say!"

At this moment, he couldn’t help but reminisce about the Erin he first met — back then, the little puppet was so considerate, even caring for his life, trying to make sure he wouldn’t die too many times to avoid any potential side effects. He wondered when she started being this carefree...

Yu Sheng pondered for a few seconds and suddenly thought it might be his own issue — after all, currency devaluation often starts from over-issuance...

"I’ll take my time studying how to pilot the small ships," realizing the issue, Yu Sheng quickly changed the subject, simultaneously maneuvering the Otherworld Inn towards the star orbited by Shuji, "and don’t you find re-entering the atmosphere with the Nine-tailed Silver Fox quite stylish..."

Erin was easily swayed: "Is, is it?"

Then, after two more seconds, Luna on the other side suddenly nodded at Zheng Zhi: "Yes, indeed."

Zheng Zhi was completely startled: "...?"

Meanwhile, as the spaceship began its approach to Shuji, Master Yuan Hao also rose from his seat.

He reached into his sleeve and took out a square object that seemed carved from white jade (don’t ask why it’s square), then slightly squinted his eyes, as if sensing something deeply, muttering spells under his breath, while the surface of the jade emitted a gentle glow.

Witnessing this, Erin became curious: "Hey, what’s he doing?"

"Perceive if there are any prying eyes around us," Master Yuan Hao opened his eyes, a serious expression on his face, "Yun Qingzi might have been operating in Shuji for many years, we must be cautious over here."

Erin’s eyes widened: "...No way! Is it really that exaggerated? We’re still decelerating in space, could he really lock onto someone from this far away?"

"Don’t underestimate those ancient powers," Master Yuan Hao shook his head solemnly, "In the chaotic era of historical reconstruction and celestial reformation, many of those ancient powers stabilized the situation of entire planets by sheer individual strength, protecting billions of lives—they have plenty of bizarre methods, many ancient secret techniques which seem unreasonable to us today."

Erin: "..."

As the small puppet gaped in shock, Yu Sheng said nothing, but quietly increased his synchronization with the Otherworld Inn once again, then the ship’s radar was powered on, beginning to scan for any abnormally high-energy small units nearby, as well as any detection signals pointed at the ship.

Yu Sheng didn’t know if Yun Qingzi could see through and lock onto someone across an astronomical unit, but at least he was operating a high-tech spaceship renowned across the universe, crafted by the Venerate Saints Monastery specifically for special warfare and infiltration in major civilized circles. The radar on this ship was not for show.

"No threatening units detected, and no unauthorized signals detected," after a moment, Yu Sheng shook his head, "Five directional signals in total were detected; two are identification and welcome messages from Shuji Planet’s surface, one is navigation from the docking station, and the other two are from the traffic management bureau, reminding me not to drink and drive, and fining five thousand Spirit Stones for speeding within the near-star deceleration zone."

Master Yuan Hao smacked his lips upon hearing this: "In my days, the fine was only three thousand."

The people around didn’t dare to ask him how he knew so clearly...

The spaceship traveled at sublight speed for a while, gradually leaving the orange-red Constant Star behind the observation window, and a beautiful gray-blue planet appeared ahead of the trajectory. The Otherworld Inn adjusted its flight posture once again, and began moving towards a docking station near that planet under the guidance of the signal, proceeding with the final end-of-route deceleration.

The complex array of engines continuously adjusted their operating modes. The entire ship went through a series of decelerations and fine adjustments, finally approaching the docking facility quietly floating in the dark space—a gigantic tower connected to numerous large platforms.

The tower and the surrounding platforms still vaguely showed traces of Immortal influences in their style, with details like auspicious cloud formations and talismanic decorations originating from the Taixu Spirit Hub, yet the overall design was distinctly different from most constructions on the Taixu Star, leaning more toward practical simplicity with its robust main framework and tower structure resembling what one imagines as "space stations."

Apparently, even the relatively "enclosed" Feiyu Star Domain had its border planets influenced by the outside world. This docking station in high orbit of Shuji had traces of neighboring civilizations’ influences—from the records, it seemed more influenced by the Algredians.

Under Yu Sheng’s precise control, the massive Otherworld Inn docked near the edge of a large platform by the space tower with incredible finesse and precision, requiring hardly any effort from the traction system. The large spaceship completed the docking with the platform, and after some time (mainly Yu Sheng checking the manual to confirm his operations were in line with safety regulations), the Otherworld Inn sent a "connection successful" signal to the docking station, and formally requested guidance personnel to come on board.

The ship’s bottom hatch opened, and Yu Sheng and his companions emerged, walking onto the connecting bridge of the docking platform.

This was an "open" structure seemingly "exposed" to the space environment. No physical protection structures like domes or armor could be seen on the connecting bridge nor at the end of the long bridge platform, yet the entire architectural zone maintained normal gravity and atmosphere—a certain invisible "life-support" field enveloped everything, providing just the right comfortable environment.

Several "guides" in light gray Star Port uniforms were already waiting on the bridge—they weren’t "cultivators" inducted under some registration, but "ordinary people" working in this space facility.

As soon as these guides saw someone disembark from the giant spaceship, they immediately proceeded to verify Yu Sheng’s identity as Captain (issued by Boundary Land) and passage permit (issued by Taixu Spirit Hub), whereupon the leading person couldn’t help but praise: "As expected from a captain from Boundary Land, maneuvering such a massive ship with such agility—usually if a vessel this size were to dock, even with Artifact Spirit and Mechanical Soul assistance, it would take an hour of effort."

Hearing this, Yu Sheng couldn’t help but brim with pride, poking the small puppet on his shoulder: "I told you my piloting skills are good."

Erin rolled her eyes: "Of course, if you crashed your own ship you’d need a neurologist."

Yu Sheng ignored the puppet’s daily sarcasm and somewhat awkwardly followed the guide’s instructions to complete the registration procedure for large spacecraft docking—the fees all charged to Qianfeng Ling Mountain’s account.

After registering and verifying all information, the guides visibly relaxed, with one casually asking, "Are you going directly to Shuji? Or do you plan to stay at this Star Port for a few days? Our Star Port is a sizable attraction, with several nice market streets and restaurants above, plus a duty-free shop where you can purchase Algredian artifacts."

Honestly, having just left the Immortal Realm atmosphere of the Taixu Spirit Hub, Yu Sheng wasn’t quite used to hearing the Star Port staff on this border planet talk to him about such things... It felt like the tone suddenly switched to vibrate mode.

"We’re here on business, heading directly to the planet’s surface," Yu Sheng organized his words, recalling the prepared explanation from before departure, "We accepted a commission from Qianfeng Ling Mountain to visit Mo City."

"Mo City?" one guide raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, seemingly casually commenting, "Mo City has been a bit uneasy these past couple of days."