The Stargazing Witch & The Dungeon Planet
Chapter 64: Crafting a Plan Get to the Second Segment

Chapter 64: Crafting a Plan Get to the Second Segment

I left the shop disappointed. I knew it was wishful thinking that I could get my phone fixed in the first place I visited, but my options were limited, and there was a chance no other place would accept a job without providing ID.

Sigh… Low on money and luck.

(“ You are still alive, so I would think you have been pretty lucky ”)

Congratulations, that you think that way. 

(“ What’s wrong? I’m just trying to add a positive spin to the situation ”)

No, no, you are not.

I left the vents and walked through another quieter street and looked around the shops. 

There were cameras all over the place, and I couldn’t avoid all of them, so I didn’t. I just needed to not get in trouble with the authorities. Even with my stealth attempts earlier, I was caught by at least a few cameras. However, I wasn’t the only person with their face covered, so I just had to not act too suspicious.

Which, debatably, I already had been, but positive thoughts.

I still didn’t want to stay in any public locations for extended periods of time, but showing myself a little should hopefully make my activities look less suspicious.

Why did they have to choose a space station for the auction?

(“ It could be a way to limit the number of people who can arrive, as there are only so many spots a station of even this capacity can provide ”)

True… But there are also other ways to do that, not to mention how high profile the auction goods are, there are better secure auction houses across the galaxies.

There was a moon near Averon–one of the major planets–called Asper Major, which was very famous for its auction houses. Its security was so tight that it had never been successfully attacked in over seven hundred years. The very fact of Asper Major’s existence made me question the choice of Jelannax. 

It could’ve simply been a money reason, for tourism or the like; Jelannax paid for the auction here for some sort of tourism boom. Or they simply believed it would be safer here. The station was open enough in space that any group's ships couldn’t approach the station outside the normal waves through the tunnels without being noticed, and they likely would have the tunnels closed during the period of the auction. Not to mention, the station could still move if required.

(“ If you want, we could keep playing the guessing game. ”)

Nah, but since you are so talkative today, why were you so silent for most of my journey through space?

(“ No reason in particular. Didn’t you want me to be quiet? ”)

Yes, but there’s a stark difference between just being quiet and your behaviour. What were you up to during that time?

(“ It was really nothing, there isn’t much I can do after all ”)

Now we both know that's bullshit.

(“ Attacking my character again? ”)

Yes, you have literally–directly or indirectly–I don’t know which caused events to happen before. You have probably done it again. Like I doubt a ship just happened to be in my path in a massive empty spot of space.

(“ Believe whatever makes you more relaxed at night ”)

Sigh… I would appreciate a straight answer.

(“ But I can’t give you one, so ask them all the way, it’s quite enjoyable amusement  ”)

That’s… 

It was a better answer than I was expecting.

Time passed and the lights of the third segment dimmed, bright enough where they were still visible, but the ‘night’ had begun. I had made my home in a small alley with a sliver of vision of the larger expanse of the city.

I had at least a little peek at all the places I wanted to see. The only annoying part was that I never found another place that could fix my phone.

Well, from all the options, I’ve narrowed them back down to the only two I thought were feasible in the first place.

It was either going to sneak onboard a ship or attempt to travel up one of the connecting elevators.

The third and second segments were connected via numerous large cylinders. These pillars connected the two layers but also acted as transport elevators. Out of the sixty-five pillars that connect the layers, the largest four primarily served as connectors and only possessed a small elevator in each. The other sixty-one’s main function was as elevators, and they were scattered seemingly randomly over the two layers. 

I think it’s safer if I try sneaking up one of the connection cylinders.

(“ You want to risk being squashed? ”)

You know that won’t kill me.

The plan was simple on the surface. Travel up the elevator shaft. I had the options of sneaking on the elevator itself, grabbing onto the bottom of it while it went up, or attempting to make the distance while the elevator was stopped at the bottom or top of the shaft.

Out of those three, I felt that I would have the most success with the third option. If I stayed too close to the elevator itself, then that meant I would be near the security that was constantly onboard it. 

There was a massive issue with this plan, however, which made me debate between it and the second option, and that was the massive distance between the third and second segments.

There were enough distances that ships could easily fly between them, and the time it would take for me to fly all the way added to the risk. Not to mention being a massive drain on my mana if I wanted to go at the necessary speed to make it.

[Disruptive Starlight] would knock out any cameras during my trip up the elevator, but people would notice cameras not working. Well, that depended on whether they had the proper security in place–people or technology–that could detect that.

If they did notice, then that meant I had to be quickly out of sight before I was caught. However, the issue was that I had no idea what the middle segment upper area exactly looked like, which was a huge potential issue.

(“ While I would very much enjoy the show, I do believe sneaking onboard a ship may be the better strategy ”)

Even if I’m successful in sneaking on, the ports on the second segment have a lot more security. 

(“ And? I doubt sneaking through some human security would be as hard as some of your stealth attempts on my surface ”)

Espr wasn’t wrong with that statement, and maybe I would change my opinion after I scoped out my options.

I’ll think about it.