They asked around again and again, but the answers they got were all headache-inducing.
They even ran into a guy named Jing Fang who pretended to be Jing Yuan's cousin. The moment he saw Nero, he turned and ran, clearly someone who'd been taught a lesson before.
In the end, Stelle found a small food stall. The owner was a kind-looking auntie.
After gathering enough information, Stelle had already figured out exactly how to survive in the food scene of Aurum Alley...
Absolutely do not drink soda milk.
Aunt Gao, who ran the stall, was extremely warm and welcoming. The moment she saw Stelle, she greeted her enthusiastically, "Oh my, you must be an outworld tourist, right? Let me ask you... do you like Aurum Alley?"
"Just got here," Stelle replied, pulling out her all-purpose fisherman's answer. It fit perfectly here.
"Then I must treat you well!" Aunt Gao said. "…Don't mind me being a bit chatty, but since you're from outside... do you know about the Interastral Peace Corporation? Does it have a good reputation?"
Hearing that, Stelle frowned slightly and started thinking.
But her empty, Stellaron-filled brain didn't hold much information about the Interastral Peace Corporation.
She only knew that Topaz's people were pretty decent, they cooperated with the Fragmentum factories, and they worshipped Qlipoth…
"Oh!" Stelle suddenly exclaimed in realization. "Those machine's ads are incredibly annoying!"
Aunt Gao blinked at the gray-haired girl in front of her, confusion clearly showing in her eyes. "Those machine? What machines."
Then she scratched her head. "So… you don't really know much about the Interastral Peace Corporation either…"
"If you had to compare, Those machine is kind of like another form of Diting, just way more annoying," Nero's voice cut in.
"As for the Interastral Peace Corporation… hard to say. The few people I know inside are pretty nice, but there are also plenty of irritating ones under them."
Hearing the crisp voice, Aunt Gao followed the sound and looked down. Her eyes lit up, and she broke into a smile. "Oh, it's Nero!"
Then she turned back to Stelle. "Sorry about all the questions, making you stand here like this. You're friends with Nero, right?"
Stelle nodded.
"Come, come... try these. Auntie's treating you."
As she spoke, Aunt Gao showed surprisingly deft skills. With speed and precision, she prepared a large spread of food and brought it over.
Stelle passively picked up the large platter filled with food and looked around blankly.
The other diners nearby didn't say anything. They simply smiled kindly, as if they were already used to scenes like this.
Finding a random spot, the three of them dug in and devoured the food.
Bailu's tail swayed gently in a soothing rhythm, the little Dragon Lady patting her stomach with her small hand.
The night market of Aurum Alley really was intoxicating.
Suddenly, Bailu blinked, then jumped up at once... finally remembering what she had actually come out to do.
"I almost got full just eating at a snack stall. I haven't done what I came out for yet. I actually came out this time to buy some medicine jars... they're at some studio up ahead. Let's go, let's go."
"You should say you're buying medicine jars while you're out having fun," Nero commented from the side.
"It's the same, it's the same," Bailu waved it off. "As long as everything that needs to get done gets done."
Stelle and Nero followed Bailu forward. As they passed a certain spot, they heard people nearby talking about something.
"Hey, what's going on at the docks?" someone asked, looking in that direction.
"People from the company got into an argument with the dock workers," another replied.
Stelle and Nero also looked toward the docks. Sure enough, a crowd had gathered there.
Nero slowly floated up, getting a clear view of the situation while listening to the wind carrying the voices.
"Talk this out properly... don't bully people... "
A strong, energetic female voice rang out. Nero saw a girl with long twin ponytails. Someone familiar, though he'd never interacted with her before.
Sushang, a Cloud Knight who had just arrived here for training, seemed to have come to the Xianzhou together with Teacher Dan Heng.
"Hm? How about… we go take a look at the docks first?" Bailu suggested.
"Sure. I like watching the excitement," Stelle agreed readily.
Nero had no objections either, so the three quickly made their way over.
Soon, a slightly mocking male voice reached their ears as well. "Hey, where did this wild girl pop out from? What's it got to do with you?"
Sushang responded openly and firmly, "As a Cloud Knight, if there's a conflict at the docks, how could I just stand by and do nothing? And also, my name isn't 'hey,' and it's not 'wild girl' either. It's Sushang!"
The three quickly slipped into the arguing crowd at the docks. They saw a woman who looked like a chamber of commerce secretary step forward and say to Sushang, "Miss, please leave this matter to our Aurum Alley Chamber of Commerce."
Sushang blinked, her imposing manner easing slightly as she turned to the woman. "You're… from the chamber of commerce?"
Before the woman could answer, a business representative from the company on the other side spoke up, "You handle it? That's a joke!"
His tone was exaggerated, as if he had a hole punched through his lungs.
"Everyone here knows the Aurum Alley Chamber of Commerce is poorly managed and incompetent. Now the dock rent is overdue... who do you think is responsible for that?"
Hearing this, Stelle scratched her head and turned to Nero. "Poorly managed and incompetent. Did you know that?"
Nero shook his head. "No."
The kid hadn't been in this world for long. He'd spent less time on the Luofu than on the train, playing around every day... how would he know about things like this?
Then Nero turned to Bailu. "Do you know?"
Bailu shook her head too. "No."
Although the little Dragon Lady had stayed on the Luofu longer, she rarely had the chance to go out.
Even when she did, she had to sneak around. Besides, she was still young... how would she understand this kind of thing?
Finally, Bailu looked at Stelle. "Do you know?"
Stelle shook her head as well. "I don't."
Even the two locals from the Luofu didn't know, so as a newcomer, she knew even less.
It was a bit strange, but the three of them were genuinely just having a normal discussion.
For some reason, though, it seemed they had irritated the company's business representative. The exaggerated man turned toward them and snarled in a bizarre, screeching tone, "Where did you three come from? Since when is it your turn to butt in!?"
After he finished speaking, the three fell into thought.
Then, after a brief silence, they all raised their heads and looked at him with utterly sincere expressions.
Bailu spoke first. "Born from an egg."
Stelle followed immediately. "Born from a Stellaron."
Nero spoke last. "Born from my mom."
The company's business representative stared at them, mouth open, but no sound came out.
He felt like his brain had completely stopped working in that instant. The muscles on his face twitched uncontrollably, his sunglasses slipped down at an angle, revealing an utterly absurd expression in his eyes.
No joke.
Three blind, idiotic gods stood before him.