Chapter 100: Chapter 98: The Universal Hub & Establishing Presence
The journey through the Universal Hub was a spectacle of impossible scale and vibrant life. The Quantum Meridian, a living paradox of cultivation and technology, sliced through the void, not with roaring engines, but with a silent, resonating hum. Kaelen sat at the controls, her expression a mix of profound awe and focused concentration. On the main viewscreen, the Hub grew from a distant smear of light into a magnificent, swirling metropolis of celestial bodies and impossibly large structures. It was a city of cities, an empire of empires, and its sheer diversity was breathtaking.
Elias stood beside her, his analytical mind processing the kaleidoscope of data. He observed species that defied biological understanding, technologies that bent the laws of physics, and fluctuations of power that felt both alien and strangely familiar. They passed by a floating trade station that resembled a colossal, crystalline jellyfish and a bustling shipyard where colossal starships, powered by what appeared to be captured suns, were being repaired by what looked like sentient fungi.
"Initiating approach to designated landing zone," Kaelen announced, her voice filled with a calm she didn’t entirely feel. The Quantum Meridian didn’t follow the typical flight paths of the other vessels. While they used thrusters and warp drives, her ship simply resonated with the Dao, smoothly shifting its state of being to flow into the Hub’s landing protocols. It was like a fish swimming against the current by becoming one with the water itself.
When they finally touched down in a bustling hangar bay, the landing was silent, a featherlight kiss on the reinforced platform. Other pilots and dock workers stopped what they were doing, their eyes widening in open curiosity at the sleek, organic-looking vessel. It was unlike anything they had ever seen—a manta ray of living metal, its surface shimmering with soft, multicolored light that seemed to change with Kaelen’s thoughts.
As they disembarked, a small crowd of onlookers had already gathered. Whispers rippled through the hangar. "Is that a ship or a creature?" one being with six eyes and a shimmering purple skin asked its companion. "Its energy signature is completely bizarre. It’s... resonating."
Elias and Kaelen paid them no mind. Elias’s gaze was singular, his mind already mapping the commercial sectors and logistics networks of the hub. Kaelen, however, gave a small, confident smile to the onlookers. She felt a surge of pride in her creation; it was a testament to her genius.
An official from the Universal Hub’s Commercial Guild, a being of pure light named Veridia, floated up to them. She was a being of pure bureaucracy, her form shifting between a human shape and a series of complex geometric patterns. "Greetings, newcomers. I am Veridia, Hub Agent 7. Welcome. I see you’ve brought a... unique vessel." She paused, her form flickering with a question. "Your ship’s energy signature is unlisted. And what is your business here?"
"My apologies," Elias said, his voice flat but polite. "The vessel is a prototype. We are here to establish a manufacturing and retail presence for our product."
Veridia’s form solidified into a single, raised eyebrow. "A manufacturing presence? Sir, for a facility of any useful scale, you would need to lease an entire factory sector. That requires extensive paperwork, financial verification, and a waiting period of at least two years." She gestured towards a massive, bustling industrial sector in the distance. "I could get you on the waiting list."
"Unnecessary," Elias replied simply. He didn’t even look at the industrial sector. He looked at Veridia, his gaze unwavering. "My manufacturing capabilities are already with me. I require only a discrete commercial storefront with an open energy conduit."
Veridia’s ethereal form flickered in confusion. "With you? Sir, I don’t see any... equipment."
Elias said nothing. He simply reached into a subtle pocket space within his arm, a place no one could see, and pulled out a single, gleaming metallic cube the size of a dice. The object shimmered with a complex array of runes and technological symbols. He placed it on the floor. It was a single, quantum-compressed node of his entire pill-making facility.
"This is the core," Elias stated. "It will establish our infrastructure and link to the local grid. Our factory is... internally contained."
Veridia’s eyes, a pair of swirling galaxies, went wide with shock. Her form dissolved into a confused, wavering light as her logical parameters broke down. She had never, in her millennia of existence, encountered such a thing. A factory in a dice. A being who held a universe in his hand.
Kaelen stepped forward, her warm, disarming smile back in place. "As you can see, our needs are minimal. Just point us to a good commercial district, and we’ll be out of your hair in no time. We’re very efficient."
Within hours, they had leased a simple, unassuming storefront that looked like a simple, unassuming rock formation. Elias, with a thought, expanded his pocket space from the tiny node. The entire automated pill-making facility, a marvel of science and cultivation, was instantly deployed in a secure, custom-designed sub-level beneath the shop, hidden from all but the most powerful scanners. The Nexus Spire hummed with latent power, its energy signature meticulously masked to appear no different than a small-scale refinery.
Veridia, still reeling, watched them go, her existence as a bureaucratic agent challenged by the sheer audacity of this man. Elias Vance was not just a powerful cultivator; he was a living paradox, a complete mystery, and he had just set up a full-scale factory in a single afternoon.
Their living quarters were equally simple, yet elegant. Kaelen, with her newly refined spatial law skills, created a spacious and comfortable apartment that existed in its own pocket dimension right above the shop. It was a private, cozy space in the midst of a chaotic metropolis.
"So," Kaelen said, flopping onto a plush chair she had manifested, "we have the ’rock shop,’ as I’m calling it, and the ’pill factory’ underneath. Are we ready to get rich?"
"The variables are now in place for the commencement of our economic expansion," Elias replied, a flicker of something almost resembling excitement in his voice. He had spent his life dealing with universal constants and cosmic truths. Now, he would see if those truths applied to the chaotic, unpredictable world of commerce.
The Universal Hub had no idea what had just arrived.