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The architecture here looked like some sort of burrow, possibly related to the main species of the planet being a creature similar to hedgehogs.

Their spines had originally been a tool for protection, but after having acquired better weapons, the spines had become something to be discarded.

Besides that, Liuzi found everything here a bit monotonous; the buildings looked quite fashionable, but it seemed as if something was missing.

Liuzi had intended to visit a bar to gather some intelligence, and to see if it was possible to recruit some reliable crew members, but just after taking a dozen steps, he saw a group of hedgehogs with very few spines walking from afar.

This was a strange procession; they stacked themselves according to specific rules, separating each layer with wooden boards and mats of different colors, making them look like a black champagne tower.

The ones at the bottom were hedgehogs whose spines had been plucked out, symbolizing some kind of crime; even though they were covered in blood, they still bore the sad wooden boards and trudged along with difficulty.

Following them were hedgehogs that were naturally lacking some spines, who were of higher rank, and even allowed to use small cloth pads on their backs.

At the very top was a hedgehog with no spines at all.

It was small in stature, sitting high on the top of the tower, and without spines, it looked like a mouse, but it appeared to have a very high status.

Wait, it actually was a mouse!

Through his glasses, Liuzi realized that the other was described in his glasses as an ordinary large mouse; who knew why it had become one of the highest-ranked hedgehogs here and was even being worshipped by the other hedgehogs.

After marveling at the vastness of the universe and its endless wonders, Liuzi kept his distance from these strange fellows and headed for the bar.

Inside the bar, it was bustling with noise.

Due to its proximity to the Star Harbor, residents of other planets filled the bar, in addition to the local hedgehog species.

Being a Star Merchant was not a particularly rare occupation; one could earn a lot from it, and apart from being a bit dangerous, there were no significant downsides.

This bit of danger meant a mortality rate of about 7%.

Some well-established routes did not make money, and if the body couldn’t repair itself, running back and forth might not even recoup the money spent on repairs.

However, the profitable routes were somewhat dangerous, as Interstellar Pirates would set up traps along the essential paths of the merchants.

These traps were specialized force fields that interfered with the signals on the merchants’ passing ships, causing their jump drives to produce an “already arrived at destination” false signal.

And once they stopped, a second force field would lock them in place, enabling the Interstellar Pirates to board via jump attacks, directly leaping onto the merchant’s ship and plundering their goods.

Compared to those merchants who risked their lives, player ships could self-repair, so common routes were feasible to make a living wage.

But to grow and strengthen their operations, they had to find more dangerous routes, which required adequate self-defense capabilities to either flee or counter-attack in the face of pirates.

Entering the bar and sitting down in an area designated for small animals, Liuzi noticed that the bartender here was a large elephant.

Large animals often enjoyed performing manual labor; they could easily do the work of a hundred small animals with their strength and then sell their labor for a good price.

Although he couldn’t taste it, Liuzi still ordered a glass of lemonade and began drinking after paying.

The currency system adopted in the game was interesting; it wasn’t an actual tangible general equivalent, but rather faith.

The right to mint faith was in the hands of the Gods; the residents here needed to choose a God to worship, and the faith thereby generated would be split, with half going to the corresponding God and the other half kept by themselves.

The half that was given away, that was the faith tax.

Although making money out of thin air sounds wonderful, this job is not particularly easy.

To worship a god, one must be sincere, as insincere worship will not be rewarded.

Furthermore, one cannot easily change the object of their worship, otherwise, they will be punished by the gods.

Worshipping for a long time may also attract the attention of the gods, and eventually, one may witness their descent and receive various blessings.

But some blessings are not necessarily a good thing. For example, some gods’ blessings make an organism’s pain nerves extremely sensitive, causing pain equivalent to gout with every step.

In the gods’ view, they have already satisfied the believers’ desire to become more sensitive, leaving themselves quite content.

While drinking lemonade, Liuzi listened to Delta explain everything about the gods and faith in a voice only he could hear.

This content actually inspired Liuzi, who couldn’t help but pick up a napkin and carefully started drawing with his small paws dipped in water.

Soon, the paper absorbed the water, leaving behind a blurry pattern.

Thanks to the sensitivity of the haptic gloves, Liuzi could easily create a rather good drawing.

This painting, inspired by legend, shows a god with an indistinct face, unidentifiable as good or evil, and of no specific gender.

Although it is an unfinished piece, one can still perceive the divine quality nurturing within the god, giving it a special divinity unlike that of ordinary people.

After about fifteen minutes, he finished the painting and looked at the water stains with satisfaction. He then noticed his surroundings were crowded with small animals.

Some were staring at him, some at the painting, their expressions differing, but overall, they all shared one.

That was astonishment.

Liuzi didn’t understand what they were astonished about until a little bat came over and asked in confusion, “What are you doing?”

“Drawing.”

“Is this a drawing? I mean, if I’m wrong, please don’t get upset. Are you trying to imitate humans or gods in painting?”

Liuzi still didn’t understand until Delta explained in a voice only he could hear, “In this world, all the paintings come from ancient humans, and the gods monopolize them. These residents haven’t seen a new painting in a very long time.”

“But aren’t there many statues in the First Ring?”

“Ordinary people do not have the privilege to go to the First Ring. Do you think they’ve seen them?”

“Why is it like this?”

“There are many reasons. Ordinary people lack a certain artistic creativity, so they cannot paint.”

Liuzi didn’t know that this was because the Far Traveler had taken away most of the “qingqi,” or vital essence.

The most beautiful and pure part of human consciousness had been taken away, leaving the remaining animals and plants utterly incapable, in fact unable to even paint a picture.

Art had disappeared here, and people could appreciate art, but were no longer able to create it.

Liuzi was unaware of the reason for this.

But he knew that his chance to earn his first bucket of gold had come.