Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Cosmic Zoo

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Wind Moon Street
In the apartment
It had been three days since he released the multiplayer mode.
This was the day he and Zhou Shun had scheduled to head to the Cosmic Zoo.
However, after freshening up, Yin Jian glanced at the time.
"It's not quite the time Brother Zhou mentioned yet."
Finding he still had time, he rubbed his chin.
Feeling that waiting around idly was a bit boring, he opened his developer dashboard to check the recent detailed sales of his games.
First, he looked at the daily sales for "My Little World" and "Spore Evolution."
He found that both had seen significant growth, though not as exaggerated as Lu Guo had claimed in the group chat, where he said they had jumped five or six times.
"Spore Evolution" had only grown by a little over a hundred percent, while "My Little World" was slightly higher, nearly doubling.
"It seems the recommendations in the White Bridge region are no longer doing much for these two games. I can only hope 'Mystic' can drive more traffic to them."
Thinking of this, he opened the data dashboard for "Mystic."
"Did it reach fifty million in daily sales?"
The launch of the multiplayer mode and the tipping feature had caused "Mystic's" daily sales to spike significantly, but Yin Jian didn't show much of a reaction, as this was within his expectations.
"Calculating it this way, I should have an annual revenue of twenty to thirty billion. After a fifty-fifty split with the platform, I'll pocket ten billion..."
Yin Jian felt a sting of loss calculating this, but there was no helping it; without the channels provided by the Qiyou platform, he wouldn't be able to earn this much money on his own.
"Around five hundred billion, plus my parents' pensions—that’s just about enough to create a small-scale realistic game... Sigh, the road ahead is long and arduous."
Yin Jian sighed. Just as he was about to check the comment section to see player feedback on the multiplayer mode, his optical computer signaled a message.
Opening it, he saw it was Zhou Shun telling him to set off.
Without hesitation, he immediately went downstairs.
He soon met up with Zhou Shun, and they headed to the subway station.
After about twenty minutes, they arrived at the White Bridge Star space elevator.
True to its name, one could take the space elevator directly to the cosmic space station established by White Bridge Star.
"Are we taking the sky rail?" Yin Jian asked, looking at Zhou Shun beside him.
If they were taking a spaceship, they wouldn't have come here, but rather to the spacecraft operations center.
Hearing Yin Jian's question, Zhou Shun nodded. "Didn't it just open recently? Let's come and experience what it's like to ride a cosmic train."
Yin Jian nodded upon hearing this. This was news they had heard last time at the technology exhibition.
Currently, this sky rail train hadn't been fully announced yet and was still in the operational testing phase.
However, as for these test spots... they weren't something you could get just by having money.
Yin Jian glanced at Zhou Shun but didn't ask further.
He walked side-by-side with him into the space elevator service station.
The service station was massive, a hexagonal building.
In the center stood nearly a hundred elevator shafts resembling glass tubes.
"This space elevator uses MMSW optical technology..."
Listening to the guide's explanation, Yin Jian felt his head spinning. He recognized the individual characters, but when put together... what was going on?
Zhou Shun saw Yin Jian frowning. "When in doubt, it's quantum mechanics."
He gave a thumbs-up after saying this.
"..."
During the conversation, they were quickly led by staff to one of the elevator entrances.
At the bottom of the glass tube was a circular ball of light.
Yin Jian examined it curiously before turning his attention to his surroundings.
Besides them, there were a few others, and judging by their attire, they weren't staff members; they were likely here to experience the sky rail as well.
After waiting a moment for a few more people to arrive, the staff opened the elevator doors.
"Once inside, you don't need to do anything."
Listening to the staff's instructions, Yin Jian and Zhou Shun walked into the elevator together, stepping into the ball of light within the glass tube.
Then, a sense of weightlessness surged from beneath their feet.
The light around them vanished, and by the time Yin Jian regained his senses, he found his location had changed.
He had arrived on a platform the size of a soccer field.
"So fast! It didn't even take a second."
Zhou Shun's surprised voice rang in his ears.
Yin Jian nodded in agreement; he was finding these "black technologies" increasingly incomprehensible.
After waiting for a moment, an intelligent robot came to guide them.
In designated space areas, only robots were permitted to operate.
As for why this rule existed, Yin Jian had no idea.
In the sky rail train's waiting room, quite a few people were already waiting.
Yin Jian counted, and there were about 6,000 people.
"Because it's in the test operational phase, there's only one departure per day," Zhou Shun said. He had done some homework before coming.

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Yin Jian nodded at this. Taking advantage of the wait for the train, he asked about Zhou Shun's game: "Brother Zhou, how is your game doing now? It's been on recommendation for a few days, right? How's the retention rate?"
"The collection growth is decent, about four or five thousand per day. As for retention, I haven't asked," Zhou Shun said with a smile. "As long as I don't know, my retention rate will always be one-to-one."
"...High, truly high." Yin Jian felt Zhou Shun's logic was flawless.
[The train is approaching the station; please keep your luggage with you and wait behind the yellow line.]
After chatting with Zhou Shun a bit more, they heard the train arrival announcement.
Hearing the prompt, Yin Jian and Zhou Shun moved immediately, standing in the designated spot to wait.
Soon, a massive, streamlined vehicle appeared on the tracks before their eyes.
The train was entirely black, its length unknown, about thirty meters high and forty meters wide.
It felt like a ferocious giant beast crouching on the ground.
The train pulled into the station, and they followed the crowd inside.
Upon seeing the interior of the sky rail, Yin Jian and Zhou Shun both wore expressions of surprise.
The layout was completely different from what they had imagined.
There were no rows of seats arranged together.
Instead, the walls on both sides of the carriage were filled with massive metal drawers, while the space in the middle was left open for movement.
Various facilities could be found here.
"There are numbers on the tickets."
Zhou Shun opened his optical computer to compare with the numbers on the metal cabinets.
He quickly led Yin Jian to the spot on their tickets.
"It's a sleeper berth."
After opening the metal cabinet and seeing the structure inside, Zhou Shun remarked.
Inside was a soft bed.
It was a cubic structure with a large internal space; although one couldn't walk around, it was more than enough for a person to lie down.
"I'll go in first and see how it feels."
As Yin Jian said this, he lay into the opened metal cabinet.
The cabinet seemed to have a sensor function; the moment he lay inside, it began to close slowly and automatically.
Soon, the surroundings were plunged into darkness.
The mattress was soft and extremely comfortable, making Yin Jian feel as if he were melting into it.
"Is it just for sleeping?"
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a virtual screen popped up in front of him.
It listed various functions: massage, music, space viewing mode, zero-gravity experience mode...
Seeing the last two, Yin Jian curiously activated them.
Instantly, the darkness in his space vanished.
The scenery outside entered his field of vision with no blind spots.
At the same time, he felt the pressure on his body disappear, and he began to float gradually.
Yin Jian looked left and right. Since the train was still at the space station and hadn't started moving yet, he could only see the scenery inside the station.
"This function should be quite breathtaking once the sky rail enters space."
[This train is heading to the Du Jing Galaxy, passing through... Estimated arrival time is two days. The train is about to depart; please return to your rest cabins if you are still in the hall to avoid accidents. All staff of the No. 1 Sky Rail wish you a pleasant journey.]
Just as Yin Jian was thinking this, the sound of the train preparing to depart echoed in his ears.
Not long after the sound faded, the scenery outside began to move slowly.
Once they had completely cleared the space station, the sky rail's speed continued to increase.
It traveled through the silent, tranquil universe like a streak of light.
The meteorites along the sky rail's route had already been cleared, and there were special magnetic field devices to interfere with any meteorites approaching the tracks, forcing them to change direction.
As the sky rail entered space, Yin Jian looked at the sea of stars that seemed within reach and was struck with awe.
Although there were games that simulated traveling through the stars, games were ultimately just games; they were nowhere near as breathtaking as experiencing it in person.
"When I have the money to make a realistic game, I must achieve this effect too," Yin Jian told himself.
The sky rail sped on.
He passed by one unique nebula after another.
Finally, they arrived at a jump station in the Shu Chuan Galaxy to perform a jump.
The requirements to build such jump points were extremely stringent, and they couldn't be built just anywhere. Furthermore, the jump distance was limited; one couldn't go directly to the desired star region but had to make constant transfers between stations.
However, it was still much faster than the initial speed of human space exploration.
Experts had tested that with current technology, flying the fastest ship, one could traverse all the star systems in the Xia Hua Star Region in a day.
This was something humans wouldn't have dared to imagine in the past, just as people in the Iron Age couldn't imagine people in the Information Age flying around the Earth in a day.
Watching the sky rail complete another jump, Yin Jian opened the group chat.
This was fresh news; he had to share it.
However, upon opening the chat, he realized Zhou Shun was even faster than him, already having started a live stream to share the beautiful cosmic scenery with everyone.
"Egg-y-Egg": Green hat is awesome!
"Divine Phoenix": This must cost a lot of money... Does the big boss need a hanger-on?
"Grey Wolf Who Loves Frying Pans": Is this the world of the big boss? *whimper* QvQ
"Sect Leader of Sword Rise": Green hat is awesome!
"Sect Leader of Sword Rise": Did you know there's a huge scandal in the virtual gaming world today?
Seeing the message from Sword Rise, Yin Jian felt a spark of curiosity and typed:
"You're forcing me": What scandal?
"Sect Leader of Sword Rise": There was a small agency that recruited people, but they swallowed the game revenue belonging to the developers they recruited, directly causing one developer to go bankrupt and nearly jump off a building. It's quite a big deal.
"Divine Phoenix": And then?
"Sect Leader of Sword Rise": Lawsuit, of course. But clearly, that small agency was prepared. After the lawsuit started, it turned out the developers owed the agency money instead. I find it ridiculous; do these people not read their contracts?
"You're forcing me": That shady? What about the developers at other small agencies? What happened to that Tian You last time?
"Sect Leader of Sword Rise": No news yet, but I haven't heard of anyone making money either.
"Egg-y-Egg": Sword Rise is so well-informed.
"Stone": @Sect Leader of Sword Rise_New Game.
"Sect Leader of Sword Rise": [Guess].jpg
"Stone": If you do that again, I'll mute you and stop you from spamming the group.
"Sect Leader of Sword Rise": Stupid Stone.
('Sect Leader of Sword Rise' has been muted by group admin 'Stone' for ten minutes.)
"You're forcing me": Stone is awesome!
"Egg-y-Egg": Stone is awesome!
"Divine Phoenix": Stone is awesome!
"Stone": You all just work hard under me, don't end up like Sword Rise.
"You're forcing me": [Well-behaved].jpg
...
Time always flew when chatting.
Yin Jian felt like not much time had passed when he heard the voice prompt announcing their arrival at the destination.
He immediately left the rest cabin, met up with Zhou Shun, and exited the sky rail at the Du Jing docking station.
"Holy crap!"
As soon as he reached the station, Yin Jian was shocked by the prosperity outside.
As one of the most prosperous galaxies in the Xia Hua Star Region, the level of development in the Du Jing Galaxy was simply incomparable to the Shu Chuan Galaxy.
The entire Du Jing Galaxy was hardly a galaxy anymore; calling it "Du Jing City" was more appropriate.
Countless star rings connected all the planets in the entire star region.
Various massive structures, retrofitted from meteorites, floated in the air.
You wouldn't see any messy meteorites here.
They had been organized into areas and planted with vegetation that could survive in the void.
"There's a saying that Du Jing is a 'one-hour city,' meaning it takes at most an hour to reach anywhere in this star region."
Yin Jian swallowed hard. The power of the state was indeed incomparable.
Although he had always read in the news about how impressive various prosperous cities were, this was just too impressive.
A whole galaxy modified to look like a city—it was simply mind-boggling.
What else could Yin Jian say?
Only one thing!
Xia Hua is the greatest!
After taking in enough of the scenery, the two took a tourist spaceship provided by the authorities to their destination.
[Cosmic Zoo]
This zoo wasn't on a planet, but rather on a belt of meteorites the state had specifically designated for it.
Some meteorites were large, others small.
The largest were like asteroids, while the small ones were the size of basketball courts.
Each meteorite was a different zone.
The large ones were theme parks, gathering special species from certain planets to form a special ecosystem.
The small ones were like ordinary zoos, housing animals of the same species.
The meteorites had climate simulation systems that could replicate the environment the creatures preferred, so there was no need to worry about them being unable to survive.
Yin Jian and Zhou Shun were dropped off by the spaceship at the entrance of the Cosmic Zoo.
There were many staff members here with numbers on their chests.
They were the tour guides arranged by the zoo for visitors.
Visitors could choose to have a guide lead them around.
After all, having someone to explain things could add a lot of fun when looking at various animals.
"Hello, I am... Holy crap! Yin Jian, how do I keep running into you everywhere? Are you cursed or something?!"
Hearing the familiar voice beside him, Yin Jian turned his neck stiffly, then saw that iconic afro.
"..."
PS: The boss says everyone doesn't like it to last long, but likes it to happen many times... Is that true?