A Day Trip in Little Lackle【Please keep reading!】

Little Lackel Planet, the ninth planet of the Lackel star system, is a towering jungle world.

Above, the blue giant star hangs in the sky, along with a vibrant chain of planets that can be seen even during the day.

Below, immense drooping forests and leaf-strewn pastures cover the ground.

The drooping trees rise thousands of meters high, resembling willows with trailing branches—thousands of silken strands, each ending in a spherical fruit.

Among the branches, there are restaurant nests, tree hollow inns, and even large artificial stages built upon the tree clusters, hosting concerts, sporting events, award ceremonies, and other grand gatherings.

The most renowned entertainment on Little Lackel Planet is the Cloud Swing.

When the Leonine arrived at Little Lackel, the ship docked at the treetop shipyard.

Lu Chen had arrived half a day early; the editor of "Federation of Free Stars" was scheduled to arrive in the evening.

The moment Lu Chen and his companions disembarked, they went straight to the starting point of the Cloud Swing.

Upon a massive tree branch—at a certain swing launch platform—

The three were in high spirits.

They paid three coins each, five spirit stones per person, planning to climb onto three separate drooping fruits.

A swinging competition—relay in midair—to see who could swing the farthest.

Whoever came last would have to foot the bill for meals, shopping, and an extravagant spree!

The Cloud Swing attendant was a young squirrel girl, who solemnly asked,

"Would you like to wear seat belts?"

"No."

"Would you like the vest airbag?"

"No."

"Would you like the weight-reducing gyroscope?"

"No."

All three responded in unison.

Golia, impatient, added,

"Nonsense, the ship already has airbags and gyroscopes. If we need to add more to play, how is it any different from a ship losing control and rolling over?"

Lu Chen thought, you really know about losing control in ships!

In fact, Little Lackel Planet deliberately avoided installing planetary arrays, so its gravity is immense, the trees soar into the clouds, and the clouds are thin enough to see the buildings, rivers, and pastures on the ground—a thrilling experience.

The squirrel girl immediately produced three electronic contracts.

"If you don't install any safety equipment—even with rescue airships—even if you're cultivators or adventurers, there's still a risk. Every year, people fall and get seriously injured or even die. You must sign a waiver."

Lu Chen was beginning to regret his decision...

But the mood was set, and none of the three would admit defeat.

"Fine, I'll sign!"

Lu Chen was actually a bit afraid of heights.

Luckily, he had danger alerts.

Golia, with thirty-eight levels of true cultivation, could crash a flying car with a sneeze—surely she'd be fine.

He was a little worried about Aili...

But looking at Aili's expression—cheeks puffed out, determined and earnest—

After signing, Golia was the first to step onto a fruit and swing out forcefully.

She underestimated the planet's gravity.

Her hand slipped, and she was flung into the clouds.

To win the contest and earn a free shopping spree, she refused rescue from nearby airships, stamped her feet with sword energy, and, like the legendary Monkey King somersaulting, flipped herself back.

By the time she returned, Aili and Lu Chen had already swung steadily past her.

Lu Chen clung tightly to the drooping strand, not daring to look down at the cloud layer below.

He felt the strand might snap at any moment...

Even though his danger guide gave no warning.

But that's how fear of heights works: you always think the skyscraper's glass floor will shatter, the roller coaster will derail, you'll be thrown from the giant swing...

And sometimes, these things really do happen.

What Lu Chen worried about wouldn’t happen; if it did, he’d get an advance warning.

His fear was psychological.

Especially with the planet's double gravity, the thin clouds, swinging... it was too intense.

When salvaging at the edge of a black hole, his armor separated him from the outside world, so he never felt such a thrill.

For Lu Chen, this was perhaps a bit too much.

So much so that, after swinging relay nine times, he reached the finish platform still numb.

Body and soul completely adrift, unable to reunite for a long while.

The contest ended thus:

Aili took first place, swinging fast and steady.

For her, it was even a prime opportunity to practice wood and wind-based magic.

Golia, with her wild acceleration of sword energy, overtook Lu Chen to claim second.

Now she knelt on the finish platform, bottom up, vomiting furiously...

Aili took out a water bottle and tissues from her backpack, wiped Golia's mouth, then helped her drink some water.

Only then did Golia regain her senses and glance at Lu Chen.

She wanted to make a comment, but her world had been spinning—she hadn’t seen Lu Chen’s embarrassment.

Lu Chen withdrew his soul.

Still shaken, he never wanted to try it again.

Clearly, only Aili had enjoyed herself.

Golia was purely after the free shopping.

Lu Chen was there to spoil the women, and to relax a bit.

"Alright, I'll treat today!"

...

Next came Golia’s shopping spree.

Aili only bought some unique local cultivation methods, a few spirit beast embryos, seeds of spirit plants, and fungal spores...

Lu Chen had expected accompanying Golia for clothes shopping would be torture.

To his surprise, she never tried anything on. At most, she’d ask Lu Chen and Aili,

"Does it look good?"

If it looked good, she bought it.

If it didn’t, she still bought it.

If she thought it looked good, she bought it.

Clothes, accessories, cosmetics...

No haggling, no fitting, no testing—number one favorite buyer among sales staff across the galaxy.

Such shopping habits were excellent; Lu Chen didn’t feel tortured at all.

It was just a bit expensive.

Fortunately, Little Lackel’s clothing, accessories, and cosmetics were all locally made, rich in humanoid tribal style and very distinctive, but generally inexpensive.

Unable to carry it all, Lu Chen had to deploy his armor to pack Golia’s new clothes, stuffing it full.

After their wild spree, Lu Chen checked his wallet...

They spent two hundred and fifty!

That even included fifty spent by Aili.

If you don’t profit, it’s a loss—Golia’s vomiting and diarrhea earned her only this much, feeling she'd suffered a huge loss.

"What a lousy planet—so many gorgeous clothes and accessories, sold so cheap? Don’t waste them!"

But even if she shouted herself hoarse, Lu Chen’s armor couldn’t hold any more.

"Come on, let’s find a fancy restaurant!"

Golia, still unsatisfied, decided to eat her way back to profit.

But Lu Chen shook his head and spread his hands:

"The Federation of Free Stars editor is treating us tonight—restaurant’s already booked. I couldn’t spend money even if I wanted to."

"Then I want to soak in a spring!"

"Does this planet have springs?"

Golia glanced around, apparently mistaking the planet.

Then she pointed toward a nearby treetop.

"Captain, look at all those people up in that tree..."

Lu Chen vaguely heard a melodious celestial tune.

"A concert, perhaps. Let’s take a look."

So, Lu Chen piloted his armor, Aili on his left shoulder, Golia on his right, flying to the neighboring treetop.

Sure enough, a concert was underway.

It looked lively.

The singer was a tall young man in Imperial prison garb, dressed hip-hop style, with a cocky demeanor.

Lu Chen felt he’d seen him somewhere before...

The music, though incomprehensible, was rhythmic, as if a current ran from one ear to the other...

In the crowd, Lu Chen discovered it was a free concert.

Not only was the music free, but they were giving out money.

The longer you watched, the more gifts you could claim by scanning codes; the longer you stayed, the richer the rewards.

In the front row, hosts were live-streaming.

Lu Chen and Golia were enjoying it well enough.

But Aili’s face had gone pale, her eyes vacant...

Lu Chen quickly led Aili away.

Just then—

A shrill sound pierced the air.

The music abruptly stopped.

Above, a black starbeast ship shaped like an electric eel slowly descended.

And floating in the upper atmosphere above it, a massive dragon-shaped ship hung in the sky.

"Brother Lu, don’t leave—I have a major project for you!"