Chapter 69: The Repairman

038 Interstellar Port.

A previously idle shop in this area had opened, a repair station specializing in various exoskeletons and even spaceships.

The first day's business was slow, as no one wanted to entrust their precious possessions to an unknown newcomer. For explorers, their exoskeletons and spaceships were more valuable than their lives.

The young owner, bored, lay on the counter, watching people come and go.

He even saw beings from the Colorful Stone civilization.

These beings had arrived from their original star system over the past 200 years and were still rare. The Kaitian and Hundred-Eyed tribes found them intriguing, and their curiosity was evident.

Most of these Colorful Stone beings were merchants, selling various treasures from their civilization. Although their technology was not advanced, their exotic and rare items attracted many buyers.

At this moment, a Kaitian knocked on the shop's door.

"Can you repair spaceships here?"

Its small eyes showed doubt and disbelief, an expression that Yan Xia remembered from his first encounter with the Kaitians many years ago.

However, as they integrated with human culture, both the Kaitians and Hundred-Eyed tribes became more human-like in their movements and expressions, almost indistinguishable from humans.

It was like the difference between wolves and dogs. Dogs, domesticated from wolves, have more human-like body language, such as wagging their tails or showing a toothy smile, and when sad, they would hang their heads, expressions that wild wolves do not display.

"Yes, I can."

Yan Xia nodded.

"The repair fee for exoskeletons is 6 Federal Energy Coins, and for spaceships, it depends on the extent of the damage, starting at 50 Federal Energy Coins."

This price was quite reasonable, slightly lower than the market rate.

Hearing this price, the Kaitian hesitated and then asked, "Can you make it cheaper?"

Apparently, he was a poor fellow.

"How much can you offer?"

"I only have 38 Federal Energy Coins..."

Yan Xia thought for a moment and decided that sitting around watching people come and go was boring. He might as well find something to do.

"Come on, you're my shop's first customer. I'll give you a discount."

The Kaitian led him to the area in the Interstellar Port where spaceships were parked.

Yan Xia saw the spaceship, which resembled a giant overturned fish, covered in patches, indicating that it had been in service for a long time.

"It's an old one."

He carefully inspected it and found that the problem was with the thruster. He checked the production date, 7789 AD, while the current year was 8005 AD, meaning this spaceship had been in use for 216 years. If it had been passed down through generations, it would have belonged to at least three generations of Kaitians.

"Can you fix it?"

The Kaitian asked cautiously.

"Of course, but the price you offered is not enough. Even with a discount, I can't reduce the price further."

"It'll cost at least 120 Federal Energy Coins to fix it."

The Kaitian's face fell, and he became dejected.

"I don't have that much money."

"This spaceship belonged to my father. He died in space from an illness, and his friend brought the spaceship back to me."

"My father was our family's only source of income, and my mother has little savings. I have four younger siblings, and I want to become an explorer like my father."

He had a distant dream.

But his first step was blocked.

Yan Xia originally thought that there were many job opportunities in the Civilization Federation, enough to support all the beings within it. However, he didn't expect poverty to exist.

"What's going on?" Yan Xia secretly asked Ella.

Ella quickly responded.

Over the past 700 years, the populations of the Kaitian and Hundred-Eyed tribes, who had initially arrived with the warships, had grown to 5.8 billion and 2.2 billion, respectively, while the human population had increased many times over to 117,000.

Additionally, the Leler tribe's rapid reproduction rate had increased their population from 36.2 billion to 50.1 billion, almost reaching their peak.

Ella had even retired some robots, freeing up many job opportunities, but it was still not enough.

With the development of the capital system, the total population of the four civilizations was expected to reach 100 billion in 400 years, and there might be other civilizations, such as the Colorful Stone civilization, settling in the capital system, further increasing the population.

The population growth would bring about population benefits, and with Yan Xia's previous imagination of resource theory, the Civilization Federation would develop faster.

However, a side effect was the wealth gap, which could not be eliminated.

For example, a person who was once the owner of a small company might lose their competitiveness as their products became obsolete, leading to the company's bankruptcy and their wealth turning into negative assets.

The Civilization Federation could not make up for these negative assets, and if this person could not repay their debt, they would become poor, and even their descendants might remain poor.

Only by abandoning progress and distributing resources to every individual, creating an ideal balance, could the wealth gap be eliminated.

This was an inevitable result.

Yan Xia could do nothing about it, as neither he nor the Civilization Federation was a philanthropist.

Moreover, the wealth gap was what gave the civilization its vitality.

"How about this? I'll invest in you. In addition to the Federal Energy Coins you give me, the remaining money will be considered a loan. You can pay me back when you earn it back in the universe."

Yan Xia was taking a considerable risk, as there was no guarantee that the Kaitian would return. The universe was dangerous, and anything could happen.

Even on a planet, a shipwreck could leave someone stranded on a deserted island, let alone in the vast universe.

"Thank you, sir."

"I, Dulu, swear that I will repay this debt to you."

He was a naive young man.

"Alright!"

Yan Xia repaired the thruster, and with his skills and Ella's tight equipment, the repair was a breeze.

It took about four days to complete the repairs.

Yan Xia watched as Dulu boarded his spaceship and flew into the depths of the universe from the Interstellar Port.

Every day, countless individuals with dreams embarked from this Interstellar Port.

"What a great place."

"The atmosphere here reminds me of a manga. Perhaps I can spread a legend about One Piece."

Ella sent a message at this moment.

"Why not create a legend of a legendary repairman?"

"Yan Xia, I have a technology that I want to test, and it might be up to you."

Yan Xia was curious about what it was.

Ella had already prepared and had the item delivered to his shop.

When he returned and opened the package, he found a skintight armor.

As he picked it up, Yan Xia realized it was unusual - it was like liquid!

Was this liquid memory metal?