Chapter 66 Bills
Xiao Zhen looked at a feather in her hand.
This is a very soft tail feather from a common food - chicken.
At his feet stood a small creature, about half the height of a palm, with bulging eyes, slender limbs, and leathery skin. It spoke fluent Galactic Common and held up a piece of paper in both hands: "Please take a look, this is your bill."
The bill listed the following items:
[1 Damage to the third gate of the west area 35000 credit points]
[2 Damage to the fountain in the atrium of Otto Gardens 13800 credit points]
[3 Damage to the Art Statue at the Gate of Dawn 16000 Credits]
[4 Damaged Dawn Gate Relief 32000 Credits]
【……】
(Omitted)
【……】
[98 Medical expenses for 32 injured Xilin citizens: 12,000 credit points]
[Total: 1,523,500 credit points]
"..." Xiao Zhen threw the bill to the little debt collector and asked, "Where is Captain Madara?"
"You mean the chicken?"
"right."
The little creature said solemnly, "In view of the crimes listed on the bill you have seen, it has been ordered to be imprisoned by the most honorable Grand Duke Gil."
Xiao Zhen shook the feather in his hand, "So?"
"According to the laws of Shillin, if you do not pay for its series of atrocities, Duke Gil will sentence this chicken to death tonight."
"…Tell me, do you want me to throw you back into the sewer, or do you want me to kick you back into the sewer with my feet?"
The little creature, or rather the Xilin diplomatic envoy who lived in the sewer, put on a solemn demeanor: "I can show you the atrocities that Captain Ban committed against the Roya's Nest, a territory ruled by our most honorable Duke Gil."
A holographic screen floated up in front of Xiao Zhen, and the screen clearly showed the heroic image and glorious achievements of Captain Madara in the Sewer Kingdom. The chicken flapped its wings, pecked and jumped, and the screen kept coming with the sound of wings smashing buildings. The panicked Xilin people fled everywhere, and there were hellish cries and screams everywhere, flames shot up into the sky, and smoke filled the air.
Mr. Cat said, "Is this some new Godzilla movie?"
The chicken on the screen yelled, "You thieves! You bugs! You're a bunch of scum! Hand over the probe! You're a bunch of thieves!! No one can steal anything from me!!"
Bang! Diplomatic Envoy Xilin closed the screen.
Xiao Zhen shouted: "You stole my probe machine!!"
The Xilin diplomatic envoy said seriously: "It's not stealing."
"Then you admit that my mosquito detector is in your hands. You bunch of thieves!" Xiao Zhen said angrily.
"No, I want to correct that. Your probe aircraft entered the country illegally. We have the right to seize it."
"Illegal entry? Where does the boundary come from? Did you define it? You are just a group of outsiders..." When Xiao Zhen was denouncing the unreasonable Xilin diplomatic envoy, Mr. Cat suddenly connected his consciousness to him.
(Wait a moment.)
Xiao Zhen asked: (What happened?)
(There is really nothing wrong with Envoy Xilin’s claim.) Mr. Cat said in his mind, (This kingdom under the sewer is indeed their legal territory.)
(What?)
(Some legacy legal issues, the Xilin have territorial claims in certain sectors of the subsurface. I just checked, and this planet happens to be one of them.)
(This planet is not included in the galactic civilization at all!!)
(But the registration paperwork shows they do have a claim.)
(So they can just seize my probe?)
(According to galactic law, yes.)
Xiao Zhen paused for a few seconds and then quickly said in her mind: (As the adult of the Supervisory Eye, you can come forward to save your companions and my precious property.)
(Sorry, I don't want to reveal the identity of the Eye of Supervision to these Xilin people.)
(Why?)
(The Xilin people have a close relationship with the Holy Faction of the Eye of Overseer. I belong to another faction, and I cannot get involved in the faction struggle at the moment.)
Xiao Zhen stared at Mr. Cat for a while, then turned to the little Xilin figure on the ground and said, "What's the name of your duke?"
"The sixth seat of the Seven Oaths Council, the supreme commander of the Underground Shadow Society, the master of the Loya's Nest, the most honorable Grand Duke Jill."
"Take me to him."
"Our most honorable Duke is not something that anyone can..."
Xiaozhen grabbed it and said, "I want to discuss the debt with him. Do you think it's better for him to lose so much money in vain, or for us to just lose a chicken?"
The Xilin diplomatic envoy dialed its communicator, and after a few minutes, it said: "The Duke agrees to see you."
Of course it is impossible for Xiaozhen to go into the sewer.
He took a clay figure, cut off a small piece of his own tentacle and implanted it into the clay figure. In this way, the clay figure became his small split body, able to share consciousness and vision at the same time.
It's interesting to separate a part of my consciousness and put it on the little man, as if I have two selves at the same time. Now this clay can be called Xiao Xiao Zhen in a sense.
Xiao Xiao Zhen moved her arms and legs, adjusted herself a little to her new body, and jumped up and down on the table for a while.
Mr. Cat stared at Xiao Xiaozhen and slowly stretched out his claws.
"If you dare to do it, I'll ask my mother to put your sterilization plan on the agenda." Xiao Xiaozhen said.
Mr. Cat put down his paw, "You are too harsh on my host's habits."
"Keep an eye on your host, don't let it do anything strange to me!"
Xiao Zhen introduced Xiao Xiao Zhen to the Xilin diplomatic envoy, claiming that this was his personal representative and that Xiao Xiao Zhen would meet the honorable Duke Jill.
What does the underground kingdom of the sewer look like?
Xiao Xiaozhen had no interest in this. All he wanted now was to shake the Duke's head and force him to hand over all the exploration machines, oh and the chicken.
They entered the sewer and walked in the dark for a while. In the midst of the watery stench and smell, Xiao Xiao really hoped that the Xilin people could explain why they chose to build their own small kingdom next to the sewer. But when he saw the envoy's expression, he swallowed his question.
The expressions of the Xilin diplomatic envoys were always solemn, as if they were leading them to a holy place of pilgrimage, rather than an immigrant gathering place next to a smelly sewer.
After walking in the dark for about ten minutes , they arrived at their destination, the entrance to the Great Loya's Nest.
The metal on the inner wall turned into a solution, and a door floated up in an instant. A statue of a Xilin emerged from the door, and its eyes emitted red light, which swept over the Xilin diplomatic envoy. A rumbling sound came out of its mouth: "Certification passed." The red light then swept over Xiao Xiaozhen, and a rumbling shriek sounded: "Warning! Warning! Warning! Unauthorized unknown visitor!"
A laser shot out from the statue's mouth. Xiao Xiaozhen jumped back a step. The ground where he was standing was shattered by the laser.
"Let me guess, is this what you do to a chicken when it knocks on the door?"
"This is a very normal defense facility," said the diplomatic envoy Xilin. "The result is that it destroyed the western gate, completely destroyed it."
"Because you almost roasted it!"
With the help of diplomatic envoy Xilin, Mr. Cat and Xiao Xiaozhen completed the entry procedures.
After entering the gate of the sewer kingdom, they walked into a magnificent corridor. From Xiao Xiaozhen's miniature perspective, the corridor was spacious and majestic. The tall dome was inlaid with round bead-shaped lights, emitting a pale light. He noticed that the corridor was magnificent, but the statues on both sides of the road were broken and some even fell to the side. The ground was scattered with fragments of statues, and the ground that should have been flat was also bumpy.
"What happened here?" he said, stepping around a toppled statue.
“The chicken was here.”
“…”
The Xilin diplomatic envoy said solemnly: "This corridor was once our road of honor. Whenever there was a festival or the day when the Xilin people achieved glory, we would sing and dance on this corridor to celebrate. This is our place of glory. Look at both sides. There used to be masterpieces of sculptures by Xilin artists here."
"It's really hard for you to create such a magnificent and glorious place in the sewer ."
"These are masterpieces of artists over the past hundreds of years. Each one has a special meaning and records the glorious deeds of our Xilin heroes. However..." The Xilin diplomatic envoy shook his head and sighed, "After the chicken appeared, there was only destruction and death..."
"You mean to say that you lost a lot of money."
"This is not defined by money. We have lost the art and history that carried the glory of the past..."
"Oh, that's a lot of money."
The Xilin people call their sewer kingdom here the Nest of Loya, which means "the most dazzling sapphire" in Xilin language.
Xiao Xiaozhen couldn't understand what the kingdom next to the stinking sewer had to do with sapphire, but in order to save the face of the Xilin people, he had to nod and agree repeatedly.
After passing the magnificent atrium fountain (already destroyed by Captain Madara), passing through the glorious Loya Dawn Gate (already destroyed by Captain Madara), we entered the urban area of Loya's Nest.
The Xilin diplomatic envoy shouted: "Look, this is our Luoya's nest."
Before his eyes was a magnificent underground city. As far as he could see, countless roofs and spires were blurred in the darkness. The air in the city was humid, but it was not the foul smell of water in the sewers, but a warm and fragrant smell, wet but not too much, this was the smell of the city and life. But Xiao Xiaozhen could not see any flashing lights in the city, only the deep darkness and the small glimmer of silver armor on the Xilin Guards who came to greet him.
"Your kingdom has no electricity?"
"That chicken gave me..."
"Okay, I get it."
