Chapter 1352: High Society

Upon entering the territory of the Gallant Federation, Sein no longer needed to rely on his spacecraft.

The Gallant Federation’s development in space technology was no less advanced than that of the Magus Civilization.

The Magus Civilization often relied on long-distance spatial magic arrays for interstellar teleportation.

The federation, however, had developed wormholes and coordinate positioning technology.

Sein traveled through wormholes, which appeared to be accessible even to ordinary civilians.

By paying enough Federal dollars, anyone could reach designated stellar coordinates through them.

Coordinate positioning technology, on the other hand, was far more advanced.

Though it could also be used for a fee, the price was shockingly high.

Coordinate positioning technology offered longer-distance travel, minimal spatial fluctuations, and greater carrying capacity.

This technology, better suited for spacecraft, was likely the standard method used by the federation’s military fleets.

Sein carefully recorded all of this, taking every chance to deepen his understanding of the Gallant Federation.

As for himself, he naturally continued to utilize wormholes...

***

Sein did not head for Nexon right after entering the Gallant Federation. That would have been far too conspicuous.

Nexon was a military restricted zone. Even native citizens of the federation were usually barred from approaching it, let alone second-class citizens.

There was still nearly a century left before the time Klopp had expected him to arrive, so Sein was in no rush.

This margin was thanks to the Huusian fleet that had carried him part of the way; without them, his schedule would have been so much tighter.

Sein started wandering casually through the federation’s territory.

His public identity was that of a son of an earl from the Zeak Empire. He had also suppressed his life level to Rank Two.

It was a clever choice. The title of an earl was low enough that the federation would not bother keeping track of every last one of them in real time—especially not the relatively unknown younger sons.

At the same time, the wealth associated with such a family made it perfectly reasonable for him to spend large sums of Federal dollars without raising suspicion.

For an ordinary middle-income federal citizen, working tirelessly for an entire year would only bring in a mere hundred or two Federal dollars.

Yet to many of the medium and small planar civilizations under the federation’s control, even that was considered an enviably high income.

At the very least, it was not something ordinary beings in those worlds could hope to earn.

After entering the Gallant Federation, Sein went on to convert several hundred thousand more Federal dollars on separate occasions.

Most of it went toward his frequent wormhole travel across various star domains. It was a luxury that came with a hefty price.

The lives of ordinary federal citizens were not nearly as idyllic as outsiders might imagine.

Many spent their entire lives confined to just one or two life planets. Their role was to serve as the foundation of the federation, working steadily to keep the system running.

Only the wealthy few could afford to move freely across planets and star domains, and Sein played the role of one.

He did not even need to use the Zeak Empire’s currency. Specimens he had collected back in the empire could already fetch impressive prices in the federation’s markets.

For instance, when he arrived in a small star domain called the Ganges Star Domain, he received an invitation to a charity auction hosted by the chief executive.

The invitation had not been something he worked to acquire; it had just been sent to his wristband.

The federation’s advanced information systems made it easy for them to identify the “potential big spenders”.

By now, Sein had spent enough money in the federation that his credit and social evaluation had quietly climbed several levels, though his identity crystal card still listed him only as a “second-class citizen”.

Attending the auction served another purpose as well. Sein believed that keeping a low profile the whole time was actually risky.

Sometimes, being too inconspicuous could draw just as much attention.

Maintaining a certain degree of visibility and using it as a way to mingle with the federation’s upper circles might one day help him find a way into the military-controlled zone where Nexon was located.

The so-called charity auction was, in truth, a scheme by the local chief executive to fund the construction of another garbage disposal planet.

To secure his re-election, he could not openly dip into taxpayers’ money, so he turned to “donations” from merchants instead.

And of course, the garbage disposal planet would serve the citizens of this star domain, which was how the event was justified as a “charity”.

By the time Sein arrived, the auction was already halfway through.

Not only did he join the bidding, but he also put one of his own items up for auction.

The expenses of the auction, the taxes collected, and the commission taken by the auction house would all eventually become the initial capital for the chief executive’s plan to build a garbage disposal planet.

It was clear enough that the merchants and nobles in attendance were supportive of his efforts.

By the time the auction was barely halfway through, tens of millions of Federal dollars in donations had already been raised.

The cost of constructing a garbage disposal planet was likely around two hundred million Federal dollars.

To Sein, though, it was just a glorified demiplane for dumping trash.

If converted into Magus World currency, a mere two thousand magicoins would be enough to fund such a project in a demiplane.

The item Sein chose to auction was an oval-shaped, multicolored stone.

He had obtained it from a peculiar geo elemental demiplane while passing through the Zeak Empire’s star domain.

The demiplane’s unusual gravitational laws gave the stone a powerful pull, making it one of the rare few specimens that had genuinely caught Sein’s interest.

“A chromium ore crystal from the Gray Dwarf Star of the Zeak Empire! It contains multiple rare metallic elements and holds immense collectible value!” the auctioneer, dressed in a stiff black high-collared suit, announced with excitement.

In the end, what seemed like an ordinary stone to Sein sold for an astonishing six hundred thousand Federal dollars.

That was the advantage of being a high-level lifeform—they never fared too badly, no matter which world they ended up in.

What Sein could casually dig up with his bare hands from a demiplane required a special spaceship to extract in the Gallant Federation.

The fact that it was a specimen from the Zeak Empire also added to its allure.

“It’s rather unbecoming for a noble of the Zeak Empire like you to still hold the status of a second-class citizen, Lord Prisenne. I can help you obtain a formal citizen’s crystal card here in the federation. Would you allow me to extend such a favor, my lord?”

A voice called out from behind just as Sein was leisurely wandering through the auction hall, more interested in sampling the refreshments than paying attention to the bidding.

Prisenne was the name he was using for now, and the family behind that identity was real and well-documented.

The real Prisenne had indeed existed. Unfortunately, the poor child was now nothing more than a preserved specimen, frozen and sealed away in Sein’s storage.

Since arriving in the Gallant Federation, Sein had silently added a handful of such specimens to his collection.

He did so carefully, always under the cover of the Faceless Mask and with the precision of a Rank Four being.

So far, he had never been caught.