Chapter 11 (2/2)

Ignoring the look in his eyes, Rolin continued: ”Since the dining area and the entertaining area are abandoned, and the 24-level authority are not allowed to enter closed areas, the areas you can enter are bedrooms and the hallway.”

Huang Xuan felt a great compulsion to give him a heavy blow. ”Bedrooms and the hallway. What is there to see?!” he thought unhappily. ”Maybe when combined, they are not as big as my house.” Looking at the furniture, he saw nothing but the seats floating in the air. Not even a bed could be found. He asked sulkily: ”What did you take me here for?”

”You asked for a second plane travel, didn't you?”

”Yes.” Huang Xuan's eyes showed excitement. He said: ”Are we ready to go?”

Rolin said: ”Only if you are healthy enough can you have a second plane travel, so I need you to have a check-up and be vaccinated.

”So complicated,” Huang Xuan complained. Then he said: ”Hurry up.”

While he was speaking, Huang Xuan floated slowly toward a wall. Before he had the time to shout, he was already banging on the wall, then again and again, until he got dizzy. When it stopped, he realized something had happened.

The color of the room remained the same, but Huang Xuan had been put into a transparent ceramic jar, through which only the relief on the ceiling could be seen.

”What happened?” Huang Xuan wriggled about uneasily.

”A medical check-up and vaccination involve the treatment of the diseases above C level since T1800.” Hearing Rolin's voice, Huang Xuan was more or less relieved. Then he felt coolness and numbness on his arms, legs, and b.u.t.t. He gasped, clenched his teeth and said: ”Rolin, did anybody tell you that vaccines are supposed to be given separately?”

”No,” Rolin answered in his typical style.

During the vaccination, Rolin continued with Huang Xuan's check-up reports which were all registered with dull English letters. Looking outside through the semi-transparent black outside wall of the jar, Huang Xuan waited in boredom for the end.

”According to the report, you are fit to have the travel. Do you still want to go?” Rolin's voice sounded m.u.f.fled when it came down through the jar. Huang Xuan covered his ears for a bit. He was on the verge of saying yes when he stopped and said: ”Wait. I must be well prepared this time. I need time to consider where to go and what to take with me.”

”I am not sure I can teleport you to the precise s.p.a.ce and time you choose because there isn't enough information on the planes' state. Therefore, preparation is basically pointless.”

Huang Xuan was doubtful. He said: ”What if you send me to pre-historic times?”

”Currently, I can only send you to the times within one hundred years from nowadays.”

Huang Xuan extended his hands resignedly and said sarcastically: ”You mean you can't even if you want to send me farther?”

”If the target s.p.a.ce and time are after T1900, but the target plane is still in pre-historic times, there is a chance that you would go into prehistoric times but it is rare. For the time being, I can only send you to plane P1.”

”What is plane P1?” Huang Xuan felt he had heard this strange noun more often than he had tests.

”Planes P1 are defined by the standard plane of plane P. They lie between regular planes and the irregular ones. Their historic elements are similar to those of standard planes. They haven't suffered from invasion or plane colonization⎼”

”I see.” Huang Xuan interrupted him impatiently. ”Does that mean there is no difference in what time I choose to travel?”

”Yes, presently.”

”Then how do I exchange stuff? I mean, what kind of currency am I supposed to choose to use? Should I take gold directly?

”If you want to carry equivalents, grains are a better choice,” Rolin explained. ”During a plane travel, fresh living matters consume the least energy, which was one million times less than non-living matters. Hence, when traveling to an unknown plane, living matters like grains are usually chosen to carry as equivalents.”

Huang Xuan blinked and said: ”A gram of gold can buy hundreds of grains. How many grains am I supposed to carry? And how do I sell them?”

Rolin answered mechanically: ”During a plane travel, the shorter a matter's shelf life is, the less energy it consumes. Thus, living matters usually consume less energy, and paper less than metal. If we are going to have a plane travel on this base, gold will consume one hundred trillion times more energy than grains, which is beyond the energy storage of the base.”

Huang Xuan said resignedly: ”How many grains can I take?”

”According to the current energy storage, 100 tons is within the safe range.”

Huang Xuan stroked his skin which had been filled with vaccines and said: ”I am off to buy grains.”