Chapter 251: Chapter 171: Stubborn Illness

The hotel named "Gear Hotel" was the most luxurious hotel on Mechanical Star. Whenever there was a major event, the people of Mechanical Star would arrange for foreign guests to stay there.

The building had over a hundred floors, equipped with almost everything you could imagine.

However, even though the hotel’s rooms were equipped with top-grade large beds, Jiuyue did not sleep soundly that night. The thought that the Chamber of Commerce might have installed cameras and eavesdropping devices made her grit her teeth in anger. She did not want to become the female lead in some fox film.

At this time, the advantage of being a nine-tailed fox was revealed.

While sleeping, she transformed all nine of her tails and lay on her side, hugging Duan Mingyuan. Her nine tails acted as a quilt, covering both of them tightly. The fluff of her tails also had a certain degree of soundproofing effect. With this, even if the camera and eavesdropping devices were right beside the bed, they would not be able to pry into her and Mr. Mingyuan’s private life.

The only downside was that it took more time to groom her tails in the morning.

But it was all worth it.

Mr. Mingyuan liked her tails, with almost no resistance to the nine fluffy big tails.

Waking up in the morning, Jiuyue yawned and casually turned on the hotel’s TV, switching to Mechanical Star’s morning news. The announcers on Mechanical Star looked quite similar to Blue Star people, except their eyes were red, identical to Ling Long’s iris color.

Then, she moved a chair over, sat with her back to the bed, and extended her tails onto the bed. Duan Mingyuan began to help her comb through the somewhat messy fluff on her tails.

Playing with tails was fun, but the aftermath grooming was not an easy task.

In her nine-tailed fox state, Jiuyue typically needed an hour and a half to groom all nine of her tails.

Duan Mingyuan plugged in his blow dryer and, feeling the warm air coming from behind, Jiuyue’s eyes narrowed comfortably, and she dozed off again.

Mr. Mingyuan’s learning ability was extremely strong. After a few tries, he had become one of the best in the universe at grooming fox tails. She liked having Mr. Mingyuan groom her tails the most because it allowed her to sleep in comfortably.

Meanwhile, Mechanical Star’s morning news was reporting some bad news.

The current ruler of the throne was now suffering from a strange illness and had sought medical help from many medical institutions in the universe to no avail. The host called upon anyone who saw this news, regardless of identity, faith, or home planet, to help if they could, with great rewards promised by the Royal Family.

This piece of news was obviously broadcast for the summit guests, as the royal family of Mechanical Star hoped to get help from the physicians on board the council ships.

"Isn’t that referring to you?"

Jiuyue perked up her ears, and her eyes opened into a slit.

Mr. Mingyuan’s medical skills were unparalleled in the world. Not to mention any strange diseases or incurable conditions, even if you were dead as a doornail, Mr. Mingyuan could help you win the Resurrection match.

Whether you could come back to life depended solely on whether Doctor Mingyuan wanted to save you or not.

"Let’s not interfere with the affairs of other planets."

The ruler’s terminal illness reminded Duan Mingyuan of a script he felt he had seen somewhere before.

Heaven knows whether the ruler of Mechanical Star had contracted a strange disease, or was "made ill" like the Prime Monarch. The autocratic system on this planet was even more severe than the former Blue Star. The nobility held almost all the resources and power, and the planet’s residents were as inconsequential to them as weeds.

It was not hard to imagine that, even among the nobility, there must be more than a few who wanted to replace the ruler.

Duan Mingyuan said, "Since yesterday, I’ve noticed that there seems to be no one in this city other than the nobility."

The streets were deserted, and looking down from the high floors of the hotel, it was like looking down on a dead city.

In Ling Long’s memory, the throne of Mechanical Star used to be bustling, divided into upper and lower districts. Despite the stark disparity between the statuses of nobles and commoners, the nobles still needed the commoners to serve them.

But now, the commoners seemed to have been optimized away, and even the hotel’s service staff had been replaced with artificial beings.

Artificial beings were a product of Mechanical Star’s mechanisms combined with external technology. They possessed human faces and could mimic human actions, but they were essentially mechanical; under their skin, there were various intricate metal frameworks.

Duan Mingyuan thought that to understand the current situation of the Mechanical Throne, he needed to seek the help of some local friends.

The other planets’ councilors were out of hope, as they seemed unwilling to get involved with him, the "Great Demon King."

Fortunately, he had made the acquaintance of an interstellar cowboy in Siyang City.

As the head of security at Gear Hotel, he should know a lot about the city.

Helping Jiuyue groom her tails had already taken over an hour. Jiuyue planned to ask others to take a tour around the hotel, to fully experience the most luxurious enjoyment in the entire universe, while Duan Mingyuan had learned from 4423 about Earth Wolf Twelve’s whereabouts — in the bar on the sixth floor of the hotel.

He finally found Earth Wolf Twelve tucked away in a corner, posed like a piece of art in a strange position; he was dead drunk, with his shirt hiked up halfway, and his chest draped with a fishnet stocking, presumably taken off by someone else.

Duan Mingyuan felt that compared to the ruler of Mechanical Star, this interstellar cowboy might be in more need of some treatment.

He bent over and patted Earth Wolf Twelve on the shoulder. The latter suddenly let out a strange cry and jumped up from the floor, his right hand already clutching the revolver at his waist. Seeing that the newcomer was Duan Mingyuan, he lowered his guard, shook his head vigorously,

"I didn’t expect robots to get drunk too."

Duan Mingyuan asked curiously.

"I’m certainly not any kind of robot, even though this body of mine isn’t quite factory original. But to experience the sensation of a hangover, I had to ask for quite a bit of help from the Chamber of Commerce’s mechanics. Current technology can even simulate all kinds of senses that finely."

As Earth Wolf Twelve spoke, he lit another cigar, claiming it to be the best cure for a hangover, "Why aren’t you keeping your Fox Demon girl company? What’s got you coming to me so early in the morning? It’s a shame, the bar doesn’t open during the day; it only gets the right vibe at night."

"Is there a historical museum or something in this hotel?"

"A historical museum?"

"To learn some basic information about this planet, like where all the original residents have gone."

"That’s simple. The aristocrats of this planet are a bunch of superstitious fools. After a few rebellions, they started seeing traitors everywhere and chased out all the living folks a long time ago."

Earth Wolf Twelve thought he could sum up the shitty history of Mechanical Star over the past few decades in just one sentence.

He had no respect for the nobles in the city and no desire to deal with them.

Suddenly, he thought of something and asked, "You didn’t come here because of the morning news, did you? Don’t believe it. That news is replayed every day. You don’t look short on cash, so I advise you to stay out of the crap on this planet."

Back in Siyang City, it was Duan Mingyuan’s "resurrection" of the young hunter who was silenced by the Chamber of Commerce that sparked the series of events that followed.

But since he was really good at fighting, few people saw Duan Mingyuan as a doctor.

"What do you mean?"

"You must have seen it when you arrived, the entire planet has turned into a desert. That’s what the ruler did. This disease is his retribution. Last time I saw her, half of her body had turned into lumps of dirt, and she’ll be done for before the meeting ends at the latest."

"Can you cut down on the swearing?"

Duan Mingyuan frowned. If Jiuyue heard their conversation, she would have another reason to dislike those Interstellar Cowboys she already hated.

"Hey, we’re all men here, and you still fuss about this?"

"One has to be proper where it counts."

Duan Mingyuan was firm in his stance. From what he observed, although most swear words were used as emphatic particles and weren’t meant maliciously, they were highly contagious and often became habitual when used frequently among a group.

"Alright," Earth Wolf Twelve said, somewhat reluctantly. "I’ll watch my language."

"You said her body turned into dirt chunks? What kind of disease is that?"

"How would I know? It’s like this dry lump with cracks, looks like it would break if you tapped it. But I heard it’s that contraption called ’The Golden Hourglass’ that’s causing trouble. It turned the whole planet’s surface into a desert, but it also brought about some nasty side effects on the user."

Earth Wolf Twelve was still interested in all the magical gadgets on Mechanical Star.

And the great treasure.

He felt that the identity of an Interstellar Cowboy and the great treasure were a good match, but after spending a fruitless day searching outside, he lost patience for sifting through the sand.

As for the Cosmic Pirates wreaking havoc on Mechanical Star?

They were nothing but pawns used by the Chamber of Commerce to retrieve treasures. The nobles of Mechanical Star being forced to hide in the "Mirage" was orchestrated by the Chamber of Commerce in the shadows.

He suddenly grew serious, a departure from his usual demeanor, and said, "This planet is done for. ’Cocoon’ transformation is just a matter of time. The aristocrats are all preparing to flee, so you better not get involved with this mess."

When Earth Wolf Twelve still led the Rangers, he dealt with the most dangerous monsters in the universe on the frontlines of war-torn "Cocoon" planets every day. In his view, Mechanical Star met all the criteria for "Cocooning." In the past few decades, the native population of the planet had plummeted by 70%, and those who survived were merely clinging to life.

He had seen too much of this sort of thing. What awaited those people was only destruction.

"This isn’t a problem a doctor can solve. Maybe you can save someone destined to die, but you can’t save a planet."

"I never intended to meddle anyway," Duan Mingyuan said.

"Is that so? But you went to one of the towns and had a little friction with the Oasis Cosmic Pirates."

After suffering some losses, the Oasis demanded an explanation from the Chamber of Commerce about what exactly these Blue Star People were up to.

"They had it coming," Duan Mingyuan said. "Being a Cosmic Pirate is an extremely high-risk job; it’s not unheard of for an attempted robbery to end in the complete annihilation of the pirates."

"That may be true, but the Chamber of Commerce usually doesn’t like reasoning with people."

That was also why Earth Wolf Twelve felt both excited and troubled upon seeing Duan Mingyuan.

If possible, he’d rather sit and drink with his friends, nursing a hangover, than draw his gun for a shootout.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read