Pillar of Yita

And the ring-shaped hall where the three are heading is actually just a sightseeing hall, with the addition of a renowned space restaurant.

At the inception of Stargate Port, rocket transport capacity was as precious as gold per gram, so naturally, there was no residential or sightseeing area. Back then, every inch of Stargate Port was functional, almost entirely used for scientific and military purposes.

It was only with the progress of commercialization and the rise of tourism that these humanized modules gradually increased. For instance, the ring-shaped hall was actually transformed from the original command center, whereas today’s command center has already moved to the central district of Stargate Port.

Today, Stargate Port welcomes thousands of tourists daily, and there’s naturally more than just one sightseeing hall, but the most famous is still the ring-shaped hall.

After all, it was the first officially operating space restaurant in human history, and it’s a renowned brand for over half a century. Its fame is unparalleled, whether from a historical viewpoint or brand effect.

The three each ordered a cup of the famous space coffee in the hall.

This coffee is actually a famous gimmick. If you’re a resident of the airport, you definitely wouldn’t order something so expensive and unpalatable. But since it’s for hosting newcomers, Sicape doesn’t make any special distinctions.

After all, it’s like buying a souvenir. What you’re really sipping is the mood.

The bartender obviously understood this well, giving the two girls an immediate 20% off. When the three held their space-material coffee cups and reached their seats on the observation deck, Sicape quietly told them: ”Don’t be fooled by their servant outfits—those managing here are actually military and government personnel—”

She looked back: ”Governments from various countries have investments and shares in this port; it’s a big cake within. There’s much more to sightseeing here, which I should warn you about.”

She then introduced the airport’s history, traditions, and precautions to the two.

After all, this isn’t an ordinary tourist holy land; this port is a collection of countless interests and attention. The surface calm doesn’t cover the underlying things. If it were a regular day, she certainly wouldn’t go into such detail, but firstly she wanted to express gratitude, and secondly, she felt an inexplicable affection.

She always felt like she’d seen that girl in that place before.

Tang Xin watched her friend listen with interest.

But she couldn’t help but ask: ”Like before?”

Sicape was slightly startled, not expecting the girl to be so sensitive, then nodded after some thought.

Tang Xin asked again: ”Why didn’t you chase after them then, Stargate Port should be tightly controlled, right? If you really wanted to chase him, he might not have gotten away.”

Upon hearing this, Sicape gently shook her head: ”Even catching them wouldn’t help.” But she didn’t intend to delve further into this topic, as it was unrelated to the two girls present. She knew which side these people belonged to, but it wasn’t the first time.

She had interactions with embassy personnel from China, and Russia had provided shelter for her and Kroid as well.

But privately, there were still people who refused to give up.

Because of this, she and Kroid had recently reduced their contact with Fang Hong.

The topic momentarily reached an impasse, making the three feel a bit silent. Sicape sipped her unpleasant coffee, while Tang Xin stared through the large floor-to-ceiling windows of the sightseeing hall at the airport scenery outside.

She thought that this place didn’t seem as safe as rumored.

What lay outside was the port’s zero-gravity zone, where staff in protective gear moved up and down, and several ships were docked at the port, gleaming white in the sunlight. But this direction led to the cargo area, so CX740, which brought them here, was not visible.

She lifted her head, gazing at the distant, deep starry sky and Earth’s blue arc edge, the faint atmosphere seemingly only a thin layer of flashing edge. Against Earth’s backdrop, at the far end of Stargate Port, there was a large composite material frame.

From the size of that frame alone, it was almost as big as Stargate Port.

But when sunlight passed the back of that frame, it cast a colossal shadow on the glass curtain wall of the ring-shaped hall.

Even the girl beside her noticed this scene and couldn’t help but ask unclearly: ”What is that?”

”Section C plan.”

Sicape replied: ”A new district construction plan for Stargate Port. Once completed, Stargate Port will expand to twice its current size. At that time, the number of Invokers entering Stargate Port will further increase. This plan has been on the agenda since thirty years ago.”

”Huge.”

”It is huge.” Sicape nodded at the shadow: ”But it’s almost finished, really. Once the new Space Elevator is completed, the construction here will accelerate further, and it’s expected to officially conclude two years later.”

Tang Xin listened to their conversation, subconsciously recalling the scene she’d witnessed on Earth.

Civil protests against further expansion of Stargate Port were still ongoing, with the voices of protest growing louder on social media; even in some areas of Europe, protesters had taken to the streets.

Yet on the other hand, governments worldwide were still determined to enlarge Stargate’s scope.

But what surprised her a bit was that she’d heard the Glow Objects in the asteroid belt were nearly exhausted. Many Invokers still used Glow Objects equipment mined and manufactured ten years ago—were governments still planning to increase the numbers of Invokers?

Where would the Glow Objects come from?

While she was pondering.

Suddenly, there was a commotion from one side of the hall.

She instinctively looked over—due to the size of the ring-shaped hall coming from the expanded and renovated old command center, her gaze could only see groups of people gathered there.

But Sicape pressed the two beside her.

”Ignore it.”

She said: ”Just guild conflict.”

Though she said so, she couldn’t help but glance in that direction and frowned.

Among the crowd, she saw people from Stargate Port’s special task force.

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