A is in StarCraft, just disembarked from the Zerg Prince spaceship.

Chapter 290 There's no way, there's really no way.

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......

Bi Shen moved his leg; it was a huge, clingy plaster. He took a step to the side, and Xiao Lu, still wailing, clung to his leg.

Oh dear, there's no way, there's really no way.

The commander of the Third Army Corps called again.

"Bro, have you gotten your travel permit yet?"

Bishen simply replied, "None."

The commander of the three armies gave him another piece of advice: "The private air route will be opened in a few days. Why don't you wait two more days?"

Bishen refused to believe it: "Are public ferry tickets easy to buy?"

The Third Army Chief of Staff stammered, "Emmm... well... it's hard to say. Why don't you check the StarNet yourself..."

The land was filled with cries of despair.

The current situation is very difficult to describe; there's a frenzy of demand for tickets on public air routes, and it's impossible to find any tickets at all.

Bi Shen understood immediately from his hesitant expression, and then took out his personal terminal to call the ticketing center, wanting two tickets from the black box.

The communication line was connected, and a chaotic background sound came through first.

The electronic notification sounds were very frequent, the synthesized voice announcements were rather unclear, and there were also faint cries of despair rising and falling.

One can imagine the chaotic, doomed scene at the ticketing center.

"Hey? Who is this?" A voice came from the communicator, extremely tired, as if it were about to die at any moment, hoarse and numb from being bombarded with countless messages.

"It's me, Bishen," Bishen said with an air of unquestionable authority. "I'm in charge of the ticketing system."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the communication line, followed by the ear-piercing noise of a chair leg scraping against the floor, and a gasp of surprise.

"...Compared to General Shen?!"

"Yes."

"Please...please wait a moment, I'll transfer you right away!"

An encrypted communication channel has been established, and the signal is stable.

The call was transferred to the manager's office. The only background noise was the rhythmic bass of the printing equipment feeding paper; there was no other background noise.

The voice of the person in charge of the ticketing system came through the loudspeaker, steady and clear, with its usual air of authority: "Hello, who is this?"

"Mr. Kim, this is Bi Shen."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the communication.

Then, a steady, yet highly professional voice rang out again, speaking slowly and clearly: "Chief of Staff, it's unexpected to receive a direct call from you. Is there any urgent matter that requires the ticketing center's assistance?"

Polite and thorough, getting straight to the point.

There were no unnecessary pleasantries, conveying a sense of businesslike prudence.

Bishen politely replied, "Excuse me. It's not urgent military business, it's a personal matter. It concerns the spaceship route to Earth. I need two tickets for tomorrow."

There was no immediate response from the other end of the communication.

In the brief silence, only the sound of the printing equipment still running could be heard.

A few seconds later, the voice of the person in charge of the ticketing system rang out again, still calm, but with a hint of tension that was barely perceptible.

"Chief Bishen, the current allocation of tickets for public shipping routes follows the Empire's transparent implementation rules. The total number of tickets is fixed at four thousand per day, and the allocation mechanism is entirely executed automatically by the AI intelligent system, without any human intervention."

"I understand. I'd like to ask if, within the framework allowed by the system, there is some kind of... priority mechanism? Or, an emergency reserve of tickets? Considering certain special circumstances." For example, humans stranded in the Zerg Empire and unable to return?

"Chief of Staff Shen, I understand what you mean, but it's unlikely that such a situation will occur at the moment. Even if it does, it will be at least two months from now."

"Currently, because the number of tickets sold is fixed, in order to prevent any under-the-table dealings, the ticketing system has eliminated all manual intervention interfaces. There are no priority channels, reserved tickets, or emergency reserves of any kind. Four thousand tickets are released by the system at 12:00 noon every day, and sales stop once they are sold out. All operation logs are uploaded to the database in real time and are subject to 24/7 auditing. Any attempt to generate, transfer, or occupy tickets outside the system is a serious violation and will trigger the highest level audit alert."

The person in charge paused for a second, then, having exhausted all other options, added: "As of this morning, almost all officials and ministers in Liernia have submitted formal inquiries regarding the ticket purchase issue. According to regulations, we can only provide standardized guidelines for the ticket-buying process. Ten minutes ago, a senior secretary from the office of the Speaker of the Noble Council also expressed similar concerns, and we could only cite the regulations again to express our regret and inability to help."

"Is the possibility of manipulation completely eliminated? Is it impossible for any privileged class to do so?"

"Yes, Chief of Staff Bi Shen. This public ticket sales operation is entirely supervised by the Legion. The Crown Prince personally issued a strict order to completely eliminate the possibility of human manipulation and ensure absolute transparency and fairness in the allocation. No privileged class is allowed to participate."

The person in charge gave a firm and unequivocal answer, leaving no room for maneuver.

It's not that he's not afraid of offending people, but that he simply doesn't dare.

There are only four thousand tickets available each day, and a total of ten billion pairs of eyes are watching those four thousand tickets.

The Crown Prince attaches great importance to the safety of this public transport.

Every ticket, from its creation to its sale, is recorded on video, with 131 audit teams monitoring it in real time.

The ownership of each ticket is directly linked to the Legion's General Affairs Department, and the ancestry of the person who bought the ticket must be thoroughly investigated.

This ticket isn't a ticket; it's like 131 knives hanging over the head of the person in charge. If he dares to reach out, all six hands, along with his head, will be chopped off.

A black box? This system can't even fit a gray dot anymore! Nobody can do it! It's really impossible!

The still-hot plaster was still sticking out on his leg, and Bi Shen sighed.

"Understood. Thank you for your explanation."

"Thank you for your understanding." The person in charge also breathed a sigh of relief.

"If you, Chief of Staff, have any technical questions about the public ticket-buying process, I can arrange for someone to provide you or your designated personnel with detailed guidance."

"No, not for now. I have no other questions. Sorry to bother you, goodbye."

"Goodbye, and welcome back to Central Star. Have a nice day."

"Thanks."

Bishen cut the connection.

What should I do? There's no way, really no way. I can't just force them to use my card, can I? Just to buy a few days to send that idiot home?

What does it look like?

Xiao Lu hugged his older brother's leg and sobbed.

Waaah, the solar system is right on the other side of the wormhole, right in front of me but I can't get there. I'm so sad, so very sad.

Little Lu, feeling hot and bothered, cried sobbing.

Bishen pressed his forehead, his head aching from the crying.

"Don't cry, come stay at my place for a few days. I'll send you to find Yellow Hair once the private air route opens, okay?"

"No—" Xiao Lu cried loudly.