Robin's current location was a reading hangar in the Hermes spaceport, but they sensed that the hangar seemed to be moving, and the hangar's gate to the interior of the spaceport was always closed with a flashing red light.

"What's going on? Why don't you let us out? Don't...... Have they discovered who we really are? After trying to open the floodgates to no avail, Christine immediately screamed in horror.

"Be quiet! ~" Robin was upset by Christine's quarrel and couldn't help but roar.

Truth be told, Robin is also very worried about the presence of troops stationed in the Hermes spaceport, and that the garrison has recognized them through the space shuttle they are on. After all, their F-6 shuttle was captured from the Federation during the Battle of Pluto, so it was natural for Robin to be worried.

But in the current situation, as a leader, he must show absolute composure. So, after hiding the panic in his heart, he pretended to be calm and walked to the gate, and turned on an electronic screen at the gate, ready to see if there was any relevant information to explain the situation.

In fact, the situation is not as bad as they think. They will feel the hangar moving, because the hangar at the Hermes spaceport somewhat resembles a container from an old time. Because the spaceport has to handle a large number of space shuttles and various transport ships every day, the hangar for the space shuttle to berth is not directly built in the outer hatch of the spaceport, but is pushed by the automatic link to the external docking hatch of the container-like movable hangar, and after the docking is completed, the automatic link will place the active hangar together with the space shuttle in the hangar to the storage area. Therefore, this design is all about making a more reasonable use of space. And since the hangar is moving, the gate will naturally be closed that cannot be opened for the sake of safety.

Having read this information through the electronic screen in the hangar, Robin couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief in his heart.

Now, he has learned that the electronic screen placed in the hangar is specially used by people to check the information, in addition to the shelves and carts in the hangar, which should be used by people when loading and unloading goods. After carefully checking the information on the electronic screen, Robin found that although the Hermes spaceport can be entered and exited at will, it reveals the smell of copper everywhere for profit.

For example, the hangar they are currently mooring in is nominally free, but the free berthing time is only eight hours. This means that if the berth time exceeds eight hours, or if no commercial activity is generated during the berth, the Hermes spaceport will start billing. In addition, all kinds of facilities in the spaceport are charged, and the only free thing is probably to browse the massive advertising information published by various businesses.

"What? You say there is a charge for this hangar? When Angus heard Robin mention this, he exclaimed, "Then what are we doing here, how can we have federal coins to pay?" ”

Hearing this, Robin spread his hands helplessly: "There is no way to go, you can only enter and not exit here." ”

"What...... What do you mean? As soon as Robin said this, everyone's faces suddenly became ugly.

"Hmm...... Either pay or trade. There are only two ways to leave the Hermes spaceport. Robin sat down on a shelf and explained in detail, "According to the information displayed on the electronic screen, it is not uncommon for aliens like us to come to the Hermes spaceport for the first time, and most people, like us, do not have federal coins to pay for. However, as long as we close a deal within eight hours and generate a business activity, then we can leave at any time. ”

"What can we trade?" Christine, who didn't know anything about the state of the Raymond Federation, asked ignorantly.

"Anything can be traded." Robin thought carefully about the advertising information he had just browsed, and said with a smile: "I just checked a lot of advertising information, and I found that there are many companies here that are buying rare substances and space creatures at high prices. These are exactly the things we have, don't they? ”

As soon as Robin's words came out, everyone suddenly realized. That's right, before coming to the Centaur Alpha system, they were on a rare matter gathering mission in the Kuiper Belt. As a result, the fleet's seven transports currently have a large number of rare materials and samples of space creatures[***] collected from the Kuiper Belt, which happen to be the materials that can be traded as mentioned in the Hermes spaceport purchase information.

"Wouldn't it be a problem if we used these trades, after all, we ......," Angus said pointedly.

Angus's concern Robin had considered it before, but by checking the public information of the Hermes spaceport, he found that the Hermes spaceport was filled with a large number of unidentified freedmen in addition to federal citizens and caravans of alien systems.

The so-called freedmen originally referred to the descendants of the plutocracy who did not find a suitable habitation star during the time of the Great Discovery.

During the Age of Discovery, large and small chaebols formed countless expeditions deep into the universe, and in the 28-year unprecedented interstellar colonization, the total number of people who left the earth even exceeded 2 billion.

Unfortunately, not all plutocrats are as lucky as the founders of the Raymond Federation or the Hoffman Empire, and most of them have failed in this unprecedented interstellar colonization, either dying in the barren galaxy or surviving as lonely wanderers in the stars. And the descendants of these wanderers become free people who live purely in the universe without identity, territory, and state.

In addition to these authentic freedmen, who have a long history, a large number of stowaways and criminals who have been deported for crimes in the Commonwealth have become a new generation of freedmen. They likewise have no identity, no possessions, and have nothing but a life and some common skills. Therefore, the free people with their broken ships tend to absorb the new blood of these free people and continue to take them around the universe to earn a living.

Before President Dawson took office and issued the decree opening up the Northern Sphere, life for freedmen was extremely difficult. Due to the lack of colonies with a suitable environment, their living conditions on the spaceship are very harsh, and they can only wander in the universe like ghosts and wild ghosts, hoping for good luck when they encounter a merchant ship that can exchange for some necessities of life through trading, or directly rob and become interstellar pirates.

Since the opening of the Northern Star Field and the construction of the Hermes spaceport, a trading port, the free people who had spent their time in misery have finally ushered in their own spring.

Due to the fact that the Freedmen often come and go to the desolate star fields, most of the Freedmen's ships are stocked with a large amount of rare substances. These rare material freedmen are unusable because they do not have the corresponding equipment, and because they have no trading environment, most of them are sold as scraps of metal. Since the establishment of the Hermes spaceport, a large number of federal merchants who perceived business opportunities began to enter the spaceport, buying rare substances in bulk from the freedmen who infested the northern star field, and bought a private space station near the Hermes spaceport, directly sorting and purifying rare substances in the space station, and then transporting the finished products to various large enterprises in China.

The huge interest rate differential between the changes of hands has allowed the Federation to create countless more billionaires overnight. The sensational effect caused by this even caused a large number of federal citizens to resolutely abandon their stable life at home and venture to the Hermes spaceport to pan for gold.

With the Hermes spaceport as a privileged trading environment and a large number of buyers from all over the world, the lives of the freedmen gradually improved. Stimulated by huge profits, the freedmen are increasingly frequenting the barren star fields, risking their lives to exploit the inexhaustible natural resources of the universe like miners in the stars.

By now, gathering rare materials has even become an industry, and a large number of wealthy freedmen have begun to have other needs based on this main industry, and the Hermes spaceport is no longer a simple place to trade rare materials at the beginning, but has evolved into a space city with a well-established commercial chain.

However, the trade in rare substances still accounts for a large amount of trade in the Hermes spaceport, so the Hermes spaceport is particularly preferential to the freedmen compared to other places. Whether it's the 8-hour free shutdown system after the business is generated, or the massive release of supply and demand information and detailed information about transactions, it is aimed at those freedmen who are coming to the distant star field of Hermes spaceport for the first time.

Of course, the ultimate purpose of these preferential policies is just to trade. But trading rare substances and the identity of this freedman is exactly what Robin needs most at the moment.

Now, after detailing the information he had accessed through the electronic screen with Zolo, Angstone dispelled the fear of being identified and remaining in his heart. I also remembered the famous adage in the Federation, 'As long as you have money, no one cares who you are'.

"Hey, I'm not dreaming, this place is completely for us!" Li Du, who was stunned when he heard this, was stunned for a long time before shouting loudly.

"That's right, this star field is indeed very suitable for us, maybe we can find a place to stand here." Robin beckoned everyone to gather around and whispered, "But this is the Raymond Federation after all, so everyone should be careful when acting and don't get into trouble." ”

"Understood......" everyone nodded cautiously.

"Leave all your weapons on the shuttle, no firearms are allowed here, and of course, knives are not regulated."

As soon as Robin finished speaking, the gate leading from the hangar to the interior of the spaceport lit up with a green light indicating access.

"Let's go! ~" Robin waved his hand and strode out of the hangar with everyone.

(To be continued)