Zhang Xiaoman felt somewhat downcast as he casually shut down the shop, aware that this was not the fault of the Star Rank.
Although he habitually referred to it as the "System," this system was not like the others; his calling it so was merely to compensate for the lack of a System Elf.
The Star Rank could essentially be thought of as akin to a smartphone’s smart assistant, fundamentally different from the system he had consumed and then bound himself to.
"Alright, let’s not talk about this for now; I’ll take time to look through the remaining functions of the Star Network Host later."
Zhang Xiaoman waved his hand, closing the projection in front of him, and then continued:
"Earlier, I saw in the introduction of the Star Network Host that the host should possess the function to convert points into Star Dust. How do I use this? Surely I don’t need to buy another module?"
The Star Rank responded swiftly, its voice emanating from his wristwatch and reverberating in Zhang Xiaoman’s ears.
"To use the points to convert into Star Dust, you do not need to install a module. You only need to issue a command to me, and I will deduct your points and convert them into Star Dust for you."
Zhang Xiaoman arched an eyebrow, expressing surprise:
"It seems that the Sect Establishment Order’s integration into the system is quite thorough; you can even consume my points."
"Yes, Star Lord. However, you need not worry, as this rule comes from the gang system. I need your authorization to use the points; otherwise, I cannot adjust them independently."
Zhang Xiaoman nodded, not particularly worried about this point. After all, the gang system was obtained through a wish from an Ultimate Item, with a traceable source, making the possibility of problems very slim.
In comparison, if he were to be exacting, it was his originally acquired lottery system that was more mysterious. Zhang Xiaoman knew of its origin only from a segment in the "will of the System Elf" called the "World-saving Plan."
Thinking about this, he couldn’t help but shake his head; pondering these matters was purely a waste of time. As of now, the system had only brought benefits. Without the system, he might still be living a life punctuated by a daily commute to work from eight in the morning to six in the evening.
"Then, System, how many points do I need to exchange for Star Dust?"
Zhang Xiaoman withdrew his somewhat scattered thoughts and then asked the question he had always wanted to ask.
"To exchange for Star Dust, you need to be within a 5-meter range of the main host body; each portion of Star Dust requires 10 points."
The Star Rank briskly provided the answer.
"10 points, huh... that’s about what I guessed at the beginning..."
Zhang Xiaoman frowned and pondered for a moment; 10 points were, after all, acceptable.
In fact, according to his earlier estimations, the consumption would likely be within the range of 5-20 points, which was not beyond his expectations.
"Alright then, convert two portions of Star Dust for me first."
He issued the command to Star Rank, eager to see just how the Star Network Host would assist him in the conversion.
Next, Zhang Xiaoman saw white energy threads suddenly shoot out from his body, reminiscent of when he had absorbed a monster’s corpse, except this time it was in reverse.
These threads all merged into the trunk of a tree, followed by a moment of brief silence.
Just as he was about to voice his confusion, he saw the branch closest to him suddenly stretch over, and beneath those green leaves, two fruits grew visibly faster, soon reaching the size of a child’s fist.
These two fruits exhibited a translucent appearance, and once grown, Zhang Xiaoman could vaguely see the sparkling Star Dust within them.
"Star Dust has been converted. If the Star Lord wishes to carry it, please directly pick the fruit,"
Hearing the voice of the Star Rank, Zhang Xiaoman felt surprised.
He hadn’t expected that using the Star Network Host to convert Star Dust would involve such a process, and even the packaging had changed; the hard, pretty little bottles were gone, replaced by fruit shells.
He thought about it and then stretched out his hand to pick one of the fruits. After examining it carefully, he opened the Gang Store, located the Daring Clothes, entered the sizes for Brother Hero and Ye Cang, and custom-ordered one for each of them.
Unlike Lin Sisi’s white with gold trim, this time, Zhang Xiaoman bought two green Daring Clothes, green with a gold trim, giving an eye-catching impression.
In the Three Great Sanctuaries of the Star Alliance, white represents the Guardians, black the Trackers, and green the Forest Guardians.
"Hmm, I’ll call them to come to Rebirth Island first, to put on these clothes. This way, when we awaken the people of the Light Blue Clan, it could somewhat enhance the presence of the Star Alliance..."
Right after he spoke, the fruit in his hand, already emptied, suddenly withered visibly fast, shriveling up, and finally decayed into a wisp of dust that floated away with the wind.
The fruit hanging on the tree met the same fate, still decaying and turning into powder.
"Since picking it or not doesn’t make a difference, I might as well keep these things here in the future, to save myself the trouble of carrying them around,"
After saying this, he exchanged for two more Star Dust fruits, planning to keep them as spares.
After asking some of the most basic questions, Zhang Xiaoman decided not to stand around foolishly any longer. The height was over a hundred meters, and the wind was quite strong; if he carelessly fell again, that would be quite a spectacle.
Today was September 5, Saturday, and his mom was off work, so he directly used the Infinite Teleportation Skill to go home.
He called Brother Hero and Ye Cang, informing them to use the Starry Stone to come to Rebirth Island to pick up their uniforms, and then Zhang Xiaoman activated the hearthstone and returned.
However, he waited by the Final Gate for a long time but didn’t see either of them arriving, which made him feel quite puzzled.
"These two guys, they can’t be unable to use the Starry Stone... No, that can’t be right. Didn’t Brother Hero use the stone to find me last time? They should know how to use it..."
He waited quite a while longer, but still didn’t see either of them appear, and just as he was about to use Infinite Teleportation to go back and ask, a phrase that the Star Rank had said earlier suddenly echoed in his mind.
"While the Shield is activated, the ’Space Stabilization’ function can prevent non-friendly units from teleporting into it..."
"Non-friendly units..."
Zhang Xiaoman immediately understood the problem.
It wasn’t that the two couldn’t use the Starry Stone, but they were currently in an "unactivated" state and couldn’t be considered friendly units, so of course, they couldn’t return using the hearthstone.
"My goodness, how inflexible this system is! Installing this shield is such a nuisance. I was planning to increase the population limit later on, but now it seems I can’t save there anymore..."
PS: Thanks to Jun Mingyu for the 200 points reward.