Chapter 508: Bus

Chapter 508: Chapter 508: Bus

Lily Hart considered pulling out her electric scooters, but she didn’t have enough for everyone. ’Oh well, we’ll just walk,’ she decided. ’It’s good exercise.’

None of them had eaten breakfast yet, so they headed to the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was clean and tidy.

Elliot Chapman couldn’t help but ask, "Does it cost money to eat here?"

Lily Hart said, "Of course it does."

’After all, the food is linked to the System’s store. How could it be free?’

Elliot Chapman looked slightly disappointed to hear that, though it was to be expected.

"Then what do we do if we don’t have money?" Elliot Chapman asked, his gaze involuntarily shifting to Elder Shaw.

That would depend on how much funding Elder Shaw approved for their research institute.

Lily Hart was curious. "Don’t researchers get a salary? You work for free? How do you keep that up?"

As soon as she said that, the five men’s expressions grew complicated.

Elliot Chapman quickly tried to smooth things over. "Hey, it’s already our honor to be able to conduct research for Central Command and for humanity, and to have a respectable job. How could we possibly ask for a salary?"

"...Really?" Lily Hart was skeptical.

’No salary, no breaks, and even getting a full meal is a problem... Would they really be willing to do research under these conditions?’

’Just how much must they love it?’

As a former wage slave, Lily Hart couldn’t relate.

’I worked my butt off for money! Not for some kind of honor!’

’Thinking about it that way, my store managers have it pretty good.’

She fell silent. This was someone else’s base, after all, and she couldn’t exactly offer to pay for them.

"Let’s eat, let’s eat. I’m tired from all the walking," Lily Hart said.

This cafeteria was quite advanced, with many different stations: Sichuan, Hunan, the eight great cuisines, malatang, mala xiang guo, fried skewers, clay pot noodles, and so on...

Most importantly, there were no actual people working there; everything was handled by a detection system.

For example, if Lily Hart wanted malatang, she could just scan a code to order.

You selected the ingredients and soup base you wanted, entered your seat number, and the food would be delivered to you automatically after it was prepared.

It eliminated the hassle of people carrying trays back and forth, and there was no visible back kitchen.

After watching Lily Hart go through the process, Elder Shaw and the others understood and began choosing what they wanted to eat.

They discovered it wasn’t expensive at all, with prices similar to those in Lily Hart’s shops.

Elder Shaw started thinking. ’There aren’t many researchers at this stage anyway. We should improve their benefits.’

’At the very least, they should get a monthly Crystal Core subsidy. They need to eat, right?’

’Right. I’ll find Logan Holland and the others this afternoon to discuss it.’

After they finished eating, they weren’t in a hurry to leave, so Lily Hart brought up the topic of transportation.

If Central Command needed buses or a subway, she could provide them, but it would be an additional charge.

For example, if a route required five buses, those five buses would come at a separate price.

When Elder Shaw heard this, he clapped his hands together. "That would be great! We don’t need a subway; buses will be just fine."

Logan Holland also agreed. "Yes, yes, we really need buses. As for a subway, we don’t have a use for that just yet."

"If we had buses, we wouldn’t have to walk so far from the base entrance to the research institute," Yael Lowell said excitedly, already starting to fantasize about life with buses.

"Yeah, and I wouldn’t have to walk my legs off every time I go from the Communications Department to the conference room," Peter Sharp added.

After they all had their say, they turned to Lily Hart with expectant gazes.

Lily Hart felt they had missed the main point and emphasized, "It costs Crystal Cores."

Elder Shaw nodded. "I know. First, tell me how many Crystal Cores one route would cost and how many buses it would have."

Lily Hart wasn’t sure either, so she opened her Light Brain and started looking it up on the spot.

The routes could be customized.

For example, a starting point could be the south gate of Central Command, with the end point at the research institute, and five or six stops in between.

That would count as one route, and the number of buses could be arranged based on passenger flow.

"A single bus is actually pretty cheap, just fifty Crystal Cores," Lily Hart said with a casual wave.

"That seems reasonable." Elder Shaw considered it for a moment and felt the price was acceptable.

He did a quick mental calculation of how many Crystal Cores Central Command had left.

With a grand wave of his hand, he said, "We’ll take fifty buses to start."

’That’s only two thousand five hundred Crystal Cores, which is acceptable. Fifty buses should be enough for seven or eight routes.’

The thought of Central Command having its own buses filled Elder Shaw with anticipation.

Once he got excited, Elder Shaw couldn’t help but urge Lily Hart, "Quick, quick, let’s see how to set it up."

"Okay." Lily Hart started figuring it out.

First, she got a detailed map of Central Command from Elder Shaw and entered it into the system.

Then she created a new route, inputting the south gate of Central Command as the starting point and the research institute as the end point.

For the stops in between, she entered the main entrance of the residential area, the main entrance of the core district, the main entrance of the planting area...

Basically, she just linked the main entrances of a few areas, and just like that, a route was formed.

Elder Shaw and the others watched her work, completing the task with just a few simple taps.

"That’s it?" Logan Holland asked in disbelief.

Lily Hart wasn’t entirely sure herself. She nodded hesitantly. "I think so. Why don’t we go outside and check?"

"Okay." Elder Shaw was impatient to see.

The six of them got up and walked toward the main entrance of the research institute. As soon as they stepped outside, they saw a brand-new bus stop sign.

"Whoa, it’s really here," Yael Lowell said, walking over curiously.

He circled the bus stop sign a few times, his eyes wide with wonder.

Such things had been common in the age of civilization, but he hadn’t seen one in years.

There was only a single, lonely route listed on it: from the South Gate to the Research Institute, with a total of four stops.

Logan Holland rubbed his hands together, eagerly anticipating the sight of the bus.

"Here it comes, here it comes," Lily Hart said, pointing into the distance as a bright yellow bus slowly approached.

It was a standard-looking bus, but strangely, there was no driver in the driver’s seat.

Logan Holland’s sharp eyes noticed this, and he asked, puzzled, "Where’s the driver? Don’t tell me we have to drive it ourselves."

"It’s probably self-driving," Lily Hart guessed.

While they were talking, the bus came to a slow and precise stop in front of the sign.

The bus door opened with a CREAK, and Lily Hart was the first to step inside.

Next to the driver’s seat was an infrared sensor. You just had to tap your Light Brain against it.

When getting off, there was another infrared sensor by the back door; tapping it again would automatically deduct the fare.

’Pretty convenient.’

Lily Hart tapped her Light Brain against it and heard a "BEEP," signaling it had been scanned.

She walked toward the back, found a seat, and sat down. Elder Shaw and the others followed her lead.

They also found seats near Lily Hart. Logan Holland looked around, fascinated by everything.

Elder Shaw also had trouble containing his joy, as did the other two men.

The bus started moving slowly. Since there was no driver, everyone was a little nervous.

But after it had traveled a short distance, they found it was quite steady. It even yielded to pedestrians and avoided obstacles.

So everyone relaxed, resting their chins on their hands and looking out the window, even though there wasn’t much of a view.

Some survivors who saw the bus were astonished and began discussing it loudly with the people next to them.

"Is that... a bus?"

"A bus? You’re seeing things. How could there possibly still be buses now!"