"Then can we have a knowledge baby so that we can share the burden of taking care of you?" Apis replied.
"Oh please. You don't even have to work like the others and get to sleep more than 50% of the time," Aric said. This was true since Aric was more of a frequent guest in Distant Wind City rather than coming to Echorysia, so Apis was asleep most of the time.
Aric didn't bother to argue further and just decided to spend the next whole day rolling around and savoring what he had learned. The knowledge he had attained seemed like a galaxy's worth of information that had now crammed into his brain.
For the rest of the day, he tried out some things, and there was also a supermall on the ship. The ship was massive, and he almost got lost in the sauce. The ship changed his view of the whole universe once again. He did expect it since he had read about it, but seeing it in reality was a different experience altogether.
There were multiple restaurants, two supermalls, and entertainment rooms for all species, including humans. Aric had a fun time there, as he went bowling for the first time. Though he was all alone, he still enjoyed himself. Besides, he had Apis to accompany him and keep him company.
After he was done and had a hearty meal, he returned to his place. The ship would land in a few hours, and he was excited, to say the least.
"Flight IXS-233 is about to land within 30 minutes. Passengers are requested to ready their luggage and proceed to their designated hangars. I hope everyone had a wonderful journey. The Intra X family hopes to journey with you once again in the future."
Soon, the ship approached the massive ring-shaped structure: the capital of Vallin City. The city was artificially made and was a topopolis. A topopolis was a tubular megastructure wrapped in a torus shape. This particular capital was a million kilometers long. If one needed to have a mental picture, imagine the megastructure in space shown in Interstellar after humanity figured out gravity control. It was the same thing here, but it was rounded with no ends.
The capital had openings in places to allow sunlight to shine in. When Aric first heard of this structure, he almost refused to believe it until he saw a video of it. He soon stepped out of the hangar and was eager to see it with his own eyes. Once he left the hangar and followed the instructions to the spaceport's exit, which was a marvel in itself, he was gobsmacked.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Though the ring had been visible for a few minutes since the spaceship had slowed down once they were in the 'no fast fly zone' of the city, from there he could see parts of the city as the sun's rays reflected on the outer side of the structure. But once he was inside, words couldn't begin to describe what he saw and felt simultaneously.
Everyone spoke of how Earth is round, and it was a known fact, but here he could say for sure that the city was curved and round. The buildings, streets, and everything seemed to bend away, but somehow the gravity was perfectly fine. The control of gravity was what gave them the power to make and sustain such structures.
But of course, that didn't mean all empires had the money and power to build such structures. Vallin was an old empire that had existed for a long time. In fact, at one point in time, they even had a member of their royal family sitting on the council. That was the reason that, even though Vallin was a small empire, it was still quite an old one and also rich.
In Earth terms, this country was the Liechtenstein of the universe. Though it wasn't as wealthy as its Earth counterpart, it still held quite some power in the universe. This megastructure was a testament to how old and powerful this empire was and still is.
The cityscape was a harmonious blend of organic and mechanical design, where towering spires and domes reached skyward, their sleek surfaces reflecting the light of the sun that was allowed to pass through from the big square holes. The structure revolved around the sun, and it looked amazing.
"It is said that when they built it, the engineers told them to install artificial suns around like the other topopolises, but the king refused as he believed nature should be given respect. Thus, they lost space as they had to ensure holes were built in the structure," Apis said as Aric looked at the sun.
"Apis, due to different suns, the species of the universe don't have any kind of superpowers?" Aric asked.
"Where did you get those ideas from?" Apis asked.
"Nowhere," Aric replied. He couldn't say that he had read and watched enough Superman to know that.
"Your imaginations are wild, but then again, you wrote the classic Lord of the Rings. I think you'll soon get a movie contract for it," Apis said. His words made Aric blush. He was just copying from someone. Writing something like Lord of the Rings was not even possible, even if he reincarnated many times.
"To answer your question... No... But there are special processes where one can get superpowers or at least alleviate their status," Apis said. This surprised Aric as he didn't expect this was possible. He had casually asked and didn't expect to get an answer.
"Humans and some species are special. Their genes can be edited and changed more easily than others. While there are advantages and disadvantages to it, one of the advantages is that humans can get superpowers. But it's not world-changing; it's just small changes."