This section also had the same QR scanning protocol as the VIP area Gloria had taken him to. But unlike the nearly empty halls of that exclusive wing, this entrance bustled with activity. There was a steady stream of people lined up at the scanner stations, creating a queue that stretched back toward the parking area.

Right, today was also the grand opening of the Azure Depths Aquarium. This was one of the entrances you could enter to access the tunnel that leads to the aquarium.

Buying two tickets in one day?! The capitalism in interstellar level was so scary.

Neville and Grayson joined the end of the line, falling into step behind a family with two young children and an elderly couple with matching light brains. The line moved slowly, each person approaching the scanner robot to have their tickets verified.

Somewhere behind them, two more figures entered the queue. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Lilianna and Chronos had arrived.

Neville didn’t notice them—his back was turned, and the crowd provided enough cover—but Lilianna instantly spotted him.

Her eyes, hidden behind brown-tinted contacts and framed by temporarily dyed hair, locked onto the pair ahead of her with laser focus.

Chronos, dressed in an all-black outfit, followed her gaze and saw Neville and Grayson.

His lips curled up slightly. "You’re already starting?"

Lilianna smirked maliciously. "Better to start early so we won’t need to work hard later."

Chronos raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He simply watched as she turned on her light brain and sent a quick message to someone.

The line shuffled forward.

Neville and Grayson were nearly at the front now, only two groups ahead of the scanner robot.

Then it was their turn.

Neville stepped forward, opening his light brain’s external holographic screen to display his QR ticket.

The scanner robot’s optical sensors flickered, processing the code.

For a moment, everything seemed normal.

Then the robot’s display flashed red.

[ERROR: TICKET INVALID. PLEASE SEE STAFF FOR ASSISTANCE.]

Neville froze. "What?"

Before he could react further, Grayson was already there—one arm sweeping out to pull Neville behind him.

The action was so instinctive, so fast, that Neville barely had time to process it. Grayson positioned himself between Neville and the robot as if the malfunctioning machine were a threat.

[Sir, please step aside,] the scanner robot intoned. [Your companion’s ticket cannot be verified.]

The people behind them in line began to murmur, some craning their necks to see what was holding up the line.

Neville felt his face heat with embarrassment.

This was not how he had imagined this day would go.

A living staff member hurried over with concern.

"I apologize for the inconvenience. Let me check what happened." He tapped a few commands into his device, then frowned. "I’m sorry, sir. Your QR code seems to have been flagged as invalid. Were you perhaps trying to use a transfer ticket?"

"No," Neville said, confusion evident in his voice. "Rather, I don’t know. My friend gave it to me a few days ago."

The staff member’s frown deepened. He tapped a few more commands. "I see... It appears your ticket was somehow canceled and refunded to the buyer’s account three hours ago. Without a valid ticket, I’m afraid I can’t admit you."

"Canceled?" Neville’s brow furrowed.

Julius wouldn’t do that; he was not that kind of person. He pulled up his light brain and sent a message to Julius.

YourHope: The ticket is invalid.

J.Seaton: There’s no notification on me.

Neville showed the reply to the staff member and said, "He said he wasn’t notified."

"I’m sorry, sir, but I couldn’t do anything about this since it was already processed. Maybe it was just a delayed notification." The staff member said while apologizing heavily

What the hell? Neville was baffled by the ridiculous reason the staff member was giving to him. There was still a delay in notification in this interstellar era? Are you kidding me?

"Then, can I purchase a new one?" Neville asked while honing his annoyed expression, already reaching for the ticket portal on his device.

The staff member’s expression changed awkwardly to one of apologetic regret. "I’m afraid we’re fully booked for the grand opening. We had to cap admissions for safety reasons. All available tickets have already been sold."

Of course, they had, since no error would have happened if they had fixed it in the first place. Neville irritatingly thought, Maybe it wasn’t an accident but a deliberate one to hide the fact that they overbooked.

"It’s fine," Neville said, forcing his voice to stay light. He had dealt with worse setbacks than this. He turned to Grayson and said, "I’ll just head back. You go ahead and enjoy—"

He didn’t get to finish his sentence as Grayson stepped up to the scanner robot, raising his own light brain holographic screen. The device scanned his QR code and its display flashed green immediately, but Grayson didn’t move forward.

"Scan again," he said to the robot.

The staff member’s eyes widened. "Sir, it won’t work. You’ve already been admitted—"

"Scan. Again."

Something in Grayson’s tone made the staff member shut up immediately. The scanner robot processed the second scan, and it flashed green too. But this time, the display added something.

[ACCESS LEVEL: UNLIMITED. GUEST PASS: AUTHORIZED.]

Neville stared at it blankly.

Grayson casually turned to Neville.

Behind those new glasses, his silver eyes carried a mischievous gleam.

"Problem solved," Grayson said with a cheeky smile on his lips.

Neville helped back a laugh at Grayson’s behavior. He forgot that Gloria had mentioned that his brother owned this place, which was technically Grayson’s uncle’s.

Here he was, worried about a canceled ticket, while the person beside him could literally walk into any building here, like he owned it. Which, technically, his family did.

But before Neville could say anything, Grayson took it a step further.

With an exaggerated flourish that looked entirely out of character for the usually stoic CEO, Grayson swept into a theatrical bow. It was the kind of excessive, butler-esque gesture that he had only seen in the dramas.

Grayson extended one hand toward the entrance, palm up, and said in a tone dripping with mock formality:

"After you, sir."

Neville burst out laughing.

He couldn’t help it. The image was too ridiculous.

"Y-haha-you can stop now," Neville managed between laughs, but he walked through the entrance anyway.

Grayson fell a step behind him.

Behind them, the staff member let out a breath. Then he flinched as the cold weight of a gaze landed on him.

Grayson had glanced back just once; the glacial gaze behind those frames was a silent warning that didn’t need words to say.

The staff member immediately turned on his light brain to report the incident. Then announced to the people lining up that the scanner robot would be replaced within five minutes.