4. Making 35,000 Breads A Day

This is the most prosperous city on the planet, Arpes, and the capital of Rinia. This is Xrinia, where I currently reside. I started making breads here. Lots of breads.

This city is also renowned for its advanced spacecraft and defense technologies among nations. In the center is the National Space Agency, featuring a colossal spacecraft.

Unintentionally, I've created eleven monuments on the rooftop to honor their accomplishments – eleven empty bottles of Rinian beer, shaped like a spaceship.

Every night, I climb up to the rooftop with a bottle of Rinian beer, settle onto my couch, and savor the beer. It's the most comforting time of the day. Given Rinia's strict policy against alcoholism among its citizens, a bottle of beer becomes a special treat for me.

That giant spacecraft is only 3 kilometers from here, towering above all other skyscrapers in the city. Naturally, I picture myself entering the elevator at the launch pad and boarding the top of that spaceship.

Well, the spacecraft is surrounded by high walls, and heavily armed combat robots continually patrol its perimeter. For some unknown reason, the place has been strictly off-limits for several years.

But someone recently broke that law and trespassed on that launch pad. The person was me. It was an accident.

It happened when I first came in this city in the storm. During a single hour, a record-breaking 2.2 meters of snowfall was reported. Maruva said it would be the first snowstorm in the history of Rinia. However, the bigger problem was the strong wind.

We missed the landing point. The hovercraft attempted to land three times but was pushed away thousands of meters by the strong gusts of 80 miles per hour, shaking the hull.

"Why of all days today?" I thought.

Nothing could be seen through the window, and only the navigation screen displayed the buildings and various structures of downtown Xrinia. The landing point was marked in the middle of it.

While the ship maintained its balance on its own, Maruva kept communicating with the control tower.

"We've checked the safe path, Maruva. Now, hand over control to us," demanded the control tower.

"But, sir, the wind direction changes abruptly; it's too wild. It's not as easy to control as you may think," Maruva explained. "It's an impossible landing."

"No, we're making that decision. Maruva, give us control. It's an order."

Then, the hovercraft began to move, slowly advancing toward the landing spot. It seemed they had already taken control. Suddenly, a gust of wind hit the hull. Communication was lost as another wind struck the side. The hovercraft flipped over, sucked into a giant whirl two or three times.

OMG!

My body suddenly floated into the air; I didn't feel gravity. We were falling. I stopped breathing, trying to think about my family, hoping to find someone. The long three seconds felt like the end of my life.

"Turn to the right!"

Maruva's last call echoed powerlessly. The hovercraft hit the ground and bounced twice, yet it kept moving in one direction. Precta and Kaive opened the door with a cranky noise and jumped outside. I was alive, thinking I was still alive. And after a few seconds, it finally came to a stop.

“Landing succeeded,” said the control tower.

“Welcome to Xrinia, Shine.” Maruva finally turned to me.

“Thank God,” I sighed, and my eyes flew open. “Did we really make it?”

“I believe so. We were lucky," he pointed at a huge spacecraft standing on a launch pad. "We came dangerously close to that giant machine, which is the most valuable asset in the country.”

“Wow,” then I paused. It looked familiar. I tried to recall if I had ever seen this giant before.

Armed military robots surrounded us instantly, and some rushed toward me. Prekta and Kaive blocked their path and defended me. While a fight broke out, Maruva explained the situation to someone. After a while, the person who appeared to be in charge came out and halted the conflict, resolving the situation.

After conversing with Maruva, he approached me, bowing his head against the fierce snowstorm.

"It's a treacherous snowstorm." He stretched his hand to me. "Hi, I am Mostum, the head of security here. Nice to meet you, Shine."

"Nice to meet you, too." I shook his hand and turned to the spacecraft. "This is an incredible spacecraft."

He seemed to not understand my words and glanced at Maruva. While Maruva explained something to him, he had a very uncomfortable expression.

"Yes, that's correct. I'm sorry, but you need to leave here quickly."

Several big robots blocked my view, preventing me from getting a glimpse of the spacecraft. Soon, the ground split, and a bus-sized mobile emerged.

"This is your ride. You can leave on this."

They pushed all of us to get on that mobile.

Anyway, the spaceship indeed felt familiar to me. So their behavior seemed even stranger.

Or maybe I'm wrong.

I shook off my thoughts, finished my beer, and stood up. After adding another empty bottle to my collection, I looked down at the city square. There's a nice newly built café over there. That's my bakery. It's just a 2-minute walk away.

Surprisingly, I had a talent for baking, as Dr. Bical mentioned earlier. Moreover, the people of Rinia really liked my bread.

You might be wondering if I make them all myself. No, that's not possible. It's my robots. They do all the hard work. The City of Rinia has supported me with amazing robot bakers and robot servers.

A strange planet.

An 80,000-square-foot bakery.

My amazing robot crews.

Thirty-five thousand loaves of bread a day.

And the people of Rinia who are crazy about my bread.

Yes, I am in a wonderland.

Maybe I made a big mistake, and I've come to a wonderland. Perhaps I've opened Pandora's box or eaten a forbidden fruit. Hey, guys, welcome to my wonderland.