With everything said and done, Erin no longer needed to stay on Planet Charh.
They went to Pearson's office to process all the necessary paperwork. Many new certificates were created under Erin's name.
These certificates were immediately downloaded into his orb. They were also copied onto Erin's new starship; the Assegai Exodus II.
Since Pearson was providing Erin with a very advanced AI chip, he was generous enough to provide Erin with a few smaller military-grade starships that could connect with this AI. These were stored in the Exodus's main hangar. Although the hangar's size couldn't compare to a carrier, it was still a pleasant surprise for Erin.
Now that Erin had starships, he needed to load them all with food and supplies. Through Pearson, Erin requested to buy 20 million Imperial units worth of non-perishable food, supplies and other necessities. Although Pearson was dumbfounded by the insane quantity, he obliged.
Erin also understood the need for knowledge, armor, and weapons. Back-up gear wouldn't hurt him in the slightest. He convinced Pearson to help him gather 100 million Imperial units worth of knowledge chips, cybertronic armor, and cybertronic weaponry.
Despite the immense amount of money, he only got 5 top-grade knowledge chips and 750 sets of cybertronic armor and weaponry. The chips and the high-quality device needed to read them cost Erin a quarter of his 100 million unit budget. Erin basically started making preparations in advance, just in case he ever decided to gather people for his starship.
Aside from all of that, he also needed to stockpile fuel for his starships. Since he didn't have the means to produce the fuel himself, he purchased 75 million Imperial units worth of top-grade starship fuel from Pearson. He left 5 million Imperial units for himself in case he needed them in the future.
The fuel arrived in metallic barrels. Each barrel could power the Destroyer class starship's warp drive for an entire month. While this might sound efficient, it also powered the generators for the starship's giant cybertronic shields and weapons. These were far more fuel consuming in comparison!
When dormant, the cost was negligible. However, in an active battle, each barrel could maintain the shields for only three hours at best. The time was shortened exponentially based on the power of the incoming attacks. Thus, the strongest incoming attacks could make a single barrel last a mere minute at most!
In addition, each barrel could also power 1 high power attack, 10 medium power attacks, or 100 low power attacks respectively. Firing all the starship's weapons at the same time would drain the fuel significantly too.
Erin purchased 75,000 barrels of top-grade fuel in total.
Regardless of how much he purchased, Erin had plenty of dimensional treasures to store everything in anyways.
Once all was said and done, Pearson asked for Erin's communication info.
Erin realized he didn't have a communication device. The orb couldn't be used since it was for special channels only; primarily other orb users.
Slightly embarrassed, Erin lied and said that his communication device was destroyed along with his previous starship. Hence the reason he needed a new starship.
Understanding, Pearson had his subordinates buy a brand new communication device for Erin. It was one of the latest models known by the name Dakia 13. This was a famous brand of communication devices that released a new version every century. They started over a thousand years ago.
However, rather than his subordinates showing up, Alice was the one who brought the Dakia 13 to the office where Erin and Pearson were at. She already added Pearson's contact information.
To Pearson's unpleasant surprise, she upgraded the service on this device to the highest tier possible for consumers! This meant that Erin had high-level access to important device applications. This was complimentary for Erin because Alice said that she used Pearson's account to pay for everything.
Erin thanked the both of them for their help. The tiny dragon hatchling sensed Erin's intent to leave the planet and promptly gave him the coordinates of their target destination.
Erin inputted these coordinates into a starmap application on his orb. He realized the orb had this function when Ron sent him coordinates previously. Compared to the starmap app on his Dakia 13, the orb's starmap looked far more advanced.
The coordinates ended up deep in the middle of uncharted space. The closest known area to this was the Rafold Galaxy. Contrary to Planet Charh, which was in the inner sector of the known universe, the Rafold Galaxy was on the bare borders.
Rather than giving Pearson the coordinates, Erin simply told him that he needed to get to the Rafold Galaxy. Pearson told Erin that the only gate there was located inside an Intergalactic Armada Space Station. It was the only outpost they had in that specific galaxy.
Fortunately, Erin didn't make things complicated for Pearson. Erin emphasized that he just needed to launch his starship from there and he would leave the outpost promptly. Thus, Pearson only needed to get authorization to use the outpost's dimensional gate as a transitioning point.
Even though Erin's starship had a warp-drive, it would still take him several weeks of full-speed traveling to reach the Rafold Galaxy. Luckily, Erin didn't need to go through this hassle since it was possible to store the starship in his planet sized dimensional treasure. The starship itself was the size of a large city.
From the knowledge he acquired previously, Erin knew it was possible to take dimensional treasures through the dimensional gates. Dimensional laws allowed the transfer of these personal pocket dimensions. The energy used was based on the things inside these pocket dimensions.
Thus, if Erin went through a dimensional gate as-is, the energy cost required would include transferring him, all his treasures, his starships, and even the tiny dragon hatchling.
Transferring a starship alone was a cost that many people couldn't afford. Hence, even the average noble would pilot their starships unless they absolutely needed to transfer it with a dimensional gate.
Cost was not an issue for Erin. It just so happened that, even after only getting half, Erin still acquired a total of four thousand Grade 9 Dimensional Crystals earlier. It was part of the consumable treasures that the Clover Clan traded him. Knowing this, Erin insisted on utilizing a dimensional gate to Pearson's surprise.
Although it was now night-time on Planet Charh, Pearson personally brought Erin to Dimensional Gateroom X-19. He also sent Planet Charh's coordinates to Erin's orb with a special signature attached. This code would give priority to Erin whenever he decided to come back to this planet.
Unlike A-18 which allowed incoming people, X-19 was solely for people exiting the planet. It's design was nearly identical to the A-18 room.
Charlotte and Alice were also there to see Erin off. Even butler Steve was there too. He was next to Pearson who was.personally managing the dimensional gate's control panel.
The entire group was at the giant, center dimensional gate. All of the guards around them were wearing golden armour.
Even the golden armoured guard with the metallic bird was standing guard there too. He was the same guard who welcomed Ron and their group earlier that same day.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Many people using the ordinary dimensional gates were amazed at this sight. Although the large main gate was slightly elevated, the immense number of guards made it difficult for these bystanders to see who was exiting through it.
To avoid unstable dimensional passages, almost all dimensional gates were built with the technology needed to detect and estimate the potential energy usage of those entering. Since Erin was near the gate, Pearson had it detect the costs for Erin alone.
This number appeared on the dimensional gate's control panel.
[20,873,086 Grade 6 Dimensional Crystals]
Pearson's jaw dropped and his eyes twitched. Even with a Destroyer-class starship at hand, he anticipated 10,000 Grade 6 Dimensional Crystals at best! This meant that Erin's baggage was far greater than he could ever imagine.
"..This." Charlotte saw the number too and frowned. Unlike Pearson who was worried about the price, she was born and raised in a high-ranking Ancient Family and the price didn't scare her at all. She was just concerned because Planet Charh literally used up all its reserves during the netherstorm earlier. She knew it would take some time for them to re-stock.
"Young Master Erin." Steve's tone changed after he realized how important Erin was to the Blakewood Family. He was one of the first to notice the issue since he was next to the gate's control panel.
"Unfortunately, our planet is low on dimensional crystals due to the storm earlier. The amount required for you exceeds our current reserves. We can most certainly transport you the moment we receive a new shipment of crystals though."
Understanding that the netherstorm was technically his fault, Erin felt a bit bad on the inside. He maintained a neutral face on the outside though.
"Will this do?" Erin took out a Grade 9 Dimensional Crystal from one of his dimensional treasures. He walked over and handed it directly to Steve. Pearson simply watched this happen in front of him while dazed.
"This!" Steve's eyes popped out. The value of Dimensional Crystals was exponential. Thus, one Grade 9 Crystal was equivalent to a thousand Grade 8 Crystals. This meant that this Grade 9 Dimensional Crystal equaled a billion Grade 6 Dimensional Crystals!
"It's too much!" Steve knew that they couldn't even provide Erin with the difference in Grade 6 Crystals right now.
"Not a problem. Give the remaining energy to Pearson." Erin's tone made it sound like he was a nouveau riche. Even though he understood the value, he didn't have any smaller crystals to provide. Besides, the incident was caused by his creature anyways. So he truly didn't mind.
"Then, could you please start the gate?"
Erin asked Steve before walking back before the dimensional gate.
Steve understood that Erin wasn't going to take no for an answer. He directed a guard to replace the gate's current crystals with the single Grade 9 Crystal. Once placed in the gate's power chamber, Steve started up the gate's portal.
As the portal opened, Erin glanced back and waved farewell at Pearson, Charlotte, and Alice. He smiled and said goodbye. This farewell was temporary since Erin needed to return and collect his Titan starship later.
Alice waved back at Erin the most. She was glad to finally make a friend that didn't disappear.
Plus, when she delivered Erin's new Dakia 13 earlier, aside from adding Pearson's details, she secretly added her own communication details as well.
Alice marked herself as a close contact without telling anyone. This made it so that whenever Erin enters the inner sector of the universe again, an 'online' notification would be visible to her device. She could then call him and see how he was doing.
Pearson and Charlotte waved out of formality. They were still slightly astonished by the fact that Erin took out a Grade 9 Dimensional Crystal just to activate a dimensional gate. Those types of crystals were very pure in dimensional energy. It was at a level which could only be sought for.
Once Steve gave the clear that the channel was stabilized, Erin entered the dimensional gate. His entire surroundings changed instantly! He was now in the center of a metallic gateroom. There were many soldiers positioned around the room. All of them were equipped with plasma guns.
The room was large and multi-leveled. There were hundreds of soldiers on each level overlooking the gateroom. The design was similar to the center of a multi-level shopping centre, except it was cold, metallic, and militaristic.
An officer approached Erin several seconds after he arrived.
"Greetings, my name is Corwin. We've already received your credentials. Please follow me to the station's hangars."
Corwin acted respectfully. He was neither overbearing nor yielding. He was fully aware that this person was connected to Pearson, a famous Guardian. This is what his direct supervisor told him before assigning him to guide the sudden guest.
The rules of the Intergalactic Armada were strict. The credentials they received only allowed Erin to use this place as an immediate transitioning point. He wasn't given permission to stay on-board for any longer than that.
After coming to a general understanding of the current universe, Erin had rudimentary knowledge regarding the Intergalactic Armada.
To avoid issues, he didn't hesitate to follow Corwin. There were some soldiers that surrounded Erin as he walked. This was simply part of the space station's precautionary measures.
Since the space station was at the borders of a backwater galaxy, it wasn't very big. It didn't take long for the two of them to reach a hanger.
"Alright. This is our largest hangar. We've already temporarily cleared the starships parked here for your convenience. You're welcome to unload your starship here now." Corwin motioned Erin to enter the hangar's doors. "We'll automatically unlock the hangar's air-lock when your starship starts floating. Please be sure to secure your ship's airlocks before launching up."
Although Corwin was well-intentioned, Erin's face was very awkward.
"Erm. I don't think this hangar is big enough. Do you have an external hangar port?" Erin knew that his Destroyer class starship was simply too large for this space station. If the hanger was only this big, then the station probably wasn't even the size of a small-sized city.
'External hangar port?' Corwin frowned on the inside. He doubted that this young man had a starship that required an external port.
External hangar ports were designed to connect a space station to any starship that was bigger than the hangar itself! Erin was basically saying that his starship was too big.
Nevertheless, since it was requested, Corwin would simply oblige. It wasn't his jurisdiction to question an arrogant young man.
"Certainly. Please follow me." Corwin's tone wasn't as polite this time. Even the soldiers following them frowned a little. To them, it was a waste of time to activate the external hangar port for a starship that could simply exit from the hangar.
When Corwin notified the station's control room, his superior approved the request instantly. Seeing this, Corwin raised his eyebrows in surprise. His direct supervisor wouldn't waste the station's precious energy on this request unless they thought it was reasonable.
After walking quite a while, the group reached a special room on the station. It had massive glass walls with a plasma barrier on the outside. This barrier generally wasn't activated unless a ship had to dock with the station's external port. Hence why Corwin and the soldiers considered it a waste of valuable energy.
At the center of these walls was an entryway. It led to a mechanized hall that would extend outwards and connect to the docking starship.
"Please make sure that there are no starships nearby. I don't want anyone to get hurt by my starship's appearance." Erin was mindful.
"Not to worry, that is a simple requirement whenever the external hangar port is being used." Corwin answered with a slight frown. He knew that the supervisor actually ordered many of the station's starships to move very far away. Such a precaution was ridiculous in Corwin's eyes.
Erin promptly looked through the glass walls and picked a spot to unload his Destroyer class starship. With a simple order, the starship transferred from his dimensional treasure and appeared in the formerly empty space.
The size of Erin's starship made the space station look like an ant!
Even though Erin thought it was small, the space station was considered quite big for something located in the border galaxies. It's just that he didn't explore it much since they guided him directly to the hangars. It boasted a population of over 35,000 soldiers since it monitored an entire galaxy.
Dumbfounded, Corwin's jaw dropped. Even the soldier's were speechless.
They could easily recognize that this was a Destroyer class starship! This young man actually owned a Destroyer?! Where was his crew? If he didn't have a crew, it meant that the starship had a highly efficient AI chip installed instead!
The mechanized hall promptly extended to the nearby starship. The starship was fully under Erin's control. Thus, he ordered the AI to connect with the space station.
[The External Hangar Port has now connected to the docked starship. The Rafold Galaxy Space Station welcomes the crew members of the Assegai Exodus II.]
This message echoed throughout the entire space station. Normally, when a starship uses the external port, it's to bring people into the space station. The control room didn't correct this message because they forgot to. The external port was very rarely even used in the first place!
'An Assegai Exodus II?!' Corwin was well aware of how valuable this ship was. The name Assegai Exodus was already famous enough. Only the wealthy could afford it's manufacturing costs! There were merely rumors that a second version of the starship was released. He just got living proof that these rumors were true!
"Great, thank you all for your timely assistance." Erin nodded respectfully at Corwin and the soldiers before promptly entering the mechanized hallway.
Once Erin boarded his starship, he disconnected it from the space station and had the AI begin piloting it away.
Minutes later, the starship was finally far enough from the space station to utilize its warp-drive. Once the warp activated, Erin and his starship were nowhere to be seen.
Throughout this entire process, Corwin and the soldiers were just blankly looking out the external hangar port's windows. The supervisor watched this scene through the station's security cameras and laughed. He knew about Erin's starship from the very beginning since he's the one that processed the authorizing paperwork.