The chemical is inconsistent. Though it is said to sync the ages of everyone in the galaxy together, that is a lie. The chemical adapts each time someone moves to another solar system, that everyone knows, but what people don't know is that it will constantly increase how many years it will take for your body to age in each solar system you come across. For someone who is a beginner, every ten years will age them. If someone is constantly traveling between solar systems, they can theoretically become immortal, the only thing that could kill them being another man's hands or by freak accidents, diseases, and such.

Almost all of the galaxy takes this chemical in their blood, some monopolize it. Those who go onto voyages through the galaxy do not need the chemical though since those voyages are essentially mini-civilizations going to inhabit another solar system permanently. That is irrelevant though. What we want to talk about is one of the races that monopolize the chemical for their own gain.

The Ufesto Berest, a race that resides in massive ships the shape of beans carrying groups of their entire race. Each member of their race prefers a more robotic form, using robots to communicate with other communities and even use them to trade. Nobody knows what the Ufesto Berest looks like since they send robotic proxies for each member of their race, but when they take over a solar system that has the chemical, they do not share it. If someone wants the chemical, they'd need to pay a high price, so each solar system that they rule over, most people who reside in it who age the same as everyone else in space are always those who are rich, the first class of their solar system. The Ufesto Berest is a greedy race after all...

Commentaries from the Abyss, Ludis Minor, Commander of Terra.

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The Gambler sighs, growing impatient. "How long is it going to take?"

The ship doesn't respond as if ignoring the Gambler.

"Hello?"

"It two more hours. I understand you are restless from not interacting with other humans for so long but please be patient."

"Question."

"Yes?"

"Fuel needs strange matter, yes?"

"Yes."

"You can only get strange matter from Neutron stars, correct?'

"Yes."

"Why were we mining for fuel for so long?"

"The Pieatris Vasjores does not run out in a ship and it automatically combines with any sort of fuel-like substance within a planet or atmosphere."

"What is a Pieatris Vasjores?"

"Purified strange matter."

The Gambler sighs, "How big is the solar system we're in now?"

"This solar system has not been discovered until now so that is why I am searching."

"So, no other civilization exists here?"

"No."

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Right..." The Gambler sits idly for a while until, "Another question."

"Yes?"

"Sometimes, depending on where you are in the galaxy, time will actually be somewhat behind some planets, what's the chemical's solution to that?"

"There is no point for there to be a solution. Those who become twenty all are essentially the same age as others in space from there on."

"I see..." The Gambler pauses, "Do the drones sent to the planet have cameras on them, and if they do, can I check those cameras?"

"Yes, if you head to the drones outside the ship and plugin one of the many USBs on your Pauldron, you will be able to download what they have seen."

"Right."

The Gambler nods to himself, walking to the engine room, over to the airlock, putting on the helmet, and leaving with a tether in hand. He attaches it to his belt and to the railing outside like last time, but instead of going to the top of the ship, he heads below it. Small little bumps in his shoes expel highly concentrated air, pushing him in any direction he needed, right now, towards the bottom of the ship. He grabs onto one of the drones covered in a thick metal shell to prevent them from being damaged when not being operated on. The Gambler opens up the shell and plugs one of his USBs into the drone, his visor identifying that it'd connected and is currently downloading.

A few seconds pass and the drone's data has finally been uploaded into The Gambler's Pauldron. The Gambler makes his way back inside, taking off his helmet and heading into the room, staring down at the Pauldron. The Gambler goes through a files window and finds the drone's footage, opening it and watching through it.

It's almost impossible to see anything through massive clouds of dust kicked up by a random monster the size of a train billowing from underneath the drone. The Gambler immediately pulls back in surprise. "You said that there weren't any big monsters on this planet!"

"There is?"

"Yeah, a massive fuck off worm!"

"Are there any other life on said planet as large?"

The Gambler goes through the video a bit, looking for other animals, most of them being extremely small or moderate in size. "No..."

"I rest my case. Even on larger planets, there is the occasional large creature anyway."

The Gambler clicks his tongue, looking through the video some more, stunned by what he was seeing. He had never seen environments like this in his life, foreign fauna the size of boulders, small creates similar to that of bugs. The Gambler had a dream that he could do something like this... go into space and experience foreign entities. He just didn't want it to be like this. Stuck on a ship spinning across a planet endless with no hope of finding another civilization in sight.

"I have found a solar system with civilization on it, but it will take twenty years to get there, two years your time because of inexperience."

"Right... is there anything like a warp station in this place?"

"Yes, but they can only be found in level two civilizations and above. They are called Liori P'halti, also known as miniature wormholes."

"That exists?"

"Yes, but, they are very rare. They are normally used to go to other systems with civilizations on them, if you need to go to one where there is not, you'll have to go there yourself without a wormhole. You can get your ship a personal wormhole device, but they are extremely expensive."

"How high a level is the civilization we're about to encounter here?"

"Level Three, I will take some time to confirm their race but I suggest we start heading there now since we have enough supplies and, it will be more efficient."

The Gambler heads into the cockpit, sitting down on the chair and adjusting some of the controls. A map appears on a screen on the armrest, showing the Gambler how he should aim the ship. The ball-like object in the armrest is an accelerator, it can also help a ship yaw and roll itself if you tap on the ball twice. Then there is the center stick, used for adjusting where the tip of the ship looks and can be used to fire upon other ships with either a laser or to aim drones towards a ship and bombard them. The Gambler keeps the ship in the acceleration mode and points in the direction of the solar system he wants to head towards, looking over to the screen directing him frequently to see if he got it right.

"Did I get it?"

"Yes, please accelerate."

The Gambler nods, sliding his finger across the accelerator, causing the ship to gain speed. He continues until it hits its max.

"Tap on it."

The Gambler looks around, confused, tapping onto the ball, nothing happens, switching to the yaw and roll mode.

"Tap on it three times."

The Gambler does exactly that and the ball rises from the hole it was placed in.

"Place your hand on it to put it in auto-pilot."

The Gambler places his entire hand on the ball. His hand sinks into it like sane before a dinging sound is heard and the ball retreats back into its hole. The Gambler lets go as it lowers itself.

"You can deactivate auto-pilot but touching it like normal, I will automatically stop the ship when we arrive at the solar system."

The Gambler lets out a long sigh before leaving the cockpit.