Looking at the empty fridge, Tai guessed that the ants most likely took the food in the fridge and took it back to their nest. Tai groaned in frustration as he began checking the cupboards to see if maybe the ants left some food.

Although Tai found no food, he did find bottled water. Immediately after he saw the water, he opened it and began chugging the water, almost choking. He opened another bottle and gave it to Fenrir. "Drink up, buddy."

Fenrir started drinking the water his master gave him, although with it being in a bottle it posed some problem to him, but he quickly found out how to use the bottle and happily drank the water.

After Tai finished his second bottle of water, he released a deep sigh. Being out in the hot desert dehydrated him, so any piece of water was good for him.

Before leaving the house, and continuing on his journey, Tai explored the house for anything useful that he could get. He didn't bother with looking upstairs as he had already searched there, so he only checked the main floor and the basement.

Tai found nothing that he wanted on the main floor, but he did find something unusual in the basement. In one corner of the basement, there was a tunnel about as big as a desk, but the weird thing was that the tunnel led nowhere. Using his Ki, he lit up the tunnel and found that it ended in a dead-end.

Tai concluded that some ants probably saw their dead brethren, marked this place as dangerous, and closed the tunnel.

Seeing that there was nothing else that could help him in the house, Tai grabbed a plastic bag, filling it up with all the bottled water in the house, which was 5. Once he was ready, Tai made his way out of the house to leave but was stopped by the man who had pointed the knife at him.

"Wait! Thanks for killing the ants, and could I ask for your name? I'm Dan."

"Tai. My name's Tai," he replied as he left the house, closing the door behind him.

"What a day. Right, Fenny?" Tai asked him as he ran his fingers through his soft fur.

Fenrir barked in response, seemingly able to understand his master.

Tai and Fenrir once again continued their journey across the desert. This time, it was less eventful than usual with only minor monsters that posed no threat attacking them.

Tai didn't mind it and it would make traveling across the desert easier, but he liked fighting, so with no real challenge, it was just a boring walk through the desert.

After walking for a few hours, even Tai was feeling slightly tired and he even had a minor Healing Factor, but their journey had paid off. In the distance, was a giant cube, about the size of a medium-sized city.

When Tai saw the cube, he instantly sped up his pace. "What the hell is this?"

Arriving at the cube, Tai was cautious. He didn't know if this thing was dangerous or beneficial, so he used his Analyze skill on the giant cube, hoping to find out what this thing was.

MP5934 - Aether City - 432 An Aether City created by the system in an Aether hotspot. Provides food, shelter, and jobs to the planet's inhabitants.

Reading the description of the cube, Tai was glad that it wasn't dangerous and was there to help people.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Knowing that it was safe, Tai reached out with his hand and touched the black cube.

Would you like to enter MP5934 - Aether City - 432?

YES     NO

Pressing yes, another message showed up.

You are now being transported inside MP5934 - Aether City - 432. The only rules are no violence, stealing, or destroying property that isn't yours.

When Tai finished reading the rules, a bright light came over him as he disappeared, and appeared inside the Aether City. Tai looked beside him and saw that Fenrir was standing beside him with his tongue out. 

Looking around, Tai was shocked. He was like a kid in a toy store. In the Aether City, there were skyscrapers of varying sizes, and some even looked as if they reached all the way to space. There were also robot drones flying around and most importantly, there were humans. Some humans looked tired and had ragged clothes, while there were humans that had a certain air around them. They looked as if they had been here for some time, and they also had sleek black uniforms with letters written as "UEE".

One of the humans in uniform approached him with a smile and waved at him. "Hey there!"

Tai inspected the man. The man was tall, of African descent, and had short, black, curly hair. 

"My name's Terek. Are you new here? I've seen that look quite a bit in my time here," Terek said.

"I'm Tai and yeah, I am new here." Raising his eyebrows, Tai recalled what Terek said. "By the way, you said in your time here. How long have you been here, and what's that uniform you're wearing?"

"Well, it was a secret before, but now it's not so I suppose it's ok to tell you. About a year ago, a messenger from the Aether Universe came and warned us that the Aether levels of our universe were steadily rising and would be eligible to merge with the Aether Universe in a year. I don't know the exact details, but the top countries around the world decided it was best to combine and form the United Earth Empire, or UEE for short. I and a group of other people were granted exclusive rights to go to Aether Cities." Terek said, answering Tai's question.

Tai nodded. It seemed that what Jake told him was the truth. The government already knew that this was happening, so was Jake the messenger? No, he can't be, right? Tai thought.

"I see, thanks. Is there anything else I should know?"

"Yeah. The main currency now is Aether Coins or AC for short. There are a number of ways to get AC, but one of the safest ways is to just stay inside the Aether Cities and find a job to do. It's the safest, but it usually pays the least unless you start your own business. Another way to earn AC is by going to the Adventurer's Guild in the middle of the city and signing up to do missions."

Tai raised his eyebrows. It seemed that there was the stereotypical Adventurer Guild from the shows he liked to watch.

"Oh yeah. Almost forgot one thing. You can join the UEE and we'll give you a salary of AC. We'll even regrow that missing leg of yours," Terek added.

This was a tempting offer for Tai, but he didn't want to be tied down to something, and he had also gotten used to moving around with one leg and it wasn't so bad. "I'll have to decline your offer, Terek. I don't like to be tied down to something. Speaking of regrowing my leg, can I do it in the city?"

Terek nodded. "Yeah, you can. There are hospitals scattered around the city, and all of them are owned by the system. Just a warning though, the system likes to overpriced its services, so it would be better if you try to find a service, store, or anything that's not owned by the system.

Tai nodded as he asked one final question, "By the way. It said that the earth merged with other planets with life. Does that mean there are aliens here?"