After paying a bit more than required due to the use of the anti-gravity engine, Aric hopped off and walked away as the taxi car automatically returned to the conductive road. He was glad to see small mountains right outside the city, and some even had caves.

Normally, caves were a luxury in his place at least, and he hadn't seen any caves, but here, according to Apis, caves had formed naturally, and people never ventured there as they weren't beautiful at all.

As Aric was led to a cave, one could easily see why. These caves were not pleasing to look at, were dirty, and it would take a good amount of money to make them beautiful and livable. Who would choose this place when one had all the luxuries of the cities? In addition, this planet was away from any oversight, so the capital influx was less here. This was a boon for Aric as he could conduct his temporary operations from here.

"Apis, so my body is now resistant to all kinds of viruses and bacteria from any foreign world?" Aric asked again.

"Yes, according to reports, you have been injected with Viocilin, which is the general version of resistive enhancement. It allows the body to produce every kind of combination of proteins required to combat any aerosol, liquid, and solid contamination that might happen in your journey through the stars."

"Alright," Aric replied as he checked the cave. Even though Apis had said that there were no dangerous animals, he made sure that this forest wasn't visited by animals at night. The small area only had sparse vegetation and dead leaves from the trees around. After confirming the safety, he placed Apis down and went back to the place where he left his other communicator.

"Time for some truth, baby."

Aric took a deep breath and jumped to the world he had first visited. Within seconds, the scenery changed, and he was back at the place he had first visited. The same gravel land, the same lush forests. Aric took a few breaths to take everything in. From the subtle smell alone, Aric was sure that this place wasn't touched by technology. By now, he knew the smell of his own world and the interstellar world.

Aric didn't know why, but he was sure that the enhancers had given him a bit of heightened senses. It wasn't much, maybe a 5 to 10 percent increase, but it was enough for him to judge some normal things around faster.

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And he also realized one thing about his abilities: he could teleport to the places where he had seen and placed his feet before. In other words, he could travel back to his own home from another world without needing transport. He just needed to visualize. Yes, he had experimented while he was in the bathroom the other day, and he was delighted.

No more transport costs and only one-time payment. Who wouldn't love it?

"I should walk around and find out," Aric said as he chose one direction on the gravel road and started walking slowly, while being on alert. He was vigilant and also seeing if there were any signs of foreign infection or a feeling of dizziness. If he fell sick, he would instantly teleport to the hospital. He hadn't wasted the money, so he was sure that he would be served with medical assistance.

Doctor Fitz wanted to test him more. He could easily leverage that. Thankfully, none of that was required, and he didn't find any problems along the way. He walked for an hour or so, and while doing so, he was using the new lens on his eyes to the max.

And he did notice a few odd things around as he moved along. Though his communicator didn't have an AI that could connect, it did have a vast store of knowledge. Every communicator was built to identify species which were common and known to men, and even the animals and birds from around the universe.

But here, as he looked around, the lens showed:

[

Unknown form of bamboo

Unknown form of margosa

Unknown form of teak

....

]

And that went on for plants too. This trend puzzled Aric at the beginning because these trees looked like the ones he had seen in his world and also in Echorysia. This trend persisted even for the animals, but it was with animals that he got the hint that things here were different.

He actually came across a deer passing by the road, and just from the looks of it, he could easily tell that something was amiss. The deer as a whole was fine; it had a brown coat over its body, but it was the antlers that threw Aric off.

The antlers had different kinds of colors on them. He could easily see red, blue, and yellow, arranged in a ring-like fashion. The eyes of the deer were also different. Aric was mesmerized beyond doubt and was dumbstruck seeing the deer. He had never seen such a beautiful creature before.

As the deer crossed the road, it looked deeply at Aric for a minute and then walked away slowly, while Aric simply appreciated the beauty, his jaws open with awe and wonder.

"There is something wrong with this place," Aric was sure by now, but he didn't know what. Apart from the deer, he came across a few birds which his communicator failed to recognize. There were some problems when he encountered a goat too, as it showed as an unknown species of goat.

He continued walking along the road, and after another half an hour, he finally saw some form of civilization. He spotted some huts and houses in the distance, but along with that, he also heard some screams and shouts. From the shouts, one could easily tell that they were from a human and also a cry of pain and despair.