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Then he dove into runes and inscriptions . Then he even tried to study Chaos Magic, but the many differing theories and schools on that were too confusing and he soon gave up . "I'm nowhere near ready for that!"

By the time two weeks were up and Remian's sentence was fully served, Xiao Yan was about ready to take the tests for Grade 4 formations, and Remian himself was halfway to Cla.s.s 7 as a Psionic .

As the Sentence was coming to an end, the Conglomerate Judge called the Corpoman privately . "Is it wise, sir? This man paid us only 20,000 Black, and we paid him salvage fees of 9,500 Black . This is already a loss on our part, but not only did we not squeeze him for all he was worth, we even spent outrageous sums to provide him with Virtual Acceleration for free . No matter how I look at it, this whole operation was a tremendous loss . "

The Corpoman shook his head at the Judge's words . "This man is innocent of any crime, yet we sentenced him publicly as a criminal . He did no offense against us, raised not a word of complaint, and this entire time I was watching him, he only thought of the good of his people and his own self-improvement . Without reservation, he cares for a stranger he saved from misery and poverty, consistently asking about her every day and taking up responsibility for her who is no relative of his . To tell you the truth, I am ashamed, deeply embara.s.sed to treat him like a sinner just to maintain our good relations with the Estuarte family . Spending a few crystals to power Virtual Acceleration for him seems like a rather small price to pay . "

"A few hundred million Cua is not a small price, to most people, sir . "

"I am not 'most people' . " The Corpoman's face hardened . "And I will hear no more on it . "

Grimacing, the Judge lowered his head . "Yes, sir . "

With that, the call ended .

***

They asked him to draw out a rough map of his planet's surface, as much of it as he could rememeber . Then they did a search using that image .

"Filter; terran planets with Quarin ruins . " The corpoman added .

Six possible matches were found . Remian glanced through all six, discarded four, compared the last two, and frowned . "I'm… not sure . "

"Any other distinctive features?" the corpoman asked .

"It's… running out of mana . " Remian grimaced .

One of those two, the one on the left, was suddenly highlighted . The corpoman glanced at it, read some symbols that showed up, and explained, "This planet was abandoned by the Quarin some ten thousand years ago due to depletion of natural mana, and… eh?"

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"What?" Remian asked half-nervously .

"The Draconians were advancing . It's well within Draconian territory now . " The corpoman frowned . "The entire star system has been taken over by the Dras clan . "

"Dras…? Like… 'Zor'khan-dras?'?" Remian jumped .

"Yes, exactly . Do you have a dragon on your world with such a name?"

"We have many!" Remian gaped . "I didn't know the dragons were a s.p.a.ce-faring race!"

"The adult ones are . This planet here seems to be a nursery . " The corpoman paused . "Are you sure this is your homeworld? How are the Dras family treated there?"

"The Great Dragons are venerated . People swear by their name . " Remian explained . He described them to the Corpoman .

"Based on their size and sleep cycles, the Dras siblings on your world sound like a few young adults . " The corpoman nodded . "Their broods are small, likely just starting out . I saw a really big brood once, it covered several star systems . It's a bit of a pity, really . "

"Why is it a pity?" Remian blinked .

"Because the Draconians, the Quarin and the Tuskans in that sector are losing ground against the Mitigok infestation . At the rate they're going, you only have a couple hundred years before your world is in the path of their advance . "

"W-what are the Mitigok?" Remian gulped .

"Think of them as a swarm of s.p.a.ce-faring insects . A very big swarm of very big insects whose only interest in other life forms is having us for dinner . " The corpoman hesitated, then said, "You might not actually have anything to worry about . The Draconians, the Quarin and the Tuskans have signed a mutual defense pact against the Mitigok . They're working together to hold off the swarm . "

"How is that going?"

"Not very well, so far . But maybe they'll figure it out soon, maybe in time to save your world . " The corpoman shrugged . "Or maybe they'll fail spectacularly and all of you will die sooner . Except the dragons . I expect the Dras Clan will pull them out before they are endangered . "

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"Can they pull us out too?" Remian frowned .

"The Draconians? Whatever for? You're not dragons . "

"I meant, the Quarin . They're human too, right?"

"If they still occupied your world, maybe . But they abandoned it after depleting its mana . On top of that, they're already busy pulling out their own people . It doesn't seem likely they would devote any of their remaining resources to rescuing yet more refugees . "

He made a good point . The Quarin were the type who'd deplete a world of mana and then abandon it . They didn't seem like the especially charitable sort .

"I'd say your best chance would be with the Scavengers . " The corpoman figured .

"The who, what now?"

"It's like this; star systems facing an imminent, inevitable disaster like a supernova or a Mitigok Infestation are cla.s.sified as 'salvage' . Such places are golden opportunities to Scavengers who could legally swoop in and take whatever they find to be of value while they still can, including livestock . "

"L-livestock?!" Remian gulped . "I don't want to become livestock!"

"Then you might want to figure out a way to get your people to safety yourself . After all, it's not like you've never traveled to other worlds before . Just saying . "

Remian froze, a glimmer of a plan or six arising in his half-panicked mind .

That's right . They already had a Spatial Rift capable of sending him to Xiao Yan's world . If he could find a way to stabilize it, perhaps he could bring a whole lot of people through .

"Two hundred years…" Remian gritted his teeth .

"You probably won't survive that long . " The corpoman added quietly . "Not without longevity treatments . There's a lot we could do for you, but we're a business, and we have to be pragmatic . If you want our help, you'll have to pay for it, and based on where you are, the cost will be extremely high . "

"I can do that? Pay for your help?" Remian was startled . For a minute there, he thought such a thing was impossible .

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"If you can find resources we would value enough to buy, yes . But they have to be really valuable, because that area your world is in is a high risk zone . "

"Can you give me a list, or something?"

The corpoman had one printed, listing out the top ten items based on their database and old scans . At the top of the list was 'Colossal Kraken', found roughly 8,000 meters below sea level . Sky Trees… didn't the Eagle Lord mention those at one point? Remian couldn't remember . Five Auspicious Beasts, Full Set? What were they? Azure Dragon? Vermillion Bird? White Tiger… cripes, isn't that the Five Emperors?! Forget it . There was no way he was selling the Five Emperors to the Conglomerate .

Dark Silver Ice… Flaming Star Ruby… Red Mana Crystals (or higher)… Celestial Grade Wood Essence…

"I don't even know what most of these are . " Remian groaned .

"Take ten seconds . " The corpoman advised .

But it was ten seconds in Virtual Acceleration . For Remian almost an hour pa.s.sed while he learned about everything on that list one by one .

At last, he was done . "Okay . I'm ready . How do I get home?"

"You came in with a formation . You may as well use one to get back . "

But there was a problem .

"There's a what?" the corpoman blinked .

"Spatial loop seal . It's temporary, likely won't last more than a couple years, but until then, anything getting through on that Rift is going to come right back out . " The technician explained . "Unless we close off our side, in which case, you'd be doomed to wander round and round the loop for the next two years . "

Remian winced . "Is there… is there a better way?"

"You're a Cla.s.s-7 Psionic, right? I heard some really strong Cla.s.s-7's can already open Warp Rifts . Can you?" the technician asked .

"Not yet . I'm only halfway to Cla.s.s-7 . And isn't an interstellar Warp Rift something a Cla.s.s-9 or higher is supposed to be able to do?"

The Quarin Technician shrugged . "Don't blame me for your lack of talent . "

The corpoman held out a hand . "We'll do it . "

"Huh?" Remian blinked .

"I'll get someone to send you home . " The Corpoman promised .

***

Somewhere in an open field on Remian's homeworld, a strange phenomenon appeared .

It looked like swirling mist, but any human getting close to it would feel a throbbing headache and complain about echoes of his or her own thoughts . Meanwhile, a fire mage pa.s.sing by nearby said that the swirling mists were actually mystical energies of a sort he couldn't recognize .

But before any investigation could even begin, there was a flaring of light, and then the swirling energies disappeared . In its place was a boy and a girl dressed in comfortable traveling robes .

They looked very normal . Two eyes, one nose, one mouth, each… their features were normal too . Dark hair, dark eyes, somewhat tanned skin . In fact, they fitted right in with everyone around them .

"This… where are we?" Remian glanced at Xiao Yan with a gulp . This wasn't the Wildlands .

But one glance around showed him the familiar sight of a Deutero Company Sky Galleon docking at a distant port . That sight told him that this was, at least, his homeworld .

The faces, skin colors and costume of the people around him, though, told him he was nowhere near Ceres or Ashdale . This was… this was…

That boy running down the road was carrying a steamed bun in his hand . The nearby fire mage wore a robe embossed with climbing dragons, and there was a jade token on his belt…

"Tian Di Sect . " Remian confirmed with a sigh . "We're in the Dragon Empire . "

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