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nBoom!

nBursts of radioactivity exploded out at various intervals, gushing out like lava from an erupting volcano as Onana carefully maneuvered through it all.

nAt this moment, Planet Titania was a bright pulsing bulge of orange.

nBeep! Beep!

nWarning! Armor Integrity is reducing!

nWarning! Stress levels increasing!

n“Wow, even with this much armor designed specifically to resist radiation energy, the armor integrity is still reducing? Interesting…”

nBack in the crew of the Frigate, all the crew members were in a state of great unrest as they watched the dare devil acts of their patron.

nEvery Nak Champion was a revered individual of the state, every one of them was incredibly talented and were tipped to become the future leaders and pullers of Nak society, no harm was allowed to befall them.

nWorking under Onana was a privilege to those in his crew, but at the same time the stress that came with working with him was crazy.

nLike now, they were sweating for his safety again like crazy.

nWith fascination in his eyes, Onana ignored everything else as he observed the scrambled but still relatively visible footage from his starship.

nThe more he watched, the more amazed he was. “Wow”.

n“In my years of exploration, I’ve never seen a planet like this”.

n“With so much energy, this planet should’ve imploded on itself already, what the hell is keeping it stable all these while?”

nThe more he observed, the more perplexed he became.

nAt this moment, all around his starship was an orange color as he went deeper into the 4th outermost layer of the planet. It took more than 5 hours of exploration before he was able to get to the edge of the 4th layer.

nThough most of the 5 hours was simply boring exploration work, Onana never got tired of it, he was fascinated by all the new things that he learned.

n‘How is Planet Titania possible?’ He could not help but ask.

nWhoosh!

nA sound reverberated like the starship was sucked into something. Transiting from the 4th layer to the 3rd layer of this planet was incredible, he could only associate it with that feeling when a drink was sucked through a straw.

nWarning! Planet Gravity increasing!

nWarning! Losing Flight Control!

n“Boss, you need to get out now!”

n“You will soon lose control over the starship!”

nOnana finally frowned for the first time.

nSeeing this, though they were separated by hundreds of kilometers, his subordinates still felt their hearts skip a beat, Onana was pissed.

nHe looked at all the flashing red lights in the starship, including the warning alarms that kept on blaring.

n“Hmph!” He snorted.

n“Nothing can prevent me from improving!”

n“I live my whole life for it”.

nHe override the A.I command of the starship, the next moment, he directed the power that was pushed to stabilizing the powerful gravitational pull to the starship’s thrusters. The effects of the sudden change were instant.

nBoom!

nThe starship was pulled into the Radioactive Giant with speed!

n“Nooo…!”

n“Boss!!!”

n“Do not come after me, it is an order!”

nOnana cut off the connection as he focused on riding the storm. Unlike the 4th layer that was still pretty clear despite the orange manifestation of the radiation, the 3rd layer seemed to contain even more unfriendly elements.

nWarning! A strange energy has been detected!

nAssociating attributes…, correlating results…, please wait…

nThe powerful processors of the starship were put to use, less than a second later, Onana got the answer that he was waiting for.

nData Found: Corrosion Energy!

nHis eyes widened. ‘All these energies all in 1 planet?!’

nHe didn’t spend as much time as he spent in the 4th layer in the 3rd layer, not only was his starship faster now as he no longer resisted the powerful gravity, but the distance was also closer now as he got closer to the planet’s surface.

nBoom!

nInstantly after he was sucked in to the 2nd layer, everything changed to purple. Not just purple, there were floating debris in the purple layer of this planet’s sphere, instantly turning it into a death zone.

nBam! Bam!

nWarning! Floating Debris detected!

nEngage Evasive measures!

nWhen floating debris came being flung at you by gravity at speeds exceeding hundreds of km

/hr, even the most stanch of heart would be shaken.

nEven Onana was shaken but he remained focused.

nAs a mechanic, though it was not his core profession, Onana was a mad starship pilot. Instantly after the first debris hit his ship, he engaged mad riding mood as he piloted the ship in inexplicable ways, performing crazy maneuvers.

nAfter what felt like 10 minutes later, the starship finally hit the surface.

nThe landing was rough and loud.

nThe metallic sound as it crashed reverberated for long while echoing far as it skid a few meters forward before finally stopping.

nThe starship was now almost unrecognizable after passing so many hurdles, it was damaged and it looked like a ruined abandoned ship.

nLuckily, all its sensor systems remained intact.

nOnana’s eyes widened.

n“A metal Planet?!” His voice rose a crescendo to show his shock and excitement.

nMetal planets were not rare in the Minerva Star System, but every single one of them were valuable state resources. They were strategic resources that ensured the continued power of powerful states like the Nak State.

nAnd most importantly, metal planets were the havens of Mechanics.

n“This is the real treasure in the Roronoa Star System! Why didn’t this become the main target?!”

nInstantly after he asked, he got his answer, he looked up. “The Giant Star”.

nWhen taken as a reference, the sun of the Milky Way Galaxy was nothing more than a small star. Medium stars had far more energy than it, but as for Giant Stars, they were part of the true power hogs of the universe.

nThe radiation and interference alone from the Giant Star was enough to scramble any long-ranged sensory systems, it was why the truth was not detected that Planet Titania was actually a metal planet.

n“Well, now I discovered it”.

nThis was why Onana loved exploration, the joy and fulfilment of discovering new things.

nBesides, he already made his decision. “I’m keeping this for myself”.

nThough the Nak State valued metal planets and this could help in the development of his state, this was the problem, they valued it too much and would never leave a whole metal planet in the hands of a Grade B Mechanic like him.

nNow that he was lucky to discover one, he would keep it for himself.

n‘I will do anything to improve!’ He affirmed in his heart.

n“Goard, get me a sample of the surface metal”.

n“Yes, Champion”. The A.I of the starship responded and went to work.

nThe next moment, metallic tentacles extended from the starship before digging in and cutting out a chunk of the surface metal.

nMetal detected!

nScanning for properties…

nProperties found…, match detected…

nMetal Name: Magic Mithril!

nOnana’s eyes widened, he jumped for joy. “I hit the f*cking jackpot!”

nMagic Mithril was a powerful metal even stronger with more useful effects than Arcanite. One of it’s main uses was being able to merge magical elements with mechanical energy, granting a mechanic much more versatility and options.

n‘If I get enough Magic Mithril from here, all I need is invite General Aztog’s Mage subordinate over’. His eyes shone excitedly. ‘I can create a brand-new mechanical suit in no time!’

n‘Besides, this is just the surface metal, after absorbing the power of so many different energies, there is bound to be even more amazing metal samples deeper into the planet’. He was hyped and excited.

nIt was while he rejoiced inwardly that the starship’s systems made another warning report that attracted his attention.

nWarning! Strange surface movement detected!

nOnana instantly turned alert as he watched with sharp eyes. “Movement? There’s something else out here?”

n𝒐𝒱𝐞𝐿xt.𝗰𝚘𝓂

nBefore landing on the Planet, he already scanned the immediate vicinity of the planet where he landed and he detected no signs of life.

nBesides, he was positively sure of his deduction that with so much radiation energy here, there was no lifeform that could survive here so what was out there?

n‘Another space fleet?’ He thought even as he applied countermeasures.

n“Enter defense mode!”

nThe A.I obeyed as the starship turned bulkier.

nSilently, Onana watched through the sensors of the spaceship, then he saw it. At first, it simply felt like planetary movements like dust or gravity but on a closer look on zoom, Onana saw…eyes, red eyes.

n‘Eyes?!’ His heart skipped a beat.

n“Zoom in closer!”

nThe A.I obeyed.

nThe interference of the radiation was strong, but the strong sensors of the starship was able to prevail in the end. After penetrating through the interference, Onana saw a zoomed picture that seemed like an army of red from afar.

nThey served as a great contrast to the gray surroundings of this metal planet.

nZooming even closer, he saw them more clearly. A round curved red metal exoskeleton body with black dots housing tiny wings, a black metal head, short sharp mandibles, and a row of metal legs.

nThere were thousands of them.

nBuzz!

nTheir tiny metal wings fluttered as they levitated.

n“Bugs?”

nInstantly after he asked, Onana’s eyes widened. “Space Bugs!”

nHe returned the sensor systems to it’s default settings where he saw the red lights at their normal zoom again. Instantly, his heart chilled, while he was unaware, the whole planet already turned into a sea of red buzzing creatures.

n“F*ck!”

n“Goard, take off!”

nThe starship lifted up but the red lights did the same, Onana’s heart chilled.

n*****

nDiscord link. If you want to see the makeshift map I sketched for the Roronoa Star system, go to my discord server through this link

nhttps:

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