Bimos Planet, Ugly and Ambitious!

Twenty-four hours had passed. Since we were no longer on Earth, the concept of day and night had become completely meaningless.

I had spent the last few days just watching the hours tick by.

The spaceship began its deceleration sequence, and a planet composed almost entirely of rock appeared before Karochi and Tights.

Planet Bimos—this was the planet Tights wanted to survey, and Karochi had agreed to accompany her.

"Alright, let's go. We'll take the small shuttle craft down. Once the main ship lands, breaking free from the gravity well consumes too much energy, and we still have a long journey ahead, so we can't be too wasteful." Tights had already fully suited up in her protective gear.

Honestly, if energy was that tight, shouldn't we just keep going? Wouldn't stopping and then accelerating again consume just as much?

Karochi wisely kept his mouth shut. After all, the ship had been funded by her family; he had only contributed a sample.

But soon, Karochi noticed a minor issue: "Big Sister Tights, are we both going down in one shuttle?"

"Isn't that obvious? You said yourself there are power levels over a thousand on this planet! What am I supposed to do if something happens while I'm down there alone?" Tights replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Uh, okay? Isn't that going to be a bit cramped?

The shuttle was designed for a single pilot; two people sharing it wasn't impossible, but the space was definitely lacking.

Sitting together meant inevitable physical contact. Although Karochi looked five, his mental age was nearly thirty.

Tights looked like she was in the "maximum penalty" category of attractiveness.

But Karochi only hesitated for two and a half seconds before diving in and settling into Tights' lap.

Laughing to death, who isn't still a child? I'm only five, what kind of bad intentions could I possibly have?

Mmm, so soft.

Tights felt a bit uncomfortable being used as a cushion, and Karochi's tail wasn't exactly behaving itself either.

"Keep your tail under control, or I'll cut it off," Tights threatened, feeling it was necessary.

Karochi instantly went still.

With a huff, Tights closed the hatch: "Ready to go, sit tight!"

A spherical shuttle was launched, immediately entering the atmosphere of Bimos.

I have to say, there's a real difference in shock absorption; the violent vibrations were intense.

If Tights hadn't been holding me, I probably would have cracked my head open.

The friction from the atmosphere generated immense heat, and a red trail of fire tore through the sky, leaving a brilliant streak as the shuttle plummeted toward the ground.

Karochi couldn't help but shrink back. Despite having landed twice before, he still found this method of arrival extremely repulsive; it always felt like he was committing suicide by jumping off a building.

But the collision he anticipated never happened. At about three meters above the ground, the shuttle shifted its trajectory and began moving horizontally across the surface.

Wow! Dr. Brief is so thoughtful, this is so heartwarming! Love it.

Tights, feeling uncomfortable from being squeezed by Karochi, kicked him away: "Are you trying to crush your big sister!?" Tights was furious; was this brat trying to take advantage of her on purpose?

She really didn't believe Karochi was actually scared of the landing!

Kicked against the hatch, Karochi didn't look embarrassed. He would swear to the heavens he wasn't trying to take advantage of her! He was still just a child, why treat him like this?

By now, the shuttle had gradually come to a stop. Dr. Brief, you get a thumbs up from me—smooth!

Karochi was the first to step out of the hatch. Although the ship's records said it was suitable for human activity, there wasn't a single tree in sight, so he was deeply skeptical about where the oxygen was coming from.

The first thing he felt was the heat! Damn, I didn't notice when we were coming down that this godforsaken planet was positioned between two stars of equal mass. It only rotated, it didn't orbit! It was perpetual day with no night all year round.

The most amazing thing was that it hadn't been torn apart by the massive gravity of the two stars. Instead, it maintained a gravitational environment similar to Earth, and the air was almost identical as well.

Tights climbed out of the shuttle and tucked it away into a capsule.

Capsules inside capsules, how many are there? Karochi muttered to himself.

"This is truly miraculous! To have life surviving on a planet with almost no water or trees, and with breathable air to boot!" Tights exclaimed, spreading her arms wide.

This was the kind of space travel she wanted! The joy of discovering new things and exploring the unknown, seeing things she had never seen or heard of before.

Click! Click!

Tights picked up the camera hanging around her neck and started snapping photos.

"Um, Big Sister Tights! Aren't you hot?" Karochi was panting with his tongue out, but Tights seemed completely unaffected by the heat.

Did she have some kind of "money power"?

"Hmm!? Not really. Did you forget the spell the Lookout cast on me? It seems to be a permanent effect; as long as the temperature isn't too extreme, I won't feel any discomfort," Tights said with a playful expression.

Damn! That cool? You should've said so! If you had, I would've asked the Lookout to cast one on me too! Now it's way too late.

Tights then activated the scouter Karochi had been using to detect power levels.

"Lochi! East-southeast, 1,000 kilometers away, there's an energy reading! The value is actually 3,500!" Tights exclaimed in shock. She knew that even after training at the Lookout until the very end, Karochi's power level was only 2,700.

They had just arrived on this planet and already found someone with a higher power level than him, and that wasn't all—further out, there were even units with power levels over 4,000.

Karochi shielded his eyes from the sun and yawned: "I noticed that a long time ago. I sensed it before the shuttle even landed!"

If this had been three days ago, Karochi would have grabbed Tights and run without a second thought. But now? He wasn't afraid of anything! As long as nothing over 10,000 showed up, he was ready to go head-to-head. Even at 10,000, he'd be fine.

"So, what should we do? Should we make contact?" Tights asked.

Hilarious. If you had used an interrogative tone to ask that question, I might have thought you were consulting me, but you've already made up your mind, so why ask?

Karochi didn't answer; instead, he scooped Tights up into a bridal carry, his body enveloped in surging power as he dashed toward the energy signature.

His speed was so great that it kicked up a cloud of dust.

He was now several times faster than he had been three days ago, and it didn't take long for him to locate the nearest energy source.

However, both Karochi and Tights were a little disappointed. The creature didn't seem to be of a highly intelligent species; it looked more like a Minotaur from a fantasy world, though much shorter, with red skin and a pair of brown horns on its head.

"Uh, Sister Tights, do you want to make contact? It looks like it's about to eat! Maybe we can mooch a bite." The bull-headed creature was holding a bone-like mace in its left hand, smashing away at a dead dinosaur-like creature!

Karochi was actually curious about what this dinosaur tasted like!

Tights gave him a look of disdain. She truly couldn't understand the world of a foodie! And he really was the type to try anything and taste everything! He didn't even worry about getting poisoned.

If Karochi knew what Tights was thinking, he would probably mock her in his heart: Your brother-in-law has even roasted and eaten the limbs of humanoid creatures, and you've never seen him get athlete's foot on his mouth!

Tights frowned deeply. This bull-headed creature didn't look like it was capable of normal communication at all.

"Let's go, let's make contact and see. What if it can communicate?"

"Fine, you're the boss, you call the shots!"

He picked up Tights and leaped down from the high mountain, startling the bull-headed creature on the ground!

It froze when it saw Karochi and Tights, its eyes fixed directly on Tights!! It made her skin crawl.

"Hey, brother! What are you doing? You looking for trouble?" Karochi spoke first, waving his hand to block the creature's line of sight!

Hey, hey, hey!! What does this jerk want?? Staring at my sister like that, is he sick in the head?

The Minotaur, having its view blocked, flew into a rage, swinging its mace with its left hand and slamming it into the ground! The earth instantly cracked open, sending up clouds of dust.

"Sister Tights, it doesn't seem like it welcomes us! Should we pull back?" Karochi scratched his head, unable to understand a word the creature said, or perhaps it didn't even have a fixed language.

Tights felt the same way, and being stared at by this Minotaur just now had made her very uncomfortable!

Just as she was about to nod, the Minotaur lunged forward and swung its mace at Karochi, aiming straight for his head—the viciousness of the strike was clear.

"Watch out!!!!" Tights shrieked, not expecting the creature to attack so suddenly.

Karochi grabbed the mace directly, ignoring the spikes on it, and with a single spin, he flung the creature away!! It crashed straight into a small hill.

"Damn it, what's wrong with you? Why start a fight for no reason!!" Karochi was furious. What kind of idiot species is this? Being a Minotaur makes you special?

"Karochi, be careful, this thing doesn't seem easy to deal with!!" Tights stepped behind Karochi. She was too weak; if the creature decided to target her, she wouldn't even have a chance to resist.

Karochi waved his hand and said, "It's fine, a Minotaur can't stir up much trouble!!"

The Minotaur that had been thrown away stood up, staring at Karochi with great vigilance!! It seemed unwilling to fight anymore, but its next action left both Karochi and Tights stunned.

The creature pointed at Tights, then at its own feet, then pointed at Karochi and finally toward the sky!!

What the hell does that mean?? Does it want Tights to stay as its slave and tell me to get lost???

"You... you bastard!!!" Clearly, Tights had read the meaning behind the gesture and roared in anger.

Karochi was even more direct. He used high-speed movement to appear in front of the creature and, before it could react, slapped it hard across the face!!

Smack~~~! A loud sound echoed as the Minotaur was sent spinning in place.

"Pah! You ugly piece of trash, you really have a high opinion of yourself, don't you? Let me ask you, do you even have the right to act like this!!?" Karochi was livid. This dog-like thing really thought it could shine just because he gave it a little sunlight!!

Who gave it the nerve? Still not satisfied, Karochi delivered a whip kick that sent it flying a hundred meters away, the massive impact kicking up clouds of dust.