Hope let out a sudden sigh of relief.
Then he raised an eyebrow at Hansent beside him.
"Now we have a ship."
"..."
A brief silence followed.
"No! This defies science!"
"Why did your ship arrive before mine?"
"And it's the latest Type VI Prospecting Ship, too!"
Hope shrugged, his face wreathed in smiles. "Who knows?"
"Maybe Zero took a liking to me and put my order ahead of yours?"
With that, he turned and headed for the door. He was going out to unwind properly for a while.
Behind him, Hansent let out an anguished howl.
The next day.
A small starship only fifty meters long slowly departed Dawn Star City One.
"Hey, buddy, you're going the wrong way."
Hansent's loud protests came from beside him. "The volcano is on the other side! You're heading in the opposite direction!"
Hope glanced at the satellite map and said with a smile, "No, I'm not."
"Before we go prospecting, I want to take a look at the body of water beside City One."
The Mineral Prospecting Ship slowly landed on a massive rock.
Rocks like this were everywhere near the shore.
The enormous rocks divided the water into a series of small lakes.
Though they were called lakes, their average depth exceeded fifty meters.
As for the central region, its maximum depth exceeded five hundred meters, enough to qualify as a small ocean.
Hiss!
With a hiss from the airtight seal, the Mineral Prospecting Ship's hatch slowly opened.
Wearing a spacesuit, Hope carefully jumped down from the Exploration Ship, walked to the edge of the rock, and gazed at the azure water below.
He lifted his head, looking at the enormous "moon" overhead, and said softly, "Looks like I'll have to take back what I said before."
"What?" Hansent's