With that set and done, he informed Winslow that he was willing to take in his people as refugees. They would have to follow all of Erin's orders while on his starship. Trouble-makers would also be punished and imprisoned.
Overjoyed, Winslow was very understanding and agreed. Erin didn't want to stay on this planet any longer than he had to. So he had Winslow and his guards return to the ground immediately. They would gather everyone willing to escape on Erin's starship.
As Winslow spread the good news, many of the beastmen were crying tears of joy. They were no fools, they knew this was their one and only chance at escape. None of them wanted to die with their planet.
Erin was very accommodating. Since he had a very large main-hangar and several secondary hangars on his starship, he figured out a very easy solution for transporting all the beastmen onto his starship.
The beastmen could simply use their civilian grade ships!
When Erin landed back on the ground, he was welcomed by countless cheers. Walking up to Winslow, Erin expressed the idea he had.
Winslow was stunned by Erin's generosity. Even though they were happy to be saved, the beastmen that owned civilian ships were quite sad. Even though the ships were very worn down, for most of them, leaving their ships was no different than bankruptcy. Their futures would be quite bleak.
Since the Assegai Exodus II was the size of a large city, its hangers were nothing to joke about! While they may not compare to the hangars in carrier-class starships, one of this starship's secondary hangars was still more than enough space to handle a few hundred of these small civilian ships.
With everything arranged, the beastmen moved into action quickly. Time was of the essence!
Erin had his AI open up a single secondary hangar on the starship.
Like a swarm, the hundreds of civilian ships floated up into the sky and flew into this hangar.
Winslow and Erin supervised all of this until the last civilian ship had left. None of the beastmen chose to reject this opportunity. From Erin's perspective, even the ones with a red aura were hypocritical enough to board the civilian ships heading for Erin's starship.
The city was now completely empty. Witnessing this somber sight, Winslow let out one last sigh on this planet before boarding Erin's planetary vehicle. They returned to the starship.
Earlier, Erin placed his hatchling inside the secondary hangar. He had the starship's AI create a holographic panel that the hatchling could work with. The panel would detect the people inside the hangar and allow the hatchling to mark these people accordingly.
Erin made his orders fairly simple. Green auras would be restricted normally, yellow auras would have extra restrictions, and red auras would be heavily restricted. These people would be fully unaware of these restrictions. Even though there were tens of thousands, the dragon hatchling could easily sense every single one of them. This is because it casted Dragon's Grace on all of these individuals. Therefore, marking them by the thousands only took seconds for it.
Now that everyone was in the hangar, the hatchling quickly shifted through them. Once it finished, the starship's AI would do the rest of the work. The surveillance and control within every part of the starship was all top-notch.
There were energy barriers that would prevent them from traversing the starship freely. It was impossible for any of the beastmen to escape the restrictions placed on them.
Although the hatchling was reluctant to do this work, it couldn't defy its masters orders without good reason.
Naturally, the tiny dragon caught the attention of every beastmen in the hangar. The children were especially looking at it with admiration in their eyes.
Although they couldn't recognize what it was doing, mostly because the holographic panel was in Erin's mother-tongue, they kept their curiosity to themselves. None of them dared to disturb the small creature because they were all under the impression that it was a heavenly dragon!
The dragon hatchling really enjoyed the gazes casted on it. Even though casting Dragon's Grace cost it a lot of energy, it wasn't without its benefits. The more good faith that the targets had to the caster, the greater these benefits were!
Deep inside the dragon hatchling, all of this good faith was steadily being accumulated. It would help with its advancements in the future. The hatchling could also use it to help its master level up and break barriers as well.
When Erin and Winslow arrived back at the starship, Erin immediately ordered the AI to send the starship into orbit. They would prepare to leave this space as soon as reasonably possible.
The artificial gravity was superb on the ship. Nobody felt uncomfortable as the starship started to exit the planet's atmosphere.
After a short talk with Winslow, they decided on a simple plan for Winslow's people. Erin had the AI arrange living accommodations for every single beastmen.
Since large military grade ships had expansive dormitories, the AI designated separate ones for males and females. As for families, the AI gave them individual rooms. Winslow was responsible for making sure that the beastmen felt comfortable with these arrangements. Friends and acquaintances were allowed to be in the same dormitories.
Furthermore, since military grade ships were designed to carry soldiers for long periods of time, there were also many baths, dining facilities and many more types of rooms. Per Erin's orders, the AI only allowed these people access to the most basic necessities.
Due to the massive purchases Erin made on Planet Charh, the enormous starship was fully-stocked with food. Since it had automated kitchens connected to the dining facilities, Erin allowed the AI to ration out food to these beastmen.
The most important thing was that the beastmen were only allowed in their designated areas. Barriers would be activated to prevent them from leaving these areas. This was a necessary precaution that Winslow considered quite reasonable. Exceptions could be made only with explicit permission from Erin.
Even though this plan constrained them, when it was announced, many of the beastmen were increasingly grateful to Erin. They were more than happy to accept these terms.
By now, the dragon hatchling finished marking everyone. Including Winslow, there was a grand total of 47,291 people. All of these people were currently standing inside the secondary hangar with a few hundred civilian ships scattered amongst them. Even though it was crowded, it was not jam-packed.
Per Erin's previous orders, the AI opened up the secondary hangar doorways the moment the hatchling finished marking everyone. All of the beastmen formed orderly lines as they exited the hangar. The AI used signals to guide them toward their respective dormitories.
Watching his people move, Winslow had tears on the edge of his eyes. Prior to the attack, there were over 200 million people living on his planet. Although almost 50,000 people sounded like a lot, this was a survival rate less than 0.001%! Seeing his people being rescued was bittersweet.
As people were leaving the hangar, Wilson and Erin continued their talks.
Winslow insisted on heading to a specific mega-planet. It was on the borders between the Beastman Universe's outer realm and inner realm. The Ursidae Tribe had control of this entire mega-planet.
There was a magnificent city on this planet that was owned entirely by Winslow's Branch Clan. This is where their city's dimensional gate originally connected to.
Once there, Winslow promised to reward Erin for his help. He would also request his Branch's leader to give Erin an honorary title and starship insignia. This would allow Erin to legally travel through the Beastman Universe.
Since Erin knew Winslow was poor, he didn't care much about the rewards. That aside, he was still extremely interested in the title and insignia.
Although his title as a 'Dragon Rider' felt useful, it wasn't an identity backed by any force. There was also no way for him to display this on his starship. As a result, because he didn't have any identification, his giant military-grade, destroyer-class starship would probably be mistaken as a hostile force by many people.
Winslow gave Erin a specific space route that was controlled by the Ursidae. It was a spatial channel that the Ursidae Tribe conquered a long time ago. Winslow gave him a unique passcode that should be emitted by the starship while traveling this path. The Ursidae guard-ships would recognize this signal; thereby allowing Erin's starship to continue unhindered.
Traveling through normal channels would carry the risk of being detected and stopped by unknown forces. Erin gratefully accepted Winslow's good intentions. Erin then handed the information of this space route to the starship's AI.
By this time, the starship was already steadily in orbit. The duo temporarily parted when their conversations finished. Erin went to the starship's command center while Winslow went to check on his people settling in the dormitories.
Inside the command center, the dragon hatchling feigned exhaustion from doing its task earlier. Erin saw this and laughed. He took out a Grade 9 Dimensional Crystal and tossed it to the hatchling. After all, it did contribute a lot today. The dragon hatchling happily grabbed the crystal and started absorbing it instantly. It landed on a nearby chair and looked like it was going to fall asleep at any moment now.
Erin sat down on the Commander's seat and ordered the AI to prepare the starship's warp drive. They were only a short distance away from one of the route's main spatial entrances. The AI would start emitting the necessary passcode signal the moment they were about to arrive at the entrance's area.
Moments later, Erin's starship warped out of this space completely. It's presence here was fading quickly.
Twenty minutes after Erin's starship had left, a strange starship warped in front of the heavily damaged planet. The exterior of this starship looked like it was made of meteoric stone. However, unlike the spherical counterparts that Erin destroyed earlier, this starship looked a lot more streamlined. The shape was similar to a fighter-jet.
The strange starship completely ignored the planet's physical destruction and focused entirely on the massive amounts of starship debris. It went around the planet's orbit until it found a specific starship wreckage. It scanned this wreckage and sent out a long-distance spatial signal.
In a different nearby space, there was currently an enormous fleet of Planetoid starships!
Three motherships, hundreds of destroyer-class starships, and thousands of battle-ships were all floating through this space together. At least a tenth of these destroyer-class starships were comparable in size to Erin's starship!
There were over a hundred thousand spherical starships that floated around the edges of this formation. It looked like an asteroid belt. However, upon closer inspection, they were all similar in size to the starships that Erin destroyed earlier!
On one of the motherships, a male officer was currently receiving the long-distance signal that the strange starship sent out earlier. Although his body looked humanoid, it was entirely made of stone! It looked no different than a golem wearing an officer's uniform.
The officer started shivering as it read the signal. This signal translated into three simple words: No Planetoid Survivors. It was backed with scan data and images too!
'This is bad!' The officer thought to himself. The scouts sent to that backwater planet included a very important figure! The younger brother of this main fleet's Admiral!
The Admiral was very careful when it came to his younger brother. He only sent him on missions that were near fool-proof. A few hundred scout ships against a defenseless, backwater planet was considered a fool-proof mission.
'What went wrong?!' The officer panicked. He really did not want to be the one to deliver this news. In haste, he downloaded this information into a special device and called over a subordinate of a different officer.
"Your superior officer handed me this device moments ago. I don't have time right now. Bring this to the Admiral in due haste." The officer ordered. He also handed a special badge for this subordinate to wear. "Also, don't forget to tell him that it is from your superior officer. I don't dare to take his credit for his great contribution."
The officer completely lied. It's last sentence made it sound like the information on this device was useful to the Admiral.
"Understood!" The subordinate saluted before respectfully taking the small device and going on his way.
While watching this honest subordinate leave, the officer sighed with regret.
'Sorry. You need to die so that I can live.' The officer thought to himself. It was a pity that such an honest subordinate was working under his rival. Regardless, in a short while, his rival won't be an issue anymore too.
The mothership that they were on was at least a fifth the size of an average planet! It took the subordinate almost twenty minutes on a high-speed shuttle to reach the mothership's command center.
Normally, someone of his ranking wouldn't be allowed anywhere near this center. However, because of the special badge he was wearing, he was allowed through without any issues.
When the subordinate entered the majestic command center, of which boasted thousands of people, he immediately walked up to where the Admiral's seat was.
Before he was stopped by the guards, the subordinate proudly looked at them and said, "I have valuable information for the Admiral! It's best that you let me through immediately."
His confidence skyrocketed. The subordinate honestly thought that he would gain a little bit of the Admiral's favor through this task.
Although the guards questioned the authenticity of this, their thoughts were interrupted by a single sentence.
"Let him through."
The Admiral words were law! Thus, the guards immediately allowed the subordinate to walk through.
"Greetings, Admiral Zolahm. I have important information from my superior officer, Sir Zerik." The subordinate kneeled before the Admiral and presented the special device.
"I believe that this is a great contribution to the fleet!" The subordinate tried to butter up the occasion.
"Good." Admiral Zolahm smiled as he grabbed the special device and activated it. At his level, he could easily tell if the device was a trap or not. Obviously, since he grabbed it so confidently, he knew the device was authentic.
As he read the content of this device, Admiral Zolahm's smile stiffened.
"What is your name?"
Thinking this was his chance, the subordinate proudly spoke, "I am Zotof! It is my honor to bring this contribution to you."
"I see. And your superior is Officer Zerik, correct?" Admiral Zolahm's tone was emotionless.
Zotof did not even realize this critical difference in the Admiral's vocal tone.
"Yes. He is the one that acquired this important information." Zotof dared not take all of Zerik's credit.
"Great." The Admiral actually patted Zotof on his head.
Witnessing this scene, many of the people in the control room were surprised. Did that young subordinate actually bring really valuable information to the Admiral?
Before anyone could process this scene, they saw Admiral Zolahm's gentle pat turn into a vicious grab.
Zotof's stone head was crushed in front of everyone. It turned into scattered dust. The guards shivered at this sight.
"Send the hell guards to Officer Zerik. Have them bring me back Zerik's crushed body."
The Admiral's words were ice cold.
In what world would the death of his younger brother be considered a 'great contribution'?!
Admiral Zolahm was completely incensed! If it weren't for the direct orders of his Majesty, the admiral would have redirected the entire fleet just to find the culprit!
"Also, bring me Officer Zorvek. I need his intelligence squadron to capture someone for me."
The admiral's orders spread throughout the command center in a flurry.
Back in the room where Zotof, the subordinate, came from, the officer was looking down at his communication device with a smile.
[Officer Zorvek. The Admiral requires your presence immediately! Report to the Command Center in due haste! Do not be late!]