Now that he finally acquired the information he wanted, Erin was very content. He gave a genuine smile to the chieftain.
"Oh right, I almost forgot." Erin glanced at Winslow before staring back at the chieftain. "There are nearly 50,000 beastmen on my starship. They are all Winslow's people. I rescued them quite some time ago in the outer realm and would like help settling them down before I leave."
Chieftain Morack was still enthralled by the dimensional crystal he acquired. Without any hesitation, he agreed to make generous arrangements for all of Winslow's people. They would be upgraded from outer-realm citizens to core-realm citizens just like that! He would also make sure they can settle down comfortably without any financial strain.
Winslow, despite his older age, looked as ecstatic as a youth because of the chieftain's agreement. The hierarchy in the tribe was very cruel. Even though they could live here, their wealth and status affected how they were treated. Winslow even prepared for the worst case scenarios. Being deported back to the inner or outer realms was within his original expectations. Erin's request prevented this entirely.
"Great, now that this is settled, there is actually one more thing. I'd like to make a deal with you." Erin's voice turned a little serious. He already formulated a plot with that would shroud his intentions.
This was a gamble of sorts. It all depended on if Erin's assumptions were correct. He had a certain understanding about this chieftain based on the latter part of their conversation.
Chieftain Morack's excitement dimmed as he listened to Erin's words seriously. They were both adamantly looking at each other now.
"To be honest, the reason why you probably came back empty handed is because this area is related to the Dragon Riders."
The hatchling gave Erin this knowledge in the first place, so this wasn't really a lie.
Chieftain Morack ventured into that space multiple times and found absolutely nothing of value. Due to this, he was more willing to believe Erin's words.
Sensing the chieftains agreement, Erin smiled.
"May I ask if you have guards stationed at the dimension rift?"
Though he didn't know why Erin asked, the chieftain still answered.
"I've restricted most of the surrounding space. Because of how close it is, I stationed two Destroyer-class starships as guards. They will report to me in case anyone tries to break in or if anything comes out."
Even though nothing significant was found inside, he dared not underestimate a dimension rift. There have been historic scenarios where strange existences were borne out of dimensional rifts.
"Is it possible for you to send more guardships?" Erin asked.
"..More?" Chieftain Morack frowned. His forces were already spread paper thin because of the other chieftain's forced call-to-action. "Is there a reason?"
"Yes. Since that place is for Dragon Riders, I fear that it might host a trial of sorts. This trial is specific to our kind and has no effect on outsiders. In spite of this, I dare not risk the chance of being interrupted in the midst of a trial."
Erin outright lied. He had absolutely no idea what was really in that space. He just didn't want to be surprised by unwanted guests. By the looks of things, it's quite possible that the other chieftains would take any opportunity to sneak in their own forces to the rift. Only Chieftain Morack lacked interest in exploring the dimensional rift any further.
Erin could sense the struggle in the chieftain's eyes and decided to strike while the iron was hot.
He pulled out four dimensional crystals and two in each of his hands.
"I need to borrow these forces temporarily. I'm willing to leave these four crystals as a deposit. If you suffer any losses or stay longer than anticipated, I can compensate even more."
This was the straw that broke the camel's back. At this point, Chieftain Morack was on the verge of drooling. Even Winslow was holding himself back from fainting on the spot.
The green aura around Chieftain Morack turned several shades darker. Erin smiled because his gamble was right. This chieftain makes friends on the basis of benefits.
While Erin knew that the beastmen clearly valued these crystals greatly, what he wasn't aware of was that these crystals had a very special meaning to the chieftain. There were some weapons, artifacts, and defenses that could only be activated with the purest of dimension energy. While Chieftain Morack inherited a few of these treasures from his ancestors, he didn't have the means to activate them.
Even if he had the resources to trade, very few merchants would bring such pure dimensional energy to the backwater spaces. The Ursidae Tribe's territory was considered a backwater space in the Beastman Universe.
The crystals that Erin brought could satisfy those high requirements! Unknowingly, Erin's trade was literally changing the power-balance of the Ursidae Tribe. Chieftain Morack wasn't fond of being the weakest chieftain in the tribe. Now that he has the opportunity to change that, he would gladly take it. In his heart, Erin status was upgraded to a rich ally.
If it weren't for Erin's strong dual-backgrounds, he would probably be getting robbed right now. This thought flickered in Chieftain Morack's mind for a mere nanosecond before being brutally extinguished. Enemies were easy to make but hard to get rid of.
After a momentary pause, the chieftain smiled before agreeing to Erin's request.
"I'll send more forces there immediately. I guarantee you with the smoothest possible entry. No person shall intrude on your trail. If anyone tries, I'll have them regret it!"
Although these words didn't need to be spoken, Chieftain Morack wanted to butter up his new friend. To him, Erin was a money tree waiting to be gently shaken.
The chieftain used a communication trinket to relay these orders. While some guardships started heading there in advance, a few stayed behind. These few would depart alongside Erin so that they could escort his starship as well. Erin agreed to these kind arrangements.
"My thanks. I'll be sure to pay generously for your assistance." Erin smiled as he handed the four crystals to the chieftain. As the crystals landed in the latter's hands, the atmosphere turned very joyful.
"Truly a friend of the Ursidae!" Chieftain Morack held the crystals like they were precious babies. "Might I ask, which High Elder vouched for your presence here?" The chieftain didn't know which elder was supporting Erin. He was planning to reward the elder for bringing in such a valuable guest.
Erin glanced at Winslow because he wasn't certain about Warrick's background.
The chieftain saw this and also looked at Winslow.
Winslow knew Warrick was from the upper-class in the tribe, but he didn't know to what extent. He didn't even know how many High Elders were in the Morack Family; let alone their names. This information was reserved for members within the Chieftain Families.
"Erm, is there any elder named Warrick?" Winslow cautiously asked.
"Warrick?..oh, it was him!?" Chieftain Morack was shocked. He quickly shifted his shocked expression into one that looked like he was bursting in joy.
"Haha! Such a good lad. As the youngest of the Morack Family High Elders, he contributes quite a lot." Chieftain Morack laughed. He didn't mention that those contributions were often forced instead of voluntary.
Winslow and Erin smiled in relief. They did not notice the beads of sweat dripping off the chieftain's back.
'Damn, I hope it isn't too late..' Chieftain Morack thought to himself. Warrick's background was very complicated. Despite holding such an eminent title, the chieftain did not value him at all. In a sense, Warrick was basically the most expendable High Elder in the Morack Family. He was regularly assigned to missions that carried the highest risk.
Although the chieftain didn't know which forces were behind Erin, he already assumed that those background factions were of a very high status. He was confident in his own analysis because, unlike most of the other members of his tribe, he had traveled across multiple universes before taking the position as Chieftain.
From his clear memory, the orb users were so powerful that they often took leadership positions within their respective mercenary groups. Furthermore, Dragon Riders were always backed by a powerful Draconic Order. The thought of a solo rider has never entered his mind because, throughout recorded history, they have never existed.
These two things stood behind a single person! That figure was literally in front of him.
Now that Warrick was the person who linked his family to a prestigious figure, Chieftain Morack did not want anything unsightly to happen to Warrick. The chieftain was now willing to take the risks in ignoring Warrick's troublesome background. He was going to treat Warrick as a real High Elder henceforth.
Erin and Winslow were completely unaware that revealing this relationship would ultimately change Warrick's dire fate.
With everything set and done, the trade ended on a pleasant note. Winslow went down and sent the good news to all of his people. The chieftain assigned him several planetary ships to use indefinitely.
Winslow's people sang praises filled with gratitude for Erin as they dis-embarked the starship and boarded the assigned planetary ships. The chieftain ordered the nearby attendants to help them with the process so that they could settle down smoothly. For assurance, Winslow was overseeing everything in person.
On a different end, Erin stayed in the room and continued making small talk with the chieftain. He wanted to learn more about the space inside the dimensional rift. While the information he unlocked in the trinket gave him the location of the rift, it didn't clarify the details of what was inside that same rift. He generously offered another crystal if the information satisfied him.
The chieftain happily obliged as he explained everything he saw inside the rift. He doubted that anything inside was even worth a single lower-grade dimensional crystal. Afraid that Erin might not be satisfied, the chieftain mustered out every detail he remembered.
From their talks, Erin discovered that the internal space was composed mostly of stone ruins. These ruins were surrounded by a humongous dome-shaped translucent barrier. This barrier acted as a source of light which made the sky look like it was in twilight. He did not notice any sun.
The weird laws inside that internal space prevented starships, planetary ships, and any sort of vehicles from levitating far above the ground. While they could still levitate up a few stories, they couldn't vertically break far into the sky. The chieftain also noted that the space was not very large. In fact, on his personal starship, it took him less than ten minutes to circle all of the ruins.
The critical piece of information was that, like an island in space, the ruin edges literally dropped off into an endless void covered in stars. They were not actually on a planet!
From the chieftain's detailed descriptions, Erin concluded that this territory was a tiny fragment of land that was floating in space! The only reason there was light and air was because of the translucent barrier that was emitting light and keeping in the air.
At the center of these ruins, there was a circular platform with a portal hovering above it. This spot connected to the dimensional rift. The portal was only large enough to fit a very small starship. Fortunately, when Pearson gave Erin the Assegai Exodus II, he also included a few other military starships. There was a Parvus Scout IV starship which utilized a small dual-cockpit. This two-person size made the starship small enough to enter the rift's portal.
After gathering all of this information, Erin was fairly satisfied with this knowledge. He casually handed another crystal to the chieftain before bidding him farewell. He was going to the rift immediately.
Erin also asked the chieftain to inform Winslow of his temporary departure. Since he had nowhere else to go for the time being, he would return to the Morack core homeplanet after exploring the rift. This would give him a chance to rest and plan out his next steps.
By the time Erin returned to his starship, he noticed everyone was already gone. The starship was now desolate again. When he returned to the ship's command center, the AI gave Erin a status-report. Despite staying here for several weeks, Winslow's people didn't even dent Erin's food or supplies in the slightest.
When Erin spent 20 million Imperial Units on non-perishable food and supplies, the amount he received was enough to sustain the population of an ordinary planet for two decades. This was because Imperial Units were the most valuable third generation cyber currency in Erin's universe. As a currency primarily used by planetary leaders and merchant conglomerates, its buying power was immense.
The beastmen also cleaned and organized their quarters before leaving. It wasn't really necessary though because, after they left, the AI automatically sent cleaning robots throughout every part of the starship. Their politeness still won a little bit of Erin's admiration though.
Knowing how negligible these costs were, Erin tossed the status report aside.
He inputted the coordinates for the dimensional rift and ordered the AI to start heading there immediately. As Erin's starship took off and left the dock, he noticed several large guardships at the exit. These were the escorting guardships that the chieftain assigned him.
Now bunched together, this group of starships caught the attention of many people as they left the planet's atmosphere. This attention was short-lived as they quickly entered half-warp speed towards the dimensional rift.
A few hours later, the starships appeared before a small dimensional rift. The area around it was surrounded by a heavy, dark-purple mist. It looked like a wide, lightning-shaped crack in the middle of space.
Aside from the two original guardships, there were dozens more of various sizes. All of them were stationed around this rift. Their formation opened up so that Erin's starship could enter the rift's vicinity.
By this time, Erin had already changed into a set of cybertronic armor. He was armed with a fully loaded cybertronic rifle and side-pistol. Even though the ruins presumably didn't have anything in them, he wasn't foolish enough to enter it unarmed.
Erin and Aura went down to the main hangar and boarded the Parvus Scout IV starship. The two of them left the hangar on this very small starship and started approaching the rift.
Right before entering the rift, Erin glanced back at his Assegai Exodus II. He didn't want to leave it there, so he stored it in his largest dimensional treasure.
In the very rare event that the rift was attacked, the AI was limited in its abilities to defend. Most weapons required Erin's confirmation. These limitations were common and built into the design of every advanced AI-chip. It was part of humanity's measures to prevent any potential AI uprising.
For the beastmen in the surrounding guardships, the sight of the giant Destroyer-class starship disappearing was incredulous.
To them, only powerful figures on or above the chieftain's level had dimensional treasures that could store starships of that size. While they knew the starship owner was a human, they didn't know anything about his background. They finally had an inkling why the Chieftain ordered them to guard and assist this human.