Edited by: ASaltedFish
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It didn't take long for the First Fleet to land on MPE56. The scouts' division had their own spacecraft that they could use separately from the main fleet. They were smaller, but they could travel between nearby planets.
Darya and Orin went with them but stayed on the small spacecraft. The rest of the scouts combed through MPE60 to see if they could find any resemblance of the Beast God's home. A small group of scouts was assigned to check on the planet's Inek population.
Strangely enough, the planet that should have been filled with Ineks had no signs of them. Not only that, the land was lush and full of forests and wetlands, the ocean thrived with marine life, and the air felt fresh and clean.
The whole planet seemed to be untouched by Ineks or people, making it seem like an undiscovered paradise.
This was different from the data they had known about MPE60, which was supposed to be full of deserts, leaving most of the combat to be done underground. However, even if the recruits had to go underground, it was spacious, and the Ineks were low-leveled.
Was the change in MPE60 due to the Beast God?
"All clear. No sighting of Ineks." The sentinel gave out his coordinates.
Many other sentinels gave their reports, which were heard by everyone: "All clear. No Ineks. No underground tunnels."
The reports were similar to one another, but it did confirm that the Ineks on MPE60 were gone. It was as though they had never been there in the first place.
Finally, a scout said, "I see a structure that resembles an ancient building, but I cannot come closer because of a strong barrier surrounding it. My coordinates are…" After that, she entered her coordinates and waited for her comrades to come by.
It didn't take very long for the entire scout team to arrive at the barrier. Even if they could see a building, they could not see any details on it because the barrier made it look hazy and unfocused.
If they touched the barrier, they would be pushed back by a strong spiritual energy. One member of the scout team flew into a tree and was sent back to the small spacecraft to get treatment. No one tried to touch the barrier after that.
"Since we have confirmed the possible existence of the Beast God, let us head back to the spacecraft and wait for the rest of the First Fleet to arrive," The leader of the scout team commanded, so everyone went back to the small spacecraft.
They had already reported to the Marshal, so they only needed to wait for the main spacecraft to arrive.
The spacecraft landed nearby, and they got to work setting up a temporary base. If there were any changes or Ineks sightings, they would be able to respond accordingly. Until then, they waited while exploring the surrounding areas to get a better idea of the environment.
*****
Edros received the encrypted message from the scout team and felt relieved that they had finally found the Beast God.
After seeing the before and after photos of MPE60, he knew they found the right planet. To him, this universe's Gods were the only ones capable of transforming a wasteland into a paradise.
"Since we are done on this resource planet, we will leave for MPE60 as soon as possible," Edros said to Akimitsu, who was waiting for his orders.
"Understood!" Akimitsu spoke into a microphone that could be heard throughout the entire spacecraft, "All departments ready for departure to MPE60."
"Copy that."
"Understood."
Other voices responded with acknowledgment.
With everything ready, the First Fleet made their way to MPE60 following the coordinates sent by the scout team.
It took less than a day to reach MPE60, but for Ellery and Aster, it felt like forever. Edros and Akimitsu confirmed that the changes on MPE60 were most likely due to the Beast God's influence. Not only that, a barrier surrounded a singular building that was not there before.
If this was not the work of a God, then what was?
Still, with their journey getting closer and closer to their destination, Aster was worried that they would not be able to meet the Beast God or get him his own body. He was so anxious it was making Ellery feel anxious.
Ellery was pacing around the control center, wondering how to calm Aster down, but he was also nervous!
Akimitsu watched Ellery pace for 20 minutes and then had enough. He picked Ellery up and walked him out of the control center. Everyone was finally able to take a deep breath because they were influenced by his anxiety.
"Why are you carrying me, and where are you taking me?" Ellery was a bit surprised, but he did not struggle and let Akimitsu carry him away.
"Watching you pace around was making everyone anxious, so I'm taking you to one of my favorite spots on the spacecraft." Akimitsu smiled while happily walking down several corridors.
Ellery was not heavy, and Akimitsu had a bear quantum beast, so his physical strength was extremely high. This wasn't even half the intensity of his training.
"There is a room where sentinels and guides can let their quantum beasts out to interact with others, but since I want it to be just the two of us, I can get us a private room. Then the quantum beasts can run around and play with some of the toys in the room."
Quantum beasts could not talk, but the sentinel or guide could understand how they were feeling. Oftentimes, the quantum beasts mirrored the emotions of the sentinel or guide, but they got bored from time to time, so they liked to play with toys or with other quantum beasts.
Thankfully, Sol and Lune liked to play with each other, so they were not as bored as other quantum beasts.
"Do you often take Dusky out there to play?"
"In the past, I let him play with other sentinel's quantum beasts, but lately, I've only been wanting Dusky to play with Sol and Lune."
It didn't take long for them to arrive at the quantum beasts playroom. There weren't a lot of sentinels or guides in the play area because most of them were working.
Akimitsu went up to the front desk and rented a private room for two hours. The staff were shocked to see Akimitsu carrying Ellery, but they did their best not to gossip and handed him the card.
Once the two left the area, the two receptionists began to whisper to each other.
"I heard rumors of them being together, but what about our Marshal?"
"I also saw the Marshal joining the two of them, so is it a throuple?"
"Rich and powerful people can have as many lovers as they want, right?"
The two of them then discussed this online show they watched where the guide main character had three sentinel lovers because of how powerful she was. Instead of letting the sentinels she had high compatibility with fight to the death, she accepted all three of them and helped them learn to befriend one another. In the end, she married all three of them and had children with them, one after another.
It was a crazy show, but they felt Ellery would be like that character with multiple lovers.
Thankfully, Ellery and Akimitsu had no idea what they were talking about because the private room was soundproof, but it did have a camera in there for safety.
Once they were in the room, Akimitsu set Ellery down and let Dusky out. Sol immediately followed, but Ellery had to call Lune to come out.
Even though Lune was a little reluctant, he still let Ellery put him down with Sol. He didn't want to play, so he immediately went to the scratching tree that had cubbies for small quantum beasts to rest in. There were also several platforms to sit and climb on. Lune went to the top of the tree and looked down at Sol and Dusky, who were running around playing, "I chase you, and you chase me."
He got dizzy watching them play, so he closed his eyes to take a nap.
"Lune is shy, just like Aster." Akimitsu couldn't help but laugh while looking at Lune.
"Those two are so cute; I just want to pinch their cheeks, but I know they would both run from me." Ellery felt that his hands were itchy, so he grabbed Akimitsu's cheeks to help relieve the itch.
"Can't pinch Aster yet, so you pinch me? Well, that's okay too."
The two joked around quietly while watching Dusky and Sol run around the playroom, trying different toys.
Once the two hours were up, Ellery's anxiety went down by a lot. Even Aster, who was watching Sol and Dusky play, felt a bit better. Watching cute quantum beasts run around and play was healing.