"What's wrong?"
Rodgraim found that something was amiss with Seraphina.
She was behaving very differently than she usually did, which was unusual for this girl.
Seraphina was the kind of person who wore her emotions on her sleeve, and Rodgraim had become very attuned to reading the little expressions and changes in mood.
She was not like that now. Her face said a rare emotion—sorrow.
"A bit homesick," Seraphina softly replied after a moment of silence.
"I snuck out, and my second brother doesn't know yet. He's still looking for me," she confessed, a tinge of guilt in her voice.
"If my eldest brother finds out I'm missing, he'll definitely scold my second brother to no end."
Hearing this, Rodgraim couldn't help but smile.
Dragion Ur, also famous as the Moon Lord was the second brother she mentioned.
Rodgraim was under no illusion that Dragion had declared bounties across several star systems in a last ditch effort to find Seraphina.
"For one million stural, anyone who finds Seraphina Ur, come claim your reward!" Shows the poster.
However, Dragion would never have imagined that his younger sister, was no longer even within the solar system.
Rodgraim spoke calmly, "The Golden Galaxy has the largest starport in the outer sea. Once we reach it, you can contact your family and arrange to return."
But hearing this made Seraphina puff out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.
"Are you in such a hurry to get rid of me?" she asked with a pout.
"What else?" Rodgraim teased, his tone light.
"Haven't you had enough of me bullying you every day?"
Seraphina looked at him. Ridiculous though he could be and frighten her all the time with his pranks, Rodgraim wasn't entirely despicable.
After all, he was always paying for her whatever she wanted to buy with his black gold card.
Seraphina had become aware of the fact that spending time with Rodgraim was not so bad after all during the course of their interstellar travels.
Although danger and unpredictability surrounded their journey at every turn, Rodgraim somehow handled everything in a perfect, though unexpected way.
There was a strange sense of safety in the chaos—a sense of security that only Rodgraim could provide.
"Isn't this exactly the kind of exciting and safe interstellar adventure I've always wanted?" Seraphina thought to herself.
Summoning her courage, she spoke, "If I leave, who's going to pay for your things in the future?"
"Hmm?" Rodgraim raised an eyebrow at her statement, amusement flashing in his eyes.
"You can just keep your money and go back."
Seraphina frowned slightly, realizing his words actually made some sense.
She started to take his proposition seriously, and Rodgraim couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"There are still two galaxies to cross before we reach the Golden Galaxy," he pointed out smiling.
"You'd better save your strength."
At that time, the surface storm raging on Moke finally tamed down.
Rodgraim turned on the receiver of the ship's message, and the machine quickly began to pick up distress signals from the planet's surface.
Paying attention to the signals, Rodgraim determined their precise coordinates.
"This is the Seven Sea Fleet of the Sun Alliance. Our ships are seriously damaged. If there is anyone receiving this message, please send help. We are in urgent need of rescue," the signal pleaded.
Rodgraim furrowed his brows a bit.
"The Seven Sea Fleet?" he murmured.
He turned to look at Seraphina.
Her face had turned pale, and she was having a noticeable tremble in her hands.
"My eldest brother is Theo Ur," she whispered. "He's the Lord of Seven Star."
Seven Star was a member of the Sun Alliance, and Rodgraim quickly deduced that the fleet in distress might be Theo's.
Understanding the gravity of the situation, Rodgraim spoke in a reassuring tone.
"I've locked onto the coordinates. We'll be there in five minutes. Don't worry."
Seraphina nodded, but her hands continued to shake.
Seeing her distress, Rodgraim activated the ship's engines and pushed it toward the coordinates provided by the rescue signal.
Upon finally arriving at the location, Rodgraim, along with Seraphina, were met with a chilling scene.
Dozens of ships lay scattered across the dunes, many of them partly buried or completely consumed by the shifting sands.
All of the ships were marked with the symbol of Seven Sea Fleet, so that belonged to the fleet of the Sun Alliance.
"That's. that's my elder brother's flagship!" Seraphina screamed, sobs wracking her face as tears streamed down from her eyes.
Seven Star, a large-class flagship, stood amidst the mangled wreckage.
Ferver was original name of the flag-ship, but after Seraphina was born, her elder brother insisted that it be renamed Seven Star because of her.
This decision had even caused a fierce quarrel between Theo and their father.
However, they forgave each other and retained the name change as a symbol of their sibling relationship.
The Seven Star was not an ordinary ship.
It was a gigantic ship that could take on three generations of the Ur family.
Although rated as an A-class ship, its size was comparable to that of Rodgraim's Aether Dominion after significant alteration.
END.
"Rodgraim, please." Seraphina begged, her voice trembling.
"Please go down and look for him. My eldest brother might still be alive. Even if he's. gone, I need to bring back his body."
Her desperation was evident, and Rodgraim didn't say a word in response.
Instead, he piloted the Aether Dominion to land on a nearby dune.
As soon as the hatch opened, Seraphina bolted outside.
Normally, she wouldn't dare step out of the ship without hiding behind Rodgraim, but this was different.
As she rushed out, Rodgraim waved his hand and summoned a few Predators to follow her and serve as her protectors.
He also ordered the pilots to remain stationed on the ship, ready to offer their support if needed.
The White Night, a massive Titan-class weapon, remained docked in orbit, ready to deploy if the situation got out of hand.
As Rodgraim landed on the Moke's surface, he received a notification from his system:
[Check-in location detected: Moke Star!]
[Do you want to sign in?]
Rodgraim chose "yes" without hesitation.
[Congratulations! You have gained 100 Vikings and 100 mechanical priests!]
The rewards popped up inside the Aether Dominion's storage and laboratories, but Rodgraim did not have time to examine them.
Instead, Seraphina has been his center of focus as he senses Moke was more perilous than it seemed.
While it was a planet of minimal danger, the sited wrecked spaceship seemed to refute that judgment.
"Perhaps something unknown has already occurred on this planet," Rodgraim thought grimly.
Under the protection of the Predators, Seraphina reached the heart of the wreckage, where the Seven Sea lay.
His attention narrowed as he looked at the sunken ships.
There's virtually no damage to their surfaces, he said.
"It looks like they landed here without energy."
Something else caught his attention, though.
"Some of these ships have extrusion marks," he pointed out, "as if something very massive dragged them down."
Things were far from normal on Moke, and Rodgraim knew they had to proceed with extreme caution.