Chapter 880: Cosmic Marvel
Chapter 880: Cosmic Marvel
Bona is a planet entirely covered in a deep red hue, with a diameter roughly 0.7 times that of Skrul and twice that of Mars, making it about the same size as Earth.
Unlike Mars, Bona's surface is shrouded in a thick, red atmosphere, making it impossible to see the ground from a distance.
Due to this dense atmosphere, Bona's temperature consistently exceeds 400 degrees Celsius, and the planet's surface is perpetually ravaged by terrifying cyclonic storms.
Such extreme conditions are a living hell for ordinary humans and machines; only those wearing specialized mining suits and ranked at least third stage in cultivation can manage to survive and operate within these conditions.
These relentless storms also contribute to the high mortality rate among "planetary miners," which remains at a staggering 5% annually, even with the utmost caution.
This unfortunate situation is largely due to the Skrul's bad luck.
If the nearest planet to them were a rocky world like Mars, with a thin atmosphere and relatively moderate temperatures, their mining operations would be much easier, and the death rate could be reduced to less than one in ten thousand.
Unfortunately, the only planet in their vicinity is Bona.
...
As the troop transport ship successfully entered Bona's orbit, a shrill assembly bell rang through the ship's cabin.
Fergus immediately frowned upon hearing the bell and forced his eyes open from his slumber.
Upon waking, he immediately sensed something amiss in his surroundings.
Feeling around, he discovered that he was lying naked on top of several women, who were sprawled out beneath him in various positions.
He quickly sat up, pushed aside the pile of "meat mountains" beneath him, and began searching for his scattered clothes from the night before.
Once dressed, he ignored the women and hurriedly made his way to the assembly point without looking back.
The night before, the rebels in the ship's cabin had a wild and chaotic night, even without the aid of alcohol.
During the festivities, Bladen, in a moment of high spirits, loudly announced that Fergus would be the head of the 500 miners.
From that moment on, Fergus was inundated with advances from the opposite sex, and the pile of women beneath him upon waking was testament to the night's events.
Fergus felt as if he were living in heaven.
Apart from the scarcity of food, what was there about this place that wasn't better than Earth?
...
With these thoughts in mind, Fergus quickened his pace.
He needed to reach the assembly point as quickly as possible to make a good impression on Lord Bladen.
However, he had barely taken a few steps when two Skruls suddenly appeared around a corner.
These two Skruls were not dressed in the blue spacesuits typical of the ship's pilots but instead wore pure white uniforms, which did not appear to be standard issue for the ship's crew.
The two Skruls, a male and a female, both paused in surprise upon seeing Fergus's face.
The female Skrul pulled out an electronic device and glanced at its screen.
Fergus, standing opposite her, had the misfortune to catch a glimpse of the screen.
The moment he did, every hair on his body stood on end.
The electronic device in the female Skrul's hand displayed his own photograph!
These two Skruls were here for him!
"Are you Fergus?" the female Skrul asked, looking up.
Seemingly concerned that Fergus might not understand, she spoke in Earth's language, though her pronunciation was quite rough.
However, the female Skrul had made one mistake.
When she spoke in Earth's language, she subconsciously used the most popular dialect of the time—Mandarin.
Fegus, however, was a genuine Pacific States citizen, born and raised under the Stars and Stripes.
Thus, Fegus didn't understand a word of what was being said.
The atmosphere immediately turned awkward.
After about half a minute of failed attempts to communicate, a male Skrull finally broke the silence.
He reached out, grabbing Fegus by the collar and hoisted him up like a chick, dragging him out.
Fegus tried to struggle but quickly thought better of it.
This was, after all, Skrull territory. No matter what the other party did, he had to endure it. Unless he wanted to die, he dared not resist.
So, Fegus was carried like a chick by the male Skrull, passing through several corridors until they crossed the ship's connection point and entered another vessel linked to the troop transport.
This was a small ship, with space for only about seven or eight people.
However, once inside the small ship, Fegus's anxious heart calmed down significantly.
He saw a familiar figure inside the small ship—it was Brandon!
With Brandon here, he had nothing to fear!
"Lord Brandon, what are you doing here?" Fegus exclaimed.
At the same time, he glanced at the two Skrulls beside him. "Did you send them to find me?"
"Of course," Brandon nodded and smiled. "These two are key officials from the Borna Planetary Mining Corporation. They just flew in from the main base to pick us up.
They came to take us to the main base early, as we have important matters to attend to there."
Earlier that morning, Brandon had roughly calculated the time needed for various tasks.
He realized that the troop transport would take too long to arrive and dock. If other ships from different regions cut in line, they might not start the video recording until the afternoon.
However, he had promised the Emperor to deliver the video by the next morning. If he asked for an extension, the Emperor's favor might plummet to negative numbers!
So, he didn't dare delay and contacted the Borna Planetary Mining Corporation overnight, asking them to send a ship to pick him up.
"Oh, I see," Fegus understood.
He certainly wouldn't go against Brandon's wishes and obediently sat in his seat, not daring to make a sound.
The two Skrulls didn't interrupt their conversation. After entering the ship, they took their seats in the main and co-pilot positions, started the engines, and flew toward the main base of the mining company, not far from their current location.
...
The main base of the Borna Planetary Mining Corporation wasn't built on the surface of Borna, as no structure could withstand the storms that ravaged the planet's surface.
In fact, the main base was constructed in the planet's low orbit, functioning as a satellite that orbited the planet.
And the base was incredibly large!
It spanned approximately 60 square kilometers, roughly equivalent to the area within the Second Ring Road of the Chinese Imperial Capital!
From a distance, it looked like a city floating in space.
Fegus and Brandon were completely awestruck by the base at first sight!
Who could have imagined that such a magnificent wonder existed beyond Skrull territory? A city floating in space!
And this was just the main base. Only the heavens knew what the other branches looked like.
The Skrulls' technological achievements were truly astounding!
(End of Chapter)
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