Chapter-4

[Mission - Planet X-7456]

[Description:

Recently, scientists of Harken StellarTechs have discovered a galaxy far beyond the Milky Way Galaxy. In the past, we have only traveled from planet to planet, but this time, we will be making a historic jump from our galaxy to another called the [Veridian Galaxy].

Our team will consist of:

5 Scientists.

20 Mercenaries.

2 Sample Collectors.

2 Engineering Experts.

Your role will be: Sample Collector.

A sample collector is advised to bring food, energy drinks, and other necessary supplies.

Time left until reporting: 30 minutes.

Weight holding capacity: 0.1/10 kilograms.]

Aiden had been reading this holographic screen on his smartwatch for the past 15 minutes as he walked toward the local market to buy some supplies for himself.

The company never provides food or anything else, other than an identification card, uniform, and job-related equipment. Everything else must be obtained by ourselves.

Aiden suddenly stopped in front of a shop and read the sign on it.

'AVA SPACE FOOD SPECIALISTS, 100% GENUINE FOOD.'

Aiden entered the shop, and a sweet smell filled his nose. It was the aroma of fresh and cooked meat.

"Welcome, sir. How can I help you?" a man greeted Aiden at the entry gate, wearing a full black uniform.

"Ah, yes. I was looking for some space food that can last longer than normal packed food," Aiden spoke.

"Please follow me, sir," the man said as he led Aiden to a shelf of stashed food.

"These are some of our test foods, sir. They are designed to last around 1 week with zero taste change, even during long space jumps," the staff guy explained.

Foods tend to spoil when the spaceship takes a jump from one point to another in space.

Aiden picked one piece out of a chicken nugget tagged dish and ate it.

"Hmm... good. I will take two packs of this."

"Okay, sir. Why don't you try our roast pork too? It's a new dish," the staff guy suggested.

"Ah, okay." Aiden picked one piece of the roast pork dish and ate it.

As soon as the roast pork entered his mouth, it melted away, and Aiden felt joy.

"Hmmm.... tasty. I need 2 packets of this too and 2 packets of that chicken nugget," Aiden spoke.

"Yes, sir. That will be 50 gems. Please pay here and take your food from the take-away machine outside," the staff guy said as he showed a tablet to Aiden.

Aiden tapped his card on the tablet, and the money was debited from his account immediately.

"Thank you for your business, sir. We look forward to seeing you again," he said as he bowed in front of Aiden.

Aiden then exited the shop, and a big machine started beeping as soon as he left.

Thud

Suddenly, two packets of space food jumped out of the machine, and Aiden caught both of them.

Both food packets were inside a degradable plastic bag. Aiden picked up the plastic bag and walked up to the next shop.

The next shop was named 'Inter-Dimensional Storage Centre.'

Entering inside the shop, Aiden was greeted by a beautiful girl wearing a green uniform.

"Good evening, sir. How can I help you today? Do you need a storage item?" she asked with a cute smile.

'Hah, what a cute girl. I wish I also had a girlfriend like her,' Aiden thought as he looked at the girl in silence.

"Sir?" she said, waving her hands in front of Aiden's face.

"Ah yes, I want to buy a storage item. Can you show me some?" Aiden spoke.

"Please follow me, sir," she said as she took Aiden to a counter.

Clicking on a small red button, she swiped a square-shaped trigger to the right, and suddenly, 5 storage items appeared on top of the counter, hovering and rotating above it.

"These are our 4 best products, sir, and we have different variants in all of them. Please look at them and choose whichever one you want," she said, walking away to attend other customers.

Aiden looked at the hovering items carefully and tried to choose one.

The first item was a storage locket.

[Spatial Locket]

[Variant A: 4x4 cubic feet storage limit.]

[2000 Galactic Gems]

[Variant B: 3x3 Cubic Feet Storage limit.]

[1500 Galactic Gems]

[Variant C: 2x2 Cubic Feet Storage limit.]

[700 Galactic Gems]

[Spatial Watch]

[Variant A: 6x6 cubic feet storage limit.]

[2800 Galactic Gems]

[Variant B: 5x5 Cubic Feet Storage limit.]

[2500 Galactic Gems]

[Variant C: 4x4 Cubic Feet Storage limit.]

[2200 Galactic Gems]

[Spatial Bag]

[Variant A: 20x20 cubic feet storage limit.]

[10,000 Galactic Gems]

[Variant B: 15x15 Cubic Feet Storage limit.]

[7000 Galactic Gems]

[Variant C: 10x10 Cubic Feet Storage limit.]

[5000 Galactic Gems]

[Spatial Ring]

[Variant A: 30x30 cubic feet storage limit.]

[30,000 Galactic Gems]

[Variant B: 25x25 Cubic Feet Storage limit.]

[25,000 Galactic Gems]

[Variant C: 22x22 Cubic Feet Storage limit.]

[18,000 Galactic Gems]

'I can't bring more than 10 kgs weight. That means taking an expensive one will not give me any benefit. That's why I will only take a cheap one, maybe the watch.

I think Variant B is good enough, but if I am getting some more space with just 300 gems, I think I will take Variant A.

"Excuse me, I want to take Variant A watch," Aiden called out to the staff girl.

After getting his spatial watch, Aiden walked to the next shop to get some more basic camping tools like tents, a knife, rope, and a laser alarm set.

After buying all this, Aiden was ready for his first space jump as he started going back to Space Station No.5 in the Harken StellarTech's building.