Chapter 8 - Interior

A flash of brilliant flame, and the star-studded sky witnessed the Giant Crocodile blow up, blasted to smithereens by the relentless firepower of Rodgraim's Aether Dominion.

The flagship of the Crocodile Pirates was transformed into nothing more than a breathtaking fireworks display.

In stunned shock, the two nearby fire frigates watched as their leader's ship exploded into flames.

Their flagship was just destroyed.

Was it finally that their boss was gone -

gone all of them, in an instant?

The stunned silence was not limited to the crew on board the Crocodile.

Even those vessels stationed at the Pluto Outpost stood shocked.

The Aether Dominion, that had stepped back just the last minute could now not be halted in its unstoppable juggernaut pace, pouring in a deadly rain of lasors.

The ships of the outpost now realized that any ship caught in that barrage was as good as sealed.

Could this terrifying firepower be the real strength of the Aether Dominion?

One pilot of the Pluto Fleet was bewildered at how matters developed so fast; he joked,

"Do we even need to rescue him anymore? " Another quipped, chuckling,

"Looks like the pirates need rescuing more than he does."

Rodgraim had asked for their fleet to aid him, but they now stood in open-mouthed amazement before the perfect, deadly precision of his ship and found that he had single-handedly destroyed the Crocodile Pirate's flagship with a round of bombardment.

At this rate, it seemed Rodgraim didn't need any assistance at all.

Just then, in time to witness the two other fire frigates finally coming out of their trance and trying to flee,

Rodgraim had no mind to let them escape. He activated the laser cannon array once more, pouring lasers down on one of the frigates, which was instantly engulfed in a shower of beams.

Within seconds, it too was destroyed.

The cannons of the Aether Dominion pivoted, aimed at the last frigate, and with another salvo, it was also blown apart, lighting up the cosmos like a fireworks explosion.

It only took just shy of ten minutes for the battle to be finished, with the artillery bombardments from Rodgraim obliterating the entire Crocodile Pirates fleet.

In that short duration, he had destroyed their B-class flagship and two F-class frigates, eradicating the entire pirate fleet.

As the debris drifts in space, Rodgraim launched a large quantity of carrier-based aircraft fitted with Marvin robots to gather up the scattered energy ores which littered the debris.

Energy ores were the lifeblood for Rodgraim; without these, not even mighty Aether Dominion could function.

Sited on the bridge, Rodgraim waited for contact from Pluto Outpost.

He knew the Giant Crocodile was a B-class ship and he was rather benevolent during this battle.

He hadn't reduced his enemies to just dust but had left much of the wreckage intact, aware that it could be his first big gain.

Now, if he had wanted to, his Yamato cannon could have atomized the whole Giant Crocodile, so instead, he left the remains of the ship intact.

Just then, a message flashed up:

[Ding, a communication request has been sent from the Pluto Outpost!]

Rodgraim accepted it right away and, as with any other communication equipment.

A 3D projection opened up, showing Luo Feng-the leader of the Pluto Outpost-wearing an alliance warrior uniform.

"Hello, Captain Rodgraim," he started, "I am the head of the Pluto Outpost.

"We have seen each other before."

Rodgraim nodded; he understood what Luo Feng wanted.

He suspected that the outpost leader intended to purchase the wreck of the Giant Crocodile.

Buying and repairing the B-class wreck would be much less resource-intensive for Pluto Outpost than constructing an entire new B-class ship.

However, Rodgraim was the absolute owner of this wreck.

Therefore, he could easily control the 'fate' of the Giant Crocodile wreck, not to mention Pluto Outpost can't drive it back without his approval.

"Captain Rodgraim," Luo Feng continued, "I must say, the performance of your ship exceeds my expectations.

You brought down the notorious Crocodile Pirate group—a blessing for our solar system."

Luo Feng went on mentioning the Sun Alliance's bounty on the Crocodile Pirates, which was a reward worth one million star coins, to soon appear in Rodgraim's account once the alliance got notified.

The Sun Alliance had long been harassed by pirate gangs operating on the edge of the solar system and had issued reward orders for their capture or destruction.

This was only a fraction of what it would cost Rodgraim to keep the mighty Aether Dominion afloat, however.

Without any hesitation, Luo Feng returned to the real reason he made the call.

"Aside from the reward," he said, "we of Pluto Outpost would like to purchase the Giant Crocodile wreck from you.

We'll give a reasonable price if you'd like to sell it.".

Luo Feng waited anxiously, hoping that Rodgraim wouldn't refuse.

A B-class ship was a huge upgrading for the fleet of the outpost, but a great prize for him either. But Rodgraim hesitated not.

He didn't need that wreck of the Giant Crocodile; it was too expensive to repair and didn't have enough cash to be worth anything else.

"Okay, I'll sell," Rodgraim said, "but not for star coins. I require energy ore.

" The Aether Dominion was one of the biggest consumers of energy, and Rodgraim had the problem of simply keeping up with its demand on energy.

With the million-star bounty, he would still have to buy tons of ore; thus, it made more sense to trade for the wreck ore directly.

He went on, "The wreck of the Giant Crocodile, along with the remains of the other two ships, should be worth around 100,000 units of energy ore."

Luo Feng considered the proposal for a moment.

As simple as this little deal was, having calculated the value in his head, he agreed in a flash.

"Deal!" he said enthusiastically.

Having the arrangements in place, the Pluto Fleet moved to recover the wreckage of the Giant Crocodile and the two destroyed frigates.

Any remaining resources on those ships were quickly gathered and transshipped into Rodgraim's Aether Dominion.

Not many hours later, the Aether Dominion docked at the starport of the Pluto Outpost, and Luo Feng came down, having brought a large supply of energy ores.

As he entered the Aether Dominion, he was surprised by the interior.

Rodgraim received him in the luxurious bar area onboard the ship, mixing him a cocktail.

Luo Feng, head of space outpost, felt like some country bumpkin entering a grand palace as he looked around at the exquisite surroundings of the ship.

Luo Feng was stunned by the crowded bar area. "There is a bar on board of this ship?" he could hardly believe his eyes.

Between such heavily fortified defenses, fearful firepower, and this impressive, comfortable interior, the Aether Dominion was entirely different from any vessel Luo Feng had ever seen.

"Today's opened my eyes," Luo Feng said, swallowing his drink in one gulp.

"So this is what the inside of an S-class ship looks like."

He felt a newfound respect for Rodgraim and his ship.

If it weren't for his duties at Pluto Outpost, Luo Feng admitted to himself, he'd be tempted to leave his position and join Rodgraim's crew.

Who wouldn't be drawn to such a powerful and luxurious starship?