Arriving to the new world.

Once Rex saw that the guard was pointing his gun at him, he raised his hands as a sign of surrender.

"Hey, hold on; I'm not trying to do anything dangerous. I just want to make a deal with you that'll get you a good amount of credits without doing anything too complicated. What do you say?"

The guard thought for a few seconds before lowering his gun.

"Say, what's the deal? I won't let you leave, just so you know. After all, there aren't enough credits in the whole galaxy to make me risk my neck. What good are credits if I can't enjoy them?"

Rex then lowered his hands and began tapping on his left arm device, accessing his bank account. Once he was logged in, he walked up to the guard and flashed the credits.

"This 300k credit I have is the payment. All I want is for you to go to this direction; I'm transferring them to you right now. There's an Aquarian grandma who lives there, and all you have to do is tell her to take care of the bald kid. That's it. Easy credits for you, right?"

The guard's eyes widened when he saw the 300k credits. It was a huge sum since he only earned 30k credits a year.

Those 300k credits were the savings of five years for Rex; he had been saving for a cybernetic upgrade. But saving his best friend's kid was far more important than the credits right now.

"All you want me to do is deliver this message to the grandma?" Rex nodded slightly.

"Yeah, that's all you have to do. I've already transferred her 150k credits, which she'll give you when you get there and deliver the message."

Then Rex transferred 150k credits to the guard and joined the line for the transport ship, where Carlos was also headed. He thought calling it "transport ship" was too much praise since it was just a large, empty area inside without any comforts.

Rex began looking for Carlos. Once he located his unconscious friend, he lay down next to him on the floor and let out a deep sigh.

("And there goes my cybernetic hand upgrade. At least I know the kid is going to be safe with Grandma. I have no idea how long we're going to travel, so I'd better take a nap. Later, I'll provide the grandma's bank account number to this damned bald guy. I'm not going to pay for his kid all my life.... not like he's a beautiful and hot single mom, damn.")

Cybernetic upgrades had been around for 2,000 years and were a type of technology anyone could buy. Anything you could imagine, from legs that let you fly to arms that turned into miniguns or even breast cannons, was available on the market.

There was no limit to imagination when it came to these things.Normal cybernetic implants were available to the public, while military-grade implants could be found on dark markets or by trusted smugglers.

If you could even trust a smuggler since they were the kind of people who could steal a cookie from a baby and sell it back to the mother.

There was also a special type of upgrade called "bionics." Only nobles or high-ranking military personnel could afford them. Even a single bionic eye could cost 500 million credits. These were so expensive because they combined biotechnology with cybernetics, turning organs into half-organic, half-machine marvels.

The journey to the new world took eight hours using wormhole jumping technology, which had been developed 300 years ago and was now common for medium and large-sized ships. Since there weren't even windows on the transport ship, nobody inside could tell when they had arrived.

That was until the transport ship's door began to open. Rex could feel the hot air rush into the cargo bay where everyone was. Thanks to the residential dome, the oxygen levels here were optimal for those who needed it, while other races wore their atmospheric suits.

The company's guards, who had escorted the transport ships here, started making everyone disembark. It was only when Rex stepped outside that he realized his company wasn't the only one to send workers here. Many other ships with different corporate emblems were stationed in the landing zone.

"Those of Duotherm Omega Company, this way! Don't get lost; we won't be responsible for accidental deaths in the landing zone. Now come follow me."

The speaker was a tall, dark-skinned man in the standard guard combat suit. Behind him were 20 more armed guards, stationed to prevent any kind of rebellion. Everyone followed him until they arrived at a large open space.

"Now I will give you the orders sent from the higher-ups: those of rank 6 are to be miners and will live in the residential area. Those of rank 5 are new recruits for the guard and will live in the headquarters residential area. That's all. Those of rank 5 follow me. Those of rank 6 go with this guy here."

Rex gave Carlos a pat on the back to cheer him up.

"Well, since I'm ranked 5, I'll go this way. I'll see you later, my bald friend. Don't forget to send Grandma credits to cover the expenses of taking care of your kid."

As Rex was about to leave, Carlos called out to him.

"Wait, Rex! I just wanted to thank you for all you did back there to help my kid. I know those credits mean a lot to you, and I'll pa—"

Before Carlos could finish, Rex interrupted him.

"Wait a second; don't you even dare say that. I gave those credits voluntarily. If you want to pay me back, then let's find the tavern with the worst name tomorrow after our shift ends, and you can pay for the drinks since I have zero credits now. Sound good?"

The warm smile Rex gave Carlos at that moment was a haven from everything happening around them. Hearing his best friend's words, Carlos felt like crying, but he held it in, shook hands with Rex, and promised to meet for drinks the next night.

With that, they went their separate ways. Rex noticed that this world had one sun and two moons, which were so large that you could easily see them from the colony.

This mining colony, like all others, was built entirely of metal. Pipes ran everywhere, occasionally releasing smoke.

As usual, holographic company ads were being transmitted, along with news about the colony. It didn't take Rex long to reach the guard headquarters of the Duotherm Omega Company, a massive building situated in the northeastern part of the colony.

After entering the building, Rex was assigned a 4-by-4 room where he would now be required to live.

("Well, it could be worse; at least I got lucky and ended up with a room that has a window.")

He opened the window, undressed from his formal office worker clothes, and flopped onto the bed, which was as hard as a rock. The impact left him clutching his chest from the jolt but

It didn't take long for him to fall asleep.

After five hours, he was abruptly awakened by the alarm installed in his room, signaling that his shift was about to start. Dragging his still-sleepy legs, he made his way to the barracks.

There he was given an electronic key that corresponded to his assigned locker in the armory. When he opened the locker, he found a black guard uniform, standard guard chest armor, a helmet, and an electric rifle.

The electric rifles were a new military technology capable of firing bullets without gunpowder. They were twice as fast and twice as strong as regular rifles. It took Rex about 10 minutes to fully suit up and prepare for his first shift.

It was common for colony guards to have no training in weaponry or other military skills. Companies didn't care about their guards in these godforsaken colonies as long as they fulfilled their material orders.

Since this was Rex's first day, he approached the man in charge of the armory to ask for a little advice.