Chapter 32: Road trip

"What will you do now?" The Regal Advisor felt his head spinning from the number of things that he had to take care of. He didn't want to control every movement of the team but he couldn't afford to let them loose too.

"I think, we will travel to Hfen to hand over our Dogs that you presented for FREE, for the sake of the race. The old man will be happy to raise them for us. Then we will come back to meet Jo'ra. Then back to our place where we will train him." Kutch still couldn't let go of the dreams that were canceled by his uncle.

"I bet he will, that old man lives for his farm. And thank you for keeping an eye on Safo, for now, it is better if he will be low-key." Halazar turned to face Safo. "You will be able to live in the royal castle after the tournament. I apologize for the inconvenience."

Safo still could believe that he in fact was someone with royal blood in his veins, or maybe a royal soul. He couldn't wrap his head around the announcement that he could live in the royal castle. It was too much for him, when he snapped out of his thought they were already walking to the exit to be escorted to the planet Hfan. Kutch was telling him about the old man who dedicated his life to breeding animals and gifting them to those families who couldn't afford to buy them for their newborns.

A minibus with no roof was waiting for them hovering in the air. Wheels were replaced by four gravity repelling devices. The soundless vehicle towing the cage with puppies moved towards the nearest portal that interconnected the three neighboring planets.

Safo sat enjoying the ride and sightseeing the beauties that the capital planet offered. Tall buildings that went over the clouds, lots of lights, and places to have some quality time and have fun with friends and family. Advertisements, advertisements, and more advertisements. Thanks to his translator implant he could interpret the signs and text all around, regardless of the slight damage of the 3comm in the heat of the escape from minus 8th Stage.

Virtual Dimension games were at their peak. Shooters, RPGs, Racing on the lightspeed cars, adult-oriented games, etc. One could as well attend a VD concert, travel, or even be in a movie. Users were able to transfer their consciousness to somewhere else.

For instance: one could actually be in the movie and take part in actions that were occurring there. Due to the fact that one could wear special goggles even while sleeping, VD became a popular trend. One could play games, watch movies, seminars, and concerts, cheat on their spouse in their dreams. Then woke up and live their regular lives, given that they slept full and well.

When the minibus with Safo and his team came close to the portal they saw an unexpected person seeking and waiting for them.

Two Curators of the planet Hfan and their convoy of armed soldiers. Both of them introduced themselves but Safo didn't bother himself to remember their names. He marked them as fat-and-bald and fat-and-sweaty. Their slicker grins didn't win over Safo's heart if not the opposite.

They expressed their wish to escort the royalty to make sure that he will be safe and sound whilst being on "their planet". Safo and the team had no objections so they proceeded.

Once again Safo felt the tickling sensation and a bit nervous, realizing that he was disassembled to atoms and assembled back to his previous form and state. But in a fraction of a second, he found himself on the other side. He didn't have time to worry, portals were fast and safe.

Immediately a stench hit him like a train in the face. A mixture of hundreds of bad scents beginning from rotten food waste and ending with rotting animal bodies made the odor rich but deadly.

Two Curators, all the soldiers, and even the people on his minibus got their masks from under their seats covering their noses. Safo Nur and Achraf were the only ones who were stunned to the point that they couldn't move a muscle.

Kutch and one other soldier helped them to locate and wear the masks.

"What is this smell? Is it always like this here?" Safo was genuinely appalled.

"Unfortunately, yes. This planet was always this way, locals call it "the rotten planet" for a reason." Kutch shrugged his shoulders and explained the situation as is. Psiora were aware of their position and they knew that their planets were dumpsters. They adapted and took the best out of things that they had, with no complaints.

By their advancement through the city Safo's shock rose, the contrast between the capital planet and the third "rotten" planet was enormous. Not just the air to breathe but the whole environment to live in was like the earth and the heaven.

Tiny metal boxes to live with perforations so the sunlight could enter, everything was dirty and in a mess, dust stood as a fog blocking the sight. And the main issue was the people, poor, homeless, jobless beggars. Those who had a house and job lived under the pressure of getting robbed or killed for shelter or food. Life in the one big unendurable misfortune was not the easy one.

Only now Safo understood the weight of the title of the King of the Psiora. Safo recalled one of the challenges that said to try to help to improve the environment of the two or at least on one of the two planets. His tasks were harder than he initially thought.

'It isn't time for self-doubt, I can't let myself go down that path anymore. I'm already elbow deep in the trenches, so I will do whatever I can. Even if I don't win, I will do some good deeds to these people.' Safo tried not to think too much about his predicament or try not to call his situation a predicament at the very least.

As always, while Safo was deep in his own thoughts and busy sightseeing he missed the start of the action. Far down the road a bunch of children was playing their games. One of them got carried away and ran to the middle of the street followed by his older brother to drag him back.

Vehicles were a rare occurrence on that planet so more often than not children played very close to the main roads. Lack of the barrage separating the living sectors from the streets and roads played its evil role.

When finally, the older brother managed to catch up with his nimble little brother, it was already too late. The first minibus stopped by a miracle a half meters before the terrified kids. The level of the fear stiffened their muscles so they couldn't move from their place. Even their breath stopped in anticipation of the inevitable death.

The driver of the first car pulled the brake to a breaking point and stopped the heavy minibus, so did the minibuses that were behind it. Two soldiers rocketed themselves to take the kids out of the way, grabbing and pushing them.

Six and three years old two grey rats finally understood what had happened and burst into tears simultaneously. Soldiers seeing that feared that their actions caused kids to cry and stood there confused. Irritated, fat-and-bald came out of the vehicle and started to scream and soldiers.

"What are you imbeciles doing? Should I teach you everything? Do you have any working brain cells in your stupid head?" He ran to the rat-kids with a kick, tossing the older brother out of the street.

"Do you stinky shi*s know who we are? Do you know who is riding with us?"

Before he could kick another rat kid a soldier kneeled and shielded it with his hand. The kick landed on his hand but he didn't mind it, he grabbed the three-year-old rat and went to deliver it to his brother.

That species of rats were anything like their relatives from Earth. A three-year-old rat was the size of a dog. Adults could reach a length of 2-3 meters and a meter in height.

One kick was not enough to satisfy the anger of the fat-and-bald so he ran to punch the rat once more so it would learn the lesson.

"What do you think you are doing?" A loud yell came from a third minibus.

"Aa...I… I'm teaching the brat to be careful playing this close to the main street." Fat-and-bald hesitated for a moment and came up with an honorable excuse, that's what he thought would be the honorable excuse.

"It is just a kid! If you touch him I will fry your arm!" Head tilted slightly down, nostrils widened, palms open facing the fat-and-bald, eyes are focused to the point that they could cut the man in half. Safo Nur was not this angry even when he fought a cookie guy and the gang that kidnapped him. He was ready to explode at any second.