At the city gate stood armed guards made up of three different races. One looked just like humans from Earth. Another was slightly taller with green skin and ears that resembled Shrek's. The third was a humanoid race that looked like walking sheep.
They all carried rifles on their backs, long swords at their waists, and wore uniform armor.
Their appearance reminded Josh of the 16th century.
Using magic to hide himself, Josh quietly moved closer for a better look. He quickly noticed that their rifles weren't powered by gunpowder, but by energy—and the power source was a red crystal shard.
As he felt the energy waves coming from the red crystal, Josh suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity.
That's it! The color and strength were different, but the energy frequency was nearly the same as the crystal he had found in the ruins—the one that powered the teleportation array.
In other words, this crystal and the teleportation core used the same type of energy.
It seemed this crystal was a special resource native to the planet. The underground ship he saw earlier was likely powered by the same thing.
After his observation, Josh entered the city.
Just as he had expected, the inside of the city wasn't nearly as primitive as it appeared from the outside. The streets were filled with machinery—though they looked rough and worn, with a heavy steampunk vibe.
There were many intelligent lifeforms as well. Josh counted at least ten different races as he walked, though the three seen at the city gates clearly made up the majority. These were the races in control here.
After wandering around for a bit, Josh found the city hall and eventually met with the mayor.
The mayor was an old human.
With a bit of magic, Josh was able to communicate easily, and from the mayor, he learned more details about the planet.
The world was divided into three countries: the Zodang Empire, the Hirem Kingdom, and the Krem Federation.
Zodang was an absolute monarchy.
Hirem was similar to a constitutional monarchy.
Krem was a parliamentary federation.
The city Josh was currently in was called Sark, and it belonged to the Krem Federation. The spaceship they had seen in the desert earlier was actually one of the Federation's main warships.
The ongoing tension and conflict between these three nations formed the core of this world's politics.
And the main source of conflict? The crystal Josh had seen earlier.
Known as Krym Crystals, these stones held immense energy. All of the strange-looking technology on the planet was powered by them.
However, despite this technological advancement, the civilization hadn't yet reached spacefaring or interstellar levels.
When Josh asked the mayor about the interstellar teleportation array, the mayor said he had never heard of such a thing.
Josh also asked about Barbarian King Conan, but the mayor had no idea who that was either.
That wasn't surprising. According to Tiamat, Conan the Barbarian's time was over a hundred thousand years ago, while the mayor had said that the current three-nation setup on this planet had only been around for a few thousand years.
With a gap that long, entire civilizations could've risen and fallen multiple times.
However, during their ongoing conversation, Josh suddenly heard a name from the mayor that stopped him in his tracks—
Steve Rogers!
A few years ago, during the war between the Kingdom of Hirem and the Zodang Empire, a mysterious hero had appeared. He had helped Hirem win several key battles, forcing the Zodang Empire to pull back and slow down its aggression against the other two nations.
So that's what happened—Captain America had also been transported to this planet?
Whether it was a coincidence or caused by some unknown force, Josh wasn't sure.
But when he pressed for more details, the mayor told him that Steve Rogers and the princess of Hirem had both gone missing more than two years ago. In fact, Hirem had issued a kingdom-wide bounty for their return.
"Tch… looks like I'm late. If the portal had opened two years earlier, maybe I could've brought Cap home," Josh muttered to himself. "Wonder how Carter would feel if she heard about this…"
Still, Josh had a theory.
Maybe Steve had found another portal—no one ever said there could only be one. But those other portals might not lead to Earth… they could go to entirely different planets.
If Steve had returned to Earth, someone definitely would've heard by now.
With his questions answered, Josh quietly left.
The mayor, now with a blank space in his memory, simply sat in his office staring into space.
—
Back at the rest point, Josh stepped through the portal—and immediately noticed something strange.
Besides the two Transformers, Knockout and Breakdown, there was now a large pack beast… and a new human.
A group of people had also started a fire right there in the blazing desert sun—and were having a barbecue.
They were roasting a terrifying creature that looked like a cross between a flying serpent and a desert beast. It was the same yellowish color as the sand, and its claws and fangs made it clear it was a dangerous predator.
One look at its fatal wound—a sharp arrow through its eye and into its brain—told Josh exactly who had taken it down: only Yondu, trained personally by Vereesa, could make a shot like that.
"…I was gone for less than thirty minutes, and you guys started a barbecue? Seriously?" Josh raised an eyebrow. "What is that thing? Aren't you worried it's poisonous? And who's this guy?"
The stranger was a young man, about the same age as Mike.
"This kid's name is Karlei," said Howard the Duck, waving a skewer and a chilled beer. "He's from a local desert tribe. He was on his way to Sark City to buy supplies but got unlucky and ran into this sand eel. That's when he ran into us."
"He told us that even though sand eels are dangerous, they're also one of the most prized delicacies around here. So we tried it—turns out, it's really good!"
"You should give it a shot. Don't worry—Bresta already scanned it with her equipment. No toxins!"
Then Howard grinned, lifting his beer. "Come on, tell me BBQ and cold beer isn't the perfect combo for a hot day like this!"
Alright… this doesn't look like an expedition at all. It's basically a camping trip.
Seeing the scene before him, Josh couldn't help but roll his eyes.
At least now he knew that the fierce creature they were roasting was called a Sand Eel—a fitting name for a desert-dwelling predator.
As for how everyone was able to talk with the young local named Karlei, that was thanks to Howard the Duck's innate ability. Not only could he speak English, but he could also communicate with nearly every intelligent species in the galaxy—and even detect if someone had bad intentions.
That skill was one of the main reasons Howard had survived so long in the vast and dangerous universe.
By contrast, Josh had used magic to communicate with the mayor earlier.
Now that he understood the situation, Josh didn't hold back. He grabbed a skewer of grilled sand eel meat and started eating while sharing the information he had just learned.
"What a fascinating world," Howard said after hearing the full story. "And this Krem Crystal... looks like you've found what makes this place valuable."
He didn't recognize Steve Rogers, so the part about Captain America didn't mean much to him—but the moment he heard about Krem Crystals, he immediately understood how much potential this resource had.
As for the three nations standing in their way? Not even worth worrying about. This planet hadn't even stepped into the space age. How could it possibly compete with someone like Josh, who commanded interstellar fleets?
Meanwhile, Mike and Ben were far more interested in Steve Rogers.
Although… for very different reasons.
"Captain America, huh? I'd love to fight him one day!" said Ben, the battle maniac.
"Captain America came to this world? I just want to know if his butt really looks as perfect as it does in the posters," Mike added.
Everyone suddenly turned to Mike, especially Josh, their eyes filled with confusion and mild concern.
What the hell? Did I not pay enough attention to this kid? Is this a sign something went wrong with his upbringing?
"Hey, don't take it the wrong way!" Mike quickly tried to explain. "I just want to know how he trains his glutes! All the noble girls at school are into that!"
It better be just that, Josh didn't respond, but he made a mental note to have a long chat with Margaret when they got back. If this kid was really developing in the wrong direction, Josh would have no choice but to "rebuild" him from scratch—father's love be damned.
Though thinking it over, it was probably nothing. Josh had heard that, despite his age, Mike already had a reputation at school for being a real flirt, always surrounded by different girls.
During the desert BBQ, Josh also noticed that Karlei, the local boy, had been injured. More interestingly, his blood wasn't red—it was blue.
"I noticed that too," Howard whispered beside him. "I ran a quick scan. The humans on this planet don't share the same DNA as Earth humans. I can't say for sure if they can reproduce together or not."
Josh shrugged. "That doesn't really matter. As long as they look human, things will be a lot easier to handle."
"And what's your next move?" Howard asked. "Are you planning to bring in troops and take over the planet?"
"What's the rush? We just got here," Josh said as he munched on a grilled sand eel skewer. "Let's hang around a bit, learn more about the place. There are three nations on this planet—if we play it right, we might take over one without firing a single shot. Make it our vanguard."
"Where do you plan to start?" Howard the Duck asked again.
"Let's check out the Hirem Kingdom first," Josh replied. "Steve Rogers became a war hero over there. Who knows, we might gain something special through that connection."
According to the mayor earlier, the city they were in—Sark City—was located on the edge of the Krem Federation. On the other side of the desert lay the Kingdom of Hirem.
"When do we head out?" Howard asked with a nod.
"Tomorrow. Tonight, we'll stay in Sark City—get a feel for the local customs first," Josh decided.
Once the barbecue wrapped up, the group loaded back into Knockout and Breakdown to hit the road. But before leaving, Josh pulled out two local vehicles he had "borrowed" from the city and had the Transformers re-scan them.
Previously, their alternate forms were luxury SUVs from Earth. Compared to the rough, steampunk-style vehicles on this planet, they stood out far too much.
Josh also took a moment to quietly alter Karlei's memory a bit—just in case.
Half an hour later, the group—now in their newly disguised vehicles—returned smoothly to Sark City.
Since Josh had already scoped out the city and forged complete Krem Federation IDs for everyone, getting in was easy. Thanks to the ongoing war, ID security was poorly enforced. The documents were no more sophisticated than old-school pre-WWII booklets with a photo stuck inside—easily faked.
And since, apart from Howard, everyone else looked human enough, the gate guards barely checked their documents before waving them through.
Even if trouble had started, Josh could've easily erased it with magic.
His magic wasn't the strongest aspect of his power, but so far, he hadn't sensed anything in the city strong enough to resist it.
They ended up checking into the most luxurious hotel in Sark.
The planet's economy was a bit primitive. Though the Krem Federation did issue paper currency, Josh and the others quickly noticed that locals still preferred physical money.
That meant good old gold, silver coins—and more importantly, Krem Crystals, the planet's energy-rich native resource.
Karlei, the desert youth they'd rescued, had used this very crystal as currency. His tribe mined small quantities of it from a modest desert mine.
But Josh had examined the crystals himself—they were all low-grade fragments.
According to Karlei, their tribe only had access to a poor-quality deposit. The high-grade mines were completely controlled by the major factions of the Federation, far out of reach for ordinary people.
--
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