Ning looked at the Space Drive. While the overall machinery in the room was in general called the Space Drive, he knew that when someone referred to it, they were referring to the glass cylinder that was inside it.
The cylinder fit in his two-hand as he twisted it to the right and took it out of the device.
The top and bottom of the cylinder were made up of metal, while the walls were made up of clear glass.
He expected to see something inside the Space Drive, its power source, but there was nothing there.
"You cannot create the power source?" Ning asked.
<No.>
Ning continued looking through it. "What is it? The power source," he asked the system.
<Something known as Space Stone>
"Space stone? What's a space stone?" Ning asked.
<They are solid forms of space that are created during the conception of a universe.>
<Just as atoms are the building block of all matter in the universe, Space stone is what creates everything that is not matter or energy. The space.>
"Have I seen one before? Can you create a mock version?" Ning asked.
<No, you have not come into contact with one before. They are usually only found around black holes or universes that have failed to grow>
A silver rock appeared in front of Ning and he caught it in his hand. He turned it around and checked. "This is what it looks like?" he asked.
<Space stones come in all shapes and sizes, but yes, this is what they look like. Except, since they are a consolidation of space itself, they do not have any mass to them and are thus weightless.>
"What? Will they just fly away if I don't keep them secure?" Ning asked with a hint of a chuckle in his voice.
<no. Space, while without mass, is still affected by gravity, so a space stone will always try to go towards the object with the greater gravity in the area>
"Is that why they are found around black holes? Oh, is that why only these people around the black hole have figured out space travel?" Ning asked.
<That is indeed why>
"Hmm… these people, the federation as you said, what unique energy do they have? The space stone isn't energy is it?" Ning asked.
<They are all mostly without any unique energy. Only the ones that are far away from the Blackhole can generate unique energies>
"Why? What does a black hole do?" Ning asked.
<You do not have enough authority to learn about black holes yet>
'This again,' Ning thought. "How do I gain more authority?"
<See into a black hole with your own eyes.>
"Holy sh… okay, okay." Ning didn't know what to think. He had to look at a black hole? No, into it. That was going to be quite a hard task, seeing as he was nowhere close to one.
"The closest black hole is about four and a half thousand light-years away. How the hell am I supposed to go that far?" Ning thought to himself.
Then, his eyes fell on the space drive. "I need the space stone to run this thing. How the hell do I get it?" he wondered to himself.
He tried to think of a way but he had no way of acquiring a space stone for himself at the moment.
<There is a space drive at the bottom of the ocean that contains a small space stone, but it will not be enough for you>
"What? There is one? Where?" Ning asked.
The system teleported him deep underwater a bit further away from the crash site of the spaceship.
Ning went through the sand and unearthed a lot of Space Drive, but only one of them even had anything.
Ning frowned when he saw the drive with the space stone and teleported back into the ship.
"What the hell?" he cursed as he looked at the cylinder in his hand. He shook it a bit, but he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"This is just a speck of dust, isn't it? Are you sure this is a space stone?" he asked.
<yes>
"How far will this even get me?" Ning asked.
<About 500 Million Kilometers>
Ning paused. "Wait what? This little thing will get me that far?" he was surprised.
<Yes>
"Really? This little thing? How?" Ning asked.
<Space stones as mentioned are solidified space. That tiny speck contains about 500 Million metric cubes of space.>
<when used with the Space Drive, it can help a ship teleport through space and reach a very far space.>
Ning was surprised to hear how far he could go with just a speck of it. "If I were to use the space stone the size you showed me before, how far would I be able to go?" he asked.
<About 2 and a half Lightyears worth of teleportation in an instant>
"Sigh, I really need that. Any idea how I can get one of such size?" Ning asked.
<Send a distress signal out. If there is someone close by, they will hear it and come rescue you.>
"Oh, that's not a bad idea. How do I do that? From the control station at the front?" he asked.
<Yes>
Ning placed the barely functional space drive back into the slot and left to go to the front.
He quickly learned from the system how to use the spaceship and started sending a message.
He thought for a moment and sent a simple message.
- Help! ZSS Unity III is down. Multiple crew members are dead. No way of returning.-
"Alright, that should do. Now if anyone happens to be in the area, they will come to help me right?" Ning said out loud.
ZHOOM~
"What just happened?" Ning looked around but saw nothing.
<The ship's space drive activated to send the message to the closest ship in the area.>
"Oh, that was the sound huh?" he thought. He knew the space stone would be used, but that was necessary as, without it, the message would take hundreds of years to reach its target.
"Time to leave then."
