Last Man On Earth When There Is No Earth ?

Sector eighteen, Imar nine, Astragali city, Seven

Having changed to a more formal wear we couldn't just take the sidewalks. Thankfully there was a taxi service we could rely on.

In just a few minutes our ride arrived to the front entrance and waited for us. The map on the book I received showed the contacts if such services, between them I chose the highest rated and most elegant looking space limousine I could find.

The driver resembled a white hairball stuffed into a black suit. He waited for our arrival and manually opened the door himself. This part is usually automated when riding other transportations, glad to see they know about the right way to treat special customers.

It didn't take long for us to arrive to our destination. When we got down the first thing I noticed was the long waiting line and how they all had their eyes on us.

Maybe because we just descended from a limou on the red carpet like a couple of Hollywood stars. One of the guards walked over to us. He was like a bigger version of the hairball driver. I held up my black card and the next second he stepped aside clearing the way for us.

Of course when someone suddenly shows up and immediately is allowed to enter, jealousy would surely burn those who've been waiting aside for who knows how long.

Ignoring the resentment filled glares Lilia and I went inside. There was a check point at the end of a short hallway. They asked we turn in any weapons we had on us, that included Lilia's spear and both our gauntlets. We were about to do sl when the one in charge got a call from the guard at the entrance. They apologized for the inconvenience and let us in without disarming us.

Inside the big hall a strange tune played as a lot of shouting and laughing bustled. Groups gathered around what I can only assume are the games people gambled on. I can't read most of what's written and I can't say I know any of those.

"So... Lilia, can I rely on you to teach me how to play?"

"Em… sorry, I don't think I can be of any help"

"It's fine, you don't have to worry"

Our primary motivation for coming here is information gathering and to make some connections, we don't have to win the win and doesn't matter how much we lose. But if possible I don't want to embarrass myself while I'm at it.

'What about you?'

'I know a few, but it's better not to jump in at the moment, we are being observed' Iris stated the obvious.

Us being the center of attention won't last long, or so I hoped. I'm sure people are curious about the identities of the new guys.

Noticing someone that looked like a butler I raised my hand and called for him. Her to be exact. Although she dresses in a Male uniform the way she talked and her voice told the truth.

At my request she went somewhere and returned pushing a wheeled table with some device on it. It was something we used at the port tight after we landed to exchange some of our money to the local currency.

I entered the number on my book and slid it above the device, instantly exchanging two hundred thousand intergalactic units to three million Astragali units.

"So, where should we go first…"

Thus feeling of extreme awkwardness reminds me how I still have yet to get fully used to crowds.

'What's the best course of action in this situation…' I thought to myself as I looked around.

'There' Iris pointed 'get a drink and wait, someone would surely approach you'

Following my inner voice's directions I took Lilia to the bar at the center of the hall. We both ordered some refreshments and stood there observing the room. As Iris predicted it didn't take long for someone to come over.

"hooo! Lord Seven! Fancy meeting you here!"

Walking over to us was a gorilla like creature. It's arms reached to the ground as they were almost as long as it's body. The face was under a mask though so it was hard to tell what it looked like, but that didn't matter as the one speaking was on it's shoulder.

"mr.Hootout, we meet again"

The masked gorilla is actually just an android. On it's shoulder was a small round creature. That was mr.Hootout, a Bouma from planet Layl. If I had to describe him I would say he looked like a certain grass type owl pokemon, Though he had three finger chicken leg like hands under his wings. He wore a small brown suit that went well with his feathers of the same color, his golden eyes were sharp but his cute voice told everyone he was a good guy.

I met him at the shooting range, a very skilled and intelligent fellow. He showed me many tricks as we went around trying guns and eventually we became friends.

"Lady Lilia" he closed his eyes and lowered his head. He might have been trying to bow but that isn't possible when he has no neck.

"So, you came here to play?" Asked the small round guy as he turned back to me.

"Yeah, this place was recommended to me so I thought I would check it out"

"Hoo, if you mentioned it the other day we might've come here together" he has a beak so you can't really tell, but from his tone of voice I could say he was smiling

"you didn't struck me as the gambling type though"

"Hoohoho, I do everything, lord Seven, everything!" he laughed loudly, his whole body vibrating "how about it? Want to try something?"

"well, why not? You know something good?"

"I'm sure lord Seven already noticed, but most games here are virtual"

"… You want to say they're all rigged?"

"Exactly…" holding up his wing to hide his beak he continued "don't let them hear you though"

"Hmm…"

This place runs on trust. Most games have digital interfaces so I assume they are easier to mess with and I'm sure it's impossible to prove any claims. There is always a way to cheat in a video game, though I can't really call it cheating if it's the developers doing it.

I have no love for gacha and loot boxes so I don't think I want anything to do with them. Thankfully mr.Hootout understood me quickly and led the way to a corner with one of the older games.

Two birds with one stone, that's all I can say. It's obvious not everyone inside her knows how this work so only the smart people went to the card tables and other physically operated games. You can cheat in those too, however it's much easier to notice and prove.

"This one is my favorite" he said as he pointed at a table.

I will call this one space roulette. Mr.Hootout explained how to play. There is a wheel divided into colors and numbers. Before it start spinning the participants take turns placing rectangular shaped ch.i.p.s that have a certain value into small openings. A white metallic ball is dropped in and the winning conditions are two.

The first is that the ball stops at one of the ch.i.p.s and its owner it gets value equal to all the ones placed.

The second is to calculate the time the ball would take before it falls into the hole at the center. The one who's the most accurate comes out as the winner.

This looks like a game you can't cheat in, but nah, even normal roulette can be rigged. Even I can manipulate the metallic ball with my electric powers, though since I'm known as an incarnation of the mythical beast Verta I'm afraid magnetic manipulation is expected to be in my arsenal.

That's fine. Again, I'm not here to win, all I need to do is get the attention of the right people and start conversations. I know it's not as hard as I always though since I managed to befriend mr.Hootout.

We started playing the game. Mr.Hootout won the first round, then the second, then the third. I might've underestimated him a little, the guy was a mathematic genius on top of his outstanding luck.

He only told me later how it's done. Each time it was his turn to throw the ball he would drop it on one of the ch.i.p.s on his side at a perfectly calculated timing and angle, from there it would follow the course he predicted fulfilling either of the winning conditions. As for when it's my turn there wasn't much he could do. It just happened that the ball fell into the hole at the center every time, and his prediction of the time it would take was always spot on.

His mental capabilities were out of some fiction. Something like this only happens in cartoons and shouldn't be possible for real, but the guy had really powerful eyesight and a big brain despite being so small… and a bird.

The game went on. I managed to win a few times but I still lagged behind mr.Hootout. Seeing the fun we were having other players joined in. Some of them were mr.Hootout's acquaintance so he did me the favor of introductions.

Obviously the news that lord Seven, the mythical beast Verta incarnation, owner of planet Gorgola and head of the Verta clan was here spread through the whole casino and soon we were surrounded by people who wished to greet me.

Many of them were merchants, company owners and CEOs coming here for business, others were politicians looking for a change of pace though it was easy to guess they were here for the same reason as mine.

By the way, mr.Hootout is the owner of Hootout intergalactic, a really famous robotics manufacturer throughout sectors from the ninth to the seventeenth. He recently came to Imar nine to establish his brand around the eighteenth sector, but he faced a problem in the form of very strong rivals, the Stoneheart enterprise.

To someone in his position I was a once in a lifetime business opportunity, however the moment he learned about my relationship with Lilia he never mentioned anything job related again.

Between those who I got to know were members of the Astragali council. They asked what would bring me here, I was unaware if I should keep my scheduled meeting with the governor a secret or not so I told them I went out with my wife to get some fresh air.

Those people were amazing. They had great conversational skills and could easily guide our exchange in their favor. If I let my guard down they would instantly jump at the chance to extract some info from me.

Lilia had her share of trouble as she got separated from me by some of the ladies. The incident from yesterday was well known so no male risked his bones trying to approach her.

I was also approached by a few females. Though they all were not that close to the human form, so I can't say I found them attractive.

One particular individual caught my personal attention the most. His name was Mr.Lahm Raki and he is a Homr. His company specializes in gourmet cuisine. They provide the highest quality ingredients from all over the known universe including a wide variety of game.

Things went a little better than I expected. I was happy to see that people came to me instead of me going to them, that easned the burden I had to shoulder and the conversations went smoothly. One of the factors was that they all were trying their best to win my favor not to mention the fear my titles brought to their hearts. They all avoided any disrespectful remarks which could lead to their untimely demise.

Nevertheless, there are some brave souls out there. No, foolish would be more accurate of a description.