CHAPTER 57: MORNING PREPARATIONS [1]

Tatehan had a dream as he slept.

This was the first time he was doing so while actually sleeping since he came to Mars, unlike when he was unconscious.

When he was unconscious, he wouldn’t say he was dreaming. That wasn’t a dream, it was more like him on a fence, life and death pulling him from both sides.

Sometimes death would be stronger, wanting to drag him down from the fence, but overall life seemed to be stronger. That was why he was able to wake up alive.

In that state, all the things he’d seen were real. He was reliving his life, but he had no control over it.

Thinking about it now, he realized he’d actually been lucky to have survived not eating for a month and a week. His body didn’t give up from lack of nutrients like he’d expected. He woke up whole, though feeling pain, but perfectly fine.

It was thanks to his Partial Regeneration. It seemed to have made a way for his body systems to stay alive without food.

Tatehan’s dream was about a girl, actually. He couldn’t say he knew who the girl was. He didn’t see her face, just her hair. Her long hair flowing with the Martian wind.

As he walked up to her, his intention was to speak to her...

He woke up.

Surprisingly enough, he did so with a start. That surprised him because his dream had been a normal dream. It wasn’t about monsters or ghosts or killing anybody, it was just about a girl whose face he couldn’t see.

It wasn’t a happy dream, though. But it was normal and didn’t warrant him being startled the way he had been.

Tatehan sat up, still on his bed. He was sweating a bit more profusely than the temperature required, and he didn’t know the cause because the dream had been relatively normal.

Sitting up, he thought about the girl he’d seen in the dream. She looked attractive from behind, even though he didn’t see her face. He was also certain she was a girl or a young woman.

Sighing, he stood up, deciding to take the dream and his reaction when he woke as a warning, that he needed to give the girl the core. He really needed to.

He placed his hands on the panel and a door slid open, revealing the spaceship’s main area, the place where the pilot seat was. The moment he stepped out, the opening closed, making the place look like it was just a normal wall in the spaceship.

[Morning, Tatehan]

"Morning," Tatehan replied.

Tatehan suddenly stopped, looking around, like he’d forgotten something.

"Ah, yes..." he suddenly remembered.

Walking over to the pilot seat, he saw the Spaceship’s radio on it, the device that gave him random information.

He flicked it on. Static hissed, and then he heard the familiar voice:

[Scattered across Mars are countless abandoned motorcycles, remnants left behind by Martian humans who fell victim to monstrous attacks. At first glance, these bikes seem useless: engines rusted, frames half-destroyed. But they hold potential. By slaying a specific Martian creature known as the Shadow Goblin, you can harvest a unique core. This core temporarily revives damaged motorcycles and vehicles, making them usable once more, though only for a limited time]

The static hissed very loudly and then it went off.

Tatehan stroked his beardless chin with the hand he wasn’t using to hold the device.

"I must say this is the most valuable thing that has ever come out of the radio."

The Spaceship’s AI replied: [Indeed. Should be really helpful if you want to arrive at the place you’re aiming to go today.]

Tatehan nodded, touching his nose and then looking at the wall to his left, where the hygiene station was. He wanted to drink coffee before doing anything else, but he decided to bathe first.

He normally found bathing to be tiring, and if it wasn’t so essential, he wouldn’t be doing it.

But since arriving at the Spaceship, it was one of the things he loved doing the most.

He basically just stood there and the techy equipment did its thing, cleaning him all around.

After bathing in the hygiene station, Tatehan put a towel around his waist and went to the sleeping area, where he selected a black pair of trousers and a silver-colored top.

Strangely enough, he’d never questioned the existence of the clothes until now. The wardrobe contained a wide variety of clothing attires, some were even too dazzling, like the stuff you’d wear to a fashion show.

The clothing he selected was very simple, though, as he tried not to attract too much suspicion.

He opened a wardrobe where a variety of boots were stored. He selected a black sturdy boot, put it on, combed his hair, and checked himself in the mirror.

Two months ago he might have been surprised to see who he was currently seeing, but now he felt perfectly normal. He was now more Tatehan than Gavin.

He admired his muscles and his facial features. Not that it would matter, as he planned on summoning the armor as soon as he stepped out of the spaceship, covering his face as well.

He walked out of the sleeping area and now stood in the main space where the pilot seat was. He took a look at the radio and thought about what it had said.

He knew it was true. It never lied. The aim of the radio was to relay history, no matter how necessary or unnecessary it was.

What if he found a damaged motorcycle out in the open and could actually kill the monster that harbored the core that would power the machine?

He’d be zooming to Kael’s home. And what should have been many days’ journey would be completed in hours.

[Looking like you’re going on a date,] he heard the spaceship say.

Tatehan flashed a smile. He summoned the map from his inventory and held it in his hands.

He said to the Spaceship’s AI: "Now, about the map."