As the Galactic Patrol ship with the three personnel onboard made its way to HQ, a sudden quake disturbed the regular tranquility. The ship was rocked by a blast.
Emergency alarms buzzed...
"What happened? Did we collide with an asteroid?" Shen asked, arriving at the control room in a hurry. Subsequently, the blue-haired Launch also made her way there.
"Not that, we didn't hit an asteroid—look at it yourself!"
Through the screen in front of them, Jaco displayed the current situation while briefly explaining what had actually happened:
"This other ship is the one that attacked us unprovoked. When they appeared on the radar, I didn't see any need to take further action other than a warning... I told them we are from the Galactic Patrol, but even knowing that, they suddenly fired. These guys are daring, if nothing else. Not many can ignore the Galactic Patrol's name."
"Then, is the ship fine? They haven't destroyed anything important, right?" Launch asked, concerned.
"Are you kidding? This is the best ship in the universe, and I'm not exaggerating. Believe me when I say that stolen piece of junk can't even scratch my baby. Matter of fact, it can't even touch her. An energy barrier protects this ship all the time—well, albeit it can shake her, slightly.."
Jaco's words made Shen question him. "That enemy ship, how can you be sure it's stolen?"
"Heh! Because I just checked our database, and this ship matches the record of a missing ship that was stolen from Planet Gi-an." (A/N- Sad, nobody got the reference in chapter 48 )
All of a sudden, the ship's barrier was struck a second time, causing it to tremble once again.
{Oi, you Galactic Patrol scums!} A manly voice was heard from the radio transmitter..
{Surrender immediately and hand over all your possessions. If you do as told, we'll let your sorry asses go—ah, what?—did you say somth?—Wait a sec... my crewmate is saying something—} The apparent robber was interrupted, wholly confusing Shen and the rest.
{Take their ship too?—I got it! You got what she said. You guys don't have good luck, it seems. Yahahahah!!!}
Though, inside the galactic patrol ship, Jaco was nonchalant {What? I couldn't hear ya!}
The robbers weren't irked by this brazen teasing. From the radio, they could be heard simply laughing it off.
[Heh! You might be thinking we can't touch you with that shield, but don't make the mistake of underestimating us, the Galactic Bandit Brigade. If you have the greatest shield, we have the greatest firepower in the galaxy. There is no way to run—you bitches are surrounded by our subordinate ships! We'll just wait until your power runs out. With the endless volley of attacks from our weapons, let's see how long that shield holds up.]
"Kindly, teach these jackasses a lesson, if you would." Jaco, waving his hands with a smile on his face, made the small request to Shen.
"Sigh... what a pain."
The main door of the spaceship opened as Shen, having put on an oxygen mask, exited through it.
The man glanced around, examining the situation. 'Jaco said the radar detects some ten or so ships... Hmm! That seemed about right.'
Seeing this oddity unfold, the enemy microphone renewed with interest.
{Ooh! Look at this sorry spectacle. Did they throw out their own to save a few supplies? That's wicked, though it's of no use. They can't outlast us!!}
Shen didn't respond to their haughty words. With a stoic expression, he raised an arm and charged a ki blast toward a particular direction.
{This...}
A ship relatively far from his position was blasted into smithereens. Next, he casually readjusted his aim at another ship adjacent to the destroyed one.
{Watch out! His attacks are too fast to notice!} The pirates were completely agitated.
However, Shen left them with not a second of respite. Nothing was random—he attacked precisely. The bandits' numbers were cut short with every new ship that caught his eyes.
{He is single-handedly destroying us! What are y'all doing? Attack! Spread out and attack! Move irregularly, don't give him the chance to catch you by surprise!}
The strategy failed—or rather, to begin with, there was no chance in hell it would have succeeded. Shen, as an opponent, was well out of their league.
Having taken care of all but one ship leading the fray, he was intending to forcefully break open the hatch of the ship when—
{We surrender! Please spare us!} The bandits, showcasing sincerity, spared him the trouble and opened the hatch of their ship themselves. {Capture us if you want. You're from the Galactic Patrol, right?}
Now inside the bandits' own vehicle, Shen's sharp glance swept his surroundings as he took a few forward steps. Suddenly, behind him, a heavy metallic enclosure shut down his way back, blocking any escape.
"You made a big mistake entering inside." A burly man resembling a gorilla made his presence known with a recognizable laugh. "Yaahahahaha!!!"
From his voice, it could be inferred that he was the same man who had been speaking through the radio earlier.
"You sure were tough to fight in a long-range battle, but is your close-range also as good? Now, together, we can gang up on you... Die, bastard!!"
The bandits all leapt at Shen, trying to plunge their sharp weapons into his flesh.
Shen just stood there and received the attack.
"Heh, he wasn't all that great after all—?? An armor—you!"
"What, your weapons can't touch me? My, oh my, that's horrible... for you bunch, that is!"
The confrontation went as expected. Although there were some surprises—particularly when a trio of girls merged into one, or when a guy transformed into some sort of lizard man hybrid, along with others showing similar capabilities—it was all for naught.
They were utterly defeated, and with relative ease on Shen's part. They were undoubtedly strong, but for the present Shen, the likes of them still weren't enough for him to go all out, like he did against the titanic squid.
For the bandits, this seemingly insignificant operation of targeting some easy, no-name patrolmen had cost them dearly. They would spend the rest of their days imprisoned behind bars.
Capturing this group of leading bandit commanders, Shen, Launch, and Jaco continued on their way.
.
.
.
Some time had passed since the encounter with the bandits.
"So, have you really decided to say farewell?" Jaco solemnly asked. Right now, they were at the HQ's launching station.
"Yeah, we are. But... what is this? Are you actually sad that we're leaving?" Shen, with a tint of humor, curiously questioned the alien.
"Well... the missions were so easy to complete with you around. Now it's back to normal for me... sigh!"
"Tch, so that was the reason. I knew it." Blonde Launch scoffed from Shen's side.
"Looking back, our time with the Galactic Patrol has largely been rather eventless, especially recently. If I had to evaluate, the more serious obstacles were only the space squid and, to a lesser extent, that so-called Galactic Bandit Brigade."
He went on...
"There really isn't any reason left for us to remain here. We have achieved all of our goals: A more advanced ship—done. Joining the Galactic Patrol—check. Showcasing our abilities and building a trusted relationship with the organization, along with gaining some experience—all completed."
. . .
Uninterrupted, without any obstacle to hinder their journey, the human duo reached Planet Yardrat in less than a week after departing.
For a while, they roamed around the alien planet—a beautiful world with lush forests and vast oceans teeming with life. In due course, after locating a gathering of the highest concentration of powerful ki on the entire planet, their ship ended up hovering above a large metropolis.
After thoroughly inspecting the city from above, they appropriately determined an open area with many spacecraft parked on it to be a spaceport, they landed their ship at the place, imitating others who had done the same...
Before they could even take their first steps out, people—presumably the inhabitants of this planet—started gathering around them, acting like a beehive.
These little guys with appearance varying between two overarching types; taller-skinny ones with pink skin and stout-chubby ones with green skin, they didn't seem to pose any ill intent, however.
All kinds of queries were thrown toward the duo—who they were, where they came from, why they were there. Shen tried to answer some of their questions, but the chaotic scene didn't even give him that chance.
As the place became almost suffocating, it abruptly quieted down.
The zombie horde was separated by a single person. "Ahem!"
He approached them, dividing the crowd into two perfect halves as he walked. The crowd willingly made way for the man, seemingly out of respect.
"Please come with me. Our Elder desires your presence."