In the last district of Solari-2, control had fallen into the hands of a gang known as the D. Cock Bandits. They ruled through fear, constantly extorting money from shops and stores.
The people living there—especially the families—were trapped in fear. Women and girls were the ones suffering the most, as the bandits often molested them in broad daylight. No one dared to stop them.
The ISF didn't take any action. Part of the reason was that the bandits carried plasma guns, illegal military-grade weapons. But the bigger reason was fear—after all, these same bandits had already killed six powerful bounty hunters.
At night, the fear only grew worse. Women felt even more unsafe as many of the bandits forced themselves into homes, targeting married women and leaving their families in deep trauma.
Young girls weren't safe either. In local pubs, the bandits harassed them, forcing them to dance in inappropriate ways for their entertainment. No one could stop them. The district had become a place of silence, fear, and helplessness.
---
At night, the pubs in the district were filled with loud bandits, drinking heavily and harassing girls for their entertainment. Laughter and chaos echoed through the streets. No one dared to stop them.
But at that same hour, Arka had already entered the district. Riding his bike slowly through the streets, he scanned the area. As usual, the infrastructure was basic—buildings looked old, roads were uneven, and the design felt more like something out of a fantasy village rather than a space-age city.
Arka frowned.
"Lisa, I've noticed something strange. Why is the infrastructure on these planets always so fantasy-like and underdeveloped? Even when technology has reached the point where people can travel between planets in hours?"
[THE REASON IS SIMPLE. THE GALAXY GOVERNMENT BANNED ADVANCED INFRASTRUCTURE FOR CIVILIANS. HIGH-TECH BUILDINGS ARE ONLY ALLOWED FOR GOVERNMENT OFFICES AND DEPARTMENTS.]
Arka raised an eyebrow.
"Banned? Why would they do that?"
[THEY WANT TO PREVENT LAND DEGRADATION. BACK WHEN HUMANS LIVED ON EARTH, THEY BUILT SO MANY ADVANCED STRUCTURES THAT THE ENVIRONMENT COLLAPSED. LIFE BECAME NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE THERE, AND THAT'S WHY HUMANS LEFT EARTH IN THE FIRST PLACE.]
[TO AVOID REPEATING THAT MISTAKE, THE GOVERNMENT DECIDED TO RESTRICT ADVANCED INFRASTRUCTURE TO ONLY OFFICIAL PURPOSES—AND KEEP CIVILIAN AREAS SIMPLE AND LESS DAMAGING.]
Arka sighed.
"So even after reaching the stars, humans are still fixing their old mistakes."
"Then why are there still people on Earth? Didn't everyone leave the planet?" Arka asked, still looking around the district.
[THE PEOPLE NOW KNOWN AS EARTHLINGS AND BANDITS ARE DESCENDANTS OF THE POOR—THOSE WHO COULDN'T AFFORD TO LEAVE EARTH.]
[WHEN THE PLANET WAS BEING EVACUATED, THE MIDDLE AND RICH CLASSES ESCAPED FIRST. THEY DIDN'T TAKE THE LOWER CLASS WITH THEM.]
Arka clenched the handle of his bike tightly, his eyes narrowing.
"So they were just left behind… like trash."
Arka suddenly heard loud laughter and music coming from a pub a little distance to his right. His eyes narrowed.
"That should be them," he said with a smirk.
He got off his bike and tapped a button on his watch. Instantly, the bike faded out of sight, turning invisible.
As he approached the pub door, the bright light from inside reflected off his AR glasses.
"Lisa, analyze from here. How many bandits are inside?"
A digital display opened in front of his eyes. The system began scanning the area through the glasses, processing every lifeform inside. Soon, the results appeared—names and faces lined up on the screen. Each one had a long criminal record, many of them including crimes worse than just killing.
[MOST OF THEM ARE EXTREMELY CREEPY. THEY'VE DONE THINGS TO MARRIED WOMEN THAT GO BEYOND MURDER.]
[THE ONE CLOSEST TO D. COCK IS JARGO THE RIPPER—A MAN WITH A BLIND EYE AND GREEN HAIR.]
Inside the pub, loud and lewd music echoed through the building. Girls were forced to dance in front of the bandits—some with tears in their eyes, others completely silent, just following orders out of fear. The air smelled of alcohol, smoke, and cruelty.
At one of the tables, four bandits sat, all completely drunk. Their laughter was loud and disgusting.
One of them, a man with a long brown beard, slammed his mug on the table.
"Khek! This drink's tasty! Give me one more!" he yelled, wiping his beard with his sleeve.
Then he leaned toward the others and grinned.
"You know that smith guy? I slept with his wife yesterday. She was very tasty!"
The others burst into laughter, banging their mugs and mocking.
---
The door of the pub slowly creaked open. For a moment, everything fell silent.
All eyes turned toward the entrance as a man stepped inside—wearing futuristic AR glasses, a long black trench coat with blood-red lining, and a sword strapped to his back. There was no doubt. He was a bounty hunter.
Arka walked calmly toward an empty table and took a seat. The girls glanced at him with a glimmer of hope in their eyes.
"Tea, please," Arka said casually, leaning back in his chair.
"And why aren't your girls dancing? That's not fun."
The bandits burst into laughter at his comment. But the girls… their hearts sank. Any hope they had was crushed. They forced themselves to start dancing again.
At the table next to him, one of the bandits chuckled.
"Seriously? Who orders tea in a pub?"
Another one, completely drunk, leaned toward Arka.
"Yo... bounty hunter... are you here to—khek!—take us all on alone?"
Just then, the waitress placed the tea in front of Arka. He picked it up, took a calm sip, and smirked.
"I'm not insane enough to fight thirteen bandits alone."
Arka's smirk widened.
He slowly placed the tea back down on the table, then turned his head—his gaze locking onto the man with green hair and a blind eye.
"That's why…" Arka said in a calm, sharp voice,
"I'll take down Jargo the Ripper—then D. Cock."
The room went quiet again. Some of the drunk bandits sobered up instantly. The girls stopped dancing for a moment, their eyes wide with shock. Then suddenly, all the bandits burst into loud laughter.
"Pwahaha! Did you hear that? He said Jargo!" one of them wheezed, slapping the table.
"This guy's got balls, I'll give him that!" another shouted, nearly falling off his chair from laughing.
Even Jargo, the man with green hair and a blind eye, let out a slow, crooked grin.
"You? Take me down? You must be drunker than us, bounty hunter."
The girls looked worried again, their hopes trembling as the laughter filled the pub like smoke before fire. But Arka didn't laugh. He just calmly took another sip of tea, the smirk never leaving his face.
Seeing Arka's smirk made Jargo angry, and noticing his anger, one of the bandits stood up and started walking toward Arka in rage.
"Stop smirking, you bastard!" he shouted.
But Arka didn't respond. He stayed still.
The bandit threw a punch at him, but Arka calmly pulled his head back, dodging it with ease. Then, in one smooth motion he rotated his body and kicked the bandit in the head—sending him crashing to the ground, flat and unconscious.
"You can't throw punches at people just because they're smirking," Arka said with a mocking tone.
"Didn't your mom teach you that? Oh wait… do you even have a mom?"
Another bandit—the one who earlier mocked him for ordering tea—came from behind, trying to smash a beer bottle on Arka's head.
But Arka quickly pulled his sword upward. The bottle shattered against the blade, and a sharp piece of glass sliced into the bandit's hand, making him scream in pain.
Arka put his sword back on his back and stretched his arms out wide.
"See, I'm a combat lover. So come at me with all your might," he said with a confident grin.
"I'll rate your fighting style. And if you manage to satisfy me, I'll leave."
He looked around at all the bandits.
"I'm not some cliché hero here to save anyone. I'm just a bounty hunter."
All the bandits charged at him at once, surrounding him from every side.
They didn't follow any order or formation—they all rushed in, one after another, trying to beat him in any way they could.
It was pure chaos inside the circle, as fists, kicks, and even weapons came flying toward Arka from every direction.
"Whom are you even beating?" A voice came from behind.