The spacecraft tore through the clouds and crossed the endless blue.
Then it headed straight for the moon.
Thanks to what Ritter had gained from this war, he could remain in this timeline for a little longer.
By now, he was almost certain that the things on the moon had been built by him.
After all, they had not existed in the title pages.
But when he arrived here, they were already there.
Since Ritter had no idea how long it would take to build them, he decided to come as early as possible.
Below them, the enormous outline of the planet slowly rotated.
The girl was lying against the porthole.
Her ice-blue eyes reflected the magnificent sight she had never seen before.
She did not blink even once.
"Wow~"
"Beautiful, huh?"
Ritter's amused voice came from behind her.
The girl nodded vigorously without taking her eyes off the window.
"Mm!"
"It sparkles."
"There are places that sparkle even more."
Ritter piloted the spacecraft toward the silver-white celestial body growing closer and closer.
Its surface was covered in countless craters.
When the spacecraft landed smoothly on the moon's surface, the sight before them was not the barren wasteland they had expected.
Compared to the first time Ritter had come here, the moon was far more prosperous.
That was only natural.
The Moon People had just moved away not long ago.
And the little old men had still been maintaining everything.
In the distance, strange white structures could vaguely be seen among the ruins.
But even more eye-catching were the groups of round, cabbage-like robots with tiny white wings.
These were the little old men Ritter had mentioned.
They were constantly flying around, busy maintaining the facilities.
The moment they saw the unfamiliar spacecraft land...
A small group of robots immediately flew over in a defensive formation.
They held tiny weapons that looked completely harmless and tried to drive away the unwanted visitors.
A few short old men wearing white spacesuits and long beards soon ran out from the ruins as well.
They were clearly the leaders of the little old men.
They stared nervously at Ritter and his spacecraft.
Their bodies were tense and ready for trouble.
Ritter took the girl's hand and stepped off the spacecraft.
He completely ignored the defensive robots and the nervous little old men.
Someone who had once been stabbed through by a space pirate's spear was not worth wasting his energy over.
His eyes swept across the land.
He felt the relatively stable and pure energy environment around him.
Ritter nodded in satisfaction.
Then he turned sideways and gently ruffled the girl's hair.
"Do you like it?"
The girl looked up at him.
Then she looked around at the silver-white world.
She nodded firmly.
"I like it."
"Then we'll live here from now on."
The girl lowered her voice.
"But this place... doesn't belong to us."
Ritter paused.
"I'm a pirate, you know."
He slightly raised his head.
His gaze swept over the nervous Moon People, the busy little old men, and the magnificent ancient ruins in the distance.
"If I like something, then it's mine."
His tone was completely calm.
Yet his words were filled with absolute certainty.
This was the confidence Ritter had forged through countless battles.
Unlike those other protagonists who clearly possessed overwhelming strength yet still acted like they needed to beg everyone for help...
Ritter was a simple man.
I came.
I saw.
I conquered.
The girl looked up at him.
She did not quite understand the exact meaning of his words.
But she could feel the confidence and strength behind them.
She trusted him.
So she obediently nodded.
"Mm."
"You believe everything I say?"
"What if I said I was going to take a bite out of the moon?"
"Would you believe that too?"
The girl stared at him seriously.
She seemed to be considering whether such an operation was actually possible.
Then she nodded again.
"Mm."
"Captain can do it."
"..."
Ritter was speechless for a moment.
Then he burst out laughing.
"Forget it."
"There's no way to reason with you, you little airhead."
He put away his joking expression.
Then he took out the information he had found in Pilkka's treasury.
The records described a secret technique that could seal a living being within a special environment and greatly slow the passage of life.
Immortality was something every sentient being dreamed of.
Unless they had experienced some major turning point in life, the temptation of eternal life was incredibly powerful.
And why had Ritter chosen the moon?
Because he had found the girl inside the moon.
He already had the answer.
Why reinvent the wheel?
Besides, this place was vast and sparsely populated.
The Infinite Earth would become nothing more than a legend in the future.
"Come on, little one."
Ritter took her hand and walked toward the depths of the ancient ruins.
"We need to find you a nice little bed."
"Hmm... I wonder where we should put you."
"We'll take a good look around."
"Then you can sleep peacefully for a long, long time."
"And when you wake up... you'll be able to meet me in the future."
He glanced at the little old men and robots who were still watching him warily.
"As for this place..."
"I'm borrowing it for the time being."
"Don't worry."
"I'm not interested in you old fossils."
"I just need to borrow a piece of land."
"So you'll have to help me."
Ritter was not asking.
They would understand that soon enough.
Holding the girl's hand, Ritter ignored the nervous little old men and robots and walked directly toward the deepest part of the ruins.
The energy there was the purest.
As he walked, he sensed the surrounding environment.
His brows slowly furrowed.
The secret technique recorded on the Pilkka scroll required a continuous and stable energy supply to maintain the life-sealing state.
The girl's own energy, or the scattered energy floating around the moon, was nowhere near enough.
There was no way Ritter would allow the little one to consume her own life force just to maintain the energy supply while she slept.
His gaze landed on the busy winged robots.
Then he looked farther away.
There were several ancient devices that looked like energy cores.
If Ritter was not mistaken...
Those things were probably power generators.
The reason was simple.
He had already seen the solar panels.
"Hey."
"You over there."
Ritter stopped walking.
He curled his finger at the few little old men hiding behind the robots and whispering among themselves.
His tone was casual.
But there was an unmistakable commanding edge to it.
"I've taken a liking to this place."
"So here's your mission."
"Adjust that energy core and connect it to the formation I'm going to set up."
"Make sure the energy supply never stops."
The leading little old man instantly jumped in rage.
He waved his short arms furiously.
"Impossible!"
"You invader!"
"The moon's energy system is the culmination of ancient wisdom!"
"How dare you think you can alter it however you please?"
"We will never help you!"
"Absolutely never!"
"That's right!"
"Never!"
"Get off the moon!"
The other little old men quickly joined in.
They were clearly afraid.
But their determination to defend their home gave them the courage to speak up.
Ritter's scarlet eyes narrowed slightly.
"What a proud and noble determination to protect your home."
"But the thing is..."
"I don't actually need you."
He gently moved the girl behind him.
He did not want the scene that followed to frighten her.
"I already told you."
"I'm here to conquer this place."
Ritter's voice was not loud.
But every word carried absolute weight.
"You still don't have the right to say no to me."
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