A Blood Warrior's long whip shot out like lightning.
It pierced straight through the one-eyed pirate's heart.
The pirate captain's movements came to an abrupt stop.
The chainsaw sword slipped from his hand.
He opened his mouth.
Then, in the end, he became another part of the lunar dust.
The battle...
Or rather, the massacre...
Was over in less than a minute.
Dozens of vicious space pirates had not even managed to organize a proper counterattack before they completely disappeared, as if they had never existed in the first place.
Of course, if they had actually managed to put up a decent fight, that would have been far too embarrassing.
Only several unmanned starships remained, floating lonely in the sky.
"Much better."
Ritter shrugged.
The girl looked up at him.
She tugged lightly on his clothes and whispered,
"Captain... so cool."
Ritter laughed.
He reached over and rubbed her hair.
Then he looked toward the depths of outer space.
Intimidation?
No.
That was far too gentle.
What he wanted was extermination.
The Blood Warriors silently withdrew their whips.
They disappeared back into the swirling blood mist and continued their work of "supervising" the construction.
It was as if everything that had just happened had merely been the act of swatting a few annoying bugs.
Little Old Men: Honestly, you didn't have to take your job this seriously.
The little old men stared blankly.
Ritter could feel that the way they looked at him had changed.
As for what it had changed into...
It was the kind of gaze that had gradually transformed into fanatical worship.
The same kind of look they had once given Enel.
Every single pair of eyes was now focused on Ritter.
Previously, they had submitted because of the threat of the blood whips.
Deep down, they had still been somewhat unwilling.
That had invisibly increased Ritter's workload.
He had to make sure these little guys would not try anything funny the next time he saw them.
Especially the little old man with the longest beard.
Just moments ago, he had still been cursing inwardly.
He had thought that this red-eyed demon was even worse than the space pirates.
But now...
"B... Boss!"
The long-bearded little old man was the first to recover.
This time, however, it was not because of fear.
It was excitement.
Plop!
He dropped to the lunar dust and sprawled out like he was making a full prostration.
"You... You are the new guardian deity of the moon!"
"Boss!"
"Boss!"
"Boss!"
The other little old men immediately followed his example.
A whole crowd of them dropped to their knees.
Even the round, cabbage-like robots, which did not seem nearly as intelligent as the little old men, stopped making their usual beep-beep noises.
They all turned toward Ritter and bowed slightly in unison.
"B... Boss!"
"From now on, you are our boss!"
That shout seemed to flip some kind of switch.
The other little old men finally reacted as well.
They threw down the tools they had been pretending to use.
Although the Blood Warriors quickly reminded them with their whips to pick the tools back up...
The little old men still waved their short arms excitedly and began shouting one after another.
"Boss is mighty!"
"Boss is awesome!"
"Boss! Please lead us toward glory!"
Ritter: "..."
The corner of his mouth twitched.
He was completely speechless.
Wasn't this change a little too fast?
Hadn't they just been calling him a barbarian?
Where had these little old men's dignity gone?
Still, Ritter could not be bothered to argue.
The result was what mattered.
"Who said you could call me your boss..."
Ritter almost complained.
But he knew he probably should not say something like that.
At the same time, he was completely incapable of forcing himself to praise them.
In the end, he could only squeeze out one sentence.
"Stop kissing up to me."
Ritter waved his hand.
"Are you done with the work?"
"Is the energy-link system finished?"
"I'm in a hurry. Hurry up."
"Right away! Immediately! Boss, don't worry!"
The little old men jolted.
It was as if someone had wound them up.
They sprang from the ground at astonishing speed and rushed toward the ancient machinery.
Their movements were several times faster than when they had been working under the threat of the blood whips.
As expected...
Interest really was the best teacher.
"Faster! Faster! Adjust the energy output!"
"Calibrate the stability again!"
"That node! Yes! That one!"
"The energy guidance cannot go wrong!"
"If we delay Boss's work... I... I'll dismantle myself!"
"Robots! Don't just stand around!"
"Go check the outer energy circuits!"
"Make sure nothing goes wrong!"
For a moment, the entire ruins plaza was blazing with activity.
The little old men shouted orders.
The robots moved back and forth like a woven stream.
Their efficiency was astonishing.
The unwillingness and deliberate slacking from earlier had long since been thrown to the other end of the galaxy.
Now, they were full of energy.
After all, they were working for the mighty boss who had casually slaughtered a group of space pirates!
If they could tell someone about this...
Well, they did not really have anyone to tell.
But it felt damn good to them!
Even the silent Blood Warriors seemed somewhat...
"Unnecessary."
Still, Ritter had no intention of dismissing them.
He would just leave them there.
The girl watched the sudden change.
Then she gently tugged on Ritter's sleeve again.
"Captain... they look happy?"
Ritter lowered his head.
Looking at the girl's pure and confused expression, he could not help but laugh.
He rubbed her head.
"Who knows?"
"Maybe they were simply overwhelmed by your captain's sheer awesomeness."
He shrugged and sat back down on the broken ruins.
Fine.
Although the process had been somewhat unexpected, the result was not bad.
At least he no longer needed to keep an eye on them.
These little old men really knew how to read the situation.
"Work hard."
Ritter lazily added,
"Do a good job and, from now on, this entire star region is under my protection."
The little old men and robots became even more enthusiastic.
These little guys were far simpler than Ritter had imagined.
Of course, Ritter was not lying.
He could spread his mist throughout the region.
Protecting them for a hundred years would not be a problem.
As for what happened after that...
Those little guys would probably have run out of power long ago.
They could just wait for Enel to come and charge them.
Ritter looked down at the little old men and robots working with the enthusiasm of people who had just been injected with stimulants.
He nodded in satisfaction.
Their efficiency had improved.
That meant he could temporarily step away and deal with something more important.
Ensuring that this entire star region was absolutely...
"Clean."
Ritter bent down and easily picked up the girl beside him.
The girl obediently wrapped her arms around his neck.
Her eyes looked up at him questioningly.
"Let's go."
Ritter grinned.
"We're going to clean up the bugs hiding nearby."
"We need to turn this place into a true 'no-man's land.'"
"When you go to sleep, there can't be any annoying noise disturbing you."
He paused.
Then he gently pinched the girl's slightly chubby cheek with his other hand.
It was cool to the touch.
"And while we're at it, I'll train you a little."
"You absorbed quite a lot of energy just now."
"I'll teach you illusions."
"Didn't you want to learn that for a long time?"
The girl's eyes lit up slightly.
She nodded hard.
"Mm!"
"With Captain."
The girl seemed to possess an instinctive desire to become stronger.
Especially when she was beside Ritter.
That desire became even clearer.
In her mind, her captain was incredibly strong.
That was why he could travel through time and come here.
But she was weak.
That was why her captain could not bring her along.
If only she became a little stronger...
Ritter laughed.
Holding the girl in his arms, his figure flashed.
In the next instant, he transformed into a streak of crimson light.
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