"Oh yes."
The familiar voice rang out as Arlo looked toward Captain Ennessa, who slowly removed the cap she was wearing with a sinister smirk before starting the car and immediately driving off.
Frantically trying to kick the door open, Arlo felt an intense pain shoot through his foot, yet the door itself didn’t even budge.
"Why are you acting so crazy? It’s not like I’m some kind of monster..."
Captain Ennessa said, her voice returning to its familiar feminine tone after the masculine disguise she had used earlier.
"Oh no, no, no. You really aren’t a monster. Not even after you threw me off the seventy-second floor of a castle!"
Arlo roared as he shuffled as far away from her as the car allowed, which happened to be roughly seven centimeters.
"That’s not a castle, you silly. It’s called a skyscraper. What year are you living? 1820?"
Captain Ennessa mocked.
"Besides, I naturally assumed you’d already fused with your First Core. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been qualified to participate in that mission in the first place."
"Well, your assumption almost got me killed!"
Arlo shot back.
"And maybe you need to start your explanation, before suffering any more assumption accident, which may or may not include your death."
She replied, making Arlo pause before asking.
"Wait...don’t tell me there are actually no laws against killing people in this place?"
"Of course there are, you dummy." Ennessa shrugged. "The relationship between us is captain and subordinate. If I accidentally killed you outside a mission, I’d have my captain’s rank demoted."
"And...?"
Arlo asked.
"And what?"
She replied in confusion, leaving him in equal confusion.
"Wait...That’s the maximum punishment?"
"Yep."
Arlo felt his heart sink.
That had to be one of the most absurd laws he had ever heard, and he had lived in two different worlds.
Back in the Eclipsion Dynasty, if, even a royal murdered a commoner without any justification, they would be stripped of their royal status, have their entire bloodline disgraced, and then imprisoned for years, depending on the severity of the crime.
Yet here...this monster would merely receive a demotion. One she could probably earn back after a few years of service.
"Please..."
"Can you just let me out of this... moving cavern?"
"That’s a petty attempt to mock me." Ennessa rolled her eyes. "This isn’t just a car. It’s one-in-twenty edition of the Brugano Mi Torino. In that case, a Hyper Cavern, might be a better word."
She patted the dashboard proudly.
"And no, I can’t let you go. You’re a member of my squad now, and you’re my responsibility."
Arlo let out a sigh.
"So I’m stuck with you..."
"Stuck with one of the strongest Second Core Awakeners in Sector S, who also happens to be one of the richest, and undoubtedly one of the prettiest."
"I’d say you’re incredibly lucky."
"Lucky? Tsk" Arlo snorted.
"Tch."
Ennessa ignored his reaction, and her playful expression suddenly faded as she spoke.
"Back to my questions."
"How did you end up on my squad?"
"Well, I..."
Arlo tried to come up with something only to be cut off.
"Which guild leader recommended you?"
"I don’t think I rem..."
"Why doesn’t your file exist in our records?"
"Maybe you for..."
"And more importantly, iIf you haven’t even awakened a Core, then how did you qualify for military service?"
"And without a recommendation, how did you even get aboard my transport ship?"
Arlo’s mind raced as he tried to remember each question and come up with a believable answer, but he quickly realized that every lie would only lead to another question, digging him deeper and deeper into trouble.
In the end, there was only one choice left.
"Would you believe me," Arlo began hesitantly, "if I told you I lived in a village beside the sea, drowned during an unfortunate accident, and somehow woke up inside your spaceship?"
"I’m not joking," Captain Ennessa said flatly.
Arlo blinked.
"...Neither am I."
"WHAT!?"
Captain Ennessa stared directly into his eyes, unable to find the slight trace of deception.
If there was one ability she trusted above all others, it was her talent for reading lies through a person’s eyes. It was one of the reasons she had risen through the military ranks so quickly.
"You’re seriously telling me the truth?"
"Yes. It does sound ridiculous, but it’s the truth."
Arlo turned his gaze toward the scenery rushing past outside the window.
Towering buildings, floating highways, and countless metallic vehicles blurred together as the car sped through the city.
Then his eyes drifted upward, toward the brilliant sun shining overhead, and instantly his expression changed as he jerked up as if he’d been electrocuted.
Captain Ennessa noticed the change in his expression.
"What?"
Arlo remained silent for a few moments simply staring at the golden sun, before finally speaking.
"My village doesn’t have these cars, or metallic guns, or buildings that scrape the sky. It snows all year round, and..."
His gaze remained fixed on the blazing sun.
"I’ve never seen sunlight this bright before."
The Eclipsion Dynasty drew its power from the Divine Black Sun, yet the kingdom existed beneath a sky that was always dim, with real daylight being little more than something mentioned in old records.
Arlo had known nothing but dark skies and endless winter since birth, so seeing the sun shining so brightly above him filled him with shock for a moment.
But after a moment, he felt a strange sense of peace and warmth unlike anything he had ever felt before.
The sun was even far more beautiful than the old books had ever managed to describe.