Kraz Hounds lose their childhood cuteness once they reach adulthood.
As pups, they can lie sprawled over their owner's head. Once grown, they become incomparably majestic.
That is also why this breed of pet dog is so popular throughout the galaxy.
But no matter how drastically its appearance changes, the one thing that never changes is a Kraz Hound's loyalty to its owner.
Even when what it had to face was IPC armor far taller and larger than itself, it did not retreat half a step!
"Woof! Woof, woof!!"
It barked and roared again and again, trying to intimidate the armor before it into backing down.
Unfortunately, before the armor, it was simply far too small.
Even if it used every sharp tooth in its mouth, it could not break through the alloy plating on the outside.
Even so, it still did not retreat half a step!
Because not far behind it, two figures bearing several wounds had already been forced into a broken corner.
The boy could not speak, only letting out muffled "mmph, mmph" cries as he tried to take the injured girl and leave this place.
The Kraz Hound was also using every last bit of its strength to cover their retreat.
Unfortunately, it was truly like an ant trying to shake a tree.
Faced with the Kraz Hound's repeated charges, the armor merely kicked once and sent it flying a great distance.
When the speechless boy saw this, he immediately ran to the Kraz Hound's side to check its injuries.
Feeling its owner's touch, the loyal dog let out a pained whine.
Blood slowly flowed from its mouth. Some came from the wounds left by its earlier attacks on the armor, and some came from the internal injuries caused by that kick.
It had to be treated. It had to be treated quickly!
The boy saw it all, his heart burning with anxiety.
But in the current situation, where could he possibly find treatment?
CLICK!
The mechanical sound rang beside the boy's ear.
He slowly turned his head, and what entered his sight was a cannon muzzle still giving off faint heat.
Just moments ago, it had been the energy fired from this muzzle that destroyed the home they had worked so hard to build.
Now, that same muzzle was aimed at the boy.
Seeing this, the Kraz Hound immediately struggled to bite the boy's sleeve, wanting its owner to leave.
But because its injuries were too severe, it had barely moved twice before it collapsed weakly against the boy's leg.
The boy looked at the muzzle, then at the IPC armor before him.
He did not beg for mercy or surrender. The unyielding look in his eyes proved that he had never submitted.
And in the face of such a boy, the IPC armor began to respond automatically under orders.
Through conversion, memoria transformed into high-purity energy and gathered within the muzzle.
The boy could see the weapon before him growing brighter and brighter, its temperature rising higher and higher.
If it fired, the energy inside would likely vaporize him into ash in an instant.
But even so, he would not retreat half a step.
To be honest, as long as one was a normal person with a conscience, anyone facing this scene would inevitably feel something stir inside.
The armor's pilot was the same. So before firing, he could only close his eyes, as if doing so could lessen his sin.
"If you want to blame someone, blame yourselves for being born in the Frontier Prison!"
Unfortunately, the world did not have that many what-ifs.
Since those people had appeared at Asdana's Frontier Prison, he, as a current IPC employee, had to complete the task he was supposed to complete.
"Don't blame me!"
Sensing danger, the Kraz Hound once again struggled to crawl in front of its owner.
Even though it was already wounded, it still had to fulfill its duty.
Unfortunately, before such a threat, its tiny body could not do anything at all.
The pilot pulled the trigger of the weapon in his hand.
And the energy that had long since finished charging inside the muzzle reached the instant of release!
Surging light and heat poured out, seeming ready to devour everything before it completely.
Whether it was the loyal dog or the unyielding human, neither seemed able to survive beneath such radiance.
Under the aurora of light, the boy could not help closing his eyes as well, preparing to greet the arrival of his final moment.
But just then...
"Crosshopper!"
"Ten~liner!"
BOOOOM!
The sudden thunderous crash made the boy's body tremble. Immediately afterward came the sound of something enormous collapsing.
What happened?
The boy shakily opened his eyes, only to discover that the armor that had just been standing before him had already fallen to the ground.
And what had caused all of this was a train and a glowing-gold... bug?!
Seeing this, the boy could not help rubbing his eyes, only to confirm that he had not seen wrong.
It really was this incredibly strange combination.
And yet this incredibly strange combination produced an extraordinary effect.
The beam capable of destroying buildings was blocked by the train. Immediately afterward, that tiny glowing-gold bug rushed forward, swinging its fists and feet.
But that bug was not to be underestimated, even if it was as small as a grain of rice compared to the armor.
When its alternating punches and kicks landed on the armor, they actually smashed out dent after dent!
The dents were shallow, but the force behind each blow was tremendous.
Even armor several meters tall could not help collapsing with a boom under that kind of force.
What on earth was happening?
The boy had just been about to stand while holding his beloved dog when he saw that train turn around and charge straight toward him.
Huh?!
The moment the train crashed into him, he abruptly realized that he had suddenly arrived in a noisy place.
Warptera was nearby, opening a transfer portal. The train's collision just now had been a means of teleportation.
Mikhail was managing the place.
At the moment, he was constantly calming the people who had just been transferred over while also arranging places for them.
Happyclover and Antrooper were also tending nonstop to the injured and sick.
Even the pet in the boy's arms and the wounded people who had just been transferred over all received treatment.
Everything had happened far too suddenly.
Just a moment ago, the boy had clearly still been feeling the threat of death, yet now he had somehow arrived somewhere safe.
The difference between the two left him utterly shocked.
But compared to the calm on that side, things around Sora were rather noisy!
...
One streak of light after another kept shooting into the sky.
One IPC armor after another was continuously advancing toward this place.
Looking down from above, one would discover that they were already close to completely surrounding the area.
"Isn't this a bit much?!"
As the space he could dodge through grew smaller and smaller, Sora could not help complaining.
Wasn't it a little dishonorable for several hundred mechs to gang up on him alone?
Unfortunately, Sora's complaint had no effect on Martin whatsoever.
"I reviewed the footage from when the previous command ship fell. You're the culprit behind everything!"
Although the command ship had ultimately lost connection with the IPC, the footage from before that had still been fully synced into the IPC's possession.
So the moment Martin saw Sora, he immediately added old hatred to new grievances.
That was why, in his eyes, mobilizing several hundred armor units to surround and kill a single Sora was no great matter!
After all, the fact that the other party was still alive already proved that his words were true.
He was definitely Asdana's Frontier Prison's trump card.
As long as he killed him, Asdana's resistance would surely weaken by a great deal!
"Suppressive fire! Don't give this guy any time to breathe!"
As Martin gave the order, he continued carrying out the next step of his plan.
"But sir, we can't hit him at all!"
His subordinate sounded somewhat helpless. As a humanoid target, Sora was simply too agile.
He was as slippery as a loach, almost impossible to hit.
"That's fine. It'll be over soon."
In response to his subordinate's concern, Martin continued arranging the plan in his hands.
As far as he was concerned, Sora was indeed about to be finished.
"What good is all that dodging?!"
Looking at Sora, who was still dodging nonstop, Martin began counting down Sora's final moments.
As the saying went, under saturation fire, all beings were equal.
No matter how agile you were, under wide-area bombardment, dodging could not possibly make a difference!
Let your death serve as a memorial for the command ship I lost!
"Launch!"
Martin directly pressed the launch button.
At the same time, Sora, who was in the middle of dodging, suddenly felt a chill run through him.
And the direction that chill came from was...
Above!
Sora looked up, then immediately accelerated and charged to the side.
In the sky, a dazzling light shone like the sun.
However, just as he was preparing to leave, the armor units on the ground seemed to receive guidance and pounced toward him.
It was obvious that these armor units intended to keep him within the blast radius of that shot.
"Lunatics!"
They were using this many armor units as bait just to get him.
For a moment, Sora could not tell whether the enemy was actually on their own side.
Fortunately, these guys could not keep up with Sora's current speed.
But their interference still affected Sora's speed somewhat.
If this continued, it would be very difficult for him to escape the area covered by this strike!
And this was exactly the effect Martin wanted to achieve. This was the power of saturation fire!
Under overwhelmingly powerful firepower, dodging had no effect whatsoever!
Watching the other party's figure be swallowed by the intense light, the corner of Martin's mouth could not help curling into a smile.
A blinding pillar of light connected heaven and earth. When it finally faded, an incomparably massive crater had appeared on the surface of the planet.
Within that range, no trace of anything remained.
Whether the traces of civilization or the traces of armor, all had ceased to exist.
That place had been blasted back to bare earth.
The humiliation of losing his command ship had finally been repaid!
"Send the notice. The main force of the rebellion at Asdana's Frontier Prison has been completely annihilated. Accelerate the pacification process!"
Feeling delighted and at ease, Martin continued issuing orders.
Yet what he had not expected was that the very next moment after he gave that order...
Signs of life were detected within the area covered by the bombardment!
A sudden red dot appeared beside the crater, instantly drawing everyone's gaze.
And after the armor was maneuvered over to that location and the image was pulled up, Martin could not help falling even more silent.
Because through the armor's camera, one could clearly see a figure standing at the edge of the crater.
That body was bright red, as if steel had been heated until it glowed.
Even the two trains wrapped around his hands were the same.
"Liner! Hot, hot, hot!"
"Sorry. But I promise, however hot you are now, they're about to get even hotter!"
The movement from the mech drew the other party's gaze. Along with the sound of a train whistle, the armor in front of him went offline.
From other angles nearby, one could see it clearly.
That figure, burned bright red from the heat, had directly driven the train fists wrapped around his hands through the mech.
Scorching energy still remained on the red-hot train fists.
Under that heat, the mech's alloy could not last even half a second before it was instantly pierced through and melted.
"He... took our bombardment head-on?"
The IPC employees could not help feeling their scalps go numb.
Was this guy still human? How could anyone take a cannon shot head-on?
One had to know that this was not some solid iron cannonball, but a ray composed purely of energy.
Temperature was one of the ray's killing factors too, and that temperature should have made it impossible for any living being to survive!
Let alone the utter fantasy of taking it head-on.
Across the universe, almost only those Voracity beasts could accomplish such a thing.
And now you were telling them that humanoid guy was a Voracity beast?
No matter how they thought about it, that was impossible!
"Director Martin, do we continue?"
The voice asking the question was already trembling somewhat.
Because he realized that this time, the IPC seemed to have provoked someone terrifying.
This scene was likewise seen by the many forces currently attending the new product launch.
They had no particular opinion on the IPC reclaiming the Frontier Prison in the Asdana system.
But the existence of a being in that place who could withstand an attack at the energy level of a starship's main cannon head-on was something they had no choice but to take seriously.
Existences like that were extremely rare even in the universe.
And what that person was currently facing was very clearly the product the IPC was now promoting.
So here came the question: if that person came to their territory and saw this product he had once fought against, what would he think?
For a time, many people directly left the venue.
Austin's heart sank as he watched.
Fortunately, some people still remained. At this point, his goal had already changed from making the product a runaway success to selling however many he could.
At the same time, he cursed Martin thoroughly in his heart.
The Frontier Prison, the Frontier Prison—he had failed to reclaim it.
He had asked Martin to demonstrate a new product at the launch, and Martin had somehow managed to provoke an existence like this.
Martin was useless at succeeding and unmatched at ruining things!
And so, Austin made a decision. "Forget about your promotion this time!"
He even had to think of a way to keep his own position.
At the same time, he issued the order to retreat. Forget everything else—for an existence like this, the IPC should be making contact, not continuing to provoke him.
At the very least, they absolutely could not continue making an enemy of him.
However, Austin never could have imagined that after Martin saw the decision he had sent, Martin would cut off communications completely.
"I worked hard all these years. I spent my entire life for this one moment!"
And now, you were telling him it was impossible?
One had to know that if Martin failed to be promoted this time, it would be very difficult for him to take even one more step forward in the future.
Because he was already too old. He no longer had the strength to climb any higher.
The IPC spanned the galaxy, with employees beyond number. If he failed this time, then those coveting his position would also make their moves.
By then, what awaited him would be a fall all the way down to the very bottom.
"I absolutely refuse to experience something like that!"
Martin Hall felt that his hands were trembling nonstop.
Just thinking about what he would experience afterward made it unbearable.
Having grown accustomed to his current position, how could he possibly accept that feeling?!
More importantly, if he fell to that position, then perhaps he himself would be offered up as a sacrifice to curry favor with the guy before them.
It sounded somewhat absurd, but it was all extremely possible.
How did he know?
Because he had once sent others out himself!
So whether for the sake of safety or status, he could not give up!
At the very least, at the very least, he had to eliminate the guy before him!
Only then could he guarantee his own safety!
"Everyone, listen to my orders!"
Martin said coldly, "Gather all pacification armor units at Asdana's Frontier Prison. At the same time, begin charging the main ship's weapons!"
Looking at Sora, who had taken the memoria weapons head-on without moving an inch, Martin said with killing intent overflowing in his voice:
"Kill him with everything you have!"
If they managed to kill him, would that not, in turn, better highlight the power of the new product?
Perhaps he could use this to turn defeat into victory!
Martin was not someone who liked gambling.
But this time, he had no choice but to gamble!
After hearing Martin's words, his subordinates immediately began moving with complicated expressions.
Because they were wondering whether someone this fierce, someone who could take a main cannon blast head-on, was truly an opponent they could defeat.
Under their dispatch, the mechs wreaking havoc on this planet and demolishing homes all slowly converged toward a single location.
Sora could also feel that more and more rays were being fired at him.
But although these rays were numerous, they were completely useless against him.
He simply endured the enemy's attacks head-on while using his train fists to pierce through the armor units.
The enemy's attacks barely even itched!
Of course, Martin knew this as well, which was why he had prepared another move from the very beginning.
For example...
"Stop moving, or he dies!"
When Sora looked over, he saw Sunday being pinned down beneath the armor's cannon over there.
The instant he saw Sunday, even Sora froze.
Why are you here again?
When he and Robin came to Penacony, Sunday was there. That was normal.
When he and the Den-O idiots returned to the past, Sunday was still there.
Although Sora had felt a little puzzled about that, he had at least brought him back.
And now, after he had been tricked by that trash can and tossed into the past again, Sunday had appeared again!
Sora was starting to feel as if this Sunday guy had been chasing after him the whole time. Otherwise, how could Sunday be wherever he was?
Hey, hey, hey. I only got a little close to your sister. You don't have to go this far, do you?!
And his momentary hesitation was naturally seen by Martin.
That's right. This was the solution Martin had thought of.
Your personal strength was indeed very powerful, but as long as you were human, there would be things you cared about.
Martin was different. He had personally sold off the thing he cared about—his own hometown.
So as a man with nothing left, he was invincible!
"Give up your resistance! Surrender obediently!"
"Oh."
Faced with Martin's threat, Sora answered lightly, then turned around and went right back to dismantling armor units on his own.
That left most people stunned.
Was this person not one of yours? How could you not care about him at all?
"Are you even on their side? One of your people is in my hands!"
To emphasize his threat, Martin deliberately moved the muzzle a little closer to Sunday.
Unfortunately, this only made Sora dismantle things even faster!
Seeing this, Martin instantly understood!
"Good, good, good. I never expected you to value loyalty so deeply."
Martin's words left both Sora and Sunday baffled.
Where did he get the idea that either of them valued loyalty?
As Martin saw it, Sora had very clearly already communicated with Sunday through his eyes.
That was why Sora was striking harder and faster.
This was plainly because he wanted to use the fireworks from the exploding armor units to see Sunday off!
Unfortunately, Martin would not be moved by such feelings.
Since the threat was useless, they could only force it through!
Before that, he would grant the two men their wish and thoroughly turn Sunday into ash!
But just as the trigger was about to be pulled and the attack fired, Sunday actually spoke.
"As someone who has suffered through this, I must tell you: when success is closest at hand, you must raise your guard. Because that is also the moment when failure comes most easily."
When he had been about to succeed, this man had personally led a train over and slapped him in the face with it.
And the reason Sunday was saying this now was because he had seen a small figure flickering with a fluorescent glow.
And the very next moment after that little one made contact with him, Warptera's ability successfully activated!
Before everyone's eyes, a pitch-black opening instantly appeared beneath Sunday's feet, causing him to fall into it.
Immediately afterward, the little one kicked the mech beside it a few times and sent it toppling to the ground.
"Crosshopper!" (Hmph, hmph. The karate training Houtaro and I did was pretty useful after all!)
"Ten~liner!" (Karate, huh! I just learned a move from him too—Fire Punch!)
Listening to the exchange between the two Chemies, Sora also felt rather helpless.
No, aren't you from the Alchemist Academy? Why are you learning karate?!
And you—what are you planning to do after learning Fire Punch?!
But this was not something Sora should be worrying about right now.
Whether it was the Alchemist Academy or some martial arts academy did not matter.
"Help me deal with what's in front of me, you two."
The response to Sora's words was the glowing-gold Hopper1 landing in his hand.
Seeing this, Sora let the tiny grasshopper board the train.
'[HOPPER ON!]'
'[HOPPER! LINER!]
'[GOTCHANKO!]'
'[GOTCHA!]'
'[GOTCHA!]'
'[GOTCHA!]'
'[PLATINA GOTCHARD]!'
...
After everything it had just gone through, Penacony was in utter disorder.
Some people were clearing away building debris. Others were using their phones to express their dissatisfaction over what had just happened...
After the ORDER samsara dream ended, the remaining power of ORDER had reduced the incident's impact to a very small degree.
But the brawl between DESTRUDOS and Trailblaze Brave had caused a commotion that could not possibly be hidden.
Most of the people who woke from the dream of stillness could see the battle between the two sides.
To say nothing of the fact that some people had been caught in the shockwaves of that battle and personally experienced the feeling of dying in the dream.
Although dying in the dream would turn into a nightmare and cause people to wake in reality...
The sensation before death still left many people uneasy.
Driven by emotions like that, Penacony was now extremely chaotic.
Yet amid such a Penacony, there was one person whose mood was completely different from everyone else's.
He walked through the panicked streets, looking at the noisy crowds and the Family members cleaning up building debris with an expression of some regret.
"Why can't we film a movie at a time like this? This scene is practically a perfect reflection of the past!"
Reca's tone was excited. If he could, he truly wanted to record the scene before him.
A bustling city destroyed down to nothing, its people, once full of dreams, now shrouded in gloom because of this incident.
This image perfectly displayed what Penacony had experienced in the past.
If he recorded what was happening now, the effect would be far better than constructed sets and actors who could never quite capture the real thing!
Unfortunately, Reca did not have a ready-made film crew on hand.
As a result, everything happening before his eyes could only be recorded through his own memory.
However, none of that was the main point.
The main point was that even if he filmed it, that movie probably could not be released normally.
"Damn IPC. To keep its past disgrace from becoming known throughout the universe, it really is willing to spend heavily."
Reca hated them so much his teeth itched.
The IPC clearly had many products that ultimately did not sell well at all, so why did it become so guarded whenever Penacony's past was involved?
It had even repeatedly ordered the Family to seal away Penacony's past.
This was simply obstructing the development of art, obstructing the spread of memory!
No. As someone who walked the path of memory, he absolutely could not tolerate this!
"Memories of the past must be passed down. That is the creed I uphold."
As a Memokeeper, he absolutely could not stop here.
Then the question was: how could he broadcast those truths from the past?
After thinking it over, Reca seemed to know how to accomplish this.
It was very simple...
"All I need to do is find a person or force unafraid of the IPC to distribute it, right?"
But while it was easy to say, what force in the universe would not fear the IPC?
Let alone an individual.
Before such a colossal entity as the IPC, an individual's power was truly too weak.
Fortunately, during this period, Reca had discovered a force that perfectly met the conditions he had just laid out.
And so Reca's gritted-teeth expression gradually turned into a mysterious smile.
With practiced familiarity, he opened his phone and found an account.
Compared to the countless trillions of lives across the vast universe, the number of followers on this account could be considered fairly low.
However, many of the videos posted by this account were truly things difficult to find on other accounts.
For example, the most viewed video was titled: [SWARM DISASTER NEW WAVE: A WALL OF BRONZE AND IRON FORGED FROM FLAME AND STEEL]
What the video had filmed was the Swarm Disaster that had ended not long ago.
Anyone with some channels knew that during this Swarm Disaster, the IPC had not been able to gain a foothold at all.
Because the IPC had not even managed to contribute when the Swarm Disaster was being exterminated head-on.
By the time the IPC prepared to exert itself, the Swarm Disaster had already been resolved.
But the IPC deserved to be called the IPC. Even though, in a certain sense, it had already become something of a laughingstock, it could still continue promoting its contributions to post-disaster handling.
At the same time, the IPC had also been continuously blocking off what had happened during the Swarm Disaster.
Related topics and videos would be directly taken down.
Only all the videos on this account remained perfectly intact.
And after Reca finished checking all the data, he confirmed that this account had not suffered any algorithmic suppression either.
In other words: "While the IPC is fully suppressing matters related to the Swarm Disaster, this account is the only one the IPC has not touched."
Of course, some people said this was evidence the IPC had intentionally preserved.
But that idea itself was laughable.
Remove most of the evidence, leave a little evidence behind, and only then could one's partners understand what the IPC was?
That was clearly unreasonable.
So Reca very easily inferred that it was not that the IPC did not want to deal with it, but that it had no way to deal with it.
Through some deduction, it was easy to understand that the IPC had scruples when facing this account.
Although he did not know whether those scruples were toward the individual behind the account or the force behind it...
That was irrelevant to Reca.
All he knew was, "By cooperating with the owner of this account, it will be possible to film things the IPC has completely sealed away."
Once he decided to do it, Reca directly started a chat with the account and laid out the proposed collaboration.
"As for the name of the series to be filmed, let's call it..."
...
"Stardust Crusaders?"
Shunji looked at the sudden notification and felt puzzled.
Why would someone want to cooperate with them to film a series?
This account clearly only posted real events.
Shunji shook her head and put the matter to the back of her mind. Compared to that, she cared more about what was happening in front of her.
After Sunday said those words just now, the atmosphere in the room had fallen into a brief stillness.
And Sunday had long since anticipated that stillness, so he spoke again.
"Sora will absolutely be safe and sound. On that point, you can rest assured."
After all, in this universe, Sunday had yet to see an existence capable of harming him.
Even DESTRUDOS had not been able to inflict any injury on Sora.
Let alone armor produced by the IPC.
Those things could not have any effect on Sora.
Conversely, if they really could have an effect, would that not mean the IPC's armor was stronger than an Aeon?
If that were truly the case, the IPC would probably have ruled the universe long ago.
So Robin and the others had no need to worry too much.
"We know that. But..."
After hearing Sunday's explanation, Robin's expression finally improved slightly.
But when this came up, what she cared about more was: "Are you really my brother?"
Robin looked suspiciously at the man before her, dressed in plain clothes.
And her words caused the atmosphere between the two of them to become serious once again.
"Why do you say that?"
Sunday was puzzled.
"Because the brother I remember was paranoid and stubborn."
Paranoid, stubborn, and extremely controlling—this was the impression Sunday had previously given Robin.
He rarely allowed matters to slip beyond his control. Even when the dreamscape of ORDER had already shown signs of collapse, he still insisted on completing it.
He even refused to allow others to question him. Even if the one questioning him was his family, he would still insist on his own choice.
For such a person, in the end, the only one left by his side would be himself.
And that was Sunday before.
But the Sunday now standing before Robin displayed completely different traits.
"It is hard to imagine that you would actually trust someone else and allow others to help you."
That alone was something Robin had never dreamed of.
It was also something she herself had failed to accomplish back then.
If she had managed to do that at the time, how could she have drifted farther and farther away from her brother?
"I'm actually a little curious. What exactly did you go through?"
Experience?
Robin's words stirred Sunday's memories.
"Perhaps I simply felt a warmth I once thought did not exist."
Sunday would absolutely never forget the memories of the past.
But in Robin's ears, those words carried a different meaning.
Warmth that did not exist...
Robin murmured it faintly, yet a little despondency rose in her heart.
The bond between her and Sunday as family had failed to accomplish this in the past.
And now, Sunday had undergone such a tremendous change because of warmth he had never had before.
Just thinking about it left her deeply dispirited.
At the same time, however, she was curious about the feeling Sunday had spoken of. Connecting that with what he had done and the disappeared Sora...
Robin grew vigilant.
"Brother, keep it together!"
Don't fall in love with Sora!
Sunday tilted his head.
"Huh???"
---
T/N: WOAHHHHHH SUNDAY HAS FALLEN FOR SORA????????????
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