Jack immediately selected the option to open the package.
[Opening Gift Package...]
[Reward detected.]
His eyes widened as a new notification appeared in front of him.
[DNA Sample]
[Species: Cerebrocrustacean]
[Status: DNA Sample Added]
Jack froze for a second.
Cerebrocrustacean? I just got another alien. Not an item or some useful knowledge, he thought, feeling a little let down.
He pulled up the details.
[Species: Cerebrocrustacean]
[Homeworld: Khoros]
[Appearance: A large, humanoid crustacean-like alien with a bulky body, a large exposed brain-like head, four eyes, a beak-like mouth, and four clawed limbs.]
[Powers: Super Intelligence, Bioelectricity Generation, Bioelectricity Manipulation, Electrical Discharge]
His eyes slowly widened.
Wait...
A smile spread across his face.
Brainstorm.
Out of everything he could've gotten, this was one he wasn't going to complain about. An alien with a mind like that, and the ability to generate and manipulate electricity on top of it.
His thoughts started racing.
Another genius-tier alien. Between Brainstorm, Grey Matter, and everything I've learned so far... this could actually be huge.
He glanced down at the Omnitrix, then back at the notification.
Maybe this speeds up figuring out how to remove that transformation time limit sooner than I planned.
His smile widened further.
The next day, the spaceship set course for Knowhere.
Jack had barely slept since receiving the new DNA, spending most of his free time buried in research on the Omnitrix. Meanwhile, the rest of the scientists stayed busy building out Plumber equipment, including communicator badges with built-in translation and suit interfaces connected to Jack's own technology. They also worked on upgrades to their weapons and other gear.
Knowhere had a reputation for chaos, so it paid to be prepared.
As their ship crossed into the Galactic Rim, the region where Knowhere was located, they were suddenly attacked by a group of space pirates before even reaching their destination.
Weapons fire lit up the void around them.
"Where the hell did these guys even come from? And they seriously think that ship can take us? Are they stupid?" Jack said, pulled away from his research after another sleepless night. He was in no mood for this.
"Maybe they thought our ship was carrying cargo because of its size? They probably assumed we were a merchant ship," Gwen said thoughtfully.
"Master, should I activate the main weapon and destroy them?" Red Queen asked, waiting for his call.
Jack's first instinct, fueled by irritation, was to say yes. But then he remembered their finances.
Capturing the pirates and taking their ship would be a lot more useful than simply blowing them out of the sky.
"Red, what are our odds of capturing them without destroying their ship?"
"Their vessel is a recent military-grade model, not something typically sold to civilians. How the pirates acquired it is unclear. It is also known for its speed. Even with our upgrades, our chances of capturing it intact are under sixty percent."
"So they're probably not just random pirates," Jack muttered.
"Captain, my recommendation is to just destroy it. Even a wrecked ship sells for something, and there's no reason to waste time on this. Our size alone makes us an easy target. We've already taken damage to over ten percent of the hull," Zeyara advised.
Jack glanced at her.
"Zeyara, you have no idea how I actually got this ship from your people in the first place, do you?"
Zeyara frowned.
"No?"
Jack smiled.
"You'll find out soon enough."
Leaving her thoroughly confused, Jack selected Upgrade from the Omnitrix.
Katcha.
"It's hero time."
His body spread across the ship's systems, leaving every Plumber onboard stunned. "I've got it from here, Red." Jack's body flowed through the ship like living black-and-green liquid, sinking into the walls, control panels, and wiring. A moment later, glowing green lines spread across the ship's interior as his consciousness connected to every system. Suddenly, Jack could see everything—the engines, weapons, sensors, shields, even the damaged sections of the hull.
The ship suddenly accelerated, shooting forward and catching the pirates completely off guard. "What the hell?!" one of them shouted as the massive vessel rapidly closed the distance. "They're coming straight at us!" The pirate ship opened fire, sending a barrage of energy blasts toward them, but Jack effortlessly maneuvered the ship through the incoming fire. He twisted and turned between the blasts before pushing the engines even harder.
"Too slow." A metallic cable suddenly shot from the Plumber ship and wrapped around the pirate vessel with a loud CLANK! Jack used it to pull their ship closer before spreading himself along the cable and onto the pirate ship's hull. The moment he made contact, black-and-green tendrils spread across its surface like veins, disappearing into its systems.
Inside the pirate ship, warning lights began flashing as the control panels flickered wildly. "Captain! We're losing control!" one of the traders shouted. "Shut down the systems!" another yelled, desperately hitting the controls. "I can't! Something's inside the network!"
Their expressions changed from confusion to panic as one system after another stopped responding. Jack chuckled as he flowed through their circuitry. Nice try. The ship's security system fought back, throwing up layer after layer of digital barriers to keep him out, but Jack tore through them almost effortlessly. He moved through the network faster than the pirates could even understand what was happening, overriding their security, accessing their controls, and taking command of the ship. Weapons went offline, the engines shut down, and the shields collapsed one after another until the entire vessel went dead.
The pirates could only stare at their screens in disbelief. "What the hell just happened?" Before anyone could answer, Jack's face suddenly appeared on one of the monitors, his green eyes glowing against the black screen. "Game over, guys." The traders stared back in stunned silence, realizing that the strange alien had taken complete control of their ship before they had even understood what was happening.
Inside the pirate ship, in a holding cell, a group of aliens from various species sat huddled together, terrified of whoever was fighting outside.
"Sounds like there's a fight happening out there. I hope these slave traders lose and we actually get free," a kid murmured.
"Don't get your hopes up, kid. That's not happening," an adult sneered. "These traders work for the KKT pirates, one of the most notorious crews out there. No one beats them."
"You!!"
The kid glared at him but didn't say anything more, just sat back down.
Most of the others in the cell had already lost any hope in their eyes long before this.
Then, without warning, the walls of the ship shifted, streaked through with black and green lines, sending a fresh wave of fear through the room.
Moments later, the walls stopped moving.
The slave traders outside had been defeated.
A small holographic head appeared above the kid. It was Jack in his Upgrade form.
"Hey there. You're all safe now."
"What ARE you?" the kid asked, noticeably less afraid than everyone else around him.
Jack quickly learned from the kid that most of them had been kidnapped, while others had lost their families before being captured.
Jack's expression became serious as he listened to them.
Of all the things I expected to find on the way to Knowhere...
Once the ship was fully docked with the Plumber vessel, the Plumbers moved in, took the slave traders into custody, and brought the freed civilians aboard.
Jack looked over the rescued people.
Good thing I didn't destroy that ship in one shot like Zeyara suggested.
The pirates turned out to have active bounties across several systems. Red Queen recorded their identities and the bounty information so the Plumbers could claim the rewards once they reached a recognized bounty station.
The pirate ship itself was also worth a good amount of money.
It wasn't exactly the kind of income Jack had expected the Plumbers to make, but it would certainly help keep the organization running.
After that first encounter, the rest of the journey passed without much trouble. There was one more pirate crew that tried their luck against the Plumber ship, but Jack captured them almost immediately.
By now, Jack had stopped thinking of them as pirates at all.
They were starting to feel more like well-meaning strangers handing him free money.
Eventually, Knowhere appeared ahead of them. Even from a distance, the severed Celestial head looked enormous, surrounded by countless ships moving in every direction. Structures had been built across its surface and deep into the remains, turning the dead Celestial into a sprawling settlement.
Jack and the others stared at it for a moment.
"So this is Knowhere. It was way bigger than the holographic image", Gwen exclaimed, staring at the massive settlement in amazement.
From what they'd gathered beforehand, the place was supposed to be packed with pirates and every kind of shady character imaginable. But once they actually arrived, it turned out there were rules here after all. The place looked chaotic on the surface, but there was no open violence. Everyone seemed to understand that causing trouble openly came with consequences.
They had left some of the Plumbers behind with the ship to keep an eye on things, while Jack, Gwen, Zeyara, and a few others went deeper into Knowhere. Jack wanted to explore the settlement, gather information, and, most importantly, find a suitable place where the Plumbers could set up their temporary headquarters. Before committing to Knowhere, he needed to see whether the place actually had everything they needed to operate.
He wanted a location with enough space for their operations, access to supplies and transportation, and somewhere they could work without constantly getting caught up in the local chaos. If Knowhere couldn't provide that, there was no point in making it their temporary home.
However, their arrival hadn't gone unnoticed. As the group walked through the crowded streets, more and more people began turning their heads toward them. The sight of several strangers wearing identical Plumber suits immediately caught people's attention. Some watched them cautiously, while others looked at them with greed or open hostility.
Jack noticed the growing number of eyes following them and frowned slightly.
Well... looks like we're already attracting attention.
And in a place like Knowhere, attention wasn't always a good thing.
A/N: The Patreon version is already updated with 20 advanced chapters. If you'd like to read ahead of the public release schedule, you can join here: