Chapter 4: Relations

After hearing that sentence, Jack looked at the old man in shock for a second but then, his eyes turned cold as he said with a ridiculing smile, “Do you honestly expect me to believe you?” Hearing this, the warm smile on the old man’s face froze. He had not expected Jack to scream Grandpa and try to cling to him but he hadn’t expected such a response either.

The old man shook his head to get over the shock a bit and tried to say something but Jack’s cold words brought him back to reality. “I may be ten years old but my mental state is not nearly as gullible as a ten year old.” The old man put on a bitter smile as he remembered what George had told him about Jack’s past. They did not know much but what they knew, left them all feeling pity for Jack.

The old man then just let out a sigh as he asked, “What do I need to do make you believe me?” The old man was earnest in this regard and seeing this Jack raised a brow. Although he felt that what the old man had said was true, he just couldn’t accept this kind of a twist of fate. It was just something that was too good to be true. Jack then raised his head a bit again and said, “Well, first of all, you could get these restraints off of me. I am not asking you to undo my cuffs but these leather restraints.” The old man then glanced at Jack’s restraints and nodded his head and undid the leather restraints.

Then he helped Jack sit up normally on the bed and said, “There are a lot of ways to prove the blood relation between us, so would you like the whole process to be done under your own eyes?” This was the only thing the old man thought of that could possibly make Jack believe him. Although Jack wasn’t his only grandchild, he was the grandchild he was the most concerned about. Jack’s father Freddy was actually supposed to inherit the Phantom Ghost Pirate Group from him but when Jack was born, he had wanted him to grow up in a normal environment so he gave up the Leader’s position and decided to settle down on a backwater place on an industrial planet of Kriegrich Military Empire.

Although the old man did not like this idea, he had no control over Freddy’s choices, he was a grown man for god’s sake. Everything was good until five years ago, when all contact with Jack’s parents went silent. Nothing was heard from them and when they visited their home, it was also empty. From their neighbours they had heard that some military officials had come and taken them all away. Afterwards, Phantom Ghost Group entered a state of war with Kriegrich Military Empire. However, everyone from the Pirate Group were well aware of Freddy’s strength and none of them thought that Freddy had been imprisoned or killed by them.

They thought that he had taken Jack and Samantha, his wife, and gone deep underground and would surface soon enough. However, five years had passed now and there was still no news from them. That was until Jack showed up out of the blue with a body full of scars and a demeanour colder than a glacier. Only a few people knew that Freddy took the family name Lumi when he settle down so when Jack had shown up, George did not know that but when he reported taking in Jack to the Boss, the old man had been able to connect the dots.

Jack Lumi, ten years old, from the Kriegrich Empire, was taken from his family 5 years ago, the same time they lost all communication with Freddy and Samantha. However, he had confirmed that Jack truly was Freddy’s child when they did a DNA test when Jack was still unconscious. Until then, it had all been purely speculations and suspicions, however, after the DNA test confirmed it, the old man was certain that something major must have happened. For Jack to end up like that, it meant that either Freddy and Samantha were in a maximum regime prison or they had been killed. Hearing that the old man’s suggestion of the whole process being done under his eyes, Jack nodded his head.

He then said, “If you truly are my Grandfather, then I have a few things to say to you.” Hearing this, the old man raised his brow and asked, “What do you have to say?” Jack just smiled and said, “That will have to wait after you prove to me that you truly are my Grandfather.” The old man just sighed and rolled in a wheelchair from outside the room. He put Jack in the wheelchair and said, “So let’s go and get this over with.” Jack was startled and asked, “But it is currently in the middle of the night, can it be done at the moment?”

The old man pushed the wheelchair out and said with a laugh, “My Phantom Ghost Group is the most influential power on this planet. We are practically the Emperors of this planet and if I asked someone to do the tests at this very moment, a lot of people would trip over themselves to do it immediately.” Hearing this Jack was startled. His knowledge of the world was actually very little. Before going to the Island, he had been too young to understand it and when he had escaped, he had tried to familiarize himself with the outside world but he was soon tracked down, so all his efforts went to escaping.

When they exited the hospital room Jack was in, he was greeted by 20 people armed to the teeth with with rifles, grenades and pistols. They all possessed serious and cold faces indicating that if someone who was not supposed to be in this hallway entered it, that person would be pumped full of lead. Seeing the old man, they all just saluted him and said, “Pirate Boss.” The old man smiled and then said, “You guys can all go home, there is not need for you to stand guard here you know.” Hearing this, the guards faces did not even change as one of them said, “How could we? If something were to happen…” The guard didn’t finish his sentence but looked at Jack with a tender gaze.

The old man just shook his head and said, “Okay, you can stay guard here. I will bring Jack to verify our blood relation through the DNA test.” After saying that, he gently pushed the wheelchair towards the elevator. Jack looked at the guards with a hint of surprise and suspicion as ten people stayed behind to guard the room and ten people formed a perimeter around them as if they were escorts. Jack however felt as though they were there to make sure he did not escape. He didn’t feel under protection but rather under custody.

After they entered the elevator, they exited on the second floor and the old man brought them to a Doctors office that had a middle aged man with green hair looking at some X-Ray films. Seeing Jack enter, he looked at him with a gentle gaze and said, “You are awake. How are you feeling?” Jack did not answer the green haired man but rather looked at the old man. The old man told the green haired man, “Jack wants to see the whole process of the DNA test to see that we truly are related and he truly is my grandson.” The green haired man slowly nodded his head as he thought that this was the case.

He had heard about Jack’s past and he personally felt that it would be extremely suspicious if he actually believed that they were related without any proof. That was also the reason he did not go home that night, he felt that Jack would awaken sometime during the night and something like this would happen. The green haired man said, “Okay, I will take a bit of blood form the both of you and then we will go through the whole process in front of your eyes.” Hearing this Jack nodded his head and the green haired man rolled up his sleeve and inserted a needle in his vein.

Since Jack’s clothes had been soaked in blood and torn to shreds by the old man when he stumbled upon him, Jack was currently wearing white hospital garments. The green haired man quickly took a vial of blood from both of them and put the two vials in the machine. Although Jack had a lot of knowledge regarding machines, medical apparatus’s were something that he knew next to nothing about.

Under Jack’s and the old man’s eyes, the machine worked on full power and soon two strips of DNA appeared on the computer screen and overlapped with each other. Soon, some parts of the overlapped DNA strips lit up and a box appeared on the screen. It read, “Test complete. DNA resemblance 25%.” Seeing this result, the old man and green haired man looked at Jack.

Seeing the slight confusion on his face, the green haired man explained, “25% resemblance indicates that there is a generation gap between the two of you. Usually in a test with parent-child blood, the resemblance is 50% and between a grand child and a grandparent, it is 25%. So, do you accept the results? If not, I can take any random person a compare their DNA with yours or with Boss’s as well.”

Jack just closed his eyes as he accepted the results. The whole process had been done under his eyes and the green haired man had even offered to run the tests with other people as well to prove that they had not tampered with the machines or results. Jack just shook his head and said, “No need. I honestly do not believe that you would go through this much trouble just to fool a little child like me.” Hearing this, the green haired man’s and the old man’s face’s flickered. Although they had not tampered with the machines or results, they had not expected Jack to accept the results this easily. The green haired man squatted down in front of Jack and asked, “Now then, we have proved that we do not mean you nay harm. So will you tell me if you feel better now or is there still some place that hurts or feels weird?”

Jack just shook his head and said, “No, I am fine. Although it is a bit painful to move my upper body, it is not something that disturbs me.” Seeing the frank answer of Jack, the green haired man felt pain in his heart. He knew better than anyone how painful those kinds of wounds would be. Although the puncturing wounds were done by rifles, the holes were small and in places that wouldn’t hurt much but the slash wounds on his back and stomach were something that should hurt like hell despite the many pain killers inside him. However, as long as he himself said it was fine, he could not do anything about it.

He then gently patted Jack’s head and said with a smile, “If you feel any discomfort, then let your Uncle know. I will do the best I can to help you out.” Jack tilted his head and looked at the old man. The old man just stated casually, “This green haired man is my second born son, Alex Uni. He is your Father’s brother aka. your Uncle.” Hearing this, Jack showed an understanding face and then nodded to Alex. Alex then turned towards the old man and whispered something in his ears. From the grim expression of the old man, Jack could tell that it wasn’t something pleasant. The old man then said, “Okay, keep monitoring it. If it gets any worse, act immediately.”

Without clarifying anything, he directly pushed Jack out and back to his hospital room. The guards that had been standing outside the examination room, escorted them in a tight formation. These guards made Jack feel uncomfortable and the old man could see it clearly. When they entered Jack’s hospital room again, the old man lifted Jack from the wheelchair and put him on the bed. He did not want Jack to make any movements by himself and because of the pain killers, his coordination is also affected.

The old man brought the chair he had been sitting on before in front of Jack and said, “Do not worry about those guards. They are not here to keep you here at all costs but rather, if you decide to run away again, they would follow you and be your shield and spear.” Jack then tilted his head and asked, “But why? I know none of them and I presume none of them knows me either.” The old man let out a hollow laugh as he said, “They are all from the ship “Poltergeist”, the previous Captain of that ship was Freddy, your Father.” Hearing this, Jack thought of a possibility but before he could ask, the old man explained, “Freddy had certain charisma, that no one else possesses. He became the Captain of “Poltergeist” at the age of 15 and he was the Captain for a bit over 10 years. Every single person on the “Poltergeist” has blind trust in Freddy.”

He then took a breath as he shook his head, “When he first wanted to leave, the whole crew wanted to follow him but he refused them. He pointed another person as the Captain and left. However, after the loss of contact with Freddy and Samantha, “Poltergeist” is the ship that has been looking for them practically day and night.” He then looked at Jack seriously and said, “When you popped out, they all rushed back at the fastest speed possible and when they learned of your situation, they set up a perimeter around the entire hospital. This room is especially well guarded, this is all because of their loyalty to your Father and since there have been no news about him for the past ten years, every single one of them knows that he is either in a maximum regime prison or he is dead.”

He took a deep breath and continued, “The entire crew of Poltergeist was put together by Freddy himself. I do not know the story behind them but as with all other people, he probably pulled them out of the gutters and treated them as humans. They feel indebted to him but they can not repay that debt any more. So, they will give their best to keep you safe from now on. They will probably listen to no one else than you.” Jack was stupefied. He looked at the old man in the eyes and asked, “What makes a person as loyal as that?”

The old man also shook his head as he said, “I do not know but their loyalty to Freddy is extreme. I presume that the moment you heal enough to move around normally, they will ask you to take the position of the Captain.” Hearing this, Jack furrowed his brows and asked, “They would not do that right? To ask a ten year old to become a captain of an entire ship, isn’t that a bit too extreme?”

The old man let out a hollow laugh as he said, “It is not only a ship but rather an entire mercenary company.” Jack tilted his head and asked, “Huh?” The old man cast his head down and said, “Well, you see Phantom Ghost is divided into 4 different factions. The Merchants, Mercenaries, Government and Pirates.” He then closed his eyes for a second and collected his thoughts. He then continued, “Merchants have a huge network of connections that bring in work for Mercenaries, the resources needed by the Government or sell the loot obtained by Pirates. I am the Boss of the Pirate Faction but Freddy used to be the Boss of the Mercenary Faction. He made it that far all by himself so he earned the respect of the whole Mercenary Faction.” Jack thought about it but he felt something was very weird. Although his knowledge on all these matters weren’t profound, he had basic knowledge between the ruling regimes and such.

Actually, the old man was feeling extremely awkward talking about such intricate and complex things with a ten year old. Jack then asked in confusion, “If I stay here, am I obliged to join the Pirate Faction or Mercenary Faction?” The old man shook his head and said, “No, you can do whatever you want. If you want, you can join the Merchants Faction or Government Faction. If you want to just spend your days travelling, you don’t have to join any faction at all.” Hearing this, Jack was relieved. In all honesty, he had had enough of bloodshed and fighting. What he wanted the most was to hole up in a place where he could work on machinery and did not have to fear the Kriegrich Empire chasing him down and trying to bring him back or kill him.

The old man then stood up and said, “You do not need to worry about all of that for now. You just heal your body and rest your mind. I will undo the cuffs because I have said everything that needed to be said and done everything I could do. If you still wish to disappear, there is no reason for me to lock you in a cage.” The old man’s tone held a bit of sadness but he was helpless. If Jack wanted to leave, he could do nothing about it and if he kept him in custody like that, it would just make him feel disdain and hate towards them.

Just as he had fished out the key for the cuffs, Jack slowly shook his head and said, “No need to undo the cuffs. If you take them off, I will never be able to rest.” Jack’s face held a bit of helplessness but the old man was confused as he asked, “Why? You feel like you can’t resist the urge to escape if you can use your abilities?” Jack then gestured for the old man to sit back down and asked, “You heard about my abilities from John and the rest?”

The old man was startled but nodded his head slowly. Jack then exhaled a deep breath as he said, “I lied to them. I am not a Dual Ability user but rather I have one ESP Ability called [Dream Engineer].” Hearing this, the old man was even more confused and wanted to ask him something but Jack beat him to it and explained, “My eyes are not called [Eyes of Destruction and Creation] but rather they are part of the [Dream Engineer]. [Dream Engineer] has three functions and due to that it is ranked as a SSS Grade Mechanical ESP Ability.” The old man was now serious as he listened to Jack.

Seeing the old man attentively listen, Jack continued, “The three functions of the ability are named: [Eyes of Assembly and Disassembly], [Engineer’s Mind] and [Part’s Production]. [Eyes of Assembly and Disassembly] are like I described to John and the rest however, is is not only limited to blueprints. [Part’s Production] isn’t only limited to metals, it allows me to also manipulate plastics and rubber. If you put a giant hunk of metals, plastic and rubber in front of me, I could create a completely working Speeder.” As Jack’s explanation continued, the old man’s face showed more and more surprise. He had not expected such a perverse mechanical ability. He thought to himself, “From the description of the two functions, it is already a very perverse mechanical ability that every Mechanic, Engineer or Researcher would yearn after.” However, when he remembered that Jack had one more function called the [Engineer’s Mind], cold sweat started flowing down his back.

Jack continued, “[Engineer’s Mind] is a double edged sword actually. When used in synchronisation with [Eyes of Assembly and Disassembly], it can remember any piece of technology or architecture out there. It will record everything in my mind and I can access it at any time possible. However, the drawback is that I get absorbed in different things very easily.”

He slowly shook his head and explained a bit more, “The main function of [Dream Engineer] is exactly the [Engineer’s Mind], all other functions are only supplementary to it. [Engineer’s Mind] is the ability most yearned after by every Mechanic, Engineer or Researcher because it makes the ESP-ers mind just like a computer. It allows me to record everything I see and make intricate calculations with my mind. It also allows me to make a blueprint of every piece of technology I see. The more functions of it I see, the more precise the blueprint will be. However, the drawback is that every little thing can trigger the [Engineer’s Mind] and make me fall in my little world.” Hearing this far, the old man was thoroughly stupefied.

He now understood very well why this ability was ranked as a SSS Grade Mechanical ESP Ability. If you provided every single blueprint you had to him with exact details on all of the functions and then just provided raw materials for him, he could come out with one overpowered invention after another. However, from Jack’s explanation he realized that it also had it’s drawbacks. Any single thing can trigger the [Engineer’s Mind] and it did not choose a time or location for it. If he got absorbed in the middle of combat, it could be fatal for him. If he was in a safe place, where no one could hurt him, it was the best ability in terms of inventions and otherwise mechanical tinkering. However, if you placed him in a fight, any little trinket his enemies or allies had might trigger the ability and make him fall into his own little world. If he does that, he will discard all safety and he might die without even knowing what happened.

The old man looked at Jack in suspicion and asked, “So, you are afraid that you will trigger the [Engineer’s Mind] making you absorbed in something?” Jack seriously nodded his head and the old man asked in curiosity, “Why did you decide to tell me your real ability? You could have just kept it hidden, no?” Jack looked out of the window when the old man asked him this question. Jack then then let out a sigh and said, “Remember I said that I have a few things I need to say to you if I truly were your grandson?” The old man realized something and then said, “Yes, I remember. So what you wanted to tell me was this?”

Jack looked at the old man and said, “This was one of the things, the other was to ask a favour from you.” The old man tilted his head lightly and asked, “A favour?” Jack then nodded his head and said, “The reason I told you my real ability was because I need your help to find someone. And to find her, I need materials, with the Merchant Faction’s connections, it might not be hard to find the materials I need.” Hearing the word “her” the old man’s eyes lit up as he asked with a wide smile, “You need me to find your little girlfriend?”

Jack looked at the old man in all seriousness and said, “She was my partner on the Island. When we escaped, we got separated and I would like to ask for your help in finding her.” The old man lost all his joking demeanour as he asked, “She was your Partner?” Jack nodded his head and said, “Yes, on the Island, we teamed up in order to raise our survival chances. Since in the end a maximum of three people were allowed to live, the maximum number of people in most teams was three. Me and her were a tag team, I took care of the planning and long range fire while she took care of intelligence gathering and close quarter. By relying on each other, we survived this long. If we had been alone, it would have been hard for either of us to survive this long or escape for that matter.” The old man seriously nodded his head.

Jack did not hesitate to run with such serious injuries that almost cause his death. For him to feel concerned for his partner, it showed how deeply they relied on each other. The old man asked, “What do you need?” Jack then listed all of the materials he needed and the old man wrote down everything. What surprised him was that Jack even said the minimum amount of materials needed. When he was done, the old man looked through the list and said, “These materials will not be hard to find. I probably have most of them in stock as well. It will take about two or three days to get all of them, however, what do you need all these materials for?” Jack then smiled and said, “To create a Tracker.”

“A Tracker?” The old man’s eyes furrowed. Jack then explained, “Before we left the Island, I gave her a pendant that has a built in tracker. I told her that I would find her with it’s help. As long as she still wears the pendant and it is not destroyed, no jammers can disrupt it’s signal. However, to track this signal you need a specialized tracker built just for finding the frequency the signal is transmitted on. You won’t be able to find it even with the best military grade tracker.” Hearing this, the old man looked at Jack like he was a monster.

He then asked, “Where did you get the blueprint for this kind of a thing?” Jack then cast his head down and said, “From Mom’s collection. Usually, she put me on her lap when I was small. She mostly created one blueprint of an invention after another and I, who was usually sitting on her lap, accidentally recorded all those blueprints.” The old man just lowered his head as well. He knew very well that Samantha was a peerless genius when it came to technology. She usually pumped out one invention after another. The old man raised his head and looked at the window. Just as he did that, the sky started brightening and the first rays of sunlight came across the horizon. The old man then just sighed and said, “Okay, get some rest for now, I will find all those materials for you. You need something else as well?” Jack thought about it for a second and then said, “I need a Galactic map as well. One that can be linked to other devices.”

The old man nodded his head and then said to Jack, “Okay, I will bring all the things you need in the next few days. You should get some rest in the meantime.” Jack nodded his head and then the old man left the room. After Jack was left there all alone, he kept gazing out of the window and just let out a bitter laugh as he said, “What a weird twist of fate this is. Just as I was being transported back to that survival island, I got accidentally got rescued by my family. Although they seem to all care for me, trusting them will not be easy for me….”

He then just laid down and closed his eyes as he mumbled, “I wonder how Hedi is doing, did she get out safe?” Without forcing himself to stay awake much longer, he quickly fell asleep.

On a planet far away from the one Jack was on, a little girl just woke up on a small bed. The girl had chestnut brown hair and brown eyes. On her hands little were various scars and as she jawned after waking up, she went out the door. When she reached the kitchen, the young woman who was making food, looked towards her and asked with a smile, “Good morning Hedi, you woke up early again.”

The little girl then looked at the young woman making food and said with a smile, “Good morning.” The young woman smiled to her and then gestured at the table. “Sit down, breakfast will be done soon.” The little girl nodded her head and sat down at the table. She then fished out a pendant form under her clothes and as she stared at it, the young woman let out a chuckle, “You still waiting for your little boyfriend to come?” Hedi pursed her lips in response to the young woman’s teasing and pouted, “How long will it take him to find me? Dummy Jack.” Hearing this, the young woman let out a little laugh as she put a bowl of porridge in front her. She then said, “Give him time, you don’t know where he is right? He may already be on his way here.”

The little girl glared at the pendant for one last time before putting it back inside her clothes. A merry laugh came from the doorway as a middle aged man walked in. The middle aged man looked at Hedi and said, “Don’t worry about it, men keep their promises. If he promised to find you, then he will find you, no matter how long it takes.” Hearing that, the little girl nodded her head as she said with a smile, “Mhm.”

The middle aged man let out a merry laugh again as he said, “Come now, let’s the eat breakfast that your Big Sis made.” After saying so, he took a spoonful of porridge and said, “This is really good. Your future husband will truly be a blessed man.” Hearing this, the young woman blushed and said, “Dad!”

Hedi however just laughed lightly. It seemed like it was a usual every morning conversation.

December 4, 2016December 4, 2016 by lilporo

Chapter 3: Attempted Escape

When John saw the old man that was next to George, he immediately stood up and said, “Greetings Boss.” Ellen and Krieg also hurriedly welcomed the old man. The old man just smiled with his wrinkly face and gestured them to sit down. The old man had a buff body but still, he could not escape the constraints of time. His head was grey and his his skin was covered in wrinkles as well. He wore simple long pants and a T-shirt.

He sat down as well and then asked John, “George said you picked up a boy of ten years old?” Hearing the question John nodded and said, “Yes, more accurately, George told Krieg and Sandra to bring him back. He just woke up and had a meal. Currently, Sandra is bringing him back to her private quarters for him to sleep.” The old man nodded and said, “I know he left. We arrived when you were still eating but chose to come now.” As the old man said that, the three of them were confused.

Suddenly, he turned his head towards Ellen and asked, “You were the one that washed him and dressed his wounds?” Ellen nodded in response to the old man’s question. The old man’s eyes flickered as he asked, “Did he have a snowflake like birthmark on his lower back?” Ellen was taken a back by the question and tried to remember it. She thought about it for a second and then said, “Yes, on his lower back, at the left hand’s side, there was a snowflake like birthmark. How did you know Boss?” The old man’s eyes seemed to have been lit up as he took a look around.

Seeing no one in the surroundings, he said seriously, “What I say next will not leave this room. Only the people present will know about this and no one else.” As he said so, even George was taken a back. When he reported to the Boss about Jack, he had suddenly wanted to come here. However, when he saw Jack in the mess hall, he had told George to wait until he left. After everyone promised not to leak the conversation out, the old man started with a gentle gaze, “You see…”

Jack and Sandra had no idea of the old man or George visiting and had reached back at the Sandra’s private quarters. Jack looked at the room sleepily and asked, “Where will I sleep?” Sandra pointed towards the bed and said, “You will sleep on the bed with me.” Jack was a bit too young to understand the matters between boys and girls so he just sleepily nodded and climbed to the far side of the bed. When he cosily hid under the blankets, he quickly fell asleep.

Seeing him fall asleep so quickly, Sandra just let out a little laugh. She then watched out of the window and was greeted by a setting sun. Since they were currently in their base, the ship was obviously docked in the shipyard. After giving one last glance at Jack, Sandra decided to water her plants. This was one of the few things that she liked doing. After having watered and cared for all of her plants, she wasn’t feeling sleepy yet, so she left the room to find Krieg and Ellen to have a chat. When the door closed, Jack opened his eyes.

He waited for a few moments and when he did not hear any movement or breathing what so ever, he turned around and peeked at the room cautiously. Seeing that he was alone, he slowly sat up on the bed. Silently, he left the bed and put his ear towards the door. After not hearing any movement behind the door, he sneakily left the room.

All of the sleepiness seemed like it had never existed. His eyes were cold as he quietly made his way through the hallways. When Krieg and John had shown him around before, he had remembered the layout of the ship and where the exit was. He made his way towards the door that led to the outside without raising any alarms or running into anyone.

However, when he reached the door, he saw that it was locked. He did not have the password to leave, so he had to resort to muscling his way through. After making sure that no one was around, he put his two hands on the door and closed his eyes. Suddenly, a box appeared on the door. The box was as big as Jack and with a slight push, it was pushed out. As soon as the cube exited the door, the alarm started working. Hearing this, Jack hurriedly exited the door and made his way out for the door leading outside.

In the mess hall, everyone except the old man had an expression of shock but just as George wanted to ask something, the alarm started screaming. Hearing this, John quickly took the communicator and asked, “Bridge, what happened?” From the other side of the communicator a voice that seemed to not know whether to laugh or cry came, “Umm, the little boy broke through the door and ran away.” Hearing this, everyone’s face fell. The old man stood up and asked flustered, “How is that possible? Wasn’t Sandra supposed to look after him?!”

Just as he yelled that out, a meek answer came from the door, “He fell asleep immediately after arriving back at the room. I waited a bit to make sure that he wasn’t faking it and then came here.” Hearing this, the old man grabbed his hair with his two hands and yelled, “Like Father like son. Damnit, every single one of them is a headache!” As he said that, he immediately ran out the door. Seeing this, John was stupefied for a second and hurriedly said to the communicator, “Open the cargo bay doors, we will use the Speeders to go look for him.”

After saying so, he immediately dashed towards the exit and quickly yelled to the old man, “Boss, lets use Speeders! They are in the cargo room!” The old man had just turned around the corner when he heard Johns yell. He immediately turned around and followed John to the cargo room. Sandra looked at them in a daze but woke up when Ellen took her hand and said, “Let’s go quickly. I can still sense the aura of [Regeneration] inside him but if he leaves the range of it, I will be unable to sense him.”

Sandra hurriedly nodded to Ellen and followed after her to the cargo room. Only a minute or two after that, five Speeders flew out from the cargo bay and followed the directions given by Ellen. As the five Speeders flew through the air, Jack was dashing through the back alleys. As much as he had seen of the town, it was enormous, so he thought that if he avoided the main streets and travelled through side alleys, he would be able to avoid the detection of John and the rest. Just in case, he quickly blinked his left eye three times and a red glow appeared in it.

After making many twists and turns, he slouched in the shadows of a few garbage cans. He was panting heavily because his body was still quite weak. As he caught his breath, pain flashed on his face as he looked at his stomach with a grimacing face. Some of the wounds, that had recently closed up, had reopened. Stopping the bleeding by pressing on it with his hand, he murmured to himself, “Although some of the wounds have opened again, it won’t impact my mobility in the short run. In the long run, however, it is bad.”

After the blood had clotted again, he slowly stood up again and looked towards the distant ship. A complicated emotion flashed in his eyes as he said, “Although I am grateful for everything you did for me, I still can’t stay there.” Just as he said that to himself, a mocking question came from above him, “And for what reason would you have to sneak out like that? At least wait until you wounds heal dumbass.” Jack quickly looked up and saw five Speeders hovering in the sky. The Speeder’s looked like motorbikes but instead of wheels, they let out wind.

This allowed them to hover and the engine that was under the drivers seat allowed it to fly forward. Actually, the inertia from the engine was something that allowed it to change it’s altitude. When the engine wasn’t pushing it forward, the two engines, that let out wind from below, stabilized the Speeder so that it would not immediately plummet to the ground.

Seeing the people seated on the Speeder’s, Jack’s face turned cold as he asked, “How did you find me?” Ellen poked he head out from behind Krieg and gave a peace sign as she said, “I can locate you using the aura from my ability [Regeneration], so there is no place you can run from us.” Just as Ellen finished her explanation, the old man called Boss, immediately pointed his index finger towards Jack and yelled, “You stinking brat! Be a good boy and don’t cause any more trouble for us.” This was the first time Jack saw the old man.

He sized the old man up with a gaze and then said coldly, “Who do you think you are to order me around like that?” Hearing the cold response, the old man choked back for a second. He had never seen a ten year old possess such cold eyes. It left him inwardly quite shaken but that soon passed as rage built up inside him, “You snot nosed brat, you dare to put on airs in front of me?” Jack just snorted to the old man’s words but his eyes were darting around the surroundings.

His face turned grimmer as he thought to himself, “Shit, there is no place to run to. With the Speeder’s they will be able to catch up to me in the blink of an eye.” Suddenly, his eyes came to a stop on a manhole cover that led to the sewers. A smile formed on his face as he looked at the old man and said, “I truly am not interested in that, so bye bye old timer.”

Hearing this sentence, George, Krieg and Sandra felt that it was quite familiar. When they remembered that he said it the exact same way when they were cornered by Frost, their faces changed. Sandra yelled, “Don’t do anything stup-”

*BOOM*

Before she could finish her sentence, the manhole cover that was under Jack’s feet blew up into small pieces and he himself fell through the hole. When the explosion echoed out, sharp bits of the metal cover flew at the five Speeder’s. Luckily for them, they weren’t injured and the Speeder’s were also fine. However, seeing the escape method Jack thought of, George sighed, “Why does it seem like he is used to being cornered like this and making grand escapes like that?” Krieg and Sandra could only blankly nod to George’s statement.

However, the old man just jumped off his Speeder and went towards the manhole. However, his face was painted red with rage as he cursed loudly, “That little snot nosed brat is just like that unfilial son of mine. I knew I should have had all the manhole covers be replaced with either stone or wooden ones when the little bastard used that same trick against me.” After saying so immediately jumped down the manhole in pursuit of Jack.

George looked at the manhole with a helpless face, “Come on, let’s go after him.” Krieg, Sandra, Ellen and John nodded to George’s order and just as they were about to disembark their Speeder’s, they heard a droning sound. They looked up and saw an old lady on a one person hover platform. The old lady was wearing a brown long skirt and a white knit sweater. Her hair was grey and tied to bun behind her head, her blue eyes however showed a trace of helplessness.

She looked at the manhole and sighed, “You don’t need to follow him. I will do it myself or that block head will truly kill him when he catches him.” George immediately lowered his head as he said, “Madame, you noticed our disturbance?” The old woman just looked at George and smiled, “Don’t forget, there are very few things that escape my eyes in this city.” George slightly bowed to the old lady and said, “We will leave it up to you then Madame.”

The old lady nodded her head and the hover platform started floating towards the man hole. The platform wasn’t big, it only fit one person and if they had no sense of balance, it was easy to fall down. Just as she was about to enter the manhole, she turned around towards Sandra and said, “You can also tell her what he told you.”

George hurriedly widened his eyes and said, “But Boss-” The Madame just raised her hand and said, “She has as much right to know about it than the rest. Also, I order you to tell her.” After saying so, she didn’t even look at the face of George or listen to any more rebuttals. She directly entered the manhole in pursuit of the robust old man. Sandra just looked at everyone present and asked, “What is going on?”

John and George looked at each other and then both of them sighed. George just said, “It is a long story. For now, let’s return to the ship.” Sandra looked at the manhole suspiciously and asked, “Are they going to be alright with just the two of them?” John let out a hollow laugh and said, “Well, if those two can’t catch him, there is probably no one who can.” Krieg and George nodded to John’s statement. With that, they flew back towards the ship.

In the sewers, Jack was in a bind. He hadn’t expected them to catch up this fast, so he was forced to run in blind. He had no sense of direction what so ever in these sewers and the wounds that had just clotted had opened up again. The more he ran, the faster his blood started pumping and the faster he started bleeding dry. After about a 15 minute run, his body felt ice cold and it lost strength fast. Jack grit his teeth and cursed, “Damn, hypovolemic shock. I’ve lost too much blood.”

As he mumbled that, he tripped over his feet and fell down. He laid there for a minute, panting. His body felt incredibly cold and he could feel his consciousness fading fast. As his eyes lost focus, he started remembering all the times he narrowly escaped death. With the last bit of strength he managed to prop himself up in a sitting position against the wall.

He no longer had any more strength to move. His eyes lost focus even more as he said in a self mocking tone, “I survived the betrayal of dozens, the pursuit of one of the strongest Military Empires in the Galaxy but I failed to run from an old man that thinks too highly of himself.” He then just let out a little laugh as he raised his head and looked at the dim lamps over the sewer canals.

He gazed at one of the flickering lamps and thought to himself, “Well, of all the scenarios of death I thought of, there wasn’t one that involved me bleeding to death in a sewer.” He then chuckled at himself and mumbled, “Well, Little Kitty, seems like I won’t be able to keep our promise. I will be waiting for you on the other side.”

After saying that, he lost the last bit of strength he had and he fell unconscious. Just at that moment, two people turned around the corner and one of them tripped over Jack from his hurry. As he fell down, he put one hand in front of him and he stopped before face planting to the ground. He hurriedly turned to the side and yelled, “Pick a better place to sleep you bum. I’m in-”

Halfway through is cursing, he got a better look at the person he tripped over. The old man’s face fell as he quickly went and felt Jack’s pulse. When he felt the very weak pulse, he started losing his calm and in his flustered state, he had no idea what to do. The old woman on the hover platform jumped down with a serious expression and ordered, “Stop his bleeding, he has already lost too much blood!” After saying so, the old man nodded and hurriedly took off Jack’s shirt and ripped it to shreds.

He made multiple makeshift compresses that he put on the wounds and bound them tightly to stop the bleeding. As the old man was working on Jack, the old woman took out a communicator and requested people to come here. They did not dare to move Jack in fear of opening other wounds as well. It did not take long for people to start filling the sewers and soon a middle aged man with green hair came over. With one glance, his eyes furrowed as he hurriedly asked, “What the hell happened?” The old man just barked at him, “Fix him!”

Hearing this, the middle aged man was startled. He looked at the old woman and the old woman also nodded her head grimly and said, “You heard the Boss.” Many of them had never seen the Boss as serious and angry as this. Usually, he would never bark orders at someone so this made everyone wonder, just who Jack was. The middle aged man nodded seriously and a green glow appeared in his eyes and on his hands as he took a set of acupuncture needles from his bag. He then told the old man seriously, “Step back and don’t disturb me.”

The old man immediately stepped back and let the middle aged man do his thing. The middle aged man glanced at Jack’s body and was shocked by the scars and wounds. He was an expert in the field of medicine and medical practice, so with a glance, he could see that these scars dated back to 5 years. One or two scars would not be something new, everyone had them but the sheer number of scars Jack had astonished him. He thought to himself, “Just who is this boy?”

The middle aged man’s hands flashed as several acupuncture needles entered Jack’s body, stopping the bleeding. He quickly took a bag of blood from his bag and inserted the needle into Jack’s slim arm to start a blood transfusion. After all of this had been done, he quickly wrapped him in a warm blanket to warm his body up and not let the body temperature fall any lower. He felt Jack’s pulse and after a few minutes, a bit of colour started returning on Jack’s face.

Seeing this, the old man and the old woman let out a deep breath of relief as the old man hurriedly asked, “Is he safe now?” The middle aged man with green hair looked at the old man seriously and said, “He lost too much blood, besides that, there are obvious signs of malnutrition. If it were any normal person, I would say they are safe now but regarding him, he isn’t in the clear yet.” Hearing this, the old man panicked again and just as he was about to ask something, the old woman smacked him at the back of his head and said coldly, “Look at you, the Boss of the Phantom Ghost Pirate Group, acting like a teen schoolgirl that just got asked out by her idol. Go farther away and calm down already, you panicking is not going to help anyone.”

The old man sobered up thanks to the Madame’s scolding and just nodded his head as he went farther away and fished out a cigarette that he immediately lit up. Seeing that the old man had calmed down, the old woman asked in a helpless tone, “What needs to be done now?” The middle aged man looked the old woman in the eyes and said, “First of all, we need to bring him out of here and into a clean environment before his wounds fester again. Then he needs to be under a twenty four hour surveillance just in case something unexpected happens.”

He then glanced at Jack before asking the old woman, “Just who is he? The wounds he has are made from military grade rifles and the scars he has date back to five years. It’s like he had lived on a survival island.” The middle aged man actually had another question as well but he only asked it mentally, “What is his relation to the Boss to make him as flustered and panicky as that?”

The old woman thought for a moment and then said, “If I tell you that his name is Jack Lumi, will you understand?” The young man fell into thought and then suddenly his face was filled with shock as he asked, “Lumi? His name is Jack Lumi?!” The old woman seriously nodded her head and the man with green hair looked at Jack in shock. His mind seemed to be filled with scenes brought back by realization. He then slowly lowered his head and murmured, “I wonder what Big Bro is doing? For this little guy to end up like this?”

The Madame heard these words but she kept her silence. She also looked at Jack with an inquiring gaze as she thought, “Just what happened? There is no way Freddy and Samantha would allow something like this happen to their son. Did something happen to them?” As her thoughts trailed off, a few people with medical clothes arrived. The middle aged man sternly gave them detailed orders and he accompanied Jack to the hospital with the medical staff.

Seeing the middle aged man leave with Jack, the old man said suddenly, “Put Adatantium cuffs on him and restrain him to a bed.” All the medical staff were startled and they looked at the old man in confusion.

The green haired Doctor wanted to ask something but before he could, the old man clarified, “He ended up like that because he didn’t wait for his wounds to heal before he ran away. If you don’t restrain him, there is no saying he won’t run away again and that time, we may not be able to find him in time.” Hearing the serious tone of the old man, everyone present gulped. The green haired man nodded seriously and said grimly, “I give you my word, he will not be able to take one step out from the bed until his wounds heal.”

The old man nodded his head and then looked towards the Madame with a helpless gaze. They both knew there was next to nothing they could do at the moment. So, they left Jack in the green haired man’s care and left themselves.

When Jack fell unconscious from blood loss, he started reliving his memories. Just as he had closed his eyes, he opened them again and he was standing inside a huge grey hall. All around him were children at the same age as him and they were all wearing knee length white pants and a white T-shirt. In front of the platoons of children was a stage on which stood twelve men in military uniform. They all had cold faces and behind them stood a row of armed soldiers, ready to fire at a moments notice.

A man with greying hair stepped forward and said coldly, “You will all now be transported to the Facility. There you will each be given a knife and basic necessities. Every week, one crate filled with food will be delivered but who gets how much, it will be up to you to figure out.” The man swept his gaze over everyone present and then continued, “Remember, you have ten years and after that, only three people will be allowed to survive. Who those three people are, that will also be left up to you to decide.” After saying so, all the children were put on helicopters and delivered to a deserted island.

The island wasn’t big but it was big enough to accommodate one hundred kids with a lot of room to spare. Since they were small, they did not understand the true meaning behind the man’s words back then but soon reality showed it’s true face to them. On the island was no wild life, in the surrounding waters there were no fish either. All the plant’s that bore fruit were poisonous so they were inedible. Their only food source was the crate of food delivered to them once a month.

However, the food crate did not hold enough food to feed one hundred growing kids, even if they rationed it very strictly, so soon hierarchies formed and those that were of no use or were weaker fell by the blades of others. Jack had formed a party with one other person. She was the same age as him and had chestnut brown hair and brown pupils. Her hair was always tied to pony tails and Jack himself had helped her tie them like that.

In the Facility, they were known as the Double Calamity because they were the ultimate tag team. The girl’s name was Hedi and her ability was [Black Panther Transformation]. All abilities that could change the body fundamentally like this were all categorized as S rank and since her transformation had a very high synchronisation rate that allowed her to even take the form of a Black Panther, she was categorized as a SS Rank ESP-er.

She took care of the melee while Jack would think of their plans and offer long range support. Since they were the two strongest on the island, they had no problem getting the food either by the nice way or the bloody way. Also, since Jack had read various books when he was still very little, all the technology was deeply imprinted in his mind. One of these pieces of technology was one of his mother’s inventions, One Man Teleporter.

However, when he saw the blueprint for it, it was still unfinished so he had to finish it through trial and error. After working on it for three and half years, he managed to create two prototypes that worked. However, it had one major flaw. If you wanted to travel to a specific location, you needed to have another Teleporter there or you needed to have the Gravitational Coordinates for the location. Since they had neither, they could only leave it up to luck.

They had no telling where they ended up, so they made a promise. If they survived, they would meet at the main square of Aldurin Republic. Jack had no idea where it was but Hedi had read about it in a book before they were put on the island and she had always wanted to go there. The time limit was 5 years.

They made a promise to meet on the square in five years time. Under the clock tower when the clock struck midnight, Jack would have to wear cat ears and a black suit and Hedi would have to wear a red ballroom gown. Jack had no say in the clothing chosen, it was all done by Hedi and she wouldn’t budge an inch in that department.

Just as Jack started to teleport away, Hedi seemed to say something but Jack could not hear it. Just as he wanted to read her lips, he suddenly opened his eyes. He was greeted by the beeping of a machine that monitored his heart beat. The first thing he saw was the white ceiling and as he tried to sit up, he discovered that he couldn’t move. He slowly raised his head and saw that his hands were bound by Adatantium cuffs while his legs were strapped to the bed with leather bindings. His upper body was also strapped to his bed.

Seeing this, Jack’s eyes turned cold as he glanced around. Because of the Adatantium cuffs, he could not use his [Eye of Destruction]. The amount of movement he could do was actually minimal. He then swept his gaze over the rest of the room and saw that he was currently in the only bed in the room. Besides the bed, there were various medical machines that observed either pulse or blood flow. The only window that allowed him to look outside was currently pitch black, indicating that it was currently the middle of the night.

In the corner of the room, right next to the door, was a chair upon which was a sleeping old man. Jack recognized the old man to be the one that was with George and the rest on their Speeders. As if sensing that Jack woke up, the old man slowly opened his eyes and looked at Jack. Jack looked at the old man coldly and asked, “What do you want from me?”

Hearing Jack’s voice the old man completely woke up from his drowsiness and jumped up. His face instantly flushed red as he started cursing, “You little son of a bitch, do you realize how much danger you were in? For what reason god damn reason would you try to run away with those wounds?”

The old man then went up to Jack’s face and yelled, “Do you know how worried I was when I found you? You had nearly bled to death and if I had found you only a few minutes later, you would have been dead!” Jack was taken a back by the barrage but he still maintained his cold facade and asked in a cold voice, “Better die on my own terms than live according to others. I don’t know what you want from me but I’d rather die than become your little puppet.”

Hearing the cold words and seeing the cold eyes Jack possessed, the old man was startled. The old man then seemed like he was about to completely explode but at that moment, he suddenly calmed down and said, “I don’t want you to do anything for me, I am just glad that you are alive.”

Seeing the gentleness in the old man’s eyes, Jack asked, “Why do you care whether I live or die? There are millions of other orphans out there.”

The old man had a pained expression as he just patted Jack on the head and said, “But none of those millions of orphans is my grandson.”

December 4, 2016December 4, 2016 by lilporo

Chapter 2: Treatment

Just as Sandra was about to leave, the queerish man said, “Wait, you should probably have those chains removed first.” As he pointed towards Jack, Sandra nodded. She then changed direction and headed towards the mechanics area. They had a lot of tools so it wouldn’t be hard to find something to remove the chains with. When Sandra had left with, George looked at the queerish man, who was called Captain, with a suspicious glance and said, “There is a lot you need to explain to the Boss.”

The Captain just let out a wry smile and nodded. He then gestured George to follow him to his quarters so he can give the complete story to George and the Boss. Sandra however, soon reached the mechanics area and found someone who used a cutter to carefully cut the cuffs. Since Jack was currently so exhausted that he was in deep sleep, it was extremely easy to do.

When the chains were taken off, Sandra thanked the mechanic and gave Jack a piggy back ride to her own private quarters. When she arrived back at her quarters, she laid Jack down on the bed and just carefully looked at his face.

The room wasn’t big, only about 20 square meters big and most of the room was occupied by various different flowers and plants. The bed was two and a half meters long and one and half meter’s wide, easily allowing two people to sleep side by side. The bed was right under the window so you only needed to adjust your gaze a bit to be able to gaze out of the window and into the vast starry sky.

Besides the plants and a bed, there was one bookshelf filled to the brim with different books on plants and a small table with a chair. If you entered the room, right after entering there would be a closet for clothes at your right hand and next to the closet was a door leading to the bathroom. Every private quarters on the ship had a closet, bathroom, bed, table and a bookshelf, as for the rest, it was up to the person itself.

If they wanted to grow plants like Sandra, they could, if they wanted to collect books or mechanical parts, they could. As she saw that Jack was completely out cold, she locked the door and fished out a pair of knee length fitting leather pants and a short sleeved shirt from the closet. She then unzipped her body tight battle suit and changed her clothes. Just as she was done changing her clothes, she heard a knock on the door.

She unlocked the door and a friendly young woman in a lab coat greeted her at the door. She had long braided hair that were brown. On her slightly round face were many freckles and her chestnut brown eyes also looked kind. Her size of her chest made even women stare.

She just smiled and asked, “Is the patient here?” Seeing the familiar face, Sandra’s cold gaze also softened as she let her in and pointed towards the bed. She then said softly, “He is the patient.” Seeing Jack, the Doctor looked at Sandra with a sly look and said teasingly, “So this is your preference.” Sandra tilted her head in confusion but then the Doctor just continued teasing, “No wonder no real man was allowed to even look inside the room. So you prefer them young.”

Now Sandra understood the meaning behind her words and quickly rebutted, “Ellen! It is not like that! I-i..” Being unable to explain it, Ellen just patted her on the head and said, “I understand, he is from the same place as you. You know that he could be very dangerous if he woke up somewhere else.”

Hearing this, Sandra cast her head down and said in a low tone, “He looks like my little brother. Even though I know that Jack is not him, Jack still looks exactly like him.” Hearing this, Ellen hurriedly said in a gentle voice, “Forget I teased you, I did not want to tear up old wounds.” A flash of regret and gentleness was evident in her eyes. She then changed the mood and said, “Now then, let’s look over the patient and heal him.”

After saying so, she took Sandra’s hand and pulled her closer to the bed that was at the other side of the room. Seeing the bloody Jack, Ellen frowned as she asked Sandra, “Do you want to undress him or should I?” Hearing the question, Sandra’s face reddened as she quickly asked, “Why do we need to undress him?!”

Ellen just sighed and said, “There are a lot of wounds on him and most of them are under his clothes or rather what is left of them, so we need to undress him to patch up the wounds.” Hearing this, Sandra calmed down and nodded towards Ellen. Then, she told Ellen, she could do it herself and she would just wait nearby.

Hearing this, Ellen nonchalantly took off Jack shirt and pants. Well, there wasn’t much of a difference in him wearing clothes or not because the clothes were nearly shredded any ways. Seeing the body covered in blood, Ellen towards Sandra and said, “You go and try to find another set of clothes for him, I reckon it won’t be easy to find fitting clothes for him.”

Sandra nodded and just as she was about to go and look for clothes, she saw Ellen pick up Jack. Sandra asked hurriedly, “What are you doing?” Ellen looked at her in confusion and said, “I’ll be giving him a bath of course. His body is covered in blood and dirt, I need to clean his body before I can treat his wounds.”

Hearing this, Sandra nodded and reluctantly left to find clothes for Jack. After Ellen carried Jack to the bathroom, she filled the bathtub with warm water that was not too hot or cold and carefully washed the dirt, dried blood and nearly dried blood off of him. The cleaner Jack became, the more Ellen’s eyes furrowed as she evaluated the various wounds and scars on his body.

A thought passed through her head, “What kind of a sadistic psychopath held him to get his many scars and such wounds?” Jacks body was riddled in scars, one deeper and more painful looking than the other.

Most of the wounds that were still healing had festered from the lack of immediate medical care. When she had finally completely washed his body, she gently dried him and carried him back to the bed. Just as he was laid down on the bed, Sandra came back. She looked a bit down cast and Ellen asked her, “No luck?”

Sandra just helplessly shook her head and said, “No, we don’t even have anything close to his size.” It was just like Ellen had thought, so she hadn’t held her breath with the matter. This ship consisted of people that were at least twenty years old, so to find clothes that fit a ten years old, that was quite impossible. Sandra just sighed and said, “Well, Krieg promised to look through our loot and see that maybe something that will fit him is in there. We robbed that big cargo ship a few days ago, so there might be some clothes in there.” Hearing this Ellen sighed as well, but then she tried to change subject by asking Sandra what happened to him.

Sandra explained in detail about how he was imprisoned and hearing the extensive imprisonment method, Ellen’s face couldn’t help but change. At the time Ellen was talking to Sandra, she kept cleaning Jack’s wounds and bandaging them one after another. When all of his wounds were bandaged, she crossed her palms on Jack’s chest and closed her eyes. After a few moments, green glow manifested on her two hands that seemed to pour into Jack.

After focusing for a 5 minutes, the glow on her hands slowly dissipated and when all of it was gone, she said with a sigh, “This is the best I can do for him.” Just as Sandra was about to say something, a knock sounded on the door again.

Sandra opened the door and the Captain and George were there. She gestured them to enter the room and then locked the door. George looked at the bandaged Jack and deeply frowned. The Captain turned to Ellen and asked, “What is his situation?” Ellen just let out a deep sigh and said, “The situation is quite bad. Although I have cleaned him and treated his wounds, my ability [Regeneration] stimulates people’s own vitality to heal wounds quicker. He is severely malnourished and currently extremely weak, so his recovery won’t be easy or quick.”

Hearing this the Captain and George nodded. George then asked, “When will he wake up?” Ellen shrugged her shoulder’s helplessly and said, “At best in a few days. It is a miracle that he had been conscious as long as he had been. He should have collapsed from the lack of strength a few days ago but he kept himself going with pure will.”

She then looked at Jack with a gaze of pity and continued, “He over drafted his body and the moment he relaxed after arriving on the Ship, he fell into an unconscious state. I heard what he did on the landing bridge and honestly, I can say that it took him the last bit of strength he had left.”

She just shook her head helplessly and turned towards Sandra, “He hasn’t probably had a decent meal in months, coupled with the various wounds on his body, the recovery is going to be along one.” Seeing this situation, the Captain and George looked at the two girls in confusion. Sandra then said, “I will look over him until he recovers.” The two men were even more confused and the Captain asked, “Did something happen?”

This was the first time that the Captain saw Sandra care about someone else this much, so he found the scene to be quite peculiar. However, neither of the girls clarified for the two so they could only remain in a confused state about the matter. The Captain looked at Jack again and then said, “Okay, Sandra, you will be the one in charge of him for now. Does anyone know what his ability is?” Hearing this, everyone started thinking about it. Jack had not said what his ability was and also from the tight lock down he was under, it was obvious that it was not something trivial.

George said uncertainly, “Frost called him “Engineer”, so I guess it has something to do with mechanics.” All Sandra could do was nod to that, she did not have any better guesses either. After chatting a bit, Ellen said, “Okay, let’s give the patient some peace and quiet now.”

As she said so, she started showing the two loud mouthed men out of the door. After they had exited the room, Krieg turned around the corner and waited for the three to leave. Seeing Krieg standing there, Sandra asked him, “Did you find anything?” Krieg nodded and gave Sandra a set of black clothes.

Currently, Krieg did not look like a man made of steel but rather like a big muscular soldier. His face was quite rigid, and he wore camo pants with a black tank top. His black hair was cut in a crew cut, his skin had a tanned bronze hue. Mixed in with his black hair were streaks of grey. Sandra accepted the clothes and invited Krieg in.

Since everyone else had left, there were only the three of them left in the room, if you counted in Jack. Krieg looked at Jack and said, “I did not attend the Academy but from what you have told me before, that place is not nice. Seeing the various scars on his body, I can tell that he has been through more life and death situations than most on this ship.”

Hearing him, Sandra only nodded. Krieg patted Sandra on the head and said, “I have said it before, that if you need someone to talk to, my wife Ellen will be more than happy to listen to you. If need be, I can listen as well.” His low voice carried a hint of softness and Sandra only nodded her head to Kriegs words.

On this ship, there had previously been three people that knew of her past: the Captain, Krieg and his wife, the Head Doctor, Ellen. They all treated Sandra with care and as if she was their own child. Well, the Captain was like the weird uncle in that case. Sandra said in a sorrowful tone, “Nothing is wrong, thank you.”

Seeing this, Krieg did not push it either. He gave Jack one last glance and then left the room. When everyone had finally left, Sandra locked the door again and took off the covers on Jack again and dressed him in the clothes Krieg had brought. The clothes were quite comfortable and they actually fit Jack.

When he was finally dressed, Sandra looked at him again. Jack was now dressed in a black T-shirt and black long trousers that weren’t tight. After all of it was done, she gently pushed Jack nearer to the wall and laid down next to him. It didn’t take long for Sandra to fall asleep as well.

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed already and the ship had reached their headquarters already. Most of the personal had disembarked and gone to do their own things. Some went home to their families, some went drinking, some went to visit the brothels. During the three days, the ships atmosphere had returned to normal and most people treated Sandra with more warmth than before. Not a single one of them was a pirate because of the heck of it, they all had their own stories and reasons, Sandra’s was just one of the countless amongst them.

On the ship, there weren’t many people left. Only a few mechanics working on the ship, the Captain who actually lived on the ship and a few others that did not have anything to do outside. Krieg and Ellen were also left on the ship and currently, the three of them, Krieg, Ellen and the Captain, were in Sandra’s room. Every day, Ellen would check up on Jack three times and at the moment, it was the routine check up. However just as they were about to leave, Jack’s eyelids trembled.

Seeing this, all of them stopped and turned to look at Jack. Jack slowly opened his eyes and took a moment to look around. After taking a few moment to confirm his surroundings, his gaze fell onto the four that were about to leave. Seeing him wake up, Ellen asked with a smile, “How are you feeling?” Not recognising anyone besides Sandra, Jack stayed vigilant towards all of them. He answered with caution, “A lot better.”

Seeing the vigilance, Sandra said, “You are currently on the Little Ghost. You have been out for three days.” Hearing this, Jack was surprised but before he could say anything, Sandra introduced them all. She pointed towards the Captain and said, “He is John, the Captain of the ship.” John immediately extended his hand towards Jack and said with a smile, “Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Jack cautiously shook his hand and then Sandra pointed towards Ellen and said, “She is our Head Doctor Ellen, she was also the one who treated your wounds.”

Hearing this, Jack extended his hand towards Ellen as well but Ellen instead just hugged him tightly, burying his head between her massive breasts. Being alarmed like this, a crude metal knife appeared in his hand and he instinctively stabbed it towards her throat from the back. Seeing this, Krieg immediately caught his hand and pulled Ellen away. Everyone in the room was alarmed and Sandra quickly stepped between the Jack that was gasping for breath and the serious Krieg. The Captain just looked at Ellen and said with a sigh, “You should have known better than to suddenly hug him like that. It is just like with Sandra all over again.”

rieg looked at Jack in the eyes and tightly gripped his little wrist. Seeing this, Sandra said, “Lets calm down now.” However, Krieg locked eyes with Jack and tightened his grip on his little hand. Feeling the pressure from the grip, Jack dropped the knife and only then did Krieg let go of his hand and his gaze also softened. He understood very well that it was Ellen’s fault for suddenly hugging him like that.

Ellen looked a bit sheepish as she scratched at the back of her head saying, “I’m sorry, I did not want to frighten you but you just looked so cute and adorable, so I couldn’t help myself.” Jack’s gaze also softened a bit and he lowered his head towards Ellen, “I am sorry as well, I did that out of reflex.” After both of them had apologized to each other, the atmosphere lightened a bit and Sandra cleared her throat, “This is Krieg, the giant steel man that was with me when we rescued you.” Hearing this, Jack looked at Krieg in confusion and seeing the confused gaze, Krieg just let out a hearty laugh as he said, “Well, can’t blame you for not recognizing me.”

He then put his hand on the wall and starting from the palm of his palm, steel quickly covered his entire arm. He then turned towards Jack and said, “My ability [Absorption] allows me to absorb the properties of any material I touch and for example, if I absorb steel, I become like a steel man. It is classified as a SS Rank Ability” Hearing this, Jack nodded in understanding and lowered his head again, “I thank you for saving me back then.” Krieg just scratched the back of his head and said, “Well, I should thank you as well for saving us when Frost showed up.”

Jack shook his hand as well and then turned towards Sandra. Sandra then said, “We met before as well but let me introduce myself properly this time. My name is Sandra and my ability is called [Wind’s Blessing].” As she said so, she extended her left hand and on her palm a little transparent tornado appeared. She then continued, “I can control the Wind and as a thanks to that, I can make my body float or shoot out compressed bits of air that are like armour piercing bullets. The ability [Wind’s Blessing] is an A Rank ability” She then smiled and a said to Jack, “Now then, we have all been introduced, how about you?”

Jack, who was sitting up on the bed, slowly edged to the side of the bed and tried to stand up, however, since he was currently too weak, he still didn’t have the strength to do so. Ellen just made him sit down again and told him that it would be okay to sit while introducing himself. Jack then took a deep breath and said, “Well, My name is Jack Lumi and as you know, I escaped from the Garden of Eden.” Everyone present nodded and Jack continued, “I am actually a Double Ability ESP-er. From my dad I inherited the ability [Metal Manipulation] and from my mother I inherited the ability, [Eyes of Destruction and Creation]”

As he explained his abilities, everyone showed an astonished look. Double Ability ESP-ers were not unheard of but they were still quite rare. Only one in a thousand of ESP-ers would be a Double Ability ESP-er, however, most of the people had abilities that either conflicted or did not complement each other. John asked with a thoughtful face, “I understand the [Metal Manipulation] ability, I have met others with this ability before but I have never heard of [Eyes of Destruction and Creation].” Everyone else looked at Jack with a confused face as well.

Jack took a breath and closed his left eye. Everyone were curiously watching him as he blinked his right eye three times and a light blue glow appeared on his right eye. He then said, “This is the [Eye of Creation], it allows me to improve everything. For example, if you put a blueprint of a ship in front of me and I looked at it with the [Eye of Creation], I would be able to use all my knowledge and immediately find all the places that could be improved.” He then blinked his eye three times again deactivating the ability and continued, “If you put a broken piece of machinery in front of me, I would be able to fix it.”

The Captain just looked at Jack in astonishment and said, “Well, that is very useful.” Jack then just shook his head, “It is useful only as long as I have read a lot of books on machinery or seen a lot of blueprints for ships and weapons. The whole ability works like a computer, by having a large database of knowledge it would give me the most optimal solution with the least amount of time by combining all the useful parts of the knowledge possessed.”

Krieg was also thoughtful and asked, “So the more books on machinery and different types of technology you read, the more formidable that ability would become?” Jack nodded his head and added, “So, unless I am allowed to read a mountain load of books on different ships, weapons, shields or engines, this ability is quite useless.” Everyone understood the basic principle behind the ability.

It was similar to the ability [Great Tactician] that allowed a person to memorize a tactic with only a glance. These kinds of strategists were very sought after by every military because if you allowed them to cram every known military formation and strategy inside them, they would only need a glance at the enemy line up and formation to formulate a counter plan to it. However, the prerequisite for this was that the person had sufficient knowledge.

Sandra then asked curiously, “What about the [Eye of Destruction]?” Jack then closed his right eye and blinked his left eye three times in succession. When he opened his eye again, it was covered in a red glow. He then said, “This is the [Eye of Destruction], it allows me to see the weak point of everything. This is not only limited to technology but also extends to someone’s attacks or defensive stances. For technology, it still has the prerequisite that I have to have the knowledge of how it works but for attacks and stances, it does not have this kind of requirement. Thanks to the good synergy between the [Eyes of Destruction and Creation] and [Metal Manipulation] I was ranked as a SSS Rank ESP-er and enrolled at Garden of Eden.”

The Captain sucked in a deep breath as he said, “Well, those abilities truly do complement each other very well.” Jack nodded his head as well. Although it was a short chat, Jack was exhausted. He was still quite weak and seeing Jack with the sleepy face, Ellen said, “Okay, you should eat some nutrients and then head back to sleep. It will take you a while to recover so don’t push yourself too much and allow your strength to return to you.” As she said that, she looked towards Krieg and said, “You carry him to the mess hall, we will all have a good meal.” Seeing her so serious, everyone’s mood lightened up as well.

Although Jack was still very wary of all of them, he slightly lowered his guard. These three were actually the only people that Sandra had ever showed her smile to as well. She came to the ship four years ago but the only ones she opened up to, even by a tiny bit, were these three. Krieg and Ellen tried to care for her like they would for their own daughter and for them, she was like that. The Captain was that weird uncle that showed up at Christmas and brought gifts to everyone despite being completely broke.

The general atmosphere they gave off was that of a gentle family. Jack couldn’t remember the last time he felt like this and slightly grew accustomed to this gentle atmosphere. While they were moving to the mess hall to get something to eat, they gave Jack a tour of the ship as well. Ellen, had actually run off in advance with Sandra to prepare the food. Since there were very few people left on the ship, they didn’t run into that many of them during their tour. However, the ones that they did meet, they introduced them to Jack and Jack introduced himself to them as well.

All of the people on the ship were friendly towards Jack as well and after having three days to digest everything Jack had said to them, they all eased up towards him and actually felt sorry for him. They could not imagine the environment that he had grown up in so everyone on the ship took it as a duty to make his stay with them as good as possible. On their way to the mess hall, Jack suddenly said, “The atmosphere here is very friendly. Everyone seems like one big happy family.”

Hearing this, the Captain laughed and answered, “Well, everyone on the ship is here because of a reason and none of them are ones that were happy. Everyone on the ship treats each other like family because they can somewhat relate to each other. Well, your case is a bit special….” As he said so, Jack nodded in understanding. Also, since the hallways were quite high, Jack was now sitting on Krieg’s shoulders instead of having a piggyback ride. Soon, they reached a big hall that had over a dozen long tables.

Currently, no one else was eating so Krieg and John took Jack to sit at the table closest to the kitchen. John explained to him, “Since most people are currently on leave, there is no point in having the cooking staff stay behind as well. Everyone that is left can either cook for themselves or just go out to eat and then come back.” Suddenly, Ellen poked her head out from the kitchen and said, “We will be done in a second, so be prepared for a feast.”

Hearing this, both John and Krieg seemed very eager. Seeing their excitement, Jack asked in confusion, “Is it rare for Ellen to cook?” Krieg nodded his head seriously as he said, “Her food tastes absolutely delicious but she doesn’t cook that often. Only on rare occasions, so it is your lucky day.” John also nodded and said, “After you taste her cooking, even the most luxurious gourmet dishes will taste like stale bread in comparison.” Hearing this, Jack also eagerly waited for the food. He had not had a decent meal for years as in Garden of Eden, they usually dropped a fixed amount of dry rations in a designated spot and left it up to themselves to see who got how much. About ten minutes passed and the table was covered in various dishes.

There were boiled potatoes with sauce and different kinds of salads, there were also a few types of different meat. Jack couldn’t honestly remember when he had last seen this much food, not to mention the food was warm and not some dry military rations. Seeing the almost salivating Jack, Ellen immediately filled his plate with a big portion of food and after everyone had taken a plate full of food, they all expected Jack to eat first.

Jack was cautious and it hadn’t been the first time, he had eaten poisoned food, so he was quite reluctant to eat it. Ellen immediately guessed it and smiled, “You don’t have to be afraid of poison. If we wanted to kill you, we could have done so during the three days you were unconscious.” Hearing Ellen’s statement, Jack just smiled wryly. None of the people present actually blamed him for being cautious because they had heard some bits and pieces about the Academy from Sandra. Actually, it was a bit of a deja vu for them all. Sandra had been just like Jack when she first arrived. She had graduated only a few months prior to deserting here position and being picked up by John.

After taking a deep breath, Jack finally took a bite. After that he just started ravenously devouring everything in front of him. Seeing him eat so heartily, everyone just let out a laugh and also started eating. It didn’t take even 15 minutes for the table to be completely cleared of food. After everything had been eaten, Jack just sat there and said, “That was delicious.”

Krieg, who was sitting to the right of him just patted him on the back and said, “Isn’t it like I said? Even top class gourmet food can’t compare to Ellen’s cooking.” Jack eagerly nodded to Krieg’s statement, agreeing whole heartedly. Ellen however blushed and said, “Maybe I should cook more often then.” Jack eagerly nodded to that and even John and Krieg did so as well. Suddenly, Jack felt tiredness come over him as he jawned.

Seeing this, Sandra asked Jack, “Do you want to go back to sleep?” Jack nodded his head sleepily as the answer. His body had not recovered enough for him to be able to be up for too long. His body had also obtained a lot of nutrients and he needed time to digest them. Sandra nodded her head and stood up to walk next to Jack. She then said, “Okay, let’s return to the room then and you can have a long nap.” Jack took her hand and followed her to the room.

After the two had left, Krieg looked at John seriously and said, “That little guy dropped his guard quite a bit compared to the first time I met him. Although he is still wary, it doesn’t show that much any more.”John also nodded as he added, “He is good at adapting to the environment. Also, is it just me or has Sandra developed some kind of a connection with him already?” IT was then that Ellen came back from washing the dishes from the kitchen. She heard John’s sentence and she said, “Sandra told me that he remind her of her little brother. She knows that Jack isn’t him but she said that he looks exactly like him.”

Hearing this, both John and Krieg nodded in understanding. As they were discussing this, George and a robust old man who seemed to be about 60 years old walked in.

December 4, 2016December 4, 2016 by lilporo

Prologue: The boy chained to the wall

Amidst the vast starry sky, a massive battleship was currently flying towards it’s base. The ship was enormous and it was obvious that it was a massive battle cruiser. More than a cruiser, it was more like a giant flying fortress. On the hull of the massive battleship was an emblem of a golden lion holding a sword. This was the national emblem for the Krieghrich Empire, a superpower that ruled over 12 planets. The regime of Kriegrich Empire was a strict military one.

The position of the Emperor was passed down within the family and the Emperor was also the Supreme Chief of Command. If he said to go right, then everyone would only go right, no one would even dare to think of going to the left. The Emperors words were supreme and anyone who disobeyed them, regardless of their status, would end up executed.

Inside the massive battle cruiser, inside the holding area of prisoners, there was a young boy that was barely ten years old. The cell the young boy was in was completely covered in lime green stone. The material the cell was covered in was called “Adatantium”.

It was a very special material that actually was able to nullify a person’s ability to use their ESP ability. Scientists have been researching Adatantium for decades if not even centuries but they still could not replicate the conditions to create Adatantium themselves.

Their only income of the special mineral was from meteors and asteroids, however not every single meteor or asteroid gave birth to this mineral. Also, the ones that gave birth to it, did so in miniscule amounts as after refining the ore, there would only be about 10-20kg of it. Veins that produced more were a top level national secret.

Besides the room covered in a layer of Adatantium, the young boy also had his hands and feet chained with with chains made of Adatantium. The little boy’s appearance was actually very unsightly. His light blonde hair had traces of blood in it and his shirt shirt and pants were also in tatters and covered in blood. On his body, there were many signs of beating, cuts and even scorch marks. The young boy also looked like he had not had a decent meal for months.

Outside the cells, there was a squad of 10 men fully armed and in full battle gear. They were there just in case that the little boy decided to do something. All the other prisoner’s were scared witless when they saw the treatment that the malnourished little boy was given. In the cell adjacent to the little boy’s was a brawny bald man. His cell was pure white and he only had handcuffs on him. His face held many scars and normally he would look quite vicious but currently the brawny man was quite scared. He had been there when the little boy had been brought in.

The Captain of the ship personally escorted the boy here and until now, the security around him had not relaxed one bit. Finally, the brawny man could not hold his curiosity back any more and asked one of the guards, “Hey, what the hell is up with that little boy? Isn’t it a tad too much of security for a little boy that seems like he is about to die?”

The guard acted as though he had not heard anything. Seeing the guard give him a cold shoulder, the brawny man hit the transparent cell door and shouted, “Answer me fucker! What Fuck did that little boy do, massacre a fleet or something?!” The guard again acted as if he had not heard anything.

Just as the brawny man was about to give up and turn around, he heard a weak voice, “The reason for this treatment is that I escaped “Garden of Eden” and killed off all of my pursuers. However, who would have thought that they would send a Fleet Commander after me?”

Hearing this the weak voice explain it, the guards immediately went on guard as the leader shouted, “Hey, shut up. You will be punished according to the rules when we get back.”

Hearing this the young boy just laughed weakly, “Do you honestly think that you guys can keep me locked up in the Bird Cage? The moment these chains come off, I am out of there.”

*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

The boy had a coughing fit and coughed a few bits of blood as well. Then the young boy just smiled with a trickle of blood running down the corner of his mouth, “I escaped once, I can do it again.” Hearing this rebuttal, the guard who shouted before wanted to say something but suddenly the ship shook.

*Boom*

Just as the boom echoed out, an alarm was blasted to the speakers, “Enemy attack! Everyone battle stations!”

December 4, 2016December 4, 2016 by lilporo