***

"You..."

Ron also recognized Ga-on. He had been his third victim. While the other passengers had scattered in panic without getting a good look at his face, Ron was different.

The question was how he had survived—

"Ah, a Slot. That explains it."

Matt and Sheet had inserted something similar, so it wasn't surprising. Playing dead when realizing he was at a disadvantage—not bad at all.

Ron giggled and added.

"How exciting, it's my first time killing the same person twice."

"This time, it's your turn to die."

"If you can manage it!"

Ron curved his fingers into the shape of a gun.

Ga-on lowered his stance as he stared at the index finger pointing precisely between his eyebrows.

Here it comes.

A flood of information flowed from Ron, who had resolved to kill. Though the method was unclear, his tense movements were genuine.

Moreover, it was a technique he had fallen victim to before.

The twisting of his waist following his instincts and his hair whipping to the side happened almost simultaneously. It was the result of eerily refined air sweeping past.

Yes, that aftermath revealed the true nature of Ron's Slot.

Its origin was a slaughter air gun, the Cattle Gun.

It was a weapon that fired extremely compressed air through a microscopic nozzle. No wonder it couldn't be seen with the naked eye. All that escaped was gas through a thread-thin gap.

However, if you asked whether it was impossible to dodge, that wasn't the case. If you assumed the index finger was the barrel, predicting where it would aim wasn't particularly difficult.

And so, Ga-on pulled the trigger after moving out of the attack range—

"Such toys won't kill me."

Ron didn't budge an inch. Though his clothes were pierced, his skin remained intact. A durability that could hardly be called human.

There was only one conclusion.

'Ublek Elastic Skin.'

A unit with the property of becoming harder the more impact it received.

It could be considered a more advanced form of the combat coat. If only it didn't have the drawback of requiring complete removal of one's natural skin.

"I thought something seemed oddly seasoned about you for someone so young. So you've completely rebuilt yourself. Don't tell me you're older than Vintelo?"

"What difference does knowing that make now? It won't change the fact that you'll die here."

Indeed, a regular pistol might lack the necessary firepower. And the rifle that the previous opponents had discarded was far away.

However, while facing him, one rule became apparent. When firing, he never bent his extended arm.

Almost like—

'A gun barrel.'

Index finger and arm, muzzle and barrel.

The picture was starting to come together.

But the same was true for Ron. After cornering Ga-on, he spread all five fingers.

The single barrel transformed into a penta barrel in an instant.

Naturally, as the shots would come in a line, the area needed to dodge increased accordingly.

Ga-on shouted as he repelled the approaching death by instinct alone.

"Miss Phytoncide!"

"You don't need to rush me, I know!"

The girl extended both hands and clicked her tongue. Ron was an experienced opponent. As someone who frequently used Slots, he had countermeasures prepared against Tuners.

He had even replaced some parts with purely hydraulic mechanical devices.

But this was the girl who had broken through the spaceliner's security. If it was anyone else maybe, but she would never yield in electronic warfare.

Click.

As the dry sound echoed, Ron faltered. An unexpected variable. No matter how many times he tried to operate it, the locked device wouldn't move.

He tried to stop and restart the related program, but—

"Nice assist."

Ga-on wasn't the type to just stand and watch until then.

Bang, bang, bang!

He fired repeatedly at Ron's eyelids.

Continuously, as if gouging.

Though it was the thinnest part of the Ublek Elastic Skin, expecting penetration was nonsensical.

He hadn't expected it in the first place. Everything was just a means to close the distance.

In a split second, Ga-on dove into Ron's embrace and struck the crook of his arm.

He had figured out that the Cattle Gun only worked when the hand and arm formed a straight line. In other words, if he could just bend the forearm—

"You won't be able to use this precious Slot either."

"So stupidly simple. Jumping right into the trap."

Ron smiled grimly and thrust forward his unrestrained arm. The Cattle Gun wasn't installed only in his right hand. The reason he hadn't used it was precisely for moments like this.

Quickly grasping the situation, rather than countering, Ga-on covered Ron's nose and mouth with his palm.

"Kup?"

"A magic trick loses its charm once it's exposed."

While it wasn't particularly powerful compared to other firearms, what made the Cattle Gun useful was its ability to generate ammunition semi-permanently.

All it took was breathing in and compressing the air internally.

However, since it required going through a series of steps, if the respiratory system was blocked, the next stage couldn't be performed.

Though Ron thrashed like a live fish in the rough grip, Ga-on had no intention of letting go.

Taking position behind him, he applied pressure to the entire neck.

An undoubtedly clean neck crank.

Crack.

The Ublek Elastic Skin was a unit that only showed strength against impacts. Conversely, it was vulnerable to unrelated attacks.

In other words, it couldn't escape submission holds.

As his vision turned red, Ron couldn't regain his senses. He was just bewildered. This wasn't how he had imagined things would go.

"Why...?"

"You're right that I don't know about you, but you don't know about me either, do you?"

If he had known, he would never have let him get close.

Ga-on sneered quietly and added.

"I'm going to kill you specifically—that's all I've thought about since our first encounter."

Crunch.

In that moment, Ron's neck bent in a direction it was never meant to bend.

*

Neria stopped in front of the engine room. Just as she thought she was getting a signal from Ron, the connection was suddenly cut off. Even after manipulating her device, there was no response.

Could something have happened in the cabin Ron was in charge of?

She tried to check on the status of her other colleagues just in case, but there was no response.

With an uneasy feeling, Neria spoke.

"It seems someone has interfered."

"This is a space with hundreds of people. If anything, it would be arrogant to expect no interference."

Neria regained her composure at Genesis's consistently calm attitude. Right, what mattered was achieving their objective, not fighting variables.

"Then I'll pick up the pace to avoid getting caught."

"An extremely wise decision."

When she entered the access code into the control pad, the triple-layered security system disengaged and the engine room opened.

What filled her view was the Tokamak, wrapped in orderly pipes and wires.

The donut-shaped nuclear fusion facility was quietly resonating.

"What's the estimated time required?"

"I estimate about 56 minutes."

Even this was the result of only including the absolutely essential elements.

The nuclear fusion reactor was the pinnacle of nuclear engineering. Complete disassembly required a complex, multi-step procedure.

"What if we take everything connected to the ion propulsion system?"

A major operation that would cross the entire passenger spacecraft.

That suggestion was essentially proposing to cut off the rear section. Given how bold a choice it was—

"I believe we can reduce it to 31 minutes."

Neria was not one to misunderstand what Genesis was aiming for with such words.

Their private spacecraft was already waiting outside in a docking position. Once separated, transport wouldn't be an issue.

"Then let's begin the operation."

As Genesis raised his arm, the plasma cutter spewed blue light.

*

"This is..."

The girl's eyes fell upon the half-destroyed bridge. The walls were covered in scratches as if torn by a beast. Sparks flew from the exposed bundles of wires.

What rose behind that was the thick smell of blood.

As the girl stepped back after looking at the thoroughly violated corpse, Ga-on quietly covered her eyes.

"Miss Phytoncide, you don't have to push yourself."

"I wasn't doing that."

"Alright, let's say it's just an adult's desire to show only good things to a child who hasn't fully grown up yet."

After patting the girl's head, Ga-on soon discovered a fallen figure. A middle-aged man wearing different attire from the crew.

The badge on his chest suggested his position.

"The captain?"

Ion Rowell.

His device showed clear signs of being scorched. It seemed to have overloaded, perhaps from someone forcing access.

"Must be the Tuner's doing, tsk."

It was safe to assume they had taken all the necessary information. Most likely, they had entered the engine room.

That's when they sensed movement near the entrance.

Just as Ga-on was about to draw his pistol from its holster, a voice came from the other side.

"Please stay calm, I'm not an enemy."

Somewhat disheveled features. With pale skin and clean hands, he looked just like an academic.

The approaching man awkwardly smiled and held out his badge. Simultaneously, one piece of information updated through the device.

Name, Raymond Horner.

His position—

"Space Marshal?"

"That's correct."

After his brief response, Raymond looked around and spoke.

"There are terrorists collapsed throughout the corridors. Did you handle them?"

"Yes."

"Let me express gratitude on behalf of the passengers. If it weren't for you all, the situation would have been much worse."

"It's too early for empty praise. Seems like they're after the ion drive."

Raymond scratched his chin as he let out a sigh at Ga-on's words.

"Indeed, if that's the case, I can understand all this commotion. But we're in a difficult situation."

"What's difficult about it?"

When the girl abruptly asked, Raymond pulled out an explosive from inside his coat. Ga-on had seen it before. It was what Vintelo had been installing in the cargo hold.

"That's an IED."

In other words, an improvised explosive device. And not one made from everyday materials, but a special version with enhanced firepower based on military-grade components.

"They're installed throughout the ship."

"Is that why you've been dawdling?"

"I've been disarming the bombs as I detected them with my sensors while coming here."

"This is bad."

Unfortunately, neither Ga-on nor the girl had a slot capable of detecting hidden IEDs like Raymond.

Which meant they had to rely entirely on Raymond's capabilities—

"We'll have to split up."

Explosive disposal and terrorist handling.

These were tasks that couldn't be handled by one person simultaneously.

"Then naturally, I'll need to handle the bombs. Would that be acceptable?"

"We don't have a choice, it's the most efficient way."

Even if they succeeded in subduing the terrorists, it would be meaningless if the spacecraft exploded.

Raymond exchanged glances with Ga-on and nodded.

"Understood. While it's inappropriate to burden passengers like this, we have no other options. I'll join you as soon as I finish disarming all the bombs."

"Don't be late."