Vice Captain Deus thought the plasma cannons would do nothing, just like before.

​However, contrary to his expectations, the moment he pressed the button to launch them, instead of regular blue plasma balls, the projectiles were now oppressively dark in color. The way they buzzed through the very fabric of space almost caused Deus to have a minor heart attack.

​When these horrifying plasma balls struck the Doombringer, the metallic frame collapsed.

Not from an explosion, but from a terrifying silent implosion. Not a single speck of dust was left on the spot as an aftermath.

​This was exactly the scene that blew Max’s mind. And not just Max; Captain Ajax, Lady Agnes, Flameboy, the injured Monk, Deus, Angelica, and even Moon were in shock.

The metal giant whom they were struggling against, was deated in a single strike.

What could more shocking than this?

​Even the enemy captain was left speechless by the sheer scale of the destruction.

​"How?" he muttered in disbelief, his eyes wide. "Just how is this possible? That was a Doombringer, for heaven’s sake!"

"Vice Captain, what did you just do?" Angelica asked excitedly, shaking his chair.

​Mr. Deus’s face remained blank. "No. I didn’t do anything. This is just—"

​"This is your charisma, Vice captain, we understand!" Max interrupted, laughing proudly.

​Even then, Mr. Deus remained puzzled by the anomaly of the situation.

​Meanwhile, only Neo’s face remained calm. At the corner of his lips, a barely perceptible smile formed. Not long after, he noticed Moon’s piercing gaze on him, as if she were seeing through what others couldn’t.

​Why is this girl looking at me? Did she suspect something?

​Yes, it was Neo who was the reason for the sudden, potent strike. He had secretly gone to the ammunition sector and synthesized the Plasma Cannons into a single Void Cannon. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

This Void Cannon was far more terrifying and lethal than plasma ones. Without active, top-grade defensive arrays, the Doombringer was nothing more than a fish on a chopping board.

The enemy captain’s face on the monitor shifted from shock to a pale, trembling mask of terror.

​On the bridge of the pirate flagship, the vice-captain frantically ran numbers on his tablet, his hands shaking.

"Captain Von! We have to pull back immediately! That single shot wiped out forty percent of our combat value in an instant. If they fire another volley like that, we won’t just be bankrupt, we’ll be stardust. We’ve already lost three billion in hardware alone!"

​The pirate captain, Von gripped the arms of his chair so hard the metal groaned. He thrm stared at the Vanguard, which now looked less like a luxury vessel and more like a sleeping predator.

​"Unacceptable..." he hissed, though his voice lacked its previous venom.

"Fine! Signal the retreat! But mark my words, Hydra Crew. This isn’t over!"

​The remaining pirate ships and mechs turned tail, igniting their thrusters to vanish into the dark void.

Flameboy and Agnes looked ready to give chase, but Ajaz’s voice boomed over their comms with absolute authority:

​"Stand down! Do not go after them. This could be a feint to lure us into a larger ambush or a minefield. We have a more important mission awaiting us. Everyone, get back on board immediately. We’re already within the gravity well of Planet Blue Slime."

​The crew returned to the ship, grumbling about the missed opportunity to finish the "scum," and the Vanguard re-ignited its engines.

The ship began to cruise forward.

​Just as the ship started moving, a bright disk of grey light suddenly manifested in the vacuum directly ahead of them.

​Before anyone could react—

​"Flash!"

Everything went a dusky grey.

---

​"Huh, where am I?"

​When Neo regained his vision, he was standing on a vibrant green land. Unlike Earth, which had turned into a world of concrete and suffocating high-rise skyscrapers, this place was covered in greenery.

​Neo was sure of one thing: this couldn’t be Earth.

​But the question was, how did he arrive here? And why was no one else in sight? Max, Moon, Angelica—absolutely no one was near him, except for giant, towering trees and the distant echoes of a waterfall.

​Recognition dawned in his mind like a spark. "That disk? Did it somehow displace us all?"

​That seemed like the only possible reason.

"But who did that? And where are the others?"

​Boink! Boink!

​Just then, the sound of slimy objects moving came through the woods. Neo turned to look and was surprised to see a blue slime, about the size of a soccer ball, bouncing toward him.

​"A slime? Was I transported to the Blue Slime planet?" he guessed, immediately becoming alert. The spirit blades inside his body hummed in response as if ready to strike.

​"Human, boink??" The slime’s eyes sparkled with childlike intelligence.

​Even more surprising was that Neo could understand its language clearly, even though there were no visible vocal organs on its slimy body.

​Could it be because of my Musical Blade-Storm physique? he wondered, noticing the familiar wavelengths and vibrations in the air.

​"Ooh! We have a human guest! Papa, Mama, a human has decided to visit us at last! Come quick!" the slime chirped excitedly, appearing very cute.

​No sooner had it spoken than two more slimes, bearing visible traces of age and experience, bounced forward.

​"Oh, it’s true, dear, boink! Our son truly found a human patron. We won’t have to go starving anymore."

​"You’re right, darling. But make it quick, before anyone steals our human away from us!"

​"Haha, true. But we have to show our hospitality properly; we need those coins. Son, go bring a flower necklace!"

​"Yes papa, right away! Boink!"

​Soon, under Neo’s curious gaze, the little slime brought a flower necklace and hurriedly presented it to him.

​"What’s this? You want me to take this?" he muttered.

​The little slime nodded cutely, turning to its father it said,

"Papa, this human guest is so intelligent. He understands us so well, unlike the previous one who couldn’t get a single word right..."

​"Of course I am, little one," Neo said, smiling as he cautiously picked up the flower necklace.

​The slime family was petrified when he spoke.

​"Wah! Y-You can understand us?"