I gripped the edge of the motorboat belonging to an Earth man the children called teacher Papa Zola as we headed toward the floating island....Is "Papa" part of his name, or is it a title?
"Are we still far away, teacher Papa?" Boboiboy asked.
"Not really. It's right over there."
He pointed toward the distant horizon.
"Zastin-sama, are we really going to chase that spaceship using... this wooden boat?" Kaja whispered beside me.
"We could pursue them with our own spacecraft, but the ship we brought to Earth was specifically designed for infiltration and the covert escort of Lala-sama. It has excellent optical camouflage, but its offensive and defensive capabilities are severely lacking compared to Tengkotak's mothership," Jaja explained while holding onto the boat.
"So you're saying we can't fight them head-on in the air?" Kaja confirmed.
"Correct." Jaja let out a short sigh.
"But do we really have to use this thing?" Kaja complained.
Ignoring Kaja's protests and Jaja's explanation, I scanned the surroundings in case there were any threats.
"Is something wrong, sir?" asked the girl in front of me named Ying.
"Nothing. But is it really alright to bring a civilian along?"
I pointed at Papa Zola.
"Ah, teacher Papa may look like an ordinary person, but he's done this kind of thing many times before," Ying replied.
Is that so?
He didn't seem particularly strong...Still, I shouldn't judge someone solely by appearances.
I looked toward the front of the boat.
The boy named Boboiboy stood there anxiously.
"Relax, young man. Instead of worrying, you'd be better off helping Justice catch some squid. Meow meow squid, meow meow squid."
Papa Zola cast his fishing line.
"Oh come on, teacher. Squid only come out at night," Gopal protested.
"Does your father sleep at night?" Papa Zola asked.
"Um... yeah?"
"Then what makes you think squid don't sleep at night too?!"
I quietly turned away from their ridiculous conversation and looked at the child steering the boat.
Why was a child driving instead of me or my subordinates?
Because none of us knew how to operate this primitive vehicle.
"If I remember correctly, your name is Fang, right?" I asked.
"Y-Yes, Lord Zastin," he answered nervously.
Why was he so nervous?
Had he already figured out who I was?
"No need to be so tense. You're an alien too, aren't you?"
His body stiffened as though I had exposed his deepest secret.
"Y-Yes. I'm from Planet Gogobugi."
He adjusted his glasses nervously.
"Oh, Planet Gogobugi. That's quite far from here. So why did you come to Earth?"
I already knew the answer, Ace-sama's report had explained everything.
"Uh... well..."
He glanced around helplessly, silently asking his friends for help.
"Ah, my friend moved here because of family problems, so he decided to stay on Earth. Hehe..."
The boy named Gopal answered awkwardly while throwing an arm around Fang's shoulder.
"Hmm..."
I narrowed my eyes while rubbing my chin.
I'd seen Ace-sama do this countless times.
He always made people nervous this way.
I never understood why he enjoyed it, Now I did.
"Um... is there a problem with that, sir?" Boboiboy asked cautiously after noticing Fang's nervousness.
Seeing his uneasiness, I smiled.
"No. It sounds like your family situation must have been quite serious."
I looked at Fang.
"Haha..."
He laughed awkwardly while glaring at Gopal.
As we continued talking, the girl named Yaya descended onto the boat using her gravity manipulation ability.
"Something's coming toward us," she reported.
"Huh? Let Justice have a look."
Papa Zola picked up a pair of binoculars.
"...That's my former student."
"Former student?" Boboiboy asked.
"Here, take a look."
He handed over the binoculars.
"That's Adudu and Probe! Ying, get us closer!"
"Okay!"
Ying jumped off the boat, ran behind it, and began pushing it at incredible speed.
According to the information, her ability either manipulated speed or time.
Even Ace-sama wasn't entirely certain.
Personally, I believed it manipulated speed.
Perhaps it bent time slightly, but complete control over time was an entirely different matter.
As the boat drew closer, we heard frantic shouting.
"Don't come any closer!"
Something beneath the water was chasing them.
I immediately realized the danger.
"Fang! Turn the boat around! Get us away from them!"
"Y-Yes, Lord Zastin! Ying, we're turning back!"
"Huh? Okay!"
"Why are we turning around?" Gopal asked.
Before Fang or Ying could answer, Jaja spoke first.
"Something huge is chasing them. It's safer if we keep our distance."
The moment he finished speaking, a gigantic octopus burst out of the sea and lashed its tentacles toward Adudu and Probe.
Fortunately, we had already put some distance between us, But we were far from safe.
"AAAH! A giant squid!" Gopal screamed.
"Technically, that's an octopus," Jaja corrected.
"Who cares?! Just get us away from it!" Gopal yelled again.
As we retreated, I saw the giant octopus capture Adudu and Probe with its tentacles, Boboiboy saw it too.
He immediately asked the flying Yaya to rescue them.
Yaya flew over and struck the octopus with tremendous force, making it release its captives.
After rescuing them and bringing them onto our boat, the enraged octopus began chasing us instead.
"AAAH! It's catching up! Teacher Papa, what are you doing?!" Gopal shouted.
"Hehe. It's okay if we don't catch any squid. Getting a picture of a giant octopus is just as good! Gopal, help Justice take a picture!"
Papa Zola replied cheerfully.
"What are you doing here, Adudu? Weren't you with Tengkotak?" Boboiboy asked.
"They threw us into the sea," Adudu answered bitterly.
"Y-Yeah! They gave us a tiny octopus first, then tossed us overboard! Now it's turned into... that!"
Probe pointed at the gigantic octopus.
"Oh. That octopus is quite interesting," Jaja remarked.
"Control your curiosity, Jaja," Kaja replied.
...There's no other choice.
I reached into my subspace storage and took out Strengthbot.
"Strengthbot! Activate!"
I tossed it into the air.
Strengthbot glowed brilliantly before splitting into multiple pieces that flew toward me, assembling themselves into a suit of armor.
"Wha...?!"
"I knew it."
"That's awesome!"
I could hear everyone exclaiming in amazement.
But first...I had to deal with the octopus.
I drew my sword and raised it high.
Deviluke Swordsmanship.
I swung my blade.
The giant octopus had no chance to evade.
It was split cleanly in half.
The sea before me also parted from the force of my slash.
With Strengthbot's enhancement, my power had tripled.
"...Phew."
I turned around.
Most of them stared at me in amazement.
Except Fang, Adudu, and Probe.
They looked tense.
Even frightened.
Well...Strengthbot and I were fairly well known.
"WOW! That was incredible! You split the giant octopus in half with a single slash!" Gopal shouted excitedly.
"Hahaha! Young man, you're amazing! Can I have your autograph?" Papa Zola asked.
Their reactions were understandable.
After all, they were still children.
Well...Everyone except Papa Zola.
"T-That's impossible!" Adudu exclaimed.
"What's impossible? We all just saw him cut the octopus in half," Gopal replied.
"Not that! He's Zastin... Deviluke's greatest swordsman!"
Adudu explained with a serious expression.
The children all looked confused.
So this was what it felt like to be famous in one place and completely unknown somewhere else.
"We can discuss that later."
I looked toward the floating island.
"We still need to get there, don't we?"
Everyone agreed to continue the discussion another time.
Then we resumed our journey toward the floating island.
TIMESKIP
We had finally arrived at the floating island. Except for Adudu and Probe, who were tied together and forced to come with us, everyone made their way through the dense forest. I had already deactivated Strengthbot while explaining who we were and the purpose of our mission.
"So, entering Earth without the Galaxy King's permission is illegal, and you're here to arrest Tengkotak because they violated that law?" Boboiboy asked.
"That's right. Even if they hadn't come to Earth, they would still be arrested. They're wanted criminals," I replied, careful not to reveal too much.
As we continued walking, Gopal suddenly shouted that tree roots had grabbed his leg. Naturally, no one believed him. I, however, did, so I ordered my subordinates to stay on high alert.
Sure enough, after we had walked a little farther, Gopal turned out to be telling the truth. Countless roots burst from the ground and lunged at us, forcing everyone to run for their lives. I could have dealt with them the same way I handled the giant octopus, but I didn't think it was necessary.
After running for quite some time, the roots finally stopped chasing us. Everyone was panting except for me and my subordinates. The worst off were Adudu and Probe, who had been forced to run while tied together.
Since night had already fallen, we decided to make camp. We lit a campfire and set up our tents. I volunteered to take the night watch alongside my subordinates.
While we were on watch, Boboiboy's watch suddenly rang. He woke up and answered the call. It was Ochobot. He said he was hiding somewhere and asked Boboiboy to come pick him up.
After hearing Ochobot's request, Boboiboy woke his friends, and they prepared to head toward the coordinates Ochobot had sent. I was about to accompany them when Jaja informed me that he had detected Tengkotak's as well.
I told Boboiboy that we would have to split up. He and his friends would rescue Ochobot, while my subordinates and I would pursue Tengkotak.
So we went our separate ways.
Though... it seemed they had forgotten something.