Planet Horizon was not just a barren rock at the edge of the galaxy. It used to hold beautiful natural scenery, with clear rivers that cut through the valleys and sustained the five surrounding villages. However, all of that changed since Thor—one of The Trinity of Sovereigns—sank his fangs into this planet.

  ?In the middle of the city stood a giant extraction factory that produced combat weaponry for him and his army. The factory was not just a cold steel building; it was a monument of disaster. Its giant chimneys spewed thick black smoke that covered the sky, while its toxic waste was discharged directly without filtration into the upper reaches of the river.

  ?The water of life that used to be clear had now turned into a thick, dark purple poison. The villages were severely affected, including the village of the Gorgonid race located right below the hill where Master Jiren lived. The residents began to drop one by one due to a mysterious illness from the wastewater.

  ?And herein lay Thor's true cruelty: they did not fix the factory. Instead of taking responsibility, Thor's forces monopolized the tragedy. They created the only antidote for the disease, then sold it back to the dying people at an astronomical price. A perfect cycle of suffering and extortion.

  That day, the sun shone quite brightly through the gaps in the leaves. Unlike usual, Lucas, Blade, and Niko did not train at the dusty peak of the hill. They moved their training location to a forest area near the Gorgonid village.

  ?After hours of draining their sweat, the three young men were now sitting and resting on large rocks on the banks of a dried-up river. Their development was incredibly rapid. Their muscles looked more defined, and their auras were no longer as fragile as when they first arrived.

  ?Niko let out a long sigh, staring at his own palms, then turned to look at his two best friends.

  ?"You two are really amazing, huh," Niko muttered with a slightly self-deprecating tone. "Your Lux development has left me far behind. I feel... a bit left out."

  ?Lucas, who was gulping down water from his waterskin, immediately stopped. He wiped his mouth and smiled widely.

  ?"Don't say that," Lucas gently scolded. "You can't compare your finish line with someone else's running track. Everyone's speed and time to bloom are different."

  ?Blade, who was sitting cross-legged while wiping his katana blade, chimed in without looking at Niko. "Just focus on what you can control right now. Don't force your energy. Inspiration and soul breakthroughs usually come when you stop forcing them."

  ?Niko blinked, staring at Blade in disbelief. "Whoa... since when could you motivate people with wise words, Blade? I thought your head was only filled with swords and how to slice people."

  ?Lucas burst into loud laughter hearing Niko's teasing, while Blade just snorted in annoyance and turned his face away.

  ?BEEP-BEEP-BZZZZT!!

  ?Their laughter stopped. From behind the bushes, a sound of mechanical panic could be heard. ROT flew speeding toward them at full throttle, as if being chased by a monster.

  ?Behind the little robot, a little girl from the Gorgonid race ran panting while carrying a bug net.

  ?"Stop! Don't run, you wild iron beast!" shouted the stone girl.

  ?Seeing three foreign young men in front of her, the girl's steps halted immediately. Her eyes widened in shock. She gripped her net nervously.

  ?"Hey, hold on," Lucas stood up, slowly raising his hands so the girl wouldn't be afraid. "Where did you come from? Why are you playing all the way out here in the middle of the forest?"

  ?The girl looked down, the cracked tips of her toes scraping the dirt. "I-I saw that iron ball flying near the edge of my village... I thought it was a new species of wild iron beast. So I chased it to catch it. I... I didn't know the iron ball was your pet! I am really, really, really sorry!"

  ?The girl immediately bowed deeply in panic.

  ?"Hey, it's okay! Don't be scared like that, we aren't bad guys," Lucas said gently, walking closer with a warm smile. "And this iron ball is not a beast, let alone a pet. He is our friend. His name is ROT."

  ?Hearing his name called, ROT floated closer to the girl and spun around slowly, emitting a friendly blue light.

  ?"Really? He's your friend? Oh, he has a name..." The Gorgonid girl stared at ROT with sparkling eyes full of admiration, her fear instantly replaced by a child's typical sense of wonder. She then looked down at ROT. "I'm sorry, ROT. I chased you until you were scared earlier."

  ?ROT responded with a cheerful Beep sound.

  ?"My name is Tira. Nice to meet you," said the girl, smiling widely enough to show her teeth.

  ?"Whoa, you're a girl who easily gets along with others, huh," Niko chuckled, also stepping closer. "My name is Niko. This one is Lucas, and the one whose face is scrunched up like a bad guy over there is named Blade. I actually told ROT to check our ship far off near the village. Sorry if he startled you when he passed by."

  ?Tira was still staring at ROT without blinking. "Big brothers... can I ask for permission to bring your friend to my house for a little bit? My older sister is at home. She... she would definitely be so happy if she could see ROT!" Tira pleaded enthusiastically.

  ?Lucas and Niko looked at each other, then smiled. "Absolutely! Let's go visit and take a break while we're at it," Niko replied.

  ?And so they walked, following Tira along the trail toward the outskirts of the Gorgonid village.

  Upon arriving at a rickety bamboo shack, Tira immediately pushed the door open with enthusiasm.

  ?"Come in, Big Brothers! Don't be shy!" Tira exclaimed, then ran to a dimly lit corner of the room. "Arin! Arin! Look, I brought something amazing for you!"

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  ?When the three young men stepped inside, the smile on Lucas's face slowly faded. In that corner of the room lay a Gorgonid girl older than Tira. The girl's stone body looked extremely fragile, peeling away, and her chest rose and fell with very heavy breaths.

  ?"This is Arin, my sister," Tira introduced proudly. "Arin, look! There's a round robot that can fly!"

  ?Arin, who was fighting against immense pain all over her body, tried hard to open her eyes. Seeing ROT floating and emitting colorful lights, the corners of Arin's lips slowly pulled up, forming a very weak, faint smile.

  ?"Look! She's smiling. Big Sister Arin is happy to see ROT," Tira said joyfully.

  ?However, Lucas, Blade, and Niko only stood in stiff silence. Their hearts sank seeing that tragic condition.

  ?"Tira..." Lucas stepped forward carefully. "What's wrong with your sister? Is she sick?"

  ?"Yes. She is severely ill," answered a hoarse, heavy voice from the direction of the doorway.

  ?Everyone turned around. Tira immediately cheered, "Dad!" and ran to hug the leg of the large man who had just entered.

  ?Niko and Blade widened their eyes. The man was carrying a wooden bowl filled with hot porridge. His face and body were still covered in unhealed cracked scars.

  ?"You're the Mister from the city market back then!" Niko exclaimed, holding back his surprise.

  ?The Gorgonid man fell silent for a moment, looking at Niko and Blade alternately. "Oh... it's you guys. I know who you are too. I heard from the villagers that you are the students of Mister Jiren who lives at the top of the hill."

  ?The man smiled tiredly, then walked past them toward Arin's sleeping mat. "Look at this, Arin. Dad brought you your favorite porridge," he said softly.

  ?"What exactly happened, Mister?" Blade asked, his voice sounding colder and more serious than usual. "Why is Tira's sister like this?"

  ?The Gorgonid man stayed silent for a long time. He set down his bowl of porridge, then sat on the dirt floor with a facial expression that implied deep despair.

  ?"Because you are outsiders, of course you know nothing about the nightmare in this place," sighed the Mister with a blank stare.

  ?"What exactly is going on, Mister?" Niko pressed, his gut feeling starting to turn sour.

  ?"In the past, this place was very fertile," the man began to tell his story, his voice trembling to hold back anger and sorrow. "This village, and the other villages, heavily relied on the clean river flow that cuts through the valley. But that glory was stolen ever since Thor's forces built a giant factory in the middle of the city."

  ?Hearing the name "Thor", Niko's face instantly hardened.

  ?"The factory spews pollution into the air and dumps deadly chemical waste into the upper reaches of our river," the man continued. "One day, Arin and Tira were playing in the river area. Arin slipped and fell into that thickly polluted water. A few days later... this disease started devouring her body. Not just Arin, hundreds of residents from other villages also began to drop."

  ?"Thor..." Niko growled softly, his hands clenching tightly until they trembled. "The forces of that False God are truly vile! They destroy everything!"

  ?"Is there no healer or medicine that can cure it?" Lucas asked straightforwardly, his eyes showing genuine sorrow.

  ?The Gorgonid man looked down. "There is... There is an absolute antidote that can restore our bodies from that waste. But that antidote is exclusively produced by Thor's factory itself. And they sell it in the city at a very, very astronomical price. A price that could never be afforded by low-class people like us."

  ?The air inside the shack felt frozen.

  ?Blade narrowed his eyes. The puzzle pieces in his head finally connected. He remembered the scene at the market yesterday—how the stone man in front of him was beaten mercilessly by a four-armed monster for some pocket change from a bet.

  ?"So because of that..." Blade's voice broke the silence. "Because of that, you were willing to give up your life to be beaten in that illegal betting arena? Just to gather funds to buy the antidote?"

  ?The Mister did not answer, he only shed tears in silence.

  ?Blade gritted his teeth. "What a disgusting tactic. Instead of stopping their waste, they exploit your suffering to monopolize the situation and rake in profits."

  ?Lucas walked slowly toward Arin's sleeping mat. The young man who was usually explosive now cast aside all the anger from his face. He knelt down, stared into Arin's droopy eyes, and gave the brightest and most comforting smile he had.

  ?"You will definitely get better, Arin," Lucas said gently, his tone full of certainty. "We promise."

  ?Hearing that, Arin tried to smile again, a small effort that was heartwarming but simultaneously heartbreaking. Seeing the sincerity of the foreign young man, the Gorgonid man could no longer hold back his sobs. He wept bitterly, covering his cracked face with his two large hands.

  ?Lucas slowly stood up. When he turned his body to face the door, his gentle smile disappeared without a trace. His face was now filled with steely resolve and boiling anger.

  ?"I promise," Lucas declared firmly, his voice echoing inside the small shack. "I will find any way to help Arin get better so she can run with Tira again. And I will restore the villages below this hill."

  ?"You're right, Lucas," Niko agreed just as firmly, punching his own palm. "We are going to destroy this insane monopoly system!"

  ?Blade stared at Lucas's broad back. For a second, a bitter past memory flashed in Blade's mind—a faint shadow of his mother saying something to him.

  ?Blade closed his eyes, throwing away that shadow, and then a small smile that was very rarely seen appeared on his lips.

  ?"That is a given," Blade said calmly, his hand gripping the hilt of Yami-Kiri tightly. "Whatever your plan is, I will always stand behind you."

  ?The Gorgonid man lifted his tear-soaked face. He looked at the three young men alternately. "You guys... thank you. I... I can only pray that this hope becomes a reality."

  ?The sun began to set as the three of them walked up the hill back to Master Jiren's shack. Their steps felt much heavier than usual.

  ?In the yard, Jiren was already standing and waiting while smoking his tobacco pipe.

  ?"Where have you been?" Jiren reprimanded, his sharp eyes immediately scanning the faces of his three students. "And why are you wearing gloomy faces like people who just saw a ghost?"

  ?Lucas immediately forced an awkward laugh, putting his arms around Niko and Blade's shoulders. "Ah, it's nothing, Master! We are just really exhausted from the physical training in the forest earlier! I feel like my bones are going to fall apart!"

  ?Jiren narrowed his eyes, blowing out a thin trail of smoke. He knew his students were lying, but the old man chose not to press them. "Hurry inside and clean yourselves up," he ordered briefly.

  ?Night arrived. The wind blew coldly through the gaps in the bamboo shack's walls.

  ?In one corner, Master Jiren was already fast asleep, his snores sounding rhythmic. However, on the other side of the room, Lucas, Blade, and Niko were still awake in the darkness, staring at the thatched roof ceiling.

  ?"You can't sleep, Lucas?" Niko whispered softly, breaking the silence. "You must still be thinking about the village earlier, right?"

  ?"I don't know, Niko," Lucas replied quietly, using his hands as a pillow behind his head. "I'm just thinking... are we really capable of fulfilling the promise I made earlier?"

  ?From the dark corner near the window, Blade chimed in with a cold voice. "Of course. Right now, there is nothing else in my head but thinking of a way to slice off the head of that god named Thor with my katana."

  ?Lucas smiled faintly hearing his best friend's lethal ambition.

  ?"Do you still remember my words before we left Planet Omnira back then, Blade?" Lucas asked softly.

  ?"Bringing peace," Blade answered without hesitation.

  ?"Yes. Peace," Lucas repeated firmly, his eyes staring sharply into the darkness. "I have a high desire to bring peace wherever I set foot, after I become strong. And starting tomorrow, we will take that first step."

  ?Blade stayed silent for a moment. The sound of his scabbard scraping against the wooden floor was heard softly. "Whatever your decision is, Lucas... like I said this afternoon. I will always stand behind you."

  ?Amidst that quiet and dramatic atmosphere, Niko suddenly chuckled softly.

  ?"Since when could you act that solid, Blade?" Niko teased from beneath his blanket. "You're giving me goosebumps."

  ?"Shut your mouth, Bookworm, or I'll cut off your tongue," Blade threatened, although his tone of voice wasn't truly angry.

  ?Lucas laughed softly, causing Jiren to stir slightly in his sleep. That night, beneath the roof of the simple shack, a great resolve had been born. The spark of rebellion against Thor had just been ignited.

  ?To be continued...