Chapter 21: How to Play the Leading Role in a Space Opera?

Even after Kite severed them from the ship, the scattered steel plates remained under his control.

The ship's body remained unaffected by the succession of light bullets fired. Kite waited for Emotion's report, chuckling at the thought that Gilbert must be enjoying himself.

The steel plates glittered, reflecting the light bullets, creating a fantastical scene. Just as Kite wondered if the enemy would start noticing something was amiss, a display popped up with the report.

"Captain, sorry for the wait. There's no human presence on the ships outlined in red. On the blue ones, there are humans. Please be careful."

"Understood. Let's counterattack, then."

The ship Gilbert emerged from was indeed blue. Trusting Emotion's support, Kite confidently aimed at the red-circled ship.

First, the two ships are at the forefront.

"Go, worker bees."

Kite channeled power into the steel plates. Speed was powerful. He angled the plates to strike from below.

It looked more like a lightning-charged beam than a bullet.

Numerous steel plates, imbued with Kite's superpowers, flew in a straight line. They collided with the enemy ship's barriers, interfered, and eventually pierced through.

The barriers shattered some plates, but more made it to the enemy ship. Even if the armor individually deflected them, the relentless swarm of plates quickly stripped away the outer layers.

Once one breached the armor, there was no stopping them. The countless "worker bees" ravaged the ship's interior, emerging from various points.

The enemy ship, having likely destroyed the engine room, began to self-destruct, momentarily glowing bright from an explosion. Left, then right.

"While we're at it, let's grab some sturdy fragments."

Kite directed the intact plates to search for fragments that could replace the destroyed ones. A touch of power, and the new worker bees were ready.

"Reuse is important, after all."

The attack boat carrying Gilbert increased its barrage of light bullets. Without diverting his attention, Kite searched for the next target.

Almost simultaneously, the enemy ship fired back. Perhaps in a panic, they seemed willing to sink Gilbert along with them.

"Let's try this next."

To form two fists, Kite combined the plates.

He directed them to move to both sides of a ship with no humans and open their fists.

The plates forming the fists scattered. If the power's form were visible, it would show the plates concentrated at the fingertips of the opened hands.

A force field formed a massive hand that gripped the enemy ship. This time, the barrier's interference was stronger, concentrating fire on the fingertips, but they remained unstoppable.

Firmly grasping the enemy ship with both hands, Kite shook it like a cocktail. The ship, lacking any defense mechanism against such shaking, soon ceased its counterattack.

He then slammed the ship into a nearby enemy ship, sinking two more.

"Now, how many ships remain without humans?"

"Sixteen ships are without humans, and seventeen are with humans."

Just as Kite thought about quickly finishing them off, frantic communication came through. A blue-faced Devin appeared on the screen.

"What are you thinking!? Don't you realize there are hostages!?"

"It's fine. I'm targeting the ships without humans."

Kite calmly dismissed the threat from the nameless Devin.

"What is that ship from Earth?"

Despite an inexplicable sense of unease, Piklaskia suppressed his emotions, deeming them weak, and ordered an attack. After boarding Gilbert, he knew there was no room for excuses.

The ship's shattered fragments transformed into weapons that sank his allies' ships. According to what he'd confirmed while undercover on Earth, such weapons didn't exist. If so, the weapons must be Federation technology. However, the combat style was...

"No way. It can't be."

A forced communication between an ally and the enemy ship was visible on the edge of the screen.

The enemy stated they were only targeting ships without humans. This meant they already knew where the humans were. It wasn't a bluff. The four sunken ships indeed had no humans aboard.

"Hey, secure a retreat route immediately!"

"What are you saying, Piklaskia!?"

"I don't want to believe it, but that might be the Di Kigaia Zalmos."

"Ridiculous! Are you saying there's a Terapora Panesio on board!?"

"Otherwise, what else makes sense?!? Those fragments are earth-made alloys!"

Even after thousands of hits, Earth's alloys should be unable to destroy a Devin ship. The barriers were the same. Clearly, the ship had some other power at work, something their technology couldn't analyze.

According to Piklaskia, only one weapon from the Federation could defy the laws of physics.

Devin encountered a species capable of wiping out the military of an entire star cluster. During his time with the Federation, Devin attempted to incorporate Terapora Panesio's power. The Federation exiled the Terapora Panesio after they repeatedly failed to replicate their power.

"…Piklaskia."

"What is it?"

My colleague in charge of driving the train called out to me with a heavy voice.

Suppressing his anxiety, Piklaskia responded. The reply was the worst possible scenario.

"We can't. We are surrounded by Federation ships. Escape is impossible."

"Impossible!"

Everything defied expectations. He wondered if they had made a fatal mistake, as intense anxiety welled up again when the screen moved.

"No way. Are Earthlings utilizing that power?"

"Kite, Third-Class Citizen Enek Ragif. It seems a considerable number of Earthlings are captive."

"Ritimiele!"

Just as Kite sank his seventh ship, a message from an allyship arrived.

The ship's previous communication had just ended. They were screaming about killing the hostages until the very end, but maybe Devin wasn't very bright.

If they killed the hostages, there would be no reason for Kite to selectively sink ships. Hesitating and showing weakness to the enemy was far more dangerous for both him and the hostages.

"The encirclement is complete. We won't let them escape. Let us assist in rescuing the hostages."

"Much appreciated."

"We can't let Kite, a Third-Class Citizen, bear the burden alone. Now, witness the power of our ship."

With no chance of Devin ships escaping, there was no reason to refuse help.

Almost simultaneously, something resembling a bright red comet crashed into the enemy ship from the upper right. It shattered both the barrier and the exterior, deeply piercing the ship.

Kite and Emotion stood in stunned silence, watching. Bubbles emerged from the impact site, sealing the gaps.

"Assault ship Aganlange. Leave the hostages to us, Kite, and Emotion; take care of the remaining ships."

"Understood. Time to get serious."

The allies were truly reassuring.

Kite stood up from his seat with a smile on his face. In this exhilarated state, he felt capable of anything.

"Captain, what are you doing!?"

"I'm going outside to directly control the worker bees." Emotionally, support me."

A short-distance teleportation took him outside to the pedestal.

His feet adhered to the pedestal as if magnetized, and he felt no fear standing in space in his flesh.

"Captain!"

"It's okay, Emotion. As long as Queen Bee and I are together, everything within the range of this 'power' is under my control!"

A pale green light enveloped Kite's body as purple electricity intensified from his hair. All but the plates that formed the pedestal peeled off the ship, revealing Queen Bee's true form.

Taking a forward-leaning stance, Kite aimed at the enemy flagship.

"Charge, Queen Bee!"

"Clack, clack, clack! Ugh, no matter what happens, I don't care!"

Making a machine intelligence scream in terror wasn't something that happened often.

The plates assembled at the ship's front took on a form resembling both a wall and a spear.

"I guess it's as you expected. Rebecca, Alisa. The other two."

"K-Kite...?" Rebecca stammered.

"Sorry for the rough ride. That was an old-fashioned ram attack," Kite said, extending a hand to Rebecca and Alisa. Their parents—or rather, the two people behind them—were just extras.

The two hesitantly reached out to Kite, who then teleported all four of them into the Queen Bee just before a laser shot hit Kite's barrier and dissipated.

"So, the only hostages on this ship were those four. No, that's not it. I can't fit everyone into Queen Bee," Kite mused aloud. As much as he wanted to blow the ship to pieces, it wasn't an option.

While he sighed, a familiar Devin, trembling with fear, spoke up. "What are you? How can you, as a human, possess such power?"

"Oh, right. Not many in the Federation can use this ability," Kite replied.

"Don't be ridiculous! Are you telling me you've somehow convinced the Terapora Panesio to join you in such a short time?" Devin spat back.

"Huh? Oh... Yeah, I don't see the point in answering that," Kite said dismissively.

It seemed Devin couldn't accept that Kite was using superpowers. They preferred to believe that Kite had somehow allied with Terapora Panesio. This implied that they saw humans as inferior, and Kite saw no need to further the conversation.

"I suggest you surrender soon. For that, contact Ritimiele on the Aganlange," Kite advised.

"Ritimiele... They even brought out the vice representative of Fortress Zodokia. "What is so special about that planet on Earth?"

So Ritimiele was a vice representative. Kite had only known Ritimiele as a kind person, but now she realized they held a significant position.

"I guess... jellyfish," Kite said, wondering if Devan knew what that meant.

Devin's reaction didn't indicate understanding, but it didn't matter. Kite returned to the platform and began peeling the ship's hull away. As it depressurized, air whooshed out.

Ignoring the chaos inside the enemy ship, Kite focused on the next target, while Gilbert continued to fire light bullets from behind.

"Hmm. That rock looks good," Kite muttered.

Earth's gravity can pull a massive rock across the battlefield. It's about half as tall as the Devin ship. Kite ordered worker bees to latch onto the rock and stop its momentum, then maneuvered it above his head.

Using his powers, he began compressing the rock while encasing it in steel plates. His hair crackled with purple electricity, and soon a cylindrical formation of steel plates completely encased the rock, reducing its size and density.

Satisfied with the size, he aimed the makeshift cannon at the largest enemy ship not carrying human hostages.

"Apply rotation. Accelerate. Accelerate. Accelerate... Fire."

The super-compressed projectile spun like a bullet, piercing through barriers and armor as if they were paper. It ripped through the ship diagonally, causing it to collapse and explode from within.

"We surrender... Please, spare our lives," a desperate voice from the flagship crackled over the comms as Kite prepared to fire at the next target.