Chapter 72: Awakening

Safo requested a status report from the Captain and was assured that all of their followers were gone. Captain Seaghoul made the right decision not to jump from Track to Track but to drive the ship manually towards nowhere.

There were no Tracks near the restricting area. Assuming that no one in their right mind would drive to the dangerous zone, ships simply lost their Tracklog of the Green Twinkls teleportations.

Safo Nur felt a bit intimidated by the stories about the Blacks, especially one particular Dark-Black that 15 years ago ravaged a galaxy cluster near the restricted area. It killed billions of billion innocent people before the Emperor's arrival.

The two fought for over three months demolishing that galaxy cluster into the vacuum when finally the Dark-Black died. The Emperor, on the other hand, returned without any severe injuries, only exhausted. The whole Empire celebrated the great feat of the leader and the most powerful person in the universe.

The corpse of the Dark-Black was preserved and put on public observation near the capital planet of the Empire. The body of the beast was as big as the regular solar system. It is about 6 billion kilometers.

Safo's jaw dropped, his eyes were wide open. "What? A creature that is big as a solar system? 6 billion kilometers? Are you fuc*ing kidding me? How can one person fight such a thing?" Safo couldn't even imagine the proper size of the beast let alone think of a fight with it.

"Are you sure that we can go near those White-Blacks? I don't feel comfortable anymore." Safo almost stuttered his words.

Captain Seaghoul calmed him down saying that the ship will not go close to the planet that was currently occupied by two White-Blacks. "My team is not crazy."

Safo also learned that the voyage would take 4 more days only to get there, after a day of resting the Geen Twinkle was supposed to head back to the Track. The idea was to be sure that the ships tailing them will lose them for good.

"Two weeks is not bad. We have plenty of time." Safo went to his room to take a shower and change his clothing. He was busy catching criminals as a superhero of the ship and hitting on Dost for a couple of days and nights.

"Wow look at my abs. My gym training finally started to pay off." Safo admired his reflection on the mirror, he had a sixpack, bumpy hard chest, muscular legs, and arms. "Did I grow in height a bit?"

{"Yes, you were 168 meters now you are 1.71."} Luna chipped in with her comments and observations.

"Hew why are you watching? You promised not to peep at me while I'm in the shower, Luna."

{"Sorry, sorry."} Luna giggled. {"You didn't stop drinking your first course even while being high. You called it a dragon piss, though. Haha. Your face was even more disgusted, but you have finished your course."}

"I don't remember that part. So embarrassing. I'm glad that I didn't take a break from it. I like how I look now. And I feel stronger, much stronger." Safo posed before the mirror for some time and went on to do his procedures.

Refreshed and ready to work, Safo left his room, the first thing that he wanted - was to praise his team for successfully finishing the hunt. Kutch and his intel about apes and the habitat played a great role in completing the mission without any casualties. Yon and his military experience helped with the weapon and vehicle choice. Dost, as usual, was the best in shielding the team.

Upon telling them his gratitude Safo bowed to them, making the team a bit uncomfortable.

"Cut that thing Safo, we are in one team. Your success is our success too. We are happy to be by your side and help you to be the best King." Despite his words, Kutch was enormously happy that Safo remarked on his efforts.

Yon and Dost were also pleased to be praised.

"How is O'rmon?" Safo remembered the other member of his team, who was currently in the "correctional labor" program.

"She is having a hard time, to be honest. She is not used to doing that kind of job. She is a warrior, not a writer. But I can guarantee that she is doing her best in her autobiography." Kutch had stopped himself from asking Safo to free his sister but changed his mind. He didn't know the reason, though.

"Good, let her be, for now. Right now, before we reach that planet, I want to resume our training. We have a combat room, we shall use it, four of us." Safo was eager to practice hand-to-hand combat. Four opponents all against each other promised to be interesting.

"Count me in." Kutch clashed his fists.

"Why not?!" Yon wanted to show his Imperial-training results.

"I will try my best to ease my punches." Dost was genuinely concerned about not injuring anyone.

A basketball court size room with the soft mats and pictures of martial arts celebrities of the universe, on the walls, greeted four combatants. Three meters tall, husky, wide-framed green lion on the first corner. Brown gazelle with powerful legs on the second corner. Silver robot without any biological parts on the third corner. And a human boy on the fourth.

The hologram on the wall showed a status bar for each fighter, 100 points. It was the number of punches that one could take. The second row of numbers currently showed "0", it was the points for successful hits.

"We fight until one of us remains," Kutch announced the rules while the hologram on the wall started a countdown.

[3...2...1...FIGHT!]

Everybody dashed to the center of the field. Each of the combatants had its own speed. The gazelle Yon was the fastest when it came to the explosive speed from the place. He was the first who reached the middle of the room, which gave him a benefit in a form of time to launch the first attack towards Kutch.

Kutch utilized his animal body to the limits but still lost to Yon for an inch. He knew that the soldiers of the Empire would not lose the opportunity to punch him so he was ready. Kutch locked his hands in a block in front of his chest, ready to meet the kick from Yon.

Dost was about to be the third to join the party but he refused to give up effortlessly. Instead of running he brought his feet together and jumped towards Yon who was about to kick Kutch frantically. Dost was coming from Yon's right side so it gave him an advantage of being undetected.

Safo Nur was the last one in the race, despite that, he wore a wide smile on his face. His guess about Green Lord's fruit was right. Earlier after waking up he went to the medical room for a check-up and saw that his normal brain activity and a number of neurons grew fivefold. He understood what it meant, but wanted to check it in a match.

Safo saw his opponents in slow motion, he could see their moves and even predict, to some extent. His perception was faster and sharper than before. However, his body was not as fast as his thinking abilities.

When Safo reached the center of the room, Dost already smacked Yon out of the way, making Safo face the lion.

A massive green fist, like a truck against the confused deer on the road, came rushing to Safo's head. But Safo saw it coming and already calculated the outcome of the collision. He simply moved his head slightly to the right and lifted his left hand to catch the hand. It was Miloud's technique - the "Bait".

Safo performed the bait accurately but still couldn't move the three-meter-tall opponent. Kutch retracted his arm, knocking down Safo. The difference in the sheer amount of strength was obvious. Safo stumbled back but quickly regained his stance only to ready himself for the second attack from the lion.

Safo felt relieved when in the corner of his eyes he saw a flying robot. Dost bashed Kutch, canceling the punch. Irritated by the distraction, Kutch captured Dost by the waist and performed a perfect throw of the opponent over himself. Dost was pinned, head down, to the ground. Safo saw an opportunity.

Earlier Safo Nur noticed that Yon jumped to the air and kicked Dost in the direction of Kutch with both his legs to the metal chest. Safo calculated how long it could take for Yon to get up and run towards them so he acted fast. Kutch was bent back, his stomach open to the strike. Safo stuck his legs firmly to the soft mat and launched his right fist to the lion's ribs.

[Safo Nur - 100 points

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The punch was heavy, it made Kutch fall to his side with the Dost still in his hands. But Safo nur couldn't be happy for long. A leg appeared on the place where a second ago was Kutch's body. Safo managed to cross his arms at the last moment and was sent flying with his forearms almost broken.