Got it. Dark Radiance, I need to contact its main AI.
Seconds later, the Dark Radiance reported, Connection established, commander!
***
“I’ve lost contact with the ship! Master, what’s going on?” Captain Guerin, on the verge of hysteria, addressing Tekot Smul.
Captain Guerin had never been in a situation like this. The ship ignored every one of his orders, all services were disabled, and the main AI seemed to have gone offline. Additionally, Tekot Smul was laughing like a madman.
Is he high on drugs? the horrified captain thought. “What’s going on?!”
When no answer came, Guerin decided to hide in the technical niche, his instinct for self-preservation stronger than his curiosity.
In his peripheral vision, something flashed.
What happened next seemed to be eclipsed, as if in a fog - a strange clanking noise filled his ears.
Tekot Smul shattered into pieces, drenching everything within ten feet with his blood.
Chapter 14. Dark Ghost
Alex had never experienced such eerie, wild emotions before. He seemed to have transformed into a huge black truck without brakes. He wanted only to tear and kill. When Alex saw the door of the ship slide open, he roared like a beast and rushed inside.
A message flashed before his eyes, which he didn’t even bother to read.
.
Attention, player Phoenix!
Spontaneous implementation of the Dark Ghost combat form
The following abilities are included:
Improved duplicate (cluster Dark Ghost)
Ghost Archer (cluster Dark Ghost)
Swordsman – Son of Shadows (cluster Dark Ghost)
.
Alex seemed to go mad, rampaging through the spaceship and destroying his enemies. He came to his senses only when he came across a medical capsule and the body of a stranger. The Dark Ghost ability helped him to identify AK-47 within this mutilated body.
Alex evacuated his friend to his ship using a portal. The medical droid reported his condition as critical, but there was no reason to despair. The droid promised to do everything possible to save AK-47. Alex guessed that his friend would, most likely, remain within this new body forever.
How will he take it? he thought. Hang in there, buddy. I’ve avenged you.
Intuition told Alex that Tekot Smul had earned the final death. This fact both inspired and angered him because of its implausibility. He tried to reconstruct the details of the fight, but the Dark Ghost ability seemed to be affecting his mental state. He only remembered the quick, repeated strikes of his prana dagger.
I wonder… where is the system alert? Why haven’t I received any messages?
Alex noticed the medical capsule had been activated. The revival of one of the fallen Homo-3s had begun.
He banged the capsule impatiently. “I need to talk to him.”
***
Consciousness slowly returned to Captain Guerin. He felt good... calm... and then intense fear.
I’m in respawn, he guessed.
Guerin recalled the invasion of the ship, and Tekot Smul the Many-Faced’s gruesome death. He remembered a black shadow bearing two dazzling blades bursting into the cabin and… darkness.
He jolted awake to the sound a loud scream, jumped to his feet, and drew himself to attention.
“Stand up!”
Captain Guerin broke out in a cold sweat as the black silhouette of a man with luminous blue eyes stood before him.
I don’t want to die, pounded in his mind.
“You will answer all of my questions,” the dark figure said. “If you deceive me, you will earn the final death. Silence is punishable by final death. Nod if you understand.”
Guerin gulped audibly and nodded. He believed the threats about the final death. The captain shivered like a sapling in a hurricane. Fighting the urge to drop to his knees and pray for mercy, he said, “I have children, sir.”
The black figure seemed to boil with darkness.
What a moron I am. He’ll kill me right now... the captain thought.
Oddly enough, the man merely poked him in the forehead with a black claw. “Loquacity is also punishable.”
Blood flowed down Guerin’s forehead in a thin stream, but he paid it no mind. He had a glimmer of hope of salvation.
The figure – Guerin hadn’t determined if it were ghost or demon – paced back and forth as if he were thinking over a difficult decision.
“Name yourself!” the shadow barked.
The captain almost jumped, but answered, “Homo-3. Guerin, Captain of the Star Jumper.”
The figure chuckled, apparently reading his level and pilot’s qualifications. “Are you the captain of this ship?”
Guerin bowed his head. “No, sir. My ship is on the border of this solar system. This small ship has been specially adapted for landing on planets.”
“What is the purpose of your presence on our planet?”
“Our mission is to kill the head of the Ice Vigor clan, Alex Phoenix. His genetic material must have opened access to the ancient assets of the clan.”
The man frowned. “What is your role in this mission?”
“Homo-3 top officials rented a ship from the Admins. They chose me as captain, I believe, because of my high qualifications.”
“Why did they need to rent this particular ship?”
This question surprised the captain, but he remained stoic. “The Star Jumper is ancient, fast, and stealthy. The rent is prohibitively high, but I don’t know the exact figure.”
“How many highly qualified specialists are on the ship?”
“Four – first pilot, navigator, mechanical engineer, and technician.”
The dark ghostly man pondered this. “Do you want to survive, Captain Guerin?”
“Very much, sir,” the captain croaked.
“I will give you a chance to atone for your mistakes. The Earthlings need pilot training, and you will lead it. If you refuse, you will die quickly and painlessly. Your answer?”
“I agree,” the Homo-3 muttered.
“You may choose someone from the Star Jumper team as your partner. The rest will die.”
These words shocked the captain. “Sir, it’s impossible to capture the Star Jumper. It is an
