The next day, after a night's rest, Josh's group prepared to leave Sark City, aiming to cross the desert toward the Hirem Kingdom.
But just as they exited the city, they saw the young local they had saved the day before—Karlei—being surrounded outside the gates by a gang of people who looked like a dog-like race.
The city guards nearby were watching cautiously with rifles in hand, but none of them stepped in to help.
"Father?" Mike and Ben looked at Josh.
"Bresta," Josh replied without hesitation, instructing her to check what was going on.
Bresta nodded, got out of the vehicle, and walked over to ask one of the guards.
—
"Boss, I asked around. Those guys are from the Wild Dog Clan—a group of bandits who roam the borders of the three nations. Apparently, Karlei injured one of their men before, and now they've come looking for revenge. They've got some influence in the desert, so even Sark's guards don't want to mess with them. If this were happening inside the city, they'd intervene, but since it's outside, they say it's none of their business," she explained quickly after returning.
"Father, let's help him!" Ben blurted out, eyes gleaming.
From the way he looked, Josh could tell this had nothing to do with helping Karlei—he just wanted a reason to fight.
Even Mike was getting tempted.
"Don't look at me. If you want to go, go ahead," Josh said with a smirk. At the same time, he gave Bresta a subtle signal to keep watch over them.
Kids are growing up, he thought. Let them have their fun. I've got their backs anyway—what's the worst that can happen?
"Yes!" The two boys high-fived, grabbed their gear, and jumped out of the vehicle.
"Hey! These old bones haven't stretched in a while… if the kids are going, I'm coming too!" said Howard the Duck, pulling out a giant rifle that was bigger than him from who knows where.
Josh chuckled. This duck's alright.
—
At the gate, Karlei—ready to head back to his tribe with two pack beasts—stood frozen. A dozen or more members of the Wild Dog Clan were blocking his way, and his face was grim.
He had only gotten into a small scuffle with one of them during his last supply run. It was just an accident. He hurt the guy and left the city right after.
He never expected them to hold such a grudge—or track him so accurately. He had only arrived yesterday, and now here they were, surrounding him. There was nowhere to run.
Sure, he could stay inside the city gates. That would keep him safe.
But he had to leave. His younger siblings were waiting for him to bring back food.
His parents had died long ago. His tribe was tiny—just a few hundred people. Most of them could barely care for themselves, let alone help a group of orphans. Karlei was the only one keeping his family together.
Just when he was out of options…
BOOM!
An energy blast flew past him and struck the leader of the Wild Dog Clan right in the chest—blowing him to bits!
The sudden explosion didn't just shock the Wild Dog Clan—it also caused the guards at Sark City's gate to tense up instantly.
"Who fired that shot?!" barked the gate captain, a tall green-skinned creature who looked a lot like Shrek.
Because even though there were only a few dozen Wild Dog warriors present, no one knew whether a massive desert tribe stood behind them.
These people were like Earth's ancient nomads—roaming the desert in unpredictable packs. If a real conflict broke out, they might not be able to touch Sark City directly, but they'd make life hell for merchants and travelers. In that case, Sark would have no choice but to escalate the situation to the Federal High Command and request military intervention.
And even then, there was no guarantee the military could deal with them. All the Wild Dogs had to do was slip across the border into one of the other two nations, and the Federation's air patrols would be powerless to follow.
That's exactly why, unless the Wild Dog Clan directly threatened the city, the guards preferred to stay out of it—especially when it involved someone as unimportant as a desert nomad like Karlei.
People like him were allowed to trade in the city, but neither the Federation nor the other two countries recognized them as citizens. They were treated much like Native Americans during the colonial era—marginalized, barely tolerated.
So when someone actually dared to shoot at the Wild Dog Clan?
The gate captain quickly scanned the crowd and locked eyes on Howard the Duck, who was still holding his oversized cannon.
He was just about to shout when an older human guard beside him grabbed his arm.
"Captain… look at the size of their weapon's blast. That's not normal. And check their vehicles," the man said quietly.
The captain blinked and took a second look—finally realizing something was very wrong.
While most weapons on this planet were powered by Krym Crystals, standard-issue energy guns weren't especially powerful due to the low-grade crystals commonly used. At best, they hit about as hard as a full-powered rifle bullet from Earth—maybe enough to cause a clean wound, but certainly not enough to vaporize someone.
That earlier blast? It had turned a heavily-built Wild Dog into ash.
And then there were the vehicles Josh's group had arrived in—the transformed forms of Knockout and Breakdown.
Those clearly weren't ordinary rides.
On this world, mechanical transportation was considered a luxury. Most people traveled on pack animals. Energy and crystal fuel were too rare and expensive to allow for widespread use of motorized vehicles.
So clearly, these newcomers weren't ordinary folks.
The captain wisely swallowed his anger and prepared to approach them more carefully.
But Mike and Ben had no intention of giving him the chance.
The moment Howard fired the first shot, the two half-grown boys rushed into the Wild Dog ranks.
The Wild Dog Clan was stunned at first, but when they saw that only two young human boys were charging their entire group, they burst out laughing.
Two of them jumped down from their pack beasts, unsheathing long knives as they lunged toward Mike and Ben.
As a beast-evolved humanoid race, the Wild Dogs weren't good with tools or tech—but when it came to strength and speed, they far outmatched normal humans.
For example, the Wild Dog Clan warriors could leap three to five meters into the air—something normal humans simply couldn't do.
Unfortunately for them, Mike and Ben weren't exactly normal humans anymore… or rather, they had long since surpassed ordinary human limits. Both boys were blessed by the Celestials. Though not fully grown yet, their strength already far exceeded what these half-evolved beastmen could handle.
As the two Wild Dog warriors were still mid-air, smirking at their young opponents, Mike and Ben raised their hands—and suddenly, a blue and green light burst to life in their grips.
Not energy blades. Not plasma swords.
These were real lightsabers from the Star Wars universe—crafted by none other than Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One of the Force.
Lightsabers required extremely rare kyber crystals, which were tightly regulated by the Jedi Temple due to their unique and dangerous properties. Anakin had, over the years, managed to acquire a limited number of these crystals thanks to his rank as a Jedi Padawan, and he forged five lightsabers.
All five were later traded to Josh.
Four were gifted to his wife Margaret and their three children. One remained in storage—because Josh himself didn't need one. He already wielded the Sword of Rupture, a divine weapon far more powerful than a lightsaber, and the Broken Steel Sword, which was equally deadly.
Even if Josh had more lightsabers, they wouldn't be of much use to most people.
These weapons were too dangerous and hard to control. In untrained hands, they were far less practical than a gun—and often more of a threat to the user than the enemy.
That's why, even in the Star Wars universe, only Force users could truly wield them effectively.
And in the Marvel universe? There was no Force. But Josh's experiments had revealed something interesting: Cosmic Power or sufficiently advanced magical power could also control and channel the blade safely.
Perfect for his family.
—
Mike and Ben each gave a casual swing of their lightsabers—and the two Wild Dog warriors were instantly sliced in half mid-air.
Before the rest of the gang could react, the boys followed up by leaping straight into the pack, blades flashing.
Unlike the boys, the Wild Dog Clan didn't have the same reaction speed or agility.
By the time they realized they were under attack, it was already too late.
The lightsabers danced like phantoms through the crowd, cutting through their enemies effortlessly. One by one, Wild Dogs collapsed to the ground.
It was the boys' first real battle, but their training came from none other than Josh's Jedi Academy, which included full-body combat, weapon drills, and even gun-kata techniques.
More importantly, while they hadn't fought before, they had seen blood—and weren't afraid of it.
So although they might slip up here and there in technique, there was no hesitation in their strikes.
Especially not against what were essentially beasts in humanoid form.
With such a vast gap in power, even though the attackers were just two teenage boys, the fight quickly turned into a one-sided massacre.
And it didn't take long before members of the Wild Dog Clan—cracking under the pressure—started trying to flee.
It was at that moment that Howard the Duck and Bresta, who had been quiet until now, finally joined the fight.
Any Wild Dog who tried to flee was immediately gunned down by Howard with perfect accuracy—or intercepted and cut down by Bresta, whose speed was even faster than the fleeing targets.
And then there was Yondu, who always blended into the background. He didn't say a word but fired arrows with deadly precision—one shot, one kill. His efficiency was nearly on par with Howard's, and perhaps even more terrifying because of how quietly he worked.
Within moments, the entire Wild Dog Clan party was wiped out. The air was filled with a strange roasted smell—left behind by the lightsabers' energy as they burned through flesh.
The Sark City guards and even Karlei, who had been the target of the attack, stood frozen in complete disbelief.
"I don't think I'll want to eat roast meat for at least a few days…" muttered the older human guard, sniffing the smoky air.
The green-skinned captain swallowed hard. Good thing I didn't act rashly earlier. If he had, their entire gate security force—hundreds of men—probably wouldn't have stood a chance. And even if they summoned every last guard in the city, it wouldn't have mattered. These people still had several members who hadn't even joined the fight.
Just who are these people…?
But Josh's group clearly had no intention of talking with the guards.
Once the last of the Wild Dogs was dealt with, Mike and Ben walked over to Karlei, who was still sitting stunned atop his beast.
"Hey, Karlei—you good?" Mike patted the side of Karlei's pack beast and asked casually.
"Ah! I'm fine! Thank you! You saved me again… I really don't know how to repay you!" Karlei scrambled down from his saddle and bowed gratefully.
He had already sensed that this group wasn't ordinary when they saved him from the sand eel. But now? Their level of power was simply beyond anything he could comprehend.
"Haha, no big deal. You're safe now, so head back home," Mike said cheerfully, patting Karlei's shoulder.
But Karlei shook his head firmly.
"No. I can't just leave like this. You've saved me twice now, and I have nothing to repay you with. Please… let me at least invite you to my tribe. I know I don't have much to offer, but…"
He looked serious—completely sincere.
Mike and Ben were about to politely refuse when Josh suddenly appeared behind them and said:
"No problem. Your tribe's along our route anyway. We'll stop by."
No one knew exactly why Josh agreed. What could a tiny desert tribe possibly offer? But since he'd made the call, no one questioned it.
—
And so, without another word to the Sark guards or the stunned onlookers, Josh's group left the city, heading toward the endless sands once more.
Only after they had fully disappeared into the desert did the Sark City guards begin cleaning up the aftermath—and sending reports to the higher-ups about what had just happened.
Whatever came next… that would be the job of the politicians and officers to figure out.
Most guards believed those officials would do everything in their power to cover up the incident. After all, those outsiders were far too powerful—and clearly of high status. A border town like Sark had no business trying to deal with them.
"The world… is about to get a whole lot less peaceful," the older human guard said with a heavy sigh, eyes on the fading golden sands in the distance.
--
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