In this universe, no matter the era, the stories people loved talking about most were always those tangled up in love, hatred, grudges, and vendettas.
And among all such stories, the feud between the Galaxy Rangers and Dr. Primitive was particularly famous.
Dr. Primitive was Genius Society Member #64.
Despite being a member of the Genius Society, his reputation was utterly infamous.
He was known as the most anti-human scientist in the entire universe, spreading calamity across the cosmos through the atrocities of his atavism experiments.
In his view, many civilizations had chosen the wrong paths of evolution. It was therefore his duty to destroy those civilizations through atavism.
He would reduce them to embryonic states filled with infinite possibilities, allow civilization to evolve anew, and, through endless trial and error, ultimately create the most perfect civilization.
To realize this idea, he had orchestrated dozens of atavism experiments.
Unfortunately, what remained after those experiments was never a perfect civilization.
The planets subjected to them were left with nothing but regression.
Intellitrons reverted to machines, Zatzka reverted to birds, and humans reverted to apes.
It was precisely because of this that Dr. Primitive eventually made enemies of the Galaxy Rangers and spent his life evading their relentless pursuit.
The Rangers themselves suffered heavily during that hunt.
Many members regressed under the effects of his experiments, causing the entire organization to gradually fade from the galaxy's view.
But just because the organization had faded from sight did not mean their hunt for Dr. Primitive had come to an end.
And the space station Sora had landed on belonged to followers of Dr. Primitive—the Rangers were currently tearing it apart.
"Still, it's strange. This station's concealment measures were originally extremely thorough."
The frog standing before Sora tapped away nonstop at a keyboard as he explained the current situation.
"But for some reason, the station suddenly exposed itself on the network."
"And that's how a genius with an IQ of only 235 managed to catch it."
At the mention of something he was proud of, the frog let out a low croak.
Sora stared at him in open amazement.
He had long heard that the Galaxy Rangers included members from countless species and that every one of them was talented in their own way.
But he had never expected to actually meet a frog.
"Croak, croak. Don't stare at me like that. It's kind of embarrassing."
Apparently noticing Sora's gaze, the frog Ranger awkwardly scratched his head.
"Ahem. Sorry."
Sora coughed twice in apology before turning his attention back to the matter at hand.
"What's the situation inside the station right now?"
"Although we've temporarily brought the station under control, things aren't looking good..."
The frog grew much more serious as he pulled up several surveillance feeds for Sora.
"On the surface, we've already locked down this station, but we haven't seen a single one of Dr. Primitive's followers."
And yet the research materials scattered throughout the station clearly showed that people had been working there recently.
"So they're hiding somewhere inside the station?"
"More or less. Though I'm more curious about how you suddenly ended up here."
The frog looked at Sora in confusion.
The station had been exposed under such unusual circumstances, and the Rangers had acted extremely quickly.
Normally, there should have been no reason for anyone to notify Sora.
Sora explained that his ship had been taken over by a hacker.
"A hacker controlled your ship and brought you here? Could they have wanted you to deal with us?"
At that, the frog let out a strange, stifled laugh.
In his eyes, the answer was obvious.
Some researcher aboard this station must have panicked and desperately tried to call in an outsider to deal with the Rangers, only to accidentally summon someone who was already on the attackers' side.
"Guess that's what happens when you spend too long hanging around Dr. Primitive. Really does wonders for the brain."
The frog shook his head, then began analyzing the issue with Sora's ship.
"If that's what happened, then whoever hacked your spacecraft is probably still hiding somewhere on this station."
"I might be able to reverse-trace them through whatever method they used to break into your ship."
"If that works, we might be able to seize control of the station's main system!"
If they took control of the main system, all the steel doors and barriers along the way would become meaningless.
The Rangers would be able to move through the station unobstructed.
"You can really do that?"
Sora did not know much about this field.
"Only one way to find out."
And so, one man and one frog headed straight to the Silver Radiance's control room.
The frog was somewhat amazed by Sora's luxurious spacecraft, but he did not forget what he was there to do.
After a dizzying flurry of inputs, streams of code began racing across the display.
The frog's movements did not slow in the slightest. If anything, they became even faster.
Watching him, Sora was somehow reminded of his old days battling it out in League.
The feeling lasted only a moment.
Soon, the alarms throughout the space station abruptly fell silent.
"Okay. I've taken control of the outer main system."
The frog hurriedly contacted the other Rangers still inside the station.
"I'm opening every passage for you. Move now, before anything else goes wrong!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the steel doors blocking Rappa and Boothill rose into the ceiling.
"For fudge's sake, ya dumb frog finally got control of the system."
Boothill flashed his signature shark-like teeth.
"Lord Silvergun Shura! Toad Ninja has opened the way for us. Let us quickly strike down those Evil Ninjas!"
Rappa did not care about anything else. She immediately charged full speed into the newly opened passage.
"I'm Brainy Frog, the genius with an IQ of 235! What toad?! What 'dumb frog'?!"
Brainy Frog was clearly dissatisfied with what the two of them were calling him.
But now was not the time to argue over names.
With the passages open, the Rangers had far fewer obstacles in their path.
Yet after searching every corner, they still failed to find a single researcher.
There was no sign of anyone on the station's decks or anywhere else.
"Strange. Where the hell are these guys hiding?"
Sora could not help wondering.
Could this station actually be a trap meant to lure the Rangers in?
"No. I think I know where they're croaking around..."
Brainy Frog handed Sora a research document.
Its title was:
"On Another Possibility for Intellitron Atavism"
After reading its contents, Sora's eyes widened.
Damn it.
The others were in danger!
...
Elsewhere in the space station, the Rangers finally found the people who had been inside.
Or more accurately...
Their corpses.
Bodies lay scattered everywhere. The white lab coats they wore made their identities obvious.
"These guys were the researchers on this space station?"
Boothill cautiously approached them.
"Lord Silvergun Shura, these Evil Ninjas appear to have already met their end."
After checking their pulses, Rappa reached the same conclusion.
Her senses were hundreds of times sharper than those of ordinary people.
Yet even she could detect no signs of life from any of the researchers.
Nor could she find any signs that they had struggled or been forced into this.
Which meant...
"These Evil Ninjas all chose death willingly."
"Tch. What is this, some kinda cult scene?!"
Boothill stared at the vast number of dead researchers and could not help commenting.
No matter what kind of living creature it was, being threatened would make it feel pain and fear—and reveal weakness.
Yet these researchers had cast aside even the most basic instincts of living creatures simply to follow Dr. Primitive.
If that was not a cult, what was?
"If they're already dead, then looks like we came all this way for nothing again."
Boothill began packing up, preparing to leave.
The other Rangers continued searching the scene, hoping to find some trace of Dr. Primitive.
"Still, it's damn cold in here. Did these guys want their corpses to last a little longer or something?"
One Ranger could not help remarking on it.
They had even lowered the temperature before killing themselves.
What, did they really hate the idea of their bodies decomposing that quickly?
Did they want to linger in this world a little longer?
What a complete waste of effort.
"Cold? Maybe you're just too weak."
Hearing that, Boothill immediately teased him.
The two were clearly quite familiar with each other.
The Ranger merely rolled his eyes.
"You're a giant chunk of metal. Stay out of this, would you?"
"What's wrong with being a giant chunk of metal? I can still drink Malt Juice. I can still enjoy a cigar."
Boothill pulled out a cigar and clamped it between his teeth.
"And this body ain't even gotta worry about tar. If it gets dirty, I just swap it out. Fudge, some folks wouldn't even dare dream of something this good."
"You're right..."
A voice of agreement suddenly came from behind Boothill.
"Hahaha! See? Even someone else agrees with—"
Boothill laughed even harder.
But when he saw the Ranger in front of him gradually turn grim, he abruptly realized something.
Turn.
Draw.
Pull the trigger.
Every movement flowed seamlessly, as though Boothill had practiced them thousands upon thousands of times.
The firing pin struck the primer inside the chamber, igniting the cartridge and ejecting the casing.
The bullet passed through the rifled barrel, spinning rapidly for greater stability.
It continued accelerating until it broke the sound barrier the instant it left the muzzle.
BANG!
The bullet moved so quickly that even the muzzle flash bursting out alongside it was left far behind.
Spinning with lethal force and scorching heat, it flew straight toward the forehead of the dead man behind him.
Closer.
Closer.
If it struck, that pretty little head would undoubtedly bloom into the most dazzling spray of blood.
Unfortunately, an instant before impact, the bullet stopped.
With nothing visibly blocking it, the round simply hovered in midair while continuing to spin.
"An excellent shot. I can tell you're a veteran who has honed your skills through countless trials."
Only after the bullet stopped spinning and all its kinetic energy had dissipated did the supposedly dead researcher reach out and close his fingers around it.
"Sweet Wubbaboo, Dr. Primitive's followers have turned into fudgin' zombies now?!"
Boothill stared in astonishment.
He had already confirmed that this man was dead.
Even Rappa's extraordinarily sharp senses had detected no signs of life whatsoever.
So how the hell could these people still stand back up?
"Zombies? How could such inferior life-forms possibly be compared to us?"
The researcher's face clearly showed disdain.
As he rose from the dead, one researcher after another also climbed up from the floor.
At the sight, the Rangers immediately regrouped.
"Is this Edo Tensei?!"
Seeing the scene, Rappa instinctively blurted out the name of a ninjutsu from the Cosmic Ninjutsu Inscriptions, one that had once posed a tremendous threat to the story's protagonist.
"Edo Tensei? No, no, no!"
One of the researchers immediately rejected Rappa's words.
"We have merely taken another step toward becoming more perfect life-forms!"
The moment he said this, unmistakable pride appeared on every researcher's face.
Unlike those who had never accomplished anything of note, they had achieved something they considered genuinely worthy of pride.
They had already taken a great stride along the path toward becoming more perfect life-forms.
"I am certain the Doctor will eventually turn his gaze upon us."
Without Dr. Primitive's guidance, how could they ever have stepped onto such a glorious path?
"But you're already... dead."
Rappa stated the current reality.
No matter how grandiose or impressive they made it sound, their bodies still gave off no signs of life whatsoever.
In other words, these people could not even be considered living beings anymore.
They were corpses.
"A trivial physiological death means nothing to perfect life such as ourselves."
The researcher calmly answered Rappa's skepticism.
"But you really are dead."
"We have attained immortality in another form!"
"But you really aren't alive... Hey, hey, hey! Why are you attacking me?!"
Rappa darted aside, dodging a folder hurled at her.
"An inferior organic life-form like you could never comprehend our present greatness!"
The researcher gritted his teeth at Rappa.
"Today, I'll bury every last one of you Rangers!"
He slammed his palm into the ground.
The floor he struck immediately rippled outward like water, surging toward the Rangers.
With such an obvious attack coming, how could the Rangers possibly be hit so easily?
They scattered in all directions, avoiding the assault racing through the floor.
"Sweet Wubbaboo, I can't believe Rappa actually got under your skin that badly."
"And you started swinging the moment she did. That's just pathetic!"
"Lord Silvergun Shura, Crimsonmoon Shura, I merely spoke the truth."
Rappa hurriedly clarified that she had not been insulting him.
Which only made the researcher's expression even uglier.
"I'll make sure that bastard doesn't even have a grave!"
He clenched his fist violently, as though preparing some extraordinary technique.
Unfortunately for him, the instant he raised his hand, Boothill pulled the trigger from above.
Hitting a moving target while moving at high speed oneself was no easy feat.
For Boothill, however, it was hardly difficult.
The moment he squeezed the trigger, a bright silver bullet flew straight toward where the researcher's fist was about to land.
If it hit, the man's arm would be blown apart at the middle.
Unfortunately, the bullet failed to connect once again.
It had clearly broken the sound barrier, yet when it approached the researcher's body, it seemed to collide with an invisible, solid wall.
It continued spinning until all its kinetic energy dissipated, then stopped.
"For fudgin' sake. Is that seriously the only trick you folks got?"
Boothill sounded irritated after landing.
It had happened once before, and now it was happening again.
Did these people really not have anything new?
"If a technique works, why would we need another?"
Another researcher suddenly stepped up beside the one preparing the attack.
"Allow us to show you just how formidable we have become after taking our first step toward perfect life!"
The charged fist suddenly punched forward.
The blow blasted a vacuum through the air, the surrounding atmosphere tearing apart under the force with a piercing shriek.
A compressed blast of air hurtled straight toward the Rangers.
But at that moment, a figure suddenly stepped in front of the violent air current.
Rappa!
She held her enormous ninja shuriken horizontally before her like a shield.
BOOM!!
The fist blast struck the shield with a heavy crash.
After being blocked, the razor-sharp pressure wave burst outward in every direction, whipping up a violent gale.
At that same moment, Boothill stepped out from Rappa's side.
His revolver spat fire again and again, sending several bullets screaming toward the researchers.
"Still haven't learned?"
The researcher who had stopped Boothill's bullets saw him fire again and moved to intervene.
Unfortunately for him, Boothill had already anticipated that.
He exhaled a thick plume of smoke.
"Who told you these were ordinary bullets?"
The researcher preparing to stop them seemed to realize something.
The bullets hurtling toward him suddenly split apart!
That was right.
Each round fragmented into several pieces, scattering in all directions under their violent momentum.
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!
The fragments ricocheted wildly from every direction, making them almost impossible to defend against.
Even the researcher who could nullify kinetic energy was no exception.
After several rebounds, one fragment sliced a bloody line across his body.
Dark purple, lifeless blood trickled down from the wound.
"So you can only cover three-quarters of the area around you."
Boothill studied the fragments suspended around the researcher and inferred the range of his ability.
"So this is what you call stepping toward perfection. Truly enlightening."
Several Rangers covered their mouths, unable to suppress their laughter.
Boothill was normally the sort of guy who cursed with every other sentence.
Hearing someone like him suddenly speak in such a prim and proper manner only made the mockery sharper.
The researcher clearly understood that as well.
"You bastard!!!"
He started toward Boothill, only for a voice to call out from behind him.
"Denisovan 101. Denisovan 1011. Cease your pointless actions."
The voice was indifferent and extremely quiet.
Yet those few words were enough to make the two researchers, who had been poised to attack, stop immediately.
"Yes!"
The sudden change naturally put everyone on guard.
But what stood out most were the numbers he had used.
"101... 1011... Are those binary numbers?"
One Ranger guessed the meaning behind the identifiers.
"Correct."
The indifferent voice immediately confirmed it.
"Because we are all parts of perfection."
By endlessly calculating and recombining countless binary digits, one could eventually derive the most perfect answer in the universe.
That was the subject they were researching now.
And the person who had initiated that research was named...
"Welcome, Galaxy Rangers. I am Research Ape 10."
The resurrected researchers parted, revealing a figure wearing a monocle.
"And welcome. You are here to witness our perfection."
"..."
Silence.
Nothing but silence slowly spread across the scene.
The Rangers exchanged glances, none of them lowering their guard.
They found this person calling himself Research Ape 10 utterly baffling.
More importantly, there was the matter of the abilities these people were displaying.
Only two of them had acted so far, yet they had already shown such bizarre powers...
Do all of these people possess some kind of special ability?
"Do all of these people possess some kind of special ability?"
Those exact words suddenly came from among the researchers.
One Ranger immediately stiffened in surprise.
He had only thought the question.
How had someone repeated it aloud?
"Mind reading?!"
The Ranger whose thoughts had been exposed turned toward a woman among the researchers.
She was the one who had just spoken his thoughts.
"To reach that conclusion from so few clues... Your mind works quickly, Mr. Ranger."
Research Ape 10 smiled and nodded at the man whose thoughts had been read.
"And of course, I should answer your question."
That was their duty as perfect beings: to correct and complete the imperfect.
"As for whether every one of us possesses an unusual ability, my answer is..."
Research Ape 10 raised his monocle slightly with one finger.
"Yes."
Then, before the Rangers' eyes, he rose into the air without any external assistance.
There were many species across the universe that possessed extraordinary abilities, but such beings were far from commonplace.
The most common way to obtain extraordinary power in the universe was, naturally, to become a Pathstrider.
Once someone stepped onto a Path, they would become markedly different from ordinary people.
And even those who walked the same Path could manifest entirely different abilities.
But outside of that, most beings in the universe were still ordinary.
They could not step onto a Path, nor could they obtain extraordinary power. They could only live as ordinary people, constantly fearing what might happen to them.
Research Ape 10 had finally solved that problem.
"As perfect creations, we no longer need to rely on the Paths to obtain extraordinary power."
Even an ordinary person could possess supernatural abilities without depending on a Path.
Such abilities included force transmission, kinetic-energy nullification, mind reading, psychokinesis, and many others.
"That is why we call ourselves perfect creations."
Research Ape 10 looked down at the Rangers from above.
"And on that note, we must thank you for your assistance. Without the pressure you provided, we could never have completed our largest experiment yet."
Without the pressure exerted by the Rangers, many people on this station would likely have continued hesitating.
But with the Rangers forcing the issue, Research Ape 10 had finally been able to complete this first step toward perfection.
"Now, everyone—show our Ranger guests what true perfection means!"
In an instant, the air in every direction seemed to solidify into stone.
Everyone felt as though they were suffocating.
And the changes did not stop there.
On top of that, the Rangers saw steel twisting and spikes of ice condensing into existence.
"To think Dr. Primitive's brain-dead followers actually managed to research something useful. That really is unbelievable."
One Ranger could not help voicing his surprise.
They had destroyed many space stations belonging to Dr. Primitive's followers in the past.
Almost none of the research conducted in those places had contained anything innovative.
Aside from being anti-human, those people did little more than waste the universe's resources.
That was why the Galaxy Rangers had long since categorized all of Dr. Primitive's followers as brain-dead.
Yet today, they had actually seen those same idiots produce something capable of surprising them.
Unfortunately...
"Brain-dead is still brain-dead. Once brain-dead, always brain-dead!"
So what if they had developed these abilities?
Did they seriously think powers they had only just acquired would let them throw down with the Galaxy Rangers?
"We Galaxy Rangers won't go down that easily."
The Rangers unleashed their own abilities in turn.
One cybernetically modified Ranger activated the ion thrusters on his back and instantly became a brilliant streak of blue light, charging into the enemy formation like a meteor.
Pulse cannons mounted on both arms fired continuously, scorching beams of energy crossing through one another like blazing blades. Wherever they passed, even the surrounding space seemed to distort faintly from the heat.
Another Ranger closed his eyes as dazzling radiance gathered around him like a nebula taking shape.
Then his eyes snapped open.
Energy surged forward like a raging tide, sweeping toward the researchers!
The Rangers of other species were not about to be outdone.
One Ranger's body began glowing with strange bioluminescence as the biological wings on his back gently fluttered, releasing a mysterious sound wave.
The sound wave acted directly on the researchers' nervous systems, instantly slowing their movements.
With everyone else using their best techniques, Rappa naturally refused to fall behind!
"You minions of Evil Ninja Osaru will never shake my Way of the Ninja!"
She lifted her enormous ninja shuriken and hurled it toward the researchers in the distance.
The massive weapon was heavy and carried tremendous force, yet in her hands it seemed as light as a feather.
Once thrown, the enormous shuriken ripped through the air with a shrill howl as it flew toward Research Ape 10 overhead.
Research Ape 10 did not dodge.
With psychokinesis, he redirected the shuriken past his body.
"AK-A-3? I know of you. You were once created from the finest primate genes gathered from numerous planets. Unfortunately, you are not a perfect creation."
Compared with AK-A-3, who had rebelled and joined the Rangers in hunting them down, Research Ape 10's work was clearly much closer to perfection.
"So an imperfect organism like you should simply continue regressing!"
Research Ape 10 reached out, intending to restrain Rappa with psychokinesis.
But Rappa's physical capabilities far exceeded those of ordinary people.
The instant his power began to bind her, she broke free.
"Psychic-Ape Evil Ninja! Today, I, Rappa the Dazzling Ninja, shall bring you to an end!"
After landing, Rappa immediately kicked off the nearby wall and launched herself at Research Ape 10 once more.
The battlefield instantly descended into chaos.
Meanwhile, off to the side, Boothill considered how to deal with the situation.
"Hey, dumb frog. You find a solution yet?"
Boothill might call the frog an idiot, but he trusted the guy's intelligence.
At the very least, he was considerably smarter than Boothill himself.
"Found it, found it! He's already on his way!"
"Where's he comin' from? I don't see anybody."
Boothill looked curiously back along the path they had taken.
No one was coming.
"He'll be here any second! Just remember to get out of the way!"
Boothill was left completely baffled.
Then something happened that he never could have expected.
BOOOOM!!
With a thunderous crash, the nose of a spacecraft smashed straight into the area.
"Sweet Wubbaboo, ya dumb frog, you're even more fudgin' reckless than I am."
Boothill stared at the nose of the ship, which had nearly rammed straight into him, and could not help complaining.
"Who is that?!"
The sudden intrusion brought the chaotic battlefield to a momentary halt.
Everyone turned toward the ship.
Then they saw someone walking out through its open hatch.
"Taking the proper route means winding around all over the place. Too much trouble. This is easier."
Sora smiled faintly at everyone before turning toward the researchers nearby.
"There sure are a lot of you. Guess I'd better top up my energy first."
With that, Sora shoved an egg directly into his mouth.
The raw, fishy taste immediately twisted his face into a grimace.
How the hell did Uncle Jin do this without even changing expression?
"Who... are you?"
Research Ape 10 asked in confusion.
Sora's answer was simple.
He looked at the other man and gave him a bright smile.
"[AMAZON]."
ALPHA.
For one brief instant, everything was still.
Then scorching energy erupted violently outward with Sora at its center.
The frost all around them instantly melted into droplets beneath the intense heat and fell to the floor.
---
T/N: crimsonmoon shura!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
T/N2: HI IM BACK HAPPY 2 YEAR ANNIVERSAY ONLY UHHH 7 DAYS? 8 DAYS LATE!!!
ahh WEBSITE IS UP BTW!! ^_^
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