Cold wreckage was scattered everywhere around them.
Rockets, thrusters, engines, space capsules, just about everything was there.
"They call this place the graveyard." Grandpa Max gave a faint smile. "You can even find old relics here like Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and the rest."
"NASA is just like your Aunt Vera. It can't bear to throw away any old junk."
"Aunt Vera..."
At the mention of Aunt Vera, everyone fell silent, their eyes filling with grief.
She had died at the hands of the blob alien.
Along with the entire town's residents.
Even now, the whole town still stood empty, because no one dared live there.
No matter how many times the authorities insisted it had only been an "accident," nobody was stupid. Tens of thousands of people had vanished overnight. Anyone would be terrified.
Of course, while no humans lived in the town anymore, aliens did.
The Queen of Meihu Planet, Yan Ji. The Four Supreme Royal Guards. Tygan the Humungousaur, Eric the Spidermonkey, Red Spikesnake, and Chamalien.
Lately, the fox woman had been calling Lucian all the time, saying she missed him and wanted to see him.
Lucian found her clingy, but also adorable.
She could be a little spoiled at times, but she never crossed the line, which fit his ideal type perfectly.
Most importantly, Lucian liked mature women...
And the fox woman just happened to be the ultimate top-tier mature beauty. Add in the animal ears and that charming tail, and it was absolutely overpowered.
To be honest, Lucian had not liked Yan Ji much at first. He thought she was too casual. But after spending some time with her, he realized the fox woman was not like that with everyone.
She was only warm and affectionate with him.
Even when handsome guys tried to chat her up on the food street, she stayed cold and distant, declared she already had a boyfriend, and hugged Lucian right there beside her.
Maybe the fox woman liked men who were handsome and powerful, but she was also loyal.
She would never keep multiple partners like some people on Earth.
So little by little, Lucian came to accept their relationship by default.
During that time, Grandpa Max had kept urging him along. "Lucian, you're not getting any younger. It's time you started thinking about marriage. I think Yan Ji is great. She's even the Queen of Meihu Planet. You should just marry her already!!"
Lucian had rolled his eyes, feeling it was way too soon.
Then again, they had already crossed that line between husband and wife... so maybe it was not actually that fast.
"Forget it. I'll find a time to bring her over." Lucian shook his head and stopped thinking about it.
Though once the fox woman came over, his kidneys were really going to suffer...
Gwen was grinding her teeth in secret frustration.
How could the latecomer take the lead?
Just because we're cousins?
She felt like maybe it was time for her to be a Yosuga no Sora little sister for once...
The group kept moving forward.
Suddenly, Gwen stopped in front of an old spaceship.
The paint on its surface had long since aged, peeled, and cracked into spiderweb-like lines. At a glance, it was obviously an antique from decades ago.
Some English letters were engraved in the lower right corner of the ship.
"Grandpa, this is equipment from 1968." Gwen paused, then continued, "It says, 'A tribute to the brave warriors who journeyed straight into the heavens.'"
"And there are astronaut initials too."
"This 'M.T.'... that wouldn't happen to be Grandpa Max, would it?"
After hearing that, Grandpa Max's expression turned complicated. He shook his head and sighed. "People can't keep living in the past, Gwen."
Boom!
The next second, a violent crashing sound came from behind them, as if something had landed on the spaceship.
Everyone turned around at once.
Lucian's pupils shrank sharply.
Standing on top of a discarded thruster was a fiery red wolf creature, covered in fur and packed with explosive muscles.
This wolf creature was even taller and stronger than the Yenaldooshi they had faced before.
"Awooo!"
The red wolf let out a piercing howl. Its powerful legs kicked off like cannon fire as it charged at them at terrifying speed.
Lucian reacted first. He pressed the Omnitrix, switched aliens, and slammed it down.
Thud!
Two long black antennae curved upward, with a single green eye set between them. Its build was lean, and its skin looked like the insulated coating around electric wires, keeping the power inside from leaking out.
Yellow plugs protruded from its fingers, shoulders, and elbows, allowing it to absorb enemy energy attacks, convert them into electricity, and fire them back.
"Feedback!!"
A crisp electronic voice rang out in every direction.
The red wolf did not slow down. It clenched a massive wolf fist the size of a sandbag, blasting out a ring of white shockwaves as it came smashing forward with savage force.
Facing the vicious red wolf, Feedback did not flinch.
He clenched his own fist as well, blue-white electricity crackling around it.
Then he threw a lightning-charged punch straight at the creature head-on.
Bang!
The red wolf let out a cry of pain and was blasted backward like a beaten stray dog, crashing through dozens of discarded rockets before finally tumbling to the ground.
It was covered in dirt and looked utterly miserable.
All of it had happened in the span of a heartbeat.
Ben snapped out of his daze. "Th-that... that was way too awesome! Feedback rocks!"
"Whew. That was close. I almost got torn to pieces by that wolf monster." Grandpa Max let out a relieved breath.
"Cuz is so cool... uh, I mean, Feedback is cool too!" Gwen corrected herself in a hurry, but then quickly voiced her confusion.
"But Cuz already killed that wolf monster last time. So why is there another one?"
Feedback shook his head slightly. "This is not the same one from last time. It's probably just the same species."
Whether it was body type or fighting style, this red wolf was extremely similar to the Yenaldooshi.
The only real difference was the fur.
The Yenaldooshi's fur had been grayish blue, while this one's was fiery red.
But as fellow Loboans, Feedback could clearly sense that this red wolf was even stronger.
Clap. Clap.
"What a splendid performance."
Dr. Viktor applauded as he stepped through the endless wreckage and appeared before them.
"Dr. Viktor, what exactly are you trying to do?" Grandpa Max demanded.
"Heh, of course I'm going to complete the greatest evolution in human history!" Dr. Viktor raised both hands, his expression crazed. "When the time comes, Earth will enter its darkest age."
"And all of you will kneel before the greatest and most terrifying King!!"
"The King? Who's that?" Ben asked, completely puzzled.
"My guess? Ghostfreak." Feedback let out a cold laugh.
He remembered that in the original story, Dr. Viktor, the mummy, and the wolf monster were all Ghostfreak's servants.
Their goal was to send the Corrodium to the space station, then use a satellite to fire a Corrodium beam that would transform every living creature on Earth into mutated monsters.
And revive Ghostfreak.
Once Earth was covered in Corrodium, the world would become shrouded in darkness, filled everywhere with eerie purple light. Under those conditions, Ghostfreak's power would reach its peak, making him nearly impossible to defeat.
"You guessed right." The corner of Dr. Viktor's mouth lifted as he looked at Lucian with contempt. "Once the King is revived, none of you will stand a chance against him."
Rumble!
Not far away, a space capsule suddenly launched into the sky, its tail erupting with blazing flames as it shot straight upward...