The man let out a heavy sigh, his eyes cast down to the floor:

"The way you've disposed of those poor beings... I must assume you are searching for a specific answer, and none of my late comrades' ones has pleased you".

A faint smirk formed on the Young Captain's lips:

"That is quite true, old man. Well, what answer do you have?"

"I am afraid my answer should be disappointing to you since it is the same as the one of my late comrade's, whom you have already disposed of. I live for my treasure. I had decided to remain alive so that I could return home someday and guard it like I used to. However, now that I am in the bloodthirsty Galaxy Pirates' hands, it is unlikely to be... and I've grown old. I've no more the ardent energy I possessed when I was abducted and put into the army. In my young years, I might've resisted against you, but now I cannot".

He closed eyes, waiting to feel burning pain at any minute as the gruesome spell 'Balal, Yoh' would sound in his ears, signalling the start of his crystallization.

Many minutes elapsed, and yet, neither the spell nor the pain ever came. The man reopened eyes in confusion, to see the captain draw on the pipe with quite a stern, thoughtful face:

"There are some details you need to clarify, old man. Your rotten colleague said he lived for treasure, hence he meant riches. What you are saying, on the other hand, is a bit vague – you live for your treasure? What might your treasure be?"

"You are quite observant for a casual space-robber".

"I am not a 'casual space-robber', old man. I am the Emperor of all Galaxy Pirates".

"Makes sense... Although I still don't expect lowly pirates like you to understand, I guess I will tell you: to me, my only treasure is my family – the most precious belonging of mine. I have always lived for them and will continue to do so. Alas, the filthy Reptiloids tricked all of us – after I was terribly injured in one of the battles and on the verge of death, they reported to Planet Earth – my home – that I had died. That rumour must've reached my precious ones' ears. Since the very day of my abduction, I've always dreamed to return home, to embrace my beloved Marie and our two little children. I fought to survive no matter the difficulties so that I could see them at least once again. They are the very purpose of my life. Alas, my journey ends here... I am pathetic – I wasn't able to protect my only treasure, no matter how hard I fought..." he covered his face with his injured, bloodied hand, and sniffed, no more able to hold back his tears. He had completely given in to his sorrow, and had even forgotten of the surroundings: "I am sorry, Marie... I broke my promise even though I swore to you I'd return! I'm so sorry..."

"Why are you weeping prematurely, my friend? You might still be able to make it".

The Young Captain's hideous smirk had morphed into a welcoming smile in a mere second, while his hand proffered a cloudy-white handkerchief to him. The poor man took it with a trembling, bleeding hand of his, and nodded as a sign of gratitude. He still couldn't believe the Blood Diamond – this vicious criminal who had spilt tons of blood right before his eyes just some moments ago – was about to mercy him, out of all the fifteen people. Him – a casual lowly human who was always abused and laughed at, even if he was a better soldier than many of his colleagues of the 'higher species'.

Once his handkerchief had been taken, the captain stood up and resumed smoking the divine elmor dust.

"Baxus, please lead our precious guest in his new room, and have our boys tend to his wounds".

"Aye aye, Captain".

Baxus hid his stone cover and stretched out a normal human hand to the stupefied soldier. This latter hesitantly grabbed it, stood up with quite some difficulty, and followed him limping.

"I'd be honoured if you accepted my invitation to dining with me today, my friend".

"Y... Yes, Captain".

"Goodie. See you later then. I hope you'll enjoy your stay!"

Thus, the injured soldier was conducted into his new room – a well-equipped sleeping cabin, as if he were not a poor captive in vicious pirates' hands but a welcome guest on a luxury cruise ship. The Galaxy Pirate medics quickly provided him with the necessary medical aid and skillfully bandaged his wounds. Baxus was supervising the process, as well as watching the captive so that he wouldn't think of messing up. He didn't seem to need this last precaution, though – due to his elderly years, current wounds, and some badly-tended past injuries, the captive soldier was completely weakened and exhausted to show any more resistance. It seemed that he'd need rather some help than supervision – it would be too hard for him to move around on his own. Baxus easily noticed this, so he immediately offered a hand when the time to meet the captain came:

"Come on, my friend, I'll assist you. You don't seem to manage to return on the deck alone".

"Thank you".

The man, although reluctantly, but still acquiesced to his pirate captor's request and indeed held onto his shoulder. Baxus supported him to walk up the stairs.

Soon they arrived on the deck and before the door of the captain's cabin. The man heaved a sigh – it seemed that this situation was not completely foreign to him. Those multiple scars on his face and body proved that he had been held captive by many different creatures a lot of times in his years, so he more or less knew what to anticipate. Even though the captain had, at one glance, had mercy upon him, he still suspected there might be something more to it than just his benevolence. There was no way a bloody person like him could turn benevolent in an instant just because he liked the type of his answer. He was used to his captors having personal interests in something he knew or held. In this current case, too, he expected a similar situation to unfold – that the pirates actually needed something important from him and the invitation to dinner was in fact just a mask to later give way to torturous conditions if he did not submit to their requests, whatever these latter ones might be.

With these heavy thoughts troubling his mind, he was conducted into the cabin and the door behind him shut with a sneer as if the whole room cackled upon his miserable fate and portended his doom.

"Oh, I see you've been quite well tended to, old man... Thank you, Baxus".

Once again, sweat poured off the captive's forehead as he beheld the gruesome Pirate Emperor, casually sitting at a table covered with a fine cloth and drawing on his golden pipe adorned with other-worldly gems.

"No issue, Captain. Happy to be of service".

Baxus put the man on a chair before the captain. Then he took a seat in a nearby sofa, together with the infamous space-robber to have injured the captive – Green Thunder Jedha Mahut, and Zehu, whose chest was now bandaged.

Presently the dinner was served – a lot of delicious dishes from across the galaxies and universes. However, the captive did not dare touch anything – he seemed rather hesitant and troubled. Noticing his uneasiness, a faint smile ran through the Young Captain's lips:

"Calm yourself. If we wanted to kill you we'd have done it long ago. Help yourself, my friend. Those curs wouldn't have treated you properly, I believe... After all, you're a human, right?"

It was true. Due to him being a human – one of the lowest species of all the Seven Universes – he was often looked down upon, abused, and neglected, even if he was one of the best warriors, as far as the limited human abilities permitted. He had been a key figure to win multiple battles, and yet, proper credits were never given. Of course, in the armies, food was always but scarce, and when it came to private slave soldiers like him, it was even worse. Hence, once he saw such divine dishes right before his nose, his stomach heavily grumbled while his eyes widened like those of a savage predator's. Yet still, he hesitated, for he knew by his harsh experiences that such temptations would often lead to huge disasters and torture.

"Delicious food is not enough to buy me over. What is it you want from me? What are you after?"

The vicious Blood Diamond's eyes carefully studied him for a while, and then a quiet chuckle followed:

"Now aren't you a cautious bean there, amigo? What could I possibly want from a casual slave soldier whose operating ship was destroyed by my crewmates' hands, and whose very owner fled with a tail between his legs? That was quite amusing..." he exhaled some blue smoke, spreading the divine odour of elmor dust around, "However, suggesting that I should want something from you... Could it perchance mean you indeed have something that might interest the Pirate Emperor?"

This boy is sharper than I thought...

"Oh, no doubt about that, amigo. We, Daluma, exceed in sharpness".

"You can read my thoughts?!"

"Why so bewildered? Of course, I can. All of us Daluma can read others' thoughts. Strong ones of us can even read memories... But you haven't answered my last question, I believe".

"Ah, I... There is nothing I can possibly interest you with".

The captain's stern gaze pierced his eyes – just as he suspected, the boy did notice his intention to hide something. As he trembled upon the thought of possible rage of his captor, the Blood Diamond just shrugged it off with a smile:

"We can talk about the business later. First things first – you cannot quell your primitive instincts, old man. You are a human and you need to eat. Don't pretend you're tough. You're not, so help yourself".

The man trembled for a second at such a haughty command, but then decided to obey, for it was not good to enrage the captors when they were in such a good mood. He hoped he could prolong this placidity for some time so that he would come up with an escape plan. And then, they weren't asking of anything troubling, but instead were offering him some divine food... so he did not make them repeat the order and instantly dug in.

"By the way, I forgot... What's your name, old man? I've never asked!"

"It's Gunther. Gunther Hawthorne".

The boys gasped:

"Hawt_"

Young Captain raised his hand and cut their speech. Gunther stared at them in astonishment:

"What_"

"It's nothing".

While surprised Gunther just shrugged and continued dining, all the four boys looked at each other and began to communicate in Bakhal so that the man wouldn't understand:

"Gunther Hawthorne?!"

"Why the heck shouldn't we tell him? It's most likely her father!"

"Patience, Baxus. Everything has its time".

"Why not now? Violet is my cousin! If it is indeed her father I want them to meet".

"Let me guess," Jedha cut in, "You have some kind of a nasty plan, Captain?"

"Good guess, Jedha. I am sure this man holds some very important information since he's so concerned about being questioned. Those scars of his too, seem to be not only from battles but from torture chambers as well. I am positive he will prove useful".

"Captain, what is it you have planned?"

"Nothing that might upset your cousin, Bax. I am not as hideous as my uncles. I have my ways".

"Your ways are worse than Sinbad's when you are serious, Arubah".

Young Captain halted his pipe in mid-air – Baxus never called him 'Arubah' unless he was deeply incensed.

"That may be, Bax, but... I never hurt my treasure".

"Oh, I understand... Thanks, Captain".

All the four glanced back at the man, who seemed to enjoy the dishes quite a lot. They all easily figured he should indeed be treated badly back in his master's hands. Young Captain resumed smoking the divine elmor dust and casually inquired:

"Say, Gunther Hawthorne, you must be from Aenglia, right?"

"H... How do you know?"

The Pirate Emperor did not reply. He just stood from his armchair and quietly walked over Gunther's side:

"Touch my coat for an instant, amigo".

The stupefied man obeyed this quite a strange command, but the minute he sensed the texture on his fingers, his blood froze:

"The alligator skin?!"

Yes, there was no doubt – it was the alligator skin! The very expensive material that was extremely rare even back on Earth, due to those animals getting wiped out over a thousand years ago by the humans' atomic wars and other disasters. How come this space-robber from far-off galaxies possessed such an ancient relic? He was indeed using the Hispanish term 'amigo' every now and then... What could this mean?

"Oh, you've figured, eh? Good guess, though I wouldn't expect less from an old and experienced Earthly marine. Yes, it is the alligator skin, amigo. This coat has been going down generations in my father's line – the Alvarez family. From my father Roderigo Alvarez, it came down to me".

The Alvarez family? – They were one of the wealthiest and the noblest throughout the empire of Hispania! Roderigo Alvarez... Did he perchance mean that rebellious revolutionary of a millennium ago, who was one of the first to get abducted by the aliens? These aliens did live a lot longer than humans, so there was indeed a possibility.

"R... Roderigo Alvarez?"

"Aye, that exact space marine who rebelled against the Radenoids and received a penalty of abduction and exile from Earth. The Earth was always a battleground of those two filthy species – the Radenoids and the Reptiloids. My father took neither of the sides, unlike many humans. He knew both of those colonizers were trash and meant nothing but harm to Earth. He fought against both and they got rid of him since he was a big hindrance. My father was of the sturdy blood of the Hispaniards, so he survived. He should largely thank my mother too, but that doesn't matter. The main point is – I am half-human, and my father too, is still alive, due to my mother's extremely powerful healing abilities as it befits a Daluma and a Herminoid".

"A human? Daluma? Herminoid?"

He was a combination of those two ferocious species, one of which – the Herminoids – had nearly gone extinct? What's more, these two godly alien genes were mixed with simple human ones? Just what was this boy?

"Exactly, I'm all those three in one. No surprise why I became the strongest man in the universes, eh? My being such an omnipotent creature, did you truly believe you could hide that information chip from my eyes just with that thin jacket?"

Sweat poured off dreaded Gunther's forehead, while the three pirate boys – Baxus, Zehu, and Jedha – realised that their captain had likewise seen through the poor man's secret and was, most likely, about to hurt him. Baxus grew the most worried since he had already figured this man should be his uncle:

"Captain, don't_"

"That sneaky girl does take after you, Gunther Hawthorne!"

The Pirate Emperor pierced the horrified captive's chest with fingers covered in sharp crimson crystals he had just made appear. While Baxus was still running towards them in clear fright, Gunther coughed blood and blacked out.