Arrival

The Plundering Empire's structure was loose, like countless building blocks stacked together.

Besides the Void Hunters who roamed far and wide and the Void Killers who carried out vengeance and slaughter, there were the Void Merchants, who handled stolen goods, the Logistics Group, and the Medical Group.

And at the heart of the Plundering Empire stood Ever-Occupied City!

The Looting Emperor himself resided there.

Ever-Occupied City looked like a giant pizza floating through space. Countless ships circled it, attacking any creature that tried to approach while clearing away rocks and wreckage that might damage the city.

Aboard one of the ships above Ever-Occupied City, Mani suddenly appeared out of thin air. Hawkins gripped her hand and, the instant they arrived, drove his dagger into a crewman's throat. The man convulsed, then his eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness.

"Hawkins, aren't we here to join the Plundering Empire? Why did you kill him?" Mani complained.

Hawkins pressed a hand to the dead man's face. His body began to change, until his appearance and height matched the crewman's exactly. Then he smiled. "There. Now we've joined. Remember, from now on, call me Shakespeare!"

With that, he tossed the dead crewman into Infinite Space, directly above Golden Sun. In the blink of an eye, the corpse plunged toward him.

"Shakespeare, you... Who's this kid?" A crewman with a cigarette in his mouth walked over and frowned at the sight of Hawkins and Mani.

Hawkins stood up. "She's my little sister. I never thought she'd use a Blood-Origin Curse to find me. Don't tell the captain." He pointed both fingers at the smoking crewman.

"Your sister? I thought your whole family was dead," the crewman said in surprise.

"You're the one whose whole family's dead," Mani snapped.

Perhaps she was simply too cute