Roppuru was piloting the spaceship as we broke through Koya Koya's atmosphere.
The ship scraped along the ground like a giant skateboard, cutting a huge furrow into the earth.
Inside the command room, we were all getting tossed around by the friction as the ship collided with the ground. My head was still spinning by the time the shaking stopped.
"Is everyone okay?" Roppuru asked, catching his breath.
"I'm fine!" I said, shaking my still-dizzy head.
Just as Roppuru was starting to relax, Chammy suddenly shouted, "Look over there!" and pointed ahead at a crashing ship—it was one of those Galtite Mining Company ships.
Our eyes all snapped to the smoking, dust-choked wreck. But as the dust settled, it turned out the Galtite Mining ship wasn't destroyed at all. Looks like they also used the sliding trick to avoid being blown up, just like we did.
"Should we go check it out?" Roppuru suggested.
I thought about it. Didn't seem all that dangerous, so I agreed.
We all cautiously left our ship and made our way toward the Galtite Mining vessel, keeping our guard up.
Suddenly, as we crept closer, a bunch of people in black Galtite Mining uniforms poured out of the ship. Among them were those two goons from earlier—the fat one and the skinny one.
"Hey, brats, stop right there!" they yelled.
Roppuru couldn't hold back his anger. "Aren't you Galtite Mining people afraid of the law for doing things like this?!"
I really wanted to roll my eyes. If they cared about the law, they wouldn't be committing crimes in the first place. What's the point of saying that now?
The fat and the skinny one sneered back, "Shut up, kid. If you all just moved off Koya Koya peacefully, none of this would have happened. No one would get hurt, and we could save ourselves the trouble."
"We're not leaving!" Chammy yelled back, refusing to be intimidated.
"This planet was discovered by my father. We pioneered it—it'll never be handed over to scum like Galtite Mining!" Roppuru declared, full of resolve.
At this point, both sides just started bickering again. Was this really necessary in the middle of a standoff?
I watched this pointless war of words go on for several minutes, getting more and more annoyed, until the two goons finally lost their patience and drew their pistols.
"Looks like you leave us no choice!" sneered the skinny one.
"If that's the case, you're not leaving Koya Koya alive," the fat one grinned menacingly.
Roppuru whipped out his stun gun, ready to fight back, but before he could even aim, the goons shot it right out of his hand.
Wait, since when were these two such crack shots?
Roppuru stared at his disarmed hand, panic rising. "Oh crap..."
"Kids, dangerous toys like that aren't for you," the goons taunted, smirking.
Then they began firing at us—but all their shots hit the ground or rocks nearby. None of us were hit, but we had to scatter anyway.
It was weird. They were so accurate just now, but now their aim was way off—almost like they were just tracing around us for show.
If it wasn't just luck, there was only one explanation.
Even here, there's always some kind of unspoken rule. No one really wants to kill anyone over a demolition job. These goons are clever—no way they'd risk their necks for the company. If they killed someone, the company would just make them take the fall.
Who's dumb enough to risk their whole career just to brown-nose the boss? Be loyal all you want, but when something goes wrong, they'll feed you to the wolves quicker than you can say 'time out'.
As long as they can complete the job without actually killing anyone, that's good enough for them. After all, this is just a job. Even with a bonus, is it really worth your life?
The two goons exchanged a smug glance, silently giving each other props for being so clever.
I suddenly thought, the low-level villains in the Doraemon universe really are talented in their own way—it's no wonder they can survive out here in space. If only the idiot security guards from my past life had this much sense, maybe they wouldn't have gotten fired and ridiculed after every PR disaster.
Relieved, I realized I didn't have to kill anyone to make a statement. Better not to kill if I can help it. Otherwise, I'd probably have nightmares later.
As for evil overlords and demon kings—well, those aren't even human, so there's no need to worry about human rights or laws for them.
And anyway, in the Doraemon universe, the police are only ever around to punish the good guys if they do something wrong. Law might not protect you, but it sure can punish you.
Justice doesn't arrive late; it just doesn't show up, that's the rule in these old cartoons. Who knows if they'll pull that on me?
So, with all that in mind, I pulled out my toy cork gun.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The cork bullets, which would barely knock over a pencil back on Earth, seemed to pack way more punch here on Koya Koya, with its different gravity.
Each shot was like Doraemon's Air Cannon—knocking down bad guys left and right.
Wait, does gravity affect objects too, not just people? Or maybe anything from Earth just gets superpowered here? Whatever, doesn't matter.
Roppuru watched in awe as I single-handedly took down a whole crowd of goons. Was he thinking all Earth kids were this tough? Or was it just me?
But the goons didn't stay down. After a few moments, they got back up, proving that the minions stay down after being knocked out rule is a lie.
Cork bullets just weren't enough to finish them off. I sighed as the crowd started coming at us again—guess I had to handle this myself.
Fortunately, on Koya Koya, I had a little bit of superhuman strength. I dashed forward and, with a light push, sent the fat and skinny goons flying. Then I swept through the rest of the mob and gave them all a good beating.
"Stop, stop! Don't hit my face!"
"Please, go easy on us!"
"If you have to hit someone, hit him—he's got thicker skin!"
Their wailing filled the air as I finished up and stacked them into a neat little mountain.
Job done!
I dusted off the dirt from all the action.
"Wow, Nobita, you're amazing! You're so strong!" Roppuru said, looking at me with a hint of awe.
Seeing that admiration in Roppuru's eyes, I couldn't help feeling a little proud. But I still tried to act modest. "It was nothing, really!"
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