Cain was not a pilot. He was a destroyer.
He held the steering sticks of the scout ship. The ship was shaking. Red lights were flashing on the dashboard.
"Warning! Warning!" a computer voice screamed. "Impact in five seconds!"
Cain looked at the giant black wall of the Mothership. It was getting very close.
"Good," Cain said. He did not slow down. He pushed the sticks forward.
BOOM.
The scout ship did not land. It smashed through the energy shield of the hangar bay. It tumbled across the metal floor, crushing rows of smaller robot ships. Sparks and fire trailed behind it.
The ship finally stopped when it hit a massive fuel tank.
Cain stepped out of the wreckage.
His coat was smoking, but he was smiling. He looked around. The hangar was huge—it could hold ten cities. Thousands of robots were working. They all stopped and turned their red eyes toward him.
"Intruder detected," the robots said in unison.
"I'm not an intruder," Cain said, igniting his Plasma Blade. "I'm the moving company. And I'm here to move you out."
Suddenly, the lights in the hangar changed from red to white. A giant hologram appeared in the center of the room.
It was a man. But he was not human. He had no face—only a glowing blue screen where a face should be. He wore a long, white digital robe.
"Enough," the man said. His voice was not mechanical. It sounded like a bored teacher.
Cain stopped. "Are you the boss?"
"I am the Administrator," the man said. "I run the System. I built the 'Gods' you killed. I wrote the code for your world."
Cain tilted his head. "So you're the one who gave me zero mana?"
The Administrator laughed. "Zero mana was a mistake. A bug in the program. You were supposed to be deleted at birth. But instead, you became... heavy."
"I like being heavy," Cain said.
"It doesn't matter," the Administrator said, waving a hand. "The planet is a farm. The 'Mana' is energy we harvest. Since the Guardians are dead, we are here to collect the crop. You are just a pebble in the machinery, Cain."
Cain looked at the thousands of robots closing in on him.
"A pebble can break a tooth," Cain said.
"Then let us see," the Administrator said. "Guardians! To the Hangar!"
The floor opened. Three new robots rose up. They were not drones. They were Executioners. Each one was twenty feet tall, made of gold-plated metal, and carried a hammer that glowed with enough electricity to power a city.
Cain looked at the giant gold robots. Then he looked at his own hands.
"Gold is soft," Cain whispered. "I'm going to make some jewelry."
He reached into his shadow. He didn't pull out a sword. He pulled out the Sponge of Luna—still heavy and wet with the soul of a Goddess.
"Let's see how you handle a flood in a computer room."
Chapter 26 End.
Would you like to proceed to Chapter 27?
(Preview: The Short Circuit. Cain squeezes the sponge to flood the high-tech hangar. Electricity and water do not mix. The Administrator gets angry.)