Kohn had mixed feelings when he got back onto the ship.

On one hand he was safely with the fleet again, but on the other hand everyone was laughing at him or getting sick when they looked at him.

Plus, when he came back onto the ship his armor deactivated the face shielding. The subsequent smell that hit him made him vomit all over himself when he leaned backwards in a vain attempt to avoid the smell.

But he refused to allow his queasiness or their laughter and looks to ruin his triumphant, dare he say heroic return.

Covered in vomit and viscera he struck a hero pose for the gathered assembly.

“Oh my god Kohn.”

“That smell.”

“God you look disgusting.”

“We’re glad you’re back and all but take a shower man.”

“Nice job on those monsters Kohn-barrrfff!”

“Jesus! Get away from me!”

“Why the hero pose?”

“Huuk! Why’d you throw up? Now I think I’m going to be sick.”

Obviously there were some mixed messages and feelings with his return, but Kohn strolled through like a conqueror as his flanking friends and comrades applauded. More than a couple were directing him down the hall towards the showers.

***

“Did you want to say something to them your highness?”

Leete and Prince StoneTooth stood behind the gathered Earthlings as they celebrated Kohn’s glorious survival and horrific return.

Originally the Prince did want to say a few words about the young man’s miraculous return, but seeing how proud he was walking through the halls combined with his disgusting appearance, the Prince thought it better to make an announcement later. After he had been given a chance to clean up. Twice.

“Your highness! High Mage! Long range sensor spells have found something you’ll want to see.”

“Very well.” They left the Earthlings to celebrate by themselves and went to the Command Center.

“Report.”

“Long range sensor spells have found the end of the asteroid road.”

“Really? What incredibly good luck.”

It was well known that asteroid roads were impossibly long and stretched through entire galaxies. As such it had become a symbol of good luck to see either the beginning or end of it.

They knew this road wasn’t too old since the asteroids were incredibly large, but it was still a surprise to see the end of it.

“Well, maybe not your highness.”

The commanders fidgeted awkwardly. When he inquired further they just directed him to the displays.

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What they saw shocked them.

A dead World Eater was falling apart.

The White Breath was gone, and its body underneath the hard top shell was rapidly falling apart, making it incredibly difficult to discern its original appearance.

“The road… is a dead World Eater?”

It sort of made since when they thought about it.

The Jzanna were a race that could live in the void of the Deep Dark and would grow depending on how much they fed. The World Eaters ate so much that they grew to tremendous size and would eat organic and inorganic materials. Naturally their stomachs would be filled with rocks and metals.

Previously the Kingdom thought the smaller Jzanna only followed the World Eaters because of the White Breath. Their best researchers came up with the idea that the World Eaters were a completely unrelated species and the Jzanna were like parasites. Using the World Eaters as a method of travel and eating relatively small quantities of the World Eaters food. And in return they would prevent the World Eaters from being attacked and killed by hostile lifeforms. But here a dead Jzanna was creating a new asteroid road and they found numerous young Jzanna everywhere.

It wasn’t just an equally beneficial relationship.

“Leete. All of those black spots that had Jzanna hiding underneath them. Were they…?”

“Eggs, your highness. I would hazard a guess that they were something similar to eggs.”

“So that would make the World Eaters the Jzanna mothers?”

“It would appear so your highness. And when they die and fall apart they release billions upon billions of baby Jzanna.” It was odd calling the massive Jzanna babies. The smallest one they had ever seen was about 3 grown men in length.

This information would change everything.

Previously the Kingdom fought with the intention of pushing the World Eaters away from planets in order to starve them. Because so far their weapons couldn’t scratch the massive beasts. Then the World Eaters would leave populated planets alone and the Jzanna would starve to death. But if the small ones were simply babies and the World Eaters were the adults then it meant that the war would never end until World Eaters were all killed. Not just killed though, they had to be completely destroyed. Otherwise they’d release an insurmountable cache of eggs.

“High mage!”

Noticing the serious commanding voice of the Prince, Leete became unsure.

“Your highness?”

“Set a course for the capital. Fastest speed and all haste.”

“But we were taking our time for several reasons your highness. Do those no longer matter?”

“In the face of this information we can no longer afford to take it easy. We need to get back to the capital and change our war strategy as fast as possible and alert all member planets that the asteroid roads are potentially dangerous areas that should be avoided and monitored at all costs.

“The Earthling Kohn, with help from the Vessel’s Armorer and his assistants, has made some incredible equipment. The suit would allow individuals to fight the Jzanna and keep them off the ships and the weapons are incredibly powerful.”

The Buster Arm that Kohn had made exploded the Jzanna from the inside-out with the Mana Ball. The viscera’s forward momentum caused his appearance from earlier.

“We need to get these weapons back to the Kingdom and replicate them as quickly as possible.”

“What about our mana reserves? If we go faster we’ll empty our reserves that much faster.”

“Restrict mana usage in the fleets. Continue to train the humans in knowledge and combat, but only theoretical practice for magic until we get back. Allow Kohn and the Armorer full use within reason. Anything else they can create will be helpful.”

“Yes, your highness.”

“Leete. What about the other Earthlings? Do any of them show promise like the Earthling Kohn?”

“Nothing like Kohn unfortunately, but that could simply be due to the Armorer personally taking an interest in him. There are however a few other candidates that show promise in various fields. Many show promise as future members of the Order of the Falling Fist. Dozens may one day become commanders or even High Mages in the Winged Order.”

“Good.”

“However, there are a few that are still resistant to us and the training.”

“No matter. We’ll find other uses for them or punish them until they change. The Earthling Kohn went through quite an ordeal. Let him rest for today. Tomorrow he can finish repairs and then I want him to come up with more ideas to work on. I wonder what else he will make…”

Seeing the Prince go quiet in reflective thought, Leete left him alone. He issued orders to his commanders and sent messages to the fleet which immediately leapt up in speed. The dead World Eater and the road were quickly left in their wake.

Prince StoneTooth stared at two displays. One of the massive corpse drifting through space and the other of the Earthlings celebrating their fellows safe return.

“We need to get back as quickly as possible. I have a strange feeling about the planet Earth…”