The Tortoise landed close to the top of the tree which served as the base of the Kojo tribe. Eto was standing underneath it, seeing his friends arrive.

‘You made it!’ he yelled with a big smile on his face.

Veronica, Djon, TYO, Vanessa and the princess jumped down from the ship.

Veronica wanted to hug Eto but the princess quickly jumped in ahead and started to hug Eto.

‘I’m so glad you are safe,’ she said with a caring voice.

Eto didn’t know what to do so he slowly made her release him so he could talk to the others.

‘How are you?’ Veronica asked while the princess held onto Eto’s arm.

‘Bad. Everybody keeps fighting,’ he answered and Hawk looked past him to the battle.

‘Damn those soldiers. They ruined everything,’ he said angry but Eto interrupted him.

‘I got close to some soldiers. It seems they even doubt why they are doing this. There must be a leader who commands them to do such awful things.’

‘Oh,’ TYO responded while jumping up and down on his tiny wheel.

‘I couldn’t tell because of the explosion but while I was in the jungle, I discovered some really interesting news.’

'What news?’ Hawk asked, looking down to the robot.

‘There is a base nearby and while I was scouting through the ventilation shafts, I discovered that the man we encountered in the Holy knight temple on Etoile is here. Councilman Kazerku. And to make things worse, one of the Generation Zero knights is here as well!’

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Eto thought about his encounter with Kazerku on Etoile and his battle with the knight.

‘I guess there are more of them,’ he said softly.

‘Then he must be the one who commands these soldiers,’ Veronica said.

‘Guess they are doing the job of an evil mind,’ Hawk responded, looking at the battle further away.

‘What man?’ Princess Morinojo asked Eto but they all heard a voice above them.

‘I love to stay for chats but we have work to do,’ Djon said while standing on the hanging platform next to the Tortoise.

‘Right,’ Eto said and he saw the ship coming down, closer to them.

Djon jumped next to them, getting two swords in his hands.

‘I will try to knock some sense into that guy Gongarza, maybe he will listen to me.’

The princess looked at him with a worried face but Djon responded with a grin.

‘Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt him. I think because he knows me, I have a better chance of calming him down. Better than Eto that is,’ reminding them that Gongarza didn’t like Eto from the start.

‘You two will fly the ship with the water we quickly gathered to help take down the flames.

Veronica saw that Djon was pointing to her and Vanessa.

Unlike Vanessa, Veronica gave a look that she wasn’t happy with who she had to work with.

‘Can she fly your ship?’ Veronica asked but Vanessa didn’t respond to her.

'Of course. I saw the ship she was flying. I think she can handle it,’ he answered and Vanessa only nodded, jumping back into the ship.

‘You. Best to try to calm down that Lion leader. You know him right?’ Djon asked Hawk.

He nodded. ‘Lowe. I will try my best.’

While TYO wasn’t given a command, he drove to Hawk to follow him.

‘What about me?’ Eto asked, still having the princess hanging to his arm.

Djon smiled.

‘Try to convince the Kojo members to stop attacking the soldiers, or protect them when needed. It is what you can do,’ he said.

A dull expression turned into a smile as Eto nodded and started to run, while the princess did her best to hold on and keep up with him.