Zeus cast a quick glance at the children's faces, and aside from the obvious fear on them, what caught his attention was the girl he had been looking for.
"So they caught you in the end… You're definitely a smart girl. Do you remember me?"
Little Sally nodded, so Zeus asked her not to make a sound before he untied her hands and removed the gag from her mouth.
"Who are you, sir?"
"A member of the special forces. I came here to save you...
"This old man is really nice. I met him at the amusement park when I escaped."
"Old man!?"
Zeus noticed that many of the children's fears faded, and happiness even appeared on their faces when they realized they had been rescued.
In any case, Zeus crushed their hopes with his next words:
"I will untie you, but you must remain completely silent and follow my orders exactly, because there are countless enemies on this ship right now."
....
At the same time, outside, there was a man wielding a sword and wearing a combat suit, clearly a genetic fighter. He stood in the ship's command room. In front of him, the captain lay unconscious on the ground with both hands severed.
The remaining assistants stood in the corner, pure terror gripping them.
The man's current role was to keep watch over them.
Elsewhere on the ship, the man who had brought the children and several other men had been captured.
Another special forces operative was heading to Zeus's location.
A few minutes later, the sound of police cars was heard outside, and officers began to spread out and arrest everyone working on the ship.
The white mecha approached the area, monitoring the situation from above.
....
Zeus noticed the man approaching the room, and just as he was preparing an ambush, he heard the man calling his name.
"Zeus Raktes... I'm an agent from the secret special forces, unit 300... Are you here?"
"Yes, that's me."
The man saw the voice-match notification on his helmet's display and lowered his weapon — an advanced energy rifle.
He then entered the room and shook Zeus's hand.
"Nice to meet you… I'm really impressed by your ability to infiltrate this place and complete your mission even though you're not a genetic fighter."
"Actually, I used to be a genetic fighter."
"I see... I'm sorry to hear that. I hope your injury wasn't permanent."
"No, in fact, I regained my powers during the mission."
"Well, now that makes sense... The ship is under control. Let's get the children out of this filthy place."
Sally grabbed onto Zeus's coat, and he gently patted her hair and told her to follow him.
.....
[Several minutes later]
[At the port outside the ship]
Zeus watched the children boarding one of the police transport vehicles. When he turned around, he saw a silver-haired woman glaring at him with a scowl and visible anger on her face.
Zeus was puzzled by the look from this genetic fighter and decided to ignore it. He gave her a light welcoming smile and walked past her. Just before he could get far, he felt someone grab his coat from behind and pull him back.
"Girl, what you're doing is rude and a violation of a citizen's freedom."
The girl clenched her teeth, her frown deepening. When Zeus noticed the number 293 on her suit and the white mecha stationed twenty meters away, he asked awkwardly:
"I guess you know me... but I honestly don't remember you. And I still think what you're doing is clearly insulting... So please let go of my coat, ma'am."
Zeus noticed the girl's silent anger begin to fade when he mentioned not remembering her. Gradually, a look of sorrow became visible on her face.
"I truly don't mean to hurt your feelings. I suppose if someone close to you forgot you, that would definitely be sad... I think I understand. And honestly, I'm curious about the relationship between me and a beautiful girl like you... Were we lovers, maybe?"
The girl's face went cold again as she spoke her first words in this meeting:
"No... But we were teammates... and friends."
"Would you allow me to buy you a quick drink so we can talk?"
"There's no nearby place, and we don't have time to waste."
Zeus looked at the ship and asked with a smile:
"Are you sure? I don't think the police will finish with this ship anytime soon, and I don't think our ride is arriving any time soon either."
.....
[About ten minutes later]
[In the ship's main dining hall]
At one of the tables, Zeus spoke:
"If something like this happened... It's really confusing for me to suddenly find myself two years ahead of my own time with no memory."
"Saving my life was the reason our friendship developed so quickly."
"Are you sure I didn't confess my love to you?"
"No, there was never anything like that... Actually, you were rude and annoying most of the time."
"I was that bad? That's sad to hear."
The girl got flustered and spoke nervously:
"I didn't mean... I'm sorry. Actually, you were fun and had a kind and considerate heart most of the time."
Zeus laughed with a mischievous smile and asked innocently:
"So you're in love with me?"
"Wha–!! Wait, what!? You know what... I take it back... You're still just as annoying as ever...
The girl took her drink and walked away.
"Hey! You didn't even tell me your name yet! I'm Zeus, by the way!"
The girl turned to look at Zeus, eyes wide, followed by a clear expression of anger—and a chair flying through the air toward Zeus.
Zeus deliberately didn't dodge the chair. When it hit him, he gasped:
"How could you hit a civilian man this hard!!
The girl panicked and rushed to check on him.
"Zeus, are you okay!! Damn it, I forgot you lost your powers…"
Zeus covered his face, emitting a strange muffled sound that was hard to tell whether it was laughter or crying.
As the girl grew more worried and forced Zeus to show his face, he couldn't hold it anymore and burst out laughing loudly.
"!!"
"Didn't I tell you!? I got my powers back!
"You bastard...!"
Zeus took a punch to the stomach that sent him flying across the floor and crashing into the wall. Yet even then, he couldn't stop laughing — punctuated by groans of pain.
He watched the girl's back as she walked away and muttered to himself:
"What a brilliant actor I am... Girl, I seriously still don't know your name...!!
Zeus swallowed his laughter and looked at the shattered pieces of the chair next to him.
"Did she miss on purpose, or was that a warning shot...? Damn it, I'll take that as a warning... But I just can't stop teasing a beautiful girl like her."