Land of the Lost: Chapter 1
Masterless Land
01 | Maximum Alert
Dri-Lar-404, Feather’s Star.
A fully loaded spaceship heads on its return journey towards a planet shaped like a black diamond.
Upon passing through the checkpoint, the young Commander is filled with resentment. In order to gather birthday presents for the , they plundered throughout the galaxy and finally managed to secure a few rare treasures, but the security guards have treated them like petty thieves along every step.
“There weren’t this many checkpoints on the way out…”
“Didn’t you get the most recent notice?”
The Captain smiles and pulls up a holographic screen, displaying a notice marked “URGENT”, which states that there were of Sylus sighted on nearby flight routes around Feathers Star, so all checkpoints have immediately entered into a state of maximum alert.
“Sylus? I’ve heard that name from somewhere…”
The Captain opens the interstellar wanted list received by every spaceship. Sylus’s name is in first place at the very top of the list. “The most wanted criminal in Philos’s history, and the only person to ever escape from the space-time prison—a legend.”
The Commander frowns skeptically. “But that was on Philos. If he comes here, I doubt he’d amount to much.”
“Then why do you think the Overlord has set up so many checkpoints?”
The Commander hesitates and slowly says, “While the Overlord was already conquering other planets, Sylus might not have even been born yet!”
“Then he’s a lucky man,” says a deep, lazy male voice from behind them.
Startled, the two instinctively reach for their weapons, only to find their holsters empty. As if controlled by an unseen force, two intertwined streams of black and red mist casually dangle the guns mid-air, swaying back and forth.
From the shadowed depths of the ship, a tall man emerges. His striking features match the picture on the interstellar wanted list on the holographic screen, . With each step, more mist flows from his hands and coils around the two men, binding his prey even tighter.
A faint, almost imperceptible smile plays at the corners of his lips, but his deep-set eyes only hold a . “But perhaps the Overlord’s ”
As the ship passes through the final checkpoint, the system’s inspection window pops up on screen. An electronic voice says through the speakers: “Transit code.”
“R79-G32…”
The Captain carefully recites the long string of letters and numbers with the utmost caution, knowing that any mistake could result in the mist instantly tightening around his throat.
A beam of light scans the Captain’s face and the electronic voice says: “Biometric verification complete. Cleared to proceed.”
As the spaceship passes the checkpoint and enters the skies above Feathers Star’s capital. the Commander, still defiant, threatens: “You’re throwing yourself into a trap. You have no idea what the Overlord is capable of.”
Lounging casually on the sofa behind them, Sylus idly plays with the guns he confiscated from them, looking completely unconcerned. “Well, that depends on whether or not his trap can handle the weight of a spaceship.”
“What do you mean…?”
The Captain and the Commander exchange a terrified look. Before they can react, black and red mist twists around their arms and violently yanks them towards the ship’s control panel.
“No! Don’t—! Are you insane? We’ll all die!”
Snap! The sharp noise reverberates through the cabin—the sound of bones breaking.
Amidst the Commander’s screams of agony, his dislocated arm is forced by the mist to press a button on the control panel.
“What a shame. I thought the Captain .”
It’s the last thing the Captain hears as the ship veers off course and suddenly plummets towards the Overlord’s fortress.
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