"Is that the stage Dr. Primitive built? It's actually pretty beautiful."
Gazing at the star shining through the spaceship's glass, the Herrscher of Sentience curled her lip.
Not every planet in the cosmos has life.
Although the planet where Dr. Primitive resides had gone through a war with the Galaxy Rangers, it was still vibrant and full of life, constantly sending out temptation in all directions.
Naturally, this could not be separated from Dr. Primitive's various experiments.
"Finally, the Evil Ninja Osaru is about to be defeated."
Lowering her hat brim slightly, Rappa murmured softly, her eyes flashing with brilliance, locking firmly onto the "Grove filled with Banana plants" not far from the Screwllum's warship.
"Master Kucha, I have not failed your expectations. Bearing the name of Dazzling Ninja, I will do everything in my power to sweep away all evil in the ninja world. Evil Ninja Osaru and his fiendlings will end here!"
Boothill let out a light scoff and patted his revolver. His modified hand collided with the cold metal, producing a metallic clang.
"I don't have that many reasons. If I must say one, it's simply that I can't stand that guy. Since I can't find that bastard Osvaldo right now, I might as well start with that monkey."
Galaxy Rangers all act differently, completely unpredictable.
No one knows when someone doing performance art by the roadside might suddenly pull an RPG or a sword out of somewhere and hack .
But there is one thing all rangers who step into the hunt agree upon.
The bottom line. Once someone crosses that line, all that awaits them is a dead end with no hope of survival!
"Just like right now!"
The revolver lifted the brim of his hat. Standing at the forefront of the starship, Boothill pointed toward the planet and the shy above it.
There, the stars were shining! There, meteors blossomed with light!
As if endless, the sharpness of countless rangers, rushing toward the hunt, burst forth at this very moment, boundless, blazing brilliance.
"That is the light of gathered Galaxy Rangers!"
The stars flickered.
A scene that existed only in stories now appeared vividly before everyone's eyes. Each meteor was a ranger traveling from unimaginably far away.
They had only one purpose.
Kill the target, or be killed by the target!
"That monkey Dr. Primitive is hiding was watched by everyone even last time. Even when rumors spread that he died, blown to ashes with not even dust left, no one believed it. And sure enough, he's alive. Now that we finally caught him, how could we possibly let him escape?"
The Galaxy Rangers would not agree.
This time, only death awaits him. Only death!
"Question: Has Mr. Boothill been busy these days contacting the Galaxy Rangers?"
Screwllum asked.
Boothill curled his lip. "Of course. These guys hide deeper than anyone. If I didn't have the contact info of a few old buddies, I'd never find them."
The contact methods of Galaxy Rangers were a universal complaint, even among the Rangers themselves.
Normally, unless you have a connection with a ranger, you could only rely purely on luck. If lucky, you might spot the person you're looking for on an IPC wanted poster.
If unlucky, you'd have to search one by one, maybe stumbling upon some ranger experimenting with something a lunatic would do.
Of course, Boothill did not use such an inefficient approach this time.
He adopted a much more efficient method.
Contact the few Rangers he could still find alive, then... broadcast together on the IPC's show!
And surprisingly enough, he was quite satisfied with the IPC's efficiency in handling it.
Even though he himself was a wanted criminal with who knows how many zeros on his bounty, they still helped anyway.
"Let's go. Time to meet the one who stirred up so much trouble the moment he returned, and see how many heads he's got!"
With a clatter, a bullet jumped out of Boothill's pocket. Shark-Teeth chomped down on it without hesitation, as if competing to see which was harder.
The Herrscher of Sentience cracked her knuckles. She had said it, she would blast that monkey-doctor's head off!
She would keep her word!
As for Rappa, she had long prepared everything to eliminate the evil ninja Osaru.
Watching the fighting-spirit-filled group, Screwllum's eyes reflected the distant glow of the stars.
.....
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
With one explosion after another, the ground trembled.
The rangers descending from the sky scanned their surroundings warily, doing their utmost to stay alert.
Some had not experienced the previous case with Dr. Primitive, and some had only just become Galaxy Rangers.
But once they saw Boothill's galaxy-wide broadcast about Dr. Primitive, they all came running without hesitation.
And along the way, they gathered into groups.
"Everyone be careful. Dr. Primitive's Atavism Experiments permeate everywhere. If anything feels off, evacuate immediately and check your body."
This advice came from a ranger who survived the previous war, teaching his juniors.
"No one should have forgotten the planets we saw on the way here, right?"
A cute, girlish gunslinger licked her lips, a pink shovel resting on her shoulder, Resine.
A middle-aged veteran ranger glanced at her but remained silent.
Her hometown was one of the worlds degraded back to primitive society by the experiments. That was why she became a Galaxy Ranger.
He had seen too many people devoured by hatred, burning everything to pursue vengeance.
He was one of them. So he would not say anything to dissuade her. Hatred was the best catalyst. In years where hatred burned fiercely, life itself becomes insignificant.
A heavy, silent atmosphere spread through the group. No one spoke. Even the faintest sounds seemed frozen.
Suddenly, the middle-aged man walking at the front stopped and drew the curved blade at his waist.
"Something's wrong. We've already walked through this area once. And it's too quiet."
Insects chirping, birds calling.
Once both sounds vanish in a forest, the forest is issuing a warning,
Danger is coming!
"Penacony..." a dazed mature woman in the group murmured.
"This place feels very similar to Penacony. Especially that moment we passed through the birch trees just now."
"... Looks like we walked right into a trap Dr. Primitive set the moment we landed. Truly fits his style, treacherous villain."
The members of this temporary team were all experienced. Many had been to Penacony.
They understood what this meant. If they could not find the exit, they might be trapped in this Penacony-like prison forever.
After advancing for several more hours, everyone finally stopped. The charming young girl stared solemnly at a sapling not far away.
"That was the first mark I made. Three hours ago we saw it again… yet now, only an hour has passed!"
This world… is shrinking!
Everyone had already thought of this possibility.
A chill crept up their backs.
The world was shrinking. If they couldn't escape before it fully contracted and annihilated itself, then their fate was obvious.
The worst part was that they were losing their perception of time!
Electronic devices that recorded time had long stopped functioning. Now they could only rely on their own sense of time to roughly judge when it currently was.
As each second passed, they saw the same sapling again.
"…"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!!!"
This time, the group could no longer hold back. The two armed members emptied their magazines into the sapling without hesitation.
The middle-aged man's face darkened.
The last time he broke into Dr. Primitive's base, they had not had the chance to face the notorious madman head-on.
And this time… was he going to be stopped before even finding the entrance?
They had never regretted coming here; the bottom line of the Galalxy Rangers was firm.
Before coming, they had already prepared themselves to die here. This time… it was simply arriving a bit earlier.
The only pity might be that he wouldn't be able to help the young girl avenge her family. The middle-aged man sighed inwardly.
"Calm your hearts, relax your souls. Let external chaos crumble on its own."
Just as the group was troubled, a gentle voice, accompanied by a mild, warm breeze, brushed against their increasingly weary faces.
Instinctively, they lifted their heads, searching for the source.
They saw a handsome man descending from the sky, wearing a halo and gorgeous clothing. His solemn face held gentle eyes, and the breeze-like presence swept away the exhaustion in their hearts.
"Please follow me to leave the distorted domain." Sunday spoke softly.
The group exchanged glances. Only when the middle-aged man nodded slightly did they let down their guard and follow this sudden visitor.
With one step crossing over the birch sapling, they suddenly felt something heavy lift off their shoulders, their bodies lightened.
Before they could feel amazed, the middle-aged man noticed that Sunday, walking ahead, had stopped, lowering his gaze toward the spot of the sapling.
"That's the sapling I just marked." The girl blinked, shocked.
Sunday nodded gently. "It was acting as an anchor that trapped you in that place. If no one had broken the anchor, I might not have noticed there was another pocket of space hidden here."
Hearing that, the two who had fired their guns looked at each other. They fiddled awkwardly with their weapons, unable to hide the smiles on their faces.
The idle chatter ended; everyone present had urgent matters to attend to. The middle-aged man stepped forward and spoke in a deep voice.
"Are you also a Galaxy Ranger? If not could you tell me your origin? If Dr. Primitive is eliminated and I am fortunate enough to survive, anything within my ability, I will take care of it for you, so long as it does not violate my bottom line."
Sunday knew that as long as it did not contradict the man's personal sense of justice, he would attempt any task, no matter how difficult, even at the cost of his life.
Sunday gently shook his head, his expression carrying a hint of compassion. The halo above his head and the wings behind his ears gave him a presence not of the mortal world.
....
"Those who walk this path should act so. All beings of this universe should help one another. No thanks are needed, it is simply what I ought to do."
After speaking, he slowly knelt and gently replanted the sapling that had not yet lost its life force.
Perhaps one day in the future, it too would grow into a towering tree and shelter life.
Watching Sunday's departing figure, the girl fell silent for a moment. Staring at the softly swaying sapling, she suddenly asked: "Who… is he?"
The middle-aged man shook his head slightly. "Who knows? The world is vast and full of wonders."
"...Is that so."
...
This scene played out across the world. Many Galalxy Rangers, if even slightly careless, were caught by it.
Some relied on their own strength to forcibly break out.
Others, unable to find a way out, were saved by a halo-wearing person.
Some were rescued by fellow Rangers.
"Ptui! Damn it, that damned Dr. Primitive can pull tricks like this now? Why didn't he use this before?"
The feeling of sand in his mouth was awful. Even though Boothill had experienced many such situations, it never stopped being annoying.
Who would ever get used to this! Turning his head toward the person he and Rappa had just rescued, Boothill shouted irritably:
"You lot, if you're fine, then go find that monkey's forest! And don't blame me for not warning you, be careful not to get turned into monkeys yourselves. I can't turn you back! Damn it, today I'm flipping his whole banana grove upside down!"
The Rangers who had just escaped the trap nodded and immediately rushed off to search for Dr. Primitive's trail. Watching their departing figures, Boothill still looked annoyed.
"That Dr. Primitive can really do something like this? The last time there was nothing of this. How the hell did he level up while being bombed?"
"Ninja Silvergun Shura, I believe the urgent task now is to regroup with Ninja Red Kite and Ninja Metal Head. Since Evil Ninja Osaru constructed this entire Evil Ninja Realm, it must be filled with traps. Only by working together can we defeat Evil Ninja Osaru and bring light back to the Ninja Realm!"
"You think I don't know that? If I could find them, I'd already be on the move."
Boothill clicked his tongue, squinting slightly.
"This forest is seriously messed up. The moment we appeared here we got scattered, and even our comm devices got blocked. Damn it, why didn't he mess with my mental beacon instead of this… this… bana... bana..??"