Villain Retirement

"Boss, you might want to take a look at this."

Somewhere in the vast expanse of the Known Universe, a crew of green-skinned scavengers was currently on their way to Hotis 4J; their ship, hopping from debris to debris so they would be able to hide and go undetected by the Lahestia that were currently guarding the planet.

They have heard of its imminent destruction— and that usually means the planet splitting apart and making it free for everyone to enjoy its scraps; and with Hotis 4J being a den of outlaws and pirates, it was basically a treasure trove.

And of course, to lower their chance of being detected and caught, they went completely radio-silence; and because of this, they were also completely unaware of what had transpired within and around the planet for the past hour.

"What is it!? Did we find some scraps already!?" And with her helmsman calling for her, the captain of the ship, Nana, thought that they had finally 'struck it rich'. But alas, as she looked at the enlarged video feed on the debris-shield window, all she saw were two corpses floating around the darkness.

"Floaters… They're probably from Hotis 4J, poor fuckers. But I suppose that's life." Instead of getting angry at her subordinate for calling her for something like this, however, she just let out a sigh and patted his shoulder, before telling him to go around so they wouldn't hit their corpses.

"...But they're alive, boss."

"...What?"

"We're detecting life signatures from them."

"Approach them! Prepare for salvage!" Captain Nana quickly turned around and walked away, "Send the feed to my terminal…

…I want to see what's happening!"

***

"How are they still alive?"

"Is the long-haired one an evaniel? He looks a little familiar."

"Look at the skin of the female one, it's almost as if her muscles are made of co…"

With a ship that's specialized in scavenging and salvaging, it didn't really take them any effort to rescue the two lost souls that were mysteriously still alive and drifting aimlessly in the great expanse.

The two drifters were now placed on top of one of their many tables, still seemingly lifeless. And now with them there, the true size of the green-skinned humanoids was revealed— they were small; almost half the size of the two individuals.

"How are these two even alive?" Captain Nana repeated her words as her eyes focused on the two drifters. And like the rest of her crew, she was also tapping the white-haired one with her index finger, "Do you guys think…

…they're really from the Higher Races?"

And as soon as her crew heard her words, they quickly retracted their curious fingers.

"..."

But after a few seconds of looking at each other, they just continued to touch and observe the two unconscious drifters.

"Can you run an ID scan on them, Harith? We might get a good reward from rescuing them," Captain Nana said as she finally moved away from the white-haired humanoid, jumping from her chair as she approached one of her subordinates that was still poking the drifters.

"Hm. I actually already scanned them. If they're in the system, then we'll know who they are," Harith slightly pushed away his hair that was covering his eyes as he looked at Nana, "It should already be in your terminal, boss."

"Sweet," Captain Nana could not help but let out a slightly mischievous snicker as she trotted her way inside her station. And without even minding the other things that were on her table's console screen, she swiped her hands several times to close them until the window showing the female drifter's profile came up.

"...She's not registered anywhere?" Captain Nana could not help but grab a tuft of her red hair, "Is she some sort of vagrant?"

Nana could really only let out a sigh as she saw the female drifter's empty profile. If she was from a Higher Race, then they would surely be rewarded handsomely by rescuing her— no. Even if she wasn't, she was sure they would still be rewarded a bounty; after all, the female drifter didn't look ordinary.

"..." And with one final look of disappointment, Nana once again let out a sigh as she once again swiped her hand, closing the window and hoping the next one would be a bigger fish. And true enough, his profile was in a different color.

"Yes!" Captain Nana could not help but slam her fist on her table console.

"What is it, boss!? Did we catch a big fish!?"

"Shh! You guys just mind your own business!" Captain Nana snarled and smiled as she heard her subordinates' loud voices entering her office. Her hands, violently waving them away so they wouldn't enter and she could focus on reading whatever was on the white-haired drifter's profile; and seeing as there was an almost entire page of texts, there was a lot.

And so, Nana started reading the drifter's profile starting from the very top.

"...How do you read this? Ra… Rayee Yuz?" Captain Nana slightly squinted her eyes; her head, tilting to the side as she slightly puffed her cheeks,

"Oh, so he's not an Evaniel? Interesting. Hm… He's from the Dark Zone!? What's he doing here!?" Captain Nana's eyes almost popped out of their sockets as she continued to read Rayee Yuz's profile.

"...Avoid at all costs? What? He looks harmless," Captain Nana rolled her lips as she exhaled and once again glanced at the white-haired drifter's photo before continuing to read his profile,

"Hm…. Mhmm. Oh, it would seem you're a wanted man?" Captain Nana's eyes then lit up as soon as she reached a certain section of the profile,

"Murder of… a High Official? What does that even mean? Okay, okay. You have my attention, Rayee Yuz," Captain Nana took in a deep breath as she continued to read,

"Committed lupacide, responsible for the destruction of Hotis 4J and several other planets. Okay, cool. Committed ge…nocide and…"

And very soon, her eyes that were already popping out and shining widened even further, to the point that it looked like her face would actually explode as her green face started to turn blue in shock,

"Ga… Galactic-level… level threat? Why… why the fuck would they put that last!? Everyone, throw them to—"

"Boss! They're awake!"

And before she could finish her words, one of her men barged into her station.

"Awake? Who… Who's awake?" Captain Nana could really only take in a small gulp as she saw the excited look on her subordinate's face.

"The two drifters! We can't understand what they're saying, so bring the analyzer, boss!"

"Wa—"

And once again, she couldn't even complete her words as her subordinate just left in a rush. The only thing she could really do was stare at the open doorway; her breaths, slightly erratic.

What… was she even supposed to do? Abandon ship?

No. The fact that they were still alive right now would mean that this Rayee Yuz was not as aggressive as they make him sound— maybe she could just feign ignorance and pretend she doesn't know who he is yet.

And when she gets the chance, she would find a way to get them off the ship as civilized as possible.

Yes, that's it. That's the plant— and with that thought, Captain Nana returned to the deck.

"Boss! How is it!? Have you finished reading their profile!?"

"..."

"..."

"...Fuck."