The white-haired man follows Cra and her friends through the corridors of the Safira.

  They climb a short staircase with a few steps and walk down a long hallway until they reach a rge double door adorned with the emblem of a glowing red stone.

  The door opens as they approach, revealing a spacious room filled with elegant furniture, bookshelves packed with various items, and gss dispy cases containing rare artifacts.

  Yet, what stands out the most is the rge round stone table at the center, surrounded by eleven grand and comfortable chairs.

  A few people are already seated around the table, including the doctor who treated Javier.

  The groups exchange gnces, and most of the attention falls on the mysterious white-haired man—curious, slightly hostile looks that he completely ignores.

  As they pass through the doorway, Diego’s voice echoes from the hallway behind them.

  “Wait!”

  He approaches with hurried steps, followed closely by Javier, who shoots an even more hostile gre at the white-haired man.

  “He’s not a member of the crew.” Diego points at the white-haired man as he enters the grand room.

  Cra is about to say something, but Matteo quickly steps in front of her with a pleading expression.

  “The captain is right—he’s not officially a member of the Safira yet, and this meeting is for the core members.”

  Cra exhales lightly but doesn’t argue. She turns to the white-haired man with an apologetic look.

  “Sorry, big guy, you’ll have to wait outside for a bit.” She walks him toward the hallway.

  Though he doesn’t say anything, he seems to understand gestures well. Yet, he hesitates to leave Cra, gncing at Diego and Javier with a dark look.

  “Them?” Cra smiles lovingly at the white-haired man and gestures toward Nyx.

  “She’ll make mincemeat out of both of them before they can do anything to me.”

  The white-haired man smirks, and when Nyx gnces at him, he winks at her.

  “Oh?” Nyx is surprised, not noticing the corners of her lips almost curling into a smile.

  He feels Cra touch his arm and turns his attention back to her.

  “This will be quick. I have a pn!” She grins at him before stepping inside the room.

  As soon as the door closes, Diego rushes to the only unique chair at the table—rger, more elegant, and more decorated.

  The captain’s seat, of course.

  Javier sits to one side of him, while Maxwell, the stern-looking woman, and the green-haired punk take seats in succession.

  On the opposite side of the table, Cra, Nyx, Jex, and Matteo take their pces, leaving two empty chairs in the middle to complete the eleven.

  Matteo gnces at one of the empty chairs.

  “Where’s Louis?”

  “He’s handling something for me,” Diego responds quickly. “Can we begin?”

  “What’s this about?” the green-haired punk asks, curious.

  “The relic.” Diego’s eyes gleam. “I have a great idea for our next move.”

  Nyx casts a cold, inquisitive look at Diego.

  “Aren’t we supposed to deliver it to the Umbrakarians to complete our contract?”

  “Before that!” Cra rises and pces both hands on the table. “We need to talk about him.”

  The glow in Diego’s eyes fades. “Does it have to be now?”

  “Yes, it does.” Cra sms her hand on the table, resolute.

  “We only have the relic because of his efforts, so yeah, I’m not letting you just dismiss him like that.”

  “HE’S A STRANGER!” Javier snaps irritably.

  “We were all strangers before we got to know each other,” Matteo comments in his usual friendly tone.

  He gestures with his hands. “And look at us now…”

  “A big happy family,” the punk says sarcastically.

  “We’re still a team,” Diego gnces at everyone, putting on his best friendly expression.

  “We have problems like any family, but we can work them out, right?”

  “He’s not part of this family!” Javier insists, hostile.

  “That’s not for you to decide,” Cra shoots back with equal hostility.

  Javier scoffs and looks away. There’s something in his eyes—not just anger, but also pain and jealousy.

  “Alright, Cra. If you want to settle this now, let’s vote.” Diego speaks in a confident tone.

  “Great.” She nods and sits back down.

  Diego nods and begins speaking. “So, who’s in favo—”

  “Wait!” Cra interrupts him.

  “You can’t just ask who’s going to suck up to you like some spineless bootlicker.”

  Javier, Maxwell, the punk, and the scowling woman shoot hostile gres at Cra.

  But she smirks provocatively at them.

  “First, let’s make things clear.”

  Diego exhales sharply but gestures for her to speak. “Alright, get on with it.”

  Cra smiles and gnces at everyone around the table.

  “You guys didn’t see how insane Javier was when he attacked me, but that big guy out there was there—and he saved me from this rabid dog!”

  “YOU BITC—” Javier starts to rise, but Diego signals for him to sit back down.

  Cra nods slightly at him and continues.

  “But before that, he saved me from the Crimson Nebu, and he saved this entire ship from that Vhorr’Ka.”

  Her tone is both grateful and admiring, but the others, including her friends, seem skeptical and curious.

  “How exactly did you meet this guy again?” Matteo asks.

  “Him?”

  Cra pauses for a second, as the image of her opening the mysterious monolith and finding him naked, covered in that red liquid, fshes through her mind.

  “Yeah, him.” Matteo nods, as he’s not the only one confused.

  Cra realizes she can’t look uncertain now. “Didn’t I say?”

  “I mean, there’s not much to say. I found him locked up inside the pyramid. He was a Thek’Shar prisoner.”

  “How do you know?” Maxwell, the doctor, asks.

  “He told you that?” Jimena, the woman near Diego, adds.

  Everyone looks at Cra with curious expressions, and she has to think fast to avoid revealing the white-haired man’s mysterious alien origin.

  “No, he didn’t say anything.” She states with a serious expression.

  “Nothing?”

  “Why?”

  “Weird…”

  As everyone looks confused and doubtful, Cra gnces at Nyx.

  “I think he’s in shock.”

  “Shock?”

  “Yes, I found him in an ancient cell, locked up by those savages, along with several other human corpses.”

  The room goes silent as everyone listens intently. Cra continues her story.

  “There were broken guns and maps—probably a team of treasure hunters.”

  The others listen with eyes gleaming with curiosity, but there’s something else in Nyx’s gaze.

  “If he was the only survivor… surrounded by those savages… it makes sense that he’d be traumatized,” Nyx comments.

  “Yeah, he was probably tortured or who knows what.” Cra quickly adds.

  “And his dead friends?” Diego asks. “Were they as strange as him?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Pale, with white hair… and eyes… like that.”

  “Ehh…” Cra needs to think fast.

  “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know?”

  “Yeah, I didn’t exactly have time to examine the corpses in the cells!”

  “They looked like they’d been dead for a long time—rotting bodies, bones…”

  “For fuck’s sake! I had just found the relic.”

  “The Crimson Nebu was after me.”

  “I found him.”

  “I freed him.”

  “He helped me.”

  “That was it!”

  "..."

  Everyone looks at Cra with mixed expressions, but they’re all confused and curious.

  "It must be the work of the Thek’Shar." Nyx comments calmly.

  All eyes turn to her as she continues.

  "The barbarians probably did something to him—maybe tested new torture methods or who knows what…"

  "Any kind of crap could have left him like that. We have no way of knowing."

  Cra nods quickly. "I was going to ask you to take a good look at him as soon as possible…"

  "But the important thing is that he helped me."

  "He’s on our side!" She says to everyone.

  "You don’t know anything about him." Diego comments skeptically.

  "I know one thing…"

  A confident gleam appears in Cra’s eyes as she gnces at Jex.

  "Show them."

  "Mm." Jex nods and pulls a tablet from the pocket of her jacket.

  She taps the screen, then slides it to the center of the table.

  A light emerges from the tablet, creating a holographic projection: footage from Safira’s cameras, dispying Cra and the mysterious white-haired man battling the gigantic alien sandworm.

  Everyone’s eyes widen in shock as they watch the incredible scene of the white-haired man scaling the creature using its venomous spines.

  "Woah!"

  "Damn!!!"

  "Impossible…"

  Cra grins proudly.

  "Yeah, he really did that shit."

  Matteo nods, impressed. "He fights like a damn fearless barbarian!"

  Everyone at the table is undeniably impressed. But Diego and Javier have that same dark gleam in their eyes—a mixture of fear and jealousy.

  "He’s amazing, isn’t he?" Cra’s smile stretches from ear to ear.

  "He’s insane!" Diego snaps, irritated.

  "Unstable, dangerous, a threat!"

  "I could say the same about your brother!" Cra points at Javier.

  "But unlike him, my friend is calm, kind, polite, and very useful!"

  "Charming too." Jex adds, her eyes sparkling.

  "Without a doubt…" Nyx murmurs.

  Diego scoffs and shakes his head.

  "Well…" Cra gestures toward the footage of her and the mysterious man blowing up the giant sandworm.

  "I’m not asking you all to become his best friends."

  "I’m just asking you to give a chance to this super cool guy who saved our big prize and our home."

  "Give him a chance to prove himself as a valuable member of this family."

  Cra sighs deeply and continues.

  "And if we can’t adapt to him, we can just give him a ride to some random pnet and go our separate ways."

  "…"

  "Is that too much to ask? Just one chance?"

  Everyone seems deep in thought, but some reach a conclusion quickly.

  Jex is the first to raise her hand. "I vote we give him a chance."

  Nyx raises her hand as well. "Of course."

  Matteo is the third, and to Diego’s surprise, the fourth is the green-haired punk.

  "Zion?!" Diego shoots a sharp look at him.

  But Zion shrugs, fshing a crooked smile.

  "Come on, boss, this guy’s crazy—so it’s better to have him on our side!"

  As Diego shakes his head, disappointed, Cra beams and raises her hand victoriously.

  "Five to four."

  "Wait." Diego speaks in a serious tone. "We still have Louis’ vote."

  "Really??" Cra throws her hands up in protest.

  "I'm sure he—" Diego stops mid-sentence, his confident look fading as he sees the woman beside him raise her hand.

  Jimena shoots him a stern look as well.

  "The guy might be bizarre or whatever the hell he is, but he saved Safira and the relic—"

  "And me, damn it!" Cra excims.

  "And me!"

  Jimena rolls her eyes. "Yeah, he deserves at least a chance."

  Cra gives her a thumbs-up before flipping off Diego.

  "That's six votes in favor—it's decided."

  Diego can only scoff in frustration but has to accept it.

  "Also," Cra smirks provocatively.

  "Since he literally ensured we got the relic, I think it's fair that he gets a share of the reward."

  "No way!" Javier sms his fist on the table.

  The punk shakes his head, and Diego does the same.

  "I'm not giving part of my reward to a stranger."

  "Nobody touches my money." Zion comments.

  "Come on, guys!" Cra presses.

  "His entire team died searching for that… it's the least we can do to honor fellow humans."

  "Not happening." Diego shuts it down.

  Cra sighs but already seems to expect this.

  "Well, you can't stop me and…" She gnces at her friends.

  "...anyone else who wants to give him a cut of our share."

  "You do whatever the hell you want with your portion once we deliver the relic." Diego waves it off.

  Cra grins, her bright blue eyes shimmering.

  "But… if you're not giving him a fair share, at least let him be part of this properly."

  "He deserves to be here."

  "..."

  Diego wants to deny it, and Javier shakes his head at him, making his opinion clear.

  But everyone else seems to agree with Cra, even if some don't openly admit it.

  So, in the end, Diego nods begrudgingly.

  "Fine…"

  "Great!!!" Cra practically jumps with excitement.

  "But he stays in his damn corner and keeps his mouth shut!!" Diego insists.

  But Cra ignores him entirely, skipping toward the door. "Whatever!"

  She opens the door and finds the white-haired man staring out the window at the vastness of space.

  As soon as the door opens, he turns to face her, and their eyes meet again.

  It’s been less than three minutes since they were apart, but Cra already feels her heart lighter upon seeing him again.

  "Hey, Big!" She waves at him with a bright smile.

  "Told you it'd be quick, didn't I?"

  He smiles back as he steps toward the door.

  His glowing white eyes shine with expectation and curiosity.