The heavy explosion echoed through the cockpit as Phinx pulled the trigger right on White’s face.

The explosion sounded like it should have torn through the seats and carved a hole straight through the plane, but really, there was nothing but a burst of powdery-like spray on all the chairs.

She never shot a real bullet after all.

Callisto and Llumino exhaled in relief, but then paused, noticing White wasn’t even there at all.

"You’re quite fast."

Phinx said, turning her head slightly, and right there just behind her was White, whose right hand was currently frozen inches from the back of her head.

The fingers were joined together, having formed a blade of sorts, and by how it hung, it was clear what he had been planning on doing.

[You fell for it.]

The system said as White calmly took back his hand.

"That’s an expensive prank, as you could have lost your life to it."

He said to the lady, watching her grin while giggles escaped her lips.

"But it’s fun, no?"

Phinx said, watching White ignore her to take a seat by the side, but then he felt her presence still hanging by his side.

"Hmm, you’re weird. I can’t sense any cultivation from you... Yet you were still able to dodge the Boompowder sprays."

She said, staring intently at White’s face.

At such close range, literally inches away with him relaxed on the seat, it should have been impossible for him to dodge, yet there wasn’t any of it on his face, not even a single speck.

"Boompowder sprays?"

He asked, wondering what type of fucked-up mind must have come up with that name.

[A/N: Hey!]

"Yeah, Boompowder. It goes boom when you shoot it."

Phinx explained.

"So what can you do?"

She asked, taking the seat next to his, eyes staring at him with unrelenting curiosity.

"Go away."

White responded curtly.

"You do know the paradox, don’t you?"

She asked, but White didn’t answer.

"The more you’re denied something, the more desirable it becomes."

"I think it’s called the Forbidden Apple Effect or something."

"Forbidden Fruit Effect."

It was Galaxy Altherion that corrected this time, though his gaze remained pressed on the holographic as he worked on some unknown stuff.

"Right!"

"So the more you deny me an answer, the more I would want to know more of it."

She said, but once more White ignored her.

CLINK!

The sound of the gun being pulled echoed out once more, and it forced one of White’s eyes open as he found the gun nozzle hanging before his face once again.

"You don’t dare."

He whispered, only to watch her grin.

"Bet?"

She said, and White watched as her hand reached for the trigger to pull, yet before it fully constricted around it,

CRACKLE!

The sound of lightning erupted, and someone appeared before them both.

It was none other than Llumino, who now had Phinx’s gun in his hand.

"Stop annoying the new guy, you psycho."

He said, but then,

"Yeee!"

Llumino exclaimed, jerking away as the gun sent a pulse of unexplainable current through his body, making him drop it.

It flew straight back into Phinx’s hands, and then,

BAAAAANG!

BAAAAANG!

BAAAAANG!

Three shots echoed out in the span of a single second, all instantly appearing before Llumino, who froze at the sight of the three bullets, but then the corner of his lips tilted slightly as he glitched where he stood.

White witnessed with one eye as the bullets weaved past him as if he was unreal, continuing into the wall, but before they could reach there, a golden door suddenly appeared in a flash, and the bullets disappeared into it as it shut closed.

"Why did you even try?"

Llumino said, phasing out of his glitching motion and staring cockily at Phinx, who brought her pistol back, blowing the purple smoke oozing out from it.

"I can gun you down if I want."

She claimed.

"Reciting your unfulfilled wishes doesn’t suddenly make them true."

Llumino said, flashing once more and reappearing by her side.

Phinx moved instantly, shifting her gun to the side and shooting a bullet, but still it failed as Llumino erupted into lightning, and when he coalesced back, he was clenching his right hand.

"Your gun skills aren’t half bad, but..."

His clenched fist slowly unfurled, and the bullet fell right onto Phinx’s lap.

"You’ve still got a long way to go before you’re able to gun down Galaxies, little psycho genius."

He claimed with a proud smirk.

"Whatever."

Phinx mused with a "don’t care" shrug, but then she went silent for about five seconds before turning her head to the side, where she found the horned man looking right at her with one eye open.

"What?"

She asked, but then White smirked slightly, shutting his eyes and sinking back into his seat.

He had smirked because he had noticed that while she had said whatever as if she didn’t mind her gun attack being so useless against Llumino.

White, from the cues her body had made, had actually been able to sense the deep wave of anger and disappointment at her own weakness that she had seemingly perfectly hidden.

"What’s your awakening?"

Phinx asked again, unrelenting as ever, but it seemed to work as White finally stepped out of his passiveness.

"Ever heard of Limitless?"

He asked, and she paused.

"The Big Four?"

She asked, continuing,

"You don’t look like a Big Four. I’m thinking you’re a new alien drafted in."

She said, and while White wanted to correct her, a new question slipped into his mind, and he asked instead.

"Humanity Ascension drafts in aliens?"

He asked, but before she could reply,

"I was expecting you to be surprised by the existence of aliens in and of itself."

This time, the words came from none other than Galaxy Altherion, who spoke while his hands continued working.

"Any regular human should only be able to identify a Human or a Supernatural. Aliens still don’t exist, even to Awakeners."

"How come you’re not surprised by their existence?"

He asked.

"I’ve ventured into Supernatural territory once before."

White replied.

"A veteran Werewolf told me he’d never seen a Supernatural like me."

"And considering this body of mine was found in a ruin, it’s obvious that there exists more races out there than just Humans or Supernaturals."

He replied, but really, it was what White understood more deeply.

At the beginning of Otherworld Dream, when he had met with Viktor, the Otherworlder, he had said to him:

_____

"You didn’t possibly think only your world is capable of Otherworld Dream... do you?"

[A/N: At Chapter 92, His Otherworlder.]

_____

It was then that it occurred to him that there existed other races beyond just Humanity and the Supernaturals, and the proof was in the ruins.

Those destroyed ruins revealed civilizations that were no doubt what remained of once-existing races.

So no doubt, "aliens" existed.

"That’s sharp reasoning, and very well, other races exist, though for the sake of it, we call them aliens. And yes, Humanity Ascension does draft in aliens."

Galaxy Altherion replied to his original question.

"But they only work in the EGES. They’re never deployed directly to work on Earth. An example is Puffin and Quffin."

He said, and White jerked slightly, noticing the blue-colored one mysteriously right by his side.

’How did he keep getting in range without me noticing?’

He mused quietly, looking at the purple tentacled alien that flashed him a grin.

"They’re very important aids on Galaxial Explorations."

Galaxy Altherion claimed, watching White try to shoo the blue one away from him. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"As for what they’re resourceful at, I’ll leave you to find that one out yourself."

"Nah, I think I’ll be good still without knowing."

He replied.

"So, you were once a Limitless user who got fused with some alien body from some ruin?"

Callisto said from the side as White slapped the flabby purple hands that tried to touch his horns.

"That’s a good summary."

He replied to Callisto, whose excitement slowly multiplied in her eyes as her feet repeatedly tapped on the ground.

"Seems like Snow had gotten herself a treasure."

Phinx said from the side, her hands hiding in her lap.

"Snow?"

White asked.

"Yes. Snow. The white-haired girl. She’s the brain of the group."

Phinx claimed, but seeing White’s slightly creased eyebrows, continued.

"Don’t worry, she’ll make sure to slice you up properly to learn every last thing about how your body works."

She claimed as White looked at her with drooping eyes.

"That’s not gonna happen."

He claimed, but then rose to his feet, walking up to Galaxy Altherion.

"So... what happens after you complete a rescue mission like that?"

He asked, appearing beside the man and peering at the flashing holographs he was working on.

"Make sure those who were rescued return safely to the Powerhouse, then collect the reward from them."

He spoke.

"And after that?"

White probed.

"Check all currently outgoing vessels and try to see if there’s any sending signals for help or have any possible deficiencies, like being attacked or something of the sort."

He replied.

"And after that?"

White probed, only for his heart to sink in from Galaxy Altherion’s answer:

"..."