Kuruto, a Seger and disciple of Zenna, had never followed his teacher's path of abandoning invasion.
Instead, his heart still burned with ambition—to conquer Earth and achieve the "greatness" of the Segers.
"But lately, Zenna's actions have been so mysterious. I don't even know where he is now."
Moa had tried to reach Zenna, but her attempts failed. Helpless, she turned to Yu Zhou.
"It's fine. I'll go with you to AIB headquarters. Maybe Zenna has returned there," Yu Zhou replied.
The location of AIB's headquarters wasn't exactly a secret among aliens—after all, it was the organization responsible for managing them. And since Yu Zhou was Tiga, AIB naturally had no reason to keep the location hidden from him.
"Alright then, let's go," Moa said, signaling him to get in the car. She slid into the driver's seat, and together they drove off toward AIB HQ.
Before long, the two of them arrived at a rather ordinary-looking building. Nothing about it screamed "headquarters," yet inside was the core of AIB.
"I'll go in first and check if Zenna is around. Wait here for a bit," Moa told Yu Zhou at the entrance before stepping inside.
Yu Zhou leaned casually against the wall outside, waiting in silence.
Moments later, Moa emerged with a young man at her side.
"Yu Zhou, Zenna has already left Earth to carry out a mission on another planet," Moa explained apologetically. "This is Kuruto, who's taking over Zenna's duties for now. If you need anything, you can ask him."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kuruto of the Segers. From now on, I'll be handling Zenna's responsibilities. Feel free to come to me for assistance," the young man said with a warm smile.
Compared to Zenna's eternally stoic face, Kuruto's friendliness was its polar opposite.
But Yu Zhou knew the truth—Kuruto was a Seger trained in facial expressions, capable of deceiving others with a charming smile.
So when facing this "smiling tiger," Yu Zhou only nodded, keeping his words to himself.
Instead, he summoned the image menu from his spatial bracelet, selecting… a frying pan.
"Eh?" Moa blinked at the sight. "Yu Zhou, why are you pulling out a frying pan? Don't tell me… you're planning to cook right now?"
"Kuruto, right?" Yu Zhou asked, gripping the pan, his eyes locking onto the young man.
"That's right. And you are…?" Kuruto tilted his head, still maintaining his polite smile. He glanced at Moa. "You haven't introduced this gentleman yet."
"He's Yu Zhou. And he's also Tiga—"
Before Moa could finish, Yu Zhou swung the frying pan down with a loud clang! The blow knocked Kuruto straight back into his Seger form, sending him sprawling to the ground.
"Yu Zhou, what are you doing?!" Moa gasped, wide-eyed at the sudden attack.
Yu Zhou ignored her shock, pointing the pan at the dazed Kuruto. "Kuruto, tell me—where are you keeping Zenna?"
"What?" Moa froze, confused. "Keeping Zenna? What do you mean?"
Kuruto, still reeling from the hit, clutched his head. But his shock soon gave way to cold realization. "So… you know."
Yu Zhou's knowledge unsettled him—how could this human possibly know that Zenna had been captured?
"Don't tell me… Zenna really has been captured by you?!" Moa's mind reeled. She quickly drew her sidearm and aimed it at the Seger on the floor.
"You don't need to know who I am," Yu Zhou said evenly. "Just tell us where Zenna is."
But as the Segers' so-called "child of war," Kuruto wasn't about to reveal his captive's location.
Yu Zhou didn't press further. Instead, he told Moa to restrain him with shackles and lock him up in AIB's holding cells.
"As for Zenna," Yu Zhou thought silently, "he's more than capable. Kuruto alone won't be enough to keep him down. In the original story, he even managed to escape on his own."
So, he left Kuruto in Moa's care and told her to notify him once Zenna returned.
The next morning, Yu Zhou was roused from sleep by the sound of his doorbell.
Still half-drowsy, he stumbled to the door and peered through the peephole. Standing outside was none other than Zenna.
He unlocked the door with a click, and Zenna stepped inside without hesitation, settling onto the sofa.
"About yesterday… thank you," Zenna said, watching Yu Zhou head toward the bathroom.
"You didn't need to come this early just to say that. I haven't even finished sleeping," Yu Zhou replied as he began washing up.
"Kuruto is being held at AIB, undergoing re-education. Thanks to your quick action, a disaster was averted."
Yu Zhou said nothing, focusing on his morning routine. A few minutes later, freshly washed, he looked at the empty-handed Zenna and raised an eyebrow.
"Zenna, you come to my place this early and don't even bring me breakfast? I don't care about your Kuruto. I care about filling my stomach."
"Regardless, I'm grateful," Zenna insisted.
"No need to thank me. I was thinking of myself too," Yu Zhou said, taking a seat across from him. "Kuruto's goal is the God of Time and Space Destruction—Zegun, right?"
"Yes," Zenna admitted. He assumed Yu Zhou must have gotten that from Kuruto.
"Zegun, the god with the power to twist time and space…" Yu Zhou leaned back. "That could be useful when dealing with Belial."
"I thought the same. That's why I didn't destroy Zegun outright," Zenna replied. "But even with Zegun, defeating Belial won't be easy."
"No problem. Just keep Zegun as a last resort—you may not even need to use him."
"How do you mean?" Zenna asked curiously.
"If we can't beat Belial head-on, you unleash Zegun. Have him fire his beam against ours."
"Beam against beam? An energy clash?"
"Exactly. From what I know, when Zegun's beam collides with others, it creates rifts in space-time. If we can't defeat Belial directly, we can throw him into one of those rifts."
Zenna listened carefully. This tactic had never crossed his mind, since unlike the original timeline, no one had demonstrated Zegun's ability yet.
"…That could work," Zenna finally nodded, convinced.
Yu Zhou wasn't surprised. After all, in the original story, this exact plan was Zenna's idea.
"By the way," Zenna added, "we've established a research institute dedicated to the Little Stars. And… we've already found three holders."
"Oh?" Yu Zhou blinked. That lined up with the original events—AIB had indeed formed a Little Star research unit.
He remembered that the institute was run by the Pitte alien who once stole his bicycle, along with another alien who had more selfish motives: to return the Little Stars to his own planet.
"Zenna," Yu Zhou said with a knowing smile, "your institute already has a traitor in it."
"A traitor?" Zenna frowned. "But you've never even been there. How could you know that?"
Yu Zhou bared a grin. "Then let's go find out, shall we?"