Eric Bennett's eyes suddenly curved with laughter, leisurely gloating: "Reporting, sir, I just love your kind of personality—'if you break your own arm, you have to take off someone else's thigh.'"

No one knew if that explosion had triggered some device, but one of the grappling cables that had already been retracted by the space prison suddenly dropped down again.

The powerful energy field became somewhat chaotic, crackling and hissing.

The outer ring of hidden matter formed by the dragon pillar had an irresistible pull on that thing. In the blink of an eye, it sucked the grappling cable in, as if an invisible giant hand was yanking it, pulling it right above everyone's heads.

Buzz——

Even Scott Harris's scalp tingled, and he immediately backed away a bit.

Even though he reacted quickly, a bead of blood still seeped from his temple. The energy field was partially neutralized by the outer ring of hidden matter, but the remaining force was still enough to cause harm.

But just as Scott Harris wiped his temple with the back of his hand, the swaying grappling cable was suddenly grabbed by a hand.

Barehanded... grabbed it.

The hand that grabbed it was long and thin, but the protruding tendons and joints showed an unbreakable strength.

It was Eric Bennett's hand.

Amid the headache caused by the energy field, Scott Harris looked over in surprise. His first reaction wasn't "serves you right," but rather "what a pity."

That beautiful hand made a crackling sound the moment it touched the metal surface of the grappling cable, like water droplets falling into boiling oil. Just hearing it made your skin crawl, the pain almost unbearable.

Yet Eric Bennett only let out a half-hearted "hiss——," sounding utterly unconcerned.

With a flick of his wrist, he swung the grappling cable he had grabbed toward a dragon pillar more than a person's height, then shook his hand and said, "My dear officer gave me such a vast piece of land, I should at least return the favor."

This rascal even deliberately emphasized the word "vast," afraid others wouldn't catch his sarcasm.

The flexible metal of the grappling cable was flung to wrap around the dragon pillar several times, then was instantly locked in place by the positive energy field released by the pillar, as if tied in a dead knot.

The entire property of the grappling cable was assimilated by the dragon pillar, and in the blink of an eye, the effect was transmitted all the way to the end connected to the space prison.

At this moment, more than half of the space prison had already completed its jump, disappearing into the sea of stars. It was impossible for it to suddenly stop because of this small incident; otherwise, it would be sliced in half on the spot, crushed to dust in spacetime, and vanish instantly.

Boom boom boom——

A barrage of cannon fire shot out from the front disc.

The connecting shaft between the two small discs at the front and back was blasted to pieces in an instant. The moment the connection broke, the entire space prison completed its jump and disappeared without a trace. Only the last disc, still tethered by the grappling cable, remained.

Eric Bennett raised his hand, skin split and raw, and muttered, "That was pretty exciting."

After speaking, he tilted his head and smiled at Scott Harris, pointing at the grappling cable and the space prison disc attached above. "Darling, here's a kite for you."

Scott Harris: "……"

Mason: "……" The hell kind of kite is that!

Chapter 7: The Oddball Duo

Thunderous cannon fire, the devil's hymn. He seized a city in the sea of stars, as a flower to offer the gods. The gods asked him: Have you had too much to drink? ——Esther, "Neverland"

Scott Harris furrowed his brows slightly, glancing at the unlucky "kite," and immediately felt a headache coming on.

That thing was tied to the dragon pillar, and because its energy field had been assimilated by the pillar, it was being slowly pulled closer from the distant sky by the force of attraction...

Honestly, it really did look a bit like reeling in a kite.

Scott Harris's headache worsened.

The planetary fragment suddenly shrank in size, both its volume and mass changing drastically. The dragon pillar's simulated gravity system and self-rotation balance system were already in the process of self-adjustment.

Now, thanks to the meddling Eric Bennett-Young attaching an extra object, it was thrown into a new round of chaos and self-regulation.

Scott Harris could clearly feel there was no longer solid ground beneath his feet, the sensation of weightlessness fluctuating. At the same time, the entire fragment's rotation became more pronounced, now within the range of normal human perception.

It was like standing on a spinning disc, with someone holding your heart and shaking it up and down in the most annoying way...

The feeling was utterly nauseating.

Back when the dragon pillar system was still in development and testing, Scott Harris, as one of the main officers in charge, had participated in many simulation experiments, including temporary imbalances in the simulated gravity and self-rotation balance systems. He was no stranger to this dizzy, panicky state and could just about endure it.

But the two Masons, big and small, couldn't handle it at all, looking utterly seasick.

"If you can't take it, move aside. I'm about to throw up!" Mason gagged, lying on the ground. "I bet I look terrible right now. I'm about to die."

The bones at the side of Scott Harris's face shifted slightly, as if he gritted his teeth to suppress the dizziness, then replied, "With all that ancient grime on your face, you could block three layers of skin—X-rays couldn't see through it. Who could possibly see your complexion?"

This bastard's sharp tongue seemed to care nothing for life or occasion. Even when someone was about to vomit, he couldn't help but get in a jab.

No sooner had he finished speaking than he heard a short, low laugh from nearby.