Online In Another World

"...Before I take my leave, I'll leave them with a small gift," Vincent said, raising his hand, "Release a full-power bombardment on all ships in the vicinity."

At his command, with many of the ships now facing towards his own after the display of his presence through the initial destruction, all of his vessel's weapons revealed themselves, unleashing a blaring rain of energy blasts that sailed through the open cosmos.

What was left was a wrathful fit of fireworks as explosions expanded throughout the star-filled void, unleashing utter decimation among the surrounding ships.

[WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!]

Thinking the battle was over in one fell swoop, Vincent was taken aback as an alarm system blared out within the scope of his ship.

[THE VESSEL HAS BEEN INFILTRATED! ENEMIES HAVE BOARDED THE VESSEL!]

"What–?" Vincent reacted in surprise.

There was still a large gap in knowledge he held when it came to the natural order of things worked within the Intergalactic Open-Realm, believing the shields on his ship to be used to prevent such events.

Bringing up a digital screen that monitored the exterior of his ship, he saw a smaller, shoddy ship that looked built by scrap metal, attached to his own by an anchor, entered through an emergency entrance on the top of the vessel.

I see. I can see the appeal of a life like this–taking things for yourself with your own two hands, working your way up through good old-fashioned conquering by might. Hah…Come and try it, Vincent thought.

As he turned to face the steel doors that led to his observatory quarters, he could hear rapid footsteps and cheers of the bandits that found their way into his ship.

"We hit the jackpot today!" One of the infiltrators cheered.

"Let's get it!"

"This beast will sell for big bucks!" Another chimed in.

He could hear their voices from beyond the thick door due to his enhanced hearing, standing with his hands behind his back with a small smile in preparation. Without having to confirm it with the system, he could already tell: these bandits were people using Reincarnation Online, too.

For them, this was their life; starting anew and choosing to plunder ships throughout the galaxy. Though for Vincent, this was merely a passtime.

An explosion released from the otherside of the steel doors, causing them to blow apart as smoke led in, allowing the ragtag bandits to access the room.

"It's just one guy!" The first bandit to enter said, sporting a black mohawk, wearing stained, leather gear.

Though as the pierced-lipped bandit said so with relief and a big smile as though the presence of one man aboard the ship was a 'free victory', this was quickly turned aside as the mohawked space pirate found the white-haired figure in front of him in an instant.

"What the–?!" The mohawked bandit let out.

As the man pointed his laser-emitting, humming rifle forward that seemed low-quality by the smoke and heavy 'thunking' sound made when it revved up, he was countered by a quick fist to the nose.

WHAM.

Vincent slammed his fist against the bandit's face, pressing down and crashing the figure down against the metallic flooring with a loud thud echoing out.

In one blow, he caved the raider's face in, leaving it nothing more than a broken, bloodied mess as a line of crimson fluid connected from the raider's nose and shattered mouth to Vincent's knuckles.

Vincent looked at his bloodied fist, not paying any mind to the group of raiders that rushed into the room, some of them wielding guns and some holding melee weapons that ranged from electric bats to laser-etched chainsaws.

Amazing. It seems my physical form is transcendent from these gutter rats, Vincent thought.

"He did this!?"

"Get him!"

One thing he failed to consider when looking towards the invaders was the diversity in reincarnation that the intergalactic realm brought: the leftmost raider was a species of humanoid stone, built like a strongman made of rock with a shotgun blaster in his hands.

"Freeze—!" The rockman yelled.

As the trigger of the shotgun was pulled, an array of smaller lasers shot out, though not a single one met their target as the white-haired man closed the distance in an instant, arriving behind the trio of bandits.

As the burly rockman spun around, opting to use his weaponry as a blunt object, he was countered by a sharp backhand from Vincent. Despite the seeming disparity in size, the resulting blow shattered the body of the stone-borne figure, blasting him apart into pebbles.

"Is that all?" Vincent asked without a worry.

Fear stood in the eyes of the other two infiltrators within the room as the tattoo-skinned, one-eyed bandit to the right stumbled back.

"Y-you're one of them! Fuck! If I would've known, I never would've stepped foot on this ship!" The cyclops bandit said.

The other bandit in the room, a human with shark-like teeth, held the same look of fear when staring at the owner of the space vessel, "One of them…? He's a Starborne!"

Though Vincent wasn't familiar with the term, he could feel it was a title both of reverence and fear, smiling to himself as he faced the two.

"Well then, come at me," Vincent challenged.

It was a false invitation as the very instant the cyclopian figure built the courage to flex a single muscle, Vincent blitzed him with speed like a thunderbolt, dodging the bandit's attack and thrusting his hand through the figure's abdomen.

"Guh—!" The cyclopian bandit spit out blood.

In a brutal instant, without any mercy, the ICARUS CEO ripped his hand from the figure's body, removing his spine in the same motion before turning around and using the spine as a spiked whip to smack the other bandit against the jaw as he tried to attack him from behind.

CRACK

The quick whip snapped the bandit's neck, leaving Vincent tossing the bloodied spine to the ground as he straightened himself out, adjusting his fur-lined cape as more footsteps came down the corridor.