Following the battle against the Hideauze in space, Kugel and Striker were stranded on Earth just like Ledo. Meanwhile, a young girl called Linaria is being pursued by her sisters who intend to dispose of her after their deceased father nominated her as the leader of their pirate fleet. Kugel drives the attackers away and Linaria, believing that Kugel is a god, asks for his help to regain control of her fleet. Months later, Kugel leads the fleet as a figurehead for Linaria until her sisters decide to dispose of him by provoking some whalesquids to attack. Realizing that the whalesquids are in fact Hideauze, he wipes out their nest and claims that mankind had fallen from grace by treating the Hideauze as gods. Some time later, Linaria dies from a disease and by her own interpretation of her last words Striker convinces Kugel that killing the sick members of the fleet is the best way to improve it, just like the Galactic Alliance does. When Linaria's elder sister attempts to replace her as Kugel's herald, he kills her instead and throws both sisters' bodies in the sea. Assuming control of the fleet and slowly dying from the same disease that killed Linaria, Kugel decides to rule it with an iron grip, believing it will eventually lead it to prosperity.