Chapter 118: Departure
“Sister Chi Wan, why are you crying?”
Chi Wan sat up and looked at Dudu by her bed. She cupped its small head and forced a smile.
“After I leave, you have to be good and listen to Sister Kui An, okay?”
The small mechanical head took a long time to respond this time before letting out a muffled sentence:
“Dudu will be good. Dudu won’t make Sister Chi Wan worry.”
Chi Wan gave Duduās mechanical body a tight squeeze. She wiped her tears and looked around the empty room. Almost none of her belongings remained. Only a brand-new chip sat on the polished desk.
The new chip Chi Che had given her before he left.
She lowered her eyes and didn’t take it. She turned and left.
[Passengers, please board immediately. The gravity system will shut down in ten minutes, at which point the ship will departā]
“Follow me. Weāre bypassing the security scanners.”
The tall, unfamiliar Sentinel was the manager of the 04-75 Interstellar Space Station.
At his low-voiced prompt, Chi Wan kept her head down, wearing a hood as she followed closely.
After a two-day journey, she had finally reached the station, arriving just twenty minutes before the shipās departure.
“This is the disposal unit. Any non-compliant items must be destroyed before boarding.”
“No violations detected. You may enter.”
Chi Wan pulled her hood lower and stopped. She unfastened her optical computerāwhich had long been powered down and its tracking disabledāand tossed it in.
The computer fell into the black hole of the disposal unit and was utterly pulverized.
She successfully entered the cabin. In the high-end section, every compartment was private.
Once inside, Chi Wan breathed a sigh of relief.
The journey had been smooth so far.
But then, an alarm suddenly blared through the corridor.
Red emergency lights flashed alongside a mechanical voice:
“Interstellar Legion Special Forces searching for a fugitive. Cabin lockdown in effect. All passengers must remain in their seats. Do not moveā”
“Interstellar Legion Special Forces searching for a fugitive. Cabin lockdown in effect. All passengers must remain in their seats. Do not moveā”
Chi Wanās heart tightened. A fugitive?
Surely it wasn’t her.
Even as she tried to comfort herself, her heart beat faster as she saw soldiers in silver-gray uniforms, armed with rifles, filing into the corridor through the gaps in the curtains.
The sound of heavy footsteps drew closer.
Then, Chi Wan heard a manās panicked voice from the neighboring compartment.
The sound of handcuffs clinking followed a soldierās stern voice:
“Target secured, Admiral!”
“Take him away.”
Chi Wan gasped. That voice… it sounded so familiar.
The man being detained didn’t seem to accept his fate, shouting:
“I was just bidding at an auction! Why are you hounding me?!”
The soldier replied coldly:
“Illegal trafficking of resources and a conspiracy to steal a top-tier auction item. If you had only operated in the underground trade city, we wouldn’t have interfered, but setting up illegal operatives in the Interstellar City is a severe violation of Interstellar Law!”
“Stop wasting breath on him. Take him.”
The man was dragged away, cursing, and the footsteps faded into the distance.
Chi Wan let out a breath of relief.
Peace returned to the cabin. Just as Chi Wan let go of her gripped cloak, the systemās voice suddenly rang out:
[Holy crap, that was close!]
[Host, I detected Ji Keās energy signature! Sheās actually here!]
[Sheās so much earlier than planned. How desperate is she? Good thing weāre leaving. Ship, move faster! We need to get out of here before her knock-off system detects you!]
In the chaos, Chi Wan heard footsteps approaching her compartment.
She had no time to reply to the system. Her pupils contracted as she stared at the curtain.
The curtain was suddenly yanked back. Chi Wan looked up and met Li Suās deep, dark gaze.
In that instant, her breath seemed to stop.
The light in the corridor wasn’t brightāa faint, weak blue. His face, backlit and somber, showed no surprise when he saw her.
He only stood there in silence, his lips pressed thin.
The girl before him was wrapped in a black cloak and hood, only half her face visible as she looked at him in panic.
Even though he hadn’t been at the Alliance for the past few days, he had received countless messages. From the sheer volume of alerts, he could imagine the chaos currently engulfing the Alliance, the Chi family, and even the star system due to her sudden disappearance.
And here she was.
[Oh my god! Heās definitely detected your mental power, Host. This is terrible timing.]
Chi Wan gritted her teeth, her eyes practically pleading with Li Su.
She shook her head, her voice so soft it was barely audible:
“Please. Just pretend you didn’t see me.”
He lowered his brow, his gray-brown eyes heavy.
“Why?”
The eldest daughter of the Chi family, the highest-ranking executive of the Alliance, an SSS Guide… and more than half of the seven Commanders were now looking after her.
Why would she leave?
[The gravity system will shut down in three minutes. The ship will depart in thirteen minutesā]
The mechanical voice counted down. The atmosphere in the small compartment was stagnant.
Chi Wan moved back slightly, clutching her cloak, her eyes downcast. She couldn’t say a word.
[The gravity system will shut down in two minutes. The ship will depart in twelve minutesā]
“Fine.”
Li Su finally spoke. He averted his gaze.
“Iāll pretend I never saw you.”
The curtain fell back into place.
Chi Wan let out a long, heavy breath.
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