Chapter 116: Good ChildrenÂ
Silence.
The only answer the captain received was Yan Gui Xingâs silence. His hands gripped the edge of the control console so tightly his fingertips were white, and blue-purple veins bulged on the back of his hands. His green eyes were fixed unblinkingly on the screen.
Infected by Yan Gui Xingâs mood, the joy that had surged in the captain’s heart receded like the tide, replaced by a tense focus on the large screen.
Anyone who traveled between star sectors year-round, like the captain, knew that this particular sector was notoriously boring because of its scarcity of celestial bodies and lackluster scenery.
But that scarcity was precisely what made the fixed flight paths so safe, requiring little monitoring to prevent accidents. Most captains would set the autopilot here and then go eat or catch up on sleep.
At this moment, the large screen was split in two. On the left lay the boundless ink-blue expanse ahead of the spaceship, dark and heavy, stretching endlessly.
On the right was the dazzling firelight behind the ship. The vivid red tore through the ink-blue, a brightness that was startling to behold.
In the next instant, a black shadow appeared amidst the red flames.
The massive black object cleaved through the red fire with a slow, irresistible force, dispersing the flames with a speed that belied its enormous size as it bore down on the spaceship.
Yan Gui Xing stared at the giant starship on the screen and squeezed his eyes shut. Never had he felt the sheer, terrifying size of a starship more acutely than at this moment. Before this behemoth, their little spaceship was nothing more than an insignificant ant.
Honestly, he was about to develop megalophobia.
The captain, watching the starship rapidly closing in from behind, let out a wretched cry and collapsed into his chair, his voice trembling. “It… it caught up. But… we blew up the jump point! How did it still catch up?!”
Yan Gui Xing had indeed intended to send the starship into a spatial rift by blowing up the jump point, but not two starships.
He had never held out much hope of burying both starships in a rift.
Setting aside his previous encounters with the Zerg, just this recent battleâwhere the Zerg starship’s self-destruction nearly took him down with itâwas enough to leave a lasting impression on Yan Gui Xing.
Although he couldn’t use a spatial rift to bury the Zerg starship, the force of the jump point’s explosion would at least destroy its shields.
Of course, a weaponless civilian spaceship still had zero chance against a shieldless starship.
However, it would minimize the damage to the Imperial legion coming to their rescue.
Yan Gui Xingâs primary target had been the modified pirate starship.
The Zerg were brutal, but the pirates were no less so. He couldn’t guarantee he would escape unscathed, but at least he wouldn’t be attacked from both sides.
It’s okay. Yan Gui Xing stared at the Zerg starship on the screen, which had dimmed due to the loss of its shields, and let out half a breath. At least the pirates were dealt with according to plan.
Yan Gui Xing pressed a button on the console, reconnecting with the Fourth Legion’s main ship, with which contact had been lost when the jump point exploded.
“Achi, can you hear me?” he asked.
Achi’s voice rang out in the captain’s quarters once more. “Yes, Boss. We’ve arrived in the Liuli Star Sector.”
“An hour ago, military headquarters notified the Transport Department to halt or recall all spaceships in the five sectors near you, Boss. The sector is cleared. We can proceed at full speed. We expect to rendezvous with you in four hours.”
“Adjutant Wen Si’erte also contacted me. Two starships from the Second Legion will arrive in your sector within five hours.”
“Boss, please hang in there!”
Four hours. Yan Gui Xingâs eyes darkened. He exhaled heavily. “I’ll be caught by the Zerg in ten minutes, at most. I don’t know what they intend to do yet. For safety’s sake, I’m going to cut off contact with you.”
He paused, tilting his head back slightly, his eyes dark. A second later, he continued, “Keep tracking Ksitigarbha.”
Achi was clearly stunned on the other end, seemingly unable to understand why Yan Gui Xing would mention a mecha that had already been blown to pieces at a time like this. He didn’t respond immediately.
Yan Gui Xing didn’t wait for an answer. He cut the connection with the main ship, logged out of his identity verification, and returned control of the spaceship.
Ignoring the panicked, despairing looks of the captain and the purser, he went to the seat next to Mu Mu, sat down, and fastened his seatbelt. He took Mu Mu’s hand, met his worried gaze, and offered a reassuring smile.
The spaceship’s weapons were gone, and they couldn’t outrun a starship. There wasn’t much Yan Gui Xing could do now.
Everything unfolded just as Yan Gui Xing had predicted. The Zerg starship caught up with the speeding spaceship within fifteen minutes.
A laser blast hit the tail of the spaceship, sending it tumbling forward two full rotations.
The people strapped into their seats felt like they were on a rollercoaster, completing two 360-degree loops before slumping dizzily in their chairs.
When the spaceship finally came to a stop, its shields were completely shattered, the tail was damaged, and the luggage in the cargo hold was drifting away into space.
The lights in the captain’s quarters had gone out from the violent impact, leaving the room bathed in the red glow of the large screen, like a scene from hell.
[Warning! Spaceship under attack. Shields destroyed! Damage at 70%! Please evacuate immediately!]
The cold, emotionless mechanical female voice sounded like a death knell, repeating endlessly in the captain’s quarters.
Yan Gui Xing, Mu Mu, the captain, and the purser were strapped in, so they had only fainted from the tumbling and weren’t injured.
The spaceship drifted slowly, like the colorful suitcases floating away, resembling space junk that had been wandering for a long time.
The starship, revealing its true pitch-black color now that its shields were gone, extended two giant hooks and latched onto the slowly drifting spaceship.
A hatch opened at the bottom of the starship, and black and red mechas flew out.
The lead mecha, a deep gray, flew into the damaged tail of the spaceship. But because the mecha was too tallâalmost the same height as the spaceshipâit risked getting stuck if it went any further, so it had to stop at the tail.
General Yao, with his scarlet vertical pupils and bone wings, disembarked from the black mecha. His black military boots stepped over the debris on the floor as he led a stream of fully armed Zerg soldiers into the interior of the spaceship.
Under the command of the adjutant with the long tentacles, these heavily armored Zerg soldiers gathered all the surviving passengers into the passenger cabin.
Mu Mu, Yan Gui Xing, the captain, and the purser in the captain’s quarters were the last to be found.
For security, the door to a civilian spaceship’s captain’s quarters usually had two locks: iris/fingerprint and a passcode.
The door was made of thick metal, typically 10-20 centimeters thick. The moment the spaceship was totaled, this door had deadlocked.
The first person to wake up in the captain’s quarters was the captain. His seatbelt was too tight, causing some soft tissue contusions on his chest and making it hard to breathe.
He fumbled to unbuckle his seatbelt and rolled onto the floor. He crawled over to the purser, who was closest to him, unbuckled her, shook her hard, and shouted, “Wake up! Wake up!”
The purser opened her eyes. Through her blurry vision, she saw the red-lit screen and screamed in terror, her voice trembling. “Are… are we dead?”
“We’re alive for now, but who knows about later.” The captain crawled over to Yan Gui Xing and reached out to touch his leg. His hand came away wet. Terrified, he held his hand up to the red light behind him and saw blood on his palm. His eyes rolled back, and he nearly fainted again.
“Blood? Blood! Admiral Yan, you’re bleeding!”
Yan Gui Xing’s eyelids fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes. His lake-green eyes were still unfocused. He fumbled to unbuckle his seatbelt. “Quiet. My head hurts.”
The captain instantly shut up.
Once Yan Gui Xing unbuckled his seatbelt, he was fully awake. Ignoring his own injuries, he half-knelt in front of Mu Mu, unbuckling his seatbelt while whispering his name.
Mu Mu only began to stir when he heard the voice. Opening his eyes, he was also startled by the red light and grabbed Yan Gui Xing’s hand. “Gui Gui, what happened? What’s wrong with us?”
Yan Gui Xing held his hand and comforted him gently. “Don’t panic. Take deep breaths with me. Calm down.”
Mu Mu obediently took two deep breaths with Yan Gui Xing. Once he was calm, Yan Gui Xing continued, “The spaceship was damaged by the Zerg starship. I think the Zerg soldiers are already on board, searching for survivors.”
The memory of being held hostage by space pirates came rushing back to Mu Mu. That helplessness and terror seized his entire mind, making him instinctively grip Yan Gui Xing’s hand tighter.
“Gui Gui, are we going to die?” he choked out.
Yan Gui Xing’s heart clenched. He cursed himself for choosing this day to leave, dragging Mu Mu into danger with him.
He kept his voice steady and reassured him, “It’s okay. I’m here. Nothing will happen to you, Mu Mu. Trust me, okay?”
Mu Mu nodded vigorously. “Mu Mu trusts Gui Gui!”
“Good. Our Mu Mu is so good.” Yan Gui Xing knew that with the Zerg’s efficiency, they would find them soon. He hurried to instruct him, “Mu Mu, remember this: when the bugs catch us later, don’t be afraid, don’t scream. No matter what they say or do, stay calm, don’t struggle, and be obedient.”
Mu Mu vaguely remembered his mother saying the same thing to him back then, but after that, she had left him forever.
He couldn’t bear the thought that Yan Gui Xing might leave him like his mother had. Crying, he threw himself into Yan Gui Xing’s arms, clutching the clothes on his back tightly, as if letting go would mean losing him forever.
Feeling the small body trembling in his arms, Yan Gui Xing knew Mu Mu was crying. He didn’t speak, just held Mu Mu tight and gently patted his thin back.
The sound of sobbing echoed in the captain’s quarters. The captain and the purser, who had been running around like headless chickens, were infected by the sadness and stopped their futile efforts, sitting dejectedly on the floor.
It took six Zerg soldiers nearly ten minutes to blast through the thick door with laser guns and bring Mu Mu, Yan Gui Xing, the captain, and the purser to the passenger cabin.
With that, all 58 people on the spaceshipâincluding the captain and purserâand the 50 passengers were assembled.
Fortunately, apart from most people suffering minor injuries from the violent tumbling, no one was in life-threatening danger.
Oh, right. Currently, the most severely injured person on the ship was Yan Gui Xing, whose wounds had split open while piloting the escape.
One of his pant legs was soaked in blood. As he walked over, he dragged a long trail of blood on the floor. Those who didn’t know better would have thought he had been beaten by the terrifying-looking Zerg, causing several timid passengers to scream.
The tentacle adjutant shouted “Silence!” twice in cold, hard Imperial Common, and the screaming and crying in the crowd died down.
The adjutant stepped back to the right, revealing General Yao, who stood behind him in a deep gray military uniform, dragging a pair of deep gray metal bone wings.
General Yao swept his scarlet vertical pupils over the heads of the people sitting on the floor. When his gaze landed on Yan Gui Xing’s head in the group on the left, it paused for a second before quickly moving on.
Only after looking at everyone did his pale lips curl into a smile, revealing a row of sharp white shark teeth.
“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Yao. Humans, do not be afraid. I have gathered you here because I want to borrow something from you.”
General Yao’s pronunciation of the human language wasn’t very accurate. Coupled with his feminine voice, it sounded eerie and strange, making one’s hair stand on end.
A bold person muttered softly, “Borrow what?”
Normally, such a mumbled comment wouldn’t be heard unless someone was specifically listening for it.
But the cabin was so quiet that the voice fell clearly into General Yao’s ears.
General Yao answered good-naturedly, “Your lives.”
The words were like water thrown into hot oil; the pot exploded instantly. Crying and screaming mixed into a piercing noise that was maddeningly annoying.
General Yao chuckled, baring his sharp white teeth, his scarlet pupils filled with impatience.
Suddenly, he reached for the waist of the tentacle adjutant beside him. In the next second, the man sitting in the very front widened his eyes and fell straight back.
The people behind him instinctively scrambled to the sides. They stared at the hole in the man’s forehead, blood gushing out, soaking the floor and staining the clothes and hands of those nearest to him.
They wanted to scream, but with the man’s gruesome state right before their eyes, who would dare? They covered their mouths tightly with both hands, stifling their screams and cries in their palms.
General Yao returned the laser gun to the tentacle adjutant. Looking at the terrified people, he praised gently, “Hehe, what good children.”
[Author’s Note]: Facing the Zerg head-on, will Yan So-and-so choose to hide and wait for Achi to rescue him? Or will he reveal his identity?
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