“Miserable? I think it’s not that bad.”
The man laughed, and it was hard to tell if he was mocking or agreeing. “Compared to the injuries you’ve had before, this little hole really isn’t much.”
Chen Xing lowered his eyes and didn’t argue, letting the small robot beside him bandage the wound and stop the bleeding.
The man glanced at Chen Xing from the corner of his eye, a bit surprised. “You seem to be in a pretty good mood.”
“Maybe my mood is actually terrible right now. But even if it is, I wouldn’t show it directly.”
“It’s still different. If you were really angry, you wouldn’t be like this now. Saying you’re in a good mood is already me being polite. Chen Xing, you’re happy, aren’t you? After all, the little Highness you’ve watched grow up turned out even better than you expected. He even guessed you’d definitely go back for your little robot. If instead of exporting D3-857’s data, you had taken him with you, maybe something even more interesting would have happened.”
Chen Xing’s gaze darkened. No one liked having their thoughts picked apart like that.
He said coldly, “If you keep talking, I won’t mind shooting you.”
The man looked like he had heard something amusing, his smile growing wider. “You can try. I don’t really mind having a few more holes in my body. But I’m the only one who can pilot this starship. If you shoot me, we’ll just die together.”
After laughing enough, he became a bit more serious. “You didn’t get what you wanted, so this trip was basically for nothing. Does that mean our big plan is going to stall?”
“It’s not a complete loss. Both Chi Zhuo and Ji Chenxi are super S-class alphas. That information is far more valuable than the database we wanted before. If they can become my research subjects, I’ll make major progress very soon.”
The man piloting the starship chatted with Chen Xing while steering at high speed. This was a ship equipped with a color-shifting stealth system, which was how he had easily slipped into the palace earlier when its defenses were wide open. But now their ship had been completely locked onto. Hiding and camouflage were useless. The man pushed the ship to fly away as fast as possible—if not for the giant red bird blocking their path.
The beautiful red bird was a full ten meters long. Its cry was sharp, carrying sonic attacks, and the flames it spat were unlike ordinary fire.
Chen Xing recognized at a glance whose spirit form this was—the ancient divine beast, Vermilion Bird. Maybe it was quite different from the one in myths, but anyone who had seen this spirit form was willing to call it Zhuque. It was simply too powerful, far beyond S-class. And that was indeed the case. The leader of the First Star Pirate Group, code name Zhuque—rumor had it his spiritual power was double S. But rumors were still rumors. This leader was extremely mysterious. Very few people knew him. Even Chen Xing had spent quite some effort back then to get acquainted with him and invite him into their group.
“Lu Tu.” Chen Xing spat out the two words coldly.
Ever since Lu Tu got close to Crow and brought him into their little group, Chen Xing should have guessed.
Crow was Ji Chenxi’s friend, so he would naturally side with Ji Chenxi. Then what about Lu Tu, who had shown great interest in Crow? Between an old friend he had known for years and a new friend he liked, what choice would he make? Now Chen Xing had his answer.
The communicator rang. Chen Xing glanced at it coldly, then chose to answer. “Lu Tu.”
“Oh, what a surprise. Chen Xing, I didn’t expect you to actually pick up my call.” The red-haired alpha’s voice was clearly cheerful.
“I don’t think answering your call is anything difficult. So, Lu Tu, you’re blocking my path with your spirit form and calling me at the same time—what exactly do you want?”
“We’ve known each other for years, after all. I think I should try to persuade you. Right now, it’s just my spirit form stopping you. Next, it’ll be the mamba. You’ve studied the human body for so many years—you should already know how many people that mamba’s spirit form has eaten, right?”
Was the seven-meter black mamba really Chi Zhuo’s full strength? Of course not. If that were the case, it wouldn’t live up to Ares being 3S-class. Their earlier clash had been brief, but Chen Xing had already made a judgment. At the very least, the other party was double S, and very likely Chi Zhuo was 3S.
A 3S-class alpha—when his spirit form revealed its true shape, what kind of scene would that be? Chen Xing thought of Ares. That man had lost control even with absolute defense and overwhelming force, wiping out an entire laboratory. The higher the level, the harder it was to control one’s power, and the easier it was to lose control. Chen Xing did not want to face an out-of-control giant snake, but he also knew there was no turning back once the bowstring had been pulled.
“Lu Tu, it’s a bit late for you to try to persuade me now.”
“If I tried earlier, you might not have listened anyway!”
“You’re going to stop me?”
“You’re putting me in a tough spot like this. But I’ve decided to help you once.”
Chen Xing was slightly surprised, and then heard Lu Tu continue, “Next time we meet, I won’t go easy on you. After all, I’m quite curious whether, after getting past me, you can escape from that person.”
The massive red bird suddenly flapped its wings. Even the sturdy starship was blown away. The giant bird spat flames, setting the ship on fire. When the ship’s emergency system activated, its speed shot up much faster than before.
Lu Tu faintly heard someone on the other side cursing. That voice clearly didn’t belong to Chen Xing. Lu Tu smiled in delight. “My friend, good luck.”
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
