Chapter 22: Twenty-Second Day of Being a Salted Fish

“?” Siming looked a bit dazed. “Why?”

“Well…” Lu Yuan sighed. “If that happened, I feel like it would lead to a lot of trouble.”

“Oh.” Siming thought about it for a moment, then nodded in silence.

“…” Lu Yuan looked at him, feeling helpless.

He had a feeling that what Siming was thinking and what he was thinking were not the same thing at all.

Lu Yuan didn’t particularly mind being the target of conspiracies or being used and deceived. However, he was very unwilling to owe people favors.

Given his level of laziness, no one could force him to do anything he didn’t want to do.

• At worst, he could just die. That way, all the trouble would have nothing to do with him anymore.

But if he received help or care from others, then for Lu Yuan, doing things for that person became a responsibility.

And Lu Yuan was the type of person who was reluctant to take on responsibility, yet incapable of failing to fulfill it once he had it.

The last time he was saved, he had spent a full ten years acting as a Marshal who worried himself to death every day without a single day off.

If he were saved again this time…

Lu Yuan didn’t even dare to think about it.

It was a horror story.

However, he didn’t know how to explain this conflicted mindset to others.

So, after agonizing over it for a long while, Lu Yuan simply shook his head.

“Going back?”

Siming blinked. “Mm.”

–

By the time they returned to the little shop, the sky was already dark.

Goudan had returned at some point. The five people he had picked up from the Garbage Ship had been knocked unconscious and tossed to the side, while he was in the kitchen cooking.

As soon as Lu Yuan saw the five people, he noticed the bruises on the backs of their necks where Goudan had struck them.

• It seemed Goudan was worried someone might wake up and run away halfway, so even the four who had been unconscious from the start had been given an extra blow.

Siming was speechless. “Doesn’t Goudan know how to use Mental Power?”

“…” Lu Yuan didn’t quite understand it either.

For a Mental Power Awakener, forcing a normal person into a coma using Mental Power was an easy task. Both Lu Yuan and Siming were very skilled at it.

Heaven only knew why Goudan insisted on using his hands.

“Maybe he just prefers it this way,” Lu Yuan said as he circled behind the counter and collapsed back into his sofa, offering an explanation for Goudan.

It wasn’t that he actually understood Goudan. It was mainly because today’s meal smelled quite good.

Indeed, the meal today was very hearty. An enticing aroma wafted from the kitchen.

Lu Yuan realized this was a scent he hadn’t smelled since arriving on the Desolate Planet.

Clearly, these were not ingredients produced locally on the Desolate Planet. Even a Garbage Ship wouldn’t normally toss such things out as “garbage.”

As expected, taking down a Garbage Ship had its benefits, even if it brought some trouble.

Sure enough, when Goudan emerged from the kitchen, the trouble arrived with him.

Having apparently heard Lu Yuan and Siming talking, Goudan shouted from inside, “You guys back?”

“We’re back,” Siming replied.

“Then come over and help me bring out the dishes,” Goudan called out.

“Coming.” Siming shrugged and walked inside.

A moment later, the two of them brought out several very new plates.

“I found some food inside the Garbage Ship, and it looked delicious,” Goudan said cheerfully. “So I stir-fried it. Guess what?

“Hey, it actually tastes pretty good.”

Siming was fine, but Lu Yuan couldn’t help but chuckle as he looked at the ingredients on the plates – things that should have been used for soup were flash-fried, things that should have been steamed were braised, and there were all sorts of bizarre combinations Goudan had somehow dreamed up.

“Your laugh looks a bit strange,” Goudan pointed out keenly.

“No, no,” Lu Yuan smiled. “It’s just a bit… novel.”

“Novel?” Goudan looked suspicious. “You’re from the outside and you were a Grand Marshal. Is there anything you haven’t eaten?”

Lu Yuan said solemnly, “Every place has its own local specialties. The Empire has so many planets and countless types of dishes. How could I have eaten everything?”

“…That seems to make sense.” Goudan was convinced. “Then why don’t you try some?”

“…” Lu Yuan’s eyes took on a look of total lethargy.

He had rarely been active for an entire day like today. Although this amount of exercise was nothing to him – one could even say it was no different from not moving at all – his mind was exhausted.

He didn’t want to move.

Lu Yuan remained silent for a long time. He twitched a finger, but every other part of his body seemed to be protesting against him.

Goudan felt reassured.

It was strange for someone who wandered out every day to suddenly stay home. But it was equally a “sun rising from the west¹” level of bizarre for someone who usually stayed cooped up at home to suddenly go out and proactively do several things.

Now that Lu Yuan was lying down again…

Goudan was finally certain.

Yes, Lu Yuan was still the same Lu Yuan.

“There are two things I need to discuss with you.” Goudan didn’t press him to eat, but instead switched to a new topic.

“The first is,” Goudan said, “now that we’ve seized a Starship, how do you plan to handle the follow-up issues? Their superiors will definitely find out. When they send a new Starship, how do we respond? Do we need to make preparations in advance?”

He paused, and seeing Lu Yuan’s expression become even more listless, he felt like laughing but continued anyway. “The second thing is, I’ve inventoried the items on this Starship. The quantity of goods is far more than what they usually drop off.

“In other words, it’s very likely this ship contains not just the items meant for us, but also supplies meant for other places.

“I’d love to keep these things; it would save a lot of trouble. But winter is coming. By my count, this should be the last shipment of supplies before winter sets in. If the people who were supposed to get these things don’t receive them, they won’t survive the winter.”

Goudan sighed. “If it were any other season, we could just keep them. But this batch… I still want to deliver them.

“But I’m not sure how to send them. I need you to make a decision.”

“…”

Lu Yuan was silent for a while, then sat up.

“I think I’ll just eat.”

Siming snickered on the side.

Goudan rolled his eyes. “Don’t think you can escape this just by eating!”

“Is it really not allowed?” Lu Yuan looked quite pitiful.

“No,” Goudan said coldly.

“…”

Lu Yuan entered silent mode again.

After a few bites of food, Lu Yuan finally spoke. “The second matter is easy to handle. Wait for that captain to wake up, ask him where the deliveries are supposed to go, and then just fly the Starship there to deliver them. One of you two will have to go along to watch them so they don’t run away.”

“That’s it?”

Lu Yuan said, “I’ll keep watch with my Mental Power. It won’t be a big problem.”

“…” Siming was shocked. “Just how far does your Mental Power reach?”

“?” Lu Yuan paused, thought about it, and said somewhat uncertainly, “A planetary system? …Or maybe a small star system? Anyway, covering this planet is no problem.”

“Oh.” Siming felt numb.

Lu Yuan continued slowly, “The first matter is actually fine too. Basically, within two months, you two should try to dismantle the Starship as much as possible and organize the useful parts. Gather the useless parts together with the Black Box and dump them somewhere. That’ll be the end of it.”

“You tampered with its Black Box?” Siming asked. “To make people think it crashed accidentally?”

Lu Yuan nodded. “I changed it to show that they accidentally caught themselves in their own bomb blast. They died, the Starship was left uncontrolled, and it crashed.”

“Will no one come within two months?”

“They shouldn’t.” Lu Yuan wanted to explain, but he was too lazy, so he just gave the conclusion. “In short, no one will realize this Starship is missing within two months. Even if others come, it won’t be related to this ship.”

“What if someone else comes to bomb us later?”

“In a while, I’ll go to your place to pick out some materials and build an interference device. It’ll make us invisible to them,” Lu Yuan answered casually.

“I see…” Goudan and Siming exchanged a look. “That could work.”

“Then it’s settled.” Goudan nodded, then turned to Siming. “Regarding the delivery of the ‘garbage,’ are you going or am I?”

“You go,” Siming answered decisively. “I’ll be responsible for dismantling the Starship.”

Translator’s Notes