Chapter 56: Fifty-Sixth Day of Being a Salted Fish

Stepping out of the room and into the corridor, Zhu Rong glanced out the window.

A brilliant light shone from the distance. Zhu Rong looked toward its source.

It was a massive, ring-shaped celestial body. Even from such a vast distance, its size and brightness clearly far exceeded that of an ordinary star.

“The accretion disk of the Galactic Core’s black hole.” Ying Xun stood beside her, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Is that where you two came from?”

“A bit closer than that.” Beside them, Geshu Qing shook his head. “But not that close. We were on a high-velocity star.”

The lies had been prepared long ago. They had consulted with Lu Yuan to ensure there were no major flaws, so Geshu Qing wasn’t afraid of being exposed and answered with total confidence.

Ying Xun sighed. “This is already the closest region we can reach. We can’t go any further in.”

If we could go in, we’d be finished, Zhu Rong muttered inwardly. On the surface, however, she said, “It’s actually not that dangerous. We managed to get out in our homemade mecha, so theoretically, we should be able to get in too.”

Ying Xun shook his head, not bothering to argue with her.

There was a briefing room on the top deck of the starship. That was Ying Xun’s destination.

Quite a few Star Pirates were already waiting for him in the briefing room, standing in small groups and making a ruckus.

Ying Xun left Zhu Rong and Geshu Qing at the back of the room, where they successfully regrouped with Siming.

There were no chairs in the briefing room, nor was there a need for them. However, there was a staircase in the direction Ying Xun was heading. He climbed up two steps so the pirates below could see him clearly. Then he turned sideways, one foot forced to rest two steps higher than the other.

He didn’t seem to mind, casually resting one hand on his thigh while the other gripped the railing. Facing the pirates, he roared, “You little brats!”

The pirates fell silent instantly.

Then, they erupted into a roar even louder than Ying Xun’s: “HOO!”

“Human atavistic behavior,” Geshu Qing whispered.

Zhu Rong had been busy playing games these past few days, Siming had been busy chatting with the pirates everywhere, and Geshu Qing…

He had spent all his time researching various memes on StarNet.

“We! Are going on a raid!” Once the shouting died down, Ying Xun announced loudly.

“OH!” the pirates responded.

“Now, let’s assign tasks!” Ying Xun shouted.

“HUO!” The pirates let out a third type of synchronized roar.

Zhu Rong: “…Are they insane?”

Siming smiled. “It’s a form of cohesion.”

“…” Zhu Rong was silent for a moment, then suddenly noted, “There’s no smell of alcohol here.”

“Isn’t it amazing?” Siming said meaningfully. “A bunch of guys who usually never let go of a bottle have all, without prior agreement, stopped drinking for the time being.”

Ying Xun’s voice rang out again.

“We’re going to hijack a massive shipment from Health Pharmaceuticals.” His tone grew serious. “The cargo is huge, the client is in a hurry, and the payout is high. Because of that, they’ve sent five cargo ships!”

“WHOA!” The pirates cheered.

However, Ying Xun continued, “We’re not taking all of it.”

“Aww,” came the collective sigh.

“Our goal is to focus on just one ship,” Ying Xun stated.

This time, the pirates didn’t make a sound. This arrangement was unconventional.

Star Pirates always took as much cargo as they could carry. Why would they pre-plan to only take one ship?

However, they didn’t speak up to question him.

As they expected, Ying Xun quickly provided an explanation.

“The Empire is conducting military exercises nearby,” Ying Xun said. “When we make our move, the Imperial military might intervene. After all, this is a legal corporation. If they ask the Empire for help, the military might actually do something.

“Furthermore, I’ve heard that Old Ghost, Old Hu, Old Ma, and Old Fa are all heading this way! They probably caught the scent too…

“Caught between two fires, it’s likely impossible for us to take it all!

“So, I had a talk with Old Ghost and the others. Everyone takes their own share. I’ve been allocated one of the ships…”

Zhu Rong suddenly said, “Something feels off.”

“It’s beyond weird,” Siming laughed. “How could there be such a coincidence? A shipment of medicine just happens to be passing through the Silver Core Sector¹, the Empire just happens to be holding military exercises here, there just happen to be five starships delivering the medicine, and five Star Pirate Syndicates just happen to show up, one for each ship…”

“Is the military here for the medicine too?” Geshu Qing asked.

“I suspect so,” Siming said. “If we rule out the possibility of this being a coincidence, the only reason such a situation would occur is that someone needs the medicine, but one party doesn’t want him to have it while another party does.

“The party that doesn’t want him to get the medicine hired pirate syndicates like Ying Xun’s to handle it. The party that wants him to get it called in the Imperial military.

“The status of these three parties must be quite high.”

“If the problem is this obvious and we can see it, the pirates should be able to see it too, right?” Geshu Qing frowned.

“The pirates don’t care,” Zhu Rong replied.

–

Ying Xun quickly finished assigning the tasks. The pirates gave a thunderous roar of agreement. One group headed out through the rear door of the briefing room, while another group passed behind Ying Xun and headed up the stairs.

“The mecha bay is upstairs,” Siming explained. “Those using mecha go up. The docking ports for the starships and the main ship are below. If you go out and head down from here, you can return to your own starship.”

“Speaking of which, there are quite a few people among the pirates who can pilot mecha for combat,” Geshu Qing noted. “I thought that was a high-end skill.”

Zhu Rong said, “Piloting a mecha itself isn’t hard.”

“Isn’t the Mecha Maneuver Team always short on people?” Geshu Qing had heard the story of Zhu Rong’s background.

“That’s the Mecha Maneuver Team.” In the blink of an eye, only the three of them and Ying Xun remained in the briefing room. Ying Xun walked over to them and said, “We only have civilian mecha here. Their skill is limited to just being able to fly them; their combat effectiveness is completely useless!”

He glanced at Zhu Rong.

Zhu Rong shook her head. “We weren’t really fighting that day. If it were a real fight, I might not have won.”

Ying Xun remained noncommittal. “Besides, even if they could pilot mecha well, they couldn’t get into the Mecha Maneuver Team. Everyone in there is a monster.”

Zhu Rong nodded. She was actually very aware of this. Lu Yuan had told her quite a bit about modern warfare, various military branches, starships, the Mecha Maneuver Team… and even various tactics and their applications.

After all, they had played games together for over half a year. Lu Yuan would mention a thing or two casually every day, and over half a year, Zhu Rong had learned a lot. Moreover, there were times when Lu Yuan would mention more than just a thing or two.

Geshu Qing, however, truly knew very little about these matters. He didn’t play games, nor did he have any interest in joining the military.

Siming asked, “What are the three of us doing?”

“Well…” Ying Xun was unusually serious today. Perhaps it was because he hadn’t been drinking. He thought for a moment, looking at Siming and then at Zhu Rong, before saying, “Little Sister Zhu, go upstairs and pick a mecha. Do whatever you want, it’s up to you. Little Brother, you stay here with me to command. If you see any problems, let me know.”

Geshu Qing was curious: “What about me?”

“…” Ying Xun hesitated. “Watch and learn?”

Geshu Qing: “…”

“The main thing is that you’re really not suited for fighting!” Ying Xun laughed loudly. “You people from the Geshu family are better suited for playing mind games. This business of brandishing swords and spears isn’t for you.”

Geshu Qing raised an eyebrow.

What a stereotype.

–

“Patriarch², I have arrived in the Silver Core Sector,” said the young man named Geshu Jun.

“Is there a problem?” Geshu Ming asked.

If there weren’t an unexpected situation, Geshu Jun wouldn’t have contacted her so suddenly.

“There are Star Pirates,” Geshu Jun said succinctly. “There are at least five pirate syndicates here, and it looks like they’re preparing to hijack the medicine. Are we still moving in?”

Geshu Ming pondered for a moment. “Your thoughts?”

“I think they can succeed. The pirates are clearly stronger than the security team hired by Health Pharmaceuticals. Furthermore, the First Army is being blocked by the Fifth Army, so they won’t be able to interfere much with the pirates. We can wait and see how things develop,” Geshu Jun replied.

Geshu Ming was silent for a moment before asking, “Which pirate syndicates are there?”

“Sea Eagle, Ghost Wall, Green Beard, Flying Pegasus, and Lawless. Those are the five we see now. They’re being quite blatant about it, making no attempt to hide.”

“…Oh.” Geshu Ming suddenly laughed. “Which friend is this, who got the news even earlier than I did?”

“Huh?” Geshu Jun was startled.

“I also considered contacting the Star Pirates,” Geshu Ming said with a smile. “But when I calculated the time, I realized it would be too late to contact them. After all, for a big job like this, even if the pirates take it, they have to return to their home base first to restock ammunition.

“By the time I got the word, if I had contacted the pirates, they probably wouldn’t have made it in time. That’s why I had no choice but to have our own family members do it.

“It’s also because of this that I specifically spoke to Zhou Fei and asked him to cooperate with us, or at least not to get serious with us.”

Geshu Jun understood. “You mean, someone must have gotten the news and contacted the pirates even earlier than you to ensure all these pirate syndicates appeared here? Or perhaps they just happened to be in the vicinity… Come to think of it, five pirate syndicates all being here does seem a bit too coincidental.”

“They likely received the news around the same time Zhou Fei heard about the military exercise being held here. It’s quite remarkable,” Geshu Ming said. “This person is probably someone from within the Imperial Palace.”

She paused for a moment. “However, the Star Pirates he contacted are all people who used to serve under Lu Yuan before jumping ship. If he’s from the palace, why would he be so well-acquainted with Lu Yuan’s former subordinates?”

“Nan Yingxu?” Geshu Jun guessed.

“You might as well guess Nan Yingmin. Nan Yingxu is practically inseparable from that dear grandfather of his,” Geshu Ming sneered.

“We’ll see,” she added after a moment’s thought. “Stick to the original plan. Act friendly and cooperate with them as much as possible. See if you can establish a connection.

“Even if we don’t know which faction they belong to, the enemy of our enemy is our friend.”

“Understood,” Geshu Jun agreed.

Geshu Ming thought it over and gave a final instruction. “And of course, more importantly, find a way to figure out exactly who is feeding them information.”

---

Translator’s Notes

---

1. Silver Core Sector: The term ‘Silver Core’ (银心, yínxīn) is the Chinese name for the Galactic Center. In this sci-fi context, it refers to the central region of the galaxy, typically the most strategically important and densely populated area. ↩
2. Patriarch: The term patriarch (族长, zúzhǎng) refers to the head of a clan or family. While the English term is often gendered, the Chinese title is used here for Geshu Ming, a woman, indicating her status as the supreme leader of the Geshu family. ↩