Chapter 58: Fifty-eighth Day of Lying Flat Like a Salted Fish

Siming remained silent, his eyes fixed on the monitor.

It took a long time for Ying Xun’s orders to reach the pirates. By then, they had already completed their encirclement and were closing in on the center. Upon receiving the command, the speed of the contraction suddenly accelerated.

A moment later, the unknown fleet surrounding the transport ship at the center of the encirclement suddenly dispersed. They began circling the transport ship at a dizzying speed.

Siming was slightly stunned. “Are they covering for us?” he asked.

“Yeah.” Ying Xun nodded. “Whose people are these? They’re so damn weird. They’ve got such high-end mechas, they should just board the ship and be done with it. What’s with all the dawdling?”

“…It’s a good thing. If they boarded, we wouldn’t be able to get our hands on this cargo,” Siming noted.

“Heh.” Ying Xun grinned, his expression twisting. “Either way, I can tell they aren’t up to anything good.”

Siming was curious. “Based on their performance, they’re clearly trying to show us some goodwill, aren’t they?”

Ying Xun shot him a sidelong glance. “I’ve found you annoying for a long time! Turns out you aren’t a proper pirate either!”

Siming gave a helpless smile.

“Anyway, these people definitely aren’t on the same side as us,” Ying Xun muttered, his neck stiff with stubbornness.

–

However, the other party was doing everything in their power to be on the same side as Ying Xun.

Without outside help, the transport ship couldn’t possibly withstand the combined assault of the pirates and the Geshu Family. Although it was fast and trying its best to flee, it ultimately failed to break through the encirclement.

During the pursuit, Ying Xun’s flagship began its warp toward the area. Once near the battlefield, Ying Xun occasionally issued a few commands. Every time he spoke, the pirates’ coordination became a bit more efficient.

Siming couldn’t interject. Although he had played games with Lu Yuan, he had never faced an actual interstellar war, so he just watched quietly from the side.

Observing.

The pirate mecha pilots quickly boarded the transport ship, stuffed the crew into escape pods, and “released” them.

Once space stabilized again, Ying Xun piloted the flagship in front of the transport ship. What he saw was a vessel already flying the skull and crossbones, its hatches wide open to him, and…

A neat row of unknown mechas and warships waiting for him, their weapons already stowed.

Ying Xun: “…”

The warship’s headlights flashed a signal, transmitting a string of numbers.

Ying Xun clicked his tongue but tuned the communication channel to the frequency corresponding to those numbers anyway.

A gentle voice came through the comms: “Good day, Captain Ying.”

“And who might you be?” Ying Xun asked reluctantly.

“Geshu Jun, of the Geshu Family,” Geshu Jun said with a smile. “Nan Yingzhe sent me to assist you.”

Assist? Sending someone from the Geshu Family to assist him? What was wrong with Nan Yingzhe?

Ying Xun paused, then reacted with a sneer. “Nan Yingzhe? The Emperor’s grandson? How does he know I’m here?”

“Shouldn’t he know?” Geshu Jun countered.

“Nonsense,” Ying Xun snapped.

“Fair enough.” Geshu Jun had already obtained the answer he wanted from that reaction. Although that initial pause could be explained as being stunned by a name that had nothing to do with him, Geshu Jun preferred to believe that the person behind Ying Xun was indeed Nan Yingzhe.

And he trusted his own judgment.

Geshu Jun skipped the topic and said, “That isn’t the point.”

“Not the point?” Ying Xun snorted. “Then why don’t you tell me what the point is?”

“I wish to form an alliance with you,” Geshu Jun said succinctly.

Ying Xun was so angry he laughed. “An alliance with you? You’re dreaming. I’d ally with anyone before I’d ally with the Geshu Family.”

Behind him, Geshu Qing glanced at Siming.

Siming returned a knowing look.

Siming had already suspected that Ying Xun’s relationship with the Geshu Family wasn’t good. Although he hadn’t thought of it before arriving here, Ying Xun had made it quite obvious afterward.

If their relationship were good, the first thing Ying Xun did after their arrival wouldn’t have been discussing how to use Geshu Qing to blackmail the Geshu Family for a payout.

The only thing Siming found odd was that Lu Yuan had mentioned Geshu Ming was an old friend, and Ying Xun was Lu Yuan’s subordinate – the one who had been with him the longest. Logically, Ying Xun should have been on good terms with Geshu Ming.

However, he hadn’t found an opportunity to ask Ying Xun about it.

After all, according to the identity he had fabricated for himself, he shouldn’t know that Ying Xun and Geshu Ming once had a close relationship. That was information that couldn’t be found online.

Furthermore, Ying Xun hadn’t shown any unusual attitude toward Geshu Qing despite his Geshu bloodline. Thus, Siming had no opening to ask.

Now, he had finally found one.

Over the comms, Geshu Jun’s voice remained calm. “Health Pharmaceuticals sent out six transport ships. Aside from the five you already know about, there is one more. Its route runs right along the edge of the military exercise grounds, planning to slip past the rear of the First Legion.

“You know the strength of the First Legion better than anyone. With just your few pirate syndicates, I’m afraid it will be quite difficult to take down a transport ship under the First Legion’s wing.

“Captain Ying should know whether holding a grudge against my Clan Head is more important than hitting that transport ship. At least for now, our goals are aligned.”

“Who’s aligned with you?” Ying Xun chuckled. “I’m here to rob them. I’ve never heard of a pirate wanting to ‘take down’ a transport ship! We don’t have the word ‘destroy’ in our dictionary, only ‘plunder’, ‘seize’, and ‘make it ours’!”

Despite his words, his tone shifted in the next breath. “However, if you can give me the specific coordinates of that ship, it wouldn’t hurt to go take a look.”

“I know the exact location,” Geshu Jun replied. “But I need to blend my people in with yours.”

Ying Xun chuckled mockingly. “So the Geshu Family still isn’t ready to expose themselves?”

“Correct.” Geshu Jun admitted it quite frankly. “This is also the bargaining chip I’m giving you. I trust you haven’t forgotten to record our conversation?”

“…Fine.” Ying Xun shook his head and opened the pirate syndicate’s comm channel. “Wu Feng, go arrange a spot for the eldest young master of the Geshu Family. Zheng Zhien, send four people to find Old Ghost and the others. Tell them there’s another big job to do. I’ve sent you the coordinates.”

Geshu Jun chimed in at the right moment: “I’ve sent the destination coordinates to you as well.”

“…”

After a period of chaos, the command center fell silent again.

The pirates were well-versed in post-battle cleanup and didn’t need Ying Xun’s direction.

The smaller ships were re-docked to the flagship, and the mechas returned to the hangar. The Geshu Family’s people were integrated into the starship and mecha squads.

However, the pirates did not allow them to leave their own ships or mechas to walk around inside the Sea Eagle.

To the pirates, allowing them into the formation was already generous enough. Letting outsiders wander around their home was out of the question.

Even their leader, Ying Xun, was still grumbling.

“Damn it, I knew they weren’t up to anything good…”

“Ying Xun,” Siming took the chance to ask, “speaking of which, do you and the Geshu Family… have some history?”

As he spoke, he glanced at Geshu Qing as if by accident.

Ying Xun naturally assumed he was worried that some grudge with the family would result in him taking it out on Geshu Qing.

“I suppose you could say I have a bit of a personal grudge with their Clan Head, Geshu Ming.” Ying Xun ordered the ship to head toward the location Geshu Jun had provided, adding, “It has nothing to do with you two, don’t worry!”

“Just curious. We’ve got nothing else to do anyway, why not tell the story?”

“To put it simply… you know I used to work under Lu Yuan. Geshu Ming was Lu Yuan’s friend at first, but then she plotted against him.” Ying Xun’s tone was casual. “Lu Yuan himself didn’t really care. But me? I hold a grudge.”

–

Desolate Planet.

Lu Yuan asked Goudan, “Has Geshu Qing replied?”

The day before, he had checked the infant’s body, only to find his Mental Power blocked. He could only think of one possibility for this: it was related to the Desolate Planet.

So, he had Goudan ask Geshu Qing…

Had there been any changes in his Mental Power after receiving the memories of the Desolate Planet?

Did the Desolate Planet have the ability to modify a person’s Mental Power?

He could have asked himself.

But ever since he made that communicator for Goudan and the others… he had become too lazy to move.

It was much easier to let someone else do the work for him.

However, Goudan’s answer was: “No. I haven’t heard a word from them for two days.”

“?” Lu Yuan paused. “Since they said they were setting sail?”

“Yeah.”

“…That’s not right.” Lu Yuan frowned.

Goudan’s eyes widened. “What’s wrong?”

“Star Pirates usually have fixed areas of activity… their own turf. Even when they leave their home base, they don’t wander too far. It should take a day at most to reach their destination, and after that, normal communication should be possible.”

Lu Yuan explained, “At most, there might be a delay, but it’s impossible to be completely cut off.”

Goudan began to worry. “Then what should we do? Did something happen to them?”

“…Even if something happened, there’s nothing we can do,” Lu Yuan said.

However, meeting Goudan’s wide-eyed, pleading gaze, he let out a sigh. “But I can try to see where they are…”

“The Empire is so huge, how are you going to check?”

“Didn’t they say they were going to hijack a shipment from Health Pharmaceuticals?” Lu Yuan said. “I’ll check the records for their transport ships… see if anything strange has happened.”

“What counts as something strange?” Goudan asked.

Lu Yuan had already hacked into the Health Pharmaceuticals system. As he worked, he said, “Things like a transport ship passing through an area perfect for an ambush, or perhaps a ship suddenly losing contact… Huh?”

“What is it?”

“This company actually has six transport ships in the Silver Core Sector… What are they up to?” Lu Yuan frowned and thought for a moment. “It looks like Ying Xun headed straight for that area. Warping to the Galactic Core with the Sea Eagle’s equipment would take more than a day. They probably entered combat readiness the moment they arrived.

“You can’t communicate during a warp, and you can’t communicate while you’re in the middle of a fight. Plus, there are very few communication relay ships deployed in the Silver Core Sector, so signal transmission takes a long time. It’s normal not to hear from them for two days.”

Goudan felt a bit more at ease. “Can you see what they’re doing?”

“There’s no sector-wide surveillance in the Silver Core Sector,” Lu Yuan said. “Let me see if the military has any starships over there. If they do, I might be able to check their radar maps. There might be a bit of a delay, though…”

As Lu Yuan spoke, he skillfully navigated into the military system.

However, before he could search for military warships in the Silver Core Sector, a notification caught his eye.

[Training Exercise Notice: From December 24, Star Calendar 5479, to December 26, Star Calendar 5479, the First Legion and the Fifth Legion will conduct joint training exercises in the Silver Core Sector.

Specific restricted zone is Area A2037: 128.10, 62.5, 27; 126.79…]

“What?” Even Lu Yuan was surprised.

“What happened now?” Goudan asked urgently.

“Well… the First and Fifth Legions, two major forces, are holding military drills right there. This actually makes it easier for us to find Siming and the others…” Lu Yuan hesitated. “I don’t know what’s going on. Is the Galactic Core some kind of hotspot? Everyone is heading there one after another.

“The main thing is, why go to the Galactic Core for a military drill? It’s the very center of the galaxy, and with that environment… no matter where enemies might appear, they’d never be in the Galactic Core.”