CH 47

Spaceship cockpit.

“Our boss, Ke Yan, is dead.”

This news hit the guards in the spaceship cockpit like a thunderbolt, triggering a bombastic reaction.

“Dead? How did he die?”

“What the hell! Who dares to kill our boss? Isn’t this asking for trouble?” cursed one hot-tempered guard.

A sensible guard asked, “So, who will be the next boss? We took a big risk hijacking this spaceship. Can we make a profit?”

“I don’t know. For now, the pirate group is being managed by three deputy leaders. They’ll choose the next leader once they catch the killer.”

The guards wore gloomy expressions. The pirate group had lost its backbone. The high-ranking pirates could thrive wherever they went, but these low-level pirate nobodies had no stability. They had no idea what they would do if they left the pirate group.

Although Boss Ke Yan had a violent temper, he treated the pirates fairly well. At least he wasn’t too demanding when it came to money. Handing over seventy percent of the looted wealth was sufficient for him. He was known in the Sinful Star for his generosity. Other pirate group’s heads ask for over ninety percent or even everything, leaving only a small allowance for the lower-level pirates.

It was only after Boss Ke Yan’s death that the pirates started reminiscing about his virtues.

“Sigh, what’s the use of talking? Let’s just get to work.”

“Why does this cleaning robot keep getting in the way?”

An irritated pirate kicked the knee-high cleaning robot a couple of times. It had been running around the cockpit for so long, yet it hadn’t finished cleaning.

Another pirate glanced at it and said, “Why bother with a robot? Maybe it didn’t clean the entire cockpit. The system probably restricts its movement. Just move away from the captain’s seat. After all, you don’t know how to operate the ship.”

The pirate boasted, “Who said I don’t know how to operate it? It’s just a lousy spaceship. I’ve driven hovercars before.”

“Can you compare a hovercar to a large transport spaceship? One is on land, and the other is in outer space. Alright, stop bragging. Let the cleaning robot finish and go out. Then it won’t be in the way.”

The pirate, angered yet unable to argue with his comrade, grumbled and moved away from the captain’s seat, revealing the ship’s control console. The red circle halo on top of the cleaning robot’s head flashed momentarily. Taking advantage of the pirate’s inattention, it connected its data port to the ship’s operating system.

With nothing else to do, the pirates began playing cards recklessly. Since the leader of the pirate group was dead, no one was overseeing them anymore. They could do whatever they pleased.

The pirate who had kicked the robot several times had a streak of bad luck and lost several rounds. Frustrated, he threw the cards onto the table and vented, “Why the hell is that damn robot still cleaning!”

The rest of the star pirates became a little puzzled. “It seems like it’s been a while. Should we go and see if something is wrong?”

A group of star pirates walked over.

A sharp-eyed star pirate noticed that the data cable of the floor-cleaning robot was connected to the cockpit. Pointing at it, he asked, “Does that floor-cleaning robot need to charge here?”

“How is that possible? Do you think it’s still the last century?”

“Don’t believe me? Look, the little robot does have a data cable.”

The star pirate approached and exclaimed, “Wow, it really does.”

Then, being mischievous, he pulled it twice but couldn’t unplug it.

Another star pirate actually thought the little robot had come to charge and said, chuckling, “Why did you unplug it? If it runs out of power and stays here, won’t it be even more troublesome? Leave it here, and let’s continue playing cards.”

“You’ve got a point.”

While the floor-cleaning robot quietly injected all the infected viruses into the spaceship’s system, the group of star pirates continued their cheerful card game.

“Boom! Hahaha—pay up! I’ll give you guys a spring directly.”

“Aw, man!”

“You’re having such good luck today.”

“It’s luck, all luck.”

“By the way, have you heard any sound, like an alarm going off…”

“No, there’s nothing…”

Clang!

Suddenly, a senior star pirate burst out of the door, glaring angrily and shouting, “Did you guys accidentally press the fire alarm button? Why is water spraying everywhere outside, and those damn robots are running wild!”

The star pirates innocently held their playing cards, murmuring, “No, we were just playing cards, we didn’t touch anything.”

The trapped passengers also noticed that the working robots on the spaceship had gone out of control. Instead of working, they were attacking the star pirates. The activated fire alarm triggered a misty spray, enveloping the surroundings in a fog that obscured visibility and touch.

Gradually, the passengers realized that this was a good opportunity to escape. A clever person shouted, “Run! Get to the life pods and leave this ship!”

Upon hearing this, the star pirates grew furious, as they had no idea where so many malfunctioning robots had come from, hindering their efforts to capture the hostages.

The spaceship quickly dispersed many life pods, resembling dandelion seeds floating away.

The vice captain of the star pirates roared in anger, “Quick, pilot the ship and retrieve those hostages!”

One of the star pirates with piloting skills operated the ship’s systems, only to see a display message…

[“Virus invasion, system crash, 404 under maintenance.”]

After several hours of escape, Assistant Jin finally arrived near a planet with a signal, while the ghost girl, Irin, went offline due to mental exhaustion.

Assistant Jin narrowly escaped death, his trembling fingers pressing the communication device. Excitedly, he exclaimed, “President Pei, I successfully escaped from the hijacked spaceship. I’m currently on Planet XX. Please inform the nearby security personnel. I’ll be back on the main planet soon.”

Pei Zhaozhou’s eyes brightened, and he spoke in a deep voice, “Good. Thank you for your hard work, Assistant Jin. I will compensate you for any mental trauma caused by this unexpected incident.”

Assistant Jin intended to politely decline, considering that the credit for his escape belonged primarily to President Pei, who had provided the virus data. Without President Pei, he wouldn’t have made it out.

However, when he heard that President Pei had increased his travel budget tenfold and added two weeks of paid leave, he couldn’t possibly refuse!

Assistant Jin swallowed nervously and gratefully said, “Thank you, President Pei!”

However, Pei Zhaozhou’s expression grew heavy, and his tone became rarelully low, “This hijacking incident might have been aimed at me, and you, Assistant Jin, were innocently involved due to my carelessness. Both morally and legally, I should compensate you.”

Assistant Jin’s eyes welled up with emotion. He was grateful to have such a great boss and replied, “It’s alright. As President Pei’s assistant, it’s my duty to go on business trips for you. It’s what I should do.”

After the communication ended…

“Assistant Lin, I’ll leave the next steps to Assistant Lin to handle. Make sure every employee of our company returns safely.”

Assistant Lin had a good relationship with Assistant Jin. Upon hearing that Assistant Jin had successfully escaped from the hijacked spaceship, her face relaxed, and she said with a joyful expression, “Yes, I will contact the person in charge on the planet where Assistant Jin is and arrange for a professional and safe internal transport spaceship to pick him up.”

Assistant Lin hurriedly went out to handle the matter, leaving Pei Zhaozhou and Si Huaixi alone in the office.

Pei Zhaozhou’s face was solemn, and his amber-gold eyes harbored a stormy intensity. He pressed his fingers against his chin, furrowing his brows as he contemplated with a heavy atmosphere lingering in the office.

Si Huaixi sat beside him, his gaze fixed on Pei Zhaozhou, as if waiting for something.

It wasn’t until the clock’s hands reached five o’clock that Si Huaixi let out a soft sigh, breaking the silence, and said, “Brother Pei, I will support whatever you decide to do.”

Pei Zhaozhou’s gaze lowered, his face filled with concerns. He couldn’t help but take out a cigarette box from his drawer. As his lips touched the cigarette, the familiar taste of nicotine jolted him awake.

— He couldn’t smoke anymore. He had been forced into a corner.

Thinking of the child in his belly, Pei Zhaozhou’s eyes grew even more determined, mingled with a hint of fear.

If he had been the one on the spaceship, he had the confidence to deal with an entire ship of star pirates. But if something happened to the child, he would regret it bitterly…

Mech accident, damage to the gland, being expelled from the military, a series of continuous accidents…

He had already grown disheartened, dragging his disabled body through each day out of loyalty to the Empire, not wanting to sever ties completely and make enemies of them.

But now things were different; he had another choice.

He couldn’t let his child live in such a dangerous environment. The chaotic pheromone disorder had gradually been controlled after Si Huaixi’s arrival, no longer worsening.

A seemingly hopeless situation had a glimmer of hope.

Even though Si Huaixi, in his eyes, remained a mysterious figure to be wary of, the situation was undeniably shifting in a positive direction.

The cigarette burned quietly.

Pei Zhaozhou clenched the cigarette butt with his fingers, flames flickering in the shadows. His amber-gold eyes were too deep to be penetrated by light as he murmured, “Are nobles really powerful?”

Si Huaixi chuckled, his gaze intense. “I don’t know. After all, I wasn’t a noble on that barren planet.”

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