Card Room

After determining the next destination, the Dark Night starship officially set sail.

Chu Huaying went to the console and set the navigation. The Dark Night starship was much faster than passenger starships and it could reach Capital Star in just one day.

When Xiao Lou escaped from Capital Star, he had left the Tao Yuanming card with Qu Wanyue for safety. Once they arrived at the space station, Qu Wanyue could open the Peach Blossom Spring and pull everyone over. This would solve the difficulty of not being able to pass through the security check.

The group was unable to have a good rest for the past few days while traveling back and forth between the deep sea palace and the deserted island. Seeing the exhaustion on everyone's faces, Chu Huaying suggested, "It is best to go and rest first. At the current speed of travel, we will probably arrive at Capital Star at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning. Tonight, you can get a good night's sleep and replenish your energy. Then you can deal with the affairs of the Locke Empire."

Currently, they were all in the command room of the starship. The starship was large and had many rooms to rest in. Chu Huaying arranged for them to stay in the three rooms near the command room. Two people would stay in one room and could take care of each other.

Xiao Lou said, "Everyone has been working hard these days. Have a good night's sleep. Huaying, I have to trouble you to watch the navigation."

Chu Huaying nodded. "Don't worry. The starship has automatic navigation. I will stay here to keep an eye on it."

Xiao Lou gave the team headsets to everyone who was missing one. "If something happens then contact us through the headset."

The six people left the command room and headed to the rooms arranged by Chu Huaying. They closed the door and went to sleep.

These rooms had two single beds side by side. It was enough to go to sleep without disturbing each other.

Perhaps it was because he was too tired but Xiao Lou fell asleep as soon as he lay down on the bed.

His sleep was very deep. It wasn't known how much time had passed when Xiao Lou suddenly rolled off the bed. His head hit the floor at the foot of the bed and the pain instantly awakened Xiao Lou. He looked around and found that the surroundings were shaking violently.

He was stunned. He held the bed to get up and asked, "What's going on?"

On the bed next to him, Yu Hanjiang also sat up. He rushed to the porthole and pulled the curtains. Outside the window was the dark sky of the universe but due to the shaking starship, the stars in his field of view were also shaking.

Yu Hanjiang frowned. "There are no other ships in the area so it likely isn't an attack." He pressed the button of the team headset. "Huaying?"

There was no response.

Xiao Lou quickly put on his coat. "Go to the command room and find her!"

The two of them walked to the door, only to find that the door was locked from the outside. Xiao Lou couldn't push it open. Yu Hanjiang's eyes flashed coldly and he signaled for Xiao Lou to retreat. At the same time, he took out the Night Devil Saber and aimed it at the metal door, slashing fiercely!

This was worthy of being an S-grade weapon. The sharp blade that could 'cut iron like it was mud' directly split the metal door in half!

Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou went out sideways one after another.

The next rooms were where the group of four were resting. Yu Hanjiang walked to the door of room 2 but the soundproof door meant he couldn't hear any sounds inside. Xiao Lou simply held down the team headset and asked, "Xiao Ye, Brother Jiu, are you awake?"

Ye Qi's panicked voice came from the earpiece. "I just woke up. What is the situation? Why is the starship shaking?"

Lu Jiuchuan had also woken up and let out a hoarse curse. Then he said, "Chu Huaying is a star thief. Can we still be robbed by other star thieves?" The first thing he thought of was the star thieves because this scene was exactly the same as when the passenger starship was intercepted by the star thieves.

At that time, Chu Huaying piloted the starship of the star thieves to intercept the passenger starship. Everyone was asleep and awakened due to the shock to the starship. Now it happened again. What was the situation?

Tang Ci murmured, "It doesn't seem to be star thieves…." His voice suddenly became serious. "The starship has lost its balance."

Shao Qingge finally woke up and was confused. "What is going on?"

Yu Hanjiang ordered in a low voice, "All of you get away from the door. The doors have been locked so I'll cut them open.."

Then he raised his weapon, his actions simple and neat. The doors of the two rooms were cut in half by him.

The newly dressed teammates rushed out. Shao Qingge's hair was messy and he didn't have time to organize the half-ponytail behind his head. His chestnut-colored hair was all scattered and he looked very flustered.

Xiao Lou glanced at the electronic locks outside the three rooms and frowned. “I’m afraid it isn’t that simple. There must be hunters among the star thieves. Otherwise, how can we be locked in the rooms?”

This conclusion caused a chill to go down everyone’s spines. Ye Qi quickly reacted. “Our rooms were locked from the outside and the balance equipment of the starship was suddenly damaged. Does this mean they want us to crash in the universe along with the Dark Night starship?”

Tang Ci's expression changed when he heard this and he hurriedly headed toward the command room.

The door of the command room was also locked. Yu Hanjiang stepped forward and splashed it apart. The command room was empty and there was no trace of Chu Huaying. Xiao Lou once again spoke into the voice headset. "Huaying? Can you hear me?"

There was no response.

Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci looked at each other and walked calmly to the console.

The destination of the navigation system had been modified to the clock constellation near the Hilt No Man's Land. The screen of the starship was currently showing red failure signs everywhere.

The moment the two of them stood in front of the console, alarm sounds rang through the command room.

"Balance system failure!"

"Gravity system failure!"

"The starship's energy is running out! Attention, the energy of the starship is about to be exhausted!"

The alarm sounds became even harsher.

More than half of the system indicators were showing a red exclamation mark that represented an error.

Tang Ci stood in front of the console and quickly tapped on some buttons. The map was magnified by several times and there was a black vortex-like mark on the map. Tang Ci's face suddenly turned white. "This starship can only last a few more minutes. We are near the legendary cosmic graveyard…"

Ye Qi's back stiffened. He walked to Tang Ci's side to look at the map and his eyes widened. "Is it the forbidden area mentioned at the military academy where severe weather is frequent and cosmic sandstorms often occur?"

Tang Ci nodded. "Yes. The planet in front is β-131 of the clock constellation. It is the most prone to cosmic sandstorms. It is said that countless wreckage of starships are floating around β-131. I don't know how many people have died here."

Xiao Lou's expression was ugly. "Can the Dark Night starship be saved?"

Tang Ci and Ye Qi were both mecha students. After graduation, Tang Ci became a mechanical engineer in Lu Jiuchuan's corps. Hearing this, he immediately checked the starship's various systems before shaking his head. "The starship's intelligence system has been completely destroyed and the energy is about to run out. We must try to escape as soon as possible. Hurry and find the escape capsules!"

Lu Jiuchuan couldn't help cursing. "Dammit. Chu Huaying knows the most about this starship. Where did she go?"

Yu Hanjiang suddenly asked, "Are you sure it really was Chu Huaying?"

Lu Jiuchuan was slightly stunned. "There shouldn't be any mistakes. She was holding the spider dagger."

Yu Hanjiang told him, "That is the Chu Huaying we saw before. What about the one we saw today?"

Lu Jiuchuan's heart suddenly became cold. Yes, the Chu Huaying they saw today only said a few words. She didn't take out the spider dagger or use Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings to check the information and confirm their identities. Everyone boarded the starship and then she set the navigation destination before letting them rest first.

She didn't say more than a few words from beginning to end.

When they arrived at the Dark Night starship and saw Chu Huaying standing in the command room, they subconsciously felt that she was the real one and didn't doubt her identity.

In addition, Chu Huaying was a star thief from the beginning. Everyone inferred that she wouldn't have a clone. Now thinking about it… it seemed the hunters had drilled through this loophole!

Xiao Lou said guiltily, "It was our carelessness."

Lu Jiuchuan had a headache and held his forehead, "I can't blame you at all. Who would've thought that Chu Huaying would also have a clone? However, there wasn't any data about her in the chip data set we received, right? She also isn't a person of the Locke Empire. She grew up as a star thief and has been wandering the universe. How can she be cloned?"

Xiao Lou told him, "There is no time to think about these things. Quickly find the escape capsules!"

Every regular starship should be equipped with escape capsules. Right now, the starship's systems were destroyed and energy was about to run out. The escape capsules were their only hope.

The group was also aware of the seriousness of this matter.

The moment he finished speaking, Shao Qingge and Ye Qi flew out with the teleportation cards, Yu Hanjiang following closely. The three of them came to the stern of the starship and were surprised to find that all the escape capsules were gone…

Yu Hanjiang saw that all the doors in the corridor were locked. He used his weapon to slash all of them.

The man was full of anger and his eyes were so cold that he could almost freeze people. He split open all the doors and the group was shocked to find—

The starship was actually empty.

Xiao Lou saw this scene and clenched his fists, his voice trembling slightly, "This is giving us a taste of our own medicine."

Yu Hanjiang spoke coldly, "They know that we can't pass the security checkpoint and will have Chief Shao use the Peach Blossom Spring for direct teleportation. At that time, the fake Chu Huaying personally went to receive Chief Shao and Ye Qi. Chief Shao opened the Peach Blossom Spring and we collectively appeared in the command room, so we didn't realize that the starship was actually empty."

Xiao Lou nodded. "This was a trap set for us."

Where did the people on the starship go? What happened to the real Chu Huaying?

In the past few days, they had been busy with the merpeople. It had been four full days since the Dark Night starship left everyone's field of view. Who knew what had happened during this period?

In addition, everyone had just successfully resolved the merpeople side plotline and were psychologically relaxed when they met Chu Huaying. They thought that the number 5 Xiao Lou was the boss. After solving this boss, the next boss would naturally be the emperor of the Locke Empire, Xiao Lou's father.

They didn't expect that the hunters would actually dig such a big pit for them on the way back!

The ship's balancing system had completely lost its function.

The entire starship was shaking violently and even rotated 360 degrees. This was much more exciting than a rollercoaster.

Ye Qi was small and thin. When the starship rotated fiercely, he was directly thrown dozens of meters away. Ye Qi hurriedly flew back with the teleportation card in a frightened manner and firmly grasped Shao Qingge's hand. Shao Qingge held him with one hand while using the other hand to grasp a door frame.

The thing Tang Ci hated the most since he was a child was a rollercoaster. At this time, the out of balance starship was swaying like a headless fly in the universe and it was more disgusting than a rollercoaster. He almost vomited and his face was as pale as paper.

Lu Jiuchuan reached out his long arms and directly pulled Tang Ci into his arms, hugging Tang Ci tightly.

The two people rolled dozens of meters on the ground. Lu Jiuchuan stretched out his long legs and hooked them around a broken door frame in the corridor. He steadied his body and asked, "Are you okay?"

Tang Ci heard the violent heartbeat coming from the other person's chest and took a deep breath. "I'm fine. I just don't want to die here…"

Previously, he was chased by so many hunters in J of Clubs and survived.

Now it seemed that a hunter's strength didn't lie in the quantity but in the quality. When encountering a hunter with a high IQ, one was enough for everyone to suffer!

The feeling of losing wasn't good at all.

Xiao Lou heard the conversation of his teammates and blamed himself.

He thought he was careful enough. He played around with the hunters among the merpeople, using the fake Liu Qiao to rescue the real Liu Qiao and letting Old Mo's Nightmare card abolish the strongest shielding card of the 5th Xiao Lou. He even dyed his tail silver and pretended to be the prince of the merpeople to give way to Liu Qiao…

It could be said that they had a very smooth time among the merpeople.

Who would've thought that the moment they left the merpeople, there would be another boss waiting for them and it was also a hidden boss! They were directly tricked and sent to their deaths in the starship!

The Dark Night starship flipped through the universe like a rollercoaster.

Sometimes they were upside down and sometimes they smashed into the metal wall so hard their organs were almost displaced. They couldn't see anything in front of them and their minds were a mess.

The energy of the ship was almost exhausted and the lights in the corridor were flickering and dimming.

The metal doors split apart by Yu Hanjiang floated around in the corridor due to weightlessness.

Just then, the starship flipped violently and a sharp metal piece aimed straight for Tang Ci's eyes. Lu Jiuchuan's eyes narrowed and he reached out to grab it. The sharp metal edge instantly cut his palm and blood splattered. Tang Ci trembled and cried out, "Brother Jiu!"

Lu Jiuchuan forcefully threw the metal piece into an empty room next to him and cried out, "I'm fine. Everyone, quickly find a way to escape!"

The balance system was broken and energy was about to run out. To make matters worse, there was the cosmic graveyard in front of them that had torn countless starships to pieces. Once they encountered a sandstorm, the entire starship would be cut to pieces and the consequences would be disastrous…

Ye Qi was so anxious that his eyes were red. "What should we do? There are no escape capsules left! If we just break out of the starship, we won't be able to live in the universe for more than a few seconds!"

Just then, the cold mechanical voice of the system was heard from the command room. "Warning. A cosmic sandstorm has been detected ahead. It is approaching us. 100 kilometers away… 80 kilometers away…"

The speed at which the starship was moving was too fast.

Once the starship was swept up in the sandstorm, it would be like a ship at sea encountering a category 10 hurricane. There would definitely be nothing left.

Ye Qi closed his eyes in despair.

Shao Qingge suddenly hugged Ye Qi tightly and whispered a few words in his ears.

Ye Qi was taken aback but he couldn't hear it clearly.

Just when he thought he was going to die, Xiao Lou suddenly shouted, "Hanjiang, activate Spirit Fox!"

Yu Hanjiang reacted and hurriedly took off the ring on his hand, giving it to Xiao Lou.

There was a soft flash of silver light and everyone heard a young voice. "The S-grade mecha Spirit Fox has been activated. Master, what is your command?"

"Open the cockpit and prepare for immediate take-off." Xiao Lou desperately grabbed at a life-saving straw. He dragged Yu Hanjiang to the Spirit Fox's cockpit while shouting to his teammates in the corridor, "Come here quickly!"

Yu Hanjiang threw the white silk to Lu Jiuchuan who held Tang Ci to fly over together. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi used the teleportation cards to move through the hatch. Xiao Lou didn't dare to delay and immediately pressed the start button after his teammates entered the cockpit.

"The hatch is closing."

"The flight system is activated in 5, 4, 3, 2…1."

At the end of the countdown, the huge tail behind Spirit Fox suddenly opened and turned into wide wings. The sharp metal lines of the mecha exuded a bright luster under the light.

The S-grade mecha soared into the sky. The protective glass of the Dark Night starship was shattered by it and countless glass pieces poured into the universe like small meteors gliding through the sky.

At almost the same moment that the Spirit Fox soared into the universe, the spider-like Dark Night starship fell into the cosmic sandstorm. The dark vortex quickly caused the starship to become fragmented…

Everyone saw this scene from the porthole and their hands became sweaty.

This was too thrilling. They were almost destroyed!

Voting Page

Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality