Chapter 93:  Play Along, Captain Li Mo

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

As the lock disengaged, a ring of arc-shaped light screens appeared before Lu Yao. Torque curiously stretched out a paw to swipe at the glowing dots floating in midair. Lu Yao pressed a button, and the triangular metal badge began to unfold itself, spreading like a living tide across Torque’s limbs until the pliable, liquid-like metal encased the cat completely.

In the next instant, a silver-white metal cat with pointed ears appeared before Lu Yao. Bright blue lights flared where its eyes should have been, unsettlingly vivid and full of life.

“Meow—!” Torque yowled in panic. His voice, filtered through the micro–mecha’s built-in speaker, carried a faint electronic edge. He tried to step forward, but the alien sensation made his gait clumsy and erratic, as though he had forgotten how to walk.

After a few shaky steps, Torque felt as if his entire cat-life had lost all meaning. With a flop, he collapsed flat on the ground in the shape of the character “大,” the mecha’s mask even mimicking his drooping ears and sulky frown.

Lu Yao pressed another button. The mecha’s glowing eyes shifted to an orange-red hue, and at once the metal cat sprang upright. “Meow?” Torque hadn’t moved at all—his mecha was moving on its own!

The metal cat stretched lazily, tail swaying, before darting forward with surprising agility. In a blur, it leapt and scrambled up the bathroom’s ceiling, crouching high above as though to look down on all below.

No—Torque had no desire to look down on anyone. All he wanted was to tremble miserably. He mewled at Lu Yao in despair. Seeing the little cat’s pitiful state, Lu Yao’s lips curved into a faint smile he hadn’t even noticed himself. He shook his head, stepped beneath Torque, and stretched out his arms. “Come on. Jump down. I’ll catch you.”

Torque’s tail twitched with hesitation. At last, he made up his mind and leapt, plunging straight toward Lu Yao’s chest.

With a heavy thud, Torque slammed into him like a cannonball, driving Lu Yao back several steps until his spine hit the wall. Pain throbbed in his chest as the metal cat tilted its head up at him. The mask split open to reveal the real white cat’s face—round eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Yet when Torque saw Lu Yao’s pained frown, he gave a few weak mews and stretched his head forward, rubbing against Lu Yao’s neck.

Lu Yao tightened his hold around him. The fluffy head pressed warmly against his throat, and with a sigh he patted Torque’s back to soothe him.

When Lu Yao had designed the micro-cat mecha, he had never intended to add an attack mode. Perhaps the action database contained simulated data of stray cats fighting, but expecting such a tiny, unarmed creature to stand against a band of brutal star pirates was completely unrealistic. That had never been the purpose of activating the micro-mecha.

With one arm holding Torque close, Lu Yao pressed his fingers to the glowing triangle at the mecha’s chest. Once it unlocked, he gave it a firm push. The triangle popped outward, revealing a spherical device blazing with harsh white light.

On closer inspection, the glowing sphere wasn’t even solid—it was a swirling knot of radiance woven together, rotating around itself. The new energy source Lu Yao envisioned had first been tested in Torque’s micro-mecha. That single compact unit could power it for ten years.

The cat-mecha could never match star pirates in combat. But explosives powered by this new energy could.

The only problem was timing and placement. Lu Yao still needed more information. Fortunately, the pirates had ordered him to manufacture mechas—a task that consumed time and effort. That meant he had time to stall. He only wondered what kind of reaction the people in the Rose System would have once they learned he had been kidnapped, perhaps even killed.

A pair of deep eyes, holding countless unspoken words, surfaced in his mind. He hoped Zhou Yunchen wouldn’t be too grief-stricken. Lu Yao’s lashes trembled briefly, but only for an instant. Then he lifted his gaze again, retracted the mecha, and walked out of the bathroom with Torque in his arms, heading toward the equipment Trens had left behind.

First came the gravimeter: it displayed a local gravity of 1.2G. Next, the temperature and humidity sensors—inside the lab it held steady at twenty-three degrees Celsius, while the vast, shadowy columnar chamber ahead registered twenty degrees, fluctuating slightly with depth. The humidity was also high.

Carrying Torque, Lu Yao stepped onto the suspended catwalk running along the chamber’s inner wall. The metal railing felt icy to the touch. The walls bore signs of water seepage and age, yet no moss, mold, or even tiny insects were present.

He estimated that he was no longer aboard the Black Sea Pirates’ starship. Inside a starship, gravity was maintained at a standard 1G, with only the engine room showing higher temperatures. Everywhere else would remain thermally stable, with no drastic fluctuations or humidity that could damage machinery.

Here, though, the chamber—over seventy meters high—showed varying temperatures at different levels. Lu Yao concluded he must be on an unfamiliar planet, one without life, or else there would have been at least mold present.

That also meant there was no large human settlement nearby. As for this test site… Lu Yao looked upward. The chamber’s round dome vanished into blackness, like the gaping maw of an abyss scarred by time.

This facility must have been abandoned long ago. Most of the original instruments had been hauled away, replaced by scavenged equipment the pirates had cobbled together.

Walking along the catwalk, Lu Yao studied the architectural style below. The standardized layout made him suspect this had once been an official test site decommissioned in earlier years. He was all too familiar with the design.

Creeeak— The brittle groan of aged metal shattered the silence, echoing through the hollow chamber.

Lu Yao’s heart jolted. He stepped back toward the wall, waited, and watched carefully. When he was certain it had only been the walkway’s rusted joints, he pressed himself against the wall and continued forward with caution. Yes—this site truly had been abandoned for many years.

In the test site control room, a scar-faced pirate stared at the monitors showing Lu Yao pacing restlessly. Stroking his chin, he asked, “What’s this omega trying to do?”

A limping pirate hobbled closer and glanced at Lu Yao’s posture as he hugged the wall. “Is he afraid of heights?”

Scar-face snorted. “Could be. Oh—he’s headed toward the materials warehouse. Probably checking what our boss prepared for his mecha work. Smart of him. Come on, let’s keep drinking.” The limping pirate said nothing, his gaze lingering on the frail figure moving across the screen.

The Nameless Star Domain lay hidden behind the stargate, a chaotic realm beyond the Federation’s control and jurisdiction. Anyone could pass through the gate into the Nameless Domain, but once inside, all consequences were their own. Federation law carried no weight there.

To avoid alerting their enemies, Zhou Yunchen had transferred from the Silver Halberd Fleet’s battleship onto another privately owned starship outfitted with weapons before entering the stargate. As arranged, Li Mo came to meet him, and Zhou Yunchen prepared to board his ship.

Zhao Minghe worried about Zhou Yunchen’s plan to face Li Mo alone. Zhou Yunchen only shook his head. “It’s fine. I know what kind of man Li Mo is.”

“But…” Zhao Minghe opened his mouth, unsure how to dissuade him. This time, they had chosen a large private starship and quietly stocked it with weapons. Yet compared to the massive warship trailing three escort frigates, their vessel was like a child challenging a heavyweight champion.

No one had expected that the alpha who had once returned to New Blue Star battered and broken had, over the years, secretly built such a formidable private military force. Unable to change his mind, Zhao Minghe could only accompany Zhou Yunchen aboard the shuttle that carried them to Li Mo’s flagship, the Rambler.

Along the way, they encountered many of Li Mo’s crew—men and women of varying races, speaking different languages, seemingly recruited from across the Federation. They wore no standard uniforms, each donning their own combat gear. They were built strong, but not brutish.

Li Mo waited on the bridge. When Zhou Yunchen saw him again, he still looked the same—stubble across his face, silent and unreadable.

“Captain Li Mo,” Zhou Yunchen greeted him. Li Mo gave a slight nod. “Mm. Hello, General Zhou. Up ahead is Planet B13.”

He gestured toward the vast viewing window. The ship’s intelligent system magnified the image, bringing into focus a dull yellow planet that filled Zhou Yunchen’s sight. To avoid detection, the Rambler stayed hidden behind Planet B12, using observation satellites to monitor B13.

The barren world rotated sluggishly. Its thin atmosphere bore only a few streaks of white cloud, etched across its surface like cracks in stone.

“Lu Yao is there?” Zhou Yunchen asked.

Li Mo studied him. “All we can confirm is that the Black Sea Pirates are indeed on B13. It’s a deserted planet. Satellite scans show only one small inhabited zone—likely their base. As for Chief Engineer Lu… we can’t be certain. But I traced the signal you sent. That beacon is on B13.”

The signal came from the tracker implanted in Torque. If Torque had been taken alive to B13, then Lu Yao must also still be alive, somewhere nearby. Zhou Yunchen’s brows furrowed. He stared again at the lifeless planet, heavy thoughts shadowing his eyes. “No other human activity on B13?”

“None.”

“So the moment we attempt entry, they’ll detect any foreign craft entering the atmosphere.”

“That’s correct.”

“Lu Yao should be there. But if we land and they discover us, I fear they’ll kill him immediately,” Zhou Yunchen said.

If the goal were only to annihilate the Black Sea Pirates, one orbital strike from a stellar cannon would suffice. But their priority was to rescue the hostage. Overwhelming force meant nothing when a fragile life hung in the balance.

“To save Lu Yao,” Zhou Yunchen continued, “I must set foot on B13.”

“Once you land, it will start a war. That’s a problem you can’t solve,” Li Mo warned. “You could reveal your identity and attempt negotiations, but corner them, and the outcome may be far from what we want.”

Zhou Yunchen turned toward him. “We? What kind of outcome are you hoping for, Captain Li Mo?”

Li Mo’s voice was steady after a brief pause. “General Zhou, you’ve seen it yourself. These men and I have lived as mercenaries, hunting pirates for years. We’ve clashed with the Black Sea several times without decisive victory. They’ve always been a grave threat. For me, what I want is simple—the destruction of the Black Sea Pirates. And you want Lu Yao back. Both of us have lost homes, families, and friends to pirates. We could fire the moment we confirm their location, but your Lu Yao is still alive. You still have the chance to reclaim everything. General Zhou, in the end, what we want is the same.”

Zhou Yunchen studied Li Mo. This alpha had long since wearied of the world. Perhaps even in the drifting currents of time and space, he had found no hope. Yet he had never stopped moving forward.

“In that case,” Zhou Yunchen said quietly, “I’d like to ask Captain Li Mo to help me stage a play.”

Author’s Note:

Your Leopard is about to appear! Don’t worry, the kitty-mecha pilot is coming.

 

 

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