Book Four: Another Journey

Chapter 114: Red Hair

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo

 

When Luo XiaoLou woke up, he felt dizzy and sore all over his body. However, this bad feeling was enough to show that he was still alive. That was great, even if he had to face a black-faced Yuan Xi later. 

He was ready to apologize makeup with Yuan Xi. Even when his life was in danger, Luo XiaoLou once again found that at that last moment, all he could think about was Yuan Xi, with the regret that he hadn’t confessed.

Luo XiaoLou lifted his head with difficulty to look around and found himself in a small, dark corner. What was this place? And they actually let him sleep right on the floor! Oh, his waist — Luo XiaoLou sat up angrily.

Had Yuan Xi put him in a cell? If this was his punishment, then Yuan XI must be so pissed off that he broke up with him first — wait. Luo XiaoLou immediately looked down to check his clothes. Luckily, there was no sign of them being removed except for them being messy and dusty.

His identity hadn’t been revealed, so what was going on now?

Luo XiaoLou pulled out 125 from his chest, ready to inquire about the current situation, but found that the usually greenish stone was dull. Luo XiaoLou was dumbfounded.

125 was silent, and no matter how much Luo XiaoLou called out to it, it had no intention of waking up.

Luo XiaoLou’s heart lifted. Although 125 was annoying, over the past year, Luo XiaoLou had gotten used to having a raucous A.I. next to him to pamper him or give some unreliable advice. And, now that he thought about it, 125 had its advantages, and at least he never had to worry about 125 betraying him.

He’d have to find a way to fix 125, he wasn’t used to losing it. And, without 125, his biggest secret would never be shared to the world again.

“If you’re awake, I’ve decided that I’ll be better to you in the future.”

After whispering, Luo XiaoLou managed to climb up. He swept his eyes around the small, dark room before heading to the only door. The door was unlocked and was easily pushed open. Luo XiaoLou squinted reflexively at the first glimmer of light that enveloped him.

Then he heard a sharp feminine scream. 

Across Luo XiaoLou, a young woman standing on the edge of a comfortable, huge bed was removing a not-so-long camisole.

Luo XiaoLou was sure that she was wearing nothing underneath.

A tall, long-legged, red-haired man was lying on the bed in his pajamas. His eyes, which had been staring with great interest at the young woman undressing, swept over the moment Luo XiaoLou opened the door. It was a pair of eyes as bright and sharp as a falcon’s, staring with a murderous aura at Luo XiaoLou who had disturbed him.

Luo XiaoLou didn’t even take a second look at the man, because the moment he spotted the woman, he covered his face with one hand and pushed the door behind him with the other, ready to retreat back to the small dark room.

However, someone was quicker than him. The pretty woman, face flushed red, pulled on her clothes, quickly opened the other door and ran out.

Luo XiaoLou looked stunned at the closed door and the red-haired man on the bed who was clearly pitching a tent, and said dryly, “Excuse me, excuse me, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

The man stared at Luo XiaoLou with a dark face and cursed, “Damn, you woke up just in time.”

“Uh, I can help you call her back and explain…”

“What’s the point of explaining? By the time you get there, she’ll probably be in the next person’s bed. It’s no use to me at all if you can’t provide the same service as her.” The red-haired man stared at Luo XiaoLou dead in the eye, then reluctantly began to manually address the fact that he didn’t think any woman would have the courage to enter his room again tonight.

Luo XiaoLou’s mouth closed in shock. Wasn’t this scale too big? Whether it was that random woman in bed or this man who was unscrupulous in front of him — did this man have no sense of shame at all?

While Luo XiaoLou was hesitating to retreat, the man said as he moved, “When you get to a safe place, you will leave.”

In fact, Luo XiaoLou wanted to get out right now, and he didn’t want to be with a man who looked extremely dangerous and shameless at first glance. So Luo XiaoLou quickly made his way to the door under the man’s frightening stare.

Although he didn’t know where he was now, he decided to find a normal person and ask. But soon as he reached the door, the man suddenly grunted quietly, and then Luo XiaoLou could smell a particular smell.

Immediately after that, Luo XiaoLou’s arm that was reaching for the doorknob suddenly hurt as a strong hand clutched at his arm.

“What are you doing?” Luo XiaoLou asked nervously while frowning and glancing at the hand on his arm. This person was evil! That, that hand had just touched that spot.

“You better stay right here, or else—” The man looked Luo XiaoLou up and down with malicious eyes and said, “In less than half a day,  those people will eat you without even leaving a bone.” It wasn’t as if the man was lying, and Luo XiaoLou shuddered. He turned to look at the man and cautiously asked, “Where is this?”

“On my spaceship.”

Luo XiaoLou took a breath and said with a hint of jealousy, “You’re rich — but why am I on your spaceship? Where are we going?”

The man grunted and withdrew the hand that was tugging on Luo XiaoLou’s arm, but with the force, Luo XiaoLou still took a few steps backward, and with sore legs and feet, fell onto the shag carpet.

“In two hours, we’ll reach the next space jump point, and after that, we’ll reach the Rila Galaxy. As for why you’re on my ship, it’s because you, such an unfortunate bastard, had to run to the side of the ship while I was dropping bombs. The mecha saved you and threw you my way, so I had to reopen the hatch if I wanted to save you. It was dangerous, and you should be grateful to me, or you’d have lost both your legs now.” The red-haired man wiped his hands and explained to Luo XiaoLou, at the end, he gave Luo XiaoLou a disgusted glance, “When we hit the next supply point, get off immediately. I never take in people from unknown origins.”

Luo XiaoLou inwardly cried out, I didn’t expect to become a fugitive, buddy! The Rila Galaxy, he’s never even heard of it! He only knew that Planet Anse was in the Kahn Galaxy. When he was studying geography, the Kahn Galaxy was definitely not anywhere near the Rila Galaxy.

But in his miserable reality, Luo XiaoLou still thanked the creepy man, “Thank you so much for saving my life, and can you tell me how to get back? Or, how can I get to Planet Anse?”

The red-haired man’s eyes flashed, his mouth tugged, and he said, “If you hold such intentions, it’s really extremely unfortunate. This side is a slum area, and the ship to the Kahn Galaxy might only make a trip in a few months or half a year, and that’s depending on whether you can catch it or not.” There was undisguised gloom in the words.

Luo XiaoLou stared at him with wide eyes and said anxiously after a while, “But I have to go back. And I can pay double for the ticket — what are you doing?!”

The red-haired man suddenly yanked Luo XiaoLou onto the bed, then crushed Luo XiaoLou’s struggles and sat with his legs straddling Luo XiaoLou’s waist. As Luo XiaoLou blushed from the pressure, the man suddenly pulled out a chilling dagger from beside his pillow.

Luo XiaoLou’s right arm was held firmly in the red-haired man’s grip, and his left hand frantically pushed against the man’s arm that was holding the dagger. God, he had no idea which words had offended him!

The red-haired man’s hand didn’t come down on Luo XiaoLou’s heart or neck or any other deadly place, but quickly slid towards Luo XiaoLou’s right arm.

Luo XiaoLou’s heart stopped for a second before he realized that there was no pain, but rather a lightness in his wrist, and the communicator that had been with him since the beginning was cut off!

The red-haired man then casually tossed Luo XiaoLou’s communicator into the waste exit next to the large bed, and pressed the red button on the wall. After a small sound, the red-haired man released Luo XiaoLou and said, “Okay, I’ll let you know when you’re getting off the ship.”

Luo XiaoLou stared incredulously at the waste exit, wishing he could go inside and get his communicator back. It was not only a proof of identity, it was essential to life!

Money, for example, was a problem. Very few people walked around with cash nowadays, most of them used their communicator to transfer money. Luo XiaoLou’s account wouldn’t be reduced if he repaired his communicator, but — he was now left without a penny in his hand.

“What did you do? Are you crazy? Why couldn’t you leave the communicator—” Luo XiaoLou, forgetting how dangerous the man was, questioned angrily.

“Of course I can. I’m not using the communicator right now, I only wear that contraption when I’m entering the High Planet.” The red-haired man showed Luo XiaoLou his bare arm and then said, “I can’t have you wearing that thing, it would only increase the danger to our ship. I don’t want my ship to be under government surveillance at any time. I now have enough trouble from saving you, I want you to behave yourself or I’ll drop you off immediately.”

After the threat, the red-haired man started going through Luo XiaoLou’s things, and after feeling him from head to toe, he became interested in the necklace around Luo XiaoLou’s neck and was about to take it off.

Luo XiaoLou immediately snatched it up and said sharply, “This one doesn’t have a locating device! I give you my word! Please let me keep it, it’s the only thing my mother left me.” Luo XiaoLou put on a sad, desperate expression. In fact, he was going to cry. He was stuck on a strange ship of unknown origin, without a penny and if he couldn’t even keep 125, he didn’t have the will to live.

The man looked at Luo XiaoLou for two seconds and loosened his hold on the chain. Then he leaned against the head of the bed and said in a tone like Luo XiaoLou didn’t have to be too grateful to him, “Until you leave the ship, I’ll provide you with the most basic food, mn, and you can also stay in my utility room.”

Luo XiaoLou looked at him ungratefully and accused, “But the utility room is pitch black with nothing but a cold floor, so how do you expect me to sleep? It’s inhumane! You just threw my money away, even if you can’t provide a suite, a single room is always possible—”

The man paled and was about to get angry. However, after seeing Luo XiaoLou take a frightened step back, he considered for two seconds and finally said with great kindness, “That’s fine. You can sleep on the floor of my room, my dog used to like to sleep here too.”

Shit, you’re the dog!

Luo XiaoLou stared at the man for a while and finally gave in, then Luo XiaoLou added, “Even if you drop me off in a safe place, I have no money. I don’t know anyone, and I may not be able to survive, your actions are tantamount to indirect murder.”

The man laughed, “Are you not a man? You have arms and legs, can’t you support yourself? If you really can’t do it, you can sell your flesh like that woman just did, and I guess you’ll always have enough money for a meal.”

Luo XiaoLou blushed and closed his mouth, not wanting to say another word to this bad perverted man. Luo XiaoLou realized helplessly that although he had managed to survive, his situation was not much better than death.

After finishing a box of the worst tasteless box lunches, the man suddenly asked, “What’s your name?” 

“…Luo XiaoLou,” replied Luo XiaoLou without much spirit and he curled up on the carpet.

“You’d better put this on if you want to get through the ship safely.” The man said, throwing over something. Luo XiaoLou caught it and took a look. It was a simulated mask, similar to the one 125 had also prepared for him, but the mask the man had prepared — it was really ugly.

Luo XiaoLou sighed and resigned himself to his fate, putting it on.

As Luo XiaoLou closed his eyes and prepared to sleep, the man, as if the blow wasn’t enough for Luo XiaoLou, spoke again, “My name is Arthur. I’m the captain of this ship, and I’m a pirate by profession.”

……

Luo XiaoLou’s mind didn’t quite grasp it. He suddenly thought of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves — no, no, this had absolutely nothing to do with his current state!

 

And to top it all off, he really didn’t want to hide on a pirate ship! Will he really ever return to Yuan Xi?