Chapter 160: The Kidnapping
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
Entering the Dionysus District from the Crescent District meant passing through a star sector riddled with jurisdictional chaos. Taking the official Imperial route would have been safer, but Arnold had to bring Yuanxiao to the war-torn border area where the Abyss Fleet was stationed. The official route had long been destroyed by rebels and was impassable.
Arnold piloted a military escort ship through the pitch-black void of space. The ship bore the crescent emblem of the Sixth Legion. If time had allowed, Guy had even suggested Arnold repaint the ship—from the Abyss Fleet’s usual black to white—for better disguise.
Within the Dionysus District, Star Pirates ran rampant. Merchant and civilian ships suffered frequent attacks, but Star Pirates generally dared not provoke military vessels armed with high-energy weapons—especially not those from the Sixth and Second Legions, the dominant powers in the area.
Choosing the Sixth Legion’s emblem over the Abyss Fleet’s arrow-and-shield insignia was also a strategic move for concealment. Still, even with that, Arnold, clutching the large white egg in front of the control panel, noticed a small starship trailing behind the escort vessel on the radar.
Judging by the ship’s battered appearance and engine design that defied Imperial law, it was likely a Star Pirates vessel.
Arnold sighed and double-checked the heavy weapons mounted on the escort ship: photon cannons, high-energy particle beams, interstellar torpedoes, and cruise fusion missiles. Any one of them would be enough to deal with most of the ragged Star Pirates ships.
As long as the trailing ship didn’t intend to attack, Arnold wouldn’t use his weapons and reveal their position. Outside the wide panoramic front window, the galaxy stretched vast and cold. The region the escort ship was passing through had few planets—black and icy—but if Arnold strained his eyes, countless faint stars scattered across the endless void.
Among the flickering starlight, one blue star shone especially bright and dazzling. Arnold guessed it might be a newly born star far away. That star’s glow was rapidly growing larger, like a sapphire.
“No!” Arnold gasped. At the escort ship’s current speed, the distant star could not possibly expand from a speck the size of dust to the size of an eyeball in just minutes. That wasn’t a star.
Quickly, Arnold pressed a series of buttons on the console to scan the approaching object. It was too far for the escort ship’s sensors to detect precisely without support from a larger mothership for deep-space detection, yet in his naked eye’s view, the object was closing in fast.
Arnold immediately activated the ship’s force field and shields, increased engine power, and altered the escort ship’s course. The starry sky held few large celestial bodies and no strong gravitational interference. The engines roared at full throttle, emitting an eerie blue Cherenkov radiation as they propelled the escort ship into a new heading.
In a race against time, the incoming craft zipped past the escort ship, striking a small rocky body drifting nearby in space and shattering it into fragments. It was a high-energy particle missile.
Such weaponry was a critical Imperial military asset—complex to manufacture and prohibitively expensive. No Star Pirates vessel could possibly equip one. Arnold began charging the photon cannon and sent out an electromagnetic warning signal in the missile’s direction.
“Warning, warning. The starship under attack belongs to the Marion Empire’s Sixth Legion. Cease all hostile actions immediately, or the Sixth Legion will retaliate without limitation.”
There was no verbal response. Instead, the attacker’s ship entered the escort ship’s radar range and remained silent—indicating their intent to continue the assault. Arnold’s expression darkened. He unlocked the firing permissions for cruise missiles and interstellar torpedoes, locked onto the enemy ship, and fired without hesitation.
Imperial military vessels had the right to respond with unlimited force once attacked and after confirming the enemy’s intent to persist, regardless of their identity.
Three missiles and torpedoes launched from the escort ship’s underbelly and sped toward the adversary. Five minutes later, the view was ablaze with fire as the projectiles struck the enemy’s hull. The ruptured oxygen chambers fueled raging flames burning in the vacuum of space.
But Arnold barely had time to exhale before violent shaking and a deafening roar came from the escort ship’s rear. Alarms blared instantly. “Warning! Engine number three on the left side failed; engine four damaged; integrity at thirty-four percent,” red characters flashed ominously on the control panel.
At that moment, two more starships appeared on the radar, dangerously close. If it hadn’t been for the previous strike revealing their presence, these ships might have only been discovered after colliding with each other.
The escort ship’s AI scanned the intruders and identified them as belonging to a heavily armed mercenary group. Meanwhile, the Star Pirates ship that hadn’t fled yet was part of the Black Fang Pirates.
Arnold struggled to steady the crippled escort vessel and issued another warning to the mercenaries while unleashing the ship’s ultra-high-energy particle beams and photon cannons. But their firepower was stronger. The escort ship shuddered under the barrage, sparks flying everywhere. Gritting his teeth, Arnold scooped up the large white egg and rushed down to the ship’s lower mecha bay. He climbed into the MK868 and blasted out of the escort vessel. The mercenaries’ fire followed closely, but the mecha was far more agile than a starship. Arnold weaved through debris and asteroids to evade the onslaught.
Five enemy mechas dove from the mercenary ships’ flanks, trying to surround Arnold. Suddenly, a bright fireball exploded in space. Arnold turned to see the Star Pirates ship that had been trailing them open fire on the mercenary ships, destroying their power core!
Among the remaining mercenary starships, their leader ordered, “Don’t destroy the mecha in the center! The employer wants the live egg inside the mecha bay!”
Arnold fired back at the encircling mechas with the MK868. But one mecha could not withstand the heavy assault. Flames erupted within the encirclement, and a shockwave of heat swept toward Arnold.
In the blinding explosion, his vision went black, and he lost consciousness. The large white egg tumbled to the ground.
– –
Flames soared skyward. The starship’s fuel chamber had been hit by cannon fire, and the intense heat caused blue flames to spread rapidly—like a lotus blossoming in the void of space.
Inside the ship’s prison cell, the impact rocked the chamber. Gravity systems malfunctioned, and the officers guarding the prisoners floated uncontrollably into the air.
Lin Xu sat calm and steady, his hands shackled and his legs chained to the seat. In the weightless environment, he remained as stable as a mountain—only his long hair drifted upward.
“Stay right there and don’t move!” The officer, sweat beading on his forehead, threatened Lin Xu before gripping the prison wall and stepping out to check the situation.
Lin Xu blinked. The cell had no windows, but the chaos aboard the starship told him that the people the Crown Prince had sent were here.
He flexed his fingers, then forcefully pulled his legs. Powerful muscles snapped the chains that had anchored him to the floor.
Hearing the noise, the officer spun around—only to see Lin Xu’s fist flying toward him. In zero gravity, Lin Xu spun wildly and then grabbed the officer by the collar, lifting him off the ground.
A segment of the shackles still linked by chain remained intact. Lin Xu used that chain to strangle the officer until his eyes rolled back and he collapsed, unconscious.
Lin Xu took the officer’s police-issued photon gun, then tore apart the handcuffs with a forceful pull. The starship trembled under fire. The ship’s AI issued warnings to the crew as Lin Xu leapt from the cell.
An officer rushed toward the prison, holding onto the walls, but Lin Xu took him down with a single shot. Following his plan, Lin Xu advanced toward the midsection of the starship.
The control room at the front was descending into chaos. Although still inside the Crescent District star system, they were suddenly under attack by a massive unknown vessel.
The police force lacked the strength to deal with the threat. The captain responsible for escorting the prisoners had no choice but to request aid from the First Legion.
“This is a high-value prisoner! His Majesty the Emperor personally instructed—no mistakes allowed!”
“Received, Captain. Our legion commander is also closely monitoring this mission. We’re doing everything possible to dispatch reinforcements,” came the reply.
The response confirmed that a military team was mobilizing to support them, but judging by the team’s distance and speed, by the time they arrived, everyone aboard the starship would have frozen solid in the vacuum.
The ship’s midsection housed a signal transmitter. Lin Xu eliminated obstacles along the way, found the signal box, and fired a shot. The AI immediately descended into confusion, and all outgoing transmissions became garbled nonsense.
The approaching massive starship suddenly changed course upon receiving the scrambled signal. Ignoring everything else, it charged toward the starship’s midsection, nearly colliding with the police vessel.
The massive ship deployed its lower landing platform—a tilted ramp that looked like a giant shovel. It sliced the police starship in two, then retracted the platform. The ship was cut into three parts. The earth-shattering sound of metal tearing vanished in the vacuum, while countless fragments drifted silently through space.
The middle section was swallowed by the landing platform like a black beast devouring its prey. Lin Xu tumbled several times with the severed starship piece before stabilizing. He spotted a porthole, kicked it open, and jumped out.
An alpha male crew member saw Lin Xu, rushed over, and grabbed him from the landing platform, pulling him into the ship’s interior where gravity and air had been restored.
“Mr. Lin Xu?” The alpha scrutinized him, comparing Lin Xu’s appearance to the mission briefing photos.
Having just survived a harrowing rescue, Lin Xu showed little expression. After steadying his breath, he replied, “That’s me.”
“Good.” The alpha spoke into his comms headset, “Target acquired. Ready for the next phase.”
He gestured for Lin Xu to follow deeper inside. A glass wall rose between them and the landing platform, sealing off the chaos outside. The platform opened again, revealing the shattered battlefield beyond. The broken half of the police starship was jettisoned, like a giant beast spitting out a foul morsel.
Inertia sent the severed starship segment crashing into the other two drifting parts below. At that moment, the once-mighty space vessel seemed fragile as paper toys. Cracks rippled outward in waves from the collision, explosions bursting through the gaps, utterly dismembering the ship.
Explosions in space were eerily silent, like a false pantomime. The landing platform closed once more, shutting out the chaotic battlefield, finally allowing a dull thud to be heard—the sound of the platform sealing shut.
The alpha told Lin Xu, “Mr. Lin Xu, this way please. We’re about to perform a rapid jump. It’s easy to get disoriented; I recommend you find somewhere to lie down.”
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