[BL] Transmigrated as the Villain CEO's Mermaid Secretary Chapter 195: "THIS IS NOT A DRILL"

He had done it.

He had actually done it.

Grayson was on the ground in his cockpit, slightly disoriented but breathing. He could confirm it by the faint rise and fall of his chest.

Just as he was thinking about going out of the neural sync tube to check on Grayson, he heard Shelly’s voice.

[Host! Incoming hostiles at seven o’clock! ∑(ﾟДﾟ)]

Neville ca back to his senses and banked the cha sharply, narrowly avoiding a cluster of plasma bolts that scorched past them. He could see three more pirate fighters breaking formation from the main convoy, their engines flaring bright blue.

"More? They really don’t know when to quit."

He had the Tempest’s light pulse gun charged, targeting reticle sliding smoothly over the lead fighter. The pulse fired at the dead center, and the enemy cha erupted into a brilliant fireball.

It montarily blinded the cockpit in orange light. The remaining fighters scattered, clearly reconsidering their strategy.

Neville tracked their retreat on the sensor array, ensuring they weren’t circling back for another pass. His shoulders remained tense, ready to react at the first sign of retaliation.

These Star Pirates wouldn’t give up easily.

So, Neville took that brief mont of ti to get out of the neural sync tube.

’Shelly, take over for .’

[Got it, host!]

Neville quickly ran towards Grayson.

"You absolute idiot," Neville was saying, his voice tight with barely controlled emotion. "You are a complete and utter moron. What were you thinking, letting yourself get captured like that? Do you have any idea how worried I—how worried everyone was?"

Neville didn’t wait for Grayson to reply. He manhandled Grayson into the cramped cockpit, his larger fra pressed uncomfortably close to Neville’s in the space designed for a single pilot. The close proximity caused Neville’s pheromones to leak.

After securing Grayson, Neville quickly ca back to the neural sync tube. The sensors were already blaring, populated with dozens of new contacts.

"You’ve got to be kidding ."

[They’re heading toward the other vessels, which were already running towards Aurelius! (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻]

Neville’s blood ran cold.

Aren’t they going to bomb the vessel? Wasn’t that the reason why they were running as far as possible from Aurelius’s starship?

But then Neville rembered soone who was left in the Aurelius starship.

Bryan.

Neville clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. He knew that this was a bait that he couldn’t take. But he couldn’t take the risk of having soone he knew killed because of his decisions.

Then the communication system of the Tempest was heard, followed by a distorted voice of soone.

"—all units, prepare the charges. We’re blowing the Aurelius in another 10 minutes. Leave no witnesses."

The transmission cut off, but its ssage lingered in his ears. It sounded to him like an open challenge.

"Shelly!" Neville’s voice ca out sharper than intended, edged with barely controlled panic. "Contact Julius imdiately. Tell him the pirates are planning to detonate explosives on the Aurelius in 10 minutes. He needs to arrive as fast as possible!"

[Already on it, host! (ง •_•)ง ssage sent via encrypted channel. Julius read it and replied that they were on their way!]

Neville pushed the throttle forward, the cha’s engines roaring in response as he carved a burning path. He saw that the ergency lights were already pulsing in rhythmic amber warnings. Soone already noticed sothing was wrong, but it was only in the cha bay.

But that was already good.

Neville docked the cha in the nearest available bay in Aurelius. Behind him, Grayson stirred slightly at the impact—still unconscious, but responsive.

"Stay with , boss," Neville muttered, unstrapping Grayson from the pilot’s seat. "I didn’t risk getting blown up just to have you die from a bumpy landing."

He put Grayson’s arm over his shoulder, taking the taller man’s weight against his own fra. He staggered through the docking bay’s corridors.

The Aurelius was in chaos.

Staff mbers rushed past in various states of panic, so clutching personal belongings, others shouting into their light brains. The ergency lighting cast everything in harsh shadows. Neville caught snippets of frantic conversations as he pushed through the crowd.

"—control room isn’t responding—"

"—heard explosions from the lower decks—"

Neville gritted his teeth and kept moving. He found Chief Luna near the deck’s command station, filled with worry.

"Chief Luna!"

She spun at his voice, eyes widening when she saw Grayson’s limp form draped over Neville’s shoulders. "Mr. Hope? Is he—"

"Alive." Neville didn’t stop moving, adjusting his grip on Grayson’s waist. "Listen to carefully. The star pirates are planning to bomb the ship. They’ve already rigged explosives sowhere on board. You need to initiate full evacuation protocols imdiately."

Chief Luna’s face cycled through several expressions—disbelief, horror, then grim determination. "The control room—"

"They’re done for."

"This... this has to be so kind of joke." Chief Luna’s voice cracked. "The control room has fifteen crew mbers on rotation. They can’t all be—"

"Dead," Neville finished flatly. "The star pirates already boarded much earlier. They started from the top level. So, Chief, we don’t have ti for this. Every second we waste is a second closer to this ship’s doom."

Chief Luna’s jaw clenched, and then she straightened her spine and nodded curtly. "Follow ."

She ran towards the secret grav lift. After scanning her biotrics, the grav lift ascended and arrived in the control room.

The door hissed open, and the sll hit them first.

Bodies lay scattered across the room, so still seated at their stations, others crumpled on the floor where they’d fallen. Consoles sparked and flickered, damaged by stray weapons fire. Blood painted abstract patterns across the pristine white surfaces.

Chief Luna made a sound sowhere between a gasp and a sob.

Neville didn’t let himself look too closely. "The main console—can you access it?"

"I..." Chief Luna swallowed hard, visibly composing herself. "Yes. Ergency protocols are hardcoded. They can’t lock those out."

She stepped over the body of a young technician and reached the main control panel.

"ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL," the automated voice bood through the corridors. "ERGENCY EVACUATION IN PROGRESS. PROCEED TO NEAREST LIFE POD IMDIATELY. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL."