After Li Yu blinked a dozen tis, Peyton finally departed at a sluggish pace.
After Mo Duo slightly eased the faint ache pulsing in her head, she looked up at Li Yu, still appearing sowhat disoriented. "Where is this?"
Her mory stopped at Molcasar; she was completely hazy about everything that had happened since.
Li Yu gave a brief rundown of the recent events. However, he did not elaborate much on the descent of the Pathos Fleet or the appearance of Dark Star.
Mo Duo fell silent for a mont. Although Li Yu made it sound effortless, she knew the situation at the ti must have been thrilling and perilous. Yet, she had been sound asleep, failing to help and even becoming a burden.
This realization caused her to secretly clench her fists, firming up a certain thought in her mind.
"About what that green bead said..." Li Yu asked shortly after. He had no idea if Mo Duo knew what the green bead had told him.
"What it told you later on is true." Even though Mo Duo had been asleep, she seed to be aware of the events that had transpired within the Phantom Divine Dreamscape.
"Then you..." Li Yu stared at Mo Duo's beautiful face, clearly seeing that her mind was far from at peace.
"I want to return to the Blazing Eye Motherworld..." Mo Duo pursed her lips before declaring with firm resolve.
"Because of the deceased Burning Eye Star-people?" Li Yu furrowed his brows. He always steered clear of such moral blackmail.
"Partly because of them..." Mo Duo hesitated. "But it is also partly for myself."
"That is a formidable power. If I can fully inherit it, my ntal Power will undergo a tamorphosis to an unimaginable degree."
"And then I'll be able... to help you..."
As she said those words, Mo Duo's cheeks flushed slightly red. Her gaze shifted, not daring to et Li Yu's eyes.
Li Yu was montarily stunned by her words. 'Am I supposed to be moved to tears right now, seize the chance to whisper sweet nothings, and finally go for a ho run?'
While he hesitated, Mo Duo had already collected her thoughts. She took a deep breath and said, "My howorld was destroyed right in front of . The hatred is rooted in my bloodline; it is indelible."
"In the past, I kept running away, but that only brought more pain."
Li Yu looked at Mo Duo, whose eyes were brimming with hatred, and thought with a sigh, 'What a pity... missed a perfect chance for a ho run.'
"Alright, then a trip to Blazing Eye Star is unavoidable." Li Yu truly found it difficult to practice guilt by association regarding Mo Duo's hatred. He had never t those Burning Eye Star-people, let alone interacted with them.
If it weren't for Mo Duo's condition, he wouldn't even bother giving it a second thought.
"I can go by myself. If you tag along, unexpected situations will likely occur." Mo Duo rejected Li Yu's company.
Mo Duo's reasoning made a lot of sense. Previously, she had been in a deep slumber and needed Li Yu's help. Now that she was awake, she could naturally make the journey alone.
Rationally speaking, this was indeed a highly suitable course of action.
Li Yu pondered for a mont before saying, "You could wait a little longer until your identity as a Purple Crystal Honorary Knight is approved. That status should save you from quite a bit of trouble."
"Okay..." Mo Duo nodded. Just as she stood up, her mind spun dizzyingly, and her body swayed, nearly causing her to fall.
"What's wrong?" Li Yu imdiately frowned. "Is that green bead still causing trouble?"
"No..." Mo Duo shook her head. Her pale, smooth legs were perfectly shaped. Only then did she notice with astonishnt—why was she wearing a black dress?
"Who changed my clothes?!" With her hair cascading down her back and her two blazing red eyes filled with embarrassnt and annoyance, Mo Duo was gnashing her teeth as she glared at Li Yu.
"It wasn't ..." Li Yu hastily clarified. His noble character could not be besmirched!
"It was Claptrap. It controlled a robot to change them. After all, you were asleep for so long that your clothes slled sour."
"That is correct, Miss Mo Duo. This matter has nothing to do with my master..." Claptrap's voice chid in perfectly on cue.
Mo Duo scoffed coldly, the flush on her face lingering for a long ti, uncertain whether from sha or anger. "I recall there were no clothes like this on the spaceship."
"The master picked it out personally..." Claptrap provided a tily assist.
Li Yu cursed inwardly. 'What a piece of artificial ntal retardation.' Outwardly, he acted as if nothing was amiss. "Hunter couldn't easily show his face in public, so it had to be ."
Mo Duo stared at the entirely unashad Li Yu. Suddenly struck by a thought, she pulled at her collar and glanced down.
Instantly, a myriad of complex expressions cycled across her face. She gritted her teeth tightly:
"May I ask, exactly how did you know my... asurents?"
"Claptrap asured them..." Li Yu hurriedly explained, rushing to prevent this artificial ntal retardation with severely lacking emotional learning paraters from spouting any more nonsense.
"Heh!" The blazing red light in Mo Duo's eyes flickered, and Li Yu instantly felt a surge of ntal Power attempting to bore into his mind.
However, it was easily blocked by his own ntal Power. Li Yu glanced at Mo Duo's heavily heaving chest and explained, "You have to believe . I'm not a pervert. How could I possibly do weird things while you were asleep?"
"If you don't believe , go ask that green bead. It should have been able to observe the outside world."
Mo Duo cast him a suspicious look. Her eyes glazed over for a mont before refocusing, and her expression gradually relaxed. It seed Li Yu's words had been verified.
He really... hadn't done anything strange. After confirming Li Yu's innocence, Mo Duo's train of thought veered off into another bizarre corner. 'Is my body not alluring enough?'
She glanced down, and her face suddenly flushed bright red. 'Bah, what am I even thinking?'
The atmosphere grew slightly awkward. Li Yu felt indignant on behalf of his personal integrity and waited for Mo Duo's apology.
Mo Duo wanted to apologize but didn't know how to word it... Besides, given this guy's wicked sense of humor, he might just mock her for it, so she simply kept her mouth shut.
Fortunately—whether because Claptrap's emotional learning matrix had suddenly experienced a massive breakthrough amidst the awkwardness or by sheer coincidence—its voice rang out, tactfully diffusing the tension.
"Master, there is a ssage from Kansa. He seems to have encountered sothing highly unusual."
Li Yu shot a glance at the slightly fidgety Mo Duo, secretly praised his own taste in clothing, and decided not to bicker with the woman.
"What is it..." He walked straight out, opening his Smart Terminal to check Kansa's ssage.
Mo Duo looked down at the black waist-cinching dress. It accented her figure perfectly, the hem ending right at her knees. Due to a prolonged lack of sunlight, her legs were extraordinarily pale and tender.
Ever since leaving the Blazing Eye Motherworld, she had always disguised herself as a male. She had never dressed like this before and initially wanted to change out of it.
But after a mont of thought, she lightly bit her lower lip and chose not to change.
"What do you an by an unexpected situation?" Li Yu stared at the screen before him, sensing Kansa's confusion.
"I just received news from the Athyst Civilization... Personnel from the Star Glory Empire are tagging along to ask a few questions..." Kansa gave a brief rundown of the situation.
The gist of it was that the Athyst Civilization received word of Kansa's sudden appearance and imdiately sought him out.
However, the strange part was that despite Kansa's request to leave as soon as possible, they refused to escort him out of the Inuit Hub.
Furthermore, there were people from the Star Glory Empire among those dispatched.
"I don't even know what they want to ask . When I pressed them, they refused to give a clear answer." Kansa was equally perplexed. How did people from the Star Glory Empire suddenly get involved?
People from the Star Glory Empire... Li Yu suddenly ford a startling hypothesis. 'Could they be coming for ?'
During his ti on Molcasar, his information had not been leaked, but because of the Pager, Dark Star knew his true identity.
And since Dark Star knew, it wouldn't be surprising if the Star Glory Empire knew as well.
Although they couldn't be entirely sure if he was at the Inuit Hub, having a lead ant they would inevitably trace it here.
Right now, Kansa was completely in the dark about the exact situation, let alone his true identity.
Though he had t Hunter, Hunter was not listed on the Star Glory Empire's Wanted Order. And Mo Duo had been asleep the whole ti, making it even more impossible for Kansa to have seen her.
As for Li Ping, he was rely a missing external sales representative for Karmon Company.
After arriving at Mangu's place, Mangu hadn't disclosed his identity either.
Li Yu thought about it and decided to reveal a fraction of the truth to Kansa. Otherwise, being completely ignorant, Kansa might easily let sothing slip.
"Actually..." Li Yu began slowly, and Kansa's expression shifted gradually from bewildernt to utter shock.
Kansa struggled to speak. "You're the guy who kidnapped an Imperial Noble and sabotaged the Star Glory Empire's Stargate project?"
He suddenly felt a twinge of regret. Had allowing the Thought Seal to be planted been far too impulsive? He had assud the other party was rely a group of interstellar drifters.
While they had so networking connections and knew the captains of Augu, there was an enormous fundantal difference between the two scenarios.
Now, he was suddenly dumbfounded. 'If this guy gets captured by the Star Glory Empire, doesn't that an I'm dood, too?'
"That covers the gist of it. Don't go spilling the beans when the ti cos, or we're all screwed. Rember to report any news imdiately." Li Yu shot Kansa a aningful glance.
Kansa cald his racing heart and ended the communication with a highly conflicted expression.
Mo Duo stepped out of the spaceship and glanced around the room, still avoiding eye contact with Li Yu.
"You're awake?" Hunter greeted her in surprise, not expecting Mo Duo to regain consciousness at a ti like this.
"Yes..." Mo Duo nodded. The surrounding staff mbers were incredibly busy, though a few occasionally cast curious glances her way.
"That dress..." Hunter gave her an odd look, then glanced at Li Yu, hesitated to speak, and stopped himself.
Mo Duo astutely picked up on the hesitation in Hunter's mood, sparking a sudden, inexplicable suspicion within her. However, Mangu ca walking over with an anxious expression.
Swaying his slender waist while sporting sky-high stilettos, yet possessing leg hair thicker than Li Yu's, Mangu presented a sight that left Mo Duo absolutely flabbergasted.
"The Inuit Hub has suddenly entered a state of ergency..." Mangu's tone was incredibly fraught.
Li Yu's gaze hardened slightly, while Hunter exclaid in shock, "What?"
A state of ergency ant that the Inuit Hub would be entirely commandeered by the official fleet of the Athyst Civilization. Every single person entering or leaving would be subjected to rigorous inspection.
Li Yu felt certain that this had to be directly tied to the Star Glory Empire.
"It's likely because of ..." Li Yu announced, drawing everyone's attention, and recounted the news Kansa had just received.
"So it was you all along..." Peyton's expression shifted subtly.
"That doesn't add up..." Hunter furrowed his brow. "Logically speaking, the standard procedure for capturing a wanted criminal of your caliber is to issue an assistance notice to the Athyst Civilization."
"Then they would dispatch a fleet to gradually establish a blockade, cornering you step by step."
Mangu chid in, "Exactly. I've never heard of them sneaking agents in and keeping soone like Kansa entirely out of the loop."
"And they should have completely locked down the entire Inuit Hub, rather than just imposing a state of ergency."
Li Yu narrowed his eyes instantly. He recalled what Dark Star had said—sothing about big shots within Star Glory Empire Internal Affairs, and Tu Rui.
Hunter clearly recalled this as well. He exchanged a glance with Li Yu, a faint look of worry in his eyes.
"Do you guys think an A-Tier Lifeform will show up?" Li Yu stroked his chin, mulling over the possibility.
"No!" Hunter shook his head decisively. "Mobilizing an A-Tier Lifeform isn't sothing that can happen just because a few people say so."
"At the very least, it wouldn't happen so quietly..."
A-Tier Lifeforms weren't like cheap cabbages sold in street markets. Every single one was the product of astronomical amounts of resources.
Hunter used to serve in the Star Glory Empire, so he was intimately familiar with their regulations.
However, Li Yu looked toward the corner at Peyton, seeking his opinion.
"An A-Tier Lifeform, huh? An overt mobilization is highly troubleso and requires layers upon layers of imperial approval." Peyton's tone was indifferent.
"Overt?" Li Yu caught the hidden implication in Peyton's words. "So there are covert ones?"
"Of course..." Peyton replied nonchalantly. "But rest assured, a covert mobilization still requires the consent of several top figures. You haven't reached that level of importance yet."
He pondered for a mont before adding, "In their eyes, you are probably just a persistently jumping space rhino."
Li Yu was utterly exasperated. 'Usually, if you aren't asked, you don't speak. Why on earth did you decide to throw in that extra comnt?'
"If there's no A-Tier Lifeform, then it doesn't matter..." Li Yu brushed off Peyton's remark, his tone relaxed.
Mangu was sowhat bewildered. 'What does he an "it doesn't matter" as long as there's no A-Tier Lifeform? Are B-Tier Lifeforms a joke to you?'
"Right now, my concern is Dark Star..." Hunter's words served as a warning to Li Yu. That guy likely hated Li Yu to the very core of his bones and wanted nothing more than to tear him apart alive.
If he caught wind of Li Yu's whereabouts, he would probably traverse star systems just to get to him.
"If it's rely a single A-Tier Lifeform, it still shouldn't be an issue." Li Yu suddenly changed his tune.
This ti, it wasn't just Mangu; the expressions of the others in the room also shifted noticeably.
Hunter hesitated to speak, but recalling Dark Star's spastic performance on Molcasar, he snapped his mouth shut.
Mangu felt a sudden urge to laugh. 'Since when did A-Tier Lifeforms beco so easy to deal with?' Still, rembering that they were still in their "honeymoon" period of cooperation, he refrained from comnting.
Peyton blinked his eyes, struck by a bizarre curiosity as to exactly where this guy was getting his confidence.
.........
On a naless planet sowhere in the Universe, Dark Star trudged forward with exhausted steps. Slung across his back was a massive beast the size of a small hill, entirely devoid of vital signs.
His body was covered in dense, hairline cracks, making him look like fragile porcelain on the verge of shattering. The beast on his back was slowly being enveloped by a pink substance, eventually dissolving entirely into his corporeal form.
One of the multitude of cracks ravaging Dark Star's body slowly began to heal.
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