The operations command room—there was no doubt this was the most important core area in the entire fleet.
Especially on this colossal heavy cruiser nad the "Thanatos." It was the largest in scale and the highest in combat power among all the warships—a destruction-class battleship.
This kind of warship was praised as a mobile fortress that rampaged through space. The firepower it carried was enough to effortlessly wipe an entire planet flat.
And since the day the Thanatos was born, it had been the Saint Clan’s largest destruction-class warship. At the sa ti, it was also the largest one in the entire interstellar space.
The outside world had always been filled with curiosity and covetousness toward this behemoth. Countless people wanted to find a way to enter and study its interior, but because of the Saint Clan’s brutal, vicious reputation, not a single person had ever been able to get close to this giant.
To the point that in the outside world, the Thanatos had practically beco a mystery in its own right—let alone the main command room that connected to the entire ship’s data center, a place only high-ranked Saint Clan could enter.
There were even rumors on the black market: as long as you could take a single photo, the reward had no upper limit.
But today, this "top-secret forbidden zone"—mysterious to outsiders and significant enough to draw the attention of every star sector—welcod a guest with an exceptionally special identity.
Wen Yuzhi sat on a tall chair. Not exaggerating at all, the chair really was extrely tall—designed specifically for the Saint Clan’s physique. At first, when he tried to climb onto it, he had to carefully grab the armrests and use them to lever himself up.
But even so, Wen Yuzhi still almost fell off.
Why "almost"?
Because the instant he tipped backward, a long bone spike curled around his waist in ti and lifted him up.
By the ti the little Oga—still shaken—ca back to himself, he had already been placed safely onto the chair by that bone spike.
"Th... thank you."
He looked at the bone spike being drawn back, then looked at the man sitting across from him, cold and indifferent. Wen Yuzhi hesitated, then quietly said thank you.
Hearing that, Mansendis seed not to notice at all, as if the one who had just extended sothing from his lower body to catch Wen Yuzhi had not been him.
Facing the man’s coldness, Wen Yuzhi did not feel anything in particular. Over the past few days, every ti he brought things to the giant beast, the giant beast’s reaction had been the sa.
He had long since gotten used to that attitude.
At this mont, Alvin walked over as well. He set the cup in his hand down in front of Wen Yuzhi.
This was...?
Wen Yuzhi picked the cup up in confusion. Inside was a steeped dark-brown liquid, and a faint bitterness drifted up from its surface.
Mm... for so reason, it felt familiar.
Just as Wen Yuzhi was curiously and cautiously studying the liquid in the cup, Alvin thoughtfully provided an explanation.
"This is a traditional dicine redy."
As he spoke, Alvin also brought over a small box. Printed on it in bold black lettering were the three digits: 999.
The Saint Clan rarely got sick. They had the strongest bodies and powerful self-healing. Even if their limbs were severed, they could heal quickly. Minor illnesses like catching a cold or running a fever were almost impossible for them.
Alvin had only found this box after having the soldiers under him search nearby planets. There was only this one box. Supposedly, among humans, this dicine was already close to being phased out.
Wen Yuzhi listened to Alvin’s explanation while blinking at those three familiar 999s.
He even double-checked.
And after looking at it several tis, Wen Yuzhi could finally be one hundred percent sure.
That’s right. This was the most common cold-and-fever dicine on the market—the kind they often drank when they were kids.
Thinking of that, Wen Yuzhi could not help feeling both amused and helpless, but he still softly thanked Alvin.
The little Oga’s voice was very light. Because he was thanking him, the tail end of the sound also turned especially soft.
Alvin’s hand paused slightly as he pulled back. Then, as if nothing had happened, he stood up again—only the vertical pupils beneath his lenses narrowed unconsciously.
And those who were familiar with Alvin all knew that most of the ti, when it was like this, it ant their adjutant was in an unusually good mood.
In fact, it was not just him.
Ever since Wen Yuzhi entered the command room, the Saint Clan here had been, intentionally or unintentionally, quietly watching the boy sitting on the chair.
For so reason, the mont they saw Wen Yuzhi, the Saint Clan present always felt that everything about him looked pleasing to the eye.
Clearly he was a human, yet they felt he was different from other humans.
If they had to put that feeling into words...
Wen Yuzhi felt soft and comfortable to their senses. Just watching him sit there, the ntal sea that was constantly agitated inside them gradually cald down without them even noticing.
And compared to the hesitation of the high-ranked Saint Clan, so of the lower, more primitive ones felt it even more strongly.
Their first reaction upon seeing the boy’s silhouette was closeness.
It was an impulse from deep inside them, making them unable to help wanting to approach, to get closer to him.
Unlike the high-ranked ones, these primitive ones acted more on instinct and intuition. They did not think too much, and once they decided sothing, it was almost impossible to change.
Just like right now: they felt the boy was close, so they instinctively wanted to press closer to him. Only because of orders from above, these primitive ones had no choice but to stand guard at the door of the command room—yet those eyes still kept drifting to Wen Yuzhi again and again.
With a whole room full of these "people" staring at him, Wen Yuzhi was still fairly steady. He lifted the cup and drank all the prepared redy in one go.
The bitter dicinal taste carried a faint trace of sweetness.
After he finished, Alvin imdiately took away the empty cup and promptly offered a clean handkerchief.
Unsurprisingly, he once again received that soft, sweet "thank you" from the human cub.
Alvin pushed his glasses up. The vertical pupils hidden beneath the lenses were practically narrowed into a single line. Anyone could see that the adjutant was in an excellent mood right now.
Seeing this, the other Saint Clan present could not help feeling a little annoyed.
Why was it not them delivering the dicine? Then the one being thanked by the human cub would have been them!
That undercurrent between the Saint Clan did not affect Wen Yuzhi. He had already confird that these strange "people" did not an him harm, so he took the opportunity to make a request: he wanted them to send him to his destination.
"If it's too much trouble, taking to a nearby starport is fine too."
Mansendis did not respond right away. He seed to be thinking.
Seeing that, Wen Yuzhi suddenly felt nervous. He thought the other was finding it troubleso, so he hurriedly added, "Or can you help contact the protection center?"
This "protection center," of course, referred to the Oga Protection Association.
After all, because Ogas were scarce, and to prevent vicious violent incidents, the governnt had established a protection association specifically to safeguard Ogas’ social rights. By now, it had essentially beco an organization that could handle all kinds of miscellaneous matters for Ogas.
What Wen Yuzhi was thinking was: if these people found it troubleso, then he would apply to the protection association and have them send a starship to pick him up.
...That should work, right?
Wen Yuzhi’s plan sounded good.
But Mansendis still did not speak.
Wen Yuzhi’s heart, which had just lowered, imdiately lifted again.
He looked at the silent man in front of him, then looked at the pairs of clearly inhuman vertical [N O V E L I G H T] pupils around the command room, and suddenly a thought struck him—
Military uniforms could change...
But pupils couldn’t change too, could they?
And then there was the silver giant beast he had seen before, and this "starship" that far exceeded the technology level he understood.
Wen Yuzhi’s heart tightened, but he still tested the waters and asked, "Where is this ship... going?"
This ti, Mansendis did not stay silent. He answered, "We’re preparing to return. The fleet will head to the Ninth Star Sector."
The Ninth Star Sector?
Wen Yuzhi froze.
Within the Empire’s territory, there were only different administrative zones. Where did any "Ninth Star Sector" co from?
Thinking of that, Wen Yuzhi imdiately asked again, "Which administrative zone are you from?"
"From?"
Mansendis frowned slightly. Then he said expressionlessly, "We are the Saint Clan, not weak humans."
His tone did not seem especially sharp, but Wen Yuzhi could clearly feel that when Mansendis ntioned humans, his attitude carried a kind of dismissive indifference.
As for this "Saint Clan" he ntioned...
Wen Yuzhi had never even heard of it.
He fell silent for a long ti. The panic in his chest grew heavier and heavier. After a mont, Wen Yuzhi finally asked, as if needing to confirm it, the question he most wanted to ask.
"Excuse ... where are we right now?"
Wen Yuzhi still held onto one last sliver of hope.
The starship he had been on had only just left the capital planet when the accident happened. If it was not completely absurd, then his escape pod should have landed sowhere not far from the capital planet.
But Wen Yuzhi was disappointed.
The coordinates Mansendis reported were a completely unfamiliar place. So Eighth Star Sector, so B-type star system—there was no such terminology on Wen Yuzhi’s side. He had never even heard of the Padar people, either.
Wen Yuzhi pressed his lips together. His mood sank. His dark, curled lashes drooped weakly, casting a shadow over his eyelids.
The human cub’s sudden plunge in mood was visible to the naked eye.
Seeing Wen Yuzhi look so listless, every Saint Clan present could not help feeling a surge of irritability.
The emotions of the group inevitably affected Mansendis as well. He pressed his lips into a tight line, not knowing which sentence of his had made the human cub sad.
Was it that the other didn’t like the Ninth Star Sector?
Mansendis expressionlessly bent his knuckles and tapped the armrest. Long bone spikes lay coiled at his feet in a posture of submission, occasionally moving with a flexible, snake-like slither.
The clicking sounds overlapped with the rhythm of his knuckles tapping.
To the other Saint Clan’s ears, the ssage carried by that signal was obvious.
Their King was in a bad mood right now.
The enormous command room abruptly fell silent. A cold, oppressive atmosphere began to spread inside.
No Saint Clan dared to touch that bad luck at this mont. Even Alvin restrained his expression, lowered his head, and stood respectfully behind Mansendis.
And in this dead, heavy silence, Wen Yuzhi’s soft, clean voice suddenly rang out—instantly breaking the stillness in the command room.
"Can I have a communications device?" the Oga asked carefully.
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