First Contact

"Stop! Hands up!" said a B-1 battle droid.

More B-1 battle droids immediately surrounded them, sealing off their ships completely. Over a hundred E-5 blaster rifles were aimed at their heads.

Tang Xiao and the others raised their hands at once, showing no intention of resisting.

But then several B-1 droids pushed over fuel trucks and engineering vehicles, beginning to refuel their two ships and repair their hulls. They even carried away and disposed of the mercenaries' bodies aboard the Auro class freighter, and wiped clean the control console splattered with brains.

Then a Muun draped in a black cloak approached under the escort of two security droids. He wore a mechanical mask over his mouth, with two tubes connected to his airways writhing rhythmically. He also leaned on a cane.

Tang Xiao had to admit that, in his understanding, the man dressed much like a wizard from Dungeons & Dragons. But he had no mood to joke about it now. He simply lowered his head, trying his best not to draw attention.

The newcomer was their employer—Hego Damask II.

"Mr. Hego, this is what you wanted." Cun Te lowered his head respectfully and presented the data storage device.

"Very good. Your performance exceeded my expectations. I had originally thought the victor would be that Falin, Rosas Leon." Hego waved lightly, and a security droid beside him stepped forward, took the storage device, and handed it to him.

Hego did not inspect the device immediately. He merely slipped it into his pocket and waved again. Another B-1 droid approached carrying a bag of money.

"This is your payment. One hundred thousand Republic credits." Hego calmly named an astonishing figure.

In the black market, the exchange rate between Republic credits and Upiupi coin was roughly 1:0.6. Those one hundred thousand credits were enough to buy a decent starship outright!

"Um... the price we originally agreed on was only twenty thousand Upiupi coins." Cun Te was not tempted in the slightest by the extra income. After all, taking more money meant doing more work.

"That was the price you negotiated with Rosas, not the price I offered." Hego said flatly. "Take it. You have earned it. You broke through Makito's encirclement, and you proved yourselves superior to Rosas. This is your reward. What I mean to say is, I have never been stingy with those who work for me."

"So that Falin woman named Rosas was merely a discarded pawn to you. She even tried to take what we had." Cun Te gestured to the side with his chin.

Over there, two B-1 battle droids were carrying Rosas's corpse, preparing to throw it into space.

"I prefer to have two preparations, and I prefer dealing with intelligent people. I hope you are such an intelligent person, so you had best not refuse." Hego spoke with unquestionable authority.

Cun Te could only nod and accept the heavy bag of money.

"Very good. Now we are friends. Take your reward and find somewhere to enjoy yourselves. I will be looking for you again." With that, Hego turned to leave.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, he whipped around and fixed his gaze on Tang Xiao, who was shrinking back behind the others!

Tang Xiao sensed it too. He raised his head, and his eyes happened to meet Hego's. In that instant, he felt as though an infinite black hole had swallowed him whole!

Nowhere to hide!

Nowhere to run!

But the sensation vanished after only an instant, as though nothing had happened. Before him was Hego's intrigued gaze.

Hego looked Tang Xiao up and down, then suddenly burst into laughter. "Hahahahaha!! Interesting. Hahahaha... You people are truly interesting... Hahahahaha..."

Still laughing, Hego turned and left, leaving only his laughter echoing through the hangar.

"You may leave now. Oh, no—you must leave immediately," said a B-1 battle droid in a stiff yet somewhat dopey voice.

Cun Te glanced at Tang Xiao, whose forehead was drenched in cold sweat. "Let's go."

Kunto and Spade headed to the YV-865 Auro class freighter, while Cun Te, Tang Xiao, and the others returned to the YT-1000 light freighter.

They piloted their ships out of the Generous-class frigate's hangar. Moments later, the Generous-class frigate ignited its engines and vanished into hyperspace. Only then did Tang Xiao, who had been tense the entire time, let out a long breath and collapse into his seat.

There was no doubt about it: Hego Damask II, one of the greatest and most profound darknesses in the galaxy, had set his sights on him.

No matter how he looked at it, this was not good news.

Cun Te went to inspect the cargo hold and found that Jamide, sealed in carbonite, was still hidden beneath the cargo. The B-1 battle droids had not discovered him when they came aboard to clean the ship.

Just then, Kunto sent a transmission. "Um, boss. Where should we go now?"

"You are free. Return to the Endor system, pick up your companions, and then you can go anywhere you want," Tang Xiao suddenly said.

"Wait, boss, you mean..." Kunto still had not caught on.

"I mean exactly what I said. You are free," Tang Xiao said. "You were imprisoned because you trespassed onto Dawn Star Planet, weren't you? Now I'm letting you go."

Silence came from Kunto's end. After a long while, he finally said, "Actually, you were right before. I only dared to take easy jobs, hauling cargo and such. I could never make much money, just barely get by. This ship wasn't earned by me either. It used to belong to my old boss. He was killed by pirates during a smuggling run, so I inherited the ship..."

He paused again before continuing. "You and Mr. Cun Te are both capable people. I've never seen a pilot as good as Cun Te, and I've never seen anyone with miraculous powers like yours. This haul of one hundred thousand credits is more than I could earn in three years of hard work. So... I want to follow you, boss."

"You can keep running those safer smuggling jobs. Maybe you'll live to sixty. But if you work with us, you might die tomorrow," Cun Te said from beside him.

"But I'll also make more money than I could spend in a lifetime, right, boss?" Kunto said.

A faint smile appeared on Tang Xiao's lips. "That's right. You'll earn wealth you never even dared to dream of before."

"That settles it. Tell us our next destination, boss!"

"Return to Dawn Star Planet."

"Understood!"

Thanks to Tista for the 233 Qidian Coin donation!! Thanks to Emperor-class Star Destroyer for donating 100 Qidian Coin to Tang Xiao!!