Guard Ship No. 3

"Woohoo! We lost them!"

Kolev shouted excitedly, turning to look at the empty stretch of space behind them, his face brimming with smug satisfaction.

The dozen or so drones began spinning and dancing like headless flies.

Yang Ming also breathed a sigh of relief.

The sense of danger that came with space travel couldn't be overcome just by being physically strong. Those dozen drones had already initiated their shoot-down sequence, firing a barrage of laser cannonballs at them.

This maintenance boat had no energy shield. They'd dodged that attack entirely thanks to Yang Ming's haphazard piloting.

Microgravity meant he could go wild, letting his imagination run free.

Kolev took over the square helm, and the ship raced toward its predetermined coordinates.

"Relax, First Mate Hanton! We've made it through the worst of it. In a few more minutes, you'll get to meet my beautiful, adorable daughter! Oh, don't go getting any ideas about her. This old bag of bones won't go easy on you."

The more Kolev spoke, the less confident he sounded.

The image of the man beside him passionately kissing someone, then headbutting a girl unconscious, surfaced in Kolev's mind.

Kolev turned to Yang Ming and eyed him warily. "You're not going to try to seduce her, are you? I need a straight answer."

"Of course not." Yang Ming spread his hands. "I'm a respectable man. I swear on the Empire's honor."

Kolev nodded, then felt that something about that answer was off.

Yang Ming wasn't particularly interested in that sort of thing at the moment, anyway.

Survival came first.

Kolev glared at Yang Ming a few more times. "I'll take your word for it, my dear First Mate. Your physique and those shifty eyes of yours do make you popular with women, but don't assume that pirates are promiscuous by definition. I raised my daughter very conservatively."

Yang Ming shrugged. "I promise not to look at her too much, First Mate Kolev. We're partners, and she's my niece. I'd have to be a real monster to make a move on my own niece."

"Oh, forgive me," Kolev said with a laugh. "It's just a father's worry. I know she'll have a partner someday, but I can't bear the thought. She's the sort who likes to depend on the strong."

"Kolev, how long have you been in Kor Port Prison?"

"Four years, more or less." Kolev shook his head. "I was detained more or less on purpose, though the reasons are complicated. Things got chaotic at the time. We were buying a batch of equipment when the Peacekeeping Force suddenly showed up..."

Kolev trailed off, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

Yang Ming didn't press him.

A faint light appeared in the space ahead.

It was as if they were sailing across an insubstantial ocean, with that dim light serving as a beacon to guide them.

"Look!"

Kolev smiled. "Those brats have spotted us. Let's wait and see if they can contact us. This is a test, too. You know how it is: when we're going to rob a merchant ship, the first thing we do is hack into its systems."

Yang Ming could see the unconcealed pride and fondness on the old man's face.

And so they waited for two minutes. The small maintenance boat, still traveling at full speed, drew closer to the flashing light.

"Oh." Kolev's expression darkened. "What could be so difficult about this? I've modified every ship. You just have to press a few buttons, in the right order—press a few buttons! Damn it! They're taking forever!"

Bzzz—

A faint electromagnetic interference crackled from the ship's control console.

"Um, ahem..." A sweet female voice suddenly came through. "This is a New Federation Survey Ship. We're about to conduct a safety inspection of your vessel."

"Oh, give me a break!" Kolev cursed. "You're certainly efficient!"

"Dad?"

The sweet voice filled with delighted surprise. "Dad! Is that really you? Power down the main cannon, now! Don't lock onto my dad! You really escaped!"

Noisy chatter came from the other end, voices both male and female, all sounding rather mature.

"Oh! It's Captain Kolev! It's Kolev!"

"I knew it! He'd come back! A peaceful prison can't hold him!"

"Hahaha! At last, we can have a drink tonight without a care!"

"Kolev, can I ask you something?" Yang Ming muttered.

"Of course."

"How old is your daughter now?"

"Twenty. Twenty-one by the Galactic Standard Calendar."

"So when you were arrested—cough, when you went to prison voluntarily—your daughter was sixteen or seventeen?" Yang Ming's eyes held a hint of shock.

"That's right." Kolev smiled. "I know what you're worried about, but don't fret. My daughter's a true pirate. Nobody's more professional than her. Nobody!"

His daughter's somewhat hesitant voice came over the radio.

"Dad, I might not be as impressive as you think. I... who was that speaking just now?"

Kolev said, "My First Mate."

Yang Ming said, "His captain."

Kolev laughed. "He's my new partner. We haven't decided yet which of us is going to lead the other. But don't worry, my daughter. Since I've already given you the Black Dragon Pirate Group, I won't undermine your authority. I'll be your most reliable advisor, and I'll head to some unfamiliar star region to recruit new crew members."

"Dad, let's talk when you get back," his daughter said, sounding a little guilty. "I need to brief you on a few things. Keep coming this way, and I'll open the tail compartment for you."

Kolev and Yang Ming exchanged glances, then smiled at the same time.

Kolev's daughter did have a very sweet voice.

But Yang Ming wasn't some hotheaded fool like Hanton. How could he let something as base as lust affect his relationship with Kolev?

Yang Ming tapped the little microphone icon on the screen in front of him, making a red circle appear around it. That would keep Kolev's daughter from hearing their conversation for now.

"Hey, Kolev, you can get your hands on Gene Stabilizing Potion, right?" Yang Ming asked.

Kolev chuckled. "Of course. Every pirate group has one or two fighters who've strengthened themselves with gene modification, or who've equipped themselves with mechanical prosthetics to boost their combat power.

"One of my old friends even turned himself into a Mechanical Octopus. Eight mechanical arms extend from his back, directly connected to his central nervous system. He can easily overpower heavily armed security guards from powerful merchant companies. Fighters like that are usually a pirate group's trump card... You're my trump card, too, First Mate Hanton, so don't worry about little things like this."

"Kolev, my career plan is to become your captain."

Yang Ming corrected him, then continued:

"I need to replace my Gene Stabilizing Potion soon. This vial has a tracking device."

"Don't worry too much about that," Kolev said. "Nanoscale Positioning Devices come in two types: one actively transmits signals, and the other passively detects them. Either way, they have limited range. The universe is boundless. Once we make our warp jump, no one will be able to find you."

"You're quite knowledgeable, Kolev."

"That's just a basic skill for a pirate."

"What did you do before becoming a pirate?" Yang Ming leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, asking casually.

Kolev sighed. "I was a Senior Fitter."

"Then why did you become a pirate?"

"You have to pay attention to the mood when asking about someone's past, Hanton." Kolev gazed at the sea of stars ahead, his cloudy old eyes filled with memories. "Given the choice, no one wants to become a wanted criminal..."

Yang Ming looked at the pirate ship drawing closer.

It looked somewhat antiquated, covered in scars. It was like seeing a sailboat from the previous century in an age of battleships.

Its hundred-meter hull and roughly stacked weaponry both spoke to its unimpressive combat capability.

They'd be able to dock in another minute or two.

Kolev kept slowing the maintenance boat as he spoke, his voice unhurried.

"When I was young, I had lofty ideals, too. I wanted to contribute a spark to my civilization. But ideals are just ideals. The people around me chased after base pleasures—corruption, drugs, promiscuity. They stripped away the veneer of civilization to reveal their beastly nature. That was how my first wife betrayed me..."

"Kolev!"

Yang Ming's expression suddenly tightened as he stared at the starboard side.

Kolev continued, "I came home early that day because I wanted to celebrate our first wedding anniversary with her. I heard noises coming from the kitchen. That beastly panting is something I still can't forget. Oh, I'd given her everything I could—my salary, my credit, my circle of friends..."

"Kolev, you need to come look at this!"

Yang Ming's voice grew more urgent.

But Kolev was too caught up in his painful memories to hear him.

"Do you know what I saw? Oh, those two women—my first wife and my neighbor—were pressed together like wild dogs. My wife had betrayed me just like that. I never thought the first drug-crazed lunatics I'd encounter in my life would be my naked wife and neighbor. My innocent little world collapsed right then. Hanton, do you know what I did? At the time, I..." He paused. "Oh, what's that?"

Yang Ming raised a hand to his forehead.

Outside the starboard window, space rippled faintly, as if the void were brewing a visible tsunami.

It wasn't a normal physical phenomenon.

"Warp Jump Ripples! These ripples only appear during a Short-Range Directional Warp Jump!" Kolev cried out.

As soon as he finished speaking, the ripples suddenly dissipated. A two-hundred-meter Silver-White Warship appeared soundlessly in space. The Subspace Light Film wrapped around its slender hull vanished in an instant, and its unusually large High-Energy Ray Main Cannon pointed at the pirate ship not far away.

"It's a warship! That's a Firepower Ship from the Guer Alliance!"

Kolev's old face turned deathly pale.

"Damn it, what's a warship doing here? We can't escape the range of its main cannon. Oh, God! Get away from there, now!"

"Dad! Hurry up!" His daughter's voice sounded panicked. "There's a warship lying in ambush here!"

"Stay calm, Kolev. This is probably my fault."

Yang Ming pulled the square helm toward himself and gripped it tightly with both hands.

"But, Kolev, now that I've escaped, I'm absolutely not going to fall into their hands. I don't want to be locked in one of those transparent tanks, soaking in Nutrient Fluid of unknown composition, spending the rest of my life with my own excrement.

"We have to escape! And we will!"

"This is insane, Hanton," Kolev said quietly. "We can't fight a warship from the regular forces. Even a two-hundred-meter-class escort ship is more than—"

The old man cut himself off, took several breaths, then looked at the cannon barrel that seemed to be right against their necks and at the pirate ship locked onto by the warship's main cannon.

"I'm old," Kolev said, "but I haven't lost the courage to challenge the strong. I'll follow your lead from here on, Acting Captain Hanton."

"Very well, Acting First Mate Kolev! Full speed!"