Guard Ship No. 3

"Whoo-hoo! We lost them!"

Kolev shouted excitedly, twisting around to look at the empty starfield behind them, his face brimming with smugness.

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

Yang Ming also let out a sigh of relief.

This kind of crisis born from space navigation couldn't be overcome by sheer physical strength; just moments ago, those dozen drones had activated their takedown protocols and fired a volley of laser cannonballs at them.

This maintenance boat had no energy shield. Dodging that barrage came down entirely to Yang Ming's chaotic, ruleless piloting.

Microgravity, full recklessness, imagination running wild.

Kolev took the square helm, and the ship sped toward the designated coordinates.

"Relax, First Mate Hanton! We've made it through the tough part. In a few more minutes, you'll get to see my beautiful and lovely daughter! Oh, don't you get any ideas about her—this old bones of mine won't go easy on you."

Kolev's voice grew less confident as he spoke.

The image of this guy kissing someone deeply and then knocking the girl out with a headbutt flashed through Kolev's mind.

Kolev turned his head and eyed Yang Ming warily: "You won't seduce her, will you? I need a straight answer from you."

"Of course not," Yang Ming spread his hands. "I'm a proper man. I swear it on the honor of the Empire."

Kolev nodded, then felt something was off.

Yang Ming had no interest in matters of men and women for now.

Survival was the top priority.

Kolev glared at Yang Ming a few more times: "I'll trust you for now, my dear First Mate. Your body and those shifty eyes of yours are indeed the kind that attract women, but you have to believe me—pirate isn't synonymous with promiscuity. I've raised my daughter very conservatively."

Yang Ming shrugged: "I promise I won't give her a second glance, First Mate Kolev. We're partners. She's my niece. How depraved would I have to be to lay a hand on my own niece?"

"Oh, forgive me," Kolev laughed. "That's just a father's worry. I know she'll find a partner someday, but I can't bear to let go. She's the type who likes to cling to the strong."

"Kolev, how long were you in Kor Port Prison?"

"Four years, give or take," Kolev shook his head. "Though I was technically let myself be caught on purpose. The reasons are complicated. There was chaos at the time. We were buying a batch of equipment when the Peacekeeping Force suddenly showed up..."

Kolev's words trailed off, a hint of thought in his eyes.

Yang Ming didn't press further.

A faint light appeared in the space ahead.

They seemed to be sailing through a substance-less ocean, and that dim glow was the lighthouse guiding their course.

"Look!"

Kolev grinned: "Those little brats have spotted us. Let's wait and see if they can get in touch with us. This is also a test, you know. When we're about to rob a merchant ship, the first step is to hack their system."

Yang Ming could see the undisguised pride and relief on the old man's face.

So they waited for two minutes. The small maintenance boat, moving at full speed, drew closer to the glimmering point.

"Oh," Kolev's face darkened. "What's so hard about this? I modified every ship. Just press a few buttons, in order, press a few buttons! Damn it! They're too slow!"

Zzzzzt—

A faint electromagnetic interference sound came from the ship's console.

"Mm, ahem," a sweet female voice suddenly cut in. "This is the New Federation Survey Ship. We will conduct a safety inspection of your vessel."

"Give me a break!" Kolev cursed. "You sure took your sweet time!"

"Daddy?"

The sweet voice turned full of surprise: "Daddy! Is it really you? Stop the main cannon, stop! Don't lock onto my dad! Daddy, you actually escaped!"

Chaotic noise erupted from the other side—male and female voices mixed together, none of them sounding young.

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

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

"Haha! Tonight, I can finally have a drink in peace!"

Yang Ming muttered: "Kolev, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"How old is your daughter now?"

"Twenty. By the Galactic Standard Calendar, twenty-one."

"So, when you got caught—uh, when you willingly went to prison—she was sixteen or seventeen?" Yang Ming's eyes held a hint of shock.

"Yes," Kolev laughed. "I know what you're worried about, but rest assured, my daughter is a true pirate. No one's more professional than her. No one!"

The radio brought his daughter's slightly hesitant voice:

"Daddy, I might not be as great as you think... Who was that just now?"

Kolev: "My First Mate."

Yang Ming: "His Captain."

Kolev chuckled. "This is my new partner. We haven't decided who's leading who yet. But rest assured, 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 consultant and head to an unfamiliar star sector to recruit new crew members."

"Dad, let's talk when you get back," her daughter's voice carried a hint of guilt. "I need to report some things to you. Keep moving forward—I'll open the tail compartment for you."

Kolev and Yang Ming exchanged a glance, both smiling at the same time.

Kolev's daughter did have a sweet voice.

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

Yang Ming tapped the small microphone icon on the screen before him, circling it with a red ring to temporarily cut off Kolev's daughter from their conversation.

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

Kolev clicked his tongue with a grin. "Of course. Every pirate group has one or two warriors who've used gene modification to strengthen themselves, or slapped on some Mechanical Prosthetics to boost their combat power.

"An old friend of mine turned himself into a Mechanical Octopus—eight mechanical arms sprouting from his back, directly linked to his neural center. He can easily overpower a merchant guild's heavy security droids. That kind of fighter is usually a pirate group's ace... You're my ace too, First Mate Hanton, so don't worry about the small stuff."

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

Yang Ming corrected him, then added:

"I need to swap out the Gene Stabilizing Potion soon. This bottle has a tracking device."

"Don't sweat it too much," Kolev said. "Nanoscale Positioning Devices come in two types: active signal emission and passive detection reception. Both have range limits. The universe is boundless. Once we finish the warp jump, no one will find you."

"You're quite knowledgeable, Kolev."

"Just basic pirate survival skills."

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

Kolev sighed. "Senior Fitter."

"Then why did you become a pirate?"

"You've got to read the room when digging into someone's story, Hanton," Kolev said, staring at the sea of stars ahead, his murky old eyes brimming with memory. "If I'd had a choice, no one wants to be a wanted criminal..."

Yang Ming watched the pirate ship drawing closer.

It looked old, covered in scars, like stumbling upon a last-century sailing ship in an age of steel warships.

A hundred meters long, with weapons crudely bolted on, it screamed mediocre combat power.

In about a minute or two, they'd dock.

Kolev kept the maintenance boat decelerating, speaking slowly:

"When I was young, I had grand ideals about contributing a spark to my civilization. But ideals are just ideals. Corruption, addiction, promiscuity—everyone around me chased lowbrow pleasures, peeling off the veneer of civilization to reveal their beastly nature. My first wife betrayed me just like that..."

"Kolev!"

Yang Ming's expression suddenly tensed, staring hard at the starboard side.

Kolev continued: "That day I came home early, to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. I heard noises from the kitchen—those beastly grunts I'll never forget. Oh, I gave her everything I could: my salary, my credit limit, my social circle..."

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

Yang Ming's voice grew more urgent.

But Kolev was lost in his painful memories.

"You know what I saw? Oh, those two women—my first wife and my female neighbor—stuck together like wild dogs. My wife betrayed me just like that. I never thought the first time I'd encounter drug-overdose lunatics would be my naked wife and neighbor. Back then, my naive world collapsed. Hanton, you know, at that moment I... oh, what's this?"

Yang Ming raised a hand to his forehead.

Outside the starboard window, faint ripples appeared in space, as if the void was brewing a visible tsunami.

This wasn't normal physics.

"Warp Jump Ripples! Those are from a Short-Range Directional Warp Jump!" Kolev shouted in shock.

The moment he spoke, the ripples vanished. A two-hundred-meter-long Silver-White Warship materialized silently in the void. Its sleek hull shed the Subspace Light Film in an instant, and its absurdly oversized High-Energy Ray Main Cannon locked onto the nearby pirate ship.

"A warship! That's a Guer Alliance Firepower Ship!"

Kolev's weathered face went pale.

"Damn it, what's a warship doing here? We can't outrun its main cannon range! Oh! God! Get out of there, you two!"

"Dad! Hurry up!" his daughter's voice carried a note of panic. "There's a warship lying in ambush!"

"Stay calm, Kolev. This is probably my fault for dragging you into it."

Yang Ming grabbed the square steering yoke, gripping it tight with both hands.

"But Kolev, now that I'm out, I refuse to fall into their hands. I don't want to be locked in those transparent tanks, soaking in some unknown Nutrient Fluid, spending the rest of my life with my own waste.

"We have to escape! And we will!"

"This is insane, Hanton," Kolev said quietly. "We can't fight a regular military warship. Even if it's just a two-hundred-meter side-guard, that's not..."

The old man paused, adjusted his breathing a few times, then turned to look at the cannon barrel practically pressed against their necks, and the pirate ship locked in the warship's sights.

"I'm old," Kolev said. "But I haven't lost the courage to challenge the strong. I'll follow your lead from here on out, Hanton, interim captain."

"Good. Kolev, interim first mate. Full speed ahead!"