Leap! Leap!

Yang Ming stared intently at the pirate ship ahead.

He adjusted the square rudder slightly, pushing it to a higher gear. He had to shorten the final minute or two of this voyage as much as possible.

Yang Ming spoke rapidly under his breath:

"Have your daughter prepare the jump in advance. We need to charge in the instant before the jump completes, or else we'll drag them into it too.

"Make sure we can receive their surrender signal. Establish communication with them. I'll stall them as long as I can."

Kolev immediately began operating the controls, reconnecting to his pirate ship on an encrypted channel.

The old man's voice regained its calm.

"Milili, I'm taking remote control of the hull now. A warship has appeared here. Don't worry—they won't open fire easily. Remember our specialty?"

Milili? Which Milili? His daughter was named Milili?

Yang Ming felt a sudden jolt of surprise, but he couldn't afford to be distracted now.

"Okay, Dad! I'm not worried—I'm actually excited!" Milili's voice trembled slightly.

"Give me authorization... yes, just like that."

A three-dimensional projection appeared on the square glass block in Kolev's hand, depicting the hull of the pirate ship ahead.

Zzzz—the sound of electromagnetic interference.

A familiar woman's voice came through the maintenance boat's central console.

It was Lina!

"Hanton, I can forgive your rudeness, but you must come back with me now. Otherwise, I'd rather destroy you."

"Is that so, Lina?"

Yang Ming turned his head to glance at the starboard side, then pushed the square rudder forward again. The intense thrust pressed him into his seat, stirring a hint of excitement.

"I apologize for the violent collision between us. But Lina, you and I both know how miserable it would be if I went back with you. I just learned a phrase, Lina."

Yang Ming looked up at the pirate ship ahead.

Above the pirate ship, on its left and right flanks, and across its forward deck, azure halos simultaneously appeared. The entire vessel was slowly being coated in a thin film.

Generally speaking, a film of this color was usually a low-grade defensive energy shield.

The pirates seemed ready for battle.

But when Yang Ming turned to look at Kolev, he noticed a growing excitement in the old man's eyes.

Yang Ming didn't know the specifics, but he understood that this "shield" on the pirate ship was no ordinary thing. He had to do everything he could to protect this vessel now.

Yang Ming said, "Don't make me hate you, Lina. Don't hurt the friends I've just met."

"Hanton, this kind of pirate ship can't withstand a single salvo from our main cannon. A shield of this level is like a sheet of paper," Lina said. "You have no way out, Hanton. Didn't you just learn a phrase? We can talk face to face. I'll hold your hand and forgive your earlier recklessness."

Yang Ming hummed a few times in thought.

He saw the excitement in Kolev's eyes.

At Kolev's silent signal, Yang Ming steadily steered the maintenance boat, letting it slowly turn sideways, aligning with the gap opening at the pirate ship's stern.

The azure light film flowed like water toward the tail.

"Lina, I can go back with you."

Yang Ming said aloud, "But I need to send my old friend off. Capturing these Star Pirates means nothing to you, right? Can you do that, Lina?"

"Of course," Lina said in a low voice. "I'll let them go. That's a formal promise. Now, please stop your maintenance boat and have the pirate ship shut down its shield."

Yang Ming adjusted the small boat's position, his vision filled with azure light.

Only a little over a hundred meters remained to the tail, but the maintenance boat had to slow down to avoid crashing into the hull.

Kolev kept rubbing the glass slab in his hands.

He was calculating—matching the spread of the blue film perfectly with the maintenance boat's forward glide speed.

Thirty meters.

The outer hatch of the pirate ship's tail compartment began closing ahead of schedule.

Kolev gestured a forward motion to Yang Ming, who gently pushed the control stick.

An eerie silence fell inside the small boat.

Yang Ming thought he could hear someone's heartbeat.

"Hanton," Lina said, "we'll send a landing ship to take control of this pirate vessel. But rest assured, as long as you cooperate, we won't harm them. Let them save their energy—this shield is utterly pointless."

"Is that so, Lina?" Yang Ming murmured under his breath. "Your lips are very sweet. I hope that wasn't our last intimate contact."

Lina was clearly a bit flustered, but she immediately responded gently: "We can have a long time alone together. Neither of us will disappoint the other, right, Hanton?"

"Yes, Lina. I like kissing you."

The maintenance boat slid into the gap of the tail compartment.

Two seconds later, the azure light film silently sealed shut.

The rear outer hatch closed five seconds later.

Because the maintenance boat was moving slightly too fast, Yang Ming used the square rudder to press it onto the reinforced deck of the tail compartment, scraping a series of sparks against the ship's hull.

Suddenly!

Whoosh—

The light around the pirate ship twisted faintly, a lensing effect causing curved streaks of starlight to appear at its periphery!

"That's a Subspace Coating!"

In the bridge of Guard Ship No. 3, several officers stared wide-eyed at the scene before them, immediately shouting at Lina on the side projection screen:

"That's not a shield—it's a Jump Coating! They're opening subspace! Damn it, how did they manage to mimic the energy fluctuations of a shield?"

"What?" Lina was taken aback. "Stop them now!"

"Side cannon three charged!"

"Side cannon four charged!"

"Commander, can we shoot them down? Make the call!"

"They'll initiate the jump in twenty-five seconds."

The shock in Lina's eyes quickly faded.

Her image was appearing on the bridge projection screen of Guard Ship No. 3;

Meanwhile, the projection screen in front of Lina was split into two parts—one locked onto Yang Ming's pirate ship, the other showing the bridge's interior.

"Twenty seconds!"

The technician turned and shouted.

Voices in the bridge grew chaotic, then quickly fell silent, all eyes converging on Lina's projection.

In the back seat of the hovercar, Lina had already clenched her hands tightly.

"Fifteen-second countdown! The enemy is about to open the Jump Channel!"

"Commander!"

"Lina, do you still want to hear that line?"

Yang Ming's voice suddenly rang out, but the subspace membrane interfered with the communication, making his deliberately slow speech sound low and hoarse:

"A beast that has tasted freedom will not step early into its grave."

"Commander!"

Lina could barely breathe; a few thoughts raced through her mind.

Geglov's technology, the sole fruit of the War God Program, the results of her nine consecutive months of infiltration...

Her eyes were filled with memories of kissing this Modified Human...

"The enemy has opened the channel!"

On the screen, the pirate ship, which looked like it was about to fall apart, flickered faintly.

"Fire!"

Lina shouted immediately, and the side cannons of Guard Ship No. 3 spat out deep purple rays.

The pirate ship flickered!

The purple ray grazed past it, but only struck the faintly rippling light.

The starfield ahead returned to normal, and the lensing effect at the edge of subspace vanished.

Lina slumped back into her seat, waves of dizziness washing over her again, her chest heaving with her breath.

In that moment, Lina thought of the Geglov that Hanton had described.

Yes, she too had felt hesitation and cowardice.

Just like Geglov facing the Valkyrie.

"Can you pinpoint their landing point?" Lina asked, her voice trembling.

"We can't track them for now—this is a long-distance jump, and pirates always have jump points we don't know about," said the captain of Guard Ship No. 3. "The Kor Port Peacekeeping Force has sent us an inquiry; our ship has appeared in illegal airspace... You shouldn't have hesitated, Lina, Level 1 Intelligence Officer. I will faithfully report the entire process to your superiors."

"Mm, I know. Thank you for your cooperation."

Lina nodded calmly and said nothing more.

After high-frequency vibrations often comes heavy panting.

Yang Ming was fine—during the dozen seconds of the jump, his body only felt a faint pulling sensation.

The jump experience on this pirate ship was nowhere near as comfortable as the Humanity Investigation Ship.

But when Yang Ming turned to look at Kolev, he was startled.

The old man was gasping for breath, his eyes bloodshot, his face dark, and his body trembling uncontrollably.

Yang Ming immediately realized what was happening. He pressed his palm against the old man's chest and gave a gentle pat; the old man turned his head and vomited.

After a moment, Kolev collapsed into his seat, and Yang Ming activated the maintenance boat's air purification system.

The truth was, the free air mostly stank of vomit.

The tail compartment began to pressurize slowly. The "Formula Air" outside was still too thin, so Yang Ming didn't dare rush out. He started surveying the overly spacious tail compartment.

The old man beside him cursed a few Space Curse words, then burst into laughter.

"We're alive! Haha! Hanton!"

Yang Ming squinted, smiling.

The feeling of escaping death by a hair's breadth was quite pleasant.

"Relax, we're temporarily safe," Kolev said, slumping into the leather pilot's seat. "Why were you so sure your little beauty Lina would hesitate? Those frontline Intelligence Officers—every single one is rigorously trained talent. 'If I can't have it, no one can'—that's their consistent principle."

Yang Ming said leisurely, "It's confidence in my tongue-kissing technique."

"Give me a break!" Kolev rolled his eyes.

Yang Ming's brow twitched slightly. "Was everything you said before true? About your first wife and her same-sex close friend?"

"Oh," Kolev said, full of regret, "Old age always makes me ramble. How did I even tell you that! Yes, but rest assured, I was still kind back then."

"What happened afterward?"

"I left that city. After sending them to the hospital and contacting the local police, I planned to return to my hometown—a habitable resource planet full of sand dunes. I needed a place to lick my wounds."

Kolev sighed. "But on the way back, I ran into pirates and became their captive. Because of my Senior Technician Certificate, they dragged me back as a technical worker, and step by step, I became a professional pirate."

Yang Ming nodded.

"What about your story?" Kolev asked. "First Mate Hanton, we're friends now. Your turn to share."

Yang Ming pointed at the cabin door not far away, which was opening.

Kolev chuckled. "Spit it out, or I won't let you off. You're in my territory now!"

"I'm an officer of the Sherman Empire."

Yang Ming watched with interest as a few old men came running over. They looked about the same age as Kolev.

Well, it made sense. Kolev was an old pirate after all; it was normal for his pirate crew to have a few elderly members.

Yang Ming continued, "I used to work on an evil gene modification experiment ship, handling fire safety. Then an accident happened—the experiment ship exploded due to a Modified Uprising—and I barely escaped. I've undergone standard enhancement modifications and, when necessary, suppress those half-finished Modified humans."

A few middle-aged men and women appeared behind the old men, their expressions full of respect.

"And then?" Kolev unbuckled his seatbelt and began operating the maintenance boat's Scissor Door.

Yang Ming's eyes suddenly lit up.

He saw a young girl running out, her pretty face and hot figure making Yang Ming break into a knowing smile.

But when the girl's features overlapped with certain images in his memory, Yang Ming's expression gradually shifted to shock and bewilderment.

He recognized that beautiful face!

He had seen her from afar in the Abyss more than once!

Praise the Ancient Gods... Kolev's daughter was actually this Milili!

There will be an extra chapter at midnight. Happy National Day!