Pursued Again-Aliens?

In the starry sky.

The spaceship heading into the universe steadily accelerated forward. It soon reached the speed of light, disappeared from the Original Universe, and entered the Dark Universe.

The instant the spaceship vanished, a gray spaceship that almost blended into the starry sky appeared abruptly. It followed close behind, entering the Dark Universe from almost the exact same spot...

Inside the spaceship, the scenery outside suddenly darkened. Countless "specks of light," like fireflies, gathered into an endless sea. It was dazzling, strange, and mesmerizing.

Li Yilin, however, had no intention of admiring the view. Instead, he felt deeply uneasy.

His sixth sense had saved him countless times. He never ignored even the slightest hint that something was wrong.

"Liu Qing, use the detection equipment to scan within two million kilometers for any spaceships approaching us. Mark any whose course is close to ours in particular," he said in a low voice.

Liu Qing was the name of his Smart Optical Computer.

"Scan complete. There are thirteen unfamiliar spaceships within one hundred thousand kilometers. Two of them are approaching us.

"Beep. Our spaceship has been locked on. Coordinates X... Y... Z... Ship 36 is 1.7 million kilometers away... 1.53 million kilometers..." A piercing alarm blared, and Liu Qing's usually calm voice grew increasingly urgent.

Someone really was pursuing him.

Li Yilin's expression darkened. He looked at the screen, where a projection of a gray spaceship shaped like a whale had appeared.

The screen also showed the detected spaceship's speed: 1,563,200 kilometers per second, roughly 5.21 times the speed of light.

At that speed, it had to be an E-Grade Spaceship.

Who were they?

They were coming after him again and again, refusing to let up.

Was it because of Wunuo Star?

But hadn't he already given up on getting involved with Wunuo Star's metal mine?

The spaceship accelerated onward. Without hesitation, Li Yilin opened his Smart Optical Computer and sent Sawatdee a communication request. Sawatdee answered almost immediately.

"Young brother, what do you need?"

Li Yilin got straight to the point. "I'm being hunted."

"In the Dark Universe," he added.

Not just anyone could hunt someone down in the Dark Universe. You couldn't know when your target would slow their spaceship to below the speed of light and leave the Dark Universe.

Once a spaceship left the Dark Universe, its speed made it easy for it to head off in another direction before you caught up, and you could easily lose your target.

Anyone daring to do this must have some way of ensuring they wouldn't lose the person they were pursuing.

Li Yilin grew calmer by the moment as he considered what, among the things he'd acquired in recent days, could have let someone track him.

Could someone have planted a tracking token on him?

What could it be?

He quickly inspected everything on him.

Damn it. For the first time, he hated having so much wealth and so many treasures. Everything was piled up in such a disorganized mess, and the signal was so well concealed that, with time running short, he couldn't figure out what to suspect.

Fortunately, he had far more wealth than most people. The spaceship he was riding in, for example, was a disguised E6-grade spaceship worth five hundred Hunyuan Units.

But even an E6-grade spaceship couldn't shake the one behind him. It could only keep its distance. That meant the pursuers, like him, were using a precious spaceship completely at odds with their apparent status.

"Unknown origins, the nerve to oppose the Giant Axe Arena, a response to being surrounded that's unlike any ordinary organization, and now repeated attempts on his life..." Li Yilin mused, growing more and more suspicious. A bold guess gradually took shape in his mind.

Could it be...

"An Alien Race!"

In the starry sky, less than a million kilometers behind Li Yilin's spaceship.

A gray spaceship shaped like a whale glided by without a sound.

Inside the spaceship's control room.

Bertin sat in a chair, broad-bladed axe in hand. Aodeyu stood nearby, watching the screen before them and occasionally glancing at the silent Bertin. His eyes held fervent awe for his master, along with a trace of confusion.

Why was his master targeting Li Yilin? Because he had earned the title of "Giant Axe Warrior"?

Or because he had escaped his master's pursuit?

Bertin silently watched the screen before him. The "specks of light" rapidly receding behind them proved that the spaceship was traveling at tremendous speed.

He didn't really care much about Li Yilin, even though he'd escaped Bertin's pursuit.

What mattered was that his teacher seemed to pay Li Yilin a great deal of attention. His teacher hadn't said so, but Bertin knew that what his teacher disliked most was so-called geniuses—unless they belonged to him.

As it happened, Li Yilin could be considered a genius.

A Domain Lord at forty thousand years old, with his Law Comprehension past the threshold and his domain at the ninth level...

Over the years since becoming his teacher's disciple, Bertin had killed many geniuses for him, openly and in secret. Among them were prodigies who had begun comprehending the laws at Star Level, as well as peerless geniuses who had trained with the Nine Great Divine Weapons to the fourth or fifth level by Universe Level...

He never questioned why his teacher targeted those geniuses. If his teacher disliked them, Bertin would help eliminate those eyesores.

At the thought, Bertin's gaze grew colder, though the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

He could almost picture Li Yilin dying and his teacher looking at him with approval.

"Accelerate!"

The spaceship surged forward, crossing a vast stretch of space in the blink of an eye.

Elsewhere.

"Being hunted?"

Sawatdee's eyes widened, and he let out a startled cry when he heard Li Yilin.

"Who would hunt you?"

When had the Giant Axe Arena's "Giant Axe Warrior" become so hated?

"I don't know." Li Yilin shook his head calmly. "I suspect it's the same group that hunted me on Mulan Planet before.

"I've never revealed where I'm going, but those people in the shadows seem to know my every move. I'd barely left Wunuo Star and entered an area outside the Martial Arena's control when they came after me."

Li Yilin hesitated, then voiced his suspicion.

"I think it's an Alien Race."

"An Alien Race?" Sawatdee jumped to his feet, his eyes blazing. "Are you sure?"

Li Yilin shook his head. "It's only a guess."

Sawatdee didn't seem to mind. As soon as Li Yilin said "Alien Race," he had already opened his Smart Optical Computer and sent someone a message.

"You're in the Leimai Galaxy? In the Norman Empire?" he asked, seizing on the words Li Yilin had mentioned.

The Norman Empire, a mid-level civilization in the universe.

The Lulun Empire, a low-level civilization and Wunuo Star's home, was its vassal state.

Li Yilin nodded. His breathing was steady, his expression calm, and there was no sign of how tense he was.

The worst that could happen was another fight to the death.

If you refused to settle for the status quo, sooner or later you'd run into things like this.

"Send me your universal coordinates. Three World Lords on Lingyao Planet, the Norman Empire's capital, are on our side. They're reliable... Head for Lingyao Planet, and I'll have them come support you," Sawatdee said rapidly. "I'll send people to verify your suspicion. Until then, protect yourself."

Lingyao Planet was the capital of the Norman Empire, its most prosperous and powerful planet. Its Planet Lord was a World Lord.

What was more, because of Wunuo Star's metal mine, three World Lords had recently gone to the Lulun Empire to oversee things and ensure that the mining on Wunuo Star went smoothly.

But for various reasons, they had remained on Lingyao Planet.

If he hadn't liked making friends and exchanging information, he might not have thought of them in time.

The people hunting Li Yilin couldn't be Immortals. As long as they weren't Immortals, three World Lords would be more than enough to keep him safe.

Hearing this, Li Yilin's eyes lit up. Gratitude showed on his face. "Thank you, sir. If I make it through this, I'll treat you to a drink."

Sawatdee laughed heartily. "Then I wish you luck. I'll hold you to that drink!" He was all the way over in the Aoduo Universe Kingdom and couldn't reach the Noah Universe Kingdom right away. Whether Li Yilin made it through this would be up to him.

After ending the call, Li Yilin looked up and called out, "Liu Qing, change course. Destination... Lingyao Planet."

The spaceship's screen flickered, and Liu Qing replied.

"Yes, Master!"

The spaceship traced an arc through the void and raced off in a different direction.

After the turn, Li Yilin deliberately checked the detection equipment. Sure enough, the spaceship behind him turned as well.