Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 33
Joanna Begrel stood gaping, staring at the silver-white machine in the maintenance bay. “Leo, what is this?”
“Captain, has your eyesight deteriorated that much in just a few days?”
“If I’m not mistaken, this is a ‘Bard’.”
Titia stood next to her, holding an opened bag of chips, but hadn’t eaten any. “Captain, you lied.” She stared at the machine and said, “You said we couldn’t afford a ‘Bard’.”
“It wasn’t me who said that. It was Mrs. Mota.” Joanna grabbed a handful of chips from Titia’s bag and stuffed them into her own mouth. “And it… it wasn’t me who bought it!”
Leonard, arms crossed, squatted on top of the machine, directing a group of small robots to reinstall the removed pilot seat. “In fact, it wasn’t bought at all.”
“Then how did we get it?” Joanna looked at Leo in horror. “What did you do in Neo Venice that was so terrible?”
“What kind of look is that? We’re pirates, aren’t we? Whether it’s stolen or robbed, it’s perfectly normal!”
Joanna’s eyes welled up with tears of excitement. “So… was it stolen or robbed?”
“Lagrange kidnapped a hostage, and this is the ransom.”
The female pirate sniffled. “Really? Lagrange has learned to kidnap hostages and even brought back a ‘Bard’?” Her emotions mixed, like a mother bird seeing her chick learn to fly, with feelings of both joy and pride intertwined. “I need to give him a raise, Leo!”
“I’ll relay that to Mrs. Mota for you.”
“Can I pilot the ‘Bard’ now?”
“Absolutely not.” The ship was currently traveling at near-light speed, leaving the Lalage star system, and flying out now would be equivalent to suicide.
Joanna sadly grabbed another handful of chips from Titia.
“Let’s not talk about piloting it. Can I at least touch it?” Titia asked. “Or sit in the cockpit for a bit?”
“Don’t even think about it.” Titia had a knack for dismantling fighter jets while piloting them, and no one knew how she did it.
The female pilot wanted to eat a chip to ease her frustration but found that the last one had been silently taken by Joanna. She glared at the captain as if she were her arch-nemesis, and the ‘Bard’ was instantly forgotten.
Sensing the rising tension between the two, Titia’s two observant brothers immediately stepped in to separate them. “Captain, your dog needs you to take it for a walk.” “Titia, I bought a bag of Neo Venice specialty seaweed yesterday. It’s delicious.”
After they left, the maintenance bay quieted down. The elevator doors silently closed, cutting off Titia’s loud “I’m tired of seaweed! And I’ve named it ‘Nasha’. How’s that?” leaving only the sound of robots clanging on the pilot seat’s base echoing in the empty room.
Alois and Ibb Descartes had been hiding behind a Godot II, not daring to breathe, afraid of being caught up in the crazy women’s battle. Now they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Ibb elbowed Alois. “Hey, did you hear that? The captain’s giving you a raise! Shouldn’t you treat us?”
“I think so too. But I’ll have to wait until she gives me last month’s salary first.” Alois shrugged, unfazed.
On June 17, 1416, Standard Calendar, the Lady of the Night finished its repairs at the Neo Venice ship repair yard. Amidst the cursing of the yard’s manager (“An AI dared to bargain with me! And it actually convinced me! Damn!”), the ship departed at near-light speed, leaving the Lalage star system and entering warp, heading towards the binary star system Rylier at the border of the Empire and the Free City-States Cluster. Rylier was famous throughout the Empire for its stunning scenery. One of the binary stars was in the red giant phase, pulsating and ejecting massive amounts of matter into space, forming a beautiful nebula that glowed bright orange and dark red, resembling a ring of deep red flames on optical displays. It was also known as the “Flaming Binary”.
The “Flaming Binary” was also notorious for another reason. It was the border between the Empire, the Federation, and the Free City-States, and a major trade route between them. A notorious, ruthless female pirate with flaming red hair and her gang prowled here, eyeing the passing merchant ships. When they found a suitable target, they pounced like hungry wolves, plundering the ships and their cargo, kidnapping the crew, and demanding ransoms from the shipping companies. This notorious pirate was Joanna Begrel. The Empire and the Federation had attempted to dispatch troops to eradicate the pirates but were too preoccupied with fighting each other. The Free City-States couldn’t muster a strong enough military, and the area around the “Flaming Binary” was filled with unstable magnetic vortices and mines left over from the First Galactic War, making it a death trap for anyone unfamiliar with the terrain. Thus, the pirates became increasingly rampant.
“Rampant enough to break into a prison planet and rescue prisoners?”
Major General Darius Bayes sat in the command chair on the bridge, his gloved fingers rhythmically tapping the armrest. A holographic star map was displayed before him, with one region marked in red. In fact, even without the marking, that region was already quite red.
The Major General’s adjutant, John Leibniz, stiffened upon hearing the question, unsure how to respond. The Major General’s thoughts were always inscrutable, the adjutant thought. Sometimes he highly praised Joanna Begrel’s tactics, almost treating her as a model of strategy, while other times he loathed her, wishing to personally take her head. Was the Major General currently admiring her, or hating her? John Leibniz couldn’t figure it out.
The Major General didn’t expect him to. “Order the entire fleet to head towards the ‘Flaming Binary’,” Darius said. “That wicked pirate must have returned to her lair to recuperate.”
“To the ‘Flaming Binary’?” John Leibniz asked in disbelief. “But there… Sir, it’s very dangerous, full of…”
“Full of strange magnetic vortices and old mines that can’t be cleared, right?” The Major General finished his sentence. “I’ve been to places more dangerous than that. Besides, we can’t let this matter drag on, or the Empire’s reputation will be in tatters. We can’t let these pests disrupt the Empire’s peace.” He waved his right hand, closing the star map. “We have great things to accomplish in the future. Let’s use Joanna Begrel’s blood to inaugurate our campaign!”
“Yes, sir!” The adjutant straightened up and saluted. “Additionally, there’s one more thing to report!”
“Speak.”
The adjutant cleared his throat, lowering his voice. “Colonel Gilbert Gauss has been acting strangely lately.”
“What happened to him?” Gilbert Gauss was an officer from a noble family, holding his position thanks to his family’s influence. Rumors said he was one of Prince Sorey’s many illegitimate children. Though Darius Bayes outwardly dismissed these rumors and warned his subordinates not to slander others, he secretly harbored hostility towards Colonel Gauss. Darius, with royal blood and practically raised by Her Majesty the Queen, had little fondness for the philandering prince and his illegitimate offspring.
“Colonel Gauss publicly accused you of cowardice and refusing to fight the pirates,” the adjutant said, glancing around as if his words might be overheard. “He also said that if he were in command, Joanna’s head would have been presented to Her Majesty as a gift long ago.”
“Oh? How interesting.” Darius’s lips curved. “If Colonel Gauss has such ambition, then let him lead the charge against that ‘Mad Queen’!”
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