Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 48
Alois climbed back into bed, his head pounding. Bayes’s words kept echoing in his mind. One was “The assassin Mourner is also on the ship, right next to you,” and the other was “If you are willing to surrender together, I welcome it.” Damn it, who wants to surrender? Especially to bow down to this little brat!
Alois still remembered the first time he met Bayes during the mandatory wilderness survival training in military school. Generally, a senior student would lead a junior group, and several groups would compete in a remote mountain in the Empire Capital. Unfortunately, Alois became Bayes’s team leader and had to endure his sarcastic remarks and arrogance (not only foolish but also self-righteous) while helping their team achieve victory during the week-long training. More than once, Alois wanted to push Bayes off a cliff and make it look like an accident, but in the end, the good side of humanity won over the dark side, preventing him from committing such a heinous act. In hindsight, this seemed like a cruel mistake.
Although he admitted Bayes’s proposal was tempting and made him waver a little, it only stopped at “wavering”. Now, he really liked Joanna’s pirate crew. It was noisy but never annoying, free and unrestrained, much better than life at Hecate or in the palace. He was content with the status quo and didn’t want to change for now. If there was a chance in the future, he would personally avenge himself on Duke Winnet, making him kneel and repent for his sins. But that was for the future. No need to consider it now…
Clang!
The cover of the ventilation duct fell onto the metal floor with a loud noise. Alois jumped up from the bed, grabbed a pillow to defend himself, but saw a small robot with four legs fall out of the vent, lying on its back and spinning helplessly, trying to get up but ultimately failing. It made a “chirp” sound, seemingly expressing anger, then retracted its legs, becoming a metal cube, and extended two wheels from the bottom, sliding toward Alois in an S-shape.
Sliding to his feet, the robot chirped again, and a small holographic projector emerged from its top, displaying a message. “Open the door with your communication terminal at 3:40 sharp, defeat the guards, and meet me.”
Alois was stunned. He fished out his terminal from his pocket. His terminal wasn’t confiscated when he was captured, which was an unspoken rule in the Empire Army. After all, some people used implanted terminals, and confiscating them would mean cutting off a part of the body. Moreover, terminals were important entertainment tools besides communication, and they couldn’t deprive prisoners of this little joy. Although the room had a jammer preventing outside contact, who could stop a transforming terminal robot from crawling through the vents to deliver messages?
“Oh, Leo, you’re so great. Thank technology for benefiting humanity!” Alois placed the terminal flat on the bed and knocked on its cover with his knuckle. The terminal unfolded like a Rubik’s cube, then contracted into a four-legged robot with a silly expression. It jumped off the bed, greeted its brother, who slid back to the vent, transformed into a spider shape, and crawled into the duct.
Alois hurriedly straightened his clothes and finger-combed his hair. God, Joshua was right next door, and he didn’t want to look like he had just been in a fight when they met.
“What time is it now?” he asked, looking down.
The small robot projected a string of numbers above its head—3:32:14.
Eight minutes left.
Just thinking about meeting Joshua made Alois’s heart race like a lovesick girl. Although they had been apart for only a short time, it felt like years. Why was Joshua brought to the ship by Bayes? Captured? Was there anyone else? Did this mean Joanna was defeated?
These questions plagued Alois, making him restless like a caged beast. Time flew by, and the small robot ran to the door on time, using its thin mechanical arms to dismantle the smart lock on the door. Alois pressed against the wall, calming his breath.
Click, the smart lock disengaged, and the small robot rolled aside, shrinking into a small cube, trying to be inconspicuous.
“What’s going on?” The two armed soldiers at the door looked at each other in confusion. “Is there a problem with the door? Why did it open by itself?”
“I don’t know. Let’s go in and check to prevent the prisoner from escaping!”
One soldier peeked in, and Alois grabbed his hair, roughly dragging him into the cabin, then struck his head hard, knocking him down. The other soldier realized something was wrong and immediately raised his laser rifle. But out of nowhere, a strange robot jumped and clung to the gun barrel like a monkey, emitting a powerful electric shock. The soldier immediately dropped the gun. A small explosion followed, indicating the energy cartridge was destroyed.
“Someone is escaping!” The soldier shouted, hoping to alert nearby comrades. He drew his pistol, but before he could pull the trigger, a hand from behind choked his neck. Alois snatched the pistol, then a crack was heard as the soldier’s neck was broken. His head hung limply like a snapped flower stem. He was gently laid on the ground without making a sound.
“Joshua!” Alois dropped the pistol and hugged the intervening Mourner tightly. With arms around his shoulders, he eagerly kissed Joshua’s lips. Joshua responded passionately, but quickly pulled away. Both knew it wasn’t the time for affection.
“How did you get here?” Alois asked. “Was Joanna defeated?”
“No.” Joshua picked up the fallen pistol. “She made a deal with Major General Bayes, and I was brought on board as a prisoner.” He finished off the unconscious soldier with a shot.
“Anyone else? Any other prisoners?”
“No. Just us.” Joshua holstered his gun, signaling Alois to find a weapon. The young man murmured, “May your soul rest in the merciful Lord’s embrace,” and retrieved a laser pistol from the corpse’s belt.
“Let’s go.” Joshua pulled Alois’s hand.
“Where to?”
“Escape.”
The Lady of the Night glided through the boundless cosmos like a bird soaring in the night, closely following the Empire fleet.
On the bridge, Leonard stood behind the command seat, biting his finger. If he weren’t known to be an AI, Joanna would worry he might bite it off.
“Confirmed position of the ‘Sword of the Queen’!” reported a control officer.
Leo’s eyes lit up. “Cut into the signal!” he ordered. “Begin data control!”
Joanna leaned back in her soft chair, awaiting the start of a hacker war. Leo, feeling guilty for the invasion of the Milantu system, vowed to turn the tables. The captain believed Leo wouldn’t just talk.
“Full speed ahead!” she ordered. “Hangar, prepare the ‘Bard’ for launch!”
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