Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 49
Colonel Gilbert Gauss answered the communication terminal. “Notify all units.” The voice of the ship’s AI from the terminal came from the terminal. “POWs Planck and Lagrange have escaped and are currently heading down the thirty-second corridor towards the fourth bay. Combat personnel in corridors thirty-one and twenty-nine. Proceed to intercept immediately. Capture them alive. I repeat, capture them alive!”
“Roger that.” Colonel Gauss turned off the communication and gestured to a few of his subordinates. “Let’s go play cat and mouse. Capture those two and bring them to Bayes so we can laugh at him!”
The subordinates exchanged knowing smiles. They were all close confidants of Gilbert Gauss, with a few even being sent by a high-ranking figure to protect the Colonel. They would never let Major General Darius Bayes know about the conversation they just had.
“Where are we going?!”
Joshua pulled Alois as they sprinted down the narrow corridor, with the terminal robot transformed into a small car leading the way.
“To the ship’s hangar,” Joshua said. “We can steal a shuttle and escape.”
Alois genuinely felt that using “steal” to describe their actions was inappropriate; “seize” was more fitting. They were making too much noise. The assassin seemed to have no concept of “stealth” and wanted the whole ship to know they were escaping. Earlier, they encountered a passing squad of soldiers, and Joshua killed them before they could react.
The little robot seemed to intentionally choose paths, avoiding people, and they passed through several gates without encountering any enemies. Occasionally, they could hear loud shouts and hurried footsteps, but they managed to avoid them skillfully.
Turning corner after corner, passing through corridor after corridor, the destination seemed close at hand, yet forever out of reach.
Alois thought of their escape from Hecate. Joshua had also held his hand tightly back then. Whether then or now, the warmth of the palm and the strength of the grip hadn’t changed. It seemed they had always been on the run, escaping from one place to another.
However, even if it were forever like this, the two of them always on the run didn’t seem so bad… Alois tightened his grip on Joshua’s hand. The assassin glanced back at him, and he returned a comforting smile.
Alarms echoed through the corridor, and Alois guessed it was probably sounded specifically for them. Ahead, a gate crashed down, blocking their way.
The little robot bravely took the lead, sliding to the gate. It transformed into a mechanical spider and climbed onto the smart lock, removed the casing, and inserted its electrodes to start decoding.
“Can’t we take another route?” Alois asked, not sure if he was asking Joshua or the busy little robot.
“Apparently not.” The assassin leaned against the gate, gun aimed at the other end of the corridor, ready for any attack. Alois followed suit, only to receive a scornful look.
“Step aside,” Joshua said sternly. “Don’t get in my way.”
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Alois protested. “I’ve practiced! I’m not worse than you!”
The assassin’s expression was full of distrust.
“There they are!” A shout came from the end of the corridor. “It’s the two escaped prisoners!”
“Capture them! Don’t let them escape!”
Joshua didn’t hesitate and pulled the trigger. The first soldier to enter the corridor fell to the laser beam. The others, realizing the danger, retreated to another corridor.
“Enemy firepower is strong! Deploy armed mechs!”
“Armed mechs ready!”
“Non-mech personnel, retreat immediately! Clear the path! Ammo loaded! Prepare to fire!”
Alois grabbed Joshua’s sleeve. “Damn, they’re deploying the mechs. Don’t engage. Even if you had nine lives, you wouldn’t stand a chance against armed mechs.”
The assassin clicked his tongue and glanced at the busy little robot, urging it to unlock the gate faster. The little robot buzzed and sped up under its owner’s black-gold eyes.
The huge silhouette of the armed mech appeared at the other end of the corridor. Its helmeted head nearly touched the ceiling. One thick mechanical arm had a sharp blade and the other a dark cannon. Alois knew that the Empire Army only deployed armed mechs when an enemy breached the ship or during ground combat. It seemed they had really pissed off Bayes this time.
“Chirp!” The little robot withdrew its electrodes and lightly landed on the ground. The gate slowly rose.
“Let’s go!” Joshua grabbed Alois and rushed through the gate. They ran a few steps before stopping abruptly. Alois, unable to stop in time, bumped into Joshua’s back.
“What’s wrong?” He rubbed his forehead.
Looking over Joshua’s shoulder, he saw Colonel Gilbert Gauss, flanked by six of his subordinates, blocking their way.
“Running away?” the Colonel said with a smug smile. “Let’s see where you can run now!”
Alois stepped back, feeling something hard under his foot. He looked down and saw the poor little robot.
“Chirp!” The robot’s eyes flashed as it transformed into a spider and swiftly crawled back to the other side of the gate, heading for the smart lock, tilting its head, and extending a claw to cut the corridor’s lighting circuit.
Suddenly, everything plunged into darkness. Alois couldn’t react, relying on the last image in his mind to blindly move forward, hoping to find Joshua. As soon as his fingers touched Joshua’s collar, he was grabbed.
“This way!”
Someone pulled him into a run!
“Watch out! They’re escaping!”
“Backup power? Turn on the backup power!”
“The circuit is damaged!”
“Stop them! Quick!”
Alois couldn’t see anything, stumbling forward, nearly falling several times, but was caught each time just in time. His ears were filled with chaotic voices and the buzzing noise of the armed mechs, along with his own heavy breathing and racing heart. Bright laser beams pierced the darkness, weaving a web of blinding light. In those brief moments of illumination, Alois saw who was leading him—Joshua. His slender back seemed more reliable than anyone else.
The voices gradually faded. The laser beams no longer sporadically flashed overhead. The overhead lights flickered a few times and then came back on. It seemed the Empire Army was quite efficient at repairing circuits.
Rounding a corridor, Joshua slowed his pace. He roughly pushed Alois aside, leaned against the metal wall, and slowly slid to the ground.
Alois bent over, pressing his knees, struggling to catch his breath. After finally taking a deep breath, he wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Joshua?”
The assassin hung his head, saying nothing.
“Are you… are you hurt?”
Joshua clutched his abdomen. Dark red blood soaked a large part of his clothes, still seeping through his fingers, contrasting sharply with his pale skin, creating a brutal yet strikingly beautiful scene.
“Empire armed mechs are damn advanced,” the assassin said in a low voice. “They even come with infrared sensors.”
“Don’t talk!” Alois knelt before him, touching his bloody fingers. “We need… need to treat the wound first…”
Joshua suddenly lifted his head. “Move!” He grabbed his gun, jumped up, and aimed down the corridor.
An armed mech was lumbering towards them. Then a second, and a third. “If you know about infrared sensors, you should also know we have thermal trackers, right?”
The first mech’s pilot spoke through an external speaker. “Damaging the lighting system was a tragic mistake, Mourner. I’d love to kill you, but orders are to capture you alive.”
Leo had warned that the terminal robot’s AI was very low. It turned out to be true.
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