Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 63

“This way!”

Joshua sidestepped the incoming laser beam and darted into a narrow alley barely wide enough for one person. He roughly shoved Alois into the alley, much like stuffing chewing gum into an ATM card slot.

“I’m stuck!”

“How is that possible? Are you a hippo?”

Joshua pushed him forward with both hands and feet. The police cars couldn’t enter such a narrow alley, and they had to escape before the slow-moving officers disembarked and aimed their guns at these sitting ducks. Joshua had no time to complain about Alois’s noise because he also found it difficult to move in the alley. Were the architects of Leyting all idiots? Why design such an impractical space between buildings? Was this some new form of performance art?

When Alois finally squeezed out of the alley, he had never been more thankful to the Lord for granting humanity air and open spaces. Joshua followed closely behind, looking somewhat disheveled, with his clothes torn by the rough walls and a few scratches on his arms.

The narrow alley connected to another dimly lit alley, slightly wider, allowing two people to walk side by side. The end of the alley led to Leyting’s bustling streets. From their position, they could see sunlight streaming in and hear the noisy traffic of the busy street.

“Which way?” Alois asked.

Joshua stared at the alley’s end. “That person over there… Do you know them well?”

“…Who?”

A luxurious blue flying car was parked at the alley’s entrance, its back window halfway down. A blue-haired girl with sunglasses poked half her body out, excitedly waving at them.

Alois rolled his eyes. “Oh Lord, why is she here?” He realized he might have used the wrong pronoun.

“You should get into the habit of watching the news every morning. The Galactic Diva’s tour includes a stop in Leyting.”

Seeing them stand still, the Galactic Diva jumped out of the car, trying to attract their attention. Her manager, Rita, frantically pulled her back. “Do you want the entire Leyting to watch you, my Diva?”

“So what? It’s not like I haven’t been watched before.” Srosie adjusted his large sunglasses, which covered half his face, and excitedly waved again. Rita worried he might strain his wrist.

“Hurry up! The police are coming!”

“Don’t shout so loudly! Do you really want to attract the police?” Rita covered his mouth. Only when the two “wanted criminals”, who for some reason had attracted the police, got into the car did she release him and instruct the driver to start. Srosie immediately leaned over like a small animal. “Hi, Alois, long time no see!”

Joshua frowned. He got into the car first, sitting between Srosie and Alois to prevent any trouble. But Srosie ignored the assassin, leaning over Joshua to greet Alois as if they were old friends.

Joshua glared at Srosie, but the diva seemed used to various looks from people (understandably, given his stage presence), not reacting at all. Or perhaps he noticed but ignored Joshua on purpose to provoke him, continuing to chat with Alois.

“Why are you in Leyting? When did you arrive?”

“Uh… a day or two ago…” Alois’s mind was still in escape mode, not ready for a reunion with an old friend, so he was slow to respond.

“I had a concert yesterday. Did you come?” Alois shook his head. “No? Why? Ah, I know, you couldn’t get tickets, right? You should’ve told me earlier. I have plenty of tickets. I could get you as many as you want!”

Alois wanted to say he didn’t know about the concert, but seeing Srosie’s expectant face, he couldn’t bear to say anything that might label him as “not a true fan of Camilla”, so he just mumbled noncommittally.

But Srosie took this as confirmation and continued chattering. “I never thought we’d meet again here. It must be fate! We have a bond!”

“Uh… yeah, probably…” Srosie’s sudden enthusiasm was overwhelming.

Joshua interrupted, “Sorry to interrupt your friendly conversation, but may I say something?”

“What?” Srosie finally noticed Joshua’s presence.

“Could you get off me? You’re heavy.”

Srosie’s expression froze as if someone had pressed a pause button on him. He silently crawled back to his seat, turned to the window, and said nothing.

The car fell into an eerie silence.

Alois elbowed Joshua, warning him to watch his mouth. The assassin imitated Srosie, staring at the sky silently as if discussing the weather.

“Ahem, I mean…” Alois tried to change the topic and ease the tension. “Srosie, why are you here?”

Srosie didn’t respond, and Joshua answered sarcastically, “Fate.”

Alois felt his temples throbbing. Stay calm! He told himself. Don’t get angry! There’s definitely a misunderstanding here! The situation is urgent. Explanations can wait!

Finally, Rita, the manager, broke the awkward silence. “A Mr. Leonard contacted us, saying you were in trouble in Leyting and asked for our help.”

“Thank you so much.”

“We weren’t going to help because Camilla’s schedule is tight, and we must leave Leyting soon for the next stop of the tour. Besides, your identities…” Rita paused meaningfully. “But Camilla insisted on finding you, so I had to give in… Please understand our difficulties.”

Alois nodded vigorously. “I understand, I understand!”

“So, are you heading to the spaceport? I just heard there was an accident, and it’s locked down.”

“If possible, we’d like to leave Leyting immediately and return to our mothership.”

“I see…” Rita pondered how to safely get these two wanted men into space, but the driver interrupted her thoughts. “Miss Rita, there’s a checkpoint ahead. It looks like an inspection.”

“Stop the car.”

The flying car stopped at the temporary checkpoint, and armed police officers approached to question them. “Please step out, show your IDs, and cooperate with our inspection.”

Rita lowered the window and gestured for the officer to come closer. “Please keep your voice down,” she said mysteriously. “The person in the car is Miss Camilla… Please don’t make a fuss!” Seeing the officer’s surprised look, Rita quickly added, “We’re heading back to the ‘Muse’ ship and don’t want to attract too much attention. Please understand.”

She lowered the back window a bit, revealing Kamilia with her giant sunglasses, showing half her face, and giving the officer a sweet smile. Rita seized the opportunity, pulling out a signed album from her bag and handing it to the officer. “Please, Camilla’s schedule is very tight.”

The driver played along, nervously saying, “Miss Rita, there are two suspicious people over there. They look like reporters!”

The officer looked up and saw two people whispering and pointing at them. Although he wasn’t a die-hard fan of Camilla, he liked the sweet-voiced singer. With a Galactic star in Leyting for a concert, he had missed it due to his duty and had complained to his colleagues. Now, he was thrilled to meet her up close and receive a signed album. He waved them through, signaling to his subordinates to question the suspicious passersby instead. “Go quickly!”

Camilla waved goodbye, raising the window. The officer noticed two men sitting with her, probably bodyguards, he thought.

Safely past the checkpoint, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“Miss Rita, you should be in movies!” Alois admired the calm and composed manager.

“Not at all. You’re too kind,” Rita said modestly. “I have an idea. How about you two take the ‘Muse’ ship? Once we’re out of Leyting, we’ll find a way to rendezvous with your mothership.”

“Thank you very much.”

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