Chapter 4: Ashen Hair, Golden Eyes

The passage connecting to the space station opened, and the star pirates herded two people through the corridor.

The Star Pirate Leader walked at the very front, while his deputy brought up the rear, sticking closely to Xie Jianxun. They didn’t restrain him but pressed a gun against the small of his back to keep him from running or shouting.

Xie Jianxun glanced over, then quickly averted his gaze. It was a laser gun, capable of piercing a person silently with a burning effect.

A common model, developed ten years ago. He had learned how to disassemble it quickly—it wasn’t a particularly advanced weapon, which suggested that these star pirates weren’t as well-funded as they seemed.

Huo Jing walked beside him, eyes straight ahead.

“What are you thinking?” He seemed utterly unaffected, chatting casually as if they were out for a stroll.

The star pirate nearby reacted sensitively, whipping his head around to glare at them before aiming his gun at their heads.

Xie Jianxun said worriedly, “I don’t know how to break the news to my butler… This is just rotten luck, honestly.”

The Star Pirate Leader turned back and said, “Indeed, running into me means your luck’s run out big time. Hey, but what can you do? Cut us some slack—we’ve got to eat too.”

They passed through the space station and down another long corridor before entering the star pirates’ ship.

The Star Pirate Leader had no intention of making things too hard for them.

After all, they were rich young masters. Even plucking a single hair from their heads might provoke their families into a murderous rampage.

He simply had someone assign them a basic room. Once they confirmed the two had no weapons, he posted guards at the door, locked it, and called it done.

Xie Jianxun sat on the bed by the porthole, propping himself up on the sill to peer outside.

In the vast cosmos, the space station looked as tiny as a sesame seed. From his vantage point, he had a perfect view of the civilian passenger ship detaching from the station and fleeing at top speed—like a terrified, slippery rabbit zipping away.

Xie Jianxun: “…”

Meanwhile, the star pirates’ ship was rapidly pulling away too, to avoid the passengers alerting anyone and drawing the Expeditionary Force down on them.

They needed to find a new hideout within half an hour.

Xie Jianxun pressed his face against the porthole glass, his gaze full of longing. He wished he could flee to the destination along with the civilian ship.

Someone leaned against the wall and chuckled lightly. “Scared now?”

Xie Jianxun shook his head regretfully. “I didn’t get a chance to call for help. I wonder if the other passengers will.”

Huo Jing replied offhandedly, “The Expeditionary Force has never been quick about wiping out star pirates. You’re better off counting on yourself…”

Before he could finish, he froze, staring out the window with a rare frown.

Xie Jianxun looked up too. “What…”

Then he saw it: on the far side of the distant starry river, a massive fleet of Expeditionary Force ships emerged from the darkness, surging toward them in full force.

“Beeeep—”

The star pirate ship blared a Level 3 alert!

Xie Jianxun dropped his hand in shock. Even with the door closed, he could hear the frantic footsteps of the star pirates rushing outside, along with one cry of alarm after another.

“Holy shit, how’d the Expeditionary Force get here?! Their base is far from this station—they must’ve picked a prime spot on purpose!”

“There’s still some distance… Are they coming for us? Or just passing by?!”

“Defense systems, now, now, now—activate them! Anti-radar, and our ship’s paint job. Don’t panic; it might not be us. We’re using private ship markings—they shouldn’t recognize us…”

Boom—

The star pirates: “…”

Well, that settled it. They’d opened fire, so it was definitely them they were after!

The entire star pirate ship rocked violently from side to side. The corridors lit up red, and nearly all the star pirates rushed to the control room to help.

Red light seeped through the door cracks, staining the whole room crimson.

Huo Jing reacted swiftly, grabbing the handrail on the door as the ship tilted sharply. Veins bulged on his arms as he barely held his footing.

The young master on the bed hadn’t anticipated this at all. He tumbled off the bed, rolling into the wall wrapped in the sheets—thankfully cushioned enough to avoid serious injury.

Both the sheets and the person inside let out strained cries. Xie Jianxun shoved the covers aside and hissed, “My head!”

“The Expeditionary Force has never pursued this efficiently before—unless they’ve been tailing us the whole time,” came a calm voice from the other side of the room.

His jacket was disheveled, the drawstring tied in a loose knot at his chest, but he looked anything but rattled.

He strode over in a few big steps and loomed over Xie Jianxun in the corner, his eyes and the tips of his hair tinged with thin red glows. His expression was sharp, even radiating a hint of menace.

“Besides, there aren’t many who could mobilize them so easily.” He chuckled, his tone unreadable. “And ordinary kids from regular families don’t carry nine-figure sums on their Light Brains. Billions in pocket money.”

Xie Jianxun was shocked himself. “I’ve never even opened this Light Brain since I got it. I had no idea there was that much.”

Huo Jing: “Three million was just pocket change, right? Young master.”

Xie Jianxun fell silent for a moment. His voice was naturally soft, and so was his hair. From Huo Jing’s angle, a small tuft of black hair at his temple stuck up pitifully.

And quite cute.

“I was going to invite you to join us, but it looks like we’ll be parting ways soon.” Huo Jing glanced out the window, where the Expeditionary Force had already closed in. “They’re here to take you away.”

Xie Jianxun looked up at him. “…What?”

The star pirate ship started up a beat too late and was quickly overtaken by more than half the Expeditionary Force fleet.

The Star Pirate Leader gritted his teeth, thought of the fat sheep they’d captured aboard, and decided on a desperate measure. He ordered the control room to jettison the damaged sections early, allowing the central hull to escape swiftly.

It was a quick reaction, but the enemy seemed to anticipate it. They unleashed a barrage that destroyed the side engines.

“Damn it!”

The Star Pirate Leader slammed down from the captain’s chair and bellowed, “Initiate interstellar jump immediately!”

“Boss, our position isn’t stable—jumping now could send us to some unknown star system!”

“Better than staying here! These bastards—we only robbed a bit of cash! Not enough to execute us even in court!”

Huo Jing was picking the lock.

The ship still tilted slightly, and Xie Jianxun struggled to manage his balance, inching over to him step by step.

Huo Jing seemed very familiar with the ship’s layout; even his lock-picking technique felt practiced.

In half a minute, the lock clicked open, and the two staggered out of the cabin.

Xie Jianxun: “We’re just walking out like that? What about our two guards?”

Huo Jing scanned around. “They’ve probably all gone to the control room. This way.”

They ran in the opposite direction. Xie Jianxun kept pace, puzzled. “Where are we headed? Don’t we need a map?”

“The map’s right here,” Huo Jing tapped his head. “I’ve repaired ships like this before. The layouts are pretty standard.”

Xie Jianxun’s eyes widened. He heard faint noises.

Machinery grinding, the high-revving engines humming in that eerie way—

He hesitated. “I hear something strange.”

Huo Jing didn’t turn, gesturing for him to go on.

Xie Jianxun narrowed his eyes, describing it carefully. “Like… a hole ripping open in space, and something forcing its way through…”

A cannon blast.

The ship’s side wing exploded.

His words cut off amid the ship’s intense vibrations. In the next instant, Huo Jing whipped around. His face filled Xie Jianxun’s vision as he firmly gripped his shoulders, forcing him to the floor and cushioning his head with his arm!

In that moment, the entire ship plunged into darkness.

Bzzz—

Dizziness and ringing ears assaulted Xie Jianxun’s brain all at once.

He knelt instinctively, forehead against Huo Jing, the back of his head pillowed on his arm. Huo Jing pressed his chest down firmly, shielding the young master from breaking bones in the violent shaking.

It felt both brief and eternal.

Once the deafening ring faded, Xie Jianxun regained a sliver of awareness.

Even the tuft of his black hair drooped limply now, utterly wilted.

“Interstellar… jump?” Though he’d rarely experienced it, Xie Jianxun could still identify the aftereffects of high-speed travel.

Huo Jing released him, his own face pale.

Staying conscious through an interstellar jump had drained him too. Fortunately, neither he nor the young master on the floor was hurt.

“Next, stick close and memorize the route.” Huo Jing let go and said hurriedly.

After the side wing hit, the ship’s flight had grown unstable—especially after that poorly positioned interstellar jump.

The star pirate ship emerged from the wormhole channel. Though the Expeditionary Force was gone from behind them, they had no idea where they’d ended up.

The star pirate handling star charts and navigation sighed in relief. At least they weren’t getting pummeled anymore.

What the hell—the Expeditionary Force showing up here was insane.

Suddenly, like spotting a savior, he shouted, “Boss! There’s a planet ahead! We have to land now—the engines can’t take it!”

Star Pirate Leader: “Land!”

After barreling forward at high speed for a bit, the ship—crippled by engine damage—made an emergency landing on the nearest desert planet.

In the narrow escape passage, Xie Jianxun followed Huo Jing all the way to the bottom storage bay for the landship.

They’d first headed for the side escape pods, but found that wing destroyed, so they rerouted to the landship as a backup.

Outside, lights flickered wildly as the ship scraped through the atmosphere and crash-landed in the desert.

But bad luck struck again. Engine fluid leaked, and they touched down in a soft spot that gave way, causing the side wing to explode.

The whole ship flipped unexpectedly. Parts twisted, lights stuttered on and off—like an alien invasion or the end of the world.

Xie Jianxun had no idea how many times he’d bashed his head. He gasped for breath, clinging to a handrail as his brain felt scrambled.

Looking up, he saw the man clinging to the wall like a gecko, expression icy and barely fazed by the chaos.

Once the noises outside died down, Huo Jing let go and hopped down easily.

He hit the hatch button. Fierce wind mixed with coarse sand blasted in through the slowly opening door.

A wave of heat hit them, the light blindingly bright.

Xie Jianxun squeezed his eyes shut, adapting only after a while. He saw nothing but endless desert outside.

Huo Jing glanced out, then looked away.

“With the ship this wrecked, it probably won’t run. Those star pirates will come down eventually,” he said casually, as if discussing lunch. “Let’s head out and see if anyone’s settled on this planet.”

Xie Jianxun: “It’s all desert… Really think anyone’s living here?”

Before he finished, he noticed Huo Jing staring at him—or rather, his hair.

He reached up quickly and found the quick dye fading, revealing his original ashen color.

Huo Jing slowly raised a brow. “Ashen hair, golden eyes… That’s some pricey coloring.”