Chapter 71: We Star Pirates Are Crude, Upsetting the Little Darling… Part 1

Under the quiet night sky, waves crashed against the beach, seemingly endless.

Amid the faint sounds of seawater lapping at the sand, Xie Jianxun finally came back to his senses. His vision focused, and he clearly saw the appearance of the person before him.

Her long hair was pinned up, her long skirt draped elegantly, and she sat quietly in a wheelchair with her hands folded neatly on her knees. The young lady, Holianna, smiled at him.

He didn’t know when she had arrived.

But she must have clearly witnessed the entire process of the Escape Pod descending from the sky and finally crashing heavily into the sea.

Xie Jianxun paused, first probing whether she was friend or foe—if she was friendly, that was good, but if she stood with Huo Jing and wanted to capture the fleeing crew member on behalf of the Siphon Whale…

“Lady Holianna, good evening.”

He greeted her, but he kept his ears perked vigilantly.

Fortunately, Holianna had no intention of calling anyone to grab him.

As if afraid of startling him, she made no large movements. Instead, she just gestured for Xie Jianxun not to stay in the water.

The young lady said softly, “The sea at Lihou Port is cold. Come up quickly.”

Xie Jianxun looked down at himself and saw that two-thirds of his lower body was submerged in the sea. Waves crashed powerfully against his legs one after another. His whole body was soaked, and water dripped steadily from his clothes.

He relaxed slightly, wiped his face, and swam slowly ashore. The waves rippled behind him until he finally reached the beach, dripping wet.

For the last stretch, Holianna wheeled herself in front of him and extended a hand.

Xie Jianxun hesitated, then took her offered hand.

He had only intended to borrow a little support, not daring to use any more force.

But to his surprise, the young lady’s strength was great—much greater than he had imagined. She easily gripped his wrist in return and pulled him up from the sea.

Stepping onto the soft sand and away from the cold water, Xie Jianxun’s heart still pounded.

He bent down to wring out the hem of his clothes, which had become especially heavy from the water. As for his pants, they were temporarily unmanageable.

“I really did it…”

Recalling the past half hour, he muttered to himself in disbelief.

Holianna turned her face toward him. By then, the two walked side by side toward the shore, though the lady in her wheelchair appeared a bit shorter.

She thought for a moment and said, “Though I don’t know why Your Highness was on the star pirates’ ship, I believe it wasn’t by Your Highness’s choice.”

Xie Jianxun grumbled, “Yes, I was kidnapped.”

Holianna showed a slight smile. “Last time we met, when Your Highness suddenly asked about the depth of the sea in this port, I had some guesses about your plans.”

Xie Jianxun felt a bit embarrassed. “I was gambling, betting I could hit the right spot. If the Escape Pod had smashed directly into Lihou Port, I really would have had no way out.”

Holianna praised, “Your Highness is truly… bold and unrestrained.”

Behind them on the beach, their traces were left: a string of footprints and a long trail of wheel marks.

Xie Jianxun glanced back worriedly, but Holianna brushed it off lightly, telling him not to worry. “Someone will take care of it. What do you plan to do now?”

She would help clean up the traces of his departure—she was an ally… Xie Jianxun suddenly felt enlightened, and his mood relaxed considerably.

He thought for a moment and shared his plan. “The Aviation Port hasn’t started selling tickets yet. I plan to find a hotel to stay until dawn, then take a flight out.”

Holianna shook her head, rejecting his idea.

“Your Highness, you don’t know that most of Lihou Port’s Black Market is under the Siphon Whale’s control. The port is full of their informants. Hiding in the port until tomorrow, or even going to the Aviation Port to leave, is very likely to get you discovered.”

Xie Jianxun grew tense. “Then what should I do?”

Holianna glanced at his ash-gray hair thoughtfully. “We can only wait a bit longer. We need to leave at a reasonable time.”

Someone approached from nearby. Xie Jianxun turned his head nervously, only to have a coat draped over him.

The man bowed to Holianna and then left.

The largest Black Market broker smiled, his hand against his chin, gazing at him mildly. “Your Highness, I have a private spaceship. It’s not large, but it can at least slip away from the Siphon Whale’s eyes. Would Your Highness come with me?”

…

“The surveillance didn’t capture you disabling the alarm, but I’ve never fully trusted those iron gadgets to decide everything.”

Huo Jing pulled out his Light Brain. His had been specially modified to connect directly to various device permissions on the Main Ship, including the full-ship surveillance.

Unfortunately, the mysterious person who shut off the alarm hadn’t left a frontal image anywhere he passed—everything went black screen.

It was just like a hacker intrusion.

Huo Jing tapped the armrest casually. “I can’t think of anyone else who would be wandering the ship sleeplessly at this hour—unless it’s a Federation plant.”

“Your cabin is empty. The life signs detection system just told me you’ve been away from your cabin for three hours and twenty minutes. Good First Mate, I didn’t assign you any patrol duties today.”

He pulled up the life signs detection for Xie Jianxun’s cabin and glanced at the time: Idle for 1 hour 45 minutes.

He closed the Light Brain screen, and his expression darkened.

The grey-eyed First Mate knelt on the ground, swaying as he tried to stand. The surrounding star pirates were highly vigilant and pressed down hard on his back.

“Boss…”

His voice was somewhat hoarse, as if he’d strained his vocal cords. “There was unusual activity in the armory permissions. I had to check it out. From what I suspect… there’s a Federation plant on the ship, and not just one.”

Whoa! All the star pirates erupted, chattering animatedly.

Huo Jing propped his cheek with one hand, squinting at him.

The First Mate looked up, meeting his gaze firmly and sincerely. “They infiltrated the Siphon Whale silently, even with the ability to interfere with Main Ship permissions. It’s not just a lone operative—there must be hackers too.”

Indeed, his words and details matched basically.

Launching an Escape Pod required two steps: First, gain Main Ship crew permissions and unlock the pod via card, fingerprint, or pupil scan, which would then send a message to the Main Ship control room.

Second, open the launch hatch and eject the pod. Unless in an emergency, regular crew wouldn’t use this, so it triggered a ship-wide alarm.

Now, there was no alarm and no control room message.

The latter meant someone manually disabled the alarm, so the former… could only be explained by a hacking intrusion.

The First Mate was just one person; he had no equipment to hack into the Siphon Whale and intercept that Escape Pod signal at the critical moment.

Unless he had accomplices.

Using a fleeing crew member to create chaos, then cover the armory anomaly.

The star pirates exchanged uneasy glances, all looking toward Huo Jing at the center.

The Siphon Whale’s leader’s expression didn’t change at all, as if watching an extremely entertaining show that suddenly lost its thrill at the climax. “You’re right. I already planned a purge.”

Whoa—many star pirates below quickly changed expressions, frantically recalling if their cabins had any explicitly forbidden contraband.

They hoped that if those liquor bottles were found, how many months’ pay would they lose?

A few others subtly paled.

“The new recruits from recently haven’t been properly trained and were left to run loose—that’s your responsibility as First Mate. If no plants are found, then…”

He stood, bending slightly in front of the First Mate, his tone utterly cold.

“Your negligence.”

The First Mate was silent for a moment, then finally lowered his head. “Yes, this subordinate was negligent.”

“So, even if it turns out not to be you, it wouldn’t be unjust,” Huo Jing straightened up and smiled. “Of course, I also hope it’s not you in the end, turning into the kind of traitor I despise most.”

The young First Mate gritted his teeth. The moment Huo Jing straightened, he seemed unable to hold on any longer and said lowly, “Boss, I didn’t.”

Huo Jing: “You’d better not have.”

“Lock him in the brig.” He jerked his head and ordered.

With the Siphon Whale’s leader speaking, none of the star pirates dared make a sound. They looked at the First Mate with some regret, thinking the boss probably wouldn’t replace him—just teach their First Mate a long lesson.

The star pirates let out disappointed boos. The simple lockdown meant the boss didn’t plan to replace the First Mate.

The young man with grey eyes and a black suit was hauled up, staggering toward the brig, but Huo Jing wasn’t done.

“Someone broke the rules. Come on, bring him back.”

Huo Jing suddenly turned and named someone.

Ke Xi stepped forward with a grin at the order, raising his hand. “Boss, dead or alive?”

The leader said lightly, “Finished scrubbing the lower deck floors?”

Ke Xi: “…”

The scar-faced star pirate whined, “Boss, the living quarters’ floors are self-cleaning… Fine! I’m off right now!”

Around five in the morning, lights gradually lit up across Lihou Port, turning the night into broad daylight. Searchlights streaked white trails through the darkness.

Countless star pirates and informants were mobilized to find a young boy who fled the star pirate ship in the dead of night.

Some reached that beach, but it was spotless, with only daytime tourists’ footprints.