Chapter Sixty-Two: The Third Party

Chapter Sixty-Two: The Third Party

The ship’s command room was as usual, as if it had been sealed for ages. Liu Shaoyu gently touched the captain’s chair at the command station. It held no warmth.

“Shen Qingyi must have sat here, right?” Liu Shaoyu murmured to himself, imagining Shen Qingyi commanding from this very seat. Her hair wound high atop her head, neat and efficient. In a flash, the image shifted—she appeared with short hair, her face pale.

Snapping back to reality, Liu Shaoyu pressed on with his plan.

Naturally, this spacecraft belonged to Shen Qingyi. It seemed the intelligence of the desolate race had not yet advanced enough to breach the ship’s security systems. As for how they had gotten inside… just look at their claws.

So why was Liu Shaoyu here now?

Simply put, it was a strategy… The idea of a fierce tribe’s lone warrior charging in, shouting, “Prepare to die!” struck Liu Shaoyu as absurd.

Therefore…

“Laser cannon set, fifteen minutes until firing.”

Liu Shaoyu found Thomas increasingly invaluable. After handling his covert actions, Liu Shaoyu activated the stealth shield and left the warship, continuing his watch from outside the settlement.

The wait was long. It took five minutes for Liu Shaoyu to return to his position. Just ten more minutes, and his objective would be achieved.

His gaze was fixed on the settlement’s largest building. Though large, it remained primitive. From prior observation, Liu Shaoyu noted that most items unloaded from the ship had been piled around this structure, with smaller objects occasionally delivered inside.

Patience was the next step. Liu Shaoyu glanced at the timer on his screen, calculating that it was almost time.

As expected, the countdown ended, and a powerful beam erupted. Even Liu Shaoyu could feel the ripples of energy, as the once-clear building was swallowed by light.

“If only there were enough energy,” Liu Shaoyu lamented. If he could use the main cannon... it would have saved him a lot of trouble.

The sudden blast stirred the creatures within the settlement. Once they realized their treasure vault had been destroyed, they grew frantic.

“Roar! Roar!” The howls rose in waves, and Liu Shaoyu could sense the anger in their cries.

Irritable! That was the label Liu Shaoyu gave them. But in this situation, being irritable was actually a good thing.

The creatures inside the building emerged in droves, gathering around a particularly massive one—their leader, it seemed.

Led by their chief, the crowd surged forth. Their target?

They knew precisely what had caused the attack. Furious, the desolate creatures poured out in full force. Liu Shaoyu’s plan had succeeded.

Liu Shaoyu anticipated he would have enough time to infiltrate and investigate what he needed.

Just as the creatures reached their crude entrance, something unexpected happened.

Laser fire scattered, dazzling beams flashing into the midst of the desolate beings.

“What’s happening?” Liu Shaoyu, poised to move, suddenly halted. He would never act rashly before figuring out what was going on.

Another group was equally puzzled. Wasn’t the plan to lure them out with a twenty-minute attack and then strike? Why had the guns fired early?

No matter—since the battle had begun, they would proceed as planned. Exterminate these monsters!

Suddenly, the settlement was in chaos. Several warships appeared in the sky; it was clear the earlier artillery came from them.

Liu Shaoyu’s brow furrowed. Things were becoming complicated.

Who were these people? Why had they come here? Liu Shaoyu’s mind raced.

A leak? That was the only explanation Liu Shaoyu could think of. Yes! This group must have learned about the ice ore and attacked the settlement because of it.

Then… Shen Qingyi’s predicament was likely linked directly to these people. If so, regardless of their numbers, Liu Shaoyu would confront them today.

But what exactly to do? Liu Shaoyu decided to wait and see. He liked the idea of profiting from others’ conflict.

The bombardment struck the gathered desolate creatures, provoking more howls. Powerful energy whipped up clouds of dust, shrouding the battlefield.

Below the warships, suddenly, zip lines were released. About thirty mechs slid down.

“What a show of force!” Liu Shaoyu marveled quietly.

But if this fleet’s scale was all it took to defeat Shen Qingyi, it didn’t make sense to Liu Shaoyu. He couldn’t imagine Shen Qingyi’s fleet being any weaker.

With the mechs joining in, the battle quickly became one-sided. The desolate creatures were outnumbered and weakened by the earlier attack. Soon, only a few hundred remained, surrounded. The mechs and warships formed a circle, firing continuously. Their numbers dwindled rapidly.

This wasn’t what Liu Shaoyu wanted to see. From the mechs’ arrival, there had been virtually no losses. Strange—when he visited a small planet, there were many more desolate creatures. Why were there fewer than a thousand here?

“Could there have been a battle before?” Liu Shaoyu wondered.

Moreover, this fleet was clearly prepared. Their slaughter was deft, minimizing losses.

“Too strange.” Liu Shaoyu’s mind was filled with questions. Everything about this affair was odd. Who were these people?

“Signal decoded. Ready to access,” Thomas announced.

“Connect. Be careful not to be detected.”

“That’s impossible,” Thomas replied.

Liu Shaoyu smiled, beginning to eavesdrop on their communications.

“Why hasn’t it appeared yet!?” As soon as he connected, Liu Shaoyu heard a man’s deep voice.

Thomas had hacked directly into the enemy flagship’s command room communications.

“It’s better if it doesn’t show up! Finish them off quickly. If Huang Xuan returns, things will get complicated,” another man replied, his tone tinged with disdain.

Huang Xuan! Liu Shaoyu was startled to hear that name again. How was this scoundrel involved everywhere?

“Right, hurry up. Luckily, that Shen girl from the Shen family already wiped out most of these monsters. Damn, she’s tough. Even in an ambush, she destroyed half our warships. Forced us to make another trip to this godforsaken place!” the deep voice continued.

“Ha! So it is you!” Liu Shaoyu gritted his teeth, finally hearing the information he’d been seeking.

“Heh, once this job’s done, we’ll never have to stay in this desolate star field again! Huang Xuan’s intel says there’s a whole shipload of ice ore in the cave behind this settlement!”

“Hmph! Enough talk. Finish them off quickly. If the other big ones show up, it’ll be trouble,” the deep-voiced man urged.

“Oh! Huang Xuan! You won’t escape this time,” Liu Shaoyu’s anger flared. It was lively indeed. Apparently, everything revolved around that ship of ice ore.

Those frenzied killers had no idea that, hidden in the shadows, Liu Shaoyu had already sentenced them to death.

Just then, several piercing howls echoed from the distance.

“Not good!” the deep-voiced man suddenly cried, his voice rising several octaves.