Chapter 192: Found
"How about we switch to another aircraft after all? I can't shake this bad feeling."
"Don't waste time. Once they discover Nan Yu is missing, they'll definitely lock down every checkpoint immediately. When that happens, it won't be as simple as passing an inspection and leaving!"
"Exactly. Do you want us to get trapped here? Those people helped us get in, but they're not going to help us escape! Have you contacted Song Xiaoyu's side?"
"We've already contacted them, Boss. We told them to pack everything up and leave the planet. They'll wait for us near the jump point, and once we arrive, we'll jump out of here together."
The boss thought for a moment. "Don't have them wait for us. Tell them to jump out first when the time comes."
"All right, Boss."
But when they tried contacting them again, they discovered that they could no longer get through.
"Boss, we can't contact them!"
The boss frowned slightly.
He knew the people on the other side must have already discovered that Nan Yu was missing and had begun cutting off communications in the surrounding area. In a little while, they might even...
"Faster! It's easy enough for them to lock down transportation across the Capital Star, but restricting entry and exit at the starport will take some effort. They'll need to obtain a lockdown order first. We need to use this window to get out as quickly as possible!"
In other words, forget switching to another damn aircraft. Right now, they didn't even know whether they could leave the Capital Star's starport before the other side locked it down.
"Let's just hope the identities Song Xiaoyu prepared are completely clean. Otherwise, we'll be delayed for a long time, and they might even notice something wrong and kill us."
What they didn't know was that Imperial military forces had already gathered together and were watching their route.
They had even pinpointed their exact location and dispatched surveillance robots to follow them covertly—military equipment that was virtually impossible to detect.
Under these circumstances, even switching aircraft wouldn't help them anymore.
If they had changed aircraft within ten minutes of "Nan Yu" planting the tracker, the military really would have lost their position.
Unfortunately...
They were in too much of a hurry.
"Now we just need to wait for them to rendezvous. But they mentioned a jump point. In that case, we can send some people ahead to wait near the surrounding jump points. If we're lucky, we might run straight into them. Then we can simply move in and arrest them."
"No objections here."
No one objected.
The suggestion was quickly adopted.
Several soldiers disguised themselves as ordinary tourists and piloted private spacecraft slowly toward the jump point.
There were ships both ahead and behind, with irregular distances between them. At a glance, they simply looked like scattered private spacecraft heading toward the jump point to leave.
Among them were three spacecraft that didn't belong to the military.
Two were carrying genuine tourists who were simply heading out on vacation.
The remaining one—the slowest spacecraft at the very back—was, according to their intelligence, carrying the kidnappers!
Song Xiaoyu and members of the organization were aboard.
There were also two others.
Nan Yun.
And Nan Zhen.
From the moment the two had been kidnapped until now, no one seemed to have seen or sensed either of them moving.
In other words, Song Xiaoyu had been insane enough to continuously inject them with drugs that kept them unconscious.
How long had it been already?
If they kept injecting those drugs, Nan Yun and Nan Zhen would genuinely be in danger!
"That's definitely the spacecraft, right?"
"Yes, that's it. Remember to maintain your speed. You can gradually slow down when the time comes, but absolutely don't let them notice anything unusual. If they accelerate and escape, capturing them will become much more difficult."
"And most importantly, we've confirmed that Nan Yun and Nan Zhen really are aboard that spacecraft. Everyone be careful when the time comes. Don't force the kidnappers into killing the hostages!"
"Understood!"
Everyone responded in unison.
That alone demonstrated the high quality of the Empire's soldiers.
Of course, saying it perfectly wasn't particularly impressive. The real question was whether they could capture the kidnappers during the critical moment while rescuing both hostages completely unharmed.
After all, Yu Lanfeng had personally ordered that these two hostages had to be rescued in perfect condition.
If a few minor injuries had been acceptable, they would have charged in and rescued them long ago.
But now there were restrictions everywhere—this wasn't allowed, that wasn't allowed. It was somewhat suffocating.
Fortunately, the kidnappers were already trapped like turtles in a jar, so everyone remained in a good state of mind.
As time slowly passed, two spacecraft gradually moved closer together and began slowing down.
It looked as though their occupants had encountered acquaintances and were traveling together while chatting over communications, which naturally caused them to move much more slowly.
Zheng Xiaoyu and the others aboard the kidnappers' spacecraft naturally didn't notice anything suspicious.
One person was focused entirely on the fastest spacecraft ahead.
Behind him, Song Xiaoyu kept staring at the two unconscious men before him.
From time to time, he would stroke their faces or hands. Sometimes, when he became particularly excited, he would even slip his hand underneath their clothes and repeatedly caress their waists or stomachs.
The obsessed, perverted expression on his face frightened the organization member beside him.
He hadn't expected Song Xiaoyu to actually be such a pervert!
And someone like this was actually a Mental Power User.
That was something they couldn't understand.
Fortunately, the other man was currently focused on monitoring their surroundings and piloting the spacecraft, so he didn't have the attention or time to keep watching what Song Xiaoyu was doing behind him.
"It feels like there are more spacecraft than usual today. But I suppose it is travel season recently, so it's normal for there to be more people."
Within the Empire, there was a planet whose surface was divided equally between land and ocean.
Seven-eighths of its land was covered by a very unusual type of tree.
For most of the year, these trees remained dormant. Not only did they almost never bloom under ordinary circumstances, they didn't even grow.
The only two months each year when these trees bloomed were also the only two months when the young saplings around them could grow vigorously.
Once those two months ended, they would enter dormancy again. All their petals would fall away, and the cycle would repeat.
The two people aboard the spacecraft were both watching outside now, because some kind of incident seemed to have occurred ahead.
Two spacecraft had been traveling at different speeds, one faster and the other slower. The faster one had scraped against the slower spacecraft, and both were now stopped some distance ahead.
Since they were in the vacuum of space and absolutely couldn't go outside, the people aboard the two spacecraft were probably either cursing at each other through their screens or negotiating how to resolve the situation.
The spacecraft that had been scraped looked quite new, and now there was an extra mark across its exterior.
Its owners were probably furious.
Hopefully, they wouldn't delay them.
Song Xiaoyu asked, "Why are we slowing down?"
"Two spacecraft ahead scraped against each other, so they're moving slowly. We haven't entered the jump point yet, which means we still have to follow the officially designated route. If we change routes without authorization, we'll probably be detected and brought back."
"Keep calm. We're about to leave. If you lose your composure over something this minor and get us dragged back, don't forget that your device is currently over there being used to hold Nan Yu instead of being in your hands. The moment someone comes in, they'll immediately discover these two."
Song Xiaoyu nodded. "I know. I don't need you reminding me. Just focus on piloting the spacecraft so we don't get scraped by—"
Before he could finish speaking, the spacecraft suddenly shook.
Wonderful.
Song Xiaoyu had instantly become a jinx.
His expression turned ugly.
"Seriously? I actually called it? What happened? Don't act too anxious when °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° we talk to them. Just get some compensation and leave."
Sure enough, a communication request soon arrived from the spacecraft that had accidentally scraped against theirs.
It was a video call.
He immediately rejected the video request.
The other side then sent a voice-call request instead.
Only then did he accept it.
Someone spoke from the other end.
"Um... hello?"
It was a woman's voice, and she sounded extremely nervous.
"Well... I didn't do it on purpose. Do you think we could just settle this privately?"
They hadn't wanted to make a big deal out of it either.
It was only a minor scrape, nothing serious.
"Fine. We'll settle privately. Give me thirty thousand credits so I can get it repaired afterward."
"All right, brother, no problem! Send me your account number and I'll transfer the money right now. I like people like you—straightforward! And you didn't demand some ridiculous amount either. I've met several people before who immediately asked me for three hundred thousand. I told them, with three hundred thousand and a little more money, I could practically buy another spacecraft!"
Song Xiaoyu's mouth twitched.
Their spacecraft would cost at least several million credits, yet according to this woman, three hundred thousand plus "a little more" could buy a whole new one.
Still, prices couldn't be reduced too drastically. The production costs alone placed a limit on that.
But they had no intention of causing trouble or talking unnecessarily.
Following the principle that the less they said, the fewer mistakes they could make, he sent over the account information for receiving payment.
The other side transferred thirty thousand credits almost immediately.
Song Xiaoyu and the others exchanged glances.
That fast?
He had only just sent the account information. Shouldn't it have taken at least ten or twenty seconds to complete the transaction?
Apparently, this woman was even more foolish than they had imagined.
After receiving the money, he immediately ended the call.
Their spacecraft then increased its speed slightly and continued forward without any intention of arguing further.
Meanwhile, aboard the spacecraft that had scraped against them, the situation was entirely different.
"How did it go?"
"No problems. Though we've technically alerted them now. The one advantage is that the two unrelated tourist spacecraft have already left through other jump points. Their jump point seems to be farther inside. If we follow them any deeper, we may lose them completely. So right now is our best opportunity to act. They can't contact anyone on the Capital Star at the moment because we've blocked communications in this area."
"In that case, let's act immediately. Everyone be careful. Let's try to bring both hostages back safe and sound. If we manage that, our mission evaluation will definitely go up. Not to mention that the Nan family and Marshal Yu will owe us a favor!"
Everyone rolled their eyes.
Their captain was dreaming again.
They had only managed to locate this spacecraft because of the methods used by that fake "Nan Yu." As for the other side...
"Ahem."
The captain probably realized that what he'd just said was a little embarrassing, so he slowly cleared his throat twice.
"Move!!"
At his command, the spacecraft that had previously been scattered around immediately began rapidly closing in on Song Xiaoyu's spacecraft.
Such a large movement naturally couldn't escape their notice for long.
"Something's wrong. Hold on tight, I'm accelerating! Once we reach the jump point, we'll jump immediately!"
"Hey, are you kidding me? Do you know how dangerous it is to initiate a jump while traveling at extreme speed? No, absolutely not..."
"Am I the one joking, or are you? Don't spacecraft normally have to accelerate to their maximum speed before initiating a jump? Don't tell me this spacecraft of yours is somehow different!"
Song Xiaoyu's mouth twitched.
He really had been the one to find this spacecraft, but under their circumstances, simply finding one that could still be piloted normally had already been good enough.
The spacecraft had originally been practically falling apart. He had replaced many of its components and had its exterior repaired and reinforced before it was finally usable.
But it still wasn't exactly in perfect condition.
"In any case, when initiating a jump, our speed can't exceed half of this spacecraft's maximum speed. Otherwise, the jump will fail. You know what happens when a jump fails, right?"
When a spacecraft failed a jump, there were generally several possible outcomes.
Anywhere from one-third to half of the spacecraft might be destroyed.
Or the entire spacecraft could simply explode, leaving nothing behind.
There was also roughly a ten-percent chance of successfully completing the jump despite the failure conditions, but even then, exiting the jump afterward would be an extremely painful ordeal.
Sometimes, accelerating too quickly meant that abruptly decelerating afterward simply wasn't possible.
If they successfully entered a jump at their current maximum speed, then...
In short, there was a tiger ahead and wolves behind.
There was basically no way to escape.
But no matter what happened, they couldn't stay here and allow themselves to be captured!
"I don't care anymore. I'm accelerating unless you want them to catch us here."
Song Xiaoyu's eyes flickered.
Obviously, he didn't want to be captured either.
His gaze lingered on Nan Yun's and Nan Zhen's somewhat pale faces.
"Then hurry up and get us out of here. Maybe I can repair some of the spacecraft's faulty parts during the jump. I couldn't finish repairing them before because we didn't have enough time or materials. But Nan Yun-ge and Nan Zhen-ge must have plenty of good things inside their spatial buttons. It would be great if they could help."
"Hey!"
The other man immediately became anxious.
"Don't joke around! What kind of bullshit are you talking about? Don't forget that they're Ability Users. If they wake up, forget helping us—we'll be lucky if they don't crush every single one of us to death!"
"Even if they wake up without enough strength to fight, so what? Do you really think they'll willingly hand over the things inside their spatial buttons?"
Song Xiaoyu tilted his head and looked at him.
"Brother, did you forget? Haven't your people already captured Nan Yu? If he's been captured, then as two brothers obsessed with their younger brother, they'll definitely agree. All I have to do is threaten them with their little brother."
The other man sighed.
"Do whatever you want. But think about it. If you really treat them like that, once we reach the organization, Nan Yu will definitely be persuaded to join and given an important position, not to mention his two brothers. And you? After treating them this way and threatening them with the person most important to them, how do you think they'll deal with you?"
Song Xiaoyu said, "Don't try to scare me. I'd only be doing it because there was no other choice if we wanted the mission to succeed. The organization will definitely understand. Besides, I remember you promised me that once this was over, these two would be handed over to me. We've barely started succeeding, and now someone's already eager to sell me out?"
The other man choked on his words.
"I'm just reminding you. Don't you want to be together with them in the future? If you touch their greatest taboo now and infuriate them, do you really think there won't be consequences? Wouldn't you just be making things harder for yourself?"
Song Xiaoyu nodded.
"I suddenly realized that what you're saying makes a lot of sense. I'm going to be their lover in the future. I'll be together with both of them at the same time, so I absolutely can't give them any reason to hate me. Forget that idea, then. You come up with something else."
"In any case, let's accelerate and get out of here first. We can discuss everything else after we successfully enter the jump point. Anything we say right now is pointless."
Only then did Song Xiaoyu leave Nan Yun and Nan Zhen and walk over to him.
He looked at the images displayed on the monitor.
"They're all military spacecraft, but you can't tell from the exterior. They must belong to a special unit. You need to speed up. If they catch us, our only remaining path will be getting dragged back!"
The organization member looked at him in surprise.
"Why do I feel like you're not anxious at all? Do you have some kind of backup plan?"
Song Xiaoyu shrugged.
"I'm about to become a wanted criminal. What backup plan could I possibly have? Do you think the Song family would waste time and effort rescuing a collateral family member like me, especially when I'm only an average Mental Power User in both strength and talent and already have a criminal record?"
"More importantly, the two people I kidnapped are the Nan family's sons and Nan Yu's biological older brothers. That's the same as offending both Marshal Yu's legion and the Nan family at once—and becoming their mortal enemy!"
"Not to mention how many other people support them. I'd be surprised if the Song family actually tried to protect me. I'll already be lucky if they don't kick me while I'm down."
"That's true. But you're still not worried?"
Song Xiaoyu said, "What good would worrying do? Sometimes, panic only makes us even more helpless. I'm going to make some preparations."
When entering a jump point, there would be a moment of absolute stillness.
If the spacecraft entered the jump point directly, Song Xiaoyu would have a tiny window of time in which he could activate an escape pod and leave the spacecraft.
But it would be extremely difficult.
If he chose the wrong moment and ejected too early, the escape pod would simply emerge somewhere nearby.
If he waited too long and ejected after the spacecraft had already entered its jump state, the escape pod would most likely be caught in the distortion and crushed to pieces.
The pod itself would be torn apart, never mind Song Xiaoyu inside it.
So this was a gamble.
Perhaps allowing himself to be captured would actually be the better outcome.
But he obviously didn't want that.
If he was taken back, Nan Yun and Nan Zhen would definitely make him suffer terribly.
He loved those two men, but if he sacrificed the rest of his life for them and still couldn't be together with them, that was something he couldn't accept.
He could accept losing everything.
But he couldn't accept being separated from the two of them.
So he would use this method.
Only by escaping alive could he preserve the possibility of being together with them in the future.
With that thought, he slowly walked over to where Nan Yun and Nan Zhen were lying.
He kissed each of them once on the face.
Afterward, he actually felt a little embarrassed.
Then he reached out and began touching their faces and bodies all over.
If the two men had been capable of moving right now, they would undoubtedly have reduced him to a pile of minced flesh!
Song Xiaoyu took advantage of the remaining time to grope them to his heart's content before finally standing up and leaving to finish preparing his escape pod as quickly as possible.
He configured the ejection mechanism to activate automatically when specific conditions were met.
If he tried to trigger it manually, there was no way he could catch such a tiny window of opportunity.
An automatic trigger was the simplest solution.
As soon as the specified conditions were reached, his escape pod would activate and immediately detach from the spacecraft.
He really was too clever.
Meanwhile, the man still in the cockpit, desperately trying to outmaneuver the surrounding spacecraft, hadn't realized that there was actually no way for them to escape anymore.
Because an inescapable net had already been laid around them!
Especially when he tried accelerating again and discovered that their spacecraft couldn't increase its speed at all.
Not only could it no longer accelerate, it gradually began slowing down.
Slower and slower...
Until it came to a complete stop in space.
He examined the system.
Great.
The spacecraft had run out of energy.
But that was impossible!
They had clearly filled its energy reserves completely before leaving the starport. They had even purchased plenty of backup energy supplies.
Once the primary energy was depleted, the backup energy should have activated automatically.
But now...
He didn't have time to investigate what had happened.
The soldiers who had broken into the spacecraft were already standing behind him, aiming energy weapons directly at him.
"Don't move!"
An intense sense of danger enveloped his entire body.
He had no choice but to raise both hands, showing that he had no intention of attacking.
He stood and moved to the side, facing the wall with both hands raised.
A soldier immediately came up behind him, pinned him against the wall, slowly cuffed him, and then bound him securely.
Finally, they casually tossed him aside.
"Nan Yun and Nan Zhen are here! They've been injected with large amounts of drugs that keep them unconscious, but we don't have the equipment here to determine whether anything is wrong with their bodies. Hurry and get them back for examination! I think they were probably drugged unconscious back at the academy's medical ward and have remained unconscious ever since. Those people really were ruthless enough to keep doing this..."
Of course, as far as kidnappers were concerned, the only thing that mattered was that the two hostages didn't die.
"But they seem physically stable. We'll need machines to detect any smaller problems. Hurry up and come help!"
Nan Yun and Nan Zhen were quickly brought back to the Capital Star and received treatment.
In the end, the doctors discovered that whenever the kidnappers injected them with drugs to keep them unconscious, they had simultaneously administered nutritional solutions.
However, the kidnappers obviously weren't professionals. The proportions of the nutritional solutions were somewhat off.
Fortunately, nothing serious had happened.
It simply meant that Nan Yun and Nan Zhen had absorbed less than twenty percent of the nutrients they should have received from the nutritional solutions that had been injected into them.
At the same time, Yu Lanfeng received the good news as well.
"Nan Yun and Nan Zhen have been rescued! They're unharmed and have returned safely."