Chapter 37: Sudden Accident

In a direction unseen by the team leader and Xi Ming, Li Gaojun suddenly exchanged a glance with Brother Lei. Several of the higher-skilled fighters made their move, pushing through the narrow corridor towards the meeting room. The space was cramped, and as they shouted about needing to go to the hall to stretch their legs, the meeting room was conveniently in their path, so no one noticed anything unusual.

At this time, Shi Chan had already walked over. Seeing the main battleground move closer to Xi Ming, and knowing that Xi Ming had not yet revealed his leg condition, he might be accidentally injured. So, he used a minor spell to quickly maneuver through the gaps in the crowd and positioned himself by Xi Ming’s side.

The team leader had been calling for a while with no response. He glanced at Xi Ming, still sitting in his wheelchair, and his voice grew a bit exasperated, “Let’s go back to the meeting room first. After these idiots wear themselves out, we’ll teach them a lesson.”

Noticing Shi Chan’s presence, the team leader asked in confusion, “When did you come over?”

“I’ve been waiting by the door for the sir. I was just hiding over there,” Shi Chan pointed to a concealed spot.

Shi Chan had disguised his appearance, and since he usually kept a low profile, he wasn’t noticeable. Even though he had hurried out and only changed his face using magic, the team leader didn’t suspect anything and waved his hand casually, “You’re just in time. Go with Mr. Jin back to the meeting room, and wait until things quiet down outside before coming out.”

“Right, Mr. Jin, you mustn’t get hurt. Please go in first. Once it’s safe outside, I’ll call you back out,” a pirate who hadn’t joined the fight spoke in a flattering tone. “By the way, Mr. Jin, remember to increase the door’s security level when you go in. I’m worried some idiot might open it, and these brainless people will barge in.”

The starship they were on was the largest of the Swift Eagle fleet, housing nearly five hundred people. The battle outside was becoming more intense, and people were continuously joining the fight. For now, it was impossible to leave the meeting room.

Shi Chan nodded in acknowledgment and pushed Xi Ming back into the meeting room.

“What are you doing out here?” Even knowing that Shi Chan had S-level physical abilities and was also training in mecha piloting, Xi Ming still worried about him.

“I heard some noise and came over to check,” Shi Chan looked back at the door, through which the sounds of the ongoing fight could still be heard. “How did they start fighting?”

Xi Ming wasn’t entirely sure of the details, “There’s been tension for a while, but I’m not sure why Brother Lei and Li Gaojun are fighting now.”

Brother Lei, with all the bad habits of a pirate, and Li Gaojun, who had a short temper, had never gotten along since Brother Lei arrived in the Swift Eagle fleet. This fight had been brewing for some time.

Shi Chan didn’t care much about the dispute between the two; he pushed Xi Ming to the window, looking out at the dazzling scene. “It looks beautiful no matter which direction you look from.”

Xi Ming turned to look at Shi Chan, his gaze reflecting in the window. He assured him, “When we’re in the mecha watching the stars, it will be even more beautiful.”

Shi Chan smiled at the image Xi Ming painted and agreed, “Sure.”

At that moment, the meeting room door opened again, and the team leader, along with a few of his trusted aides, stumbled in, looking disheveled. As they closed the door, they began to curse.

“Who the hell fired the weapon that triggered the alarm!”

“Stinky stink guns and blinding guns are all being used; they’ve completely lost it!”

“We can’t get past the control center. Team leader, we need to stop them quickly; if someone uses a particle gun, we’ll lose control!”

“My terminal’s gone missing. Can you notify Xiao Lian to go to the control room and close all the doors? They need to turn off gravity where they’re fighting.”

The noise outside continued to be chaotic, and as they spoke, the team leader’s men kept trying to reach Xiao Lian, only to find themselves helpless.

Three minutes later, Xiao Lian’s communication came through. His face appeared on the virtual screen, panic written all over it. “Team leader, I can’t get to the control room. It seems like Brother Lei’s people are inside…”

Before the team leader or anyone could respond, a flash of fire appeared outside the window of the meeting room.

A sense of foreboding struck the group as they rushed to the window to look outside.

A dark starship with deep red accents had silently approached the Swift Eagle fleet, now attacking the location of the meeting room.

“Red Rose Ghost! —It’s them!” someone exclaimed.

The Red Rose Ghost was an old pirate group, as strong as the Swift Eagle fleet, known for their stealthy operations and quiet battles. They had never had any major conflict with the Swift Eagle fleet before.

The team leader voiced the same concern, “We’ve never had any dealings with the Red Rose Ghost. Why are they attacking us?”

One of the team leader’s aides angrily spoke, “Don’t you get it? Brother Lei is an inside man for the Red Rose Ghost! This whole thing was planned by them!”

Li Gaojun’s role was unclear at this point, whether he had betrayed them or had been used, but the immediate danger was getting out of the meeting room. If the room was breached, they would either die from the blast or suffocate in space.

They no longer cared about the noise outside and tried to open the meeting room door, but their access rights had been disabled. After issuing the command to open the door, only a red light flashed, indicating a mismatch in permissions.

Xi Ming furrowed his brow, “Contact the people outside to attack the door with weapons. We’re probably locked out of the terminal as well.”

Xi Ming’s guess was correct. As they tried to contact the people outside, the terminal’s network was down.

With no other options, they started shouting, “Ah Long, Lao Gan, Xiao Jun! Anyone outside, hurry, use a particle gun to break down the door!” “Use a particle gun to break the meeting room door!” “Break the door! Hurry…”

The people outside seemed to hear their cries, responding by shouting, “Break the door! Break the door!”

A distinct smell of particle gun smoke began to seep through the cracks in the door. The group inside the room immediately felt a surge of hope, their shouts growing louder.

Shi Chan didn’t participate in the shouting, instead placing his hand on the chest pocket where he kept the spare mecha and pushing Xi Ming to a safer, more hidden corner of the room.

The attack from outside grew fiercer, and the meeting room door began to bend and warp from the onslaught.

Xi Ming frowned as he looked out the window, then glanced at Shi Chan. “The defensive effect has weakened.” The starship’s outer shell had both defensive materials and an energy shield. But just moments ago, the shield had disappeared.

At that moment, the door to the meeting room was finally broken open. As the team leader rushed out, he called for the others to leave quickly.

Shi Chan protected Xi Ming as they sped up.

“Boom—” A laser blast struck the door.

“Who’s there? Stop the attack! The boss is coming out!” “Stop, stop! The door is open!”

People inside and outside were shouting, but it was clear that the laser blast wasn’t a mistake. The second and third blasts quickly followed, targeting the door and the area where the team leader and his aides were.

Several pirates standing near the door were hit and collapsed.

Shi Chan quickly cast a protective spell on Xi Ming and moved them both to a safe corner, frequently glancing toward the window.

The once dark starry sky was now entirely consumed by fire, and the walls of the room looked like they might collapse any moment, ready to be engulfed by the flames.

“The situation’s getting bad,” Shi Chan observed, tightening his grip on Xi Ming’s hand. “Xi Ming, do you want to head to the mecha?”

The mecha had better defense capabilities than the starship and was more agile. The attacks could be blocked with the mecha, and they could break through to safety.

But Xi Ming’s leg condition, which he had been hiding, was still not fully recovered, making him unable to operate a mecha effectively.

Unless both of them entered the mecha, with Xi Ming commanding and Shi Chan piloting.

However, before Xi Ming could hesitate, the team leader was struck by a particle gun and collapsed beside them, his body covered in blood and burns, slipping into unconsciousness.

The smell of blood outside grew stronger, and the attacks from the door surged, rapidly moving toward the meeting room window. Both sides’ energy attacks struck fiercely, and in an instant, cracks began to appear in the window, followed by a complete break.

The room’s simulated gravity vanished, and everything began to float, while the breathable air leaked out, the sensation of suffocation increasing.

Shi Chan acted immediately, using his spiritual energy to resist the explosive force from outside. He then quickly opened the mecha compartment and pushed Xi Ming into it.

Xi Ming remained partially conscious, but the pain from his body exposure to space radiation, a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a long time, struck him again, causing him to pause momentarily.

The unexpected attack sent the pirates outside into a panic. Realizing their bodies were floating and their breathing becoming increasingly difficult, they scrambled to move, but many of them found the doors sealed shut, trapping them in the hallway and the meeting room.

Some pirates, desperate to break the doors, accidentally killed their own comrades due to dizziness from the weightlessness and suffocation. The scene became bloody and hopeless.

Still in the meeting room, Shi Chan quickly pushed Xi Ming into the mecha’s cockpit. Just as he was about to enter himself, another attack struck.

The blast hit Shi Chan, and his skin shimmered with spiritual light, blocking most of the attack. However, the force of the technological weapon was too great for a low-level cultivator to fully block. Shi Chan rushed into the mecha, but he coughed up blood, his expression grim.

“Shi Chan!” Xi Ming, his pain worsening, felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, a sensation like being torn apart. His mood darkened further as he saw Shi Chan wounded.

Shi Chan, however, endured the pain silently, shaking his head, “I’m fine.” But the disguise on his face had already faded, revealing his true appearance.

After briefly using spiritual energy to stop the bleeding, Shi Chan took the pilot’s seat, controlling the mecha as it began flying toward the enemy starship.

Xi Ming, also trying to suppress his pain, focused on controlling the mecha and directing Shi Chan.

However, since the attack had been carefully planned, the enemy was doing everything they could to eliminate those trapped inside.

They had specifically chosen this day because it was the day after the higher-ups’ mecha maintenance, and most of the mecha’s were being repaired, leaving the people in the meeting room without mecha’s.

But when a strange mecha appeared, the enemy didn’t panic. Instead, they increased their firepower, forcing Shi Chan and Xi Ming back into the meeting room.

The two forces continued their intense attack, and the backup mecha’s damage warning sounded louder, flashing red lights.

They had been pushed into a corner.

A young male omega from the Red Rose Ghost watched the live feed, his gaze lingering on Shi Chan’s face for a few seconds before switching to the man in the wheelchair, Xi Ming. He seemed deep in thought.

“Final blow,” the male omega muttered, his voice cold as he issued the command.

The others were unaware that Xi Ming had already left Capital Star, but this omega knew. He had even seen Shi Chan before and knew he was the omega matched to Xi Ming’s genes, leaving Capital Star together.

Surprisingly, he was now seeing Shi Chan again, his unforgettable face, and the man who looked exactly like Xi Ming, sitting in the wheelchair.

The omega squinted, realizing it was time to return to Capital Star. He could bring back news about Xi Ming, which would surely drive the Lan family crazy — and when chaos broke out on their side, it would present them with an opportunity.

The two forces doubled their energy attacks, aiming at Shi Chan. Suddenly, Shi Chan’s vision went blank, and intense pain surged through his body. With no other choice, he turned to shield Xi Ming, using all his spiritual energy to defend.

The immense energy waves continued to tear at Shi Chan’s defenses, closing in quickly. At the last moment, an additional wave of energy from Xi Ming enveloped them, blocking much of the attack and giving Shi Chan a chance to breathe.

Xi Ming turned pale, his injuries worsening, and he lost consciousness.

Shi Chan, with barely any strength left, noticed a black hole forming at the center of the white light. His expression wavered as he used his last ounce of energy to direct them toward the growing black spot.

As they were drawn toward it, Shi Chan lost consciousness as well.