Chapter 29

When Qin Fei woke up from unconsciousness, he found himself tightly held in Xi Yuan’s arms. However, when he called out to Xi Yuan, there was no response. Xi Yuan’s hands were gripping his waist firmly in a protective embrace, but he had already lost consciousness.

What happened? Where were they?

Oh, right, they were on their honeymoon when they encountered pirates. They managed to escape, but not for long before they were caught again. During the battle, their ship was torn apart into space debris. Dozens of guards, similar in size to him, and some others resembling Xi Yuan, had scattered and fled. In the asteroid belt, Xi Yuan and a few others continued to protect him. The number of female soldiers around them dwindled from five to four, three, two… until, in the end, Xi Yuan was gravely injured. His wings were severely damaged, and the large wound on his abdomen was still bleeding. He had no idea how many smaller injuries there were. Qin Fei, pale, applied medicine to Xi Yuan’s wounds. They were still in space, surrounded by complete darkness, with not even a star in sight. They had lost their direction. Yet, Xi Yuan still curled his body around him, his originally complete wings now only half intact, still trying to shield Qin Fei from harm. If only he hadn’t been so useless, how did it end up like this…

No, he couldn’t think about that right now. What should he do?

He applied medicine to Xi Yuan’s wounds and fed him a dose of medication. Using his mental energy, he created a protective membrane around them, clinging tightly to their bodies as they drifted through the void of space. He searched his space ring for anything that could be useful and found the mecha, destroyed and scattered in pieces in the corner. However, the escape pod was still intact! He opened the escape pod, and the two of them struggled to squeeze into the pod, which was only big enough for one person. They drifted aimlessly, not knowing their destination, and not sure how much time had passed. The food in Qin Fei’s hands grew scarcer, and he increasingly extended his mental power into the space around them, trying to find a planet where they could land. But it was always nothingness, they didn’t even encounter any stars. Drifting like this without a destination, no amount of food would be enough for them. Moreover, they had not brought much food in the first place. If it hadn’t been for the convenient nutritional supplements they brought, he didn’t know if they would have even made it this far. And the environment was not at all conducive to Xi Yuan’s recovery. His body had entered a state of automatic hibernation, and his heartbeat had slowed down so much that Qin Fei could no longer feel it at first. He thought he had… 

Fortunately, just as he had refused to let go of him, he felt that faint heartbeat again.

He felt a sense of relief in his heart and was incredibly grateful for the Zerg race’s strong vitality. Now, he only hoped that this vitality could help them hold on a little longer, much longer.

When his mental energy was about to run out, he would rest for a bit to recover to a certain extent, then use his mental power again to search for a planet to land on. This cycle repeated, though he couldn’t tell how much time had passed.

How much time had passed, he still didn’t know! Qin Fei’s mental power was no longer enough to stop the pull, and he felt dizzy. Even thinking seemed to drain the last of his strength. It took him a long time just to form a single thought, as if his mind had become rigid. Staring at the ever-approaching black hole, he no longer had the strength to resist. The fact that they had lasted this long had already exceeded his expectations. Qin Fei tightly held onto Xi Yuan. The deep bond they shared—husbands and wives, whose greatest wish was not to be born on the same day, but to die in the same month—now, if anyone were to find their bodies later, tightly embraced in the escape pod, they would surely imagine a multitude of love and hate entangled in their fate. Their minds would be opened wide as they were drawn into the black hole, and then Qin Fei lost consciousness.

On the other side, the Zerg race was already in an uproar.

【Master Qin Fei and his husband mysteriously disappeared during their honeymoon! It’s said that the three major pirate groups teamed up to make a move!! 】

【Who leaked their whereabouts? Where are they now?】

【Master Qin Fei, please hold on! We will keep trying to find you!】

【Master Qin Fei and his wife are missing—have they already been captured?】

Putting aside the public opinion on the Star Network, in that region, every inch of land was being searched by countless Zergs. They found numerous bodies of the guard squads and were lucky enough to find two severely wounded but still alive female Zergs. However, the most important ones, Qin Fei and Xi Yuan, were nowhere to be found—alive or dead.

Moreover, when the two female Zergs woke up and shared their information, a huge uproar ensued in the military.

How did high-ranking warships end up in the hands of pirates? And now, the situation strongly suggested that Qin Fei had fallen into their hands! How much time had passed since the last incident? Back then, the military was too lenient, which gave the pirates the audacity to make such a bold move, daring to harm a national treasure like Qin Fei. And indeed, the military had failed in their duty. That region was under the patrol of the 9th Fleet, but they hadn’t detected anything in time. They hadn’t arrived for a rescue when the abduction took place.

As a result, there was a wave of activity within the military to search for spies and discipline the ranks, but all of this was carried out in secret and not known to the public. The military then established a special task force to crack down on the rampant interstellar pirates within the Zerg territories. For a while, the pirates disappeared without a trace, retreating into hiding.

But where exactly were Qin Fei and Xi Yuan? The top brass in the military were under immense pressure. Every day, there were large numbers of civilians calling for them to bring Master Qin Fei back. Naturally, they couldn’t go against public opinion. In addition, many of them were female Zergs, and they couldn’t stand seeing these pirates, driven by selfish greed, dare to abduct a level-9 male Zerg.

The three major pirate factions roamed the galaxy without a permanent base. Of course, they must have their own secret hideouts, but the military had never been able to locate their real headquarters. Each time, the military only uncovered superficial decoys. In the past, these pirates had been careful, always choosing targets with discretion and never daring to oppose the nobility or the military. The disappearance of the level 9 male Zerg had originally been an unfortunate accident. However, it seemed that two female Zergs were pregnant, which had given the pirates a taste of success.

This time, it was deliberate, and the military could no longer tolerate it.

For a while, news spread across the galaxy about secret pirate bases being discovered and destroyed by the military. The pirates had their grievances, for if they had truly succeeded, that would have been the end of it. But in the end, they managed to escape.

Now, all the responsibility was on their shoulders. Since they hadn’t succeeded in their plans, they each returned to their own places and found ways to avoid the fallout, but many factions were affected.

Some of them were stationed near the area, hoping to find any trace of them, but they came up empty-handed. There was no sign of them. Moreover, this time, the military wasn’t just talking, they were acting on their words and strictly enforcing their plans. Eventually, even those who were searching couldn’t leave, forced to conceal everything.

Meanwhile, the Qin family learned of the situation. They weren’t without concern, using every method possible to try and contact them, but they couldn’t reach them. However, the bond between blood relatives had never been severed. At least Qin Lang and Lin Zishu showed no signs of negative reactions, which meant that Qin Fei hadn’t been seriously harmed. So, while the Qin family was anxious, they remained composed. They mobilized their people to search for their whereabouts, but there was still no news.