In the darkness of space, Vampire continued to progress onward. In its cargo hold was a large black metal case, and it was flat like a mirror with not even a trace of defect and a golden lock to keep its contents secured.
“Let me try and open it,” Halleh rolled up his sleeves and said.
Xia Fei suddenly shook his head. “Even a Star of Ruin didn’t manage to blow the lock up; do you really want to give it a shot?”
Halleh was speechless. The force of the explosion was enough to ruin half a galaxy, yet this case and lock remained completely intact. It was evident that the sturdiness of this case was unmatched and well beyond his wildest imagination. Wanting to get it open through brute force was no better than a fool’s dream.
Xia Fei glanced at Phantom. “Can you sense anything?”
Phantom replied, “This thing’s like a black hole; I’m hardly getting any reaction. Thus, I can safely say that it isn’t an energy entity, or at the very least, nothing inside contains energy. It should be purely metal.”
Xia Fei nodded. This was a very strange case, and he had only detected its presence through the ship’s detectors. Furthermore, the signal was extremely weak, and there was absolutely no way of knowing what was inside. Be it Xia Fei’s consciousness, Phantom’s energy sense, or Halleh’s darkness ability, nothing seemed to be able to penetrate the case.
The black metal exterior was preventing any attempts at probing what was contained within.
Xia Fei gave the matter some thought and knelt to inspect that golden hexagonal lock. He noticed that there was no aperture for which to fit a key into, so it was impossible even if Xia Fei had wanted to try and pick this locking mechanism.
There was a triangular groove on the metal surface, as if there was another item that could be joined together there, and it would either rely on a passcode or some energy reaction to unlock the case.
Furrowing his brows, Xia Fei somewhat disappointedly stored the black case back into his spatial ring.
That was when the communicator Halleh was holding rang, and Xia Fei knowingly left the cargo hold for the command deck. Halleh would always secretly hide himself away every time he took the call, and Xia Fei could not be bothered to find out who he was having a conversation with.
“Old Qing wants to discuss something with you.” After a short while, Halleh uncharacteristically approached Xia Fei with this request.
The screen expanded, and Xia Fei saw Qingliu excitedly sitting across him, his weathered face completely red.
“You’ve really done it beautifully this time, single-handedly eliminating the escort fleets! You even managed to snatch something that Uti valued greatly! Uti is throwing a huge fit in the Golden Tent right now, and many officials have been implicated as a result of your actions. Even the commander of the Venoscorpion Swamp base was executed on the spot! How wonderfully delightful!”
Xia Fei shrugged indifferently, not making a comment. The robbery that had happened hours ago was indeed alarmingly dangerous, but everything went exactly like how Xia Fei had planned it. After facing so many battles where he tethered on the knife edge of life and death, the concept of danger was no longer as thrilling as before.
Qingliu flashed Xia Fei a mysterious smile. “I know that while you managed to get a hold of that thing, you lack the key, right?”
Xia Fei was slightly surprised, nodding. “That is true. Could the key be with Uti?”
“How did you guess that?” Now, it was Qingliu’s turn to be shocked. He had not said a thing, yet Xia Fei had already managed to make an accurate guess of the key’s location. There was no way Qingliu could hide his surprise.
“Uti’s a discreet and careful individual. Since he wants this thing very much, he should have the key to unlock it. There’s a very high possibility that he intentionally arranged two separate fleets to bring back the items he needed. After all, if both were together, what would happen if someone managed to get hold of them and open the case?” Xia Fei softly explained. That was his deduction the moment he saw the golden lock fixed on the case.
Qingliu nodded. “What a keen sense of deduction. How did you realize it?”
“One’s character dictates their action. Shipping the two parts separately was perfectly in line with his character; that’s all there is to it.”
“Well, your deduction’s right on the money. The key was secretly whisked away by another fleet. Even I just learned of this, so now we have this situation where one item is in your hands, while the key is with Uti…”
Qingliu’s words were layered with meaning, and Xia Fei responded in a grave tone. “The key will naturally come to my possession once I kill Uti, and I’ll learn just what’s inside this case, but before I do that, I must first infiltrate the capital.”
Qingliu was completely serious. “Qingyan and I will be going on a trip back home to pay our respects to her mother the day after. Uti has already given her permission, so you’ll be able to sneak yourself into our fleet when we make our return to the capital.
“However, I will have to make things clear first: High Priest Ryun is also in the capital, and mere words can’t describe the power he wields. I know you have a super bomb in your hands that can destroy half a galaxy, but you definitely can’t use that in the capital.”
Xia Fei pursed his lips. “I’ve already used them all up.”
Qingliu chuckled. “I’m just trying to explain the fact that, even with the super bomb you have, it won’t be able to kill Ryun; I am very certain of that.”
Xia Fei was slightly taken aback, wondering to himself, ‘Someone who can’t even be killed with a Star of Ruin… Could that Ryun really be an old monster?’
“Not only will you fail to kill him, if you anger High Priest Ryun as a result of your actions, nothing good will come to you or the Panhuman Alliance behind you. He is a supreme expert, and I think you ought to know just what sort of damage he can make if he barges into the human territory.”
Xia Fei nodded. If High Priest Ryun was really an unbeatable existence similar to Yujiang and Yuhua, he was of the belief that no one in the Panhuman Alliance would be able to stop the insectoid, and that was definitely a situation he had no intention of seeing happen.
“Furthermore, though the Golden Tent where Uti resides may look like a tent from the outside, it can’t be further from reality. Within the tent is a mystical artifact that the God of Light left behind. It’s called the Spatial Aegis, so though the tent’s exterior appears to be completely unremarkable, it is actually a separate space altogether, so I doubt your super bomb has the capability of destroying space itself.”
Xia Fei said nothing. Just these two pieces of information he had just learned was enough for him to give up on the notion of using a Star of Ruin. It looked like if he wanted to slay Uti, the only way was for him to do it with his two hands.
“In any case, if we’re able to get into the capital safely, don’t do anything reckless. Let me arrange everything and search for the perfect opportunity to kill Uti in one fell swoop. As for High Priest Ryun, as long as you don’t intentionally provoke him, I do believe he won’t bother interfering with insectoid affairs,” Qingliu said severely.
“Okay.” Xia Fei smiled. “I promise you.”
From the side, Halleh asked, “Then what do I do, Old Qing?”
Qingliu pondered for a time before replying, “You should come with us, too. Perhaps your darkness ability will come in handy.”
Halleh knitted his eyebrows together. “What about Mingjing, High Priest Ryun’s disciple, whom I’ve still got with me?”
Qingliu answered, “There’s nothing we can do about that. Bring her along, too. As long as you can guarantee that there’s no way for her to contact the high priest, I will personally pay the high priest a visit to apologize on your behalf. I’ll bear whatever displeasure that the high priest may have about the matter.”
After a brief discussion over details about their next meeting, Vampire immediately continued its journey through space, and this time it headed for Qingliu’s home planet, Daewu.
……
The robot Pod was intelligent, so he knew what Xia Fei was about to do would be extremely dangerous. As such, he did not continue sending details about Xia Fei’s battles or his daily life back to the Alliance. After all, it would be a great threat to Xia Fei’s safety if these transmissions were intercepted by the insectoids’ secret intelligence and they learned that he had made it to the capital.
The loss of news from Xia Fei caused plenty of people from the Panhuman Alliance to feel disappointed; everyone worried over Xia Fei’s safety, though Xia Fei himself hardly had any time to think about such things. The crucial step was upon them, and whether he could successfully kill Uti all depended on this one step.
Vampire tethered itself on the outer orbit of a strange pink planet. The ocean barely constituted ten percent of the planet’s surface, and the rest of the planet was covered in that pink color, a rather enchanting sight to behold from outer space.
“Why is that planet pink?” Xia Fei wondered aloud.
Halleh laughed. “Planet Daewu is the homeland of the butterfly species, all ninety-nine percent of the over twenty billion citizens there. Aside from the overwhelming majority of butterfly insectoids on it, the planet is also home to countless peach blossoms. They are as plentiful as the stars in the sky, and they can be found everywhere from the mountains to the plains. Plus, that’s a type of peach blossom that flowers all year round, which is why it has become a pink planet.
“In addition, the butterfly species has the most beautiful female insectoids in our entire race. Want me to introduce you to some pretty ones to pass the time?”
The insectoid race was a lot more liberal in this sense than the Panhuman Alliance, and it was a given for individuals to have such dalliance in their society. Even an expert like Halleh was no exception.
Xia Fei shook his head. “No need. Best if we maintain a low profile and prevent others from spotting me.”
Halleh patted Xia Fei on his shoulder. “I was only cracking a joke. Lighten up.”
On the surface, a secret signal was detected. It was just as Qingliu and Xia Fei previously arranged, and Xia Fei piloted Vampire to land accordingly.
As he got closer, the pink peach blossoms became clearer and clearer. The houses of the butterfly species were all built close to peach blossom groves, and insectoids here had all their houses painted pink in order to match the scenery. From above, the wind rustling through the trees really made everything look like an ocean of pink.
Xia Fei actually did not particularly like pink, thinking that the color was far too flirtatious. However, Avril had a soft spot for pink, and seeing this color all around made him involuntarily think of her cute smile, and he felt quite dejected as a result.
The location this signal was coming from was amid a peach blossom grove, though it had been sealed within high walls of a hundred mile radius, as if it was a private reserve.
There was a male insectoid of the butterfly species dressed like a servant standing in the grove, and after receiving Xia Fei’s response signal, he pushed a device in hand, causing the center of this peach blossom grove to part and a landing apron hidden underneath to reveal itself.
After the warship parked itself, a metal hatch overhead sealed itself, so it appeared to be nothing more than a peach blossom grove from above.
Stepping off from Vampire, they saw that a servant of the butterfly species was waiting for their arrival. Xia Fei was dressed in a black windbreaker, cap, and mask that concealed his face, while Furball was still sitting atop his shoulder. It was quite a strange sight, and that servant could not help but glance at him quite a few times.
They went through a secret passageway, and in a dozen or so minutes later, Xia Fei and the bunch arrived in an elegant mansion, in an expansive courtyard with pavilions which were decked out in exquisitely carved beams and beautifully painted rafters. Xia Fei even mistakenly thought that he had been transported back to the Alliance.
There was no one in the courtyard besides the countless fresh peach blossoms. It was obvious that all the servants had been sent away in advance.
After winding a few more turns, the servant pushed open an inconspicuous door and invited Xia Fei respectfully inside a hidden room. Just as he stepped into the room, an enchanting and soft female voice called, “I’ve been waiting for you gentlemen for a very long time. Did you all have an uneventful trip here?”
