Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The second starship prepared for today's journey.

His Majesty was piloting it personally.

The co-pilot inquired beside him, "Your Majesty, which planet are we heading to? Isn't F-star system part of tomorrow's plan? So what's tonight's plan?"

There was a hint of amusement in the King's voice, "To catch up with the Queen."

"Huh?"

The Queen?

Which Queen?

The co-pilot, known for his astuteness, didn't pry further, "Understood. We've verified that the fuel has been recomposed. If we're chasing after the starship that took off this afternoon, it should take approximately two hours."

His Majesty seemed rather delighted, quite a contrast to his icy demeanor just moments ago within the Royal City.

Why did that noble suddenly become wildly ecstatic after agreeing to stay behind?

The adjutant, not daring to inquire further, hastily instructed the spacecraft crew to prepare the starship.

Adjutant: "Your Majesty, shall I assign a nearby pilot for you?"

Huo Jin raised an eyebrow. "I do it myself. They're all too slow."

"Dispatch another swift vessel to immediately depart for Route T."

Adjutant: "As you wish, sir."

He was aware of the Emperor's urgency, but he was unaware of the reason behind it.

Adjutant: "The frigate can set sail immediately. What are the orders?"

The king's eyes and brows were alight with amusement. "Of course, it would be my queen attempting to intercept me."

Isn't it the T Lane that's currently being traversed ——

And the queen is...?

Huh?

Although the adjutant had no idea what was going on, he had a vague sense that things weren't looking good for him.

---

Over here, the speed of the cruiser was five times that of an average planet.

The pilot of Lu Wei's starship swiftly detected the swift cruiser trailing behind them.

"Mr. Lu, we have a fast vessel tailing us on route T."

Lu Wei sipped his warm water and hummed in response, clearly not showing much concern.

Uninterested in firing up the game, and too lethargic to bother with a movie.

I simply can't muster any interest.

At the mere thought of his miserable fate, Lu Wei lost his appetite.

Who could be more unfortunate than him, carrying a pregnancy and leaving his homeland?

The pilot observed the swift ship's trajectory and speculated, "Could it be that they're heading to the Thistle Star as well?"

Lu Wei scoffed coldly, "Not 'they.' In fact, the entire royal family should be the ones going to the Idiot Star."

It wasn't him, Lu Wei, who deserved to end up on that foolish star; someone else did.

The pilot fell silent.

He dared not speak anymore.

Well, it seemed that His Majesty's little darling had a scathing personality that could choke people to death with words.

A unique receptor in the universe, irreplaceable by any substitute.

The pilot didn't have time to mentally complain before his mouth overtook his thoughts, "Ah... Why did they sail ahead of us? Do they intend to intercept us?"

The driver's previous two transmissions were casual, but this time, his voice rose in pitch, indicating that something unexpected had occurred.

Only then did Lu Wei stand up and approach the front.

"What's going on?" he asked.

The driver showed him the scan.

The green dot indicated the speeder ship. Initially, it was trailing behind them, then briefly paralleled their course before finally accelerating to stop in front of them.

"The only explanation for this is an interception," the driver explained. "There are no planets nearby for him to land on, so stopping abruptly at that spot would only serve to block our path."

Lu Wei let out an ambiguous exclamation. "Huh?"

The driver stroked his chin. "I'm certain they're targeting us."

After finishing his statement, the driver turned to look at Lu Wei. "Sir, we have limited security. Should we detour or—"

He abruptly stopped.

He saw Lu Wei holding a dark and hefty frying pan.

With an expressionless face, Lu Wei swung the pan and declared, "Let's see which idiot lacks the sense to come looking for trouble."

The driver responded, "Er... I think, perhaps, we might not need police assistance after all."

Lu Wei issued his command, "Let them try. We'll see who dares to provoke us."

Pilot: "Alright, understood."

As they had suspected, the spaceship was indeed on an intercept course. The vessel skillfully halted just ahead, blocking their trajectory, and then began charging back towards them.

With their path obstructed, the spaceship had no choice but to come to a temporary halt.

To reroute and take an alternative path, they would need to justify the change in course, report the situation to higher authorities, and initiate a reboot of the cabin systems.

The pilot sighed, "It won't be easy to proceed forward now. We'll have to make new preparations. That spaceship up ahead is manned by a skilled crew; it seems we're dealing with a challenging opponent."

The pilot relayed the message to his superior while they spoke.

Shortly after, a response came back: Halt for the moment; do not proceed.

The pilot conveyed this to Lu Wei truthfully.

Lu Wei chuckled. "Isn't that just how ridiculous they are?"

Their starship could only temporarily anchor in the vast expanse of space, watching as the other vessel drew closer.

The second starship seemed to be in a tremendous hurry, speeding along at an incredible pace and soon matching their trajectory alongside them.

And then, they came to a stop ahead.

Excellent, as of now, two swift vessels have come to a halt in front of their course.

It was as if he was afraid they might escape.

Block the channel securely and firmly in place.

With great effort, Lu Wei suppressed his anger. "W-What do they w-want?"

The pilot replied, "I have no idea, Mr. Lu. We d-don't have communication devices to contact them. I've already reported it, but I'm not sure when we'll receive a response."

Lu Wei asked, "So what should we do now?"

Analyzing the situation, the pilot suggested, "The nearest planet is Edgarlay. It's a safe planet. It would be a waste of fuel to just wait here. Let's land there first and set off again after that cruiser leaves."

Due to the inexplicable cruiser blocking their path, Lu Wei's spaceship had no choice but to make an emergency landing on the nearest planet.

Who knew what was going on with that spaceship? It seemed to be deliberately causing trouble for them.

Lu Wei's spaceship began its technical landing soon after.

Fortunately, the location was ideal for landing, and they would be able to touch down smoothly in no time.

Once the spaceship came to a steady halt, Lu Wei let out a sigh and spat on the ground.

After the pilot conducted an investigation, he reported, "Sir, this is one of Emperor Star's trading planets, Edgarlay. It's known for its abundant rare minerals."

Lu Wei: "How rare is it?"

Pilot: "Uh... it's among the top rarities in the galaxy."

Lu Wei: "Can it be sold for money?"

Pilot: "It can be sold for a large sum."

Lu Wei: "Open the door and let me out."

Pilot: "O-Okay."

Upon realizing Lu Wei's intentions, the pilot quickly added, "But the locals won't allow extraterrestrials to mine resources on their own. The only way to acquire such rare minerals is through trade."

However, Lu Wei had already disembarked the starship before the pilot could finish his sentence.

Elegard was a planet renowned for its mineral trade, thus boasting a highly developed trading network where all sorts of people could be encountered.

Concerned for Lu Wei's safety, the crew hurriedly followed after him.

Lu Wei was quite used to it, after all, Emperor Star was an alien world to him as well. Changing to another alien world wasn't a big deal.

Only after landing on Elegerad did Lu Wei realize that the environment here resembled ancient Earth quite a bit.

The ground was still yellow soil, and while the pedestrians also used starships and other modes of transportation, they didn't feel particularly advanced; only strange.

The cabin attendant followed behind Lu Wei, so Lu Wei asked, "Is this planet a bit backward?"

The attendant explained, "Because Elegerad has abundant mineral resources, there's no need for them to strive too hard in technological development. They can obtain considerable star coins just through mineral trading, so local technology hasn't advanced much."

—On the other hand, esoteric industries had flourished significantly.

Lu Wei's assessment was: They were so rich that they had nothing better to do.

However, this backward scene stimulated Lu Wei's eyes.

He missed Earth.

Back on Earth, although he was jobless and alone, he still had many classmates and friends.

On weekends, one could sing karaoke, and during the day, one could lie around playing games and reading novels.

Unlike ending up inexplicably pregnant with an idiot's child and then being exiled from one planet to another just as strangely!

"Damn it!" The Earthling punched the wall in frustration.

His eyes were filled with smoke.

The cabin attendant dared not ask any questions and could only follow him silently.

The life in Lu Wei's womb was like an emotional sensor. When he was unhappy, the fetus began to squirm in a gloomy manner.

This caused Lu Wei to start retching after smashing the wall.

There was a saying in this world: Good fortune never comes in pairs, while misfortune never arrives alone.

The Earthling was already so miserable, yet at this moment, a happy family of four walked past him.

It was a family consisting of parents with a son and a daughter.

Both parents appeared quite young, and the two children, each holding a beautifully crafted balloon, giggled as they passed by his side.

In this interstellar world, "balloons" used to entertain children were incredibly sophisticated, capable of transforming into any shape at will.

They brought joyous laughter to the two little ones.

Lu Wei: Damn, it seems like I've turned into some sort of opposite version of a cute pastry.

"Ugh—"

How melancholic.

The flight attendant, who had initially been following him, now grew anxious and quickly rushed over to support him.

"Mr. Lu Wei, considering your pregnancy, it's better not to wander around too much."

With an ashen face after his bout of nausea, Lu Wei turned his head and snapped, "Can't I miss home?"

Flight Attendant: "Is this where your home is?"

Lu Wei: "No, it's just like this rural area."

Cabin Attendant: "O-Okay."

So, a country boy was unexpectedly taken fancy by the Emperor of Emperor Star. Without any explanation, he ended up pregnant and was expelled from the Royal City, wandering through the galaxy!

Their Emperor Star's online literature didn't dare to write such melodramatic plots.

A long silence ensued, broken this time by the pilot.

The pilot's mouth gaped open after reading the message, "Mr. Lu, I've received a message from the ship's communicator. It seems that the vessel that intercepted us was an express cruiser from Emperor Star."

Lu Wei narrowed his eyes, leaning closer. All he could see was a screenshot of a green blip on the radar scan, now enlarged to reveal the detailed image of the cruiser, complete with the emblem of Emperor Star.

Yet, Lu Wei repeated with irritation, "Whose ship is it?"

The pilot was also searching for more information, "It's indeed a ship from Emperor Star!"

Lu Wei: "Huh?" Ha, ha.

The pilot's eyes widened dramatically. "The ship we've identified definitely belongs to Emperor Star, and it's of royal lineage, no mistake!"

After saying this, the pilot slapped his forehead. "And a super-speed cruiser of this class can only be mobilized by royal command, that's why it's moving so swiftly. How could I not have thought of that earlier?"

Lu Wei interjected, "Speaking of royal figures..."

Wasn't there only His Majesty the Dog now?

Fuming, Lu Wei grumbled, "This nutcase must be unhappy that I left, so he's deliberately intercepting me just to give me trouble!"

Only that bastard would pull such a stunt!

Now, watching him waste time by landing on a nearby planet, that bastard must be thrilled, right??

He... wants... to... SHARK... someone!

Shark, shark, shark!!

And his stomach started to ache.

Lu Wei clutched his stomach. "Your damn father is an idiot!!"

The driver remained silent, only responding with ellipses.

Seeing the fiery expression on Lu Wei's face, the driver dared not utter a single word.

But... shouldn't it be the opposite??

According to the communication from the other side, His Majesty was currently in high spirits. Apparently, he hadn't seen such an ecstatic expression in a long time?

Moreover, after reporting that they were blocked, their superior's tone sounded very pleased.

It was as if someone higher up had intended for them to be unable to leave.

'The current situation might not be what Mr. Lu imagined,' the driver originally wanted to reassure him.

However, seeing the impending volcanic eruption on Lu Wei's face, he didn't dare speak a word.

He felt that if the truth were known, Lu Wei would swallow him whole.