CHAPTER 698: CHAPTER 702: INTERSTELLAR HEARTTHROB (21)

Within a few breaths, the fearsome flying device appeared not far behind the merchant ship.

"Zzzzzz...." A rough and ferocious voice suddenly erupted from the ship’s public channel, "Hey, you little brats, scrub yourselves clean and wait for your grandpas to do the slaughtering...."

The arrogant voice made the captain beside shiver uncontrollably, and although he forced himself to remain calm, his trembling tone betrayed his fear.

"It’s the Black Pirates...."

Although he had previously prepared himself to face death with righteous indignation, he still harbored a sliver of hope in his heart.

What if the Red Pirates appeared?

Compared to the Red Pirates, who preferred money over lives, the Black Pirates were much more brutal.

The ships they hijacked had never had survivors.

Even with sufficient mental preparation, when truly faced with death, many people could not withstand the pressure and broke down in tears.

The captain’s hand trembled as it hovered over the detonation button, and just as he was about to close his eyes and press it down....

"Captain, wait a second, you’ve got to see this...."

The captain instinctively retracted his hand quickly.

In his heart, he did not wish to lead a group of people to embrace death.

After all, there were many innocent and lovely children on this ship....

Suddenly, a voice erupting with joy and desperation cried out from the crowd.

All the people pressed against the glass windows, peering out, not caring even when their noses and cheeks were pressed out of shape.

"Look, what is that...."

A Clown Robot appeared on the Black Pirate Ship, like an ant standing on an elephant.

Minute yet impossible to ignore.

All because this oddly shaped little ant had bitten the elephant.

As the Clown Robot jumped around, the flag of the Black Pirate Ship was cut in half and soon vanished into the vast Star Sea.

This action completely enraged the Black Pirates, who abandoned their attack on the easy prey and turned with full force to strike at the Clown Robot.

This was also a testament to the Black Pirates’ confidence in their own abilities, having chased this far, the nearby prey couldn’t escape their grasp no matter how hard it tried.

Better to deal with this ugly nuisance that had popped up from who knows where.

It had been a while since they were provoked like this, truly a novel experience.

Although some were unfamiliar with the Clown Robot, many young people who were immersed in the Star Network were not.

All belongings of the wanted criminal ranked twentieth on the wanted network, Su Li.

At first, everyone thought Su Li was weak, that under the high bounty of the Federation, he wouldn’t last a week, and along with all his belongings, a robot patched up with different colors, was mocked as the ugliest of the century, without equal.

But now, the people on the ship felt that the figure of this clown was immeasurably towering.

The appearance of the Clown Robot was like a flower of hope blooming in a land of despair, bringing forth the faintest glimmer of hope in their hearts.

Though no one really had faith in it.

"Xiao Hei, did you see that? The Lord... the Lord really, really came."

His little buddy’s voice, trembling with unparalleled excitement, pointed at the window outside, at the clown jumping about on the surface of the large airship like a flea.

That clown’s capering was a spitting image of the other party’s current state.

Xiao Hei tried to maintain his composed expression, but his hands resting by his side clenched into tight fists, a faint trace of dampness visible at the corners of his eyes.

"Look, he’s here."

His complex gaze was also fixed on the vast expanse of the Star Sea outside, straining his eyes to search for that familiar figure.

Was he piloting a flying device hiding in some corner, or lurking in a blind spot waiting to strike?

Xiao Hei couldn’t help feeling intense worry, even the impulse to open the communicator again surged within him, urging him to tell Su Li not to appear.

---------

On the other side, aboard the Black Pirate Ship, members were cursing loudly as they stared at screens.

Among them, a man with a scar on his face really couldn’t stand it anymore, slammed his glass down, pushed the woman in his arms away, and said coarsely to Boss Hei seated at the head of the table, "This thing is truly annoying. Let me out there to chop it to pieces and then capture its owner to bring back here."

The others around him egged him on, "Old Nine, you’ve got some big plans, eh? That pretty-boy Su Li is worth fifty million interstellar coins..."

"Everyone’s thinking it, ask around here who doesn’t fancy it."

"Damn it, I followed that kid to quite a few places recently, and he sure can run, slippery as an eel. Today he’s walked right into the net, I’d be mad to let him slip away..."

The speaker was a young man with a small mustache, speaking as if Su Li were already in his pocket.

The crowd was rowdy, but Boss Hei at the head of the table didn’t deter them, simply saying, "It’s up to each of you and your skills, but I have only one requirement: before he is handed over, let me give him a warm welcome... The bastard has guts, daring to cut down the Black Skull’s flag. If I don’t deal with him, I won’t be able to quell the hatred in my heart."

The people below exchanged ambiguous glances, unaware that Boss Hei’s "welcome" was definitely a torturous ordeal worse than death.

Even though they had blood on their hands and were aware of Boss Hei’s methods, they shuddered at the thought.

More importantly, Boss Hei was a brute with a taste only for men.

He had tormented hundreds of men, and this time Su Li had really fallen into unfortunate hands.

Old Nine was dissatisfied with competing against so many others, but he knew in his heart it couldn’t be helped.

What he could think of, others could too.

The temptation of fifty million interstellar coins was obvious, and they, as pirates, were tempted as well.

Old Nine quickly suited up in his Mecha, fearful of falling behind and missing the early advantage.

He was known for his speed, and as he led the way out of the ship in his Mecha, everyone else was a step behind.

Old Nine grinned with pride, setting the scanner in his Mecha to the maximum range, determined to take down the target in the shortest time and leave no chance for others.

The scanner soon showed two red dots, one marking the location of the Clown Robot, the other remaining motionless at the corner of the airship’s belly wing.

Old Nine chuckled darkly to himself, "Got you, little thing."

But as he confidently headed towards that spot, the target was nowhere to be seen in the dead angle at the wing’s corner.

Suddenly his Mecha’s communication channel auto-connected to a new signal source, and a deep voice sounded in his ear, "Are you looking for me?"

All Old Nine saw was a fleeting blur before he lost consciousness, never to wake up again.

His Mecha had been decapitated with a single slash.

Aboard the Black Pirate Ship, the crew was still in the dark, wondering what had happened; Old Nine had been out for such a short while when his signal source vanished without a trace.