Chapter 5

"There is evidence of a strong association between the Toxic Nest and interstellar pirates, according to the conversation we overheard," Zhanlu said.

B4 crossed his legs, looking out of the car window. The twisted space field outside was very dizzying, and could make one puke if they stared at it even for a few seconds, but B4 was quite used to it. He did not say a word after Zhanlu finished speaking.

Zhanlu realized something suddenly during the silence, and corrected himself.

"Sorry, Sir. That part of my basic lexicon has not been updated yet."

According to a clause in the IU Anti-Pirate Law, any unauthorized military is an interstellar pirate group. Naturally, Black Hole was among them.

"Get rid of that lizard when we get back. Get a parrot instead," B4 said, "It'll help you fit right in as a pirate."

Zhanlu quickly scanned his huge database, finding a cartoon picture from the Ancient Earth Era— a corsair captain with a ferocious face, and a parrot with an equally ferocious face perched on his shoulder.

After analyzing the picture for some time, he came to a realization.

"Oh, you are joking."

B4 anxiously massaged his brow.

Zhanlu gave an unsettling, mechanical laugh, "Ha-ha-ha."

To prevent Zhanlu from telling another cold joke in return, B4 changed the subject. "Penny is a local gangster from planet Beijing, and a capable one at that. It's not that easy to get rid of her. Did you find out how he did it?"

"Yes, sir. I found it under his skin," said Zhanlu, presenting a bloody biochip, "I was unable to figure out what it is in such a short amount of time. If the chip is implanted in his heart, upon activation, it will cause all humans and artificial intelligence within a small area to experience a shared illusion."

B4's gaze sharpened immediately, resembling an icy blade.

"He was aware that he was being watched this afternoon. To get rid of Penny, he disguised the boy and himself as two beggars, and he succeeded. He got on a city shuttle, trying to escape through Venus Harbor. There were other 13 passengers but no one was aware. The collective illusion woke up the Forbidden Fruit system in my body, therefore I was not affected by it. I performed some tests on the way, trying to release some of the interference; however, only one girl broke free of it. She happened to have vacucerebral syndrome. In order to ensure the safety of the innocents, I hacked into the public transportation system, forcing it to stop at the Speakeasy and sent a message to Miss Penny," Zhanlu answered in his usual smooth tone. "Sir, I suspect that this chip utilizes the same principles as Eden, but much simpler."

B4 frowned. "I may not be able to get you a research group here in such a short time."

"I know, sir. I will figure it out by myself." He paused for a second, and asked again, "May I ask, do you still want to look for..."

"Don't tell me the probability. I know your algorithm," B4 interrupted him. He clenched his jaw for a second, then tapped the car gently, "We're going to leave soon. It's okay to give up if we can't find him anyway. Too many children have died in this cursed place. The kid's probably gone too."

"Sir..."

"If he's gone, he's gone." B4 did not express too much emotions, "During hard times, one may not necessarily even have a good life. Have we arrived?"

The car had already passed the space field and arrived at the back entrance of the speakeasy in the span of the short conversation. The wheels were silent as they touched down, nothing but the shifting of the light snowflakes. The high-speed motors that had parked there were not there now, suggesting that the traffic lights group and Penny had gone.

Spider had used the space platform as well when he tried to escape; however, since he was the only one there, the space platform starting up caused great commotion. The location error seemed to be great, too— otherwise he would not have needed to pretend he was a beggar, hiking to Venus Harbor through cold and hunger.

Meanwhile, Zhanlu could control a vehicle weighing multiple tons, passing through the space platform and locating the narrow alley leading to the Speakeasy's backdoor, which required precision or else one would be on the fence as to whether or not it was even a car.

The two space platforms appeared similar, but any expert could tell that they were as different as heaven and hell— like "gay sports" and an interstellar mech.

It was a pity that there was rampant illiteracy in the "uncivilized" Eighth Galaxy, and no one could appreciate the beauty of technology.

That wasn't entirely true, one could still find people who shared the appreciation. However...

The humanlike Zhanlu separated himself from the car, carrying Spider in the trunk. His green eyes stared through the back entrance and scanned the room inside before he opened the door.

"Sir," He paused, "You have a guest."

B4's eye twitched. It was said that the boss' face had the emotional range of an AI; right now however, his expression was difficult to describe.

The warm air inside the pub hit them as they opened the door. The wall lights were all turned off despite the darkness of the speakeasy. Only the one above the bar was still on, adding a kind of soft light filter to the man under it.

Standing in that filter was a young man whose clothes hung loosely on his body, jacket draped over his shoulder, hair messy. He leaned on the bar casually. At first sight, he seemed to have just rolled out of bed, too lazy to groom himself, and gone casually out to meet someone; but his casual and charming spirit was easy to see.

Despite his "casual" appearance, there were no unsightly wrinkles to be seen; his hairstyle was messy, but at the same time, fluffy in a way that couldn't be achieved with a mere pillow. It was obvious that he had tried very hard to achieve this "casual" look.

"Hey," He was taken aback by the man slung over Zhanlu's shoulder, "Are you guys coming back from a robbery? Did I see something I shouldn't have? Am I going to get silenced?"

Zhanlu threw Spider on the floor. There was a loud thud as his body hit the floor. Zhanlu greeted the man politely.

"Good evening, Headmaster Lu."

The given name of Headmaster Lu was Bixing. He was a well known prodigal son, freak, and good-for-nothing in the Eighth Galaxy. He was both the head of the school board and the headmaster of Starry Sea Academy— not because he was noble, of course, but because it was him that had founded the college.

Headmaster Lu was very young. The reason he could devote himself to the career of education was not only because he had passion and big idealistic dreams, but also because his father was a very famous munitions merchant in the Eighth Galaxy.

His father's nickname was Monoeye Hawk, who occupied the planet Cayley, which was the capital planet of the Eighth Galaxy. He provided more than eighty percent of the weapons in all battles and wars in the Eighth Galaxy. He was the troublemaker, leaving bloodshed and death in his wake.

Bixing grew up with weapons of mass destruction, becoming an expert in the field of mechs naturally since he grew up in such a family. He had the potential to be a Victor Frankenstein, unfortunately, Monoeye Hawk found out his son had an absurd dream before he could be happy about having a perfect heir— his son dreamed of being an educator despite growing up in such a bloody family.

Why would the son of a munitions merchant would have such a humanistic dream? Bixing Lu had never told anyone. That was why people generally regarded him as a weirdo.

Everything absurd in Eighth Galaxy, which cannot be explained properly, was explained in one word— insanity.

On the young master Lu's twentieth birthday, at the end of dinner, Monoeye Hawk had asked his son about his wishes. He had been too drunk to stay sober, promising he would make every wish come true even if his wish was to burn Wotto down.

The younger Lu had believed it. He said his wish to his father, faithfully.

"I want to publish a book."

The Monoeye Hawk had sobered up immediately. He read his son's masterpiece titled Space Mech Introductory Theory. The munitions merchant was a bit confused. He couldn't figure out what "Space Mech Introductory Theory" was.

So he asked without any embarrassment, "What is this?"

"A basic textbook introducing space mech technology." The younger Lu answered.

The Monoeye Hawk thought there was something wrong with his ears. "A te... what book?"

"A textbook." The younger Lu had said, "I've read the textbooks used by several kinds of standard colleges in the Eighth Galaxy. They were all awful. So I wrote one by myself. Father, you are very welcome to correct me."

His father didn't say anything for a while. "What do you wanna do?"

The younger Lu was adamant, immediately answering, "I am willing to build a serious school, serious enough to light the technological flame of the Eighth Galaxy."

Now his father was completely wide awake. He left without a single word, deciding to find a doctor to cure his son.

Since that, Bixing Lu and his father had started their drawn out fight. His mech abilities improved a lot in the process. When he was grounded on the planet Cayley, he spent 3 years turning his wandering vehicle into a meager-looking interstellar mech. Using it to escape, he wandered a lot until he met a certain person on Beijing-ß, which started his hopeless infatuation.

"Where is your student?" B4 turned on the wall lights as soon as he walked in, destroying the atmosphere Bixing Lu had created on purpose.

"The secretary took her away." Bixing Lu had set the scene for so long, but now his only audience destroyed his stage without a glance. He sighed and left his bar stool, circling around Spider, "What? You got the human trafficker back? Is that him?"

B4 looked at him for a second.

"I don't have to ask, do I?" He rolled over the man on the floor with his foot, winking to Zhanlu, "No one in the Eighth Galaxy can escape from Zhanlu's tracking space field, can they, babe?

Zhanlu showed no expression, "Thanks for your appreciation."

B4 showed no expression as well, "Then why are you still here?"

Bixing was helpless when facing two poker faces. "I say, which one of you is the original edition?"

Then he kneeled, pressing on the Spider's neck. Figuring out the man was still alive, he became more serious. "I have no intention of knowing who he is or what he's doing here. I will ask just one question and I will leave here immediately after finishing it. Will my student be in danger because of all of this?"

"Do not worry." Zhanlu answered, "I have blocked the ID information of Miss Huang. Spider's partner did not get anything."

Bixing did not say a word then. He stood up, taking a bottle of wine behind the bar counter without asking for it.

"I am leaving then." He checked his appearance in front of the glass door, turning around to say, "Well, the girl told me what happened roughly. I suppose the man has something similar to Eden. Be careful— bye."

B4 raised his eyebrows. "Wait."