"Is it really him?" Li Ming was slightly surprised.
Even more cunning than him, Duke Bai Ye had rapidly fled after the Torch Organization announced that they were the ones behind the death of Isus.
Li Ming hadn’t expected to see the other party here, but after a bit of thought, it made sense.
He likely came here to avoid attention. Although the suspicion on those who witnessed the death of Isus wasn’t great, leaving abruptly still required an excuse.
Searching for the lost goods was the perfect pretext.
"Duke Bai Ye? You sure?" Ya Ro’s expression shook slightly; he dared not use the radar data to lock on, to avoid triggering the other’s early warning system.
He could only use the hyper-optic visor to observe, fixating on that spaceship, "Sela’s Coronet-class spaceship, royal series, not sold to the public, specially customized, eight warp engines, four propulsion engines, every conceivable feature included, much better than my ship."
Ya Ro was filled with envy, "Indeed a VIP’s vehicle."
"It is Duke Bai Ye; I’ve seen this spaceship before." Li Ming stroked his chin; this cunning old boy had targeted him several times, the grudge was not small.
He had thought it would be hard to run into him so soon after his escape, but it seemed the two had some kind of fate.
"The Sela Civilization has also sent a level B lifeform here," Ya Ro said pessimistically, "I knew it was a wasted trip; see those battered warships?"
He focused the hyper-optic visor on a particularly majestic warship among those battered ships, nearly a kilometer long, its surface mottled with marks from battles everywhere.
On its flank, a python pattern was painted, encircling the entire warship.
"Scale Serpent, its master is one of the Star Hunters’ team captains, the Snake Speaker—Atom." Ya Ro said helplessly, "A level B lifeform, brutal and powerful."
"With both sides watching, no one can take the goods away."
"Let’s bail, shall we?" Ya Ro beat his retreat again, "Junior brother, it’s not that I’m cowardly or afraid of trouble, but being caught between two level B lifeforms is obviously out of our league."
Li Ming gave no response, which made Ya Ro’s mouth twitch and his face grew more distressed.
Having spent some time together, he had come to understand his junior brother a bit; this was clearly a reluctance to leave.
"Why haven’t they started fighting?" Li Ming suddenly asked.
"Probably because they’re still searching for that batch of goods." Ya Ro speculated, "At present, their common goal is finding the goods, even if they will fight, it’ll be after finding them."
"Right now, they’re mutually beneficial. Raiders fight only for profit; fighting now serves no purpose."
At that point, Ya Ro even chuckled twice, "This planet isn’t small, they’ll probably need some time to find the goods."
"Where did you hide the goods?" Li Ming mused before asking.
"Inside a big canyon, in a Thunderstorm Zone. On such a planet, with harsh geography, chaotic magnetic fields, and too much interference." Ya Ro lowered his voice for some reason, "Their detectors can’t cover the whole planet, nor work in those special environments; they indeed have a tough time searching."
"Let’s go, make a round, and see if there’s a chance to fish in troubled waters." Li Ming said, and Ya Ro quickly reached out, "Junior brother, let’s not fish anymore; if we go down, we’ll become the fish."
He had not expected his junior brother to show no sign of fear at all.
"Junior brother, you haven’t mixed it up in interstellar space. Let me tell you, caution is the most important thing," Ya Ro said earnestly, "This isn’t Jingnan, there’s no one to protect you here."
"Caution..." Li Ming agreed solemnly, "You’re right."
Ya Ro breathed a sigh of relief, glad to have persuaded him.
"I am the most cautious person," Li Ming declared, as he controlled the spaceship to start circling around; Ya Ro, overwhelmed, could only accept reality.
It took them two full days to reach the other side of the planet.
It was only because Ya Ro’s rickety ship was pretty good at hiding, plus the fact that both sides’ spaceships were engaged in a standoff, that they weren’t discovered as they sneaked in.
They cautiously hugged the low orbit and then flew at low altitude toward the direction Ya Ro pointed out.
"By the way, don’t raiders usually ransom ordinary tourists to their civilization or, at worst, sell them as slaves? There’s seldom direct slaughter, right?" Li Ming casually inquired, "Is this Atom really so brutal?"
Ya Ro’s heart skipped a beat and he explained with difficulty, "Atom is indeed brutal; plus, due to the loss of a lot of his crew, he went into a furious rampage."
"I see." Li Ming nodded; Ya Ro wasn’t sure if he believed him, his eyes flickering.
Meanwhile, in orbit, aboard Atom’s Scale Serpent, the atmosphere was boisterous and lively, with raiders, dressed casually, drinking heavily and stumbling about.
Even during daylight, even while facing the enemy, they were not the least bit worried.
A man with pale blue skin, curly and disheveled hair, came down to the bottom layer of the warship. His eyes resembled those of a snake: cold and sinister, with fine scales shimmering at the corners.
On both sides were metal cells. Seeing someone approaching, the occupants immediately became agitated, pleading, "Please, let me out!"
"I have children, I have parents..."
To raiders, interstellar passenger or transport ships are treasures throughout.
Precious goods can be looted, those living beings can be ransomed for money, and if they encounter civilizations that never negotiate with raiders, they can only be sold directly as slaves, even having their organs harvested.