Chapter 41: At His Master’s Service
Chapter 41: At His Master’s Service
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Bai Linan finally further understood about his new master’s temperament. The cold, unsmiling youth before him seemed to be dazed much of the time. He preferred swift actions and down-to-earth approaches over flattery or candied words. He never expressed outright disdain at them, but Bai Linan could unmistakably notice his impatience with those kinds of words! That’s right, impatience! As for rank distinctions, his master was indifferent to them, but Bai Linan would not dare to be disrespectful!
What a strange person!
However, Bai Linan was astute. Once he knew about Ye Chong’s preferences, he adjusted accordingly and changed his sycophantic ways of the past. He performed his duties efficiently and appropriately. Ye Chong, being naive, gradually realized that the man was actually not bad! If Mr One-eye was still alive and saw Bai Linan all prim and proper, he might just lose his last eyeball to shock!
Bai Linan spoke respectfully, “Sir, they should be heading towards Scarlet Star Shoal. They will not expect us to pass through the asteroid belt and head for Reno.” Bai Linan now held great admiration towards Ye Chong, for he was always practicing on maneuvering the starship these past few days, and his painstaking effort far surpassed Bai Linan’s expectations. To him, Ye Chong’s training was akin to self torture!
This level of training was normal to Ye Chong. Since there was no one around to teach him, he would have to learn by himself. He had no choice but to learn the same way he did with mechs, but the results were remarkable, and his skills in maneuvering the starship greatly improved!
Since he witnessed Ye Chong’s fluency in maneuvering, Bai Linan was confident enough to propose this daring plan, and Ye Chong agreed that it was a good idea. With that, the pursuing pirates figured that Ye Chong would be aiming for the Scarlet Star Shoal, thinking that they would need to recharge energy and replenish supplies there. With a direction, the pirates went forth chasing in a frenzy, while requesting assistance from any pirate connections they have near Scarlet Star Shoal.
The Red Beard's Owl’s crew leader was killed despite layers of security, and news of losing their starship spread like wildfire throughout the pirate community! Many travelled to Scarlet Star Shoal to see the mysterious person who single-handedly murdered the infamous captain of Red Beard's Owl and even escaped with their vessel.
According to Red Beard's Owl’s third-in-command, Iron, he saw with his own eyes that Mr One-eye had exchanged two moves with the assassin, and was killed by the third move! With that, the mysterious assassin’s fame skyrocketed, and all were hooked with curiosity, for Mr One-eye was a master in both mech piloting and unarmed combat, and boasted a high reputation amongst the pirates. Since he was eliminated with three strikes, how could that not be shocking?
If one had such an exceptional assassin in one’s crew, the others would almost certainly be reluctant to provoke one’s pirate crew. This was the mindset of the captains from many pirate crews - they immediately rushed for Scarlet Star Shoal, hoping to greatly benefit from this uproar!
While everyone was in a frenzy for Ye Chong, the man himself took Bai Linan’s advice and headed straight into the asteroid belt midway journeying to Scarlet Star Shoal!
Bai Linan firmly believed that he would never again go within ten kilometers of an asteroid belt! Heavens, this was a nightmare! When you see weird-shaped rock fragments slowly enlarging before your eyes, closing in and whizzing past you, only personal experience could make you truly appreciate the tension. Bai Linan’s fragile nerves and heart heavily suffered, and when he saw Ye Chong’s face red with excitement, he could only think of one thing - why did he ever come up with such a damning idea?
The vessel of the previously notorious Red Beard's Owl was magnificent and mighty, but after thorough treatment from the raining debris of rock fragments, it was now littered with holes, and looked terribly ugly! If Tiezi were to see it in front of him, he might not have recognized the vessel that he had personally modified under the orders of the late captain!
The starship’s performance was also way beyond Ye Chong’s expectations. It if were a normal starship, it would be out of service after the “painful” trip through the rocks. And while the pirate ship’s exterior was now all scratched up from the impacts, the interior structure was completely undamaged.
When the starship left the asteroid belt safely, Bai Linan could not bear it anymore and plopped on the carpet, with his body sweating all over! On the other hand, Ye Chong seemed calm as ever, even reluctantly casting a few glances back at the asteroid belt. His expression was noticed by the heavily panting Bai Linan, who had the sudden urge to just abandon ship!
Fortunately, Ye Chong did not turn the starship back, but continued along the trajectory plotted on the space chart, heading towards the supply point on Reno. This made the anxious Bai Linan breathe a huge sigh of relief!
“Sir, we’ve arrived on Reno, where to next?” Bai Linan asked.
Ye Chong shook his head and asked back, “I’m not familiar with the local territory, where do you think we should go?”
Bai Linan considered for a moment. “Sir, news of you killing Mr One-eye must have spread around, I’m afraid many big players would be waiting for you to show yourself!”
Ye Chong was astonished “Waiting for me to show myself? For what?”
Bai Linan smiled wrily. “Sir, who would not want to recruit someone capable like you? I should tell you that once you announce yourself to the world, they would swarm up to you and do almost anything to get you onboard!”
Ye Chong humphed coldly; his gaze became focused and he went quiet. He took out his dagger and gently tested the sharp edges.
Bai Linan felt a chill down his spine, and hoped that the pirates would act sensibly, or else… Bai Linan dared not to continue the thought!
Ye Chong considered for a moment. He then removed his jacket, took off the black-striped yellow shirt that Bai Linan wore earlier and returned it to him. “You must take care of yourself!”
Bai Linan felt warmth blossoming in him, and tears nearly escaped his eyes. Ye Chong’s lightly delivered concern won much gratitude from Bai Linan. Even Mr One-eye, who treated him the best amongst the crew, did not care for his life. If Mr One-eye knew he had a mesh vest, the captain would surely take it away from him by any means necessary; he would never offer one for Bai Linan instead! All these years, he had grown used to being a lackey, with no one concerned with his life or death. If not for his ability to craft out plans for Mr One-eye, he would surely have been left to die of starvation on some deserted wasteland! Thanks to his efforts in those days, he finally became Red Beard's Owl’s second-in-command. It may seem glorifying, but those days were hard. The captain ordered him around from above, the crew disdained him from below, and Iron treated him like an enemy. He had not met a single soul who cared about his safety!
Bai Linan stared at the protective mesh vest in his hands with mixed feelings. Suddenly, his eyes glowed with realization, and spoke eagerly, “Sir, I know where we’re heading!”