Chapter 135: The Day Code Fell in Love (5)

In the vastness of the universe, where the Galactic Alliance maintains order, there naturally exist outlaws belonging to no nation—desperados who live by killing and plundering.

The Conqueror's course should have been safe, as this route was regularly patrolled by fleets, ensuring security. Yet the information technician brought back troubling news.

Not long ago, a nearby transit station was attacked, and security forces rushed to assist, leaving the thieves emboldened.

This assault was clearly targeted at Li Shenjue.

Someone must have learned of his passage through this area, and since he piloted only an ordinary ship—not a warship—this was the perfect chance to turn him into stardust.

After all, Li Shenjue held a high position; many wished for his death.

Li Shenjue hastily ordered his crew to prepare for battle, but as alarms blared and hull damage worsened, the engineers panicked, “Commander, we can only abandon ship and escape!”

Outside, the gunfire continued unabated, and even to the naked eye, the enemy warships multiplied.

Li Shenjue had no choice but to command, “Everyone to the escape pods!”

The number of escape pods was calculated based on personnel numbers; Bai Yao was included in the original plan, but the siblings Ruan Jiaojiao had boarded unexpectedly, reducing the available pods.

By right, each pod could hold only one person; overcrowding might doom them all in the void of space.

Bai Yao, upon hearing of the attack, had wisely fled to an escape pod early, finding a seat inside.

So when Li Shenjue and Ruan Jiaojiao entered last, he saw Bai Yao’s calm composure, causing his brow to twitch.

Although he enjoyed playing with notions of “sacrificing life,” he was no villain; he could not force his subordinates to relinquish their chance at survival and thus took Ruan Jiaojiao into his own pod.

Ruan Jiaojiao, sensible as she was, looked at Li Shenjue fearfully, “Will we die?”

Li Shenjue embraced her tightly, “Jiao Jiao, whatever life or death may bring, we will face it together.”

She sobbed softly, then suddenly remembered, eyes wide with alarm, “Shi Jiu isn’t here!”

Shi Jiu had never joined them for meals, preferring to stay alone in his room today as usual.

By then, everyone else was in the escape pods.

Ruan Jiaojiao cried out, “Li Shenjue, what about Shi Jiu?”

Li Shenjue’s face darkened; he said nothing.

The countdown for pod launch sounded relentlessly; several pods had already detached and left the ship.

At that moment, a young figure dashed hurriedly toward them.

His dark eyes fixed on Ruan Jiaojiao inside the pod, he dodged falling debris in a disheveled manner, pushing forward, “Sister, please save me! Don’t leave me behind!”

Overwhelmed by fear and panic, tears blurred his vision rapidly. He stumbled over debris and fell dangerously to the ground.

Ignoring the pain, he wiped his dusty face, now streaked with grime, and struggled to his feet, moving towards Ruan Jiaojiao, “Please, save me… I don’t want to die…”

Here, he shared the closest bond with her, and since she was Li Shenjue’s woman, she was his last hope to survive.

Moved, Ruan Jiaojiao pleaded, “Li Shenjue! Save Shi Jiu!”

Li Shenjue restrained her calmly, “Our escape pods are full.”

No one else could risk their own lives for a stranger with no ties to them.

The countdown neared its end; one pod after another launched swiftly.

Li Shenjue held Ruan Jiaojiao back as she watched through the glass, tears falling for the boy cruelly left behind, the pods ferrying the rest away from the doomed ship.

The black-haired youth tried to stand again but was struck on the head by falling machinery, collapsing once more; the small flowerpot in his hands rolled away, beyond his strength to retrieve.

The sounds of departing pods marked the harbinger of his death.

He had struggled desperately to board the Conqueror and flee a dead planet.

He had truly fought hard to survive.

But perhaps someone like him was never meant to survive; abandonment was his destined fate.

Shi Jiu lay motionless amid the wreckage, surrounded by the sounds of falling debris and death looming everywhere, his will to live extinguished.

As the ruins turned to cosmic dust, he would be torn apart like a rag doll.

The power system failed; darkness engulfed the hall.

“Escape pod number three launch sequence aborted.”

Suddenly, a mechanical voice sounded, the pod doors opened, and a girl’s voice called out, “Hey, want to get in or not?”

The boy stirred faintly, lifting his face from the rubble; his foggy eyes lifeless.

In the dimness, the sounds of falling debris continued, with only one pod still illuminated.

She sat in the light, her beautiful face wearing an impatient expression, and with a sigh asked again, “So? Are you coming?”

The ship’s weakening hull shook violently as an unnatural roar of wind assaulted their ears in the dark void.

Shi Jiu croaked, “Yes!”

Suddenly, strength returned to him, and clumsily, he rose from the ground.

Bai Yao called out, “Don’t forget my flower!”

He scooped up the fallen flowerpot, staggering toward her. As he neared the light, he nearly collapsed again, but hands reached out and pulled him inside the small pod.

Every student had learned how to operate the escape pods.

Bai Yao swiftly manipulated the control panel, restarting the countdown; she expertly fastened the safety belt around Shi Jiu, then secured her own.

In the cramped space, their bodies pressed closely; his dust-covered clothes soiled her pristine white dress.

Instinctively, Shi Jiu tried to pull back, but she pressed her hand to his back, holding him firmly.

“Don’t move!” Bai Yao warned.

The ship was at its limit; if they didn’t leave now, even inside the pods, escape would be impossible.

She closed her eyes, praying silently, “Hurry, hurry, hurry!”

In this moment between life and death, her grip tightened on his hand; Shi Jiu gazed blankly at the top of her head, the little flowerpot between them nearly crushed.

“Four, three, two…”

At the count of one, just before the explosion, the pod trembled and shot away from the fire into the vast darkness speckled with stars.

Outside the window, the flames grew smaller and smaller until they became but a tiny speck, faintly glowing.

Bai Yao nervously opened her eyes, confirming she was still alive, then slowly released Shi Jiu’s hand and, with a touch of whimsy, remarked on the small fiery dot, “It really does look like a star.”

Shi Jiu pressed a hand to his stomach, trying to keep some distance from her; his eyes cast downward as he whispered, “Thank you…”

Bai Yao replied, “If you want to thank someone, thank the moonstone.”

Shi Jiu stared at the flowerpot in his hands.

Despite the deadly threats surrounding them moments before, the small green plant had lost only one leaf; surely, it would soon grow many more.

Bai Yao poked the little plant, “If you hadn’t brought this, I wouldn’t care about you at all.”

Shi Jiu hugged the flowerpot tightly, guarding it carefully in his arms.