Under the spatial folding propulsion system, the spaceship suddenly accelerated at a speed tens of thousands of times faster than light. Most of the resulting gravitational forces were neutralized by the ship’s gravity compensation equipment, but the residual forces were still enough to make Yang Hao and Long Yun suffer terribly. These two had failed to fasten their safety restraints in time and were thrown backward like they had been blasted by a cannonball, squashed against the observation window, their bodies seemingly flattened, struggling to breathe and circulate blood properly.
“You… aren’t you speaking a bit too late?” Yang Hao groaned in agony, trying hard to widen his eyes to look at Long Yun, whose face was similarly flattened against the window like a pig’s snout. “Damn it, I’m the captain after all, getting tricked several times every day. How am I supposed to maintain any dignity?”
“You can blame X13,” Long Yun, a general, replied. He was great at fighting, but knew nothing about piloting spacecraft. “It’s the one flying the ship. I’m a victim too, you know.”
“I’m the real victim!!!” Hongyuanzi, who had been asleep all this time, finally woke up, shouting furiously. “Another jump? This is already the third time today! Does anyone even care about living anymore?”
“You’re a ghost, for crying out loud,” Yang Hao shot back bluntly.
“Ghosts have dignity too, and rights as well!” Hongyuanzi screamed. “You’re pressing your guts all over my head—it’s environmental pollution! I’ll sue you, just wait!”
“Go right ahead!” Yang Hao sarcastically replied. “I’d love to see someone actually accept a ghost’s lawsuit. But at least wait until after this jump finishes.”
The jump indeed ended quickly. After Yang Hao was flattened against the window for a second nap, the spatial migration ceased, and the ship resumed its cruising speed at 1.5 times the speed of light.
“X13, get out here!!!” As soon as the ship stabilized, Yang Hao stormed angrily into the cockpit to confront the culprit.
Although Empress Ming had gifted the battleship *Doomsday* to Yang Hao, he had absolutely no idea how to pilot such a massive warship. For this reason, the all-capable AI X13 had been the one steering the ship for quite some time. Amanda had shown remarkable foresight by installing a complete star chart and cosmic navigation guide into this AI.
“I can roll over,” X13 replied in its usual rebellious tone, “but you better be careful. If I leave the helm, everyone on board will be rolling too. I just activated manual control.”
Yang Hao’s anger immediately cooled. Right now, this little broken robot was the most useful crew member. It consumed the least but worked the hardest—only needing half an hour of sunlight each day to skillfully maneuver the massive, skyscraper-sized warship. If Yang Hao really angered it, he might end up suffering serious consequences.
“Why did you jump again? This is already the third time today! Didn’t you say we’d arrive at our destination in a few days? Why the rush?” Yang Hao continued to act like a captain, noticing Long Yun watching him with his legs up.
Truthfully, Yang Hao only understood a few basic terms about space travel. He was clueless about everything else. Fortunately, X13 had recently taught him a few tricks, allowing him to maintain his captain’s image.
Yang Hao had once worried that traveling from Raymon Star to the distant Saint Bear Star, thousands of light-years away, would take an eternity. By the time he arrived, everything would have gone cold—maybe even his beloved Shiming Yuan would have been reborn and have a son already.
Thankfully, the *Doomsday* was equipped with the Empire’s spatial migration device. This technology allowed the ship to travel faster than light by folding space and traversing wormholes. At its maximum speed, it could reach tens of thousands of times the speed of light. This incredible invention in human spaceflight history made the cosmic age much easier and enabled the Galactic Empire to expand its territory exponentially.
“There wasn’t supposed to be any migration today,” X13 said, its round body sprouting eight mechanical arms like a giant octopus. Yang Hao always felt the urge to rip them all off every time he saw them.
“Then why did you mess around? I nearly got smashed to death!” Yang Hao growled.
“I nearly got suffocated by your guts!” Hongyuanzi quickly added. Only Yang Hao and X13 could hear him, so he never missed a chance to voice his complaints.
X13 quickly pulled up a star chart on the screen. “You think I enjoy this? Every jump burns a ton of my processing power. I did it for your sake!”
“For my sake?” Yang Hao almost forgot that robots didn’t have brain cells. “Yeah, right. Just don’t kill me with stress, okay? What’s this?”
Yang Hao pretended to examine the shifting star chart. In reality, he couldn’t understand a thing. Whenever he had free time, he was usually hiding in his cabin looking at adult pictures instead of studying navigation.
“This is the chart from before the five jumps,” X13 explained. “A fleet has been tailing us for at least a thousand light-years. Without that last jump, they probably would’ve caught up with us by now.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Yang Hao finally spotted a line of glowing dots on the chart, thanks to X13’s guidance. “Maybe it’s just a passing fleet. There are traders everywhere these days. Running into a few shouldn’t be surprising.”
“It’s a battle fleet!” X13 warned. “I suspect it might be chasing us. Civilian freighters couldn’t possibly keep up with our speed. Only the Empire’s military ships could match the *Doomsday*’s speed.”
“You mean we’re being hunted by the Empire?!” Yang Hao was startled. Was the thing he had feared all along finally happening? Ever since he killed Wang Tao on Raymon Star, he had been anxious and uneasy. Everyone knew Wang Tao was an Imperial officer stationed there, and killing him was practically declaring war on the Empire.
If the Empire really issued a warrant for him, that would be a huge problem. Fortunately, X13 quickly dismissed that possibility. “So far, there’s been no official bounty on you from the Empire. Don’t worry. They even issue intergalactic alerts for petty thieves, so you definitely haven’t made it onto their wanted list yet.”
“Lucky me, lucky me,” Yang Hao chuckled awkwardly. “Then there’s no way a fleet would be chasing us. You’re just being paranoid. X13, should I get you some medicine? Otherwise, you might end up with a mental illness.”
“Pass,” X13 replied coolly. “Keep your aphrodisiacs for those who need them. My entire body is made of metal—I don’t need any of that!”
“Alright then, meeting adjourned!” Yang Hao thought the matter was settled.
But X13 insisted, “That was definitely a fleet sent to capture you. Although this jump allowed us to shake them off, if they have full-spectrum radar, they’ll reacquire us soon. Before we reach Saint Bear Star, we might encounter them again.”
“If the Empire hasn’t issued a warrant, why would there be a fleet chasing me?” Yang Hao asked, confused. “Has another great empire appeared out of nowhere?”
“Just because the Empire hasn’t issued a bounty doesn’t mean the military hasn’t,” X13 said, almost gleefully, handing Yang Hao a printed list. “On the black market, Mr. Yang Hao, esteemed fleet commander, you’ve already topped the wanted list. Someone’s offering over one hundred million Imperial Credits for your capture—enough to buy two destroyers!”
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