Yang Hao was stunned speechless. He took the wanted poster with trembling hands and read it. It was exactly as he feared—his name was listed alongside those notoriously infamous interstellar pirates. His photo had been carefully altered to make him look like a pirate himself. They were just short of giving him a peg leg and a hook hand; the image was practically straight out of Pirates of the Caribbean.
“One hundred million imperial credits!” Yang Hao mused, wondering whether he should turn himself in for the reward. “Who’s been so kind to me, putting such a high price on my head?”
“The Wang Clan,” X13 replied. “The same family of Wang Tao, the one you took down. They’ve sworn to capture you. As you know, the Wang Clan is a core force in the Imperial military. They can field several fleets just from their own family members. Those tailing us are likely elite forces sent specifically to hunt us down.”
Yang Hao crouched on the captain’s leather sofa, stunned. “No way. Are they really serious? Can’t we just surrender?”
“I find it strange,” Long Yun ignored Yang Hao’s talk of surrender, “that instead of reporting your killing of Wang Tao to the Imperial Privy Council and letting the Empire issue a formal warrant, the Wang Clan is spending their own money and using underground channels to go after you. Why?”
“Maybe they just want revenge?” Yang Hao wiped sweat from his forehead. “Or perhaps they want me to take the blame for killing their precious son? Maybe they want me to become the Wang family heir?”
“Don’t flatter yourself!” Hun Yuanzi snorted. “Even if the world were full of idiots, something this good would never happen to you.”
“It’s more likely the Wang Clan has something they don’t want the central Imperial government to find out,” Long Yun mused, pinching his chin. Though he looked rough and rugged on the outside, he was actually quite sharp-minded.
“Hehe, well, that might actually be good for us,” Hun Yuanzi began to get excited again. “Let a few Wang Clan experts come after us. It’ll be good training for you, and maybe under pressure, your Heart Sword technique will reappear again.”
The Heart Sword technique Hun Yuanzi referred to was the one Yang Hao had used to kill Wang Tao. At that moment, his sword heart had completely merged into his body, and under intense emotional pressure, he had unleashed the legendary Heart Sword technique—a move rarely used even among sword immortals.
But since that day, both the sword heart and the Heart Sword technique had vanished. No matter what Hun Yuanzi tried, Yang Hao could no longer use it again. Eventually, Hun Yuanzi had to admit defeat, stating that only under extreme emotional turmoil—like losing a lover—might the Heart Sword resurface. Hence, he had secretly hoped Yang Hao would lose more women in his life recently.
“If it were me, I certainly wouldn’t want the Wang Clan coming after us,” X13 reminded Yang Hao. “There aren’t that many lifeboats on this battleship. I’ve already reserved one. If you don’t prepare soon, there won’t be any left for you.”
“Lifeboat? Screw that!” Yang Hao, suddenly bold from somewhere, shouted loudly. “So what if it’s just a bunch of Wang Clan trash? Let them come! We don’t need to run anymore. Let’s turn around and hit them hard. This is the Doomsday-class battleship we’re talking about, with overwhelming firepower. If they want to come die, that’s fine with me.”
“Thankfully, I’m the one flying the ship right now,” X13 exhaled deeply, clearly showing signs of his recent AI personality glitches. “If it were really you, Captain, flying us, we’d have been blown to pieces already.”
“Pfft, don’t talk like that,” Yang Hao boasted, mimicking Hun Yuanzi’s tone. “We’ve got a first-rate captain, a top-tier swordsmanship team, and you, a robot who can fly the ship. What do we have to fear?”
“I do—terrified, in fact!” X13 didn’t hold back. “The fleet chasing us is several times larger than ours. According to radar, there are at least two battleships, five destroyers, and countless smaller vessels. Their scale rivals that of an Imperial expeditionary force. With that kind of military might, they could conquer dozens of planets. And now they’re just chasing us? Talk about an honor.”
“No way,” Yang Hao almost wanted to faint. “Is it really that exaggerated? I’m just a pirate, why such a big deal?”
“Wait a second!” Long Yun suddenly rushed over, grabbing X13’s antenna and shaking it wildly. “Say it again—what kind of ships are they?”
“What are you doing?! Are you trying to murder me?!” X13 angrily threatened to discharge electricity. “You want me to throw you out of the ship?”
“Never mind that—just tell me!”
“Two battleships and five destroyers,” X13 answered grudgingly.
Long Yun’s face turned ashen. He rubbed his hands together anxiously, as if facing an impossible problem.
“Hey, what’s wrong with you?” Yang Hao, oblivious to the danger, asked. “I’m the one being hunted. Why are you so worked up?”
“We’re doomed! Finished!” Long Yun shouted hysterically. “Damn it, who the hell did you mess with to bring such a powerful enemy after us? Do you even know what the word ‘death’ means?”
“I know it perfectly well. I’m not illiterate,” Yang Hao grumbled, pulling out a Fire Macaque Pill from his pocket and chewing it. This had become a recent habit of his. The more he took, the more he enjoyed the spicy thrill it gave him, keeping him energized all day long—even allowing him to stay awake for days. He always carried a bunch of them like snacks, popping one whenever he felt like it.
“Kid, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Hun Yuanzi started nagging again. “This stuff isn’t spicy peanuts. You can’t just keep popping it like candy.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Yang Hao shrugged it off and turned to Long Yun. “Why are you so worked up anyway?”
“Do you know what the Heavenly King is?”
“The Heavenly King?” Yang Hao chuckled. “You mean the Heavenly King of Heaven? That’s me, right?”
“The Heavenly King is a fleet—a super fleet,” Long Yun ignored Yang Hao’s joke and continued. “In the Imperial military, many fleets are composed entirely of members from a single noble family, known as ‘clan armies’ to distinguish them from the central Imperial forces. These clan armies are generally weaker than the central forces because they’re led by aristocratic youths. However, among the Imperial military, four clan fleets are recognized as the strongest, even surpassing regular central forces. These four fleets have legendary battle records and are the pillars of the entire Imperial military.”
“So what?” Yang Hao still didn’t seem to grasp the gravity of the situation. The Galactic Empire had always glorified martial strength, so in school, he often heard people boasting about which army was stronger or which fleet was more powerful.
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