Discussing The Correct Posture To Enjoy Dog Food

Chapter 166 - Pomegranate Flavored Sentinel Gong (7)

Translated by Hua Li ^_~

“Young Marshal, ZYJ-107 battleship spotted at twelve o’clock. At three, six, and nine o’clock, three ZYC-218 starships—we’re surrounded.”

Barton’s voice was grim.

Blind Mike’s move was ruthless!

For the Free Alliance to have laid such a precise ambush along the only path to the artificial starport where they’d make the wormhole jump back into Imperial territory—it proved he hadn’t betrayed them after making the deal. He’d already planned to sell them out beforehand. Even that so-called “two-hour handover window” had been a lie.

The Alliance and Mike had colluded from the start, lying in wait. By the time the Free Alliance ships shed their anti-detection cloaks, Xiang Muchuan’s team was already well within their firing range.

“Barton, check weapons and energy systems. Zicong, open comms with them. Aiqi, check the escape pods.”

“Yes, Young Marshal!”

With Xiang Muchuan calm as a mountain, the others quickly steadied their nerves.

He took Barton’s place at the console, running combat simulations. His calculations were lightning fast, data precise down to the eighth decimal place. Even Gou Liang, once the overlord of black-tech in the apocalypse, couldn’t compare to this level of mastery in a B-rank world.

Soon, the central display filled with coordinates, shifting numbers, and projections of attack and defense ranges.

Their warship-class vessel had decent firepower, but its energy chamber couldn’t sustain a prolonged battle. Against a true battleship, it was a moth hurling itself at flame. Xiang Muchuan had no intention of fighting head-on. He quickly mapped out several escape routes.

But none were ideal. Even if they broke through the encirclement, the landing points beyond were riddled with unpredictable risks.

His voice was steady: “Aiqi, once you’ve confirmed the pods are sound, get Yuan Wang and Dr. Tangdi inside.”

“Yes.”

She hurried to double her checks.

Just as Xiang Muchuan wrapped up his planning, Yao Zicong patched through to the Free Alliance flagship.

The comm screen lit up, revealing a young officer in a rumpled uniform, lounging as he eyed them lazily. His tone was mocking. “So which one of you is Black Card Mu? No need to answer, let me guess.”

His gaze swept over them one by one, then landed on Xiang Muchuan.

“So that’s the famous Black Card Mu. Hm. Bit of a letdown.” His grin widened at their tense faces. “But worth it. You know, half my fortune went into Mike’s pocket just for this little meeting. What do you think, Mr. Mu? Satisfied with the welcome party?”

“So it’s Lieutenant Colonel Jesu Litt.”

The Litt family was a major power in the Alliance military. Xiang Muchuan had crossed paths with them often—Jesu was no stranger.

“What brings you here with such fanfare, Lieutenant Colonel?”

Jesu sneered. “Still playing dumb at death’s door? You should know exactly why I’m here. What puzzles me is this—such a critical mission, and the Empire sends just you and a handful of lackeys. Either you’ve got some ace up your sleeve, or the Empire thinks the Free Alliance is nothing.”

“You’re right, Colonel, there seems to be some misunderstanding.” Xiang Muchuan’s smile was infuriatingly calm. “I was under the impression General Jack himself would come. It seems Saiya isn’t as valuable to you after all.”

Jesu’s smile froze.

He hated—loathed—being compared to his elder brother Jack. And Xiang Muchuan’s words dripped with disdain, implying he wasn’t even fit to touch his brother’s boots.

Jesu knew it was a ploy to rile him, but he forced a smirk. “For small fry like you, my brother’s presence isn’t needed. You’re already in my hands. Mr. Mu, provoking me now? Not very smart.”

“Then what does Lieutenant Colonel consider the smart move?”

Xiang Muchuan still smiled, but through his soul-bond he’d felt Gou Liang’s refusal to board the pod. His heart wasn’t as unshaken as his face.

Jesu’s eyes narrowed. “Stop stalling. You have no reinforcements. If you want to live, surrender quietly.”

He cut the comm feed. A countdown replaced his face.

02:59

—In three minutes, if Xiang Muchuan’s team hadn’t surrendered, the battleship would open fire.

Barton reported quickly: “Young Marshal, weapons and energy chamber checked. With first-level shields up, we can withstand a maximum of ten photon blasts before draining reserves.”

Xiang Muchuan didn’t respond immediately. He glanced at Gou Liang instead. After hearing Gou Liang’s mental plan, his brow furrowed. “How certain are you?”

“grOU…I St.”

stz EbnmZ kMhcchQ AtyInyQ.

Cnt YbgtmZ nmQ Mdh tMdhyk qmhI 100% gtfcnMbVJh khmMbmhJ-ZzbQh cnbyk gtzJQ gtffzmbgnMh QbyhgMJu MdytzZd Mdhby fhmMnJ AbhJQk, VzM Mdhu dnQ mt bQhn IdnM Ink hxgdnmZhQ. XhxM MdbmZ Mdhu qmhI, KbnmZ Szgdznm knbQ: “onyMtm, cnMgd zk MdytzZd Mt Mdh OJJbnmgh kdbc.”

“zNvI?!”

gNt INrtt btrt UIOWWtK.

They’d seen the calculated escape routes. Risky, yes, but not hopeless. At worst, they still had escape pods. Never did they expect Xiang Muchuan to choose surrender.

“hAOWQ nvrUNvH, INBU—”

RI bvUW’I KAOFI, FOI INt Frtvy BW INtBr FvIIHtoBtHK OWKtrUIvWKBWQ bvU UNAVyBWQ.

sNyHV TvKcvyH qNmgHKgr Ycgo wNYc y cyHr VgqYvdg.

NyzZ nMMngq?

Cznm Ldnt?

gNtc tlVNvWQtK POwwHtK HAAyU, FOI KBKW’I vUy vQvBW. gNtc’K oAHHAb NBU HtvK.

stz EbnmZ yhngdhQ bmMt dbk ctgqhM, czJJbmZ tzM khUhynJ gnckzJhk. Ph dnmQhQ Mdhf Mt KbnmZ Szgdznm. “Bnqh.”

To set the example, he swallowed one first. Xiang Muchuan followed without hesitation, then split the rest among the others.

After Barton sent the docking request, the enemy quickly approved it. Jesu’s image reappeared before them, even more disheveled than before—now with a glass of red wine in hand and a scantily dressed woman draped across his lap.

“Not bad. A wise man bends with the times. Mr. Mu, you’re smart. Let’s hope you stay smart, and don’t get any stupid ideas about pulling tricks during docking.”

Even if they detonated their ship after boarding, at best they’d kill a handful of people. Against a battleship, it was meaningless.

Xiang Muchuan smiled. “Lieutenant Colonel Jesu makes an excellent point. Thank you for the reminder.”

At first Jesu didn’t register the mockery. When it hit him that Xiang Muchuan was ridiculing him for even having such a foolish thought, his face darkened. Just as he was about to snap, a subordinate asked: “Colonel, target ship has docked. Do we grant entry?”

“Let them in.” Jesu shot Xiang Muchuan a cold glare and cut the comms. Once you’re in my hands, I’ll smash your teeth one by one with my own boots.

The docking clamps sealed, and the hatch opened—dozens of gun barrels aimed at the entrance.

After injecting them with sentinel suppressants that blocked spiritual projection, stripping them of combat ability, and thoroughly checking them for hidden weapons, the Alliance soldiers finally allowed passage.

“Bring them to me,” Jesu’s voice boomed through the docking bay.

A squad with laser rifles herded Xiang Muchuan’s group into the battleship’s control room.

Jesu shoved the woman off his lap, rose, and with no warning drove his boot into Xiang Muchuan’s stomach.

“Major!” Aiqi cried out.

Barton and Yao Zicong’s eyes blazed murder.

Gou Liang’s expression turned ice-cold—

【The system, panicked at sensing his murderous rage: Host, calm down!! Don’t lose it!!!】

Jesu laughed at their helpless fury, but when he saw Xiang Muchuan standing unflinching, face composed, his grin faltered. With a snarl, he lifted his foot to kick again.

Xiang Muchuan met his gaze with icy calm and didn’t bother to dodge.

Barton and Yao Zicong thrashed violently, struggling against the soldiers restraining them, desperate to intervene.

“Behave!”

Gun barrels jammed into their throats. Jesu’s second kick was about to land when—

For an instant, the world seemed to go silent. In the blink of an eye, every person in the control room collapsed to the floor.

“What was that sound?”

The sentinels stationed outside, sharp-eared, started forward—until Jesu’s voice rang out: “Stay back. I’ll play with these rats myself.”

They froze.

Inside the control room—

Yao Zicong, who had mimicked Jesu’s voice to hold the sentinels off, hadn’t yet recovered from his shock.

So much for “drug attack”—they hadn’t even seen Gou Liang move. Not even Xiang Muchuan had expected him to disable the entire room in an instant.

But Gou Liang ignored the stunned stares. He strode forward, eyes colder than frost, and stared down at Jesu frozen mid-kick, like a corpse.

Damn him.

He raised his boot and drove it into Jesu’s gut—

Once.

Twice.

Thrice!!

The others, already shaken by his power, now recoiled at his ruthlessness.

Xiang Muchuan, seeing him so furious, was first startled—then the corner of his lips curved upward, uncontrollably.

【Ding, Target Favorability updated. Current Favorability: +99!】

With a sharp gesture, Xiang signaled Barton to shut the control room doors. Ignoring Barton’s stiff-legged shock, he stepped forward, wrapped his arms around Gou Liang’s waist, and lifted him.

“Shh. Don’t be angry. We have business to finish.”

His hand pressed lightly over Gou Liang’s chest, his voice softer than ever.

“Does it hurt?”

Gou Liang touched his stomach gently.

How dare anyone lay a hand on him? He’s dead already.

Xiang Muchuan had never imagined someone could capture his heart like this. Meeting Gou Liang’s angry, worried gaze, he couldn’t help but kiss him hard, laughter spilling into the touch. “Doesn’t hurt. We’ll deal with him properly later.”

【Ding, Mission Progress updated. Current Progress: 1%.】

His happiness soared—one kiss, and his satisfaction jumped a full percent.

Gou Liang finally relaxed, though as Xiang carried him away, he still made sure to stomp Jesu’s face, leaving a deep bootprint that made even the onlookers wince.

Aiqi, Barton, and Yao Zicong grinned silently. If not for the circumstances, they’d have cheered.

—It was only now, seeing how fiercely Gou Liang protected and cared for Xiang Muchuan, that they truly accepted him as the Young Marshal’s partner.

Yao Zicong glanced around. “Young Marshal, what’s our next move? Will Yuan Shao’s medicine be enough to handle the people outside?”

Xiang Muchuan also turned to Gou Liang. Right now, with his spirit sealed, he couldn’t sense Gou Liang’s resonance.

Gou Liang tossed out two clipped words: “Use brains.”

Then he released Little Pink.

The suppressant worked only on sentinels, not on guides—and since they all knew well what the Federation did to prisoners, they’d sent the little pink pup back into Gou Liang’s mental domain beforehand.

Now, this silly-looking puppy was their key player.

Under Gou Liang’s command, it licked away the toxins from Xiang Muchuan and the others. Then Gou Liang fished something from his pocket—a vial of serum thicker than his thigh, which clearly had no business fitting inside the flat pocket of his close-fitting pants. All four of them stared in shock. Xiang Muchuan merely shot the others a look: Don’t ask.

First to recover his spiritual strength thanks to Little Pink’s treatment, Xiang Muchuan then watched as Gou Liang spread white ointment over Yao Zicong’s face, kneading it in. By the time the suppressant wore off, Gou Liang had already completed his masterpiece.

Hiss—

Even Aiqi and Barton sucked in sharp breaths. Xiang Muchuan himself was stunned.

Yao Zicong had vanished. Standing in his place was Jesu—perfectly, terrifyingly lifelike.

Aiqi looked back and forth between the real Jesu on the ground and the one on his feet. If not for the clear bootprint still marring the real Jesu’s face, she would have sworn her eyes were deceiving her.

Yao Zicong, oblivious, followed Barton’s pointing finger to a reflective panel. One look at his “new face,” and he nearly keeled over, cold sweat pouring down.

“Disguise. Potion.”

Shaking the vial, Gou Liang pointed at the Jesu on the floor. “Switch.”

The meaning clicked. Yao Zicong quickly stripped Jesu and swapped outfits.

Then, using the same method, Gou Liang disguised Aiqi, Barton, Xiang Muchuan, and himself as Federation sentinels of similar builds, altering their faces just enough to swap identities.

Only then did he feed the antidote to everyone else.

At first, Aiqi and the others worried, but then they saw the Federation soldiers rise with blank stares, resuming their pre-collapse movements like sleepwalkers. Their jaws dropped again.

Gou Liang even made the real Jesu look’s close to “Black Card Mu,” then gave Yao Zicong a meaningful look.

Even without resonance, Yao Zicong understood instantly. A chance to pay Jesu back in kind!

His lips split into a grin before he forced it into Jesu’s trademark smug sneer. He nodded.

Gou Liang snapped his fingers.

The room “resumed.”

No one noticed time had stuttered. Yao Zicong kicked “Black Card Mu,” snatched a rifle, and swung it hard. The captives already unconscious were promptly “knocked out” again.

“Trash! Imperial garbage!”

Armed with Jesu’s catchphrases, Yao Zicong played the part with relish. After slapping “Jesu” across the face twice—his own disguised reflection hurting too much—he switched to stomping the real Jesu’s stomach.

Only after venting his fury did he spit, “I thought they were supposed to be strong!”

Jesu’s lover, the coquettish guide, clung to Yao Zicong and simpered: “Don’t be angry, Second Young Master. They took suppressant, of course they weren’t your match.”

Yao Zicong’s skin crawled. He shoved her away, voice dripping malice: “So you mean if they hadn’t taken suppressant, I wouldn’t be their match?”

Her face went pale. “No, Second Young Master, I didn’t mean that, I swear—”

“Shut up! Get out!”

He kicked a chair viciously. She fled in terror. Still fuming, he roared at the others: “What are you all staring at?! Drag this trash away! Useless, all of you—get out!”

The Federation sentinels, long used to their second young master’s tantrums, quickly obeyed.

“You lot—stay.”

Yao Zicong pointed at a few, without specifying why.

The comms officer, nervous, spoke up: “Second Young Master, the General has sent a message asking for a status update. I—”

“Do I need to teach you how to answer? Hmph, does my brother think I can’t handle something this simple?”

Yao Zicong shot him a glare. The officer hurried to report the “truth,” and soon the reply came back: “Colonel, the General orders you to bring them to him.”

As expected, “Jesu” turned ugly at the command. But he didn’t dare disobey. Seething, he barked orders and stalked off with a squad. The comms officer glanced at the unlucky few being taken along—whenever Jesu was in a foul mood, someone always suffered.

Once they were led back to their quarters and the door shut, Yao Zicong’s group immediately knocked out the two Federation soldiers meant to shadow them.

Yao Zicong exhaled deeply. “Yuan Shao, you’re incredible! This disguise potion is genius!”

Aiqi echoed him in excitement.

“And you weren’t bad yourself.” Barton clapped his shoulder with a laugh. “Lieutenant Colonel Jesu, you were terrifying! Hahaha!”

Yao Zicong grinned. “Good thing we drew this idiot. If it had been his brother instead… Young Marshal, what now?”

At that, all smiles faded. Four sets of eyes turned to Xiang Muchuan.