SGT CH183

Tianjia: The Little Cake Runs Away 2

◎A bird should belong to the sky, not inside a cage◎

“The Foreign Minister’s Male Monarch departed the palace twenty minutes ago.”

The head attendant’s reporting voice transmitted through the terminal.

What the Tianjia Emperor heard in his heart, however, was the news of the Imperial Consort’s departure.

Twenty minutes… if he ordered the immediate lockdown of the Imperial Capital Star’s spaceport, perhaps there was still time.

The Tianjia Emperor rose abruptly, striding toward the outside.

Arriving behind the door, his hand had already grasped the doorknob, yet he suddenly froze.

The Imperial Consort had said that he wanted freedom.

The Tianjia Emperor gripped the doorknob, unable to turn it for the longest time.

The Imperial Consort had said that every single moment by his side was torture.

The Tianjia Emperor pulled his hand back abruptly.

He looked down at his uncontrollably trembling hand.

He had clearly only touched ordinary metal, yet it felt as though electric currents were coursing through it.

With the sheer toughness of an SSS-grade Tianjia’s physique, had it truly been electricity, he might not have lost his composure like this.

Perhaps he should let go.

A bird should belong to the sky, not inside a cage.

The Tianjia Emperor turned around, staring blankly toward the azure firmament through the bright window.

His Imperial Consort had chosen to leave, throwing himself entirely toward the freedom he desired.

And he had lost his male forever.

The Tianjia Emperor’s hand rested upon his visibly swollen abdomen.

Even a cub could not make the Imperial Consort hesitate for a single moment in his departing footsteps.

An egg that was never once wished for by its male father from start to finish.

Abandoned by both of them.

“Your Majesty! The Foreign Minister reports that the Male Monarch did not return to the estate. The positioning sent back by both the collar and the shuttle are fakes, suspecting an abduction by terrorists, and requests a lockdown of the spaceport!”

The attendant officer’s voice sounded from the terminal.

The Tianjia Emperor remained silent for a moment, then said, “Tell him to follow the formal procedures to file an application himself.”

…

To conserve energy and evade pursuit, Mu Si did not use the shuttle’s hyperspace jump.

Instead, relying purely on his S-grade psychic power, he tore open a spatial wormhole.

Piloting the shuttle inside, they emerged into the public star sea beyond Tianjia territory in just an instant.

This exerted an immense drain on his mental energy.

Mu Si switched the piloting mode back to autopilot.

Still not daring to relax, he used a blank identity to hack into the star network, checking news from the Imperial Capital.

Strangely, there was zero commotion inside the Imperial Capital.

Only the Foreign Minister had reported a case regarding his missing Male Monarch.

This was very unusual.

Even the Foreign Minister had discovered Joshua was missing; had the Tianjia Emperor still not realized his departure?

Perhaps he simply did not care enough.

He had not even sent attendants into his bedchamber to confirm whether he was still there.

Propping up his head, which was throbbing from mental exhaustion, Mu Si left the cockpit and walked into the lounge behind it.

Joshua sat by the window, staring blankly at the sea of stars outside.

To Joshua, these stars all looked roughly the same, not realizing they had already departed Tianjia imperial territory.

It was merely the overly empty galactic shipping lanes that left him somewhat bewildered.

“Is outer space always this desolate?”

He had assumed there would be numerous spaceships traveling through.

And they would need to evade inspections with utmost caution.

“This is the cosmic open sea. The expanse of the public star sea is vast, making it difficult to run into other vessels.”

It was better not to encounter any, Mu Si added in his heart.

They only had a single small shuttle.

Although modified to withstand cross-system journeys, it was not equipped with any armaments.

Encountering a large vessel, whether from the Tianjia Empire or another nation, would prove very troublesome.

“We have already… left the Tianjia?”

Only now did Joshua react, looking back subconsciously.

Yet all he could see was an identical sea of stars; he could discern nothing.

After a long pause, he finally said, “Faster than I imagined… Leaving is good too, much safer…”

Sensing his melancholic mood, Mu Si did not disturb him.

Leaving one’s native land and traveling far from home and country always brought sorrow and unease.

Although the Tianjia Empire treated males dreadfully, it remained the place where they were born and raised, inevitably evoking complex emotions.

Unless driven by sheer desperation, no one would ever want to abandon their homeland permanently.

Joshua, however, adjusted very quickly on his own.

Striving to keep himself from dwelling on everything back there, he focused on what lay before him.

“Where do we go next?” Joshua asked.

Back in the palace, he had been the one scheming the escape.

Once truly out of the Tianjia, everything shifted entirely to Mu Si taking the lead.

“Head to other nations? Or wander through the cosmic star sea?”

Joshua guessed.

“Ah, are we going to be star pirates from now on? Should we come up with a name for our duo?”

“…Who ever heard of a star pirate crew with only two members?”

Mu Si admired his wildly imaginative thoughts.

Still, seeing him cheer up this quickly was a good thing.

Even though Mu Si could tell that Joshua was not nearly as carefree inside as he seemed on the surface.

The same applied to himself.

It was only to keep each other from worrying that they feigned utter lack of attachment and looked forward so proactively.

“We cannot go to other nations for now. The Tianjia Empire has not made any moves yet; before confirming safety, we need to wander the public star sea for a period of time.”

Mu Si reassured him, “Rest assured, there are many transit stations in public waters, so supplies won’t be an issue.

“It is just that our appearances and the shuttle are far too conspicuous, so we must arrange some disguises.”

Hearing that it was only disguise rather than swapping the shuttle, Joshua breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Perhaps because this was one of the few items brought out from the Imperial Capital.

Or perhaps because of the Foreign Minister’s proud, affectionate look when showing him this personally modified shuttle.

In short, Joshua did not want to discard this shuttle.

Inside the shuttle was also a levitation bed the Foreign Minister had specially replaced for him, even though it had only been used once.

Noticing the exhaustion surfacing between Mu Si’s brows, Joshua suggested:

“Mu Mu, rest for a bit first. With autopilot on, I’ll keep watch, nothing will happen.”

“Mm,” Mu Si agreed; he truly needed to rest.

He gave one final instruction, “As long as any spaceship appears on the map, regardless of whether it belongs to the Tianjia or not, wake me immediately.”

“Alright.”

Agreeing, Joshua led Mu Si to the bedroom inside.

There was only one bedroom, and only one bed.

Looking at the unbelievably clean, pristine white bedding, Mu Si turned to ask Joshua:

“Are you alright with this? How about I sleep outside instead?”

He knew Joshua had severe mysophobia. Although the other could accept physical contact with him, that was still somewhat different from sharing a bed.

“It is fine, I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. Lying side by side with Mu Mu sounds wonderful just thinking about it.”

Joshua pulled back the duvet, pushing Mu Si forward before he could say another word.

“Oh, you must take off your coat, it’s only comfortable to sleep without it.”

Joshua took Mu Si’s coat, tucking him beneath the covers.

“Good night, sweet dreams.”

“Mm, good night.” Mu Si closed his eyes heavily.

Holding Mu Si’s coat, Joshua stood beside the bed for a moment.

It suddenly occurred to him that if the Foreign Minister knew this bed, which even he had never managed to lie on, was slept in by another Tianjia first, he would probably be furious enough to suffer internal injuries.

Let him be furious.

He still thought the Foreign Minister looked best when cleaned up properly and lying prostrate across the desk.

Getting into bed was out of the question.

So many pheromones would definitely dirty the sheets.

Lightening his steps, Joshua exited the bedroom.

Arriving in the cockpit, he stared intently at the astral navigation chart.

At first, Joshua watched with immense focus, yet as time dragged on, it grew exceedingly dull.

Everywhere was an unchanging sea of stars. Let alone spaceships, he didn’t even spot a single meteoroid.

Propping his chin with one hand, Joshua spaced out before the navigation map.

…

Male Zergs possessed immense psychic strength, mostly able to maintain lucidity within dreams.

Mu Si realized with complete clarity that he was dreaming.

All around was a battlefield filled with swirling yellow sands and wreckage.

He was trapped inside a protective shell, or rather, an eggshell.

Through his mental power, he could sense colossal Tianjia wings draping down, shielding him from every conceivable danger.

Female Father…

Mu Si pressed against the giant true-form Tianjia beside him, sensing his gradually cooling body, overcome by profound sorrow.

After an unknown amount of time, just as Mu Si’s consciousness began to blur, the massive Tianjia wings covering him were opened, and a pair of hands lifted him up.

Immediately after, he tumbled into a warm embrace.

Who was it?

Male Father?

No, it wasn’t.

This was a tall, formidable female Tianjia.

His features were blurred, yet one could feel the powerful aura surrounding him.

It felt somewhat like his Female Father.

Yet there were subtle differences.

He was stronger, his body temperature higher, yet the pheromones around him were icy cold.

Like snow accumulated on high peaks, or a thousand-year glacier.

Mu Si woke up caught between heat and cold.

Propping up his head, which felt shrouded in mist, he sat up from the bed.

He rarely had dreams.

A high-grade male’s dreams were linked to their psychic power, often serving as premonitions.

Just as Mu Si was puzzled, he suddenly sensed something: a powerful existence, though hard to tell whether dangerous, was currently drawing near.

Did the Tianjia Emperor catch up?

Mu Si got out of bed at once, not even having time to put on his coat before hurrying to the cockpit.

Joshua was still spacing out in the levitation chair. Hearing footsteps, he turned back, surprised:

“Mu Mu, you’re awake already? Why not sleep a little longer?”

“Is anything approaching?”

Mu Si arrived beside him, leaning in to inspect the navigation radar chart.

“No.” Joshua looked at the radar map alongside him; the display remained utterly empty.

Mu Si still felt uneasy, expanding the detection radius to its absolute maximum.

With the expansion of the scanning range, one red marker after another indicating spaceships surfaced across the navigation map.

“What… is this?” Joshua was stunned.

The red dots on the navigation map continued to multiply, neatly arranged in what appeared to be a military formation.

Mu Si’s expression turned grim.

“A fleet, the Zerg fleet.”

Good news: the Tianjia Emperor had not pursued them.

Bad news: they had encountered an enemy nation’s military.

Turning pale with fright, Joshua rose from the levitation chair immediately, grasping Mu Si’s arm in distress as he asked:

“What do we do now? Will they… attack us?”

According to interstellar joint laws, one could not open fire on civilian vessels or shuttles from other nations in international waters.

Yet given the dreadful relationship between the Zerg and the Tianjia, the outcome was truly hard to say.

The opposing commander might see that this was a Tianjia shuttle, find it an eyesore, and order it blasted to pieces directly.

Between betting on the enemy commander’s character and taking a risk to escape, Mu Si chose the latter.

The Zerg army was still some distance away; if they used a hyperspace jump to break out of this sector, there might be a chance to get away.

Inside the Zerg warship.

The young commander possessing rare purple eyes watched the spreading energy ripples on the detector, letting out a short “huh.”

A small shuttle traveling alone through this vast open sea was inherently unusual.

This shuttle was clearly modified, with high technological sophistication, definitely not civilian-grade technology.

That it was even equipped with a hyperspace jump made it all the more extraordinary.

He immediately issued an order:

“Lock down the space. Intercept that Tianjia shuttle, capture them alive.”

“Understood! Second Prince, Your Highness.”