Chapter Ten: Ah, Beautiful Lady~~! (Part Two) [Unveiled]
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At present, the only thing bothering Wild Eater is the time setting on this life-support pod. The pod’s time limit is a preset value, usually the maximum duration the pod’s energy reserves can sustain its autonomous movement. In other words, if the pod is activated in an emergency, and its occupant is unconscious or, worse, dead, the pod will continuously transmit distress signals without internal control.
Of course, these signals are unique—only the matching receiver can detect them, and only the paired device can track the signal to locate the pod. Wild Eater deduced from the captain’s death grip on the ejection controller that when the battleship entered the wormhole, the escape pod’s hatch hadn’t fully closed. Otherwise, this dutiful and seemingly powerful captain wouldn’t have died without even the time to release his hold.
The only possibility was that the hatch hadn’t closed completely; under such circumstances, even if the captain let go of the button, the pod would not respond. Wild Eater couldn’t help but suspect the person who entered the pod was already dead, or at least seriously injured.
Standing before this life-support pod, far larger and more advanced than the one he’d used in the past, Wild Eater felt helpless, at a loss for what to do. He possessed none of the skills of a magic thief, and this high-grade device might not even be breakable from the outside, not even by a magic thief.
He gazed at the pod’s conspicuous emblem, shimmering with golden light, a symbol of the Imperial House of the Gale Empire. Any fool could tell this escape pod far surpassed those used by the nobility of a second-rate empire.
Just as Wild Eater frowned in frustration, unable to figure out how to open what now resembled a coffin, a violent tremor jolted him from beneath his feet, tossing him into the air and hurling him toward the pod.
Reacting swiftly, Wild Eater landed next to the pod as the tremors continued to shake the ship.
Not only did the tremors persist, but Wild Eater also faintly heard several beastly roars that made his heart race.
Now, he could no longer care about the escape pod before him; he sped down the passage he’d come through, fleeing as the ship shook ever more violently.
As he neared the breach at the stern, rounding a corner, Wild Eater suddenly cried out in alarm and immediately reversed course, sprinting back the way he had come. As he ran, he quickly brought down every isolation gate in the corridor by hand.
He didn’t stop until he re-entered the area where he’d discovered the escape pod, sealing the grand hall’s doors behind him. Only then did Wild Eater let out a long breath, finally able to relax. He found a clean spot, free of blood and corpses, and sat down.
A moment ago, as Wild Eater rounded the corner, he saw a golden blur before him. Without hesitation, he turned and fled.
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Wild Eater knew well what that golden blur represented after surviving and wandering the shores of Weakwater Lake for dozens of days.
Along these shores, the only things he dared not provoke—apart from the strange golden sands surrounding the lake—were the bizarre vines, neither plant nor animal, that crawled about.
These vines, whose nature Wild Eater still hadn’t unraveled, would burst forth from the ground in clusters. He’d witnessed beasts ensnared by them, dragged forcibly underground. No matter what kind of beast, how strong, if caught by these vines, escape was impossible.
Wild Eater had joked to Little Flower, “If you and Little Black were this powerful, that would be perfect.”
Indeed, the golden vines felt much like Little Flower and Little Black to him. He had often suspected they might be intelligent, just like his companions.
Sitting down, Wild Eater furrowed his brow. He knew well how overwhelming the vines could be.
He’d once seen hundreds of meters blanketed by them, each vine packed tightly together, watching as a huge flying beast swooping over Weakwater Lake was snatched and dragged down by suddenly lengthening vines. No matter how fiercely the beast struggled, it was inexorably pulled underground, vanishing without a trace, leaving only a devastated patch of earth.
Though the vines had never troubled Wild Eater, he chose to retreat at the first sight of them, uncertain of their intentions.
Three days passed. Throughout that time, the battleship trembled ceaselessly, and now the hull was sinking inch by inch, as if a patch of quicksand had appeared beneath the starship.
Wild Eater suspected the sinking was caused by the mysterious vines.
In those three days, the beastly roars outside grew ever more urgent and frequent. During his explorations, Wild Eater discovered many areas of the ship now filled with golden vines.
On this day, as Wild Eater reclined on a sofa, eyes half-closed, his mind spinning in despair and pain, a clear, melodious cry rang out from within the ship, startling him awake.
He dashed straight to the escape pod’s hatch at lightning speed.
The once tightly sealed hatch was now open. A stunning black-haired girl, wearing a pink crown, peeked out, her face stricken with terror as she stared at the captain’s corpse beside her.
At the sight of Wild Eater, she gave another frightened cry and slammed the hatch shut, sealing herself inside once more.
Wild Eater could only smile wryly, slowly approaching the pod and calling out loudly, “Beautiful lady, you must understand—this is not the star region where you encountered danger. This is the Forgotten Star, a place where nations exile their most notorious criminals. I am a castaway from the Karo Empire, my name is Wild Eater, from Wild Warrior Star. I mean you no harm; I am merely a curious soul who happened upon this crashed ship and came to rescue anyone inside.”
Having used such life-saving coffins before, Wild Eater knew the occupant could hear outside and see what was happening.
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After speaking, Wild Eater said nothing further, simply standing quietly, patiently waiting for the unidentified beauty within the escape pod to sort things out and emerge on her own.
Who knows how much time passed, but eventually a timid voice sounded from within, “Sir, you say your surname is Wild, from Wild Warrior Star of the Karo Empire. Does that mean you are a member of the Wild family, the lords there? Do you have proof—something to convince me you are truly from the Wild clan?”
The Wild family’s battle dragon was their signature. Clearly, the girl thought so as well. Among the human elite, the Wild clan—having produced two war gods over millennia—was well known. Every young noble learning martial arts was taught the history of humanity’s war gods, and the famous combat skills they wielded.
Years later, when they obtained their divine beasts, they’d be told which war gods had the most powerful beasts, and if their own fell short, someone would comfort them, saying humanity once had a war god who rose without a divine beast. Naturally, they'd ask who this warrior was, and learn that the war god who lacked a beast bore the Wild name.
The Wild clan, immortalized by its two war gods, was renowned throughout the human race, and would forever be celebrated because of those ancestors.
Wild Eater smiled, summoning his battle dragon, letting it circle him twice.
As soon as the battle dragon appeared, the girl believed him—the hatch slowly opened once more.
With a face full of apology, she stepped out from the pod, standing before Wild Eater and studying him closely before speaking. “You are the Wild clan’s heir, Wild Eater, correct? Just days ago, my father spoke of you.”
She was indeed a princess of the Gale Empire. Wild Eater was startled by her words, but curiosity soon overcame him, and he pressed, “Spoke of me? What did he say?”
The girl glanced at the captain’s corpse, her expression darkening with sorrow. With a long, mournful sigh, she answered, “My father said the Karo Empire’s emperor is a foolish, petty man—unable to tolerate even a reckless soul like you, lacking all regal bearing. The Karo Empire will surely decline under him, and he said your Wild clan’s future will likely be difficult. The emperor will never let you grow up alive.”
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