Asui didn't know where Brand was taken. Those starships flew across the sky with a "whoosh" and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Only a cold and lonely moon was left hanging in the night sky, and it soon disappeared into the clouds.
If there weren't a mess of footprints left on the ground, Asui would have even suspected that he had just had a dream. He stood there for a moment, and suddenly his face changed slightly. He turned around and went back the way he came.
The military has already chased here, Xu Cenfeng and the others are probably in great danger!
Asui was anxious to confirm the situation and ran wildly in the snow. He followed the direction he remembered to find the battlefield while listening carefully to the sound of gunfire around him. It was not until a hint of dawn appeared in the dark sky that he finally found the team's traces in the dense forest a few hundred meters away from the battlefield.
"Big Chief! We are here!"
Kuik and his men had been hiding deep in the forest, not daring to emerge from the valley until daybreak. They saw a familiar figure from afar, and quickly waved to Asui, and ran out in twos and threes with guns in hand.
Xu Cenfeng was among them. He took off his hat and walked up to Asui to look him up and down. He found that except for his dirty clothes, he looked neat and tidy. He should not have been injured. "Where did you go just now? Are you not injured?"
Ah Sui was running out of breath. Hearing this, he shook his head with difficulty, bent down and supported his knees and asked, "I'm not hurt. How about you?"
The camp where the battle took place yesterday is now just a scorched earth. Some of the pirates were dead, some were injured, and the rest had long since escaped without a trace.
Xu Cenfeng said that he was fine and frowned, "I don't know what happened yesterday. Not long after you fired the signal flare, the military rushed over to attack. The Black Hawk Alliance and the Clet Alliance were both dispersed. Julian and I ran fast, so we were not caught."
He paused after speaking, and suddenly realized that Asui was alone, and asked hesitantly, "Where is Brande?"
"I… "
Seeing this, Xu Cenfeng took out two bags of compressed biscuits and a thermos from his backpack and gave it to him: "Eat something to restore your strength. If we take the main road, our target will be too obvious. We can only take a detour through the dense forest."
"Okay, stop arguing!"
Ah Sui's mind was already confused, and the quarrel made it even more confused. He frowned unconsciously, looked at the road on the left, then looked at the road on the right, and after hesitating for a while, he finally made a decision: "Listen to Brother Cen Feng, let's go west!"
Asui found his backbone and was forced to cheer up a little after hearing the words. He had been running in the snow almost the whole night and had consumed too much energy, so his face was pale.
Xu Cenfeng said, "The most dangerous place is the safest place. We all know that hiding in Horsburg is the safest place. The military also knows that the northern entrance may be full of ambushes."
When this was mentioned, Asui fell silent for the first time. He didn't know how to explain the whole story. After a moment, he whispered, "He was found and rescued by the military. I can't find him..."
Xu Cenfeng pondered for a moment and said, "Go west."
Quick was extremely anxious: "But the western entrance is also full of ambushes!"
Quick and his men disagreed. They pulled Asui to the right and said in a low voice, "Captain, listen to us and go north! The north and the west have always been at odds with each other. Even if the pursuers come, they will not dare to enter Horsburg. If we go west, we will be doomed!"
Xu Cenfeng patted his shoulder and said, "Let's find a place to stay first, and then look for Brande after the storm has passed. The army is hunting down the escaped space pirates everywhere, and they will soon search here."
Well, little boss.
Quick echoed beside him: "Yes, it's safer to go through the dense forest!"
Xu Cenfeng asked back: "How do you know?"
Quick choked when he heard this, and he was unable to speak. He couldn't say that he was an undercover agent and knew the military deployment in advance. "Anyway, we can't go west!"
Not long after the main force had walked, they found a fork in the road. The left route led to the west, and the right route led to the north. Asui didn't know which way to go, and was in a dilemma. He looked back and asked, "There are two roads here, which one should we go?"
There was a hint of confusion in his tone.
Normally, the undercovers should have returned to the team after the military raid, but Kuik and his team could not resist the condemnation of their conscience and sneaked out during the chaos on the battlefield, trying to escort Asui and Xu Cenfeng to escape. Anyway, enough space pirates were captured in this raid, so it would not be a big problem to chase and lose two small leaders.
But they soon encountered new problems.
“Plop!”
After eating and drinking, Asui found a secluded place to rest for half an hour before leading the team into the depths of the dense forest. He accidentally lost his sword, so he could only pick up a dead branch as a weapon and move forward with difficulty on the snow-covered ground.
Upon hearing this, Kuik lost his balance and knelt on the ground. He hugged Asui's thighs with tears in his eyes, wishing he could kowtow to him twice on the spot: "Great Chief, we really can't go west! The military must have set up an ambush over there. If you go there, you will definitely be arrested!"
Not only Quick, but the rest of his subordinates also spoke out to persuade him:
"Yes, Chief, let's head north!"
"The West is too dangerous, we must not go there!"
Asui seemed a little hesitant, but Xu Cenfeng was very calm from beginning to end. He looked up at Asui and said in a low voice: "Asui, trust me, go west."
If you want to meet Brand, you have to go west.
In a sense, they were like a family in this strange world. Whenever they encountered difficulties, Xu Cenfeng could give the most accurate guidance. Now that Brande was gone, Asui would only trust Xu Cenfeng, and only Xu Cenfeng.
Asui pushed away the hands of Quick and the others who were blocking his way, frowned and said:
"Go west."
Then they were caught by the army.
If God could give Asui a chance to start over, he would never believe in Xu Cenfeng, such a traitor, again in his life, because the western exit of the dense forest was guarded by almost half a regiment of female soldiers, and they were caught red-handed by the army as soon as they went out.
Hundreds of black gun barrels were pointed at his head, and he was captured without even a chance to resist.
The army guarding the entrance to the jungle didn't expect to catch two more "slippery fish" so quickly. They put handcuffs on Asui and Xu Cenfeng, and took the two male insects directly to the starship where prisoners were held. They opened one of the cell doors and pushed them in: "You'd better behave yourself and don't try any tricks, otherwise you will suffer!"
Life is unpredictable, and the big intestine is wrapped in the small intestine.
Asui didn't expect that he was struggling to survive in the wild one second, and was locked up in a cold cell the next. He looked around and found that he was still living in a double room with two simple folding beds and a small compartment for the toilet. Xu Cenfeng was already lying on one of the beds and taking a nap.
"… "
Asui didn't understand how Xu Cenfeng had the nerve to fall asleep.
Perhaps Xu Cenfeng noticed Ah Sui's resentful look, but he finally opened his eyes and looked at him, saying three words sincerely: "I'm sorry."
He made an error in judgement.
Asui shouldn't have believed him.
"… "
Asui's fist tightened and loosened, and he didn't know how much willpower he had to resist punching him. He walked to Xu Cenfeng's side, and still couldn't accept the reality. He asked in disbelief, "How could Kuike and the others be undercover agents of the military?!"
Just now when they ran into the army at the exit of the jungle, Quick and his men hesitated and dared not shoot, until one of the female insect generals came over and patted Julian on the shoulder and asked them to return to the team, then Asui woke up and understood something. Xu Cenfeng put one hand behind his head and guessed: "The military has always wanted to wipe out the Clet Alliance. The tourist starship should have been a bait they deliberately released. The people sitting on it were not ordinary tourists, but well-trained military females. I didn't expect you to pick all those captives into your team..."
He paused for a moment before saying, "Yesterday's attack must have been deliberately tipped off by Quick and his men, otherwise the military wouldn't have come so suddenly."
Ah Sui lost all his strength when he heard that, and sat down on the ground, looking lost. He lowered his head and buried his face in his knees, and didn't say a word for a long time. But he was not in despair, but he couldn't believe that his luck was so bad. He picked 39 team members, and all 39 of them were undercover agents sent by the military? ! !
Xu Cenfeng, however, was quite open-minded. He patted his shoulder and said, "Don't think about those messy things. Take a break. It's only a matter of time before the military wipes out the star pirates. Even if it's not Quick and his gang, it will be someone else."
Ah Sui finally raised his head from his knees after hearing this. He had a pale complexion and his eyes were red, which was quite obvious. “But we are all space pirates. If we are caught, we will go to jail.”
Xu Cen gently reminded: "We are already in jail."
Ah Sui: "Serve in prison and then be shot?"
Xu Cenfeng didn't seem panicked at all: "Don't be afraid. Salilan law doesn't have the death penalty for male insects. The most they can get is exile. Go to sleep and get enough rest before talking about other things."
If it were someone else, they would definitely not be so careless and have the mind to sleep even at the critical moment of life and death, but Asui is not an ordinary person. After thinking about it carefully, he found that what Xu Cenfeng said made sense, so he had to lie down on the bed next to him.
Ah Sui didn't sleep last night, his nerves suddenly relaxed, he felt tired and fell asleep soon. But this sleep was not peaceful, he couldn't help dreaming about the huge monster in the snow, cold, dangerous, beautiful, every time he thought of it, his heart couldn't help trembling.
Asui unconsciously covered his shirt pocket in his sleep, and a piece of glittering wing fragment lay quietly in it: I don’t know how Brande is doing now, and whether he is also nearby...
This starship was specially used to hold prisoners, and it was divided into many small cells. The army ambushed around the dense forest and captured many star pirates one after another. Soon, the room next to Asui was full of bugs.
The pirates were noisy, knocking on the door or pulling the railings. In comparison, Ah Sui and Xu Cenfeng were the quietest. The two of them were sleeping so soundly in bed that it made people wonder if they would not wake up even if the world ended.
Major General Axe was inspecting the cell when he suddenly saw two bugs sleeping inside through the bars. He frowned slightly and asked, "Why are there only two bugs in this cell?"
The adjutant explained, "Major General, these two male insects are the leaders of the Clete Alliance. I was worried that if they lived with the female insects, there would be problems, so I separated them."
Major General Axe looked at Xu Cenfeng and Asui calmly, and found that these two male insects had fair skin and delicate looks, which were completely different from those burly space pirates: "Are you sure they are the leaders of the Clet Alliance?"
The adjutant nodded: "Captain Julian and the others have identified it and confirmed it is correct."
Major General Axe said, "Watch them carefully and make sure nothing happens to them. There are still some pirates out there who haven't been captured yet. Use Starship No. 3 as a detention room."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and stepped off the starship, heading straight for a larger flagship next to it. Brand had been placed inside since he was rescued in the suburbs last night, but he remained unconscious because he was too weak.
When Major General Ax went in, the doctor was injecting Brand with an inhibitor. The light blue liquid flowed into the body through his arm, making the unconscious female insect feel uneasy and she began to struggle uncontrollably.
“Crash!”
In order to prevent Brand from losing his mind and attacking, his wrists were shackled to the bed, and he made a violent noise when he struggled. His face was pale and almost transparent, his golden hair was scattered on the pillow, and he was mumbling something in a low voice.
Seeing this, Axe stepped forward lightly and listened for a moment, only to find that Brande said "Don't go". He frowned and looked at the doctor beside him: "Brande's ovulation period has long passed, how could this happen?"
The military doctor hesitated for a moment before speaking. After all, this was about the innocence of the female insect, so he didn't dare to say anything careless. "Major General Brand seems to have the pheromone of an unfamiliar male insect on his body. The smell of this pheromone is very strong. If there is no mark, it will seriously interfere with his mental power. I have injected him with an inhibitor. After a while, the smell will fade away."
Upon hearing this, Axe's face changed slightly, and he immediately reached out to touch the back of Brand's neck, thinking that he had been invaded by a male insect. However, when he checked carefully, he found that the insect pattern on the back of Brand's neck had not changed color, so he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
The rules of Salilan law are strict, and Brand was born into a noble family. The fact that he fell into the pirates' nest and was imprisoned for nearly a month was easy to cause controversy, especially since the pirates were led by two male insects. If the insect pattern on the back of his neck changed color again at this time, his reputation would be ruined if the news was passed back to the imperial capital.
Axe warned in a deep voice: "Watch your mouth. I don't want a third bug to know about this."
The military doctor bowed quickly and said, "Don't worry, Major General Brande is only mentally agitated because of his injury. I will never talk nonsense."
Axe's expression eased a little: "Take good care of Major General Brand. If he wakes up, notify me immediately."
The army launched a surprise attack at night yesterday, and although it dealt a heavy blow to the two pirate alliances, many pirates still fled. Axe was still rushing to capture the fugitives, and soon left the starship to find his subordinates to formulate a battle plan.
And Asui slept until dark.
When he woke up from his bed, it was just dinner time. The chef was pushing a small dining cart in the corridor delivering meals, throwing drinking water and compressed biscuits into the cells one by one through the small opening of the cells. As expected, this caused a round of curses:
"Damn it! All you gave us for dinner is a small bag of compressed biscuits? They even give more to the birds!"
"You are mistreating prisoners, understand? Bring us the meat!"
Asui had slept all day and was already hungry. He walked to the bars in front of the cell door and tried to look out, thinking that as long as there was something to eat, he would not mind the compressed biscuits.
"Here is your dinner, please enjoy it."
The chef pushed the food cart to the door of Asui's cell, but instead of throwing compressed biscuits into it, he took out two delicious boxed lunches from the bottom and handed them to him, plus a bottle of high-calcium milk. Compared with the meals of other pirates, it was simply luxurious.
Asui took the lunch box in surprise and found that it contained rice with Lulu beast soup, and also a strawberry bread. He was stunned on the spot:
This familiar nutritious meal... could it be
Asui stared blankly outside the door.
At this time, the chef who was delivering the food also raised his hand and took off his hat. With tears in his eyes, he leaned on the railing and said, "Captain, it's me. Don't you recognize me?"
Ah Sui looked at the familiar face in front of him and couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise: "Fat chef?! Why are you here?!"
The fat cook sighed repeatedly: "Big Chief, it's hard to put it into words."
Ah Sui's face slightly changed when he saw this, and he lowered his voice and asked, "You weren't captured by the army to be a cook, were you?"
The fat cook shook his head awkwardly: "No."
Asui: "Did you sneak here on your own?"
The fat cook shook his head: "No."
Ah Sui suddenly noticed that the fat cook was wearing a military uniform under his white apron. His face froze for a moment, and he asked tentatively, "...Are you also an undercover agent like Quick and the others?"
Is his luck really that bad? ! !
The fat cook raised his head and said indignantly, "Captain, how can you say that? I am different from those ungrateful guys like Quick! They are undercover agents trained by the military, and I am just a cook in charge of logistics in the army!"
Asui: “…”
Ah Sui was so angry that he stretched out his hand over the railing and grabbed his collar: "I'm going to strangle you to death!!"
(End of this chapter)