After exchanging text messages with Ke Jin, Ouloi was in a very good mood.

He is just that kind of person, his temper comes and goes quickly. When he found out that Ke Jin was not traveling with Qing Buyu, his rumored girlfriend, his mood, which had been made extremely irritable by jealousy, instantly cleared up like spring.

This relaxed and pleasant mood did not disappear even when he heard Eggers once again urging him to return to the Imperial Galaxy in the near future.

"Didn't I just go back once before?" said Oroi.

Eggers was a little surprised by Oloy's "pleasant face". Wasn't his cousin so angry that he kicked the wall when Ke Jin left in the morning? He didn't expect him to calm down so quickly. Could it be that Ke Jin had come up with a new way to appease this little ancestor?

Hmm... I admire this warrior Ke Jin more and more... =. =

"It's been half a year since you last went back." Seeing that Oloy was in a good mood, Eggers became a little bolder, "It just so happens that Ke Jin is not here now. It's so boring for you to stay here, so why don't you come back with me."

"It's because he's not here that I can't go back now." Oroi snorted, but the corners of his mouth curled up in pleasure. "When he comes back, I want him to go to the Imperial System with me."

Although the other party is currently unwilling to develop in the Imperial Galaxy, as a tourist, it is always okay to go for a trip. This time, Ke Jin broke the appointment and promised to compensate him when he came back. Based on Oloy's understanding of Ke Jin, as long as he tries hard to persuade him, the other party will definitely soften his heart and agree to accompany him to the Imperial Galaxy.

Thinking of this, Orloy became more and more expectant. He turned his wrist, and a translucent card flashing with blue light appeared in his hand. The flashing surface of this card was like a small display screen, with some complex striped patterns engraved on it. One of the golden dots of light was like a star in the dark blue night sky, flashing and moving slowly forward.

Eggers recognized it as a six-star positioning card at a glance. Those seemingly complicated patterns were just coordinate information icons for interstellar space. As for the golden light spot...

"Do you really need to do that?" Eggers twitched his lips. "Ke Jin was just taking a short trip, not eloping with anyone, and you actually secretly used it on him..."

Before Eggers finished speaking, the color of the card in Orloy's hand suddenly changed from bright blue to scarlet. The striped pattern in the background also changed dramatically in an instant, and the golden light spot instantly moved from the center of the card to the lower left corner.

Not only Eggers looked shocked, but Orloy was also stunned for a moment.

This change obviously meant that Ke Jin's location had suddenly moved from the Aquarius Galaxy to the Gemini Galaxy, which was extremely far away from here. But shouldn't he be sitting on a spacecraft heading to Aquarius now? Why did a large space jump across several galaxies suddenly occur?

...Could it be that something unexpected happened?

***

Ke Jin was awakened by the violent shaking.

When he opened his eyes, the strange, drowsy fragrance was still lingering on his nose. His head ached and his temples were throbbing, as if he had just experienced a hangover.

It was very noisy around, as if countless people were talking, or many people were crying. Ke Jin looked around blankly, and the scene in front of him suddenly made him sober.

He remembered that he was sitting in his seat before he fell asleep, but he didn't know what happened in the cabin. Now all the seats had been forcibly removed, and all the passengers - including himself - had their hands and feet tied up, lying in a mess on the empty cabin floor.

Everyone else seemed to be like Ke Jin, at a loss as to what was happening. The fear of the unknown made many people scream in panic as soon as they realized that the situation was not good, but their cursing and crying were all in vain - in addition to ordinary passengers, Ke Jin discovered that among the tied-up people, there were also people wearing flight attendant uniforms, which meant that the staff on this plane had also suffered the same fate.

——Hijacking.

This was the first word that flashed into Ke Jin’s mind.

Although Ke Jin had never experienced such a thing, he would usually read some interstellar news and knew that there would be some interstellar pirates who made a living by robbery on the more remote space routes, but this kind of thing should not happen on the route from Azure Star to Aquarius Star - this is a very mature space route, with space patrol ships on duty along the way. The other party chose to attack here, which is almost the same as openly robbing on a crowded commercial street. How arrogant!

Suddenly, someone touched Ke Jin from the side. Ke Jin turned around and saw that it was the cross-dressing girl from before. The scarf that covered most of her face had loosened and drooped down, revealing an exceptionally clean and delicate face. Compared with the passengers around her who were shouting in fear, the girl seemed worried but still calm.

"Are you okay?" the girl asked in a low voice.

Ke Jin was actually very uneasy inside, but remembering that the other party had said that this was her first time traveling far away, she forced herself to be cheerful and managed a pale smile.

"I'm fine." Ke Jin said, "Don't be afraid. There are many planes flying on this route. Someone will definitely find us."

The girl sighed and turned her gaze to the lattice window on the wall of the aircraft cabin. Looking outside from here, it was pitch black everywhere, but she seemed to have seen something, and the sadness between her brows deepened a little.

"We may not be in the Aquarius Galaxy anymore..."

Ke Jin was stunned for a moment, and just as he was about to ask, the door in front of the passenger compartment suddenly opened, and several burly men in full armor walked in. They were wearing uniform uniforms, with black scarves covering their faces, and holding laser machine guns with cold light. The man in the lead shouted angrily as soon as he came in.

"Be quiet!"

Under the threat of the black machine gun muzzle, the cabin, which was originally in chaos, suddenly fell silent. Everyone stared at them in horror and subconsciously curled up their bodies backwards.

These people did not seem to intend to explain the situation to the passengers at the scene. The leading man dragged over a female passenger who was closest to the scene and said succinctly: "Hand over all the cards you have."

The female passenger was so frightened that she was at a loss of reaction for a moment, and suddenly several laser guns were pointed at her head.

"Hurry up! Don't test our patience!"

The card library is the same as the card reader. Some people embed the storage chip directly into their bodies, while others place it on external media. The card library of this female passenger was obviously embedded. She was so scared that she started crying softly, and she activated the card library tremblingly. Several light screens suddenly appeared around her, and on each light screen were neatly arranged cards. A rough count showed that there were at least several hundred cards.

"Set the card access permission to public." The man said coldly.

The female passenger hurriedly followed the instructions, and as she changed her permissions, the cards in her card library were plundered by these people. Then the female passenger was thrown back to the ground, and another passenger was picked up and faced the same blackmail process again.

Is this... an attempt to rob money?

While Ke Jin was guessing, he couldn't help but feel a little confused. Card attributes are divided into circulating cards and bound cards. If it is a bound card, these people can't use it even if they rob it. Besides, except for a few transfer passengers, all the others on this plane are natives of Azure Star. In general, when robbing, wouldn't they give priority to high-value supernatural cards? There are almost no supernatural cards produced on Azure Star. Robbing the Azure Star people, even hijacking the entire plane for this, the cost-effectiveness of the spoils in the end is too low...

Although they were confused, these bandits of unknown origin were meticulously searching for cards from everyone present. Soon, it was Ke Jin's turn.

Given the huge disparity in military power, resistance was meaningless, and Ke Jin resigned himself to opening his card library and letting them loot the cards inside. To be honest, Ke Jin didn't feel bad about this, because there were not many cards in his card library, and the types were very simple, most of which were just circulating cards drawn from his snack card pool.

Slightly different from his previous style of just scanning and leaving, the man in the lead suddenly pointed at a pure black card in Ke Jin's deck and asked.

"What card is this?"

That pure black card was a strange card that Ke Jin accidentally obtained after he successfully made a card in the card pool where Su Yufeng was on the verge of death. At that time, Ounuo advised him to destroy it, but after Ke Jin put it into the card library, he quickly forgot the existence of this card because of many things. If it hadn't been pointed out to him now, he would have almost forgotten about it.

"It's a useless card that I didn't have time to throw away." Ke Jin said with a stiff face - in fact, he didn't know what card it was! But if he directly answered "I don't know", the other party would definitely think he was lying.

Ke Jin's words did not win the other party's trust. The man played with the black card in his hand for a while, and suddenly winked at the people around him.

The two men immediately stepped forward and quickly searched Ke Jin's body for his flight ticket. The ticket had personal information on it, and the man glanced at the name on the ticket, then looked at Ke Jin with an unfriendly expression, then walked around him and turned to the next passenger.

Soon, everyone was robbed. The leading man nodded, and except for two people who stayed behind to guard, the rest followed the leader out of the passenger cabin.

The huge pressure suddenly disappeared, and many passengers who were about to collapse due to the tense atmosphere just now burst into tears. Others were concerned about the two men guarding the entrance to the passenger cabin, and they deliberately lowered their voices.

"What do you think they are going to do?" Ke Jin asked the girl next to him in a low voice.

The girl shook her head, a strange glimmer flashed in her scarlet eyes: "Is what you just said true?"

"Hmm? What?"

"You said that black card is a useless card." The girl looked at Ke Jin seriously, "Is that true?"

"Actually, I don't know what it is." Ke Jin confessed, "I got that card by accident, and it has been in my card library ever since... What? Do you know something?"

The girl was silent for a while and shook her head.

"I don't know either, but when I saw it, I felt very uncomfortable." She lowered her head, staring at the ground, as if talking to herself.

"Maybe it's a good thing for you that they took it away."

***

Not long after that group of people left, the broadcasting system in the cabin was turned on.

"Hello, everyone." This was a strange male voice, and it did not belong to those who had just entered the passenger cabin. He spoke slowly to the captives trapped in the cabin with a lazy indifference.

"I'm very happy to be with you all on this small plane. I'm the leader of the Shadow Hunter Mercenaries. Maybe some of you have heard of me... Yes, I'm the Hunter."

Mercenaries? Aren't they space pirates?

Ke Jin naturally had never heard of the other party's name, but many people present changed their faces, especially those transit passengers from outer galaxies - for travelers who travel between various galaxies all year round, they are not unfamiliar with the Shadow Hunting Mercenaries. It is said that as long as a high price is offered, this mercenary group will take on any unscrupulous mission, and will stop at nothing to achieve their goals, acting ruthlessly and without any bottom line. They are a typical example of "employers love them, others hate them."

"I know you are all very uneasy right now. Please rest assured that we are not the kind of barbaric pirates who kill everyone without discrimination. As long as everyone is willing to cooperate, I believe that this fateful gathering will eventually have a very happy ending."

Many people who knew the details of the Shadow Hunter Mercenaries showed expressions of fear and hatred - these people were indeed not space pirates, but what they did was a hundred times more terrifying than those pirates!

“My request is simple.” The man smiled softly, and everyone felt a chill. “According to reliable intelligence we have obtained, there is one person among you who is the Chosen One.”

Ke Jin's expression suddenly changed!

"My employer needs him." Hunter continued to speak slowly, "So, I hope that Mr. Chosen One will take the initiative. As long as you come forward and follow us, we will let everyone in this cabin go. Of course, if you help us find this person, I also promise to let everyone go. But my patience is limited. If time drags on for too long... it's hard to say what the outcome will be."

He paused slightly and emphasized his tone.

"Remember, your destiny is in your own hands. I believe you will give me a satisfactory answer in the end, hehe."

The man's voice disappeared, and the PA system was cut off.

After a brief silence, the cabin immediately exploded.

"Who is it?!" people asked anxiously, "Who is the chosen one among us? Please come forward quickly!!"

"Yes, please, please come out quickly! Save us!!"

"My daughter is waiting for me to come back soon. I don't want to die here..."

"Me too. I have elderly parents at home to support. I don't want to die! I can't die! Wuuuuuuu..."

Ke Jin wanted to think calmly about the situation, but the noisy noises around him made his head almost explode.

Are these people coming for me? Ke Jin thought in confusion. Is the so-called "reliable intelligence" really referring to me?

But apart from helping Su Yufeng restart the card pool, in the past year, he had never done anything that might expose himself as the Chosen One... And, if it was really because of Su Yufeng's incident that someone suspected him, why didn't they take action when they were on Azure Star? Why did they have to wait until now and even go to the trouble of hijacking an entire plane for this?

Who is that “employer” behind the scenes?

Ke Jin felt a chill all over his body, so uncomfortable that he wanted to vomit, but he noticed that the two guards at the door were scanning everyone present with scrutinizing eyes, as if trying to judge who was the most suspicious by observing people's behavior.

Restraining his inner panic, Ke Jin tried his best to appear not too different. But when he tried hard to blend in with the crowd, the panicked cries and pleadings were like an even more terrifying net that bound his heart tightly and made it almost impossible for him to breathe.

Yes, everyone wants to survive, but so do I.

Although he had never heard of the Shadow Hunter Mercenaries, even an idiot could see that if they fell into the hands of these people, the consequences would be disastrous. Moreover, Ounuo and the others had said before that many forces regarded the Chosen as pawns that would be discarded after use, and would immediately kill the Chosen once their goals were achieved.

He was not a saint. He would not rashly expose himself just because of the leader's one-sided statement without knowing anything clearly.

But how can I get out of this predicament? Ke Jin wondered confusedly.

If I continue to hide like this, what if I really anger them and make the bandits take more extreme measures? What should I do then?

Just when Ke Jin was feeling upset, he suddenly heard someone next to him snort coldly.

"madness."

Ke Jin didn't quite hear it, and asked in confusion: "What did you say?"

"I say that those who are clamoring for the Chosen One to step forward are stupid." The cross-dressing girl scanned the crowd with a complicated look, and then once again cast her gaze out the dark window.

"If we were still in the Aquarius Galaxy, the leader's words of 'let us go' might be believable, but we are definitely not in the Aquarius Galaxy now."

"They won't be so kind as to send the entire plane back to its original route. The reason we are still alive is because those despicable bandits don't know who the Chosen One is, so they don't dare to kill indiscriminately. Once they get the Chosen One they want, other ordinary people...will die immediately."

The girl withdrew her gaze, glanced at the two burly men guarding the door with some fear, then turned and looked worriedly at the crowd that was still making noise.

"I hope that person won't come out." She whispered, "Only if he hides among us can we live longer... What do you think?"

It was as if a ray of sunlight suddenly penetrated through the thick clouds, or as if a breath of fresh breeze blew into the stuffy cell. Ke Jin stared at the person in front of him in a daze for a long time before he nodded gently.

"……Um."

His originally confused brain gradually regained its clarity. Ke Jin slowly calmed down and observed the situation around him calmly.

Perhaps realizing that begging was useless, many people finally gave up begging the Chosen One to have a change of heart and step forward, and instead began to discuss how to find this person by other means.

"Is there really a way to identify the Chosen One?" Ke Jin murmured subconsciously as he listened to the discussions of the people around him.

"Although it's difficult, it's still possible." The girl next to her continued.

Ke Jin looked at her in surprise: "You know?"

The girl nodded, then came over and said in a voice that only Ke Jin could hear: "I heard that there is a very rare ability card that can be used to identify it, but those robbers probably don't have such a card, otherwise they wouldn't use this method to force the Chosen One to stand up himself."

Ke Jin nodded, not quite understanding.

"But... besides using cards to identify, there is said to be another way."

Ke Jin's back tensed instantly: "What can I do?"

"Card making." The girl nervously glanced out the window again. "Did you notice? The current aircraft has not activated the stealth hovering function, but has been flying all the time. I guess this aircraft must land somewhere in the end. If there is an abandoned card pool there, the leader asked us to stay in the card making room of the card pool for a while. As long as his eyes are sharp enough, he might be able to find the person."

"you mean……"

"If we want to survive, we must find a way to escape before the spacecraft lands." The girl bit her lip and tried her best to suppress the trembling in her voice.

"Once the spacecraft lands and they find the Chosen One, then... we will be dead for sure."