"He's just a clueless brat who's out for fun. Why are you bothering with him?" Crew member Eddie moved the potted plant away from Kirk, who was recuperating in bed with a broken nose, and pulled over a chair to sit down. "Is it because of Igor Sullivan? I remember you disliked him even when the Admiral was still in office."
"Don't talk nonsense." Kirk said in a deep voice, "I simply think that guy is an idiot. Who is in the mecha? His lover and illegitimate child?"
"He said it was a friend, but I also think he must be looking for someone secretly. Otherwise, why wouldn't he dare ask his family for help when he was stranded on a desolate planet? He's afraid he'd die if he was exposed." Eddie said nonchalantly, "Anyway, when we reach the Federation border, we'll collect some money from him and drive him off. What happens after that has nothing to do with us. Recently, border inspections have been very strict due to Marshal Sullivan's wanted order, and the captain asked us to keep a low profile."
Kirk pouted. "Do you think the wanted poster is real?"
"I don't think he'd commit treason," Eddie said with a grin. "But I want to capture him and send him to City Hall. There's a bounty of 12 million star coins on the line. I'll make it happen if I get it."
"You're daydreaming," Kirk rolled his eyes. "It's better to look at something more immediate. This shipment of goods, if it can be safely transported to Port Alple, will be enough to keep me busy for six months. Did you see that? There are several top-notch items in the cargo hold. Even a Beta like me is jealous. The Alpha nobles in the border regions will definitely go crazy for them."
Eddie nodded. "I know which ones you're talking about... Never mind. Just lie down and relax. I'll go to the next cabin to see how the young master and his family are doing."
Kirk lay on his back in the bed. The young master who had punched him hadn't gained muscle in vain. His face was wrapped in a thick layer of gauze, and there was a black bruise under his eye from Igor's punch. The team doctor diagnosed him with a mild concussion, so now he could only stare blankly at the ceiling.
After a while, his companion Eddie came back and opened the door of the rest cabin. He looked confused and said in a strange voice, "Kirk...? Why do I feel like there's something wrong with those guys next door?"
**
"I feel something is wrong." Azathoth said slowly.
He had been acting like he didn't want to be approached since he boarded the spaceship. Hugo was used to it and asked casually, "What's wrong?"
Azathoth: "There are so many people on the spaceship."
Igor, who was sitting opposite, hesitated and asked, "Sir, are you referring to the crew?"
"The crew will stay in the cargo hold?" Azathoth blinked and pointed to the floor. "Igor, your mecha is stuffed into the cargo hold, so this direction shouldn't be the rest cabin."
He had recovered from the autistic state he had felt when he suddenly saw a large group of people. Now he felt like he had thrown in the towel - after all, he had already run so far with his followers, and it would be like slapping himself in the face if he changed his mind and said he wanted to turn back halfway.
However, as an unknown creature who could fill his stomach with the faith of others, Azathoth found that he had a special sensitivity to the number of people. Even through countless layers of thick opaque steel plates, he could still know that there were living humans hiding in the cargo hold under his feet.
Hugo reacted quickly: "You said they're trafficking in people? Is the Federation a slave society?"
"No," Igor denied, his expression growing serious. "Actually, the private development and operation of trade routes by interstellar pirates is strictly prohibited by federal law. But previously, I only knew that the ruling class in the black zone on the border profited from the illegal transportation of goods, and the federal central government turned a blind eye to it in order to control the situation in the war zone. I didn't expect them to be so bold as to even dare to traffic in people."
This information was beyond his imagination. Igor suddenly felt uneasy: "Mr. Hugo..."
"Just call me Hugo now."
Igor nodded. "Can you pull up a diagram of the ship's interior? I want to go to the cargo hold and take a look."
He rubbed his fingers, unsure whether the evil god, who had never shown any concern for other people's lives, would agree with his meddling. He turned to Azathoth and said, "I'm sorry, please allow me to leave for a moment. If I haven't misunderstood this matter, it is really too bad..."
Azathoth interrupted him and said, "I want to know what's going on, too."
Although he was socially anxious, that didn't mean he didn't have a heart for fun. Furthermore, his followers were becoming visibly anxious. Seeing their restless state, Azathoth felt that his captive sweet cookie had become sour and bitter, not as delicious as it usually seemed.
As the one being believed, Azathoth also has a subtle desire to win - Igor's faith in me will never be at a disadvantage! I must fulfill his wishes and let him live better than everyone else, so that I can indirectly demonstrate my qualities as a god!
Hugo: "Okay, what's the password for the LAN on the spaceship?"
Igor and Azathoth both looked at it silently.
"Okay, okay, I'll crack it myself," Hugo muttered, "but don't blame me if you fail."
"Ah, it's connected! This is too easy! Your human cryptography hasn't changed at all in all these years!"
In its pair of bright red eyes, which were modeled after Igor's, the light of data streams shone brightly. It looked very interested, but sat there for a long time without saying a word.
Azathoth extended a tentacle from the shadow behind it and poked its lower back: "Stop browsing the web and get to work."
"Oh." Hugo's attention was drawn away from the headlines on the Federation Star Network that he hadn't seen in centuries. "It's just a plan of the spacecraft's structure. Right over."
It projected the map onto a light screen, which appeared in mid-air above the rest cabin. "Don't worry about the cameras; I just blocked them. And Igor, do you want the code for the cargo hold door?"
Igor quickly glanced at the floor plan and said to Azathoth and Hugo, "Thank you. If everything goes well, I'll be back in fifteen minutes."
Hugo also had to help him intercept the surveillance footage of this section of the road. After Igor slipped into the cargo hold where there were no cameras, he stretched and looked back, only to find that Azathoth was tying his tentacles into a knot with a bored look on his face.
“…”
The evil god's happiness is so plain and boring.
Just then, Eddie, a crew member from the next cabin, pushed the door open and walked in: "Hey, just the two of you?"
Seeing that the young nobleman he had dealt with earlier was gone, Eddie simply assumed he had gone to the bathroom. The tentacles in front of Azathoth vanished into thin air in the blink of an eye. Eddie rubbed his eyes, vaguely feeling that he had just seen some kind of black animal squatting on the floor, but now there was nothing there.
...Is it an illusion?
He scratched his head, skeptical, and circled around the area in front of Azathoth and Hugo. Finding nothing, he turned back to stare at the cloaked and hooded Azathoth. "Why are you covering yourself up so tightly? It's not cold on the ship. Do you have a skin disease?"
Azathoth did not answer. Hugo coughed.
"I'm asking you a question." Eddie took two steps toward Azathoth's seat. "You don't have anything strange hidden under your cloak, do you? You're just a Beta, why are you acting so timid like an Omega?"
Hugo couldn't help but say, "It's better for you to stay away."
"What?" Eddie looked at it in confusion. "I was saying the probability of two young Betas giving birth to a child your age is too small. He's actually an Omega who's been given suppressants, right?"
The more they thought about it, the more they felt their guess made sense. The crew members showed excited expressions as if they had discovered a hidden treasure. Suddenly, they rushed forward and pulled off Azathoth's hood: "No wonder you're so secretive. I'm going to report to the captain and tell her that an Omega has sneaked onto our ship..."
He suddenly stopped talking.
Azathoth remained in his previous posture without moving, with his head raised expressionlessly, looking at him coldly.
Eddie stared at him in a daze for half a minute. The cabin was as quiet as a grave.
"Your face..." He murmured weakly from his throat, and suddenly felt a little wet on his cheek. He raised his hand and wiped it, and saw a bright red on the back of his hand.
The mirror on the bulkhead reflected his face. Eddie saw a steady stream of blood flowing from his eyes, like tears. His face had a strange expression mixed with confusion and fear, and was distorted by the angle of the reflection. But he couldn't explain why, and he didn't feel any pain. His mind was just a mess, and his ears were filled with irregular buzzing and whistling sounds.
Amidst his delirium, a voice reached his eardrums, sounding cold and majestic: "Clean off the bloodstains and return the same way."
Eddie felt as if he had answered, but it seemed as if he hadn't. He went to the bathroom in a daze to wash his face, brushing past Igor, who had returned from somewhere. Then, with stiff steps, he walked to the next door where crew member Kirk was recuperating, knocked on the door, and walked in.
At this moment, he no longer remembered what he saw or heard.
Kirk was still lying in bed, tilting his head and asking, "Aren't you going to visit the eldest young master's family? What's that expression on your face? Do you want to laugh or cry?"
"I don't know... I don't know..." Eddie said. He walked to the chair next to Kirk again and sat down. He looked at the dark green potted plants on the bedside table with a dull face and a strange tone: "Kirk, why do I feel that there is something wrong with those people next door?" As he spoke, his nose felt hot. He raised his hand to wipe it and lowered his eyes to take a look. Sure enough, there was sticky black and red blood again.
Kirk didn't know what he was thinking about. He smiled obscenely and made an obscene gesture: "Is she a beauty?"
Eddie laughed loudly twice.
"What's wrong with you...?" Kirk looked at him suspiciously. "We've seen so many beautiful Omegas over the years, haven't you? You have to act like you've never seen the world before?"
His companion did not respond, but muttered something meaningless and climbed to the upper bunk in the rest cabin. He lay down with his eyes wide open and remained silent.
Igor returned to the room with a sullen expression. "Confirmed. There are a total of twenty-two Omegas in the cargo hold, two of whom have taken suppressants and could experience forced estrus due to the aftereffects at any moment."
His eyes, which usually kept their true emotions to themselves, were filled with anger and murderous intent, but his tone remained calm: "I want to go to the cockpit and have a talk with Captain Valerie."
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