Chapter 1204: How Dares He Attack Me?

In the profound depths of space, starlight scattered like shattered diamonds across boundless darkness.

The Qinghui S-200 spacecraft blazed like a streak of azure light, carving an elegant path through the vast star-sea, its afterburner leaving faint energy ripples in the vacuum.

Behind it, tens of millions of kilometers away in the dark void, a shuttle-shaped vessel glided silently like a ghost, trailing in its wake.

"Target confirmed: Xu Jingming, Starlight Stage Four, piloting a D6-class spacecraft purchased one month ago."

Inside the cabin, the burly, towering man known as "Blood Horn" spoke in a low voice.

He stood over three meters tall, his skin a dark red, with a pair of curved horns protruding from his forehead.

"A mere Starlight Stage Four? Do we really need the whole Skull Team to take him? Give me an opening—I can handle him alone."

Beside him, a blue-haired woman sneered, twirling a dagger as thin as a cicada's wing between her fingers.

"Don't be careless."

Blood Horn frowned. "He is a disciple of the Immortal God. We must kill him in one strike."

"If we kill a disciple of the Immortal God, won't that cause problems?"

Another man, wearing a metallic mask, murmured.

"What problems?"

The final woman scoffed. "How many important figures have we Skull Team killed?"

They had accepted this mission precisely because they were confident they could kill Xu Jingming and escape unharmed.

"The Immortal God's spiritual awareness range is vast. Wait another forty minutes—until we're far enough from Noah's homeworld before striking."

As captain, Blood Horn made the final call; the rest of the team fell silent.

Their Serpent-class spacecraft was only a D2-class vessel.

But it was equipped with a stealth module rivaling that of a C-class ship, ensuring they wouldn't be detected by Xu Jingming's radar.

Forty minutes passed quickly; Xu Jingming's ship was now only ten minutes away from the spatial wormhole.

"This distance is far enough—move now!"

Blood Horn bared a cruel grin as their spacecraft surged forward at full speed!

Their ship's top speed was seventeen times the speed of light—more than enough to catch up to Xu Jingming ahead.

Meanwhile, sixty-four million four hundred fifty thousand kilometers away, in the starry void:

An ice-blue spacecraft was also hurtling toward the location of the spatial wormhole.

Inside the cockpit, a graceful woman leaned back in her pilot's seat.

She wore a crimson battle suit that clung tightly to her curvaceous figure, outlining a physique that stirred the blood.

Her full breasts strained the suit into a startling curve; beneath her slender waist rose a firm, rounded buttock; below, her long legs, tightly encased in the suit, were casually crossed.

Lu Yunji.

This senior disciple of Lei Meng had just broken through to Starlight Stage Eight a few days ago.

Also one of the contestants in the Sacred Ground Exchange Tournament, she was en route to Heishi Star for training.

Suddenly, the ship's AI issued an alarm:

"Alert! Alert! Detected a Serpent-class spacecraft sixty-four million four hundred fifty thousand kilometers away!"

Whoosh—

A vast star map materialized before her eyes.

On the map, to the left-rear of her vessel:

A Serpent-class spacecraft appeared, marked with a red danger symbol.

Serpent-class spacecraft came in many different tiers.

But all were renowned for high maneuverability and superior stealth.

As a result, they were among the favorite vessels of space pirates.

Any ordinary ship's radar would trigger an alarm upon detecting a Serpent-class vessel.

Her own ship was a C7-class, with far more powerful radar—naturally capable of spotting this Serpent-class vessel.

"Judging by its course, it's not heading for me—it's targeting that Qinghui vessel."

"But pirates? Right this close to the Empire's homeworld?"

Lu Yunji's slender eyebrows furrowed. "AI, notify the Imperial patrol fleet to handle this."

"AI received. Patrol fleet contacted—they will arrive in approximately ten minutes."

The AI replied.

"Ten minutes? By the time they arrive, these bastards will have robbed and fled."

Lu Yunji shook her head. "Connect me to that Qinghui vessel."

She was no saint—she wouldn't risk herself rashly to save them.

But remotely warning them posed no issue.

Whether they escaped or not was up to their fate.

"S-class: A foreign spacecraft has sent a communication request. Accept?"

On the other side, inside the Qinghui vessel, Eva spoke upon receiving the request.

"Foreign spacecraft? Why doesn't it show up on my star map?"

Xu Jingming, seated at the controls and seeing nothing but empty space around him, frowned.

"Their ship is a higher class than ours—their radar is superior," Eva explained.

"That means they can scan us, but we can't scan them."

"I see."

Xu Jingming suddenly understood. "Looks like the D6-class ship is still too low-end—I'll need to upgrade soon."

"As for this call request, just connect it directly."

"Got it."

Hum—

The call connected, and a face of stunning, icy beauty appeared on the screen.

Crimson eyes shone like rubies, and her fiery red battle suit set off her snow-white skin, her aura sharp and dangerous.

"Xu Jingming?"

Lu Yunji was briefly stunned, clearly not expecting it to be him aboard the Qinghui.

"Senior Lu?"

Xu Jingming was equally surprised.

"You're being tailed! A Viper-class ship is following behind you.

Most likely cosmic pirates coming for you. The Imperial patrol fleet won't arrive for another ten minutes!"

Lu Yunji, having reacted, spoke with an uncharacteristic note of urgency:

"Change course immediately and rendezvous at my coordinates!"

Before her words had faded, she flicked a fingertip, and a star chart synced over instantly.

If it were anyone else, she naturally wouldn't bother.

But Xu Jingming was a Holy Land Grade-1 genius — she wouldn't stand by and do nothing.

"Grade S! There really is a ship tailing us!"

Eva's urgent voice rang out.

The star chart updated: a concealed shuttle-type ship was closing in at extreme speed, roughly 40 million kilometers away.

"Cosmic pirates..."

Xu Jingming's expression darkened; he hadn't expected his luck to be this bad.

Whoosh—

The Qinghui starship instantly swung about, heading to rendezvous with Lu Yunji.

At the same time, Lu Yunji also changed course, flying toward Xu Jingming.

"Hehehe! Spotted us!

Too bad — you can't escape now! Engage Overdrive Mode!"

Inside the Viper, Captain Blood Horn gave the order.

The entire ship's speed surged abruptly!

Overdrive Mode!

It could boost the ship's speed by 1.5 times.

Though it could only last one minute, that was already enough.

"Grade S! They're catching up fast!"

Inside the Qinghui's cockpit, Eva's voice grew tense.

On the star chart, the Viper was already less than 5 million kilometers from them!

"No time."

He glanced at the star chart — Lu Yunji's ship was still 40 million kilometers away.

Xu Jingming's figure flickered, and he left the Qinghui directly, appearing in the starry sky.

Whoosh—

Then he stowed the entire ship into his spatial ring.

If a real fight broke out later, damaging the ship he'd just bought would be a real headache.

"Hah! Why'd you stop running?"

A wild, arrogant wave of psychic force rolled toward him.

That shuttle-type ship stopped about 100 kilometers from Xu Jingming.

Four fully armed figures stepped out of the ship, their auras already unleashed, looking at Xu Jingming with killing intent.

"One Star Radiance Eighth-Tier, three Star Radiance Seventh-Tier — and you dare make a move on me with just this?"

Xu Jingming regarded them with an icy gaze.

He had already prepared to use his Thunder Talisman.

He hadn't expected only four Star Radiance-tier fighters to come down!

Not even a single Star Radiance Ninth-Tier powerhouse.