Chapter 665: The Trap

"Oh, Officer Bachael, our negotiation process has been recorded. I will hand this over to the Seventh Art Federation. As for the rest, you will have to trouble yourself to communicate with them." Kevin's expression was relaxed. Romero's expression was unreadable. The two did not hesitate and turned to leave. Just as they were about to reach the door, Bachael finally couldn't help it. "Wait."

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Romero turned around slowly, his gaze sharp. "Deputy Governor Bachael, are you wasting my time?"

"Lord Romero, look, you've come all this way, there's no need to play games with me. This batch of spaceships is very important to you. Even if the Seventh Art side comes looking, my answer will be the same. Rules are rules."

Bachael didn't know if the other party was bluffing, but he didn't know the inside story of the transaction. A small fry like him could push around humans, but if he truly angered a Celestial noble, he could be replaced at any time, and then he would be nothing. Besides, if things fell through, no one would benefit. "Haha, Governor, Mr. Kevin, sit, sit. Our Masa Star Gate is an important transit station, and there will be many opportunities for cooperation in the future. I asked you to come mainly to make friends, to get to know each other, so it's convenient for future cooperation." Bachael immediately wore a face full of smiles. "You also know my difficulties. This matter has already been registered; you have to let me have a way to account for it. If you just take them away like this, it's hard to handle."

"... are some high-vintage, top-quality fine wines, originally intended to be sent to Helavis."

Upon hearing this, Bachael's eyebrows danced with joy, but he quickly restrained himself. "As for this, I think there must be some misunderstanding in this matter. The Masa Spaceport has always been warm and hospitable. Those five ring-shaped spaceships are in D86 District. After you pay the fine, you can take them back."

Kevin was all smiles, enthusiastic as fire. "Lord Bachael is truly wise and fair. What we like most is good friends. Let's cooperate more in the future." Having dealt with Orcs for a long time, he knew one thing very clearly: Orcs only care about benefits. As long as there is profit, they will do anything. The other party was just "beating the grass to scare the rabbits," taking whatever they could. Kevin felt it was impossible to take the spaceships away without bleeding a little.

One must bow when necessary; the main thing was to get the job done. This batch of spaceships absolutely could not have any errors; they were crucial to Kepler and the Solar System. This was also the first batch of advanced spaceships that humans had truly obtained.

Of course, they had to pretend they didn't care.

When he saw the crates upon crates of beautifully packaged fake wine, the Orc was happy as a flower. He even opened a bottle himself and started chugging it on the spot. Human fine wine was originally discovered by the Orcs, but ever since the Sea People intervened, they couldn't afford to drink it anymore. This had really stifled the Orcs. Looking at these crates of treasure, the ore didn't matter at all. Bachael praised them while drinking. Romero and Kevin were still worried about the other party playing tricks, so they carefully inspected and handed over the goods at the port. The ones responsible for the transport were the Mechanical Race.

"Why are the spaceships' programs still in restricted mode?" Kevin asked.

"After the spaceships arrive at Kepler, the person in charge of the Kepler Star Gate will unlock them," the Mechanical Race replied. "Please complete the receipt on the contract."

Romero looked at Kevin, and Kevin nodded. There were no problems with the spaceships. He had thought Defatandisi would give them a castrated version—in such spaceship transactions, the ship is still the same ship, but the attack systems are downgraded or even completely stripped away. However, he had taken a rough look, and the weapons and equipment were all there. This was actually a bit of a surprise. As for the current system restriction, it didn't matter; they would just take them to Kepler and find the Star Alliance to resolve it. This was also a convention in Star Alliance transactions, mainly to guard against pirates; even if they were plundered, they couldn't be used if they couldn't be cracked.

Both sides completed the handover smoothly, and the Mechanical Race finished their task. Watching the five ring-shaped spaceships being loaded onto the transport ships, Romero and Kevin breathed a sigh of relief, unable to hide the joy in their hearts. Celestial Armament is important, but advanced spaceships are even more important. This is the key to

protecting Kepler.

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Now, as they gradually understood the situation of the Star River Alliance, Kepler had also started purchasing Celestial Armament, but what they got were of quite poor quality and couldn't actually withstand intense combat. This batch of new-style Celestial Armament from Li Wu had indeed solved an urgent need.

As the spaceships sailed away from the Masa Spaceport, Romero and Kevin stood on the ship's rail, watching the prosperous Space City gradually fall behind. "Kevin, was it a bit too smooth?"

Kevin rubbed his chin. "A little. The Orcs' nature is a bit greedy, and since our relationship isn't good, it's normal for them to trip us up to fish for benefits. It's just that I feel something is strange."

Using the Seventh Art and forged contracts to scare the other party was a predetermined strategy, and the other party's reaction was also very "on track." But it was *too* on track; it felt like they were cooperating a bit too much with their plan.

But after checking, there was nothing unusual. If they had planted a bomb here, it would be too obvious. The Star Alliance had already mediated many times; the Orcs weren't truly brainless enough to bomb a Governor appointed by the Star Alliance so blatantly.

As the spaceships sailed away from the star field of Masa Space City, everyone's mood gradually improved. Since having children, Romero actually didn't like leaving Kepler much. Life had hope, and living it became flavorful. Now everything was moving in a good direction. Li Ge had opened a door for humanity in the Ozil Empire, and the Apocalypse Warriors in other places were also gradually adapting to the order of the Holy Song and the Celestials. Give humanity about ten years, and they would definitely be able to gain a foothold in the Star Alliance. Moreover, Celestial Reincarnation Technology had now been mastered; both the Solar System and Kepler had it. Like Chao Qinglong and Maxis, they had opened that Gene Lock by enhancing themselves through strength, but it could also be opened passively through gene technology. After opening it, basically more than fifty percent could allow the body to better adapt to gravity changes, forming a marvelous self-regulating ability of the cells.

Currently, this technology was also being promoted in an orderly manner in the Solar System and Kepler. It wasn't widely popularized; on one hand, it needed time for verification, and on the other hand, most people didn't actually need it. It was currently mainly aimed at Starry Sky Warriors; lacking adaptation to gravity severely limited their combat effectiveness.

Everything was moving in a good direction.

But not long after, a red alarm appeared on the spaceship's screen. Intense spatial fluctuations appeared on the Star Map. This was a spaceship performing a Space Jump.

The minds of Romero, Kevin, and the others immediately became alert. Not long after, a red dot appeared, followed by one red dot after another on the interstellar radar.

The spaceship Romero and the others were on, the Dawn, was currently the largest and most advanced one Kepler had. It was modified and equipped with human firepower configurations on the basis of a merchant ship. Although it was a bit of a hodgepodge, the spaceship's engines and energy shields were excellent.

At this moment, in the nearby star field, pirate ship after pirate ship jumped out of warp flight. These spaceships clearly had a very specific target: Romero and the others' Dawn.

The red dots on the radar were increasing and moving rapidly in their direction. Romero's pupils contracted, and Kevin's expression also became tense all of a sudden. How could pirates appear in this area?

"It seems they are coming for us," Romero said in a deep voice. "The spaceship is entering warp flight! Use full power to shake them off!"

The Dawn began to accelerate, entering Warp Space. The spaceship flew at full speed, but the pirate ships behind still pursued relentlessly. Soon, they all entered Warp Space, locked onto the Dawn, and continued the pursuit. They clearly had their coordinates; it was even very likely that a positioning device had been placed on the spaceship. They had still underestimated the Orcs' determination. Using the ring-shaped spaceships as bait to make Romero leave Kepler—this was a request Romero could not refuse; this batch of spaceships was too important. The Orcs were just waiting for the spaceships to complete the handover so that it would have nothing to do with the Seventh Art Federation. What they feared wasn't humans at all. The contract between the two sides had been completed; the rest was to pursue and kill Romero with full force. As for whether they were real pirates or fake pirates, it no longer mattered.

The other party's spaceships numbered in the hundreds, a hodgepodge of all kinds: there were Celestial ring-shaped spaceships, Ghost Race shuttle-shaped spaceships, and also Orc spaceships. It looked chaotic, but the pursuit was quite well-formed, and they were all attack ships with quite fast speeds. The fastest ring-shaped spaceships were already about to catch up to them.

The opponent's fleet consisted of roughly several hundred ships, a hodgepodge of all sorts: there were Ring-shaped Spaceships of the Celestial, Shuttle-shaped Spaceships of the Ghost Race, and also Orc ships; it looked chaotic, but the pursuit was quite well-formed, and they were all attack ships with considerable speed, the fastest Ring-shaped Spaceships already closing in on them.

Kevin immediately broke out in a cold sweat. They had still been lucky enough to think that on such a Star River Alliance route, the Orcs wouldn't be that bold. They were even bolder than imagined, and they had specifically waited until after the spaceships were handed over. What was even more critical was that these spaceships couldn't be started at all right now; they needed to arrive at Kepler and pass the Star Alliance inspection before being authorized for use.

Kevin immediately broke out in a cold sweat; they had still been lucky enough to think that on such a Star River Alliance shipping route, the Orcs wouldn't be so bold, but they were even bolder than imagined, and they had specifically waited until after the handover of the spaceships, and what was even more critical was that these spaceships could not be started at all right now, as they needed to reach Kepler and pass the Star Alliance inspection before being authorized for use.