In the passenger cabin of the second unlucky civilian freighter.
"Big sis, are you a pirate too?" A little boy hugging a stuffed toy blinked up at Vivienne, his round eyes wide with curiosity.
From her clothes to her demeanor, she didn't look like one of the bloodthirsty, cutthroat pirates surrounding them. But here she was, moving among them, helping them shake people down.....
"Shh!" The words had barely left her lips, the little boy's father hurriedly clamped a hand over his son's mouth, fear flashing across his face, terrified that they might draw the attention of those people and invite trouble. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" he whispered anxiously.
Vivienne smiled faintly as she took the terminal from the boy's father's trembling hand, her voice soft yet unmistakably firm: "Stay quiet."
It really was thanks to that harmless-looking face of hers — even when extorting someone, she managed to look gentle.
From across the room, Anthony scoffed at the scene. "At least you're finally pulling your weight."
....
The next step after robbing money was, of course, to rob people—but before that, they had to sort them out and pick out the "Evolved" who were actually worth something.
Scar-faced Anthony's gaze swept over the passengers like a hawk, sharp and predatory. His voice rumbled low, laced with threat: "Listen up. Tonight, your fate is yours to decide. Evolved to the left! The rest of you worthless trash—get to the right!"
As his words fell, the tense, suffocating atmosphere in the cabin tightened even further. Passengers exchanged anxious glances; some went pale, others broke into cold sweat. Slowly, hesitantly, they began to shuffle their feet—most stumbling and scrambling to the right side, relief flickering across their faces. Everyone knew what it meant when pirates started picking people.
Only a handful of passengers, looking like they were walking to their own funeral, drifted toward the left.
....
Vivienne was in the middle of collecting one of them. She took one look at the guy and knew.
Definitely a Sentinel.
Taller than her by a head, dressed in plain black, face forgettable — but it was the way he looked at people.....
That smug, self-important attitude — like the whole world owed him something — she knew it all too well.
Catching the subtle shift in his expression, Vivienne kept her voice soft, coaxing. "Take off your terminal."
The man glanced down, then quietly obeyed.
...
Scar-faced Anthony's gaze suddenly locked onto someone in the crowd. His eyes narrowed, and a contemptuous smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. Slowly, deliberately, he drew a curved blade from his belt, the cold steel catching the cabin lights with a menacing gleam.
His voice rose, tinged with mockery: "Oh? Looks like we've got a little liar among us."
"You! The one in yellow—stop."
The young girl in yellow, who had been quietly edging toward the right side with the others, froze. Her face turned deathly pale, lips trembling, heart pounding violently in her chest. She opened her mouth to explain, her voice weak and shaking: "I… I was just…"
But her words were cut off by Anthony's cold, mocking laugh. He strode toward her, raising his blade until the tip gently lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes.
His gaze was laced with scorn and derision. "Someone actually thinks they can fool me?"
As he spoke, his grip on the blade tightened slightly. A thin scratch instantly appeared on the girl's chin, and a trickle of blood slid down her skin.
"I'm sorry… please… help! Somebody, help me!"
The girl's eyes widened in panic, her voice cracking in desperation. Like a trapped animal, she cast her terrified gaze across the cabin, pleading silently with anyone—everyone—hoping that someone, anyone, would save her.
"You're a Guide, aren't you?" Vivienne finally murmured, her voice low and strained, as if she'd tried—really tried—to hold back, but just couldn't anymore.
After all, she knew Polaris's rulebook by heart— Guides were protected property. Anthony was deliberately keeping quiet about the girl's second gender. Trying to "accidentally" cross the line first and play dumb later.
The girl in yellow froze, eyes wide as saucers. Then her panic snapped into desperate hope. "Y-Yes! I'm a Guide!Please help me !"Her voice cracked, like someone drowning finally spotting a rope.
To prove this, the girl hastily and clumsily released her mental tendrils, the movement betraying her panic.
Anthony sneered and shoved the girl aside like she was nothing but trash. The glint in his eyes sharpened—he looked almost delighted. "Hey, pretty girl," he barked across the cabin, zeroing in on Vivienne. "Did I say you could speak? Who the hell do you think you are?"
Vivienne forced herself to speak, her tone careful and restrained: "Mr. Anthony, I know I have no right to speak here, but… Mr. Yu instructed me to hand over the list of Guides to him personally."
"Leo Vaughn again, huh."
Anthony sneered, not for a second suspecting that Ying Xi was bluffing. On the Tianshu, Leo Vaughn acted like he ran the whole damn White Tower Guide Relief Committee—that did sound exactly like something he'd say.
Twirling the bloodstained dagger lazily between his fingers, Anthony swaggered over to Vivienne menace radiating from every step as he drawled, "You just can't help sticking your neck out, huh?"
As for Vivienne Cross herself…
Vivienne Cross was sweating bullets.
She could feel it—cold, clammy, running down her back as Anthony's dagger twirled lazily in front of her face.
For the love of God, why couldn't she keep her damn mouth shut? Every single time, she just had to meddle.
One of these days, it was gonna get her killed.
Possibly today.
…
Maybe the universe was in a generous mood for once, because the next moment, a familiar voice sliced through the tension like a blade.
Leo Vaughn.
The dark-haired, blue-eyed young man sauntered over, sizing up the situation in a heartbeat. With a few clipped words, he ordered the terrified girl in yellow to be moved to the left—where the valuable ones went.
After all, Guides were rare commodities. Polaris had a rule about not harming them unless absolutely necessary.
But the way that dumb little girl had nearly gotten herself gutted, trying to pass herself off as an ordinary citizen, made Leo's lip curl in thinly-veiled contempt.
Anthony chuckled darkly, voice dripping with mockery. "What now, little lord? You getting your hands dirty for this too?"
Leo barely spared him a glance, his expression sharp with distaste—not just at the trembling Guide girl, but at Anthony's deliberate provocation. "Give her a dose and be done with it."
Standing awkwardly off to the side, Vivienne opened her mouth, unsure if she should speak. "I—"
Leo, too, thought Vivienne was in over her head. She was far too soft—wanting to save people without the strength to actually do it. His expression darkened as he said coldly, "Go find a cabin and wait for me. Don't come out until this is over."
Vivienne bit her lip, nodding like a scolded child, and quietly slipped away.
...
Once the door clicked shut, Vivienne's footsteps grew light as she walked over to the desk and chair. She sat down neatly, the chair letting out a faint creak under her weight. Leaning forward slightly, she rested both hands flat on the desk, her fingers tapping the surface in a slow, rhythmic motion.
There wasn't much change in her expression — still that listless, indifferent look. She had no idea if this place was rigged with surveillance in every corner.
And Vivienne had no intention of letting any hidden camera catch even a flicker of her real emotions. She couldn't afford to ruin everything now.
Her gaze remained hollow, her face blank — though to any outsider watching, it would look more like the exhaustion and numb disdain of someone who'd long grown tired of aiding and abetting monsters.
Playing the role of the "villain" — it had never been Ying Xi's true intention.
She deliberately acted reluctant, hesitant, almost half-hearted. Anyone with eyes could see she wasn't truly one of the pirates.
What if she really got rescued one day, only to be branded as one of them?
Vivienne knew she had to strike a careful balance between the pirates and the possibility of rescue. She couldn't afford to let the pirates question her loyalty, but neither could she risk the rescuers mistaking her for an accomplice.
She needed to lie low, quietly survive, and wait for the day she could finally run.
— Too useless, she'd be dismissed.
— Too proactive, she'd be seen as a conspirator.
— Incompetent, unreliable… now that was perfect.
…
Rumble!
The spaceship suddenly lurched violently!
Vivienne 's head snapped toward the flashing red light, her ears filled with the shrill, piercing alarm that she knew all too well — an alarm most people would never hear even once in their lifetime.
Yet in just a few days, it felt like a lifetime ago… And this was the second time she'd heard it.
"You've got to be kidding me… again?!"
Was this… a pirate double-cross? Some backstabbing turf war?
But who would be insane enough to pull a stunt like that against Polaris?
And then, like a spark flashing across her mind—
The Imperial Army.
It wasn't an ambush.
It was reinforcements!