He held Xin Xin close in his embrace. Ducate glared coldly at Peng Hua, his jaw tight, and threatened, "If you dare touch a single hair on Lily's head, I will kill you!" "Wow! I'm so scared!" Peng Hua's eyes flashed with fierce light, ready to hurl back some vicious words, but Gu Xichen hurriedly gestured for him to stop.

Reluctantly biting back his retort, Peng Hua let out a few cold laughs. Gu Xichen signaled Ducate to remain calm. He spoke placidly, "Ducate, we are on the same ship now.

If things go wrong, we'll all be trapped here! Let's work together to get back to Earth first. Then, we can settle our score, how about it?" After a moment of hesitation, Ducate pulled Lily back cautiously a few steps, moving away from the constantly baring-teeth Peng Hua.

He said coolly, "That's a possibility. What is your current situation?" Gu Xichen pointed towards the pitch-black rock strata outside the command module's viewport, explaining with resignation, "What is our situation? Well, to summarize, all the warship's electronic instruments are completely destroyed; only the hull remains intact.

The hull is now buried deep underground. I sensed it—there is no trace of life on this planet." Silence hung heavy for a moment. Ducate stroked Lily's soft, thick hair and murmured in a low voice, "Your subordinates are forbidden from making any move that threatens Lily or me!" Gu Xichen raised his right hand and smiled lightly, "I swear upon the names of my mother and father!" He shot a harsh glare at Peng Hua.

Peng Hua twisted his mouth, tilting his head in contemplation for a while, then finally sighed, "Forget it. Swearing by my Master’s name... even my Master wouldn't believe that oath.

Hmm, I'll swear by the first woman I ever truly liked. Fine. You honestly help us repair the warship, and before we get back to Earth, I won't touch a single hair on your heads!" Ducate reacted swiftly, barking sharply, "You are not allowed to make a move against us until Lily and I are safely returned to Mars!" Peng Hua froze for a moment.

Annoyed, he rubbed his nose and grumbled under his breath, "Is my reputation really that bad?" Huo Mu, who had already conjured a fifty-millimeter caliber "sniper rifle," silently nodded at Peng Hua, but the muzzle never left Ducate's body. Glaring furiously at Huo Mu, Peng Hua helplessly raised both hands. "Fine!

I swear by... her name. I won't make a move against you until you and this little chick are safely back on Mars!" Ducate stared intently at Peng Hua, unconvinced, for a long while.

The robotic red light that flickered in his eyes blinked for a full fifteen minutes. After analyzing an astronomical amount of data, carefully discerning the subtle changes in Peng Hua’s facial muscles and expressions, Ducate slowly nodded. "I believe this oath.

I can see you love her very much?" Gu Xichen frowned and muttered softly, "Love? With that kind of time, let's focus on how to fix the warship first!" Peng Hua angrily thrust two middle fingers towards Ducate, cursing crudely, "None of your damn business! Bastard!" "Very good!" Ducate nodded seriously.

"I believe your oath!" He solemnly raised his right hand. Ducate said coldly, "I swear upon my mother's name, I will use all my strength to help you repair the warship, on the precondition that you safely return me to Mars!" Gu Xichen extended his hand to Ducate. "Deal!

Back on Heaven Star, I noticed you were a genius when it came to mechanics! Your boundary puppets are very impressive!" Ducate grasped Gu Xichen’s palm tightly, squeezing down with immense force. Lily, meanwhile, proudly lifted her head, smiling coldly, "Of course!

Xiao is the best!" "The best!" Peng Hua muttered mockingly from the side, thrusting his hips forward twice forcefully. Lily’s face turned green with anger, and she turned her head away from him. The force radiating from Ducate's palm descended like an avalanche—a colossal strength capable of crushing alloy rivets to dust.

Gu Xichen’s hand merely slipped away from Ducate’s grip with a fluid ease, like an oiled eel. With a thump that echoed like muffled thunder, Ducate’s five fingers struck Gu Xichen’s palm. "A fast hand!" Ducate looked at Gu Xichen in surprise.

"A strong hand!" Gu Xichen smiled faintly at Ducate and signaled Huo Mu and Linghu, "Check all the life support pods; see how much longer the nutrient fluid can sustain the brothers... Hmm, the warship's life support system is totally wrecked. If it’s not absolutely necessary, let the brothers remain in the pods.

Before the remaining air inside the ship runs out, we must at least fix the life support system." Huo Mu and Linghu acknowledged the order and rushed out of the command module, looking deeply worried. Lily's eyes lit up, and she tugged hard on Ducate’s sleeve. "Xiao—" Ducate instantly covered Lily’s mouth.

Lily quickly fell silent. Gu Xichen and Peng Hua’s eyes brightened, both turning to look at Ducate simultaneously. Gu Xichen said warmly, "Ducate, you have a way to fix the life support system quickly?

Heh heh, don't forget, you are on the same ship as us now." After a brief silence, Ducate stated calmly, "I need various parts and equipment... Are there any on this warship?" After giving Ducate a deep look, Gu Xichen chuckled lightly. "There should be quite a few compatible components in the storage bay, but...

all the circuit boards and chips are fried..." Ducate nodded in response. He said nonchalantly, "Give me the most basic production line, and I can manually fabricate the necessary boards and chips. That’s not difficult for me." "Understood!" Gu Xichen nodded and waved his hand.

"Peng Hua, take Ducate to the lower work sector. I recall there are a few multi-purpose machine tools there." As Ducate was about to leave the command module pulling Lily along, Gu Xichen suddenly smiled and said, "Lily, why don't you stay here and keep me company? Hmm, Ducate needs to work without distraction!" Lily frowned and clutched Ducate’s sleeve tightly.

Ducate’s brows furrowed, and he turned to glare angrily at Gu Xichen. But before he could erupt, heavy footsteps sounded, and Mo Liqing walked into the command module, dragging the wildly flailing and struggling Poluobolu. Mo Lihong, Xin Jia, and others followed in file afterward.

Over five hundred muscular giants filled more than half the command module. Ducate felt the indistinct, heavy aura emanating from Mo Liqing and the others. He shot an annoyed look at Gu Xichen.

He firmly patted Lily’s shoulder and said with a smile, "Lily, you stay here to monitor this fellow. Don't let him secretly set any traps to calculate against us." Hearing Ducate's words, Lily immediately nodded with solemnity. Her beautiful eyes never left Gu Xichen’s body.

Gu Xichen smiled, bowed slightly, and his gaze swept over the captured Poluobolu. "Heh heh, who is this little friend? Hmm, this one doesn't look human?" Poluobolu shrieked several times.

He stared in terror at the countless 'tall men' inside the massive command module. Standing only about 1.1 meters tall, Poluobolu looked incredibly fragile—even a single arm of Xin Jia was thicker than his entire body. Poluobolu yelled out in anxiety and fear, but clearly, his language was not one Gu Xichen knew.

"This is troublesome; we can't communicate!" Gu Xichen frowned and sighed with resignation. Ducate, who had just reached the doorway of the command module, turned back and silently retrieved a silver instrument the size of a palm from his belt. "A multi-functional brainwave collection and exchange device—my modified version.

It collects the brainwaves from this little guy's language center and injects them into the corresponding area of your brain. If you aren't an idiot, you'll be able to communicate with him in three minutes!" With a flick of his wrist, the brainwave collector flashed a silver streak toward Gu Xichen. Grabbing the small instrument, Gu Xichen raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Good stuff. It seems you used this thing when the Earth Federation and the Romanians first met to facilitate smooth communication. But I heard the brainwave device used back then was much larger than this?" Ducate stated coolly, "I modified it; the performance is naturally more powerful than the original version!" After a moment of silence, Gu Xichen weighed the instrument in his hand and smiled.

"Then, shall we learn this creature's language together before you get back to work?" This gesture was Gu Xichen's way of showing he did not treat Ducate as an outsider, compensating for the 'damage' caused by asking Lily to stay behind as a hostage earlier. Ducate certainly had no reason to refuse Gu Xichen’s proposal; he manufactured the instrument, so he naturally had the right to use it. Ignoring the frantically struggling Poluobolu, whose face had turned blue with fear, Gu Xichen pressed the instrument onto his head.

After nearly half an hour of busy work, and feeling a slight dizziness, Gu Xichen and the others had mastered the so-called 'Star Alliance Common Tongue' used by Poluobolu. Sitting upright on a tall chair, Gu Xichen looked down condescendingly at Poluobolu, who was huddled on the floor trembling in a ball. He smiled, "Respected Mr.

Poluobolu? Please don't be afraid. Hmm, we are a group of kind, peace-loving, human-rights-respecting, law-abiding good people!" "Ha!" Peng Hua nearly burst out laughing upon hearing Gu Xichen’s words, dragging Ducate towards the lower work bay.

Poluobolu, having removed his protective suit, looked at Gu Xichen with grievance, his large eyes full of resentment. Good people? Were there such good people in the Star Alliance?

These people had immediately pounced on him and yanked his starship down from space without a word. That wasn't all; these people had actually dismantled his ship piece by piece using purely manual labor! "Bandits!" Poluobolu mumbled aggrievedly.

"Uh!" Gu Xichen stared at Poluobolu in surprise. He rubbed his nose, feeling a little vexed, and gave a wry smile. "No, sir, you are mistaken.

We encountered a small difficulty, so we had to ask for your help using methods that were not very gentle. Thus, while our approach was a bit rough, we meant no harm." Smiling gently, Gu Xichen crossed his legs, pulled a bottle of Gold Foil Brandy from his pouch, and shook it toward Poluobolu. "Hmm, fifty-year-old Gold Foil Brandy—" Poluobolu's eyes snapped wide open.

He sprang up nimbly from the floor and snatched the bottle from Gu Xichen’s hand. He professionally flicked the bottle, which was made of natural crystal, and muttered in a low voice, "The pomp of nobility. Hmm, a natural crystal wine bottle.

So extravagant. Only truly high nobility uses bottles like this!"

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