Zi Ye’s reply to Bobo was swift, her knee driving directly into his chest. Bobo let out a muffled groan; a rib had cracked.

Zi Ye’s expression was cold and bloodthirsty. “When you are my prisoner, you have no standing to speak.” A wave of searing pain pulsed through Bobo’s chest.

He hadn't anticipated Zi Ye being this ruthless. It was as if, in the blink of an eye, he no longer knew her.

Zi Ye gripped his throat, slowly pulling him upright, then tilted her chin toward the trembling Major, signaling, “Step back, drop the weapon.” The Major was slick with cold sweat. Seeing his hesitation, Zi Ye pressed the blade nearer to Bobo’s carotid artery.

The Major hastily lowered his gun to the floor. “Please, don’t be rash…” Zi Ye stated coldly, “Toss it here.” The Major reluctantly nudged the firearm across the floor until it slid to her feet.

She kicked it upward, and with a sharp smack, the gun sailed out the window. Immediately, someone shouted from outside, “Who is it!” So, they had lookouts posted?

At the same time, Bobo regained some composure and threatened, “You won’t get out. The entire area outside the door is swarming with my people.

The second you step out, you’ll be swarmed like hornets. Take my advice—don’t struggle needlessly!” Zi Ye glanced sideways at him, a soft, dismissive sound escaping her lips.

“Heh.” She was a head shorter than Bobo, but she held the dominance now, forcing Bobo to walk ahead of her with a slight bend in his knees. Undeterred, he pressed, “As long as you promise not to collude with the Angel Legion and leave the Wolf’s Den for the Interstellar Federation, I guarantee your safety.” Zi Ye offered a chilling smile.

“Does your rib still hurt?” Outside the door stood two squads of soldiers, their muzzles all aimed directly at their position. Zi Ye paid them no mind, tugging Bobo backward.

Outside was a long corridor, its far end leading to the destroyer’s docking bay. All the way to the cockpit, Zi Ye fiercely yanked Bobo’s hair, shoving him forward to undergo a full-body scan as the tri-titanium blast doors slid open to either side.

By this point, the inside of the destroyer was utter chaos. Urgent alarms blared, mixed with the crisp, synchronized steps of soldiers echoing everywhere.

“The Major General has been taken hostage!” “All squads prepare, absolutely do not let the criminals escape!” Zi Ye knew she couldn't fly this destroyer out. She couldn’t take these soldiers with her; doing so would guarantee her death.

The only viable option left was to switch vessels. A destroyer didn't carry much extra cargo—usually just two drones or two airships.

She had noticed clearly during the previous exchange that there were two airships inside. Just as she was about to demand the airships, she looked up to see countless ships and frigates streaming toward their location on the main screen, surrounding them like a massive swarm of bees.

These were battleships, built purely for combat! They moved in perfect synchronization, every single main cannon aimed squarely at the destroyer—a dense, black mass stretching as far as the eye could see.

Bobo finally felt the true grip of terror. If those cannons opened fire, forget being the commander of the Tenth Fleet; he wouldn't have a chance to survive!

“Don’t be rash—ah!” He shouted to the Major, his heart hammering. The Major was also drenched in sweat from anxiety.

“We didn’t request fleet support!” Bobo became even more frantic, trembling with tension. Zi Ye had held a decent impression of him until this moment.

Seeing him perform so poorly, she delivered a sharp kick. “Prepare the airships.

If I can’t escape, you won’t live either.” “Where are you going? You can’t escape!

The airships will be vaporized the second they leave the bay!” Zi Ye scoffed. “If you don’t come with me, you’ll become space debris much faster!” Boom— The destroyer shuddered violently, as if about to flip.

Everything inside tilted and slid away, making it impossible to stand. Zi Ye slammed Bobo down, but before she could regain her footing, another shell struck, shaking the hull instantly.

The shockwave hurled Zi Ye across the compartment! Innumerable battleships opened fire; the air was filled with cannon blasts.

Bobo slammed headfirst into a metal bulkhead, the pain nearly knocking him unconscious. He steadied himself against the wall, touched his head, and found it covered in blood.

“Damn it! What the hell is going on?” He barely finished the sentence before Zi Ye kicked him down again.

She had stabilized herself, and the blade was once more pressed against his neck. Bobo, having never endured such torment, was furious enough to want to smash things.

“Can’t we just call a temporary truce?” Zi Ye’s face remained hard. “No.

Regardless of who they are, you are the only bargaining chip I have to get out of here!” If they were from the Interstellar Federation, Bobo was the perfect hostage. If they weren’t, she still needed Bobo to live long enough to exit the destroyer.

As for how those battleships appeared and why they were attacking, Zi Ye had no clue. She only knew those ships had nothing to do with An Junlie.

If they had, given An Junlie’s personality, he would have surrounded the destroyer first, then demanded the release of the hostage. These attackers, however, clearly cared nothing about who they were.

Bobo had exhausted every ounce of his patience today and was about to erupt in curses when a blinding light flashed, illuminating the night sky outside the viewport as if it were noon. On the horizon, an absolute behemoth had appeared from somewhere—a massive structure that dwarfed the battleships.

The battleships, measuring 4,800,003 units, looked like infants standing next to this giant! Zi Ye looked up and saw that it was, undeniably, a mecha.

Holy hell, this is the first time I’ve seen a mecha bigger than a battleship! As it appeared, a streak of meteorites tore across the night sky, striking the lead battleship attacking the destroyer with perfect accuracy.

The battleship was blown thousands of meters away. Then, the meteors rained down like a waterfall, submerging the entire sea of stars in a brilliant, glorious spectacle.

In the midst of this magnificent display, the battleships didn't even have time to react before they were reduced to debris. Countless emergency comms systems blared with identical, terrified roars.

“Abandon ship! Abandon immediately!” “Prepare escape pods!” “How many survivors are there?” ...

The gigantic mecha suddenly emitted a peal of thunderous, resounding laughter. “A bunch of idiots!

Prepare to welcome my descent!” Zi Ye found the voice oddly familiar. Just then, a distinct voice drilled directly into her mind: “Little fool Zi Ye, hurry and abandon ship, get out in an airship.” Zi Ye recognized it instantly.

The one who had just claimed to be ‘this great master’ was Xiao Dou Ya. Where had it gotten a mecha?

Zi Ye couldn't afford to dwell on it; survival was paramount. She struck the side of Bobo’s head with the hilt of her knife, knocking him out, then dragged him toward the airship bay in the ensuing chaos.

Along the way, people were either terrified, injured, or scrambling to patch holes in the destroyer—the confusion was total, and no one paid her any mind. She shoved Bobo ahead, opened the airship bay doors, tossed him aside, boarded the airship herself, and forcibly initiated launch sequence.

She wore a spatial node around her neck; even without Xiao Dou Ya, she could deploy the mecha stored within it, giving her confidence. The instant the airship cleared the destroyer, the colossal mecha reached out a single hand and plucked her craft from the air.

Zi Ye felt a wave of dizziness. When she blinked her eyes open, she was inside the mecha’s cockpit.

It was empty! -RS