Amidst the disbelieving and envious gazes of his bandmates, * boarded the warship dispatched from the Interstellar Federation to retrieve him.

In the time since, * had contemplated a great deal, including the true purpose of his father’s marriage to Ilìya, the essential nature of the turmoil within the Interstellar Federation, and the reasons behind his breakup with Lingyin.

The past two decades had been too easy, too smooth; this had led him to believe the world revolved around him. But he had discovered, tragically, that no one in this world actually cared about him.

He had fled to the planet Siyatu to play in his band, initially to escape all of it, but had unexpectedly managed to step outside the game entirely, finally able to view these matters from an observer's perspective and contemplate their meaning.

was not foolish.

After this period of reflection, he suddenly realized that Bai Lanxue’s affection was not as genuine as he had imagined.

It wasn't a new development that Kalu and Bai Lanxue held opposing political views; Bai Lanxue deeply despised Kalu. How could she possibly be so kind to him? He had heard of loving someone and treating their associates well, but never of repaying hatred with kindness.

Was Bai Lanxue using his mother?

felt a knot of uncertainty tighten in his gut.

Even though Bai Lanxue was Kalu’s enemy, she had never seriously harmed him—the only time was when she used him to kidnap Ziye.

On the warship, * recalled Bai Lanxue’s words to him once more: "Kalu has merely been blinded by Ilìya."

—Meaning, she did not want Kalu to be with Ilìya?

He knew Ilìya married Kalu for the strength of the Interstellar Federation Commander, but he had never considered why Kalu married Ilìya. To gain a mother figure? What a joke! Connecting this with Bai Lanxue’s obvious necessity to disrupt that union, * suddenly realized. Kalu’s marriage to Ilìya might also have been a move to secure Fia’s assistance in eliminating Bai Lanxue.

That was why Bai Lanxue was so desperate to find him to act as the saboteur!

Cold sweat broke out across *’s back.

This, then, was the real truth.

*’s entire face turned pale.

No matter how strained his relationship with Kalu was, Kalu was still his father. To side with Bai Lanxue against his own father—there was no way he could agree to such a thing.

What should he do?

sat alone in the warship’s lounge, yet the exterior was filled with Bai Lanxue's people. He absolutely could not let Bai Lanxue know his true thoughts, or he would be in grave danger.

*’s extremities felt icy cold for a moment. After finally steadying himself, he resolved to find a way to escape Bai Lanxue's control.

He walked to the door, listened intently for a while, and once certain it was safe, activated his ultra-comm screen, searching for potential allies.

The first contact listed was Lingyin.

He stared at Lingyin’s icon, paused for a long moment, and skipped it.

Lingyin was a kind and innocent girl; he didn't want to drag her into this vortex.

Second was his father.

At this juncture, his father was clearly unreliable.

Third, fourth...

scrolled down until he spotted Ziye’s name.

Ziye was also embroiled in the situation; perhaps she would have a solution. He had once kidnapped her. If she were given a chance for revenge, surely she would take it?

decisively placed the call.

“The number you have dialed does not exist.”

A cold, mechanical female voice issued from the ultra-comm. * then remembered that he had thrown away his communicator during the last incident when he kidnapped Ziye.

He had brought this upon himself!

offered a bitter smile, burying his face in his hands to rub his eyes, before quickly dialing Li Chunyu’s number.

He also had the twins’ numbers, and he knew the twins were far more likely than Li Chunyu to possess Ziye’s new contact information, but he dared not call them.

He suspected that if he called the twins, they would beat him into a pulp.

“Ziye, I’m sorry, but I have no choice now. I will repay you threefold later!”

recited silently in his mind, and dialed Li Chunyu’s number.

Li Chunyu was very surprised to receive the ultra-comm. Since Ziye’s disappearance, * had also left school, and nobody knew where he had gone.

An invitation to his graduation ceremony had been sent to *, but he hadn't attended.

However, Li Chunyu never entertained ill intentions toward his friends. He didn't assume anything untoward; upon hearing that * wanted Ziye’s contact number to apologize, he was only surprised that their relationship had deteriorated to this extent, but he provided it nonetheless.

Immediately after giving the number, he messaged Ziye, informing her that he had given *’s ultra-comm details to *.

Ziye was discussing the construction of the space station with Ess at the time and hadn't seen the message yet. The robot f431, working in the office, sensed it first and alerted its "Master" Doudouya: "Someone is requesting the Master to come and kidnap them."

Doudouya, amidst his busy schedule, spared a bit of focus to scan the message and immediately leaped up: "Damn it, *! You dare show your face to this lord again?!"

Tang Wan, who was examining the structure of the dreadnought production equipment, was startled by Doudouya’s outburst. "What’s wrong?"

Doudouya had already narrowed his eyes, leaning comfortably against the small sprout on his head, looking as if he were falling asleep.

Tang Wan had zero resistance to fluffy things and scooped him up, rubbing him vigorously against her face.

Doudouya struggled fiercely. Annoying creature, almost tearing his clothes off.

However, for an annoying creature of Tang Wan’s caliber, he couldn't even be bothered to use a weak electric pulse. He had been very careful lately about using his energy reserves, lest he accidentally sleep for another year or so.

Tang Wan hadn't seen the message, but she had clearly registered the word "kidnap." She immediately dashed out of the office to find Ziye.

As she rushed out the door, someone was entering, and Tang Wan couldn't brake in time, crashing right into the person’s embrace.

Tang Wan looked up, furious. "Big Black! Why are you blocking me?"

Halle let the path clear with a grim expression, muttering internally that a gentleman does not squabble with a lady.

Seeing him standing motionless, Tang Wan became even angrier and shouted, "I heard someone wants to kidnap Ziye! What are you standing around for?"

Kidnap Ziye?

Halle was instantly shocked. "Who dares?"

Tang Wan exclaimed, "I don't know! I need to notify Ziye right away."

Just as Halle was about to follow her, he stopped, thinking of something, and stepped into the office. He asked f431, "Did you just receive some kind of threatening message?"

f431 replied expressionlessly, "No. Someone merely requested the Master to go and kidnap them."

Halle’s vein pulsed. Ziye was requested to kidnap someone?

What kind of logic was that!

He didn't have the authority to view Ziye's correspondence, but he assumed it was a meaningless message from a bored individual, so he ignored it. Using the brief moment of time, he focused on studying the principles of space station construction.

Entering the Strategic Weapons Division felt like stepping into a whole new world.

What he encountered was no longer singular and repetitive, but like opening a kaleidoscope. Everything was there; everything needed to be understood, everything needed to be done, yet none of it could be mastered quickly.

Even Douzai, who was naturally lazy, was three parts more professional than Halle, who followed Ziye. He felt immense pressure.

Ziye and Ess had just finished their discussion when they saw Tang Wan rushing over. Fortunately, she wasn't entirely foolish and didn't shout loudly, instead quietly saying, "Ziye, I heard someone wants to kidnap you!"

Ziye started in surprise. "Who said that?"

Tang Wan replied, "f431 did."

Ziye thought for a moment, opened her ultra-comm, and saw *’s message. It was very brief, containing three pieces of information: an apology, coordinates, and a request for kidnapping.

Seeing Ziye frown, Tang Wan hurriedly asked, "How is it? How is it?"

Ziye shook her head. "I don't know how it is."

—To be specific, she didn't know if she should trust him again.

The fact that * could kidnap her in front of his girlfriend and friends on the Bicycle Planet showed that concepts like morality and emotion held little weight in his heart.

This time, he only asked her to kidnap him, offering no explanation whatsoever. Therefore, Ziye was unsure if he genuinely needed her help or if this was a trap set for her to walk into willingly.

Tang Wan pulled her hand and led her out. "Just tell me, are you going to kidnap him or not?"

Ziye said, "Of course not."

Tang Wan turned back with a grin. "Then that settles it!"

Ziye shrugged, abandoning the argument, and returned to the office. Doudouya was still tinkering with his earth-shattering, ghost-wailing battle station management system, and Douzai was asleep hugging his metal teething ring, occasionally blowing a bubble.

Xiao Hei had gone off to study with Ess, and Big Black Halle was seizing the opportunity to learn.

Ziye considered that if Halle studied space station engineering, it wouldn't be a bad thing.

f431 stepped forward. "A message from * has arrived, requesting a kidnapping."

Huh?

Halle looked up from the light screen.

Ziye rubbed her forehead. "Let me think about it."

Tang Wan stared at her. "Someone asked you to kidnap him? Is his brain broken?"

Ziye replied, "His brain isn't broken; it’s very sharp."

Tang Wan blurted out, "Then there must be a conspiracy."

Ziye said, "But I don't know what conspiracy he has, or if it has anything to do with the Legion."

Tang Wan cupped her chin. "That’s easy. If you want to know the conspiracy, go look! If it’s harmful to us, just kick them away. If it’s harmless, we can observe for a bit, and then get back to work."

Ziye shot her a sideways glance. "You make it sound too simple."

Tang Wan spread her hands. "It really is simple."

Ziye poked her forehead but said nothing. Tang Wan was pure of heart and naturally open-minded; she rarely got hung up on things, which was a good trait.

However, sitting around and thinking wouldn't yield any answers. Ziye decided to dial Lingyin’s ultra-comm instead.

If one were to consider who was most affected by *’s "betrayal," it would certainly be Lingyin.

After * abducted Ziye, Lingyin had been depressed for a long time. Although she recovered significantly later, she couldn't recapture the carefree and frank spirit she once had.

Lingyin was surprised to receive Ziye’s ultra-comm. "Are you doing alright lately?"

Ziye smiled. "Quite well. How about you? Have you contacted * at all?"

Lingyin shook her head with a wry smile. "No. I haven't contacted him in a long time, and I don't care anymore."

Ziye said, "But you aren't happy."

Lingyin's expression froze for a moment, then she admitted, "Well, it’s just that I haven't let go of the hurt he caused me."

Ziye said, "Let’s not talk about him then. Are you interested in developing with the Wolf’s Den Legion?"