Chapter Forty-Nine: Her Majesty the Empress

Chapter Forty-Nine: Her Majesty the Empress

In the vastness of space, silence reigned as if the universe itself were submerged in still waters.

Two ships drifted side by side, motionless: a battleship and a cruiser.

"Ruyuan, open the hatch," Liu Shaoyu ordered, then manually activated the emergency docking mechanism. With a forceful pull, the battleship's hatch opened to the mechanical whir of its gears.

Behind him stood, of course, the monkey in yellow armor and… that mysterious woman.

As the hatch slid aside, the first thing they saw was Long Ruyuan's face, twisted into a peculiar expression. When his gaze landed on the woman standing behind them, the strange look in his eyes betrayed a momentary shudder—her presence alone made his heart race with unease.

"This woman is no ordinary person," Long Ruyuan thought. Yet, that unsettling aura vanished almost instantly, replaced by a look of pitiful vulnerability. She seemed no different from a young woman who had just endured some ordeal—her body still trembling faintly.

"Prepare for genetic sampling. Let's confirm her identity," Liu Shaoyu said as he stepped through the docking bay into the battleship.

"Identification will take about thirty minutes," Thomas replied. Liu nodded softly.

It seemed their journey would be delayed by this unexpected encounter. Nevertheless, after the two had returned to their ship, the battleship's engines roared to life at the stern, propelling them away into the void.

Liu Shaoyu had no intention of waiting around to explain himself to the system's patrol fleet; delays could spell disaster.

In one of the battleship's rooms, the woman—her biological sample freshly taken—sat quietly. She wore clothing borrowed from Long Ruyuan, which hung loose on her frame.

Perhaps because she felt rescued, or maybe simply due to the ship’s comfortable temperature, her shivering had subsided. Her wide eyes now took in every detail of her surroundings with alert curiosity.

All of this was watched closely from the command room by the three men. Both Long Ruyuan and the monkey frowned slightly, as if pondering the same concern.

"You sense it too?" Liu Shaoyu asked, noticing their expressions. He himself felt something was off.

"Yes… She seems a bit…" the monkey began.

"Too calm," Long Ruyuan finished for him.

"Are any other identities registered among the ship's crew?" Liu Shaoyu asked Thomas.

Originally, he would have gone to the command center to check for himself, but Thomas had told him that entering a battleship's command room once emergency protocol had been engaged would take at least a day. And since it was already confirmed the woman was the only survivor, Liu Shaoyu, pressed for time, chose not to waste another day opening a hatch.

After all, Xin Qingyi was still stranded in the desolate starfield; a single day's delay could lead to unforeseen consequences.

This woman was undeniably mysterious, but Liu Shaoyu decided to wait for the identity results. If she turned out to be from Earth, he would send her to the Earth Federation’s embassy. If not… she would be given an escape pod at the nearest stargate and left to her own fate.

"The results are in," Thomas announced.

"And?" Liu Shaoyu asked.

"No record within the Federation."

"As I thought," Liu Shaoyu muttered inwardly. Not from Earth—so an escape pod it would be. He was about to leave when Thomas spoke again.

"However, when I uploaded the data, I ran a few supplementary tests. The results are… intriguing."

"What kind of tests?"

"Her physiology."

"Her physiology? Intriguing?"

"Yes, because—"

But before Thomas could finish, two sharp cries of pain pierced the air. Liu Shaoyu, turning back, felt a stabbing pain in his skull.

"Damn!" Thomas cursed, immediately activating the internal shields. Three sets of armor, stored in cases, shot toward the trio.

Long Ruyuan and the monkey were already on the floor, clutching their heads in agony. Liu Shaoyu fared no better, hands pressed to his temples.

Once the armor was secured, a pale blue energy shimmered around them, and the pain abruptly ceased.

"What the hell was that?!" the monkey shouted, already cursing as he recovered.

Long Ruyuan and Liu Shaoyu, however, seemed to have grasped something critical.

"Thomas! Where's the woman?!" Liu Shaoyu demanded.

"Uh… she's—"

"I'm right here," came a woman’s voice, cold and edged with malice. Liu Shaoyu turned toward the sound. The mysterious woman now stood at the hatchway, having appeared as if from nowhere.

"Damn!" the monkey roared, charging at her in his yellow armor.

Sensing the assault, the woman’s body gleamed with blue-violet light just as the monkey’s fist was about to connect. In a blink, he was hurled back to where he had started—literally returned to his point of origin.

Witnessing this, Liu Shaoyu and Long Ruyuan instantly readied for combat.

A wicked smile curled on the woman’s lips.

"My, my, such fiery young men. Can’t sit still when they see a woman, can they?" she teased, covering her mouth with a hand—a gesture strikingly elegant.

There was no doubt left: the sudden, stabbing pain had come from her. The monkey who attacked first seemed to lose consciousness after being repelled; ordinarily, such an impact would not have fazed him.

But Liu Shaoyu, whose physique was anything but ordinary, had noticed something peculiar: at the very instant the monkey's armor made contact, the woman swiftly ran her hand over the suit—so fast it was almost invisible.

"Who are you?" Liu Shaoyu asked, his eyes glinting coldly behind his helmet.

The woman seemed not to hear, instead strolling to a nearby seat, half-reclining with one leg crossed, her smile never fading—a hint of seductive charm in her every movement.

"Me?" She considered his question, a look of faint confusion crossing her face before she spoke, slowly. "You might say… we’ve met before."

She turned her gaze directly on Liu Shaoyu.

He was confounded. "Met before? When? I don’t recall ever encountering someone like you…" Wait! Liu Shaoyu’s mind jolted—this method of attack, her appearance… Had he seen her somewhere before?

"Remember now, handsome human?" Her slender fingers traced her cheek, the seductive smile deepening.

Long Ruyuan was utterly baffled. What was going on? Was she an old flame of Liu Shaoyu’s? That didn’t seem right—he had no record of anything like this.

But Liu Shaoyu already knew who she was. It seemed impossible, yet…

"I wonder, Your Imperial Majesty Ekaterina Alexeyevna, how did you come to be captured by a gang of pirates?" With those words, Long Ruyuan’s pupils shrank in shock, while the woman simply smiled.

That smile confirmed Liu Shaoyu’s suspicions.

The name was too shocking to belong to anyone else. It represented, without doubt, the woman standing before them—none other than the Empress of the very swarm they had just battled.

Her Imperial Majesty, the Swarm Empress.