Chapter Fifty: How About You Strip Me Down Again?

Chapter 50: How About You Strip Me Again?

The atmosphere was thick with awkwardness. At that moment, Liu Shaoyu had already clenched his fists, while Long Ruyuan was still processing this avalanche of information.

“Haha, what a remarkable memory you have, little human. You even remember such a long name,” the woman’s seductive laughter confirmed Liu Shaoyu’s suspicions.

The reason Liu Shaoyu mentioned being captured by pirates was that, just as he found this woman familiar, casualty data from the spaceship had already appeared on his holographic screen. The warship was registered on the official bounty group website as a pirate vessel, and the genetic scans of the deceased matched known pirate crew.

As for this woman, Liu Shaoyu had found her likeness among the records salvaged from the ruins—a representation of the Queen of the Fengta Hive in human form. The reason he hadn’t recognized her before was that the image in the data differed subtly from how she appeared now. Only when she deployed her shield and attacked did Liu Shaoyu become certain: the energy, unleashed without any mechanical aid, was a psychic assault characteristic of the Fengta insectoids.

“Thank you for the compliment, but could you answer my question, Your Majesty?” Liu Shaoyu pressed on.

He already knew the pirates’ cause of death; it seemed clear they’d fallen to the queen’s hand. But why had she been locked up? Moreover, her recent attack hadn’t been at the level one would expect of a queen.

The reason the attack hadn’t killed them as it had the pirates, Liu Shaoyu surmised, must be because—for some reason—the queen couldn’t repeat that terrifying assault. Her next words seemed to confirm his guess.

“Oh my, must you keep asking me such questions? I’m just… a little tired, is all. So I found a place to rest,” the Fengta Queen said, patting her forehead with a hint of exasperation.

Liu Shaoyu almost wanted to laugh. Tired? Who would believe that? It was obvious she’d been captured! But now was not the time to get hung up on such details. Liu Shaoyu reasoned that if she’d wanted to kill them, it would have been effortless. Yet, judging by her present condition, she either couldn’t kill them, or simply disdained to do so. Still, the pirates’ bizarre deaths left him uneasy.

The woman before him was simply too mysterious—and too dangerous.

“Oh, look at you two, so tense. I can’t kill you. That young man scared me half to death when he lunged at me, so I just let him rest for a bit. As for you, go wherever you need to go. Don’t mind me, I’ll just rest here for a while,” the Fengta Queen said, seeing the two men looked ready to fight at any moment. With that, she started fussing with her nails.

Relieved to hear Monkey was unharmed, Liu Shaoyu relaxed a little. Go wherever we need to go? Who could possibly feel at ease leaving her here? And if he remembered right, they weren’t just strangers—they were enemies!

Seeing that they still regarded her with caution, the queen stopped toying with her nails and cupped her face in her hands. After a moment’s thought, she said, “Since you’re so worried, how about this: I’ll make a sacrifice. You can strip me bare like those pirates did, toss me in a room, and then be on your way.” As she finished, she actually began to unbutton her clothes, as if she truly meant it.

Good heavens. Now Liu Shaoyu and Long Ruyuan were even more bewildered.

“Stop, stop, stop!” Liu Shaoyu hastily intervened, just as the queen’s fingers were working the third button at her chest.

As soon as he spoke, he regretted it. He should have waited at least until she was done.

“Ruyuan, help Monkey back to his room,” he said, sitting down himself before continuing, “All right, what is it you really want?”

Liu Shaoyu sensed that the Fengta Queen genuinely had no intention of fighting. So he decided to have a calm conversation with her. Still, the thought of stripping her and tossing her in a room… the fate of the pirates on this ship was a stark warning.

Come to think of it… why did those pirates strip her in the first place? Was it because… Even if she looked human now, after all, she was still an insectoid… The thought sent a shiver down Liu Shaoyu’s spine.

At that moment, the queen spoke again. “Really, it’s nothing. Just… you know, I’m just a frail little woman—and so beautiful, too. You went to war with me, and now I can’t even go home. I figured I’d hide out in the Wastelands, but as soon as I boarded a ship, everyone died. And then I ran into some old acquaintances, so I thought I’d hitch a ride,” she said with feigned innocence, deliberately adjusting her collar, now two buttons undone.

Liu Shaoyu felt a chill run through him. With her looking like this, if anyone told him she was the insectoid queen, he’d be at odds with them. This wasn’t a queen—she was an insectoid hooligan! Old acquaintance? They were enemies! She “hitched a ride”? She’d been captured—and killed everyone! “Frail little woman”? Who was the frail one here? Monkey was still lying unconscious! And so beautiful… Well, she did look rather beautiful, especially at the neckline…

“Ahem. So you’re saying you want to go to the Wastelands?” Liu Shaoyu cleared his throat, not sure what he was trying to conceal. But he had caught the key point: she wanted to go to the Wastelands.

“That’s right!” the queen replied, nodding innocently.

Her expression was genuinely childlike—and indeed, she wasn’t even wearing shoes.

With this answer, Liu Shaoyu began plotting. This woman was extremely dangerous—that much was certain. The best outcome would be to fool her and then part ways. If only she was that easily fooled.

“So, uh…” Liu Shaoyu, having set his bottom line, began the negotiation, “It’s just, our ship isn’t particularly advanced. If we run into pirates or something, how could we protect you? Especially since you’re so beautiful…”

“Not getting off,” the queen replied, shaking her head like a drum.

…She was completely impervious to persuasion. Liu Shaoyu was exasperated. He knew she was the insectoid queen, but with her sitting there looking like a woman—especially a beautiful one—he was at a complete loss.

Twenty minutes later, the ship emerged at the stargate of the Angelica System…

It was obvious who had won this smoke-free battle: the queen.

Monkey had woken up by now. The moment he opened his eyes, he saw the queen looking straight at him—and nearly fainted again. When Long Ruyuan learned that not only was she staying on the ship, she was coming with them to the Wastelands, he felt as if his entire life had been plunged into darkness.

“You, young man, bring me a glass of water,” said Kate, still playing with her nails as she lounged in her chair.

Ah, yes—Her Excellency Yekaterina Alexei Yevna, the queen, had graciously told Liu Shaoyu he could call her Kate, her new human name.

“Hey, Monkey, bring me something to eat.”

“You, fetch another glass of water.”

“You, come give me a backrub.”

“Monkey, come massage my legs.”

Monkey swore to himself—he’d steer clear of insects for the rest of his days.

Without a doubt, his life was plunged into endless darkness on the road to the Wastelands. As for Liu Shaoyu and Long Ruyuan, their solution was simple:

Pretend not to see a thing.

Six days later, a spaceship appeared out of nowhere on the outskirts of the Wastelands, in the Zambiago star system.

Here, Liu Shaoyu and the others would make some repairs, then land on Zambiago III.

This planet was the rallying point for all forces on the edges of the Wastelands. Its surface area was about five times that of Earth, with a similar ecological environment—truly the only habitable world on the rim of the Wastelands.

Stepping out of the airlock, Liu Shaoyu gazed at the blue sun shining in the sky and breathed a silent sigh: “Qingyi, I’m here.”

A word to the readers:

Dear friends, your attention please! I’m asking for recommendations! For every twenty votes, I’ll post an extra chapter—promise kept! Go ahead, bury me in votes!

I’m asking for your support! I don’t know how many readers on 3G are into science fiction… I hope everyone will comment and share your thoughts! Please recommend and bookmark!