Chapter 723: Duty-Bound to Rescue (2/2)

Zeus-1 shot through space like a comet. He set the ship on cruise control and shut his eyes. He needed to gather his thoughts. He didn’t want to die, but the only way to bring he and the Pharmacist back in one piece was to have a plan.

Her goal was to find her husband, or exact vengeance for his murder. That meant that she was searching for the alien planets, specifically Monarch. If the Violet Prince was to be believed that was the one that had kill him all those years ago. Ultus was there.

If Lan Jue wanted to stop her, his best shot was somewhere around Monarch. That meant that evading aliens along the way was paramount. Zeus-1 could cloak and Lan Jue had some psionic skill, though nothing like Lin Guoguo.

His ship was small and he didn’t have the Photographer of Wine Master here to make a quick getaway. If he was discovered he only recourse was to kill or run. That was a real problem.

Strong as he was, there were limits to the number of creatures he could handle himself.

Oh, but wait. He wasn’t alone. He’d hesitated to bring her but in the end Qianlin had remained safely tucked away in his spirit. He’d made her a promise that no matter what they would stay together.

Zeus-1 had undergone many upgrades over the last couple of years, and that showed itself in its speed. There likely was no other ship in its class that could catch it. Lan Jue hoped that would be enough to stop the Pharmacist. It wasn’t easy to make it to the Starfields from Luo. Getting a ship was one thing, but then she had to navigate the infamously difficult Starfields by herself. Even if she found a safe route it wasn’t certain she’d find the planets.

It was actually farther to the planets’ last known location from Luo than it was from Skyfire. Once she was in the Starfields her progress would also be considerably slowed. Only Xiaosu could navigate the broken currents of asteroids with speed and dexterity.

Space travel was a lengthy process, and therein lay his chances to catch up with the Pharmacist.

Xiaosu wasn’t piloting Zeus-1 this time. However, several trips and a state-of-the-art onboard computer was enough for Lan Jue to manage, he was confident. A couple days of travel later, he’d arrived.

As he plunged into the Stafields Lan Jue engaged the ship’s cloak. He wasn’t reckless, he tried to remain under the enemy’s radar. No one knew what the planets were like now, or what they were up to. But just the fact they were there meant the Starfields was a place fraught with dangers.

Things seemed unsettlingly still, even more than his last visit. It was probably because all life had been stolen from this sector. The swath he traveled was vast, who knew how much the enemy had gained from their systematic sweep.

Hua Li was probably right in his analysis, even the aliens were limited in how far they could evolve. They strove to break free of the restraints imposed by universal protogenia, but it was not so easy.

Once more Lan Jue was faced with just how little humanity understood about their foe.

He was on yet another scouting mission, Lan Jue mused helplessly, though this one was not his choice. This visit was far more dangerous since his target was the strongest known enemy they faced.

Keep it slow, sis. You need to give me a chance to catch up.

Lan Jue didn’t drive Zeus-1 directly to Monarch’s location – he wasn’t that foolish. If he did he was far more likely to run into patrols first. Then he’d be forced to face them, possibly a lot of them.

After discovering the aliens’ ability to psionically locate their targets, Skyfire Avenue dedicated a lot of energy toward learning more. The Keeper had designed something called a Psionic Generator which, after some testing, was able to perform at roughly one-third the capabilities of Lin Guoguo. Of course it didn’t have anywhere near the flexibility of the Psychic Tide, meaning it could only emulate a few kinds of enemy pulses. Hardly stellar, but at least it held some use. At least it extended Zeus-1’s safety net. Still Zeus-1 was small and the technology was knew. It was hard to say how effective it would be in practice. Yet, Lan Jue had no choice but to rely on it.

Lan Jue’s first destination was the small base they’d built for Zeus-1. It was the best place for him to launch his search. Lan Jue knew from the beginning that approaching the planets in Zeus-1 was impossible. The only way he could get close was by himself.

But going solo with limited equipment also had its advantages. He was a small target.

Star Division’s former basecamp was still there, the same as it had always been. Lan Jue coaxed his ship into the hidden valleys on the small planet’s surface, then gathered some supplies and set out on his own.