Chapter 78: I’ve been ordered to pick you up.

“Little brother, Alliance coins are 50% here. I do business with those who are fair and square, so I’ll talk to you first.” Inside the Raj Transit Space Station, the ticket owner was frothing at the mouth, as he bargained with a teenager wearing a duck-tongued cap.

The boy was small-boned, narrow-shouldered, with a kind of teenager’s characteristic thinness, and  looked at most 18 or 19 years old; still a half-grown boy. Although his face was mostly covered, so they couldn’t see his features, they could see the tender skin. He took out Alliance coins that looked brand-new, so he was most likely a young master who had snuck away. The boss decided to rip him off.

However, as soon as the young man opened his mouth, he spoke with a tone that could not be denied, and a forcefulness that didn’t match his looks. “16% off. Not a penny more, or I’ll find someone else.”

I didn’t expect this person to know the market! The boss was surprised, “Are you a local? You don’t look like one.”

The young man didn’t talk to him, just put the money on the deplorable broken counter, while he deliberately revealed the short dagger in his sleeve. The boss had mixed in this place for many years. One look at it and he understood that this was a tough guy. Immediately, he didn’t dare to talk more, just nimbly handed over the ship ticket.

It was the third day since he left the main planet. Ping Mo put the ticket away, and paced slowly out of the store before he answered in a soft voice, “I guess I’m a local.”

It had been twenty years since he had been back. The last time he left this place, he was only six years old, and when his mother died, Ping Mo didn’t know where he had gotten the courage to climb into a smuggling ship when no one was looking.

I still feel scared when I think about it now, but it’s a good thing that the ship was smuggling arms, not children. Maybe because he was affected by the explosion and his whole body was wounded and infected, the smugglers thought he was bad luck and threw him out when they arrived at the destination.

“Is Little Brother, alone?” A woman cheekily accosted him, and interrupted Ping Mo’s thoughts.

It turned out that he had unknowingly entered the red light district. This space station belonged to the lower end of its kind. The energy tower energy was in perennial shortage, and there was no one to maintain the cycle running device. That meant all twenty-four hours were dim, similar to the natural twilight of the main planet. If it weren’t for the clock’s time, it was impossible to distinguish whether it was day or night.

The red light district was brightly lit. People were bustling around, and men and women were mostly dressed in revealing clothes. There were omegas and betas, along with the smell of pheromones and poor quality perfume blended together. It was pungent but familiar, and sent Ping Mo into a trance.

“Why ignore me? Little Brother, don’t be shy.” The woman was caught off guard, and lifted his duck tongue cap.

Ping Mo, “!!!”

The woman wasn’t expecting to be attacked.

Lightning quick, Ping Mo put the hat back on, but the woman still saw his face. Her mouth was open into an O, until Ping Mo walked away. Only afterwards did she call out, “If you patronize me, I will give it to you for free, ah!”

The ‘handsome boy’ ignored her, and walked on with a black face. He entered a bar with familiar ease. The layout of the place was still the same as he remembered, with no changes after twenty years. Ping Mo didn’t know if the boss’s wife was still there.

The path that Slingshot explained to him at the time was correct so far, and that path wasn’t one that was afraid of people spreading the word. Because it wasn’t a path in the physical sense, but a network of relationships formed between people without specific coordinates. Therefore it wasn’t suitable for large-scale military raids, but more suitable for smugglers acting alone.

Each step of that network required trust, and tested both acting skills and guts, however the most difficult was the last stop. Without an insider to meet with, there was no way to know the exact location of White Hole. This step was the most difficult for others, but the easiest for Ping Mo. The prince who insisted on sending him gilt roses, had made it clear that he wanted to see him.

As long as he was willing to show up, he would have a chance to enter the White Hole base camp, which was one of the reasons why this mission had to be his. Ping Mo went around the bar and found that the boss’s wife had indeed changed. He wasn’t really disappointed, which was to be expected, but it was always more of a hassle to deal with strangers.

Instructor Ping was planning to buy a drink here and try his luck when he felt someone rush in, as they screamed for help and grabbed him.

Ping Mo’s first reaction was to protect his wallet.

Soon after she hid behind Ping Mo, a couple of straggly alpha men came in, cursing for a refund and indiscriminately warning Ping Mo to mind his own business. Instructor Ping had business to attend to, therefore he didn’t want to cause any trouble. He stood up and dodged.

But at the same time, he saw the woman’s appearance. Coincidentally, it was the same one who had just lifted Instructor Ping’s hat.

The woman saw Ping Mo recognize her, and also wasn’t not surprised, just scurried all over the bar, where there were many people for cover, and while she ran she also spit out loud curses. What female relatives she asked once, in a machine gun-like burst, that half the time she didn’t repeat a swear word was also a talent.

This was not the main planet. There were no police or law. Fights and brawls were commonplace, not to mention the pursuit of cursing, if the cursing was interesting, they could still watch a child. When the woman finished cursing, the other end of the bar was full of customers who were also very interested.

The woman immediately changed her expression, faster than a book, and no longer cursed, only softly begged for mercy. However the alphas didn’t swallow that line, and slapped her over. Half of the woman’s face was swollen, and there were actually guests who were urging them on, and wanted them to ‘do her’ on the spot.

Seeing those alphas actually wanting to strip her clothes off, Ping Mo finally put his foot down.

The woman hadn’t expected anyone to help her, and she thought she wouldn’t escape today. Suddenly she saw a black shadow with a cold light flash by. Really just a shadow! As the speed was too fast, she was completely unable to see what happened. She just heard a few screams, then there seemed to be blood bursting out, as she was pulled up.

The woman was also smart enough to get up, and then follow him to run. She didn’t know how long they ran, before they finally left behind the chasing alphas. She just covered her ribs, gasped for breath, and said, “Thank you, ah, little handsome. My name is Xiao Hong. Those people just now were dogs. Just because I am a beta, I sprayed a little Strong Omega
Forest, so they said I am a fraud and they found me to settle accounts. Are pheromones really that important? Didn’t they all have a good time?”

Ping Mo didn’t have the heart to listen to her grudge, but he couldn’t have just watched as the woman was bullied. He pressed the brim of his hat down and said coolly, “Now that it’s okay, you can go.”

Xiao Hong pulled on him, and with a suggestive sentence said, “I don’t forget the gift of saving my life. You can ask for any repayment.”

Ping Mo heard the words and suddenly paused, “Do anything?” This was also a new thought.

Xiao Hong met his beautiful gray-blue eyes, and her heart missed a beat again. She said shyly, “Do anything.”

She heard the pretty boy with gray-blue eyes say seriously, “Then go and ask about one thing for me.”

Xiao Hong, “?”

Xiao Hong looked at her rescuer. The other side had a pure face, as he explained “I’m not familiar with this place, so it’s inconvenient to ask for information.”

“…” Xiao Hong gritted her teeth, and agreed in frustration. “Ah, okay. Right.”

After just three days, Colonel Situ was so worried that the top of his head was going bald. His young subordinate, who was particularly strong in military ability and also particularly fierce, had almost turned the fifth extra-territorial station upside down.

Right now, Pei Yutu was still sitting in his office. Captain Pei Yutu was 1.9 meters tall and had an aura of at least 2.8 meters. He was like the god of doors into Colonel Situ’s office. A rock no one dared to come in to disturb. The last two days this had resulted in, for Situ Li, no business had been done.

Colonel Situ felt that his blood pressure was also steadily rising, as he drank down a mouthful of tea, “Asking me won’t help anything. I don’t know where your partner went. I’m just following orders.”

“Oh? Then tell me whose orders are you following? I’m going to find him!”

Situ Li slapped the table, “Is this the way to talk to an officer?! Look at you! What do you look like? One omega ran away, you have become a man looking for death. Do you still look like a soldier? If she left you without a word, it means she doesn’t have you in her heart. Don’t you understand such a simple truth?”

“I know.” Pei Yutu suddenly interjected in a low voice. Because of the low volume, the tone seemed almost hoarse. He also had two heavy dark circles under his eyes, and because he hadn’t taken care of himself for a few days, stubble emerged. He’d also lost weight, and looked extra haggard. Situ Li suddenly couldn’t bear to say anything, and let out a long sigh.

Pei Yutu’s hoarse voice continued, “I know he never had me in his heart, it has always been my wishful thinking. Even if we have done everything, he is still not willing to promise me to be together. What am I to him? I’m only there to relieve his bonding heat as a living inhibitor.”

Colonel Situ listened to him, dumbfounded. There were such rigid omegas?

He saw his favorite captain with such a lost look, heartbroken look. He knew his soldiers best. Pei Yutu had been shot through the waist and belly without even frowning. He knew him for so many years, and had never seen him shed a tear, but now, Pei Yutu’s eyes were red.

A fierce man in tears, its shock effect doubled.

“I just want to find him and ask why. No, I just want to look at him from afar. As long as I make sure he’s okay, I’m satisfied. It’s okay for him to abandon me, but I’m afraid something will happen to him.”

“Xiao Pei. To be honest, I really didn’t think that someone with  a nature like yours would have a day when you were caught up in love. You are really eaten up by him.”

“Colonel, I won’t mess around, just want to know what General Dai has told you.”

“!!!” Situ Li, “How did you know?”

Pei Yutu’s bloodshot eyes shone brightly, “It’s him!”

Situ Li, “…”

Pei Yutu abruptly got up, “click.” locked the office door, smoothly lifted the circuit switch box, disconnected the communication network, then turned around and pressed the hands of his top boss. This series of actions was all done in a single breath. Colonel Situ didn’t react in the face of his soldier’s restraint, he just gave out an angry laugh, “Your movements have quite improved. That trip to the military school actually was not wasted.”

Captain Pei smiled modestly. “The one who is showing me the way wasn’t me. I learned from my partner.” Ping Mo was the student of Lu Feng, the first man to master single combat, and he had the potential to become a master of his craft.

Situ Li hadn’t expected that at this point in time, Pei Yutu would still give him a mouthful of dog food, and the veins in his temple jumped as he hummed, “Broken wires are useless. You think I don’t know how to shout?”

Although Pei Yutu’s face was haggard, he said calmly, “Don’t forget, I’ve been tossing and turning for three days. So many people have been scolded and suffered, who else even dares come near your office?”

“You! You…You’re using me!”

Pei Yutu, “Colonel, when I find my wife, I’ll come back and apologize to you. Now, tell me everything you know. Even if he doesn’t have me in his heart, there’s no reason to leave without saying goodbye, I have to catch him and ask him clearly face to face!”

After another day, Ping Mo got off the ship and found a public signal transmitter according to the path that Xiao Hong had found. These signal transmitters worked on much the same principle as ordinary communicators and terminals, but they worked on a more primitive method, which was coordinates.

The receiver of the signal transmitter could filter out non-authenticated coordinates, that meant, this was one of the signal transmitters that could directly contact White Hole, but it was one-way only. It could transmit, but not receive. There was no way to determine the other party’s specific coordinates, only to wait for the other party to give a response.

With the popularity of long-range communication across space stations, few people now used the public signal transmitter, so there was basically no one else here except Ping Mo. Whether or not he could contact them, Ping Mo took a deep breath and took out the code he had prepared, ready to enter it, when he heard a familiar voice.

“Instructor Ping really lives up to his name. You found it so quickly,” Slingshot came out with a smile and bowed respectfully to Ping Mo. “I’ve been ordered to pick you up.”