Book 6, Chapter 2 - We've Been Spotted

Love Code at the End of the World

Our spacecraft exited the gorge, bringing us close to the ocean in between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. It was a familiar scene. We arrived at the severely polluted zone, and the worn-out warehouse nearby came into sight.

When the Ghost Eclipsers had scouted around here back then, they had caught He Lei and his people. It meant that He Lei’s village should be around here. 

“Ugh… sweetheart…”

“Call me Captain!” I said.

Uncle Mason and Sis Ceci exchanged a look and smiled. Both parties had gotten to know each other, and their hostility was diminishing. Now, they merely kept quiet and sat on opposite sides of the room.

Ah Zong’s seat happened to be right in the middle. He acted like a mediator for the formerly tense atmosphere.

“Alright, alright. Captain sweetheart.” Gehenna gave me a longer name as he continued, “I’ve always wanted to ask. What should I do about… Cough… the ones in the back cabin…” He stole a glance at me cautiously. “...the captives?” he asked, blinking.

“I suggest we kill them,” Vanish said grimly. The ruthlessness of a Ghost Eclipser was exposed. “They’ve seen the Captain. We can’t keep them alive.” Vanish had changed his stance quickly. Once, he had hated me to the bone; but now that we were cooperating, he made my safety a priority.

“Mm, it would be safer,” Nino agreed. He took a cigar from his waist bag.

Gehenna looked at everyone and nodded. “It’s done then."

“I haven’t agreed to this.” I looked at them grimly. Everyone looked at me in surprise, including Uncle Mason and Sis Ceci.

Ah Zong smiled at me flirtatiously. Zi Yi and Xiao Ye were waiting for orders in the spacecraft’s resting area. There weren’t that many people needed in the control room.

In the past, all the Ghost Eclipsers would be killed when they were captured. In contrast, if commoners were caught, they would either surrender or be killed. People in this world just kept killing and killing.

“This world needs to rebuild civilization, and that means it needs a legal system. We have to put them on trial. We can no longer kill blindly,” I said solemnly.

Gehenna and his men looked among themselves.

“Then… after the trial?” Blue Feather asked carefully.

“We will then decide if we will kill them, based on their crimes!” That was how the people of my world dealt with captives.

In war, the true sinners were a few ambitious men, but everyone in the world always paid the price.

“You still kill them, though!” Nathan chuckled. “It just sounds better.”

“However, it is a more civilized act!” Earl pushed up his glasses with his middle finger. He spoke solemnly and with determination. “Building new order and passing new laws marks an improvement to society. From today onward, we must transform from barbarians into civilized people.”

Earl was right. However, I knew nothing about the workings of a military tribunal, nor did I remember specifics about the laws on prisoners of war after World War II. Still, I believed that we could work hard together to rebuild the law!

“We can make laws together,” I said. Earl became emotional, Ah Zong was shocked, and Uncle Mason and Sis Ceci looked excited.

On the contrary, Gehenna and his men were smoking casually, picking their noses, and digging into their ears. Gehenna was even picking his teeth.

“I, I can join!” Earl was burning with emotion.

Vanish and the others looked at him curiously. “What’s there to be so emotional about?”

“You illiterate bunch!” Earl stood up and looked at them with scholarly disdain. “This is an important step in building a new order! This will be recorded in history! Do you understand?”

Yes, just like the first National Congress of the Communist Party of China, this would go down in history!

They were still dumbfounded.

Sigh. That’s why education is important!” Earl gave the others a pitying look.

“In simpler terms,” Ah Zong said, “If Luo Bing united the world and became the Queen, everyone on the spacecraft today would be a founder of the new government.”

“I understand now!” Nino almost jumped in excitement. “We would be the generals of the new world! Vanish! Your wife wouldn’t complain about you anymore!”

Vanish came back to reality and cheered. “I’m a good person now! I am a founder! I’m no longer a Ghost Eclipser! Blue Feather! Did you hear that?! We’re finally different from the man-eating rubbish!” Vanish hugged Blue Feather excitedly.

Blue Feather burst into tears of joy too. “We’re finally good people!”

Old Iron and Nathan were hugging as though the revolution had finally succeeded and they were engulfed in brightness. This bunch of drama queens was thinking too far ahead. In my world, they would be considered madmen. But Gehenna lay across his seat and dangled his legs off the armrest while continuing to pick his teeth. It seemed that he was used to the drama queens.

“I… I’m really going to be a founder?”

“Me too…”

Suddenly, I heard excited, soft voices behind me. I turned to look at Gru and Pelos. Their eyes were shimmering with tears too. They’d been infected by the drama queens! But they had been the ones most hostile towards them earlier!

It seemed that the topic of founding a nation had made the youngsters’ blood boil in anticipation, and they had placed their hatred aside. But I was only talking about laws to deal with captives. How did they go from there to founding a nation?!

Uncle Mason and Sis Ceci chuckled as they watched the others. The invisible ice walls dividing the cockpit broke apart thanks to the drama queens.

“My cute master, we have stowaways.” Ice Dragon suddenly appeared before us.

“Stowaways?!”

Ice Dragon smiled. As he lifted his hand, a screen appeared on the right and showed one of the cabins. Little Har, Little Bing and Little Raf were in the cabin! They were the stowaways! No, wait… there seemed to be people hiding behind their huge bodies.

“Angelina!” Pelos exclaimed.

As expected, as the image pulled closer, we saw Angelina and a few boys and girls hidden behind Little Har. They were all the youngsters who followed Pelos.

“I’m going to check on them!” Pelos immediately ran out of the control room.

“Master, besides stowaways, we have a visitor.” Ice Dragon looked at us with a smile. “Someone is trailing us from afar."

“What?”

“Enemy!” Gehenna immediately stood up. “Prepare for combat!” He roared. He was suddenly full of vigor. It was as though he had been falling asleep during politics class, but the PE teacher had come in to take over.

Everyone turned to look at Gehenna disdainfully. I shot him a side-eye. I am the captain now!

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