Red O’ Beard

Wondering what material this ship was built out of, Ye Chong was facing difficulty cutting through, even with a powerful laser sword. Droplets of sweat formed on his forehead, reflecting the glaring light coming from the laser sword. It was quite striking in the darkness of space. He would be in trouble if he didn’t make it fast! People would notice him soon enough!

The other hand of his was gripping the alloy rope attached to the trochal disc of Sand Scorpio to stay still in the weightlessness of space. He hoped that the suction would be strong enough to hold him up and not drop him out of a sudden!

The laser sword was gradually making progress as it started to sink into the bottom of the ship. Man this armor is sure thick! The sword’s entire blade had already been engulfed by the ship’s body but there was yet a breakthrough. There was no other choice. Ye Chong had to dig a way in. He plucked out the armor piece by piece. This is tiring with a laser sword. It would be certainly lovely if I have a laser shovel or something instead… He didn’t forget to crack a joke to lighten the atmosphere at that moment, just to relax his tightened nerves since he started to notice his muscles were stiffening due to nervousness.

Back when he was at Trash Planet-12, whenever he was in such a dead-or-alive situation, cracking jokes was the method to bring him good luck!

He starkly looked like the nanobot working in space stations. And they were used for slavery.

Zing! The laser sword felt nimbler out of a sudden. Great! Ye Chong cheered. We finally got through! He carefully sliced an opening big enough to fit a man and kept the Sand Scorpio back in the alternate dimension, thanking it for its tremendous fulfilment in its role.

He weaved into the pirate ship with much caution. Right as he was in the ship, he felt weight and staggered, nearly losing grasp of his sword. He just realized that he had already entered the gravitational field of the ship.

Illuminated by the light of the laser sword, Ye Chong looked around attentively.

…

At the main control room, Mr. One-eye had a cigar in his mouth and cozily melted into the fluffy commander seat, with serenity in his eyes. His willowy strategist held hands with devotion as he stood behind his leader.

“These twerps sure know something!” Mr. One-eye chuckled, “They knew how to fight! Psh, this rowdy fella was really fierce. Hah! It was not strange for him to be one of my arsenals! But the fat lamb runnin’ this time was a bit tough to deal with. Too bad he ran into us! Hehehe! We’re makin’ some fortune this time…” He coveted the gigantic vessels, with countless jewelries of gold and diamond that flew in his eyes.

The slender strategist nodded obediently. He deeply understood the situation as his sunken face usually pale had been drunkenly red by then, obviously being overjoyed from hunting down this rare fat lamb. Such an unexpected loot! Coming out of nowhere! Surely even a menacing guy like him would be blinded by joy too.

Though blinded by joy, he still remembered to butter up his master, “This is all because of your superior leadership, Mr. One-eye. The loot is more than enough for us to live like a king for the next few months! But, great leader, there has been rumors coming from the Black Cove, talking about how every item was strangely out of stock recently. We even have the word of the elderly there, saying they would pay handsomely for any stock sent. Not only handsomely in money but also handsomely in Black Cove points! Well, I have a suggestion, Mr. One-eye. Are we sending these stocks on the vessel right to the elderly? So that we would not lose out much while earning these decent Black Cove points which could be put into good use for us?”

Black Cove was sending chills down Mr. One-eye’s spine upon hearing it as he shuddered. The fear didn’t last till the phrase Black Cove points was mentioned. His single eye lustered.

Black Cove was a mysterious place, the absolute center of shadowy figures. It was also a paradise for consumerism, with the hottest chick, the smoothest wine, the brightest costume, the kindest service, the best mech – sexual, mellow, thoughtful, gorgeous and advanced… Anything of any adjective, as long as you could think of, you could own them all. Even those you couldn’t think of would exist in Black Cove, like the beast you had not seen before, literally everything that would be an eye-opener to you would be in Black Cove.

Currencies of the 5 major galaxies were all useable in this area, but only for services in the outskirts. If you would want to contact … and of course you would want to, the darkest, the most mysterious, the deepest of Black Cove, namely the inner area, the core, you would need currency of an exclusive kind by Black Cove – the Black Cove points, which could not be obtained under normal circumstances like exchanging them with currency from the major galaxies, unless anyone in possession of the points was willing to exchange them for your galaxy bucks. In the market, those points were already sought after by desperate buyers with astronomical offers, yet no one in actual possession was happy enough to trade them off.

To a space pirate like Mr. One-eye, every single point was worth more than anything.

Every once in awhile, the elderly at Black Cove would announce a series of request, in exchange for Black Cove points if any of those quests were accomplished accordingly. In addition, all the workers serving in the core of Black Cove would be paid points too, as their salary or wages. The catch that turned people off was, be it a sincere request from the elderly or a job in the inner area, they were never easy to begin with.

The requests from the elderly were of extremely difficult, where even a real extraordinary man of authority like Mr. One-eye with an army of followers could only helplessly stare at such requests. If you managed to squeeze into the core of Black Cove to work, congratulations! That means your expertise is of brilliant mastery. As long as your standard is high enough, even though you are a problematic figure for instance, it would not hinder your admission to work in the core because your strength determines everything in the core.

But well, there was still one more way to get Black Cove points. It was quite a strange way too – to provide precious information in exchange. There would be experts to rate your info and pay you with those points accordingly.

“Are you sure about the rumors, Willow?” Mr. One-eye quickly asked.

Willow replied respectfully, “Yes sir, I heard it from Mr. Jackson. Along the way I also have discerned it from whispers of some of the people!”

“Jackson!” Mr. One-eye muttered. He moaned as he thought. Jackson was one-of-a-kind among the space pirates, different from the Red Owl Beard who came in crowds, he was the lone wolf hunting in space. He might be alone, but none of the crew dared to look down on him. Nobody ever was brave enough to steal his loot. Somehow, there was a reason but it was unspeakable for everybody. They couldn’t explain why they feared to steal his loot, it just happened, as if an unwritten rule among the crew.

“If it was from Jackson, chances are it is real!” Mr. One-eye exclaimed, “But ya know, it takes far to travel to the Black Cove, we the Red Owls carryin’ such a huge vessel, it is not strange there could be anybody in the way, wanting to steal our gold!”

“But, sir, this is a golden opportunity to get your points!” Strategist Willow advised, “I think, this is a risk worthy to be taken! Also, even if there is anyone who is daring enough to stand in the way, we are not angels to spare gifts, especially under your supreme leadership, they would not simply offend you, Mr. One-eye! If we all make it this time, those people in our way would be running away the next time they see us! Of course it all depends on your wisdom, great leader of the Red Owls!”

The great leader of the Red Owls made up his mind, “Right! You’re right! How could I let go of a treasure chest like this? It is surely worthy of some risk! Those Black Cove points were what I dreamed of! We’re just short of a few points to get us a new boat. Hehehe, imagine the world if I got a new craft to thrash with!”

“Oh,how wise our leader!” Willow praised along.

“Hahahaha!” Mr. One-eye patted his shoulder, “Don’t worry! I’ll share ya’ll some coins once I have the entire chest! Hahahahahaha!”

Willow’s face blossomed with excitement, bowing and nodding his head in wholehearted loyalty.

While they were so indulged in their glorious future in wealth, they never noticed a shadow that flashed by the hologram.