Ambushed

Before the words "affiliation chip" could even leave his mouth, Deputy Li suddenly widened his eyes, opened his mouth wide, and then his body quickly dissolved, disappearing in an instant...

Yuanxi was dumbfounded. What... what just happened? How did... how did he die?

He had only said a few words, no, he didn't even finish his sentence, and yet someone died. His words had such power? How could he have lived for twenty-four whole years without knowing this?

The blond young man, equally dumbfounded, seemed to understand more than Yuanxi. His body trembled in fear, clearly frightened by what had just happened.

Yuanxi quickly snapped out of his shock, realizing that something bad had happened. He discreetly put away the "remote control" that had fallen beside him.

Just as this thought flashed through his mind, a shadow passed by, and two figures appeared in the car. They sat in the driver's seat at the back, and the back of the heads of the blond young man and Yuanxi were immediately pressed against something hard.

What it was, was self-evident.

Yuanxi dared not look back. He only heard a sharp voice behind him say, "Drive!"

At this moment, the blond young man was truly scared. His body trembled uncontrollably, and he couldn't even start the car.

Yuanxi was anxious, but he couldn't make a sound, fearing that the two criminals would silence him directly. The psychological resilience of the blond young man was clearly lacking. Trembling and fumbling for a while, he still couldn't get the car started.

The criminal behind him grew impatient. "If you don't want to die, move quickly!"

Once these words were spoken, the blond young man couldn't hold it in any longer. Yuanxi knew it was bad. The criminal had run out of patience, and Yuanxi watched in horror as the blond young man's face dissolved right in front of his eyes.

The close proximity made Yuanxi feel nauseous, but he had endured many hardships in his life, and his nerves were much stronger than the average person's. He managed to keep himself calm.

With the driver dead, someone had to drive. The criminals pointed their weapons at Yuanxi and said sternly, "You drive."

In his mind, Yuanxi cursed silently. Drive? I don't know how to drive anything other than a bicycle! But he couldn't show it now. If he didn't act quickly and start driving, he would be putting his life in their hands.

Yuanxi hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly sat in the driver's seat. Damn it, I've never driven a car, let alone a flying one. I'm really lucky.

Yuanxi looked down at the control panel. Fortunately, it was the future society, and these high-tech gadgets were becoming more user-friendly. He glanced at it and saw that it had automatically switched to a racing game mode. Well, it's just driving, right? I've driven go-karts and bumper cars before, so how hard can it be?

Just as Yuanxi started the car, he heard a beep sound, followed by a message saying, "Congratulations, driving skill activated." It seemed like a menu popped up, but Yuanxi didn't have time to read it. He quickly clicked "confirm" and the little flying car zoomed out.

The sudden acceleration caused the criminal in the back seat to stagger, and his sharp voice immediately started cursing and shouting, wanting to kill Yuanxi.

But another, lower voice stopped him. "Enough, shut up, keep an eye on this guy. I'll deal with the federal dogs chasing us."

The person called "shut up" indeed fell silent. He pressed his weapon against Yuanxi's head and said fiercely, "The destination is Port 1007 in the Linyang District. Drive faster, don't play tricks. Your life will be spared when we arrive."

Yuanxi kept his gaze straight ahead. He knew that these two criminals had already killed the patrol officer earlier, most likely triggering the alarm system. The patrolling police would definitely catch up. But Yuanxi couldn't afford to hold onto any hope of rescue.

Even if they were rescued, as an antique without any identification, he would most likely be mistaken as their accomplice. He wouldn't be able to explain himself no matter how hard he tried.

But Yuanxi also didn't naively believe the words of these two bandits. Spare his life when they arrive at the destination? In reality, it meant that they would kill him if he became useless. Would they let him live? These desperados who had already killed two people without hesitation would definitely kill him unless some miracle happened.

Taking a deep breath, Yuanxi's mind raced with countless thoughts. He couldn't comply with the criminals' demands, but he also couldn't trust them. What should he do?

Yuanxi glanced at the navigation map in front of him. They had already arrived in the Linyang District, and Port 1007 was located near the edge of the atmosphere. With their current speed, they would reach it in about a minute.

The pursuing patrol officers were still chasing them, but these two criminals had powerful weapons that had sustained them in the battle for this long.

Yuanxi was anxious. If they reached the port, there would definitely be people waiting to assist these two criminals, and he would have no chance to resist.

Wait... Yuanxi suddenly remembered what the blond young man had said. This was Beijing, and the airspace defense system here was one of the best in the Federation. So, the people who would assist the criminals would not be too many and would have to be extremely inconspicuous.

But with the commotion caused by these two criminals, the nearby port would certainly be sealed off. In such a situation, how could these two criminals possibly escape?

Unless... unless...

A violent pulling force struck Yuanxi, and his body uncontrollably fell from the driver's seat. He protected his head, and his body hit a hard object, causing a sharp, piercing pain, but it should be just a minor external injury.

He rolled under the passenger seat, and the criminal named "shut up" cursed, quickly took the driver's seat, and started rapidly tapping on the control panel. Then he inserted a thin tube-like object into a slot.

Yuanxi, with sharp eyes, noticed that after that thing was inserted, the energy that the flying car had almost depleted instantly replenished, glowing a dangerously intense red. Even though he didn't understand anything, he could clearly feel the violent power, far beyond what this small flying car could bear.

But the criminal didn't care at all. They stopped their assault on the pursuers and sat in the driver's seat, fastening their seatbelts. Yuanxi's heart skipped a beat as he quickly climbed into the passenger seat and buckled his seatbelt as well.

As soon as he finished, a tremendous force suddenly surged, making him feel an intense tearing sensation. If he hadn't secured himself to the driver's seat at the last moment, he would have been thrown out of the car, dead.

After the lingering fear, the small flying car came to a stop. Yuanxi took a careful look and immediately understood.

His guess was correct. These two individuals wanted to leave this planet by hijacking a civilian starship. The starship was about fifty meters long, with a passenger capacity of around fifty people. It wasn't a large-scale vessel, but rather a common type of ship used for specific routes in the Federation's transportation system.

The two criminals had carefully chosen this starship for a reason. During its development, this type of passenger vessel had been designed with a focus on shielding and warp navigation capabilities, while its offensive capabilities were close to nonexistent. Additionally, strict security checks were conducted before boarding, ensuring that no passengers carried any weapons with aggressive potential.

For the criminals, this starship posed no threat. Once they gained access to the interior, they could easily take control and even take the fifty-plus passengers as hostages, making it the perfect getaway vehicle to escape Beijing.

Yuanxi, observing from a hidden spot, watched as the two criminals quickly took control of the starship. Meanwhile, he took advantage of their distraction to find a concealed place to hide.

Initially, panic and fear spread among the passengers inside the starship, but their resistance was quickly suppressed by the criminals' powerful weapons. In this era, while human bodies hadn't significantly evolved, technology had advanced rapidly, and weapons had become increasingly sophisticated. It was effortless to annihilate unprotected individuals.

Therefore, no one dared to challenge the criminals.

Yuanxi quietly observed, relieved that no one was being injured or killed. Although these people were complete strangers and belonged to a future he had no connection with, they were still human beings, no different from those he knew. He couldn't bear to watch their deaths with indifference.

However, the absence of casualties meant that the criminals needed the hostages to secure their escape from the planet.

Yuanxi couldn't comprehend why the criminals had effortlessly infiltrated the starship. The moment had been too fast for him to perceive anything other than the intense pulling force that made him dizzy, without any conscious awareness or visual information. It felt like he had instantly teleported!

Was that even possible? Yuanxi couldn't grasp the extent of technological advancements in this era.

As the criminals requested, the starship's propulsion system had been activated, ready to ascend into space. Simultaneously, negotiations were underway between them and the pursuing patrol officers outside.

In this situation, Yuanxi had seen similar scenes on television in his previous life, but he never expected to experience it firsthand. The only thought running through his mind was, "This is really messed up!"

Despite his anger, his mind remained remarkably calm. Would these scumbags spare the lives of the starship's passengers? And what had they done to be able to escape from so many pursuers and even hijack a starship?

Another unpleasant thought emerged in Yuanxi's mind: These criminals were definitely not involved in a simple robbery or minor incident. They had undoubtedly committed a significant crime. In such a situation, would the negotiators show any mercy towards them?

Just as Yuanxi pondered these questions, he suddenly heard the criminal named "shut up" yell angrily, followed by a stern accusation, "Fengyun, you federal lapdog! You're disregarding the lives of fifty people on this ship!"

Author's Note: Ahem... Yuan Xiaoxi, please be careful. You're carrying a child in your belly, after all. [Ahem, ahem.]