Die Cleanly

Kalen stood up, walked expressionlessly to the star shuttle's cabin door, and pressed his palm against the recognition panel.

A pale blue light swept across his palm and pupils, followed immediately by a cold electronic voice:

Beep! Dual genetic and soul verification passed! Welcome back, Mr. Kalen.

The heavy alloy doors slowly slid open to the sides, revealing the luxurious cockpit inside.

The entire star shuttle featured a fully transparent dome design; looking up, one could see the boundless starry sky.

Anti-gravity seats hovered in mid-air, surrounded by dozens of holographic screens flashing with complex data streams.

"Wow..." Lin Xi's eyes widened. She stepped carefully into the cabin and reached out to touch the cold alloy walls. "Is this a spaceship from the Core Starfield? It's a hundred times more luxurious than the ships in Sector Seven!"

Ye Chuan casually tossed his spatial suitcase into the nearby storage area, found the most comfortable seat, and lay back. "Start it up. Destination: the Core Starfield."

"As you command, Demon Lord."

Kalen walked over to the pilot's seat, sat down, and swiped his fingers across the holographic screens a few times.

Following his operations, the shuttle's engines let out a low hum. The fuselage trembled slightly and slowly lifted into the air.

As they passed through the atmosphere of the Blue Source Planet, Lin Xi leaned against the transparent dome, reluctantly watching Sector Seven grow smaller and smaller below.

It wasn't until the blue planet turned into a tiny speck of light that she disappointedly withdrew her gaze, sitting down in the seat next to Ye Chuan without saying a word.

Preparing to enter faster-than-light jump state.

The moment the electronic voice faded, the star shuttle accelerated violently.

The starry sky outside the window distorted instantly, and the originally scattered stars were stretched into colorful bands of light.

Space continuously wrinkled and folded around the shuttle, forming massive vortexes. The star shuttle was like a swimming fish, nimbly weaving through these vortexes.

Lin Xi gripped the armrests of her seat tightly, her face turning somewhat pale. She had never experienced a faster-than-light jump before and only felt a deep sense of dread.

"Interesting," Ye Chuan said lightly with his eyes closed. "But temporal-spatial turbulence is a bit more terrifying."

You could lose your memory, or even almost fail to return. It was much scarier.

Lin Xi blinked.

Three minutes later, the star shuttle smoothly exited the jump state.

The starry sky outside the window returned to normal, though the positions of the stars had drastically changed.

Ye Chuan looked at the starry sky outside, captivated for a moment. On a cosmic scale, everything became insignificant.

Lin Xi, however, still kept her head down, looking depressed.

Ye Chuan turned his head to look at her. "What's wrong?"

"Mmm..." Lin Xi's voice was tiny. "I'm worried about my parents... They're getting old and their health isn't good. Now that I've left, I don't know when I'll be able to come back."

"I also have sixteen younger brothers and sisters to support. Even though the chief said not to worry..."

"And... and the Core Starfield is so dangerous. There are powerful people everywhere, and those terrifying weapons. I'm scared..."

She sniffled, her eyes turning red again.

"I've never had any grand ambitions, and I don't want to be a hero. I just wanted to be a minor law enforcement officer in Sector Seven, catching speeders every day, going home after work to eat my mom's cooking, and shopping with friends on the weekends. Although such a life is ordinary, it's very happy."

"Isn't this era good?" Ye Chuan looked at the starry sky outside, his tone calm. "There are mechas, high technology, immortal cultivators, magic, and even outer gods. You can witness many things you never even dared to imagine before."

"This is the best of times." Ye Chuan, however, felt differently.

"It's not good." Lin Xi shook her head, tears finally falling. "It's too dangerous. I've seen how terrifying the outer gods are, and how cruel war is. I just want to live peacefully with my family."

She sniffled and looked up at Ye Chuan, her eyes full of pleading. "Mr. Ye, if... if I die, could you help me give this to my parents?"

Saying that, she picked up her terminal, opened an encrypted video file, and sent it to Ye Chuan.

"These are my last words that I recorded in advance." Lin Xi forced a smile, but it looked worse than crying. "It contains what I want to say to them. I know I'm weak, and going to the Core Starfield just makes me cannon fodder. I might die any day. I'm not afraid of dying, I'm just afraid of breaking their hearts."

Ye Chuan looked at the crying Lin Xi in the terminal, then at the red-eyed little girl in front of him, and twitched the corner of his mouth. "You won't die."

"Even if you die, I can resurrect you. Even if your soul is shattered, I can find your soul fragments piece by piece and put you back together."

His tone was very flat, yet it carried an unquestionable power.

But Lin Xi cried even harder, snot and tears streaming down her face. "Waaah, Mr. Ye, I'm afraid of pain. If I have to die over and over again, just let me die a clean death."

"Don't repeatedly desecrate my corpse."

Hearing the weeping Lin Xi, Ye Chuan seemed amused.

"Anyway, I've already prepared myself mentally. To be able to follow you and see the Core Starfield, it's worth it even if I die."

Ye Chuan looked at her pretending to be strong and didn't say anything more.

Just then, the star shuttle suddenly let out a piercing alarm.

Red warning lights flashed frantically, and the cold electronic voice carried a hint of urgency:

Warning! Warning! The target channel coordinates have been blocked! Unable to jump!

Warning! Abnormal spatial fluctuations detected ahead! Rerouting...

"What's going on?" Ye Chuan frowned.

Kalen turned his head expressionlessly and replied in a mechanical voice:

"Demon Lord, the exclusive jump channel leading to the Core Starfield has been unilaterally closed. The Core Starfield must have learned of my death and blocked all exclusive channels to prevent you from going there."

"Then what do we do?" Lin Xi asked nervously. "Are we going to turn back?"

"No need," Kalen shook his head. "The nearest Alpha Space Station has a public jump channel that connects to all starfields in the entire Federation."

"This channel is jointly managed by the Interstellar Alliance. The Core Starfield cannot close it unilaterally. We can head to the Alpha Space Station first and then transfer to the public channel from there."

"However..." Kalen paused and added, "The Alpha Space Station is a mixed bag, filled with interstellar pirates and fugitives from various starfields. It's extremely dangerous, and it's highly likely that the Core Starfield has already laid an ambush there."

Ye Chuan raised an eyebrow, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"An ambush? Perfect. I'd like to see who they can send to stop me."

"Set course for the Alpha Space Station."

"As you command, Demon Lord."

Kalen nodded, his fingers flying across the screen as he re-planned the route.

The star shuttle changed direction, turning into a streak of silvery-white light as it sped toward the distant Alpha Space Station.