Help!
Why was her life so damn miserable?!
Why did sentinels always have to make life hard for other sentinels?!
No, correction—those damn, self-righteous sentinels loved to make life difficult for their own kind!
But she was just a poor, pitiful, indentured sentinel being coerced by interstellar pirates! She was a good citizen!
So why—why the hell was he pointing a gun at her?!
Did being a good person mean you had to have a gun shoved in your face?!
Vivienne Cross was screaming like a groundhog inside her head.
Her gaze swept over the young man's blond hair, his ocean-blue eyes, and his sharp, handsome features. Finally, her eyes fell on his collar—the simple, deep-black uniform looked strangely familiar, and a spark of realization struck her.
She had seen him before! He was the sentinel she had "robbed"!
This man had been on this ship the whole time—he was a passenger or at least pretending to be one. But she had no memory of that outstanding face, meaning he must've disguised his identity and appearance—he was one of the Empire's soldiers!
The young man stared at Vivienne with a teasing gaze, like a cat playing with a mouse.
The Polaris pirates had fled without hesitation when things went south. They had used the most advanced jump technology in the galaxy to ram their way out—the Empire's fleet had no way of chasing them down.
Compared to pursuing vanishing enemies, the Empire's new priority was to rescue the civilians. Soldiers were boarding the ship and taking over.
He, too, had extra time to toy with this little mouse.
Vivienne had a habit—whenever she was nervous or panicking inside, her face would grow even calmer and more composed.
At least he hadn't pulled the trigger.
The Imperial troops were a legitimate army—they wouldn't kill innocent civilians without reason! She could still talk her way out!
Seeing hope, Vivienne immediately began playing the pity card—explaining her real situation: "Sir, I was forced."
The young man frowned, the gun in his right hand pressing even harder against her chest, making her heart go cold and her pupils constrict. His expression was subtle."Oh?"
Oh your damn head! Wrongfully accusing good people will send you straight to hell, you golden-haired bastard! If you accidentally pull the trigger, I'll haunt you even after death!
Furious inside, Vivienne lowered her eyes, calming herself, and tried to explain her predicament in the sincerest voice possible, speaking quickly to clarify the situation:
"Sir, I am a passenger on the HGSH498 civilian vessel. Those pirates who called themselves the Polaris organization noticed that I'm an Evolver and abducted me. They threatened me, forcing me to work for them—or they would kill me."
She was telling the truth.
The blond young man frowned. "I clearly saw you and that pirate…" There had been tugging and pulling—
Vivienne forced a bitter smile, tilting her head slightly to make full use of her appearance advantage: "To be honest, sir…"
She bit her lip, as if gathering all her courage to reveal something shameful.
"I was only… trying to survive."
The young man froze slightly at her words, narrowing his eyes and carefully studying Vivienne.
The black-haired woman in front of him had a beautiful face, gentle and elegant in temperament, easily stirring up dark thoughts in others. After saying that sentence, she seemed unable to bear it, biting her lips, the soft pink turning pale. Her beautiful, dark eyes held helplessness, embarrassment, and a trace of shame that was easily overlooked.
For a normal citizen, being forced by pirates was indeed something shameful and infuriating…
Thinking this way, more details surfaced in the young man's mind.
He also recalled that, except for Leo Vaughn, the pirates had always treated her with contempt.
Even Leo Vaughn hadn't shown her any kindness…
When assisting the pirates in looting passengers, she had never abused her power, always speaking gently, trying to comfort the civilians…
So, was she really forced?
Just as the cat and mouse stared at each other—one pleading, one suspicious—a shout broke the standoff in the hallway:
"Major General!"
Unnoticed, the Empire's forces had already boarded the vessel and begun rescuing the passengers.
A military officer in black and gold uniform hurried over:
"We've successfully rescued the kidnapped hostages. The Polaris fleet's ship has jumped to the Z sector. Should we continue pursuit?"
Major General?
Vivienne, sharp as ever, immediately caught onto the crucial information.
So young and already in such a high position—clearly a golden child born with a silver spoon.
She was safe now.
No past grudges, no recent vendettas—a proper major general had no reason to kill an innocent civilian like her without evidence!
"Alright. If what you're saying is true, the military will offer you protection." The young man smoothly retracted his weapon, the movement fluid and graceful.
Without blinking, he gave the order after two seconds of thought: "Cancel pursuit. Full speed return."
"Understood, Major General. The Chief of Staff requests your presence in the command room."
"I got it." Following his adjutant William, the young man walked a few steps before pausing again under Vivienne's uneasy gaze. He pointed at her and added: "Investigate her identity."
"The Polaris pirates went out of their way to detour from the Gemini trade route and sneak into the Empire, risking early detection and interception, just to return to the Polaris system? There's something else going on."
"Robbing the HGSH498 and HGSE567 civilian ships was nothing but a distraction. Like now—a wasted effort."
…
Augustus spoke in a low voice: "The Polaris sent their flagship, the Tianshu, all the way to the remote X sector of the Empire, just to rob a few civilian ships?"
Chief of Staff Shen manipulated the glowing green path lines on the map screen: "According to the SkyNet data search, they stayed in the N sector for some time. During that period, they neither followed the trade route nor jumped to another sector."
"What exactly were they doing…"
…
The true reason behind the Polaris flagship Tianshu's deep incursion into the Empire remained suspicious. For the time being, Major General Augustus could only deal with the matters at hand.
Vivienne's suspected connection to the pirates was quickly cleared. After all, her ticket was registered at Port X-298, and there were other passengers who could testify for her.
Thank goodness—the fake ID she'd bought at an outrageous price on the black market hadn't failed.
Adjutant William reported the investigation results seriously: "This civilian lady departed from the public planet X-298, heading to public planet H-327 in the H sector. The HGSH498 vessel was attacked by Polaris pirates while passing through the L sector. According to surviving civilians' testimonies, the pirates stole money and resources and kidnapped Evolvers aboard."
"Among them, the pirates seemed to have had a dispute over a black-haired, black-eyed female sentinel. Major General, based on the witnesses' descriptions, that woman should be Miss Vivienne."
After finishing his report, William stood quietly to the side. For a moment, only the rustling sound of pages being turned remained in the command room.
Major General Augustus flipped through the file indifferently. There wasn't much information about Vivienne.
Although every piece of evidence proved her identity was clean, he still felt something was off.
He recalled her pale face when he'd pressed his gun against her forehead—so pale it looked like the white porcelain favored by Eastern nobles. Her slightly trembling lashes, the way her lips parted and closed when explaining herself.
A sentinel—supposedly weak, powerless, forced by pirate guides.
So strange.
His survival instinct told him to stay far away from this strange Empire civilian. The major general opened his mouth: "If that's the case…"
William immediately turned to him, looking slightly tense.
…If the data checked out, they could let her go.
But before he could finish, Augustus frowned slightly: "…What's wrong?"