CH 65

Domo took out a cane. At the tip of the cane was a red stone grasped by four claws.

"Give me your battery," said Domo.

I detached an energy chip from my suit and gave it to Domo.

"There is enough energy in this chip to power the suit for three hours. Will it be enough for your time door?" I asked.

"I'll have to give it a try first," said Domo.

He took out another device and placed the chip on the device. The top of the device immediately lit up brightly.

"Be careful. If this chip explodes, it can level this entire building," I warned.

The device shone brighter and brighter. A beam abruptly shot toward the red stone at the tip of the cane, and the red stone soon turned purple.

"I'm going to start setting coordinates for the time door," said Domo.

"The red stone on your cane is made from the same raw materials used to produce static wormholes, right?" I said.

"Good eyes. I did not expect you to also know this," praised Domo.

'You'll never have known that my knowledge comes from downloading information. That thing costs money, so I definitely can't let it go to waste,' I thought smugly.

Domo drew a circle on the wall with his cane and said, "The time door has been designed according to the coordinates. We can get to the prince through this door."

"Sarje, when we get through, help me get the scar-faced guy under control," I said.

Sarje nodded as he tightened his grip on his iron staff.

"Go!" I commanded and stepped through the time door.

In one second, I appeared in the middle of the lounge, coming face to face with the scar-faced guy. He was completely stunned.

"Kefe, what are you doing?" a voice came from the crowd.

Then, Sarje and Domo charged through the door. I drew my laser gun in the blink of an eye, rushed forth, wrapped my arm around my target's neck, and pointed my gun at his chin.

"Kefe, you useless Torrian, have you gone mad? You dare kidnap the boss?" another voice came from the crowd.

"Don't move, or I'll blast his head off. I also have a nuclear bomb on me. At most, I'll die with all of you!" I threatened the thugs.

While I spoke, Sarje struck Masse with his iron staff.

"Damn scoundrel! You dare betray us?" scolded Sarje.

"You're Sarje?" asked Masse doubtfully.

While Sarje was beating the tavern boss, Domo dragged the prince through the time door and vanished before everyone's eyes. The time door also shut behind them. All the thugs around us were dumbstruck. The change was too sudden, and they did not know how to react.

"Why did I even bother paying you fools? Those guys aren't Torrians! They're the companions of those people! They got in by disguising themselves, and none of you noticed them!" scolded the scar-faced guy.

The scarred man had quite a presence to him. The moment he spoke, his subordinates hurriedly pointed their guns at me and Sarje in fear. Their rayguns could instantly reduce us to ashes.

'These people won't dare to fire with the scar-faced guy here. We need to make good use of him,' I thought as I tightened my hold on my hostage.

"You must be Li Canyue. I am Giorno of the Brotherhood. Why don't we have a chat?" said the scar-faced guy.

I was alarmed. I wasn't surprised that he was Giorno, but I did not expect him to know my identity.

"I can understand why the prince is stubborn, but you're an explorer and a fugitive of the league. Why can't we work together?" said Giorno.

"There is no possibility of us working together. What did you do to my friends? If anything happens to them, none of you will live to see tomorrow," I said fiercely.

"Calm down, great explorer. They had merely taken some sleeping water. They're fine. Your companion, Zhang Bao'er, turned on the morph-capable shield before he fainted, locking us out of the room. I have been waiting for them to run out of energy," said Giorno.

'Bao'er contributes greatly when it truly matters,' I remarked inwardly as I heaved a breath of relief.

"Li Canyue, why don't we talk about cooperation? Your hold over me is a tad bit too tight, by the way," said Giorno.

"Have your people leave the tavern and give me the antidote to wake them up. I can then consider having a talk with you. If not, well, we can die together," I said.

I could see Giorno nodding at one of the Liyates around us. The Liyate then left the tavern with the other members of the Brotherhood, leaving Giorno and Masse behind; the latter lying under Sarje's foot.

"Where's the antidote?" I asked.

"Masse, take the antidote out," said Giorno.

Masse, badly beaten, took out a bag of white powder with shivering hands and handed it to Sarje.

"Domo, come here. It's temporarily safe," I shouted toward the third floor.

Domo and the prince rushed down the stairs.

"Domo, I'll wrap the energy shield around the two of you. That will get you through Bao'er's system. Go in with the antidote and wake Xingxing and the rest. Prince, go with Domo," I commanded rapidly as I wrapped an energy shield around the two.

The two then rushed up the stairs.

"Great explorer, are you happy now? The Brotherhood is sincere in this proposed cooperation," said Giorno.

I relaxed my hold on Giorno, removed his gun, and aimed my gun at his head before saying, "Sit. As you wish, we shall have a chat."

To be safe, I signaled Sarje to stand behind Giorno. With Masse in tow, Sarje stepped behind Giorno.

"We had not offended you. Why did you attack us?" I questioned.

"It's not a targeted attack. This is our job. Most Katars work as laborers. It is suspicious for a group of Katars to come with so much money. We were here to take the ill-gotten wealth for ourselves," said Giorno.

"Hehe, you're nothing but a group of criminals. A robbery is a robbery. Why sugarcoat it into something so noble?" I sneered.

"I did act in a civilized manner by giving them sleeping drugs. The prince had happened to be downstairs, so he had escaped the effect. Therefore, we captured him directly. As for the others, their disguises wore off the moment the drug took effect. Only then did I notice that you're fugitives from the Interstellar League," said Giorno.

"Looks like you're quite a knowledgeable thug," I remarked.

"Please show respect to my organization. You're the actual fugitives here. Your name and your betrayal have spread your name all over the Milky Way Galaxy. I doubt the league will make such a big deal for the defection of a common soldier. There must be something special about you," said Giorno.

"Hehe, I'm a normal person with a button I can press. There's nothing special about me," I said.

"No, I trust my intuition. The league will not do so much for a regular soldier. Therefore, I started considering what I could do with your people the moment I saw them. Surprisingly, I was lucky enough to even capture the prince of Akko. This is quite a profitable affair, to be honest," said Giorno smugly.

"Prince Toruse is unrelated to our wanted status. What do you want from him?" I demanded furiously when I saw the shameless expression on Giorno's face.

"The prince is very useful for us. We can help him get the throne of Akko. That is big business," said Giorno with a treacherous smile.

"Bullshit. Black and white never mix. The prince is an honorable person. How can he work with despicable criminals like you?" I said.

"Prince Toruse is a prince. Is Prince Arude not a prince as well? If Toruse is truly so honorable, why are Arude and the Kingdom of Akko hunting him?" asked Giorno.

His counter left me speechless. As the son of a common docker, the machinations behind the fight for the throne were beyond me. At this time, a series of sounds came from the second floor. Zhang Xingxing and the others must have woken up.

"Canyue, where are you?" Zhang Bao'er's voice rang out.

After a series of thuds, Zhang Bao'er ran down the stairs. He was slightly stunned when he saw us because he couldn't recognize me.

"Bao'er, stop staring. I'm Canyue," I said.

"Canyue, you're finally here. These bastards ambushed us with drugs! Good thing I was able to turn on the shield in time," shouted Zhang Bao'er in agitation.

"I know. Well done, Bao'er," I praised.

"I only have half my energy left. If you hadn't come, my shield wouldn't have lasted much longer," said Zhang Bao'er, still furious.

Shortly after, everyone else came down. Zhang Xingxing was able to recognize me with one look.

"Canyue, I knew you would save us," said Zhang Xingxing joyfully.

"Everyone, keep your shields on. We're surrounded by armed thugs," I said.

"My great explorer, my respected prince, let me repeat myself. Do you think you can leave this place? The tavern is surrounded by my people. Even more are on their way here. Either you work with me or you stay here forever," threatened Giorno.

"Who do you think you are? You dare threaten me? I'll cripple you!" Zhang Bao'er lost his temper immediately.

"Bao'er, listen to the leader and Canyue," said Old Du.

"We will never work with treacherous scoundrels like you. Either you let us go or we fight you till the end," said Zhang Xingxing.

"That is unwise. Respected lady, even if I let you go, you have already broken the empire's laws. The emperor decreed that no outsiders are allowed to land on Planet Eternal. Do you think the police will spare you?" asked Giorno.

"We have the golden pass. After our audience with the emperor, you'll see whether the police will spare us," said Zhang Bao'er.

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"Hehe. Emperor? Do you even know where he's at?" asked Giorno.

"Do you know?" I asked.

"Ahh, so you're here to meet the emperor. I finally understand. Without me, you won't ever get to meet the emperor," said Giorno.

"What do you mean? You know the emperor's location?" I asked.

Giorno stood up in a calm and unruffled manner as he said, "If you want to meet the emperor, come to the Miner's District tomorrow at noon. Alone."

He then sauntered out of the room. I blanked out slightly before deciding to ask even more questions. But when I rushed out of the tavern, the street had been completely deserted. Giorno and his people had retreated, leaving nothing behind.

A cold breeze brushed my face. Four of the planets in the Betelgeuse System hung in the night sky, reflecting the star's light onto the planet like three massive moons. The silvery white light sprinkled my whole body as I faced the deserted street. The transformation of a bustling bazaar into a silent street seemed to have brought me back to the beautiful Blue.

"Canyue, do you have any new information?" Zhang Xingxing's voice came from behind me.