Chaos' Heir-Chapter 1205: Boarding

Jack whistled happily, immersed in his partially broken but comfortable armchair. That piece of furniture had no business being on a ship, especially such a shabby one, but a man had to reward himself every once in a while. Space was terrible for mental health, so some comforts were needed.

Still, Jack didn't stop at the armchair in the cargo area that day. A full cup of booze that didn't taste like piss sat on his copious belly, earning the envy of the men around him.

"Stop staring at it!" Jack cursed, bringing the cup closer to his face as if to protect it. "You'll all have plenty of Credits for booze and brothels once we deliver the goods."

The four men in the cargo area with Jack feigned disappointment but couldn't hide their eagerness. Truth be told, they were quite lucky. The smuggling business was dangerous for many reasons, but Jack was a good boss, one of the few criminals with an ounce of honor on the market.

"Boss?" The pilot's voice suddenly resounded from the speakers in the cargo area. "The scanners picked up a ship. It's quite fancy."

Jack couldn't help but frown. His ship was on an illegal flight route, so meeting other vehicles meant dealing with fellow criminals.

Those encounters were always tense, dangerous, and nerve-wracking, but criminals often turned a blind eye to each other. After all, fighting in space was expensive for both sides, usually ending in mutual losses. They wouldn't open fire unless they were desperate for money or supplies.

However, everything changed when it came to fancy ships. Jack was no idiot. If small-time criminals could use those illegal routes, so could far stronger forces, and they were often implicated in something too big to leave any witnesses.

"Is it sending distress signals?" Jack asked, hoping the issue involved nothing more than a few wealthy people getting lost in those unregulated parts of the universe.

"No, Boss," The pilot's voice resounded through the cargo area. "It's just heading for us."

"Change the course!" Jack shouted, standing up, his swift movement defying his bloated physique. "Activate the evasive maneuvers! Get us the hell away from them!"

"Away where?!" The pilot asked, panic mixing in his robotic voice.

"To the regulated universe!" Jack cried. "You idio-!"

Jack couldn't finish his line since the ship abruptly stopped. That shabby vehicle didn't have the best artificial gravity or shields against bumps, so everyone inside experienced the sudden event.

The booze in Jack's cup threatened to spill to the floor, but he salvaged it, also remaining on his feet. His wide, dark eyes stared at his drink in fear, but he didn't forget the real problem outside.

"What happened?!" Jack shouted.

"Boss?" The pilot called, his voice fainter in disbelief. "There's someone outside."

"What do you mean outside?!" Jack gasped. "Forget it. Pull down at full speed!"

The whooshing of the engines resounded inside the ship, but the vehicle didn't move. Every surface started to shake, as if struggling against something, but everything turned upside-down before Jack could say anything else.

The artificial gravity failed completely. Jack and his sitting crew lost their footing as the ship spun forward, flipping in the middle of space. Furniture and unsecured equipment jumped in the air, but everything fell back to the floor once the ride abruptly stopped.

Jack found himself lying on the floor. His mind couldn't even begin to fathom the recent events. He only noticed his spilled drink on the grey surface before his brain resumed working, forcing him to push himself to his knees.

A mess of equipment and tilted furniture expanded in Jack's gaze during that silent, confusing, tense moment. Even his treasured armchair had fallen, but no alarm bells rang in his brain. Somehow, Jack had subconsciously accepted that the situation was hopeless.

"Boss!" The pilot called again after managing to return to the control desk. "They have reached us! They want to board us!"

Jack couldn't help but glance at his crewmates in the cargo area. They had also fallen to the floor and were in the process of standing up. Yet, they all wore scared faces, and Jack had no soothing words to offer.

"Let them in," Jack ordered. "Comply with everything they do."

Luckily, the pilot was decently capable. He understood that the crew had no control over the situation, so Jack wanted to preserve the ship's integrity as much as possible. That would give them a chance to fly away if their captors decided to spare them.

The crew got back to their feet while the pilot activated the mana barrier and opened the side doors. Jack stood before that opening, noticing the metal ramp stretching from the unusual white vehicle. The latter had also unfolded its membrane, and the two fused to create a breathable and walkable connection.

The fancy ship's insides looked messy, broken, and dented in multiple spots, but Jack only cared about the absence of people. He had expected to see a firing squad waiting for him on the other side, but only emptiness unfolded in his eyes.

Nevertheless, someone eventually arrived. Except he didn't come from the ship. A handsome man with long blue hair and uncanny glowing eyes flew from outside the mana barrier to land on the metal ramp. His black tracksuit tried to give him a casual appearance, but his whole existence exuded an aura of royalty.

"Do exactly as I say," The blue-haired man announced, "And you all walk out of this alive."

The man's words seemed to carry a weight of their own, inflicting blows on the crew's eardrums as soon as they reached them. Even the ship suffered under that intense, powerful voice, its surfaces releasing screaming noises.

Jack couldn't nod or move. He wanted to gulp but didn't manage to. He could only stare at the blue-haired man, his eyes slowly adjusting to the light he radiated and spotting the few, conflictingly cute braids among his long strands.

Still, the terror wasn't over. A second figure eventually walked toward the fancy ship's entrance, carrying a tray full of bubbling cups and sending chilling waves past the metal ramp. The temperature instantly dropped by several degrees, and the crew's breaths started to create tiny white clouds.

If the blue-haired man was intense, like a walking storm, the dark-skinned woman was pure stillness, seemingly able to freeze life itself. Jack felt like sharp shards stabbed his body when she glanced at him, but her interest waned immediately.

Jack could inspect other details when the woman looked at the blue-haired man. Jack could inspect other details. She wore the same black tracksuit, but large patches of green stains tainted it. The same went for her face and white and red hair. It was as if she had come out of a swamp, resembling the witches from children's fairy tales.

That was quite a pity since the woman was stunning. Her loose tracksuit couldn't hide her mystical, exotic beauty. If anything, her chilling aura was more of a disservice to that, even if it gave her a sort of divine, pure presence.

Nevertheless, an unstoppable force suddenly landed on Jack's body, cutting his inspection short and slamming his knees to the floor. He couldn't breathe, and his very flesh seemed to shrink under that foreign pressure. His ears started ringing, but they captured the fearsome words that reached them.

"Do you wish to die so much?" The blue-haired man asked, and Jack felt his consciousness heading toward dark unawareness.