The supreme boss licked his lips. He was so nervous that even his voice came out distorted: "Shorty, no, no, my deputy got scared half to death by her, and then she started fighting with those instructors in the squad."

"And the other one? What happened to her?" Jiang Cheng was also very worried about Ba Lv, so He pressed on.

"She was knocked out with drugs, I don’t know anything else." The supreme boss answered every question. "This—this is intel we just got."

"After that I really don’t know what happened, I swear!" He added.

He had already said everything that should be said. He was afraid the star in front of him wouldn’t believe him, and you couldn’t really blame him; the intel itself wasn’t clear at all, so how could He explain it clearly?

Jiang Cheng nodded. He already knew everything He needed to know. Looked like the biggest culprit was that Shorty. He wasn’t going to let him off.

Coming at them again and again, and even after being punished he still didn’t pull back, instead getting even more vicious—hmph. Jiang Cheng decided to keep Shorty company and play with him a bit. Didn’t he want to "play big"? Then they’d play big.

Ye Fen kept digging and got detailed information on Shorty and his family. After triple-confirming it, Jiang Cheng left the boss’s mansion.

Watching this star’s figure blur and then disappear, those few experts finally realized the sweat on their backs had soaked through their clothes. They collapsed to the floor, their whole bodies almost limp.

On the ship, Jiang Cheng told Yanran what He had just gone through. At this point she didn’t even need to ask to know they were heading out to settle accounts with Shorty.

...

Only, for dealing with that Shorty, did they really even need to use a gunboat?

Jiang Cheng told her that after Shorty was taken out of the squad by his own men, on the way to the boss’s mansion he got intel in time and learned Jiang Cheng was in there on a killing spree. He knew that if Jiang Cheng saw him and didn’t kill him that would be the real miracle, so He didn’t even pack a thing, just fled back in a panic like a stray dog to his family’s base—a nameless satellite.

All of this had been told to Jiang Cheng by that squad’s supreme boss. It wasn’t like they were that close anyway. Besides, at a life-or-death moment like this, staying alive came first. Better the fellow Daoist dies than the poor Daoist—your own life is what matters most.

This was also why Jiang Cheng wanted to use the gunboat. After all, this was interstellar travel; having a large transport would make everyone feel a lot safer.

Besides, supposedly Shorty’s power on that satellite was enormous, he even had his own armed forces.

Think about it—if even the Black Exhaust Group of the Dark World could have several large combat ships, then what about Shorty, who had dealt with people for generations?

Not to mention, Jiang Cheng wasn’t about to forget how rich Shorty was.

That one huge check He’d used to try to buy him off—though He was never going to take it—but think about it: why did the boss of Delmar and the superior who had once been his sworn enemy end up standing on the same side later?

Jiang Cheng didn’t believe Shorty had some amazing personal charm; He believed much more that it was the power of money.

When they reached the place where they’d hidden the gunboat, Ba Lv happened to arrive as well. They jumped down from the transport ship, and Yanran was the first to charge toward the gunboat.

"Alice! Alice! I’m here!" she shouted loudly.

Little Flaming Firebird—no, at this point you really couldn’t use "Little" to describe her anymore.

Hearing Yanran’s shout, a beautiful bird squeezed out from a hatch on the gunboat—feathers blazing red with a golden sheen, a golden beak and claws. Who else could it be but Flaming Firebird?

Seeing Yanran, Flaming Firebird was also very happy; she cawed "ga-ga," flew off the gunboat, and dove straight into Yanran’s arms.

One person and one bird gathered up inside the gunboat.

Yanran and Ba Lv took the pilot seats, Flaming Firebird perched by Yanran’s side.

"Ready?" Ba Lv asked the two of them.

"Ready, we can take off." They both answered. Even Flaming Firebird seemed to understand what Ba Lv had said and cawed twice as a response.

Ba Lv pressed a button, and blazing flames burst from the tail of the gunboat. With a shrill roar, the gunboat shot up into the air.

On the galactic cloud map, a red dot was flashing nonstop. That was their destination this time—a Nameless Planet where Shorty was hiding.

On the Nameless Planet, in a wide open area of a valley, there was a large spread of buildings. This was Shorty’s lair.

Shorty normally lived and worked on Erma Planet. Only during holidays would He return to this Nameless Planet for vacation.

Shorty had served as a senior official for years at the Delmar planetary government, always working in the security department. Using his position, He constantly reinforced his buildings on the Nameless Planet until now this whole complex looked like a fortress.

He even maintained a small but well-trained guard unit inside the fortress. This guard unit had originally been the garrison on this satellite, but Shorty had abused his office for personal gain and turned them into his private army.

Since He’d taken their personnel, the unit’s equipment naturally became his personal property as well. Several gunboats and tanks had all become his private assets.

Shorty had always been a cautious man, advancing step by step. Once He’d climbed to a certain high rank, He knew He’d offended far too many people. To leave himself a way out, He spared no effort in using his authority and ill-gotten gains to build this guard unit that was even more formidable than the special forces on Erma Planet.

Now that He was back in his lair, Shorty finally calmed down a little. He knew those men and women from the Extraterrestrial Planet would absolutely not let him go.

Just thinking of those few, especially that man’s cold methods and razor-sharp gaze, made Shorty shudder. Even though He was terrified to the extreme right now, if He were given the choice again, He would still choose revenge.

That was just his innate nature.

In a chamber deep underground, Shorty was talking to a tall, sturdy man.

That tall man was the commander of his guard. Shorty trusted him fully; when it came to military matters, He followed whatever he said.

And that commander also followed Shorty’s lead in everything, utterly loyal to him. Shorty held a high post and great power; currying favor with him was a must. Besides, the rank Shorty had given him—though they were stuck on this tiny little satellite and he only managed a hundred-odd subordinates—his treatment was at division-commander level. The name on his office door was even "XX Planetary Command."

Shorty treated him with such importance; how could he not repay him with utter devotion?

And Shorty was quite happy with this setup. It wasn’t his own money anyway; everything was paid for by the Delmar planetary government. With one more loyal hound at his side, why wouldn’t He be pleased?

Right now, the pair of "good brothers" were having a secret discussion in the room.

After listening to Shorty’s account, the commander immediately ordered his men to activate all anti-air radars on the satellite and carefully search for any aircraft that might be approaching. At the same time, the gunboat squadron stationed here was to split into two echelons and maintain continuous patrols in space...