Sweet Hunting Ground [GB] - Chapter 3.1

The impact came without warning, slamming into the airship and bringing it to a violent halt.

A mechanical voice blared a malfunction warning as the cabin lurched. In the periphery of Ani’s vision, flames coiled around the rear of the vessel, licking at the fractured metal. Smoke billowed, curling through the ruptured frame, while shattered plating caught the fire’s glow, gleaming in the chaos.

Luckily, the collision hadn’t torn through this particular cabin. The train-like airship had been severed mid-flight, hanging precariously on its high-altitude track. Another incoming vessel had rammed straight into it, locking them both in a perilous dance above the void.

“…You…”

The cabin was suddenly deafening, alarms blaring, metal groaning, passengers shouting. It took Ani several moments to register Lin’s voice. She lowered her gaze, reaching out to adjust the hat pressed low over his head. When her eyes met that deep, oceanic blue, she responded, “What?”

“You.” He hesitated, then muttered, “You didn’t have to shield me.”

The moment the impact hit, Ani had pulled him into her arms.

She wasn’t particularly tall, nor did she seem physically strong, at least, not compared to an adult merfolk. Even knowing she was more than she appeared, Lin still found it both uncomfortable and bewildering that she had instinctively placed herself between him and danger.

Ani brushed her fingers over the wound on his forehead. She couldn’t afford to lose her only viable test subject, so she simply pulled his hat down again and murmured, “Keep your head down. Don’t talk.”

“Please do not manually open the airlock—Please—”

The synthesized voice of the ship’s AI cut out abruptly, replaced by a casual, lazy drawl. The new speaker smacked the microphone once, then muttered, “Ugh, using equipment this ancient? No wonder there’s nothing worth stealing.” A pause, then the voice rang out with exaggerated enthusiasm: “Alright, folks! This is a robbery!”

The cabin erupted into chaos. Some passengers immediately dove for their luggage, retrieving concealed weapons.

Blue Ocean Star didn’t prohibit self-defense arms, though their destructive capabilities were strictly regulated. Ani had checked the prices for more devastating weaponry before—they sold for a fortune on the black market.

Probably worth about half a Lin, she mused absently.

As the announcement finished, a wave of armed figures surged into the cabin. They were a motley crew, a mix of cybernetically enhanced interstellar type humans, their mechanical limbs bristling with built-in firepower.

With a bang, the first passenger to resist was instantly reduced to a crimson smear on the floor.

The sheer brutality stunned the remaining passengers into silence. The pirates prowled the cabin like wolves, cybernetic limbs clicking and whirring as they moved. While some looted their victims’ StarNet accounts, others meticulously checked identities—this wasn’t just a simple robbery. It was too precise. Too deliberate.

“Well, well, working so hard already?”

A figure strolled in from the adjoining cabin.

Ani recognized the voice immediately. She turned her head, observing silently.

“Of course, boss!” One of the larger pirates, a towering brute with a cybernetic frame, immediately straightened, his previous menace melting into sycophantic eagerness. Standing at nearly two and a half meters, his mechanical limbs creaked as he hunched over in an almost comical attempt to appear submissive. “We’re working hard, sir! Scouring every inch. We’ll find ‘that’ you’ve asked for, even if we have to tear this ship apart!”

“No need to be too thorough either, just make it look like we’ve done the job.” The late comer yawned, stretching lazily before smirking. “For all we know, it might have already been sold off in pieces. Can’t even guard their own heir—some ‘Blue Ocean Dragons’ they are. Just a bunch of washed-up fish having a meeting.”

“But boss, we took three billion from them…”

The man cast a glance his way, and the towering brute immediately shut his mouth.

That was something he clearly wasn’t supposed to say.

While the others were paralyzed by fear, Ani was listening intently. She and Lin were near the back, still unnoticed by the pirates sweeping through the cabin.

For some reason, Lin had gone completely silent as well.

“What are the Blue Ocean Dragons?” Ani whispered suddenly.

Lin stiffened, his entire body tensing. He met her gaze in silence for a few seconds, then, realizing she was only asking about the name, finally replied, “A famous merfolk family.”

Ani didn’t press further. She glanced down at the StarNet watch clutched in her hand, thinking that among all the valuables in this cabin, nothing could compare to a living, breathing merfolk.

At that moment, a pair of black leather boots stopped in front of her.

Ani looked up.

The pirate leader stood before them, arms crossed. At first glance, he seemed entirely human, aside from the cacophony of electronic trinkets dangling from his outfit, clinking together with each movement.

“Blue hair…” The pirate leader clicked his tongue, reaching out to grab Lin, but before he could so much as touch a strand, a pink-and-white silhouette interceded.

“He can’t meet outsiders. He doesn’t have a StarNet account either, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t touch him.” Ani spoke politely.

The pirate leader sized her up. A young girl, relatively tall at around 170 centimeters, but average by interstellar standards. No visible cybernetic modifications.

He smirked, somehow amused, and gripped her collar with his gloved hands. “Are you joking, sweetheart? You think just because you ask nicely, I won’t touch him?”

Ani was yanked forward.

One of his eyes was a normal brown-black, the other an artificial implant, glowing red like a cold, unblinking infrared sensor.

“I’m asking you not to touch him,” Ani repeated calmly.

The pirate leader laughed outright, throwing his head back. “You—You’re actually making demands of me?”

Before he could finish, Ani’s hand darted out. In a movement as fluid as a cat’s, she plucked a concealed laser gun from the jumble of gadgets at his waist. She flicked her wrist, pressing the muzzle against his spine.