After Encountering My Deceased Wife, I Became the Male Lead's Love Rival - Chapter 67

Chapter 67: Rage

As the starship approached the attack range of the Imperial fleet, the Military-Political Department dispatched a fleet to protect them. The Star-Hunter also locked its sights on the Imperial ships, exuding an aura of: If you dare move, I will blow you to pieces.

Caught in a stalemate, the Imperial family was restrained, but the Merchants came up with a different strategy.

Because the Merchants and Royalty had targeted Fang Ziyue from the start, they had been unable to produce the high-grade nutrient solution themselves until the formula was fully publicized. Furthermore, that damned system monitoring had ensured they couldn’t even snatch a single bottle. By the time the production formula was released, it was too late; they had no way back.

The heavy, foul-smelling door of a garbage room was kicked open. A burly man, face full of disgust, grabbed Liang Xiuyue—who was curled in a corner looking more like a ghost than a man—and threw him out.

“Hey, still alive?” The man kicked Liang Xiuyue twice. He didn’t hold back much, and Liang Xiuyue, collapsed on the ground, groaned in pain. Seeing this, the man grabbed a nearby water hose and blasted him with ice-cold water. Liang Xiuyue shrieked and tried to crawl away, but the man stepped on his legs, forcibly washing the filth off him.

On the other side, another door was kicked open. A disheveled Gu Qiaorou was dragged out by her arm and thrown beside Liang Xiuyue. The man with the hose showed no mercy, turning the water on her as well. The already numb woman curled herself into a tight ball, silently enduring the inhuman agony.

After the violence ended, the two men dragged the dying pair onto a heavily armed starship. Thrown into seats, they looked up to see a smiling man standing before them.

Gu Qiaorou recognized him; he was the second-in-command of the Merchant Alliance. Many people had touched her, but this “great figure” was the only one who had ever draped a coat over her and asked, “Are you alright?”

Gu Qiaorou’s dull eyes suddenly lit up. She wanted—she wanted to do something for this man. To repay that tiny bit of warmth, she would do anything!

Seeing this, the man knew the seed he had planted earlier had worked. Like a moth to a flame, Gu Qiaorou was the same. Just give her a little warmth…

“Don’t be nervous. You only need to intercept Fang Ziyue’s starship.”

Because they had been locked in the garbage room, Liang Xiuyue and Gu Qiaorou were unaware of the situation outside. At the mention of Fang Ziyue, Gu Qiaorou’s nails dug deep into her palms. She remembered that “madwoman” again; she should never have let her leave!

Having drifted through the beds of various men, Gu Qiaorou had far more information than Liang Xiuyue. She even knew Ling Qiu’s true identity was a mermaid. She was faking stupidity before! If it weren’t for that! If it weren’t for that, she should have died long ago! The crazy woman she once stepped on like a dog was living better than her, causing Gu Qiaorou’s hatred to condense into something physical.

Now, she had her chance. Although the hatred in her eyes was fleeting, the man caught it. But that was exactly what he wanted.

Gu Qiaorou feigned agreement to merely “intercept,” but the more the man instructed her to only stop them, the heavier the murderous intent in her heart became. Satisfied that Gu Qiaorou would surely disobey orders and strike a lethal blow, the man left.

If Fang Ziyue and Ling Qiu didn’t die, they would remain under military control. If they died, they could split the mermaids later—give the military two extra, and surely those “brawny soldiers” wouldn’t hold out against them anymore. After all, the next massive star beast tide was coming; the Star-Hunter couldn’t stay stationed over Planet Ruize forever.

It was a pity the “Great Lord’s” condition was so poor; he couldn’t wait for the beast tide and needed a mermaid for spiritual guidance immediately. Otherwise, they could have waited longer. However, the best-case scenario was for Fang Ziyue’s ship to be shot down into Planet Ruize. Then, the military would be forced to conduct a rescue, allowing the Merchants to slip in during the chaos.

Sitting in the co-pilot seat, Liang Xiuyue finally realized why he had “accidentally” found a starship piloting manual when he tried to escape a while back. At that time, Gu Qiaorou had just been thrown back and had begged him to learn piloting skills together.

the mangled man began to laugh lowly. So that’s how it is… so that’s how it is… They had been pawns in someone else’s hand from the very start. The ridiculous thing was that they hadn’t noticed, and had even harbored beautiful dreams of them coming true.

Liang Xiuyue’s bulging eyes scanned Gu Qiaorou’s frenzied face with malice. He knew what this poisonous woman wanted to do. It was she who had spoken ill of Ling Qiu and incited him to throw her away. She had always hated Ling Qiu because Ling Qiu was kind and capable; this poisonous woman was jealous and ashamed of her own inferiority!

Liang Xiuyue regretted a thousand times why he had discarded Ling Qiu instead of Gu Qiaorou. At the very least, he should have listened to the old butler and stayed on the Desolate Planet to be a master of men, rather than a creature lower than a beast here.

The man, shifting all his resentment and hate onto Gu Qiaorou, closed his eyes. To Gu Qiaorou, he looked like he had fainted. Only then did her anxious heart settle. She knew Liang Xiuyue hated her, but she hated him more. If Liang Xiuyue weren’t so stupid and had seen through the merchant’s true face sooner, if he had the ability to make big money, she would never have ended up in this ghastly state!

Consumed by resentment, Gu Qiaorou completely forgot that she was the one who pressured Liang Xiuyue to come to the Imperial Star, and she was the one who whispered in his ear to cling to that merchant. None of that mattered now. What mattered was that she was suffering, so why should that madwoman live well? Didn’t that woman named Fang insist on taking her in? Then let her die! Let her go to hell and regret her stupid decision.

The starship, laden with heavy weapons, charged straight at Fang Ziyue’s vessel. The Star-Hunter issued one warning, but Gu Qiaorou ignored it, charging forward desperately.

Light converged from the stars. A blue beam melted small comets along its path, tearing through the shells of dead planets, heading straight for Gu Qiaorou’s ship. The “Blade of Judgment” from the Star-Hunter was finally drawn, striking at the unrighteous.

But at that moment, the hidden Merchant Alliance fleet unleashed all their firepower to intercept the Star-Hunter’s attack while simultaneously ambushing the ships protecting Fang Ziyue.

General Shang frowned and ordered the Star-Hunter to fire again. The Royalty and Merchants had always feared the Star-Hunter’s power, so they had tried everything to create weapons to counter it. General Shang snorted. If the Star-Hunter, which took generations of blood and sweat to build, could be countered by weapons researched so quickly, it wouldn’t be the irreplaceable weapon of the Military Department.

Though the Merchants exhausted their firepower to barely intercept one attack, Gu Qiaorou’s ship inevitably had its wing destroyed. But it didn’t matter; Fang Ziyue’s ship was already within range. Gu Qiaorou laughed almost hysterically as she pressed the attack command.

The volley from the pseudo-star-level weapons quickly shattered the defense system of the target ship. Just one more time, just one more hit, and they would be blown into nothingness.

Gu Qiaorou reached out in ecstasy, but was suddenly pushed aside by a surging Liang Xiuyue. Gu Qiaorou didn’t expect the man with the broken leg to pounce and snatch the controls. She lunged back like a madwoman, screaming hysterically: “Give it back! Give it to me! I want to kill them!!!”

Completely insane, Gu Qiaorou picked up a metal box used for nutrient solutions and smashed it into Liang Xiuyue’s head. Blood flowed onto the console, staining it red. But Liang Xiuyue held the control button with a death-grip, refusing to let go. His bulging eyes stared at the screen, as if seeing Ling Qiu through the hull—seeing his mermaid, seeing his beautiful future.

“AAAAAHHHH!!!”

In a final struggle, Liang Xiuyue roared and lunged, punching Gu Qiaorou in the back of the head. There was a sickening crack as bone met bone. Gu Qiaorou went limp and fell to the floor.

Eyes bloodshot and breathing heavily, the man stared at her warily. Seeing she was no longer moving, his strength gave out and he slid to the side. With his life hanging by a thread and his vision fading, he seemed to see Ling Qiu return, saying through tears of gratitude: “Thank you for saving me, I want to marry you, we will spend our lives together!” Liang Xiuyue’s lips curled into a high smile, as if he were truly embracing Ling Qiu, marrying her, and having children.

BOOM—

A deafening explosion rang out. Liang Xiuyue snapped his eyes open, forcing his head to turn. He saw the woman, her face covered in blood, wearing the smile of a demon.

“NO—!”

The man’s roar was swallowed by the thundering beam of light that tore through them.

By the time the traitor inside the Star-Hunter was caught and the light-cannon was fired again, it was too late. The starship carrying the two women was ultimately engulfed in fire, its fragments raining down.

After the blinding light, a wave of transparent power exploded outward. Invisible spiritual energy pushed back the force of the explosion, compressing the danger into nothingness.

Wrapped in a bubble, the two floated in the starry void. Fang Ziyue’s unparalleled spiritual energy swept violently toward the Merchant Alliance and Imperial warships. From Ling Qiu’s perspective, she could see a blue glow in Fang Ziyue’s eyes. The enraged woman descended upon this patch of space like a god of death, wildly attacking both fleets.

Amidst the screams of the two factions and the shocked gazes of the military, the massive spiritual energy tore through starships like dry wood and smashed star-weapons, forcing the disgusting scum to get the hell away from Planet Ruize!

The special bubble created by the mermaid protected the human body from the vacuum of space, allowing humans to “walk” in the stars. But a mermaid’s power had limits; the bubble could not last long.

Just as the bubble was about to burst, the woman who had swept away both factions only had time to say one thing to the military: “We’re fine, don’t look for us.”

Then, her vision went black, and she fell into Ling Qiu’s arms.

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