Transmigrated Into a Scummy Alpha Who Stole the Male Lead's Mermaid Fiancée - Chapter 76

An interstellar war, unforeseen by all, erupted. Centered around the Lingjiu System, nearly every surrounding planet was drawn into the conflict, quickly dividing into opposing factions. Planets launched attacks and counterattacks incessantly, and at the peak of the war, eight civilized worlds vanished from the universe in a single day.

Annie’s All-free organization actively participated in the war, mediating among the various planets. By securing critical intelligence, All-free gained the upper hand and formed an alliance with the powerful Blackwater Republic and Planet. This move transformed their public image from “pirate rebels” to a fearless league of heroes.

Annie remained firmly in command of All-free. From the outset of the war, she had been preparing for the struggle, all thanks to Jenny, who had awakened as a prophet.

Jenny was Yu Ke’s associate, but Yu Ke had never intended to exploit her abilities. Her sole focus was finding a way to save Lan Xing.

However, the outbreak of the war hindered Yu Ke’s progress. Left with no alternatives, she reluctantly joined Annie’s All-free as a diplomatic envoy.

The sanatorium where Xing’er was recovering was located within the Blackwater Republic’s most heavily guarded laboratory, generally shielded from the war’s reach. This allowed Yu Ke to join All-free without worry. She traveled to different planets, aiming both to quell the conflict and to gather information on saving Lan Xing.

Not long ago, Anna Su sent word that, after a period of comprehensive treatment, Lan Xing’s vital signs had stabilized, and there was no immediate danger to her life. However, whether she would awaken depended on whether Yu Ke could locate the other Lan Xing or, more precisely, find Isabelle.

In recent days, aside from shuttling between planets, Yu Ke spent her time researching clues about Isabelle. A substantial breakthrough came only after Li Jian’an arrived in the Lingjiu System.

Yu Ke hadn’t even known when Li Jian’an set out for the Lingjiu System. He hadn’t informed her of his departure or his purpose for coming, yet his arrival was an immense surprise to her.

Back when Yu Ke left the Ferrari Kingdom aboard the Princess, she was at her most lost and uncertain. She sought out Li Jian’an, and with her original crew, wandered through the stars before making a dramatic return, abducting Lan Xing in front of everyone at her wedding to Yu Jie.

For Yu Ke at that time, it was an experience akin to rebirth.

Now, at the lowest point in her life, seeing Li Jian’an again felt like grasping a beam of light in the darkness.

Li Jian’an arrived just as Yu Ke had been on Planet Pie for about a week. At that time, the Planet Pie was preparing to attack the Three Flowers Planet, a crucial hub for interstellar travel within the Lingjiu System.

The official who received Yu Ke was named Cliff, the Minister of Finance and diplomat of Planet Pie. Acting on the instructions of Planet Pie ‘s leadership, he adopted an evasive approach toward Yu Ke, delaying as much as possible, avoiding conversations with her whenever he could, while covertly continuing the policy of attacking the Three Flowers Planet.

Regarding this matter, Yu Ke shared her thoughts on her social media account, reiterating her own beliefs and the philosophy of All-free, criticizing Planet’s greedy and warlike behavior, and expressing her determination to stop Planet Pie from continuing its assault on the Three Flowers Planet no matter what.

By that time, Li Jian’an was already on his way to the Vulture Galaxy. After seeing Yu Ke’s post, he reset his destination and flew directly to Planet Pie to reunite with her.

“I saw you were dealing with the issues on Planet Pie, so I came straight here,” Li Jian’an said to Yu Ke via video call after arriving on Planet Pie. He looked spirited and confident, ready to fulfill his ambitions in the Vulture Galaxy. “I thought you must need me, and I could definitely help you with something here!”

Yu Ke was equally excited. She personally drove a speedboat to the port to pick up Li Jian’an. While still on the waterway, she spotted Li Jian’an, dressed in a suit, looking refined and polite, wearing a round hat and carrying a black suitcase. His steps were steady, and over his suit, he wore a light gray wool coat. Accompanying him were two young women, one in a British-style coat paired with a short skirt, with a pretty doll-like face, light brown short hair, and a smile like an angel; the other in a casual light green down jacket, her face dotted with freckles, looking sweet and adorable.

Yu Ke parked the speedboat and went to greet Li Jian’an. As she approached, she took off her sunglasses, patted him on the shoulder, and said, “Hi.”

Li Jian’an was taken aback. At first, he didn’t recognize Yu Ke, but once he did, he jumped excitedly, completely shedding his mature and composed demeanor. He tightly grasped Yu Ke’s hands, his voice choked with emotion: “Captain! I’m here! I’ve come to serve you!”

Yu Ke smiled, deeply moved. She withdrew her hand and patted his shoulder, saying, “That’s great. I thought I’d never see you again.”

“How could that be?” Li Jian’an wiped his tears with his sleeve. “I promised you I’d come find you after settling the children’s matters. I wanted to return to the Princess ship sooner, but I just couldn’t free myself these past years…”

After not seeing him for some time, Li Jian’an looked much older. Wrinkles had formed at the corners of his eyes, and his temples were tinged with gray. He should have been in his most mature and steady phase, yet he was crying like a child, creating a stark contrast.

Yu Ke didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and comforted him, saying, “It’s alright. I never expected you to show up here. Your coming is already the greatest comfort to me.”

Li Jian’an hurriedly dried his tears and asked, “What about Lan Xing? Has she not recovered since the Lanis Base explosion?”

Yu Ke’s expression remained unchanged as she replied calmly, “She’s still unconscious. There’s no telling when she’ll wake up.”

Li Jian’an said sadly, “You must have had a really tough time these years.”

“It’s been alright,” Yu Ke said, somewhat puzzled. “It’s only been a few months… I’ve gotten used to it gradually. But what about you? How long has it been since we last met? How have you… aged so much?”

Li Jian’an lowered his head with a soft chuckle, revealing a row of pearly white teeth. “For you, it might have only been a year or two, most of which you spent traveling through space. But for me, it’s been a very long time, Captain. You know time is relative, right?”

Yu Ke was taken aback, giving Li Jian’an a surprised glance. As a former academic prodigy, Yu Ke was well-versed in the fundamentals of general relativity. After her journey through time and space, she had even studied related texts, many of which derived formulas explaining the flow of time during interstellar travel. Yet, she had never paid much attention to it, until she experienced it firsthand.

“I lived on Datianxi for six years,” Li Jian’an continued. “During that time, I took Hepburn and Yuli to a low-gravity star system, where we spent another ten long years. All these years, we’ve been tracking Isabelle. In that star system, we built an intelligent web crawler that operates across the interstellar network, specializing in breaching firewalls and extracting the data we need. In the process, we also developed methods to determine whether the materials we found were useful…”

He began to ramble on, oblivious to the fact that they were still standing at the airport, shivering in the cold wind. Yu Ke was deeply intrigued by his experiences over the years and resisted interrupting him, until a gust of wind made Li Jian’an sneeze.

“Achoo!” Li Jian’an pulled a white handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his nose, finally snapping back to reality. He smiled sheepishly and said, “I’m so sorry. I have so much I want to tell you that I forgot we’re still at the airport…”

The others couldn’t help but laugh. A short-haired girl chimed in teasingly, “You forgot all about us! You were only focused on talking to Her Highness!”

Yu Ke raised an eyebrow, studying the short-haired girl thoughtfully. She looked strikingly familiar. Recalling Li Jian’an’s remarks about the relativity of time, her expression shifted slightly as she uttered two words: “Hepburn?”

The angelic short-haired girl beamed, her eyes crinkling with joy. “It’s me! I was afraid you wouldn’t recognize me!”

Yu Ke gestured with her hands, indicating a small height. “The last time I saw you, you were only this tall. Two years have passed, and you’ve grown into such a graceful young lady. If you hadn’t reminded me, I definitely wouldn’t have recognized you.”

Hepburn nodded enthusiastically. “I know! And Yuli, you probably don’t remember her either.”

Yuli shyly turned her face toward Yu Ke, tucking a strand of her bangs behind her ear. Softly, she said, “Your Highness, hello.”

“Hello,” Yu Ke replied politely.

Yuli, being more reserved, kept her head lowered, growing slightly nervous under Yu Ke’s gaze. She reached out and took Hepburn’s hand. Hepburn grinned and asked Yu Ke, “Your Highness, aren’t you surprised to see us?”

Yu Ke nodded, her emotions a complex mix of astonishment and joy, tinged with the melancholy of how much had changed. If she and Lan Xing had stayed on Datianxi back then, she might have been the same age as Li Jian’an now. They wouldn’t have encountered the incident with Lanis, Lan Xing would still be healthy and safe, and perhaps they would have started families and raised children. Their daughters might have been young women like Hepburn by now.

“I’ll take you to your accommodation first, then we can properly discuss matters regarding Isabelle,” Yu Ke said with a composed expression as she took Li Jian’an’s suitcase, her tone even. “The living conditions might not be ideal, it’s wartime, and resources are quite limited.”

“Ah, it’s fine! None of us are picky. Just having a place to rest is enough!” Li Jian’an laughed and tried to take back the luggage, but Yu Ke steadily wheeled the suitcase along, leaving him no opportunity.

“You’re an old man now. Let me handle carrying the luggage,” Yu Ke said. “After all, respecting the elderly and cherishing the young is a traditional virtue of our nation.”

Li Jian’an: “…”