Chapter 582: . Viper, a place that can guide my destiny (2)

The Book of Hermes, a sanctuary capable of bestowing guidance upon my destiny

By his second pint of beer, the man he had been waiting for finally arrived. Lin

A beautiful woman with hair the color of tinted tresses.

Her casual protective suit tightly hugged her form, accentuating a slender, graceful silhouette.

The sheer weight of her presence manifested immediately, cutting through the heavy air

A faint, irrepressible glimmer of excitement flickered across her face.

She began walking toward him.

He responded to her warmth with equal fervor, the two of them locking in a tight, powerful embrace right there in the bar.

"By the God of the Starry Sky, you actually made it back alive!"

Maeve gazed at Saya, suddenly clutching her own mouth as the rims of her eyes reddened, tears of sheer emotion spilling over.

"I never imagined it either—that I would survive to return, that I would see you again."

Saya was swept up in the exact same wave of profound emotion.

The two shared a brief moment of tenderness, pouring their hearts out to one another before walking toward Downton, leaning sweetly against each other.

"Maeve, let me introduce you."

Saya smiled as he presented Downton to Maeve.

"This is the comrade I met on the battlefield of the alien dimension, my absolute best friend. If not for him, I might have perished long ago."

"Oh, is that so?"

Upon hearing these words, a peculiar, fleeting shadow crossed Maeve’s beautiful, rose-colored eyes.

And that subtle anomaly happened to be caught precisely by Downton.

Downton leaned his massive head closer to Maeve, speaking with a touch of suspicion: "You seem rather displeased by the fact that I saved Saya’s life?"

"Uh..."

The expression on Maeve’s face froze instantly, leaving her entirely stranded in agonizing awkwardness, completely at a loss for words for a moment.

Fortunately, Saya stepped in just in time to defuse the tension.

"Downton, Maeve is my girlfriend, and the only person I can truly trust in the Boros Sector.

For you to tease her like this is honestly quite rude."

Saya spoke to Downton with absolute seriousness carved across his face.

"My bad."

Downton shrugged his shoulders, looking entirely innocent. "I was just making a casual joke."

"I prefer you don't make similar jokes next time."

"It's... it's fine."

By now, Maeve had fully recovered her composure.

She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear as if masking something, offering Downton a gentle smile,

Before turning her gaze back to Saya to ask:

"Does Wells and the others know the news of your return?"

Saya’s expression hardened slightly as he nodded. "I ran into Hobert the moment I stepped off the spaceship.

I reckon by now they are already well aware of the news of my safe return."

Maeve pondered for a moment, then stood up abruptly and said to Saya, "In that case, you temporarily stay right here for the time being.

I will head over to the Lyersas family side to scout out some information.

The moment there is any development, I will come notify you immediately."

"That is far too dangerous! You..."

Saya instinctively tried to object, but Maeve gently pressed a finger against his lips.

"Don't speak such foolishness, Saya."

Maeve looked at him with eyes full of tenderness, whispering softly, "To do something so small for you, how could that ever be considered dangerous?"

"Maeve..."

Saya’s gaze melted instantly in response.

"Alright, there is no time to lose, we absolutely cannot wait for them to react.

I am going right now."

Maeve kissed Saya on the cheek, cast a fleeting glance at Downton beside him, and then, without a single shred of lingering attachment, hurriedly turned and walked toward the bar entrance.

Saya stared blankly at her retreating figure, and it wasn't until Maeve had almost stepped completely out of the bar's main doors that he suddenly snapped out of it.

"I'll see you out."

Leaving it at that, he rushed to catch up with urgent strides.

Yet by the time he pursued her to the threshold of the bar, he discovered that Maeve had already boarded a sleek, snow-white personal scout craft,

Sailing straight up toward the starry expanse beyond the planet.

Inside the aircraft, Maeve—who only moments ago in the bar had been as intimate as a doting lover with Saya—was now issuing commands with a face as cold as ice.

"Orbital Satellite A283, coordinates: XXX, XXX."

"Directly deploy the patrol cruiser to fire the death ray cannon and obliterate those coordinates! Afterward, just shift the blame onto the engineering department.

Claim that the engineers failed to maintain the warship properly, causing a malfunction in the patrol cruiser's targeting system, which led to the accidental firing of the death ray."

"A highly decorated veteran?

Please, since when has a useless title like that ever managed to intimidate the Lyersas family."

"Let it be so. One minute from now, I expect everything I wish to see to manifest."

After Maeve hung up the communication, she immediately connected to the line of another individual.

The communicator projected the image of a young man dressed in a moon-white formal suit, handsome, with features that bore a twenty to thirty percent resemblance to Saya.

"Wells."

The moment Maeve saw the man, she called out his name, her gaze visibly softening into one of profound submission and tenderness.

"How did it go? Did you see him?"

The man in the moon-white suit initiated the inquiry the moment they met.

Maeve nodded. "I saw him, and there was someone else by his side.

I was nearly seen through on the spot."

"Oh?"

A flicker passed through the eyes of the man in the moon-white suit, his tone remaining indifferent. "Likely the Rank Twelve Hobart mentioned.

A martial powerhouse who can return alive from the Alternate Space Battlefield is bound to possess a few tricks; it is hardly surprising he could see through you."

"Fortunately, our young master Saya seems just as naive and foolish as ever, even after his stint on the Alternate Space Battlefield.

He did not harbor the slightest suspicion toward me."

Maeve smiled faintly.

"I am quite curious as to what you intend to do next."

The man in the moon-white suit rested his chin on one hand, leaning in close to Maeve.

Maeve blinked playfully and let out a soft laugh. "Is this to be considered the final trial before I marry you?"

The man in the moon-white suit burst into laughter.

"You may interpret it that way if you wish.

Though truth be told, I genuinely do not mind at all that you were once my cousin's wife."

"Wells, do not speak of that term ever again."

Maeve's beautiful pink eyebrows furrowed slightly, a trace of disgust coloring her voice. "The mere thought that I once exchanged bodily fluids with a fool like that makes me wish I could replace this body all over again."

"Very well, my apologies."

The man in the moon-white suit shrugged. "Returning to the matter at hand, please continue."

Maeve’s expression turned serious as she replied, "I intend to deploy the nearby patrol corvettes to blast him to death directly with death-ray cannons."

"A death-ray cannon cannot kill a Rank Twelve martial powerhouse, can it?"

The man in the moon-white suit frowned slightly.

Maeve shook her head. "A lapse in logic, Wells.

You have forgotten that we only need Saya to die.

Those associated with him... whether they live or die, what does it matter?

The patrol corvettes' death-ray cannons certainly cannot kill a Rank Twelve martial powerhouse, but for Saya, they should be more than enough."

Upon hearing this, the man in the moon-white suit suddenly roared with laughter.

"Haha, Maeve, you are indeed far more suited to be my countess than those other women.

This truly is a genius plan. When do you intend to strike?"

"Now."

Maeve smiled gently, like a pink rose quietly blooming.

The moment the word "now" left her lips, a colossal beam of death-ray light, condensed almost into solid matter, violently struck down right past her aircraft.

"Boom!"

A deep red mushroom cloud instantly erupted across the asteroid, engulfing nearly a tenth of the planet's surface area.

The spacecraft and vessels traversing the starry expanse all came to a halt, gazing upon this monumental and rare catastrophe.

Through the virtual window of the aircraft, Maeve and the man in the moon-white suit watched the slowly expanding mushroom cloud below, as if appreciating a grand fireworks display.

Smiling, they even drew glasses of red wine and softly toasted each other.

Regrettably, they did not see.

At a spot not far from Maeve's aircraft, Saya stood frozen, staring blankly at the vessel that belonged to her, his entire being utterly collapsed as if all strength had been drained from his body.

"This is a good thing, mate!"

Danton patted Saya on the shoulder, offering consolation. "To recognize a woman's true colors before marriage is something so many wish for but fail to achieve."

Saya kept his head lowered, remaining silent for a long time.

Finally, he slowly raised his eyes.

"Accompany me to one more place, will you, Danton?"

"Where?"

Saya’s eyes grew extraordinarily deep in an instant.

He seemed to look through the boundless starry sky, his gaze fixed upon another realm entirely.

He spoke softly, "A place that can grant me destiny's guidance."

"Uh..."

Literature.