Without even having a meal, Bell immediately ordered the crew to embark, under the pretense of assisting Li Xiang.

However, refurbishing the Mecha shuttle's transmission wasn't as simple as that. The liquid machinery and numerous internal components had to be pressure tested, all under the condition of the engine being off. Any minor oversight could cost everyone their lives, especially in the boundlessness of space?

Thus, Bell had ordered all the crew members to remain tight-lipped, especially the power cabin personnel.

Nothing was spoken, but two hours later, the news leaked from a veteran that traces of space pirates had been discovered in the direction of Aries, a first-class star.

Despite the great distance and the fact that the Mecha unit was solitary, causing the space pirates to possibly remain unaware, it was only a matter of time, as the space pirates were rapidly closing in on the Mecha shuttle at the speed of the fifth cosmos.

The encounter with space pirates signified a grave threat to everyone's lives. When the news broke, over a hundred people aboard the Mecha shuttle collectively fell into panic...

Bellis was the first to rush into the captain's cabin asking Uncle Bell if the news was true or not. Bell responded with an elderly demeanor, telling her to wait patiently, which only intensified Bellis's suspicion.

Four hours later, the space pirates communicated a request asking for the Infinite Power to halt immediately. Otherwise, the Mecha shuttle would be mercilessly bombarded by the Silver-white Judgment (transition light beam cannon). Of course, the space pirates had assured the safety of all lives.

Such a guarantee of everyone's safety, who would believe it? But Bell gave an unexpected reply. After pondering for a moment, he stated they could stop, but the Mecha shuttle was gliding due to a malfunctional deceleration system and could not slow down immediately. Given the current speed, it would take the space pirates a day and eight hours to catch up to the Mecha shuttle.

The news quickly reached the ears of many passengers, and the same face popped into many minds… Li Xiang. He was the one who suggested that the Bermuda Space Station should replenish its energy. If they had listened to him, they would not have ended up in this predicament. But now, it was too late for regrets.

What should they do now? There's no doubt they were helpless. They could not escape because they lacked speed and didn't have weapons as the civilian Mecha shuttle wasn't equipped with any lethal devices.

Some suggested that they immediately change course and seek refuge in the Bermuda galaxy where the Federal Normandy Fleet, Laservilas A-level Fleet, and Saudi's Space Fortress were stationed. They thought it's better to be in the tense war zone than to be found by space pirates. After all, the Silver-white Judgment might not be effective against such distant targets.

However, the wise ones chose to remain silent. Currently, they were near the uninhabited edge of Saudi's border. To reach Bermuda would take at least four to five days, and to get to Saudi would take even longer. There wasn't enough time to escape before the space pirates caught up.

Some even started to send farewell messages on their Light Screen phones to their distant family and friends. Unfortunately, there was no signal. Even a usually silent girl made a silent prayer. Given the speed of the civilian Mecha shuttle, escaping was impossible. If it were a ground battle, she could be in a Mecha suit and manage somehow, but it was different in outer space.

Even the usually composed Bell was, at this moment, silently hoping for a miracle...Initially, he wouldn't have agreed to Li Xiang's absurd suggestion, considering the odds were against them. But now, he was trying everything in the hope of a last-minute cure.

Under such high tension, each passing second seemed to drag on forever. Some were crying, some laughing, and some even threatened to hang themselves inside the Mecha. The atmosphere of despair propagated at an alarming rate...

Six hours had passed, and there were no updates about Li Xiang's progress on the retrofit. This was not because there was no progress, but rather because Bell was hesitant to inquire. He silently sat in the captain's room for six hours straight, muttering to himself for it to be done, sooner rather than later.

After twelve hours, Bell couldn't stand it anymore, he stood up abruptly and headed to the power cabin. He had no doubt that if Li Xiang's plan failed, or if he heard even a hint of failure, he would throw that damned fool into the frigid space without a second thought.

He stopped abruptly just outside the power cabin, afraid to open the Pandora's door. As the sounds from inside the power cabin reached his ears, Bell closed his eyes in silence.

After an indeterminable length of time, the door to the power cabin creaked open. Bell quickly opened his eyes, seeing a familiar face, dirty from top to bottom. It was Li Xiang.

Bell grabbed Li Xiang's shoulders with his vice-like hands, "Li Xiang, what's the progress on the retrofit?"

"Failure..."

"You bastard! What did you say!?" He was almost given a heart attack by Li Xiang's joke.

"Failure is not an option."

"You mean... you mean it's successful?"

"Heh heh. You can trust me."

"Can we accelerate now?"

"Of course."

"I hope you're telling the truth." Hearing Li Xiang's reply was enough for Bell, he rushed back to the captain's room to give the command to accelerate immediately.

A voice suddenly echoed in everyone's ears, "Passengers, please fasten your seatbelts. The shuttle will begin sub-light speed trial flight acceleration countdown in ten seconds, repeat..."

"Ten, nine, eight, seven…" a rumble, and the shuttle shook suddenly. Then, the master control display showed the speedometer increasing rapidly. Bell could hardly believe his eyes. This was a standard only military shuttles could reach.

The passengers were initially startled by the sudden announcement over the speakers. They had been waiting for so long, wasn't it for the space pirates to spare them some mercy? Why did they think of acceleration only after such a long wait?

People wanted to question the captain, but the high gravity generated by the acceleration made it impossible for them to stand up. As the shuttle's speed increased, the stars outside quickly turned into a blur of light... People seemed to glimpse a hint of what was happening. Not long after, when the shuttle gradually stabilized, a voice echoed again from the loudspeaker, and everyone then understood that it was Li Xiang's rescue plan and it was successful?

This... How was this possible? But the speedometer won't deceive you. Seeing this, a delighted Bellis impulsively rushed to Li Xiang, who was fast asleep and planted a kiss on his face, as if to say, 'You like it, don't you? Well, this time I made the first move, consider it a reward.'

He was exhausted. When Li Xiang, who was asleep, opened his eyes, he saw the delighted faces of the people around him. Even the usually silent girl had a faint smile on her face, which was incredibly charming.

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