He Youchuan followed Si Zhao’s gaze and froze.
Had Chen Yueli changed his mind?
Noticing the chill in He Youchuan’s eyes, “Chen Yueli” hurriedly defended himself. “This is my clone! My ability is cloning!”
He Youchuan furrowed his brows, quickly recalling that he had indeed seen a beastman who looked exactly like Chen Yueli on the Insect Star.
At the time, he had assumed that beastman was Chen Yueli’s brother. Now it seemed that the one who had gone into battle back then had also been Chen Yueli’s clone.
Si Zhao neither confirmed nor denied it. She only asked, “How long can your clone last?”
“As long as I don’t run out of ability, it can last indefinitely,” “Chen Yueli” answered at once.
Before setting out, he had brought enough insect cores to replenish his ability when it ran low.
And even if he used up all his insect cores, he still had seven love rivals to rely on.
“My clone can sense the connection between it and my original body. If we find Mistress, we might be able to use that connection to bring her back.”
Si Zhao already knew all this. Before going to the Insect Star, she had learned about the abilities of every one of Yunyang’s beast husbands.
That was also why she had chosen Qin Mo and the other seven to test the spatial ability.
So at this moment, she merely nodded. “I’ll have someone stay here on the desolate planet H2978 with you. If you need anything, just ask.”
“Chen Yueli” nodded hurriedly. Since his clone could not use a photobrain, having someone stay here with him was naturally the best arrangement.
After arranging for someone to remain with “Chen Yueli,” Si Zhao returned to the Central Star with He Youchuan.
Meanwhile, after the eight beast husbands traveled through the spatial passage aboard their starship, they found themselves facing a vast sea of stars.
Had they successfully reached the extraterritorial star system, or had they failed?
Xuan Yu and the others instinctively looked toward Leonardo.
“Leon, can you sense Mistress’s location?”
When the wormhole had closed earlier, Leonardo had used his ability to wrap a small section of vine around Mistress’s hand. Therefore, he knew for certain that Mistress was still alive.
If Leonardo could sense her location now, finding her would be much easier.
Leonardo tried, then shook his head.
“She’s still too far away. I can’t sense her.”
If his ability were at the SSS level like Cang Zhuonian’s, he might have been able to sense her. Unfortunately, he was not that powerful.
Without a target or even a direction to follow, the eight beast husbands could only pilot the starship aimlessly through the sea of stars.
The photobrain signal had disappeared the moment they entered the spatial passage. They could not contact anyone else and could only use their photobrains to keep track of time.
The starship traveled through the sea of stars for a day.
Because they had not used their jump capabilities, the eight beast husbands had yet to see a single planet.
The only things they encountered were chunks of interstellar rock drifting through space.
But that did not make them give up.
The eight of them took turns piloting the starship. Whenever they were hungry or thirsty, they simply drank nutrient solutions, and continued wandering through the sea of stars for another day and night.
During that time, none of them dared to close their eyes, afraid that they might miss even the slightest clue.
At last, the starship detected the energy signature of another vessel.
“There’s actually another starship out here?”
Cang Zhuonian frowned. Over the past two days, they had already confirmed that they had successfully entered the extraterritorial star system. But how could there be another starship here besides theirs?
“Who cares? Let’s catch up and take a look first.” Chen Yueli locked onto the other starship and immediately used a jump to pursue it.
The distance between the two vessels rapidly narrowed until everyone could clearly see the starship ahead.
Fu Shiyi adjusted his glasses and quickly identified its model.
“It’s a JF-053 warship.”
Qin Mo stared at him in shock. “Are you sure? That thing was decommissioned more than two thousand years ago.”
Fu Shiyi looked at him calmly.
Although he specialized in designing combat mechas, he had also studied other fields in depth.
Whether it was a fifty-third-generation model or a first-generation model, as long as it appeared in front of him, he could identify it immediately.
Qin Mo remembered Fu Shiyi’s profession and silently withdrew his doubtful look, though he remained perplexed. “Why would there be a warship from two thousand years ago out here?”
No one could answer that question.
But just then, Leonardo’s expression suddenly became animated.
“Mistress is inside!”
He could not have sensed it wrong. Mistress was inside the starship ahead.
The other beast husbands did not question Leonardo’s judgment in the slightest. After all, they had personally seen him send the vine into the wormhole.
Their expressions immediately turned solemn.
“We’ll follow this starship.”
Since Mistress was aboard, they could not force the other vessel to stop. All they could do was follow behind it and try not to lose track of it.
Fuyuan placed a hand on Leonardo’s shoulder. “Leon, see if you can use your ability to contact Mistress.”
Leonardo nodded and immediately tried to activate his ability.
At the same time, Pei Wenye and Nuo Xiao also noticed the starship pursuing them.
Unlike Fu Shiyi, Pei Wenye could not tell at a glance which generation the ship belonged to, but he could see that the vessel behind them was far more advanced than theirs.
Could it have been left behind by the last explorers to enter the extraterritorial star system?
“It’s definitely those black mud loaches!” Nuo Xiao declared with absolute certainty. “They hate having other tribes approach Water Star. They’re probably trying to force us to leave.”
“Brother Wenye, release your aura. They probably won’t stop us then.”
The Black Flood Dragon Tribe had an extremely strong sense of territory, but they were very tolerant toward their own people.
Besides—
This would also give him a chance to further confirm whether Pei Wenye really was the Black Flood Dragon Tribe’s old clan chief.
Pei Wenye glanced at Yunyang. Only after seeing her nod did he release his aura.
Male beastmen had a special way of sensing one another’s auras.
The instant Pei Wenye’s aura spread out, the eight people aboard the pursuing starship sensed it.
“It’s Pei Wenye. Mistress must be with him.”
The eight beast husbands let out a collective sigh of relief.
As long as Pei Wenye was still alive, he definitely would not let Mistress suffer. That meant her current situation should be fairly good.
Chen Yueli piloted the starship and closed the distance even further.
When Nuo Xiao noticed this, he looked at Pei Wenye in confusion.
He had already released his aura, so why were those black mud loaches still pursuing them relentlessly? Could it be that Pei Wenye really was not the Black Flood Dragon Tribe’s old clan chief?
Never mind. In any case, he had promised Lady Yunyang that he would deliver her safely to Water Star.
Nuo Xiao immediately pushed the starship to its maximum speed and used a jump to shake off the vessel behind them.
Chen Yueli: “…”
What was that supposed to mean?
Did they not want them to find Mistress?
Leonardo noticed it too and continued trying to contact Yunyang through that section of vine.
Only then did Pei Wenye notice that the vine around Yunyang’s wrist had somehow loosened slightly.
His eyes flickered. He raised his hand and sent a trace of his ability into the vine.
Unlike last time, the vine absorbed his energy and began wriggling happily.
Pei Wenye suddenly leaned closer to Yunyang and said in a low voice, “Mistress, the starship behind us seems to belong to Leonardo and the others.”
