Chapter 126: Mutong’s Ambition

Somewhere outside the kitchen of the small tavern, a group of disheveled slaves were squatting together.

Hou Qi, his eyes full of resentment, crouched among the others, his tone tinged with jealousy. “That guy Haru is really lucky. He actually managed to cozy up to those kids and got to eat inside the tavern.”

“Yeah, yeah, who would’ve thought Haru, who always seemed so dumb, was actually pretty smart—he knew sticking with the kids would be the best bet.”

The other star pirates, all brawn and little brain, nodded eagerly. They didn’t pick up on the undertones in Skinny Monkey’s voice, just expressed their pure envy.

After all the trouble of the past few days, a lot of their fierceness had been worn away.

If it were before, seeing such a nice tavern and smelling such delicious food, they would’ve rushed in and looted the place without a second thought. But now? No way.

They were as meek as dogs.

They were terrified of getting caught and having another offense added to their record, followed by another round of electric punishment. In this freezing weather, they might not survive the next shock—they could end up as cold as the falling snow.

Zac’s face was frozen stiff, and he couldn’t care less about Haru or whatever. With tired eyes, he glanced a few times down the road outside, frowning. “Why aren’t Jason and the others back yet from picking danmu fruit?”

He clutched his rumbling stomach, unable to hide his anxiety. It felt like his whole gut was burning a hole through him.

The other star pirates were the same, staring hungrily in that direction, their heads spinning from hunger. “Yeah, it’s been long enough for them to make a round trip. We’re the only ones picking danmu fruit now—there’s no way they got delayed fighting over it with someone else, right?”

But Hou Qi’s eyes darted slyly. He glanced at the down-and-out Zac beside him and said in a sneaky tone, “Boss, when do you think Second Boss will come save us? Jason and the others only have three days of labor duty left. After two more days of sightseeing, won’t they be able to get out and report our situation to Second Boss?”

“Huh?” Zac’s rugged face went blank for a moment, then he frowned deeply. “This Earth Village is so strange. Even if my second brother is clever, I doubt he could get us out. I just hope he doesn’t get himself caught too.”

Zac was extremely wary of Earth Village, which was why he’d been hiding his powers. These past few days, he’d been nervously following the system’s prompts, not daring to use his abilities to escape.

Honestly, every time he passed the village entrance, there was no one guarding it, and freedom was just a few steps away. But his instincts told him that if he ever tried to sneak out, he’d meet a terrible end.

It was this beast-like intuition that had kept him alive as the star pirate boss for so many years, so he didn’t dare act rashly.

Hou Qi sneered inwardly. The boss was still as dumb as ever. Even if they hadn’t accidentally ended up on this exile planet, even if they hadn’t been caught by Earth Village and made into slaves, he probably wouldn’t have lasted much longer anyway.

Mutong’s ambition was written all over that fake gentleman’s face, but the boss just couldn’t see it and still treated him like a true brother.

But for now, Hou Qi still needed the boss, so he kept up the act and comforted him, “Don’t worry, Boss. Second Boss is smart—he’d never get caught as easily as we did. And it’s been days now, Second Boss knows where we disappeared. Now that Jason and the others are here, maybe Second Boss is already lying in wait outside, planning how to rescue us.”

He deliberately raised his voice as Jason came back, arms full of danmu fruit. “Right, Jason? Second Boss must be planning our rescue, so he sent you six in first to scout things out, right?”

Jason’s face darkened and he froze for a moment, even slowing his steps. He looked awkward. “Uh…”

As Second Boss’s confidant, of course he knew what Second Boss was really planning. If it hadn’t been for Blackbeard from the Black Bear Tribe wanting to check out Earth Village, he wouldn’t have been sent here—he’d have gone to Chaos City with Second Boss.

And as Second Boss’s right-hand man, he was well aware of Second Boss’s desire to strike out on his own, but he couldn’t say that out loud, especially not in front of the boss.

So he quickly averted his eyes and changed the subject. “Boss, you guys must be hungry. Eat up, eat up—these danmu fruits will rot an hour after being picked.”

The star pirates, dizzy with hunger, didn’t notice the subject change. As soon as they saw the bright red fruit, they swarmed forward.

“Hurry, gimme one! I’m starving to death!”

“Ugh, after sweeping snow all morning, I’m exhausted. I just want to go back and sleep. Being a slave is just too damn hard!”

“Boss, you eat, you eat.”

The complaints and chatter drowned Jason out completely.

Hou Qi curled his lips, snorted, and grabbed a fruit to gnaw on as he squatted back down.

But he didn’t let Jason off the hook, pestering him as he ate, “Jason, you still haven’t answered Boss. When will Second Boss come save us? We’re about to be worked to death here. Boss is such an important man—how can he be reduced to a slave here?”

Jason shot the monkey a venomous glare, his face stiff as he mumbled, “Sec—Second Boss has his difficulties. We ran into a magnetic storm before, so Second Boss took us to hide out at the Black Bear Tribe. Now Second Boss isn’t feeling well, so it might be a while before he can come.”

Pfft. Mutong probably thinks they’re dead by now. “Not feeling well,” what a lousy excuse. Jason, who usually swore like a sailor, was suddenly talking in circles like some noble—obviously hiding something.

Hou Qi cursed inwardly.

But their boss, that idiot, actually bought it.

“What? Second Brother’s hurt? Where? Is it serious?”

After eating a fruit, Zac finally felt the burning in his stomach ease. He tensed up and looked at Jason anxiously.

Jason, feeling guilty, glanced away and shuffled his feet. “It’s nothing, just some trouble with his powers. You know Second Boss has psychic abilities—they’re easily affected by magnetic storms. He even got hurt protecting us, but he says he’ll be fine after some rest.”

Zac breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good, that’s good. When you get out, tell Second Brother not to rush to save us. He should focus on recovering his powers. Earth Village might treat us as slaves, but at least they’re not trying to kill us. We’re not dead yet.”

Jason nodded quickly. “You’re right, Boss. Second Boss will be touched to hear that.”

After getting through that, Jason was sweating bullets in the freezing cold, his back damp. He shot Hou Qi a venomous, hateful look when no one was watching.

It was all that damn monkey’s fault—he’d almost blown their cover in front of the boss.

Hou Qi glared right back, cursing Zac in his heart. How could he fall for such an obvious lie?

But he wasn’t afraid of Jason. The punishment system in Earth Village was reliable—he wasn’t worried Jason would try to kill him behind the boss’s back."