"It's rare that you're not in seclusion." Anon Turing walked in with a smile, greeting Lu Sheng.
Sheng spent most of his time in arduous cultivation. He was either immersed in the Dream Space universe or verifying some of his ideas in the real world. As a result, Anon was turned away at least seven or eight times out of ten visits. But after four months, the two had become quite familiar and were starting to resemble friends.
Anon's attitude towards Lu Sheng was less reserved than before, but a subtle respect remained.
"Get me a coffee too."
Anon sat down opposite Sheng, taking the initiative to speak, displaying a familiar air. After initially being curious about the Baihe café scene that Lu Sheng had conjured up, he had become accustomed to it after a while. After all, many people in the cosmos have a habit of decorating their rooms to resemble their home planet. And the cosmos is vast, filled with countless bizarre and wondrous sights; it's perfectly normal not to have seen them before.
Anon has even learned to drink coffee. Probably to cater to Sheng's preferences.
Sheng called over a staff member in the coffee shop and ordered a coffee for Anon. All the staff in this coffee shop are artificial intelligence; any request made to them is promptly fulfilled, making it very convenient. The coffee arrived quickly, and Anon added some milk with practiced ease, taking a small sip.
"I've inquired; we should reach the Hunting Bow in at most half a month. There should be about three more Space Jumps along the way. It's half a month earlier than expected, this trip has gone unexpectedly smoothly. Perhaps all our bad luck was left in the Interdimensional Battlefield." Anon said with a smile.
"Is that so?" Lu Sheng nodded. "That's certainly good news."
"Speaking of which…" Anon suddenly asked cautiously, "Aren't you really planning to go out for a walk? There are quite a few interesting places on this spaceship. I even met someone…someone similar to us."
Anon's expression turned somewhat serious as he said the last sentence. Compared to when he first left the Interdimensional Battlefield, Anon's sharpness had undeniably been tempered. He now even knew caution.
"A similar person…" Lu Sheng's eyes flickered, and he asked, "You mean someone with an Immortal-level Extraordinary Physique? The blue-haired woman?"
"How did you know?!"
Anon's eyes widened, looking at Lu Sheng with disbelief. "Did you leave your room during the journey?"
"No."
Sheng shook his head and said, "But that doesn't mean I can't know what happened outside the room."
He knew who Anon was referring to. A blue-haired young woman, with an Immortal-level Extraordinary Physique and a strength comparable to Anon, boarded the ship with a level 13 martial arts expert. Yes, the Star Spirit Flower spaceship had picked up another level 13 expert midway through the journey.
Presumably, they were also there to hitch a ride to the Hunting Bow, just like them. Sheng even suspected that their purpose in going to the Hunting Bow was the same as theirs. In other words, the Star Spirit Flower spaceship now had a total of three level 13 experts protecting it.
Just as Lu Sheng had told Anon Turing. Although he hadn't left his room once, living a life of ascetic training as if isolated from the world, that didn't mean he was unaware of what was happening outside. On the contrary, he knew quite well what had happened on the spaceship.
For example, the ship had made a total of eighty-seven Space Jumps so far and had encountered thirteen waves of Space Pirates attacks. Anon participated in a total of twelve battles. Seven of those battles were fought alongside the blue-haired genius. Having fought side-by-side seven times, the two now had a considerable understanding of each other's strength.
Both possessed an Immortal-level Extraordinary Physique and were martial arts super geniuses that only one in a hundred star sectors could foster. They had harbored a secret competitive spirit, but Sheng knew that the blue-haired woman's true strength might be slightly greater than Anon's.
Anon responded to Sheng's answer with a complex and indescribable expression. If someone else had said this to him, he would have been skeptical, thinking the other person was being deliberately mysterious. But if it was Lu Sheng... It would be strange if he couldn't do this.
Anon nodded and said, "I feel that this woman might have the same goal as us."
"Why don't we just ask her?" Lu Sheng gestured for the waiter to refill his coffee, speaking casually.
Anon said somewhat resentfully, "I asked her, but she completely ignored me."
"Next time, pay attention to how you ask questions." Sheng picked up his coffee, took a sip, and said calmly, "If you asked her with the attitude you have now, I think she'd be happy to answer you."
Anon's slightly dark face flushed red instantly. But he quickly muttered stubbornly, "That's for you. For her? She doesn't even deserve it!"
Sheng shook his head, too lazy to answer. Anon continued chatting with him about random things. After finishing his third cup of coffee, as usual, he should say goodbye and leave.
"Come visit again next time." Anon stood up and said goodbye to Lu Sheng.
Just then, a glint seemed to flash in his left eye, and then Anon's emotions became slightly excited.
"A bounty order! Another Space Pirates group was spotted."
Sheng knew that Anon wore a communicator directly embedded in his eyeball, far more advanced than the one he currently wore, which was embedded in his combat suit's wrist. Even its signal reception speed was faster. Just now, Anon had finished speaking before Sheng's communicator finally received the belated message from the Star Spirit Flower spaceship crew.
"Space Pirate bounty! All combat personnel at level 12 and above on board are encouraged to go out and hunt down space pirates. For killing or capturing space pirates, the ship will provide a reward based on their strength level and the degree of danger. Furthermore, half of the loot obtained from Space Pirates can be taken directly."
Anon Turing naturally didn't care about the rewards and loot; he was simply there to fight… And to compete with that blue-haired genius.
"Want to come along? This might be the last time we encounter space pirates on this trip. If we miss this one, we might never have another chance."
Sheng saw a lot of anticipation in Anon's eyes. He suspected this guy wanted to drag him out to show off to the blue-haired woman. But he had absolutely no interest in any anti-pirate operation and directly rejected Anon's offer.
"Forget it, I'd rather cultivate alone for a while. Go by yourself."
Sheng shook his head, preparing to see him out. Anon replied with a slightly disappointed "Alright," then his eyes blazed with fighting spirit again. After saying goodbye to Sheng, he quickly left and headed towards the spaceship's hatch.
Lu Sheng returned to his seat, immersing his mind in the Dream Space universe. He remembered that he hadn't checked on his Dark Side Doppelganger for a long time and wondered what the situation was like there. Now that he had remembered this, he thought he might as well go and take a look.
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Translation notes by dhoo
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The Blue-Haired Genius
We don't know her name yet but we know that she is more or less as strong as Anon Turing and probably even a bit stronger.
"A blue-haired girl, with an Immortal-level Extraordinary Physique and a strength comparable to Anon, boarded the ship with a level 13 martial arts expert (...) midway through the journey." - "Sheng knew that the blue-haired girl's true strength might be slightly greater than Anon's" - These are direct translations of the original version, in my version I changed "genius girl" to "genius" and "girl" to "woman".
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Dark Side Doppelganger aka Dark Side clone
A kind of experiment that Sheng set up on planet Azure: he created a clone from mutated Alien cells which he turned into Immortal Cells. This clone now mostly evolves on its own.