The alarm shrieked like a knife slicing through everyone's eardrums.
"Again?!" Max slammed his fist on the console, eyes locked on the rapidly approaching blip on the radar. "That's not a drone this time… that's a big one!"
Ella's face went pale. "A privateer vessel?"
"Military-grade, heavy laser cannons." Max's voice was dry. "Our junk can't survive a single salvo."
Kay peered through the viewport. A dark gray warship emerged from the shadow of a massive asteroid, its hull gleaming coldly under the starlight. A golden emblem was emblazoned on its side—a sword piercing a planet. The mark of the Karl family.
"Tracking beacon." Kay gritted his teeth. "They've been following us the whole time."
A loudspeaker crackled from the privateer ship, the voice dripping with undisguised mockery: "Attention, unknown vessel. Cut your engines and heave to immediately. You are guilty of stealing noble property. Surrender now, and we may spare your lives."
"Spare our lives?" Max spat. "Yeah, right."
A red laser beam shot from the privateer's cannon, passing just a few meters from the ship's right wing. It didn't hit directly, but the shockwave of the near-miss rocked the vessel violently. Sparks and cables rained down from the ceiling.
"That was a warning," Ella said, gripping her armrest. "The next one won't miss."
Kay stared at the privateer, his mind racing. Run? Max's ship was too slow. Fight? They couldn't even scratch the hull.
There was only one way: make sure the enemy couldn't follow.
"Ella," Kay said suddenly. "Remember when you said you had a few 'big surprises'?"
Ella's eyes widened. "Are you insane? Those things pack a punch, but how would you get them over there? We can't even get close—"
"I can." Kay stood up. His hands were trembling slightly—not from fear, but from the instability of his newly awakened power. He took a deep breath, feeling that strange energy inside him.
Spatial folding.
The old hermit had told him this ability could instantly bridge short distances. He'd also warned that using it once would drain him severely.
But there was no time.
"You want to use that?" Max glanced at him through the rearview mirror. "You just got that power, you haven't even practiced—"
"No time to practice." Kay cut him off, turning to Ella. "Give me the explosives."
Ella bit her lip, then reached into her tool pouch. She pulled out three brick-shaped packages wrapped tightly in tape, each connected to a simple timer detonator.
"Each one has the power of ten grenades," she said, her voice shaking a little. "If you plant them near the engine room, you can cripple their propulsion system. But Kay—you'll only have one chance. Once you use that ability, you'll—"
"I know." Kay stuffed the three packages into his jacket and nodded toward the hatch. "Open it."
Max opened his mouth, then closed it. He muttered a curse and hit the release.
Air rushed out of the cabin. Kay grabbed the edge of the hatch. The starfield outside was bitterly cold. The privateer ship was about two hundred meters away, its massive frame crouched like a predatory beast.
He closed his eyes and focused on the spatial energy inside him.
It didn't flow like blood or qi. Instead, it felt like a folded piece of paper—if he could find the crease, he could step across in a single stride.
Kay opened his eyes.
Space split open in front of him.
He stepped through.
—No sound. No color. No weight. Just an instant of nothingness, as if the universe had abandoned him.
Then his boots hit cold metal.
The privateer's engine room.
A massive reactor hummed above his head, waves of heat washing over him. Kay didn't stop to marvel. He scanned quickly—pipes everywhere, cramped spaces, perfect for hiding things.
He shoved the three explosives into gaps between the reactor's outer conduits and pressed the timers.
Thirty seconds.
He turned to leave, ready to fold space again.
But his energy was gone.
The power that had felt so abundant moments ago was now completely depleted, refusing to coalesce no matter how hard he tried. Kay's heart seized—the old hermit hadn't mentioned that using it twice in a row was impossible so soon.
Footsteps echoed from the corridor.
"Why is the engine room alarming? Go check it out!"
Kay clenched his jaw and tore at space with everything he had. The rift was only half as wide as before. He squeezed through.
On the way back, he felt pain. Agony, as if his body were being ripped apart, every bone screaming.
He collapsed at the hatch of Max's ship, face-first onto the cold metal floor.
"Kay!" Ella rushed to his side. "Are you okay?!"
"Go…" Kay's voice was barely a whisper. "Get us out… now…"
Max didn't need a second order. He slammed the throttle forward, and the ship darted away like a frightened fish.
Behind them, a fireball erupted from the privateer's engine compartment. The explosion tore through the warship's propulsion system from the inside. The massive vessel listed to one side like a dying beast, its laser cannons drooping uselessly.
"We blew it up?" Max stared at the rearview feed in disbelief. "We actually blew it up?!"
Ella dragged Kay back to his seat and checked his pulse. His face was as white as paper, his eyes sunken, as if he hadn't slept for days.
"His energy… dropped to 0.70." Her voice trembled as she looked at the detector.
Kay forced his eyes open and managed a weak smile. "Worth it."
Max didn't celebrate. He piloted the ship deep into the dense asteroid field, using the rocks as cover to break line of sight. The privateer's engines were smoking, completely crippled.
But before it lost power, its communication antenna sent out one final signal.
That signal crossed the asteroid belt, crossed the outer ring, and landed directly on Karl's private terminal.
The screen displayed a line of data—
Target identity: Kay (Slum ID #0447)
Estimated energy value: 0.85
Status: Relic energy acquired
Pursuit result: Failed
Karl stared at the words for a long time.
Then he smiled.
"0.85?" He tossed the terminal to Lila, who was standing behind him. "Research him. Find out who he lives with. Father? Mother? Friends? I want everything."
Lila's fingers flew across her keyboard. "Already on it. His father is Kane, a retired Federal soldier. Lives in the east slums. Poor health, rarely leaves home."
"Put eyes on him." Karl stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the brightly lit Core Star. "Commoners think that just because they find some old relic, they can rise above their station?"
His voice was soft, but Lila could hear the venom underneath.
"I'm going to teach him that slum rats belong in the garbage."
Meanwhile, Max's ship finally shook off pursuit and found a hidden cave deep in the asteroid belt to take shelter.
Kay leaned back in his seat, eyes closed, breathing slowly steadying. His energy was climbing back—0.72… 0.74… 0.76.
Ella sat beside him, still clutching her empty tool pouch. She said quietly, "Next time you pull a stunt like that, I'll knock you out myself before you can move."
Kay didn't open his eyes, but the corner of his mouth twitched. "Deal. Just wait until I can stand."
Max lit a cigarette, leaned back in the pilot's chair, and gazed out at the starfield.
"Kid," he said suddenly. "You know, I was once screwed over by nobles too."
Kay opened his eyes.
"I used to fly a cargo hauler. Got an order to bomb a civilian settlement—'rebel sympathizers,' they said. I refused. They framed me for treason, stripped my license, threw me out." He blew a smoke ring. "Been running scrap ever since."
He glanced back at Kay. "You've got guts. But guts don't mean much when they have money and power."
"I know," Kay said. "That's why I need to get stronger."
Max was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded. "Fine. When we get back, I'll teach you some real close-quarters combat. Not that fancy spatial stuff—just good old-fashioned bone-breaking."
Ella snorted. "You? A teacher?"
"Better than nothing, grease monkey."
Kay looked past them, through the viewport, at the distant glimmer of the Core Star.
He had hurt Karl's family today. But that was just the beginning.
Somewhere out there, Karl was planning his revenge.
And Kay's father was still alone in the slums.
I have to get back in time.
The crystal in his pocket pulsed faintly, as if sensing his resolve.
End of Chapter 7