Chapter Six: Joy Turns to Sorrow

“Tell me, just who are these people?!”
“Judging by their weapons and uniforms, they’re certainly not any of the warlord factions on Chaos Star!”
When Zera caught up with his subordinates, Ye Hai immediately asked.
Now that the pursuers had revealed themselves, Zera had no intention of hiding the truth any longer.
He responded coldly, “They’re from the First Defense Army of Giant Tree Star…”
Ye Hai was startled by Zera’s answer.
Giant Tree Star was the closest planet to the star in the Leviathan system, where Zombie Star was located.
It was not within the habitable zone—it was a terraformed planet.
Originally, it had been a secret base for a group of interstellar pirates. When the biochemical crisis broke out on Zombie Star, these hyenas, with their sharp instincts, acted quickly.
While the other planets hesitated and watched, they sent armies to plunder Zombie Star’s resources and technology.
They advanced Giant Tree Star’s technology by at least a hundred years.
After absorbing Zombie Star’s legacy, the Pirate King—Monkey D.—declared the establishment of an imperial regime three years ago, proclaiming himself “Emperor Monkey.” Yes, no Luffy here.
These interstellar pirates, notorious for their crimes, had suddenly transformed into a legitimate authority.
And soon, they gained recognition from other governments. The reason? They obtained stellar energy development technology from Zombie Star.
With their advantageous location, they quickly seized nearly sixty percent of the energy market.
Now, Giant Tree Star’s status in the Leviathan system was akin to that of a wealthy tycoon on Earth: not the strongest militarily, but overflowing with wealth.
Ye Hai keenly sensed something unusual in Zera’s words.
He asked, puzzled, “Giant Tree Star is over two billion kilometers from Zombie Star, and there’s no real trade between them… How did you provoke them?”
“And it’s the First Defense Army that came? They wouldn’t leave Giant Tree Star so easily.”
“That’s Emperor Monkey’s elite force, responsible for the capital’s defense… They were once the bloodthirsty pirates who ravaged the stars alongside him! Their combat prowess ranks among the top regular armies in the whole system!”
“Did you cuckold Emperor Monkey?”
Zera sneered, utterly dismissive. “With the unsightly wives that Emperor Monkey has, if I looked at them too long, my eyes would rot…”
“If I were selling people, I wouldn’t even use his wives as extras!”
“As for why the First Defense Army is hunting me… That’s a long story…”
Just as Ye Hai was eagerly awaiting the rest,
Zera’s voice dripped with malice, “Since it’s a long story… I won’t tell it!”

Ye Hai almost spat blood in exasperation, and nearly swung the three women tied up in the blanket behind him at Zera like a hammer.
Seeing Zera’s mocking gaze, Ye Hai knew he wouldn’t get an answer, so he didn’t bother to press further. Instead, he asked, “What now? Are we just going to run all the way to the Radiated Zone?”
“The tail behind us is a pack of battle-hardened pirates, as relentless as hyenas. Disappearing under their noses won’t be easy, even with cover from this forest…”
Zera glanced around, then said mysteriously, “We’ve arrived.”
“???”
Before Ye Hai could react, Zera pulled two remote controls from his pocket, resembling car keys, and pressed them.
With two beeps, Ye Hai was astonished to see the thick foliage atop a tree about ten meters ahead slowly parting…
Two of Chaos Star’s latest hover cars emerged from the undergrowth, gliding to a halt before the group.
Immediately, Ye Hai’s eyes shone with feverish excitement.
“StarTail Series 7 hover car—this is one of the top supercars on Chaos Star… You managed to bring it to Zombie Star… That’s impressive!”
Ye Hai scrutinized Zera with complex admiration, amazed at the forbidden figure’s reach and connections.
Zera was quite pleased by Ye Hai’s envious gaze, especially by the words, “That’s impressive,” which brought a rare, genuine smile to his cool face… After all, “That’s impressive” is the highest honor among men!
Ye Hai’s reaction, after all, proved that the other forbidden figure, “Raven,” couldn’t get his hands on such a prize.
At least in terms of channels, Zera considered himself ahead of Raven.
But Ye Hai’s next words nearly made Zera draw his gun and blow his brains out.
“Is it true, what they say in the black market… that you’re the consort of that fat sow queen of the Undertow Organization?”
“Who knew you, with those bold eyebrows and big eyes, had such unique tastes?”
“They say the fat sow queen of Undertow weighs over five hundred pounds, and her legs are blocked by two mounds of flesh from the knees down—can’t be separated… Can you handle that?”
Ye Hai teased with a grin.
Zera replied darkly, “I’m a level two zombie virus mutant—add another five hundred pounds and I’d still handle it!”
With that, he climbed into one of the hover cars, leaving Ye Hai bewildered in place… That was not the kind of thing a cold-blooded villain should say…
After getting his men into the car, Zera tossed the other key to Ye Hai.
“Can you drive? You’ll lead. We need to shake off the pursuers and reach the Radiated Zone as fast as possible.”
Ye Hai nodded without hesitation. “I’m a pro!”
Zera smirked, tossing out a cold warning, “Don’t go too fast, or you’ll die hitting a tree.”

“And don’t go too slow, or the death will be even worse!”
Ye Hai, eyes only for the StarTail, ignored Zera completely.
He placed the bundled-up girls on the back seat, slid into the driver’s seat, and pressed the ignition.
The hover car roared loudly as Ye Hai pushed the controls forward.
Starting at 200 kilometers per hour…
In an instant, the hover car darted through the dense forest like a swimming fish.
Disaster seemed imminent at every turn.
Whenever the hover car was about to smash into a tree or a boulder, Ye Hai would skillfully veer away at the very last moment, sending the girls into terrified screams.
Ye Hai seemed quite pleased with their “admiration” for his driving skills!
The speed climbed another notch, soon breaking 350 kilometers per hour.
Zera cursed wildly.
After all, Zera didn’t have the super-fast reflexes granted by the T-virus.
If he dared to sprint through the dense woods at such insane speeds, the three people in his car would end up as scattered remains—uncertain if there’d be enough pieces to stitch into one corpse…
Fortunately, the two hover cars had tracking systems installed, so Zera was able to follow Ye Hai’s path.
Up ahead, Ye Hai, letting loose, soon sensed something was wrong.
He didn’t know when, but a large number of mutant birds and beasts began appearing in his sights.
These powerful mutants were supposed to be confined to the Radiated Zone—never seen in the forest here…
Yet in this short span, Ye Hai had spotted more than a dozen different mutant beasts.
When a steel-winged eagle, over seven meters tall with a wingspan approaching twenty meters, soared above the woods, Ye Hai’s face turned grim.
“Damn thing… The power source of this StarTail 7 has been modified, using high-energy radiation crystals!”
“The virus-mutated beasts on Zombie Star are hundreds of times more sensitive to radiation energy than human zombies!”
“These mutants see me as prey… I’m in deep trouble now…”