Interstellar: Return of the Villain
Chapter 294: Being Space Pirates

Chapter 294: Being Space Pirates

One of the villagers stepped forward, his voice filled with desperation. "Please, we can’t spare any more food for your protection. We really can’t."

"That’s right," another added. "We haven’t even harvested this year’s crops yet. We’re living off hunting and foraging now—there’s nothing left to give."

"Please, don’t take our children. Our village is already doomed; we can’t lose anyone else!" another elder begged, his voice cracking.

To the villagers, what Gultong saw as help seemed more like an excuse for the pirates to extort them for protection money.

"No, you misunderstand..." Gultong started to explain, but Lyra cut him off sharply.

"When are we eating?" she asked, her voice slicing through the tension.

With a casual, almost lazy motion, she sat down at the table, as if she were royalty awaiting a feast.

Helion, one of the pirates, chimed in with mock annoyance. "Yeah, do you plan to starve us or what?"

The villagers exchanged helpless looks before going to work, pulling out the animals they’d caught that afternoon. They began gutting and preparing the meat for dinner, their faces drawn with exhaustion and resignation.

Compared to the ragged villagers, the pirates looked almost regal, their clothes and weapons gleaming in the dim light.

After the meal, the village chief’s body was carried outside, and a large pit had been dug for his burial.

Moths fluttered around the oil lamps, their flickering light casting eerie shadows that made the scene feel even more ghostly.

Other elderly villagers, leaning on each other for support, slowly made their way to the pit. Though they had accepted the reality of death, there was no escaping the fear and sorrow that gripped them.

As the dirt began to fall, tears flowed freely, and an old woman sobbed quietly as the first shovelful of earth hit her husband’s grave.

But then, a strong gust of wind swept through the village, knocking everyone to the ground.

"Enough noise!" a cold voice rang out. It was Elsie, the "pirate woman" who had remained stoic and distant throughout the evening. "What’s all this burial nonsense? The wind’s so strong, the body’s going to stink up the place. Are you trying to kill us with the smell?"

She stood, her face expressionless, and waved her hand. The wind seemed to obey her command, blowing dust and debris in every direction. Her words, spoken with menace, froze everyone in their tracks.

"Scatter. Now!" she ordered, the wind picking up, threatening to bury the villagers under a storm of dirt. With a flick of her wrist, she intentionally covered the chief’s body, forcing the villagers to retreat.

Powerless, the villagers gathered their tools and reluctantly helped the elderly back to their homes.

Meanwhile, high above, a small drone buzzed, transmitting everything that had just happened. A hidden figure in the shadows grinned as they watched the footage on a screen.

"Where did these pests come from, daring to stir trouble in my territory?" A middle-aged woman sneered, flicking ash from her cigarette. "But... hmm, these men aren’t bad-looking."

She tapped the side of her chair, causing holographic images of two figures to glow in front of her.

An old man with a rooster’s comb hairstyle spat on the ground, his voice full of disdain. "Broken Blade. You can’t seem to stop staring at any man who looks decent, can you?"

"Shut up and drop the woman in your arms first," Markle, head of the Falcons responded, smirking as he admired the view of the two women.

The drunk man next to them squinted, barely lifting his eyelids. "Before you start plotting, maybe you should check if you can even handle them." He tossed a hologram into the air, showing an image from space.

Broken Blade and Markle stared at the image, their expressions instantly shifting to one of shock and concern.

"Are they from the Legion of Everglow?" Markle asked, his voice tense.

"Yes," came the reply.

"So, that rumor about Lyra planning to station troops at Voidstar No. 1 is true?" The Falcons’ grip on his iron balls tightened.

Gino, head of the Wolf Fangs, still drunk, belched loudly. "The ship’s just sitting out there."

Markle’s fingers worked faster on the iron balls, his anxiety rising. "Then should we strike first?"

The Wolf Fangs shook his head, disagreeing. "You’re an idiot. Do you have any idea how many level-nine warriors have died at Lyra’s hands?"

Broken Blade stroked the spot on her chest, her face darkening with anger. "That little bitch Lyra and I have old scores to settle. I’ll find a way to bring her down."

"Same here," Gino growled, his tone matching the intensity of his expression.

Gino’s bloodshot eyes scanned the two pirates before they shifted to the images streaming from the drone. He smirked.

"We need to deal with this... Venus’ Seashell first," he muttered.

Broken Blade waved her hand dismissively. "I’ll have my people test the waters tomorrow. Don’t worry about it for now."

The other two exchanged uncertain glances. If it weren’t for the intel about Lyra planning to station troops at Voidstar No. 1, they might not have bothered with these pirates at all.

They suspected these newcomers were just scouts, nothing more.

*****

The village was uneasy that night. With sharp ears and watchful eyes, several villagers overheard fragments of conversations.

"Not enough..."

"What do we do?"

"We don’t have any more money..."

The next morning, as promised, Broken Blade’s crew arrived to collect the tax.

Rick, carrying a wooden crate, shuffled forward. Inside was everything the village could scrape together—a pitiful sum. There were a few large bills, but most of it was made up of small coins that barely filled half the crate.

The currency circulating in Voidstar No. 1 came from space pirates—purchased from locals like the villagers at inflated prices and funneled back to larger pirate gangs like the Broken Blades.

Without even needing to count, the squad leader knew it wasn’t enough.

His eyes gleamed with malice as he scanned the villagers. With a sneer, he muttered, "Boys, it’s time to collect."

In pirate slang, "collect" meant to take people—specifically women and children.

The villagers recoiled in fear, women and children shrinking back as panic set in.

But then, a sharp voice cut through the tension. "Our village has a few outsiders. They’re beautiful, probably worth more than we are!"

A disheveled woman’s eyes burned with wild, desperate light. "Really. They’re worth at least fifty thousand, no—more like a hundred thousand!"

In that moment, the villagers shared a common thought: ’Let the pirates tear each other apart. Why not let them fight over the newcomers?’

The squad leader’s eyes lit up at the mention of the "outsiders." This was his chance.

He adjusted the tiny camera on his chest and grinned. "Where are they? If you’re lying to me, I’ll slit your throat."

The woman nervously pointed. "At Rick’s house!"

Gultong tried to speak, but his father placed a hand over his mouth, silencing him. They could do nothing but watch as the squad leader led his men toward Rick’s home.

From a distance, they saw men and women stepping out of the house.

"Everyone inside, step forward!" the squad leader shouted, kicking open the small wooden door.

Lyra glanced up. Her piercing gaze locked with his, and the squad leader froze in his tracks. Instinctively, he knew she was dangerous.

Quickly, he holstered his gun, trying to regain composure. "May I ask where you’re from, big girl?"

Lyra gave him a cold, dismissive glance but didn’t answer.

Helion, lounging casually on a wooden post with a small electromagnetic cannon across his lap, lazily picked his ear, totally nonchalant. "We were just drifting through the far stars and decided to settle here at Voidstar No. 1. Didn’t mean to intrude," he said, snapping his fingers as though he were talking about the weather.

The squad leader tried to recover. "We came here to settle at Voidstar No. 1 and ran into the Legion of Everglow... What luck, huh?"

Behind the scenes, Broken Blade stroked her chin thoughtfully, then spoke into a microphone, issuing orders.

Back in the village, the squad leader chuckled darkly.

"My boss wants to invite you all to the Broken Blades’ base for a visit," he said, his tone dripping with malice.

The group hesitated, unsure.

Lyra glanced up with a playful smile. "Well, if you insist, I suppose it’s alright to go for a visit."

"Please, do come," the squad leader insisted, his eyes flickering with a mixture of arrogance and bravado.

The villagers stepped aside, breathing a collective sigh of relief. But their hope was short-lived.

Suddenly, one of the pirate thugs, a hulking figure, reached out and grabbed two children, one in each hand.

"Ha! You think you can get away with not paying? Dream on!" he barked, his grip tightening around the children.