Interstellar: Return of the Villain
Chapter 300: The Prey Becomes the Hunter

Chapter 300: The Prey Becomes the Hunter

Broken Blade and Markle arrived with their full crew, determined to ensure they weren’t cheated in the upcoming deal.

Unlike most space pirate crews, the Wolf Fangs had a unique specialty: alcohol production. Brewing and tasting were essential skills for their members.

Though their spirits weren’t certified by the Alliance, they were renowned in underground circles and among certain wealthy elites.

Before they even entered the base, the rich, intoxicating aroma of alcohol filled the air.

Broken Blade took a deep breath and sighed.

"Gino must’ve brewed something new again," she muttered.

Markle licked his lips and nodded, his gaze shifting to Lyra, who walked silently beside them. She appeared subdued, her eyes downcast and her demeanor calm, betraying no hint of resistance despite her bound hands.

At the base entrance, a young guard approached them hurriedly. "Every

one, please follow me to the cellar."

The so-called cellar was Gino’s personal lab, where he concocted new spirits.

The group made their way through the base, passing countless taverns. The air was saturated with the scent of alcohol, and the sounds of drinking games and raucous laughter echoed everywhere.

Pirates huddled in groups, competing to see who could drink more or better.

Markle leaned in toward Broken Blade and whispered, "Out of the three of us, Gino’s the least pirate-like."

"But when it comes to looting, no one’s more ruthless than him," Broken Blade replied.

The two exchanged a wary glance. Meanwhile, Lyra, hands still cuffed, watched them intently and allowed a faint smirk to flicker across her lips.

When they reached the cellar, they found it built into a small hill, its hollowed interior storing Gino’s prized brews.

Outside, an open field had been turned into a makeshift holding area, where over a hundred villagers were corralled at gunpoint. Their eyes lit up at the sight of Lyra, a flicker of hope breaking through their despair.

The air was so thick with the scent of alcohol it seemed to dull the senses. Coupled with a faint aura of leaked superpower energy, even the alert struggled to stay clear-headed.

The pirates’ flushed faces betrayed their difficulty staying sober.

"Gino, can’t you tone it down?" Broken Blade growled irritably.

A hidden door in the ground slid open, and Gino emerged, dressed in a white lab coat, safety goggles, and disposable gloves—looking more like a scientist than a pirate.

His short brown hair framed a perpetually tipsy expression, his cheeks slightly flushed from constant low-level intoxication.

"Enough talk," Gino said lazily. "Where’s the delivery?"

Broken Blade gestured behind him. "Right there."

Gino’s hazy gaze settled on Lyra, but the icy sharpness in her eyes jolted him into partial sobriety.

Still, his tension eased as he turned his attention to the villagers his crew had captured.

"Rear Admiral Shedd, may I ask where the weapons are?" Gino asked with a sly smile.

Lyra studied him, her cold, calculating gaze unwavering. "So, this time it’s really you in person?"

"Absolutely," Gino replied with a chuckle.

But her piercing eyes cut through his bravado, leaving him visibly uneasy. She frowned slightly, her tone turning sharper.

"Rear Admiral Shedd, is something wrong?" Gino asked, feigning ignorance.

"You’re like a rabbit, with endless escape in your hole," Lyra said icily. "Afraid to die, aren’t you?"

The accusation struck a nerve. Gino’s confidence faltered—how had she read his strategy so easily? Still, he wasn’t outmaneuvered yet.

Motioning to his men, he had an elderly villager dragged forward at gunpoint.

Smirking at Lyra, he mocked, "Now, about those weapons..."

Gino was desperate to secure her military unit’s arsenal, a trove of weapons that could elevate his pirate crew’s power. He wouldn’t leave without extracting that information from her.

Lyra was expected to resist, but to everyone’s surprise, she complied without hesitation. Reaching up, she removed the Space Button from her neck.

"It’s all in here," she said calmly.

Before the three pirate leaders could react, she tossed the button high into the air.

The small object gleamed under the sunlight, its peculiar shimmer mesmerizing.

Instinct took over—the reflexes of seasoned space pirates, trained for seizing treasure, kicked in.

Without a second thought, they launched themselves skyward, each using their unique abilities to grab the button midair.

As they soared, they noticed Lyra on the ground below, watching them with cold, calculating eyes.

Though her hands remained bound, a radiant field of glowing spikes unfolded at her feet. From above, it resembled a deadly, dazzling flower blooming in an instant.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

The sharp sounds of piercing flesh echoed as the glowing spikes impaled the three level-nine Peculiars, suspending them in midair.

Lyra’s lips curled into a vicious smile. Tensing her arms, she snapped the handcuffs apart with raw strength.

The remaining pirates, stunned by the turn of events, raised their weapons and opened fire.

Lyra took one graceful step forward.

A freezing wave of ice exploded outward, engulfing the entire base in an instant. Pirates, buildings, and weapons were encased in shimmering frost.

The frozen figures stood motionless, their expressions of terror preserved in crystal clarity.

Above, a massive green energy sphere formed, splitting into countless streaks of light.

The green beams rained down like arrows, shattering the frozen pirates into fragments. As the shards hit the ground, they melted into pools of blood and scattered remains.

Gino, Broken Blade, and Markle, still impaled midair, paled at the carnage.

Exchanging panicked glances, they summoned their superpowers, realizing their only chance was to fight.

Nobody had expected Lyra to be this terrifying. With a single move, she had seized control of the battlefield.

The three lunged at her simultaneously, but Lyra remained composed.

Moving with effortless precision, her fingers traced glowing patterns in the air.

Trails of light burst forth, creating a dense, undulating forest of energy strands that enveloped her attackers. The strands swirled like deep-ocean seaweed, tangling and threatening at every turn.

The pirate leaders struggled to close in but were forced to retreat, wary of the deadly traps in the glowing maze.

Meanwhile, their frozen subordinates remained useless, trapped in ice.

"This wasn’t the plan!" Markle snarled. "We were supposed to use the hostages to threaten her, and now she’s flipped the entire script!"

Desperate, Gino hurled a wave of alcohol into the air, which Broken Blade ignited with a flick of his cigar. The resulting flames slowly melted the ice, freeing the surviving pirates.

"Kill a few villagers now!" Markle roared, scrambling for leverage.

But before the pirates could act, the "villagers" sprang to life. In seconds, they overpowered and killed the freed pirates with brutal precision.

The villagers pulled off their disguises, revealing themselves as Lyra’s soldiers, including Mandy and her elite teammates.

Gino’s earlier slip about their military deployment timeline had tipped Lyra off. Anticipating that her cover would be blown, she devised a countermeasure.

Using Gultong’s unique superpower, they masked their movements from the base’s surveillance, swapping her soldiers with the captured villagers to set a trap.

The pirates had unknowingly brought back not helpless hostages, but a pack of hunters.

"So the HER freezing ability has reached level nine, huh?" Grains said, shifting into his beast form as he tore through enemy ranks. "Her advancement rate is insane!"

...

Despite their efficiency, the base held nearly twenty thousand pirates—far too many to eliminate quickly. As they fought, more pirates thawed from the ice and rushed in.

But before they could act, another wave of frost swept across the base, locking them in place once more.

The three pirate leaders, battered and desperate, felt their hope slipping away. As they scrambled for a plan, Lyra unsheathed her sword.

A chill of pure dread washed over Gino. Remembering rumors of her ruthlessness, he turned to flee without hesitation.

But his vision blurred, and suddenly Lyra was in front of him, her blade slicing downward.

Gino activated his superpower in desperation, transforming his body into translucent, liquid alcohol. The sword passed through him harmlessly, and he almost dared to feel relief.

Until the cold hit.

In an instant, his alcohol-like form froze solid, trapping him in his own power.