Interstellar: Return of the Villain
Chapter 321: Stellar Devourers Again

Chapter 321: Stellar Devourers Again

Lyra appeared silently in front of Serena, causing her to startle and step back cautiously.

"What do you want?" Serena asked warily, casting a quick glance at Phelixes, whose face remained impassive. "Is this because I helped capture him? Are you here for revenge?"

She braced herself bitterly, thinking it was no less than she deserved. But Lyra’s response surprised her.

"I want to make a deal," Lyra said.

"A deal?" Serena’s eyes narrowed as she scrutinized them. She knew Lyra had fought Jerome and emerged unscathed, a clear testament to her power.

"What kind of deal could someone as powerful as you possibly make with me?" Serena asked skeptically.

Instead of answering, Lyra lightly tapped her finger, and a green glow instantly enveloped the cluttered storage room.

In the adjacent kitchen, Tracy and Lucian, who had been eavesdropping with their ears pressed to the wall, suddenly found themselves unable to hear a single word.

When Lyra explained her purpose, Serena’s expression shifted from confusion to outright disbelief.

"Who ARE you people?" she demanded, her voice tense.

"You don’t have to know," Lyra replied calmly. "What matters is that dealing with me will be worth your while."

Lyra knew the Alliance had star maps, but as a Rear Admiral, she didn’t have clearance to access them, especially given her current circumstances. Getting those maps through official channels was out of the question.

Serena hesitated, visibly torn. Even with her limited understanding, she knew crossing into Alliance territory during wartime was no trivial matter. Ordinary people wouldn’t dare attempt it unless they were smugglers, space pirates, or... Alliance spies.

But Serena also knew this was a rare opportunity—perhaps the only one she’d ever have. Lyra was a level nine, the most powerful person she had ever encountered.

Finally, Serena made up her mind.

"I can get you the star map," she said. "Jerome has them."

Lyra arched a brow but remained silent, waiting for Serena to continue.

"But I want you to kill two people for me," said Serena.

Lyra wasn’t surprised. "Who?"

"Jerome," Serena said, her voice brimming with hatred, "and the man who experiments on orphans from our orphanage."

"Who is the second person? What’s their status and power level?" asked Lyra.

Serena hesitated, frustration darkening her expression. "I don’t know much. But Jerome fears him."

That detail was telling. If Jerome, a level nine, was afraid of this person, their power must surpass his. Even for Lyra, also a level nine, it might be a daunting challenge.

Then Serena’s face brightened with a memory. "I overheard Jerome call him a ’Stellar Devourer.’"

At those words, Lyra and Phelixes’ expressions darkened instantly.

Serena’s heart sank. ’Does this mean even SHE can’t take on him?’

"What do you think?" Phelixes asked cautiously, glancing at Lyra.

Lyra’s lips curled into a sardonic smile. "Life has a twisted sense of humor."

After drifting through the vastness of space for so long, the first "familiar face" she encountered turned out to be THAT.

Serena, misinterpreting Lyra’s silence as hesitation, quickly added, "If you can kill the Stellar Devourer, I’ll give you the star map starting from this planet!"

She didn’t grasp the true nature of a Stellar Devourer, assuming it was just a nickname for someone with a peculiar superpower involving devouring.

Lyra’s eyes narrowed. "How do you have a chart for this place? There’s no spaceport here."

Interstellar routes were incredibly valuable due to the vast unknown dangers in space. Governments invested immense resources to map safe paths. An uncharted ore planet like this one shouldn’t have any mapped routes leading to it.

Serena bit her lip before responding. "My father left it behind. He combined existing star maps with nearby routes and charted a course himself. He even tested it personally and returned safely."

Her voice trembled slightly as she continued, "He was a well-respected doctor in town. But when Jerome arrived, he forced my father into doing illegal work. My father wanted to take my mother and me to the Alliance to start over, but we were discovered before we could leave."

Her face hardened with suppressed anger. "Jerome had my parents killed, and I ended up in the orphanage. But even there, I couldn’t escape his grasp."

Lyra glanced at Serena and said, "Show me."

Serena’s first instinct was to refuse. She feared Lyra might betray her after seeing the chart.

But as she reconsidered, she realized that if Lyra intended to double-cross her, she could have done so already. There was no need for this pretense of negotiation. Maybe Lyra was someone she could reason with after all.

With that thought, Serena handed over the chart decisively.

Lyra scanned the map, her sharp intuition confirming that the mapped energy fields between planets seemed accurate.

This wasn’t some forgery.

Satisfied, she tucked the interstellar star chart away and turned her attention to Serena, whose anxious expression betrayed her fear of being tricked.

"When is the Stellar Devourer coming?" Lyra asked.

Serena’s eyes lit up. "The day after tomorrow."

She hesitated, shuddering before adding, "Jerome keeps buying children from space pirates. Every month-end, they come here to choose kids and conduct experiments on the spot. I have to go to Jerome’s place and save as many as I can."

Phelixes’ expression grew complicated. "Even if you bring them back, they won’t survive long. Why go to such lengths?"

He still couldn’t understand this young woman, especially after witnessing the humiliation she endured at Jerome’s hands.

"How do you know they won’t survive?" Serena wanted to retort but felt a lump rise in her throat instead. She wiped her eyes, her voice trembling. "My father founded the orphanage. He couldn’t bear to see children suffer. It’s hard to keep it running now, but I can’t abandon his wish."

She sighed deeply, her face far removed from the quack persona she had shown before. "Besides, everyone needs something to fight for in life, so do I. Without it, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself."

It wasn’t pure altruism driving her efforts to save the children. After Jerome’s abuse, she had been on the verge of ending her life. But just as she was about to pull the trigger, she had seen the caged children. In a way, they had saved her, giving her a purpose.

That day, Serena had lowered the gun and resolved to carry on.

Seeing the incomprehension on their faces, she smiled faintly. "If you’d ever looked into those children’s eyes, you’d understand why what I do is worth it."

Lyra made no comment. In her view, saving others was admirable, but sacrificing oneself in the process was a pointless waste.

Once Lyra and Phelixes left, Serena exhaled and steadied herself. But as she stepped outside, she came face to face with Tracy, who stood with one hand on her hip, her long legs planted firmly apart like a human compass.

Serena’s heart sank. She turned to flee, but Tracy grabbed her by the collar.

"Serena," Tracy growled, her tone brimming with menace, "I’ve been good enough to take you in. Don’t you dare repay me by dragging trouble into my inn."

Tracy flicked her cigarette butt into the corner. "If those shady folks you’re dealing with cause me any problems, I’ll raze your orphanage to the ground."

Serena clenched her teeth. She could endure anything—but not that.

"My father used to treat your injuries for free. Is this how you repay him? Repay US?" she shot back, her voice trembling with anger.

Tracy sneered. "That was your father’s kindness. What does it have to do with you?"

Lucian, lounging by the kitchen door, chuckled darkly. "Yeah, if not for your dad, you’d have been beaten to a pulp by now. All you do is brag and hang out with shady scum."

Their taunts chipped away at Serena’s composure until her carefully crafted facade crumbled. She broke free from Tracy’s grip, tears streaming down her face as she yelled, "I’ll deal with you later!"

She needed to save at least one child first.

Tracy brushed the ash from her clothes and looked up, spotting Lyra watching coldly from the second-floor balcony.

Forcing a smile, Tracy gave a polite nod and waved.

...

The next morning, a man in a pristine suit entered the inn.

His formal attire stood in stark contrast to the carefree, mismatched styles of the locals. The rowdy laughter and chatter in the tavern fell silent instantly, leaving the room so quiet that even a pin drop would echo.

"May I ask where Miss Freya is?" the man inquired, his voice calm and authoritative.