Chapter Forty-Two: May I Try the Gun?

“Your Highness, the Undying Legion has come to escort you home.”

The officers all spoke in unison, their voices deep and sonorous, like great bronze bells reverberating in the ears of everyone present.

Your Highness, the Princess? She’s a princess? Where did this princess come from?

All eyes widened, turning to Phoenix—the girl with striking features, her hair tied back in a neat ponytail, clad in faded jeans and a worn black hoodie. Could she truly be a princess?

How could this be? Was this some kind of idol drama? But then, such productions had long since vanished from the Old Earth—there weren’t even any short films left.

Phoenix regarded the general kneeling before her with a calm expression and spoke, “General Bai Qi, rise.”

“Thank you, Your Highness!”

Bai Qi saluted her once more. He was a towering figure, well over two meters tall, and when he stood, he loomed high above Phoenix.

Yet somehow, even that could not overshadow Phoenix’s presence. In a blink, the long-legged girl who used to follow Tang Fei around, scrambling for water, hunting, and snatching up grilled meat, seemed to shine with a golden light.

She was like the great mural on the starship—a phoenix reborn in fire, radiant and dazzling.

“The rest of you, rise as well,” Phoenix said, her gaze sweeping the crowd.

“Thank you, Your Highness!” the officers and soldiers replied in chorus.

With a great rustle, all of them stood as one, their movements impeccably smooth, without the slightest hesitation—as if they had drilled this a thousand times.

General Bai Qi looked pained and said, “Your Highness, you have suffered. We deserve death for our failure.”

Phoenix fixed him with her gaze and asked in a quiet voice, “It’s been some time since I lost contact with home, hasn’t it? Why did it take you so long to find me? What happened? Did the navigation fail, or was there an issue with the starship’s registry?”

“His Majesty was beside himself when you lost contact with the palace. He dispatched the main forces of the Undying Legion, the Fireborn Legion, and the Phoenix Dance Legion to search the ruins for you. But the enemy laid too many traps and snares, leading us all astray, each to a different place...

“We could not pinpoint your location, nor did we have any signals to track. So we scoured the Old Earth far and wide… It was like searching for a needle in the ocean.

“Not until last night did we spot traces of a starship departing from the region of Hate Mountain. We immediately sent a squad to pursue it. When we intercepted that vessel, we interrogated the crew and finally learned your whereabouts...

“When we heard you were still in this settlement near Hate Mountain, we rushed here at once. Your Highness—are you unharmed?”

“I’m fine,” Phoenix nodded, pointing to Tang Fei and Fatty. “Thanks to them. Otherwise, you might have found nothing but a corpse.”

“Not even a corpse!” Fatty chimed in, his face flushed with excitement. “These assassins never leave bodies behind.”

Fatty was nearly giddy with excitement. Phoenix—his own Phoenix—was a princess! Who could have guessed that the girl his brother had dragged in from the wilds was actually royalty? Who could he even tell such a thing to?

No wonder, he thought, from the moment he first saw her, she seemed so delicate—she couldn’t even break rocks. Now it all made sense; his powers of observation were sharper than he thought. How could a princess ever break rocks?

In his brother’s tales, a princess was the daughter of an emperor, a figure of immense importance.

And now, there was no way she could renege on what she owed his brother. His brother had even worried that she had no money, and had purposefully dismantled her escape pod...

He’d heard that meat rations from the New Star were delicious. Maybe he could ask for some more of those after all?

“You heard him?” Phoenix said, nodding toward Fatty’s words and casting a sharp look at General Bai Qi.

Bai Qi bowed once again and apologized, “Bai Qi arrived too late to rescue you. Please forgive me, Your Highness.”

“Whether there is blame or not, we’ll discuss it at length when we’re home,” Phoenix replied with a wave of her hand. “At least, you were cleverer than the other two rescue teams. For all we know, they’re wandering in circles somewhere... Some truly mean to rescue, others only pretend. Who can say for certain, General Bai Qi?”

“Forgive me, Your Highness.”

Such a topic was one Bai Qi could neither answer nor dare to answer.

The entire affair was bizarre. The Princess Royal of the Phoenix Empire, betrayed and nearly assassinated by those closest to her. Only through the loyal sacrifice of her confidant and her own abilities did she manage to escape in a pod and survive.

Interrogating the crew of the intercepted starship revealed they were assassins sent from the New Star, with the sole aim of leaving the Princess Royal forever lost among the ruins.

Who could be so audacious? Had the struggle truly grown this fierce?

Simply contemplating it sent chills down his spine.

Such matters could not be dwelled upon, nor even considered in depth.

He was a man of war, meant to expand the empire’s borders—other matters were best left untouched.

Phoenix knew Bai Qi would not answer—these generals, for all their burly exteriors, were shrewd indeed.

She spoke only to remind him, and those around him who might have their own ambitions.

The Undying Legion was one of the empire’s three elite forces. In name, it served the empire and the emperor, but how many factions had planted their own agents within it?

It was hard to distinguish loyalty from treachery.

At this thought, she couldn’t help but think of Tang Fei...

But then, Tang Fei was just the same as the others—crafty as a needle’s eye.

Fatty, at least, was straightforward in thought and action—a comfort in troubled times.

“Enough apologies. I can’t judge your crimes,” Phoenix said, shaking her head. “Are we departing now?”

“Yes,” Bai Qi replied. “We have already sent word of your discovery. His Majesty has ordered us to return you to safety as swiftly as possible. Please, Your Highness, allow us to escort you home.”

Phoenix turned to Tang Fei, wanting to say something but not knowing what.

Farewell? Would there be another chance for farewell?

Goodbye? It seemed too trivial.

Take care? He would only mock her for saying something so pointless. Maybe she should throw in a ton of supplies instead?

All that training in ‘Oratory and Eloquence’ with the court lecturers, and now she found herself lost for words.

Tang Fei, on the other hand, looked at her with unconcealed excitement, as if on the verge of speaking but holding back.

Phoenix, heart lightened, encouraged him, “I’m leaving soon. If you have something to say... just say it.”

Tang Fei nodded and pointed to the weapons in the soldiers’ arms. “Are those pulse rifles they’re holding?”

Phoenix very nearly wanted to shoot him then and there.

Seeing her glare, Tang Fei grew anxious. “You’re not going to go back on your word, are you? We agreed before—I’d get one pulse rifle, and you said you’d double it... then doubled it again... So now I should have at least four, right?”

“Bai Qi,” Phoenix called.

“Your Highness?” Bai Qi glanced at Tang Fei, awaiting orders.

“Give him four pulse rifles,” Phoenix instructed.

“At once.” Bai Qi gestured, and his adjutant hurried back to the starship, returning with four brand-new rifles.

Tang Fei seized one, cradling it as if it were a treasure, then looked to Phoenix. “Can I test-fire it?”

“Go ahead. Test it as you like, whenever you want.”

After asking the adjutant about its operation, Tang Fei took aim at a distant tree and pulled the trigger.

Bang—

The trunk exploded into powder, and the entire tree crashed to the ground.

Tang Fei was astonished. This weapon was truly formidable.

With a pulse rifle like this, wouldn’t he be invincible on Old Earth?

And he had four of them...

“Amazing, this weapon is amazing,” Tang Fei exclaimed, giving Phoenix a thumbs-up.

“Tang Fei, I’m leaving now,” Phoenix said.

“Oh... right...” Tang Fei nodded. “Don’t forget what you promised. I got the rifles—there’s also the hovercar and supplies... Fatty loves meat. If you can, bring more of those meat tins from New Star... They’re delicious and easy to store.”

“I won’t forget.”

Tang Fei waved her off. “Go on, then. Return to where you belong.”

Phoenix had no further words for him. She walked over to Fatty, patted his shoulder, and said, “Take care of yourself, all right?”

“I’m tough as an ox,” Fatty beamed, his smile pure.

“And don’t let Tang Fei bully you, understand?”

“My brother never bullies me,” Fatty replied earnestly.

“Whatever happens, your safety comes first.”

“I know. My brother says, ‘If you can win, fight. If you can’t, run.’”

Phoenix laughed, “That’s right—listen to your brother. If you can win, fight. If you can’t, run.”

“Phoenix, are you really a princess?” Fatty asked, looking up at her.

“Yes, I am,” Phoenix nodded.

“Do princesses live in really, really big houses?”

“That’s right, very big houses.”

“Do princesses get to eat meat every day?”

“If I want to, I can eat meat every day. I used not to like it much... but from now on, I’ll eat more.”

“You should, Phoenix. You’re too thin.”

“You too...” Phoenix looked at his chubby cheeks and corrected herself, “You’re growing—make sure you get enough nutrition.”

“Take care, Phoenix.”

“You take care too.”

Phoenix wanted to say goodbye to the old man, but he had already disappeared—no telling where he’d hidden himself.

She turned to Tang Fei. “Give my regards to your uncle...”

“I will,” Tang Fei replied.

Phoenix gave Tang Fei one last, lingering look, then turned and walked toward the starship.

General Bai Qi and his senior officers immediately followed, while a host of soldiers gathered to surround Phoenix at the center.

She waved and smiled to the surrounding townsfolk—some familiar, most strangers. After this farewell, she would never see them again.

One after another, the residents of Old Earth, cowed by her status or the awe-inspiring presence of the Undying Legion, dropped to their knees—those who had moments before stared at her in disbelief now bowed their heads.

“Your Highness!”