death of hope

Chapter 978 "Psionic Storm" (53) Action Team

"Guys, our ship is about to escape warped space and return to the physical universe."
Now, buckle up, sit still, and if you don't want to throw up, don't eat or drink anything~

The captain's hoarse voice echoed in the cargo hold.

"Coming."

Paul, who was doing push-ups to exercise, got up, wiped the sweat from his forehead, walked to the row of stainless steel fixed chairs close to the cabin wall, fastened his seat belt, straightened his back, and sat like a well-trained soldier.

There were three people traveling with him. As always, Tonya sat close to him, gazing at Paul with adoration and affection.

The burly, bearded man, Sergei, gripped the vodka bottle and tilted his head back, chugging it down incessantly.
The other person, with his face obscured by a hood, seemed to be deliberately avoiding Sergei, and huddled in a corner, staring blankly.

·
"Old Xie! Stop drinking! Do you want to throw up all over the place?" Paul frowned and scolded.

The bearded man put down his bottle and let out a particularly loud burp; the smell of alcohol in his throat could be smelled from a great distance.
"Liquor is my life; if I drink even a sip, I feel restless all over."
"So what if I vomit? Which unlucky sailor is cleaning up the mess will definitely curse me, hahaha!"

“Hmph…disorganized and undisciplined…” Paul shook his head helplessly and said no more.

Donya laughed and said, "Old Xie is asking for trouble again. When we get back to the base, you'll be punished by cleaning the outhouse for a month."

“Punish me? No way! You don’t get to decide! You’re just a little brat, nothing more than our boss’s mistress.” Sergei stroked his beard and said.
"Issuing a ticket is only up to our boss!"

·
"Old Xie! You..." Donya's face turned bright red with embarrassment: "You're so annoying!"

"Hehe, I'm straightforward and I love to tell the truth~"

“Disrespectful to elders, he deserves to be punished!” Paul said expressionlessly and in a flat tone.

"Old Xie, when you get back, you'll be punished by cleaning toilets for a month."

"Oh dear, the boss has spoken! Fine! Let's sweep it up, just make sure we have enough alcohol!"

Sergei turned to look at his hooded companion and said in a disdainful and mocking tone:

"Hmph, if I'd known this bastard was coming, I wouldn't have come!"

"Old Xie!" Paul shouted angrily, clenching his fist.

"Comrades should respect each other! You're undermining unity, you're punished by cleaning toilets for two months!"

·
“Fine…fine me then, even if it means living in a latrine for the rest of my life!” Sergei clicked his tongue: “I still don’t want to team up with this pointy-eared guy!”

"Sigh... I just can't do anything with you old man..."

Paul sighed and said to the hooded man:

"I'm sorry, Lao Cui, I'll definitely punish this guy severely when we get back!"

"Thank you for your concern, boss, but I don't care. Let him scold me however he wants."

The man spoke indifferently, removing his hood to reveal a thin face and a pair of pointed ears.

It turns out this person wasn't human, but an alien, a member of the Spirit Race.

His Eldar surname is 'Darkmoon', and his human name is 'Drizzt'.
He was a psionic expert in the commune organization, and everyone called him "Old Cui".

·
The reason why the bearded Sergei hated the Eldar was because of a blood feud.
Sergei's cousin was a miner who was robbed by Elves pirates while traveling on an interstellar mining ship. He fought back but was killed by psychic magic.

In fact, the two had no enmity with each other. Trist's genetic lineage leaned towards the Ark Elf race, which was far removed from the Elf pirates. But the bearded man didn't care about that; he just got angry at the sight of the pointed ears.

After all, deep-seated hatred is not so easily resolved, and Paul could understand that.
As long as the bearded man doesn't physically assault anyone, he won't bother with him. Besides, Trist is indifferent and aloof, and no matter how much the other party curses him, he won't talk back.

·
Tonya sighed, "Oh, Paul... why did you have to bring these two sworn enemies together? They won't be able to stop causing trouble even when we get there..."

Paul shrugged helplessly: "There's nothing we can do; this operation requires their professional skills."

Suddenly, the starship began to shake violently, and the hyperspace halo outside the portholes turned completely black. After a few seconds, the captain's voice came through the loudspeaker again:
"Guys, this ship has returned to the physical universe and is about to arrive at the New Sapporo Colony."

To evade the IRS inspection ships, I have to activate the fraud mask generator, disguise myself as a crashed satellite, and land in a dense forest.

"No wonder he's a smuggler, he's got a lot of tricks up his sleeve," Donya said.

·
Without any warning, Sergei suddenly vomited.
A large puddle of semi-digested food reeking of alcohol lay on the stainless steel floor, some of it stuck to his beard. "Serves you right for drinking!" Paul scolded.

"Ugh! It stinks! This drunkard..." Tonya pinched her nose.

The bearded man was vomiting loudly, looking both comical and pathetic. Even the usually aloof Eldar Trist covered his mouth and chuckled.

"Damn it! It's one thing for others to laugh at me... but you with those pointy ears dare to laugh at me! I'll beat you up later..."

"Wow!" Sergei vomited several more times.

Paul didn't mind at all; he patted his back and wiped the vomit off his beard with a tissue.

·
Donya felt so nauseous she almost threw up too, pinching her nose as she said;
"This stench... Thank goodness we weren't on our own boat, otherwise Hongwen would be furious if he had to clean this up..."

Half an hour later, when the young sailor disembarked, he was nearly driven to despair by the stinking puddle on the floor.

Paul slipped a banknote to the child and apologized repeatedly.

"I'm sorry, young man, I've caused you trouble."

The captain, wearing a cross pendant, was clearly a devout believer. He seemed unconcerned, puffing on his pipe as he said:

"It's okay, people often get seasick and throw up."

"Sorry, brother, my brother here is a drunkard, always getting into trouble..."

Paul took out his wallet to pay for the journey, but the rough hand of the smuggling ship captain stopped him.

"Why would I need money? That's too polite!"
To serve the renowned Pavlusha (Paul's nickname) would be a great honor for my humble abode!
Although I'm just a smuggler, not exactly respectable, I can still tell the difference between good and bad.

The captain pointed to the sky:

"God has seen everything you've done for the poor."
God bless you! Heroes!

Paul was an atheist, but he still accepted the captain's blessing with great emotional intelligence, clasping his hands in a respectful gesture:
"God bless you, and may your journey home be smooth!"

·
The two groups said goodbye, and the captain directed the smuggling ship's sailors to unload the cargo in the dark of the woods.

Paul and his party, carrying their luggage, trudged along the mountain path, heading towards the distant, gleaming neon lights.
It is one of the most densely populated colonial cities in the Terra Federation, the prosperous and bustling New Sapporo.

Tonya took Paul's arm and nestled against his broad chest:

"You're giving away freebies everywhere you go, your popularity is unmatched!"

"These connections weren't built by me; I'm just a junior,"

Paul corrected him earnestly:

"What has allowed our organization to take root in the hearts of the working people are the countless predecessors who have sacrificed their lives, and the comrades who are still fighting."

"If a girl compliments you, just accept it. But instead of lecturing her, you're spouting high-sounding platitudes. It's unbelievable that someone like you can even find a girlfriend..." Sergei complained.

"I want to! It's none of your business!" Donya stuck out her tongue: "You drunkard deserve to be a bachelor!"

·
"Wait, something feels wrong,"

Drizzt crouched down, grabbed a handful of soil, sniffed it, and used his reconnaissance-type psionic ability:

“An hour ago, a patrol team with military dogs passed by here, so we need to be careful.”

“Old Cui is so thoughtful,” Paul nodded.

"It's a patrol team searching for smugglers and illegal immigrants. We're all wanted criminals, so we have to be careful and avoid them. Let's not go into the city tonight and just find a hotel in the suburbs to spend the night."

"Hehe, impressive! Those pointy ears and that nose are even more sensitive than a dog's!"

Tristana, the Eldar, rolled her eyes at the bearded man, ignoring his sarcastic remarks.

"This way, I'll lead the way."