Alien Hotel.

673 Octopus Belly
The majestic warship, adorned with theological decorations, was bathed in starlight, with red energy pulses flickering between its armor belts and shields.

Eileen immediately jumped up from the passenger seat (incidentally, she had already unconsciously fastened her seatbelt by then, which proved to be ineffective), staring wide-eyed at the black and red warship that had emerged from the concealment field and was almost right in front of the shuttle: "Holy crap! Are these charlatans really planning to double-cross us?!"

Yu Sheng was also startled by the sudden appearance of the spaceship, but he was clearly calmer than the easily startled little puppet. At this moment, he only frowned and said, "But then again, isn't it a bit excessive to use this thing to kill a deliveryman—our shuttle isn't even as big as one of its missile launchers."

“That makes sense. Let’s observe first,” Luo’s voice came through the communicator. “The other side showed no signs of firing, and they also turned on the identification signal as agreed... Anyway, let’s follow the script for now.”

Just then, the shuttle's system notification sounded, interrupting Luo and Yu's conversation: "External communication detected."

"The other end is calling, mute your microphone first," Yu Sheng said quickly, then switched his communication with Luo to another channel and connected with the large warship.

After a few brief noises, an external signal connection notification appeared on the shuttle's control panel, followed by a middle-aged man's voice: "...Are you deliverymen sent by 'Old Joe'?"

“Uh, yes,” Yu Sheng paused for a moment, then quickly got into character, glancing at the little puppet next to him out of the corner of his eye, “but it’s not ‘we,’ it’s just me.”

While Eileen was talking to Yu Sheng, she had already climbed back onto the chair. At that moment, she tilted her head, rolled her eyes, and lay down to play dead.

Although the two were communicating purely through audio and she didn't need to pretend to be dead, the little thing felt the atmosphere was right.

The communication from the warship was silent for two or three seconds, then the tone was clearly one of surprise and bewilderment: "You were the only one they sent?!"

Before Yu Sheng could figure out how to reply, the other person continued speaking on their own, seemingly talking to someone nearby: "He only sent one pilot in a shuttle with a shield thinner than paper to transport this crucial 'catalyst'..."

Another muffled voice came through the communicator, seemingly from someone sitting nearby: "That ignorant one... has no idea... of the danger..."

Yu Sheng overheard these two sentences of conversation in bits and pieces, but immediately understood why the other side had sent such a "big guy" to meet him. He breathed a sigh of relief—it wasn't a double-cross, but rather because of nervousness...

But then he frowned—

Could the fact that these secret order liaisons are so wary of the angelic catalyst mean that there's been some kind of disturbance against the angels back home? Has that "shadowless skeleton" started to move, or is it showing signs of awakening?

The thought had barely crossed his mind before, before he could think about it further, the voice of the middle-aged man from before came through the communicator: "We need to confirm the situation of the 'catalyst' first."

"How do we confirm?" Yu Sheng asked casually.

“You throw the container into space, and we’ll send a shuttle to retrieve it—if the catalyst works correctly, the transaction is complete, it’s that simple. Will the Hermitage renege on its promise?”

Yu Sheng frowned.

In fact, he didn't care at all whether the other party would renege on their debt (Luo might care a little), nor did he care whether those charlatans were honest or would directly try to rob him. In fact, he didn't even mind if the other party double-crossed him—he was just here to make a nest, and as long as he could get the "Angel Catalyst" onto the other party's spaceship and send it away, he didn't care how it went.

It would be better if those charlatans just grabbed the "catalyst" and ran away. After all, even the most suspicious and cautious person would find it hard to be wary of the spoils they had personally stolen, which would save Yu Sheng a lot of trouble.

However, the other party proposed an inspection process, and it was an inspection process that sounded unfair.

...If the conditions are unfair, agreeing too readily would be suspicious.

After a moment's hesitation, Yu Sheng finally spoke: "What if you snatch it and run away, or insist that it's a fake?"

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the communicator. The middle-aged man's voice sounded displeased: "This is a 'Dark Star' class missile cruiser, one of the most powerful warships in the Dark Current Starfield. And I am a devout believer who practices the path of holiness—do you think we are the kind of despicable pirates who roam the gray routes?"

Yu Sheng raised his eyebrows.

To be honest, these cult members really do have an aura of self-righteousness when they get into it, which is quite admirable.

A fleeting thought crossed his mind, and a bold idea began to brew in Yu Sheng's heart. He quickly adjusted his tone and spoke in a measured manner: "I request to dock in your hangar—this is just a lightly armed shuttle, and once it's in the hangar, the initiative is entirely in your hands. I only request to watch your 'acceptance' process."

He paused deliberately for a second before continuing, "'The goods' are special and of high value; I need to go back and report."

He breathed a sigh of relief after saying that—his reaction should be fine, and it didn't matter whether the other party agreed or not.

A moment later, the other party agreed.

It seems that the commander of the "Dark Star" cruiser didn't think much of a small shuttle requesting to temporarily dock in the hangar. Moreover, the reasons for docking were quite sufficient—a clone pilot who needed to report, a deal that had already been agreed upon, and a transaction mission that was designed to avoid any unforeseen complications. Faced with such a tricky task assigned by superiors, no one wanted to cause any trouble outside the plan.

A small hangar gate opened on the bow side of the "Dark Star" cruiser, and guide lights appeared out of thin air in space, forming a long holographic projection.

Yu Sheng handed over full control to the autopilot system. The towering steel hull loomed over them like a high wall, gradually obscuring the distant, distorted starlight outside the portholes. The continuous lights in the hangar passageway flickered ahead, like a deep esophagus full of sharp teeth.

Yu Sheng looked up and saw the hangar gate of the interstellar warship slowly receding outside the porthole. The small shuttle looked like an insignificant worm in front of this behemoth—and then, the worm was swallowed by the huge fish.

Eileen nimbly slipped into the storage box under the seat, peeking out with only her head through the seat gap at Yu Sheng: "Hey, this thing looks just like the hangar in our spaceship!"

"Nonsense, our ship was also stolen from the Secret Order..."

Yu Sheng rolled his eyes, but Eileen couldn't see it—because he had already put on his pilot's helmet.

He also wore a full set of black-dot soldier uniform.

A slight vibration was heard. After the shuttle entered the hangar, it was guided to a parking force field. A stationary beam pulled the shuttle down, and then the platform raised its latches to secure the shuttle firmly.

Yu Sheng saw that a group of people had gathered on the platform outside—there were priests in white robes, cultists in short robes who looked like technicians, tall and hollow brass knights wielding force field greatswords, and combat soldiers wearing power armor and carrying rifles.

There were even two tactical walking machines parked on a nearby high platform, with heavy particle cannons pointing in this direction. Next to each walking machine stood two clergymen in gray robes, chanting scriptures while shaking brass incense burners in their hands.

The most striking feature is the diverse range of styles – frontline troops prioritize practicality.

The shuttle's cargo hold opened, and a heavy container, taller than two people, slid out along the track. The container's built-in anti-gravity device activated, and it slowly floated to a designated location, at which point the container door unlocked.

"Hide well up here," Yu Sheng said as he prepared to disembark. Before leaving, he glanced back at the little doll peeking out from the gap in the chair, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "By the way, am I in danger of bloodshed now?"

The scarlet eyes beneath the seat gleamed: "No, but you can stab yourself with a knife."

"...Tsk, these cultists are quite well-behaved."

Yu Sheng muttered something to himself, turned around, left the cockpit, and stepped off the shuttle.

Several church soldiers carrying rifles stared at him, then "escorted" him to the container.

The cabinet door was now open, and the "Angel Catalyst" inside was illuminated by the light inside the box. The irregular black "crystals" with their eerie texture seemed to emit a faint glow, catching everyone's eye.

Several hermit priests were visibly nervous, while the technicians they brought were even more on high alert.

Before approaching the shipping container, each of them lit the incense they carried with them to soothe the machine's spirit, then began chanting scriptures incoherently. After praying to someone for a while, they slowly approached the "stone" that had been dug out of the Shuji Mine, dyed in the Secret Service laboratory, and soaked with Yu Sheng's blood and a fragment of the Boundary Bridge's afterimage.

Yu Sheng, wearing a helmet, watched this scene and laughed so hard his teeth were showing; he almost couldn't hold back his laughter.

A church soldier nearby turned around and asked, "What are you shaking for?"

Yu Sheng suppressed a laugh and tried to keep his tone serious: "I'm nervous."

"...Who the hell isn't nervous? This is a deadly job," another soldier muttered under his breath.

"Shh—" the third soldier quickly warned.

The guide rails inside the container were unlocked, and the force field box and a bunch of supporting monitoring and suppression devices slid out of the container. The technicians came forward with various equipment and began to work around the "angel catalyst".

Yu Sheng couldn't understand the identification process at all.

But those on the scene understand.

Luo's voice came through the helmet headset—she had been monitoring the situation on-site through encrypted signals and the various sensory modules on the shuttle: "They're checking the spatial fluctuations and psionic energy fluctuations around the 'catalyst'... This equipment is obviously modified from the detection equipment at Blackrock Station... This is all my technology! All mine!"

The voice of the secondhand scientist sounded like he was gritting his teeth and was filled with indignation.

Yu Sheng casually said, "It's okay, I'll bring you some local specialties after this Hermitage matter is settled."

"That's fine."

(End of this chapter)