Seeing Wuyi sitting there with a stern face, clearly waiting for him to ask what was wrong, Yang Kai sighed and said reluctantly, "Who upset you?"
"Those stinky men! How can every single one of them be so dense? And they have the nerve to take credit for themselves. Yang Kai, are all men outside like this too?"
Yang Kai thought for a moment. "I don't know about other men, but I know that men become foolish in one particular situation."
"What situation?"
"When they're around a woman they like, they tend to act dumb to get her attention."
Wuyi considered this for a moment, then suddenly giggled and nodded. "You have a point. They're not actually stupid — they're sharper than anyone on normal days. But every time I show up, it's like they're competing to see who can act the dumbest."
"Without doing that, how would your cleverness stand out?"
"So you're saying I'm actually dumb? That I only seem smart because of them?" Wuyi immediately bristled.
"That's not what I meant. You're overthinking it. If you weren't smart enough, no one would dare let you command this warship, and those men certainly wouldn't entrust their lives to you."
"That's more like it." Wuyi snorted, satisfied with Yang Kai's answer. Then she suddenly asked, "Do you know that during the battle outside just now, I thought we were all going to die for sure? That horde of Black Rock Beasts — I'd never encountered that many before. If they had destroyed the warship, not even thirty percent of us would have survived. But then a golden spear suddenly appeared out of nowhere and saved us. Yang Kai, what kind of person do you think wielded that golden light? You were watching the whole time — didn't you notice anyone suspicious?"
"No." Yang Kai shook his head.
Wuyi gazed at him deeply, saying in a tone that seemed both deliberate and casual, "If that person were willing to reveal their identity, I would certainly thank them properly."
Yang Kai sat perfectly still, his gaze lowered, like an ancient monk deep in meditation, his expression utterly blank.
After a long while, Wuyi finally sighed. "We'll be back at Dark Star in another month. Get some proper rest. I've noticed you haven't fully recovered — did you hurt your foundation? I'll have someone bring you some pills and Holy Crystals later."
Yang Kai nodded and didn't decline.
Not long after Wuyi left, a warrior came with ten superior-grade Holy Crystals and several Saint-grade superior pills.
"The young lady asked me to pass these along," he said. "She wants you to recover properly before we return to Dark Star."
Yang Kai thanked him and accepted.
Looking at those ten Holy Crystals and the Saint-grade superior pills — pills he would normally have turned his nose up at — Yang Kai felt a certain wistfulness.
Last time, Wuyi had swindled five hundred superior-grade Holy Crystals from him. But from what Yang Kai knew, she hadn't kept them for herself. Instead, she had distributed every last crystal among her subordinates.
Though each person received only a small amount, they were all beaming with joy.
Yang Kai immediately understood that these people didn't live particularly prosperous lives.
Now Wuyi had sent him ten Holy Crystals, which spoke volumes about her good heart.
Days passed in uneventful fashion. Yang Kai remained in his room recovering and replenishing his Holy Essence, occasionally stepping out for a walk. Though this small warship wasn't of high grade and was clearly quite old, it had been meticulously maintained by Wuyi's people. The floors inside were swept spotless, and the windows were wiped down daily. They treated this warship with more care than their own lives.
Yang Kai wasn't one of Wuyi's people, so he couldn't access certain restricted areas of the warship, such as the engine room. But other than those places, he could wander freely. The warriors gradually grew accustomed to their outside guest, and some of the more curious ones even asked him about the world beyond. Everyone got along in perfect harmony.
As time passed, the warship drew ever closer to Dark Star, and the mood of the several dozen warriors grew inexplicably buoyant.
They had risked life and limb to mine on that barren star, enduring countless hardships along the way. Now they were about to return with full cargo, so naturally spirits were high.
Even Wuyi caught the festive spirit and hadn't come by Yang Kai's room for several days.
Finally, the colossal form of Dark Star appeared before everyone's eyes. Cheers and shouts erupted throughout the warship.
Yang Kai, who had been meditating in his room, was roused by the commotion and walked outside, peering through the corridor windows.
A gargantuan star filled his vision, and Yang Kai's expression shifted slightly. "That big?"
Dark Star was inconceivably massive. Yang Kai had roamed the Star Field for years and seen countless cultivation stars, but none could compare to Dark Star's sheer grandeur. It was more than ten times larger than the Heng Luo Trade Alliance's Water Moon Star — a colossus sprawled across the void of space.
In the far distance, an even larger sun blazed with scorching light, casting its radiance over Dark Star.