22: Welcome to Order of the Seats V01.01

At the top of the administrative building on Planet Three, Ursa Major V12.22, in the Governor's office,

"That's strange,"

"Where is that kid Kirk?"

"He didn't run off, did he?"

Alexei, sitting in his office chair, sneezed, feeling a sense of unease.

He checked the time; over four standard hours had passed without him realizing it.

Perhaps it was about time to start collecting that batch of void energy still floating in outer space orbit?

Based on the time Kirk gave, it should be about right, right?

However, he glanced at his personal terminal again, and that kid Kirk was still showing as offline.

Could he have fallen asleep...

No, it changed! It changed now!

It went from 'offline' to 'user out of service area'!

"Damn it!"

Under such a shock, even Alexei, who usually paid great attention to his demeanor, couldn't help but curse—

For the mass-produced implantable personal terminals of the Claude Military-Political Consortium, "out of service area" only meant two possibilities:

One was that the user had left the actual controlled territory of The Consortium, and the other was that the owner was dead.

For Alexei, the best outcome was the second possibility; that way, at least it would prove that the void energy he had painstakingly extracted for a year was still there;

Otherwise, there was only one possibility left—Kirk had defected, taking his 40 cubic meters of void energy with him.

He hurriedly opened the central console on his desk to check Kirk's itinerary.

That figure last appeared on the surface at the patrol team's base—

Damn you, Kirk!

He had applied for a Shuttle in the name of a secret order from the Governor's office!

And just flew off!

Watching that Shuttle head towards the asteroid belt, Alexei slammed his hand heavily onto the table in front of him.

That secret order was the one he had approved yesterday when he told Kirk to handle those things!

He, Alexei, a dignified planetary governor, had become a clown!

Damn it!

How could a guy like Kirk abscond with the funds?

How dare he!

This guy had climbed up from the grassroots with him; he was supposed to be his absolute confidant!

Thinking of this, Alexei's eyes grew more vicious.

Putting profit before friendship, huh?

Fine, fine, fine.

Do you think you can actually get away with it?

He immediately pulled up the private contact information of the Galaxy Defense Force Commander, thought for a moment, and then switched to the work account,

"Hello?"

"Erot, Kirk defected today!"

"He is carrying a large amount of important data!"

"He must be an insider sent by the Lakere Interstellar Empire!"

"To protect the glory of His Excellency the Marshal, I hope you can arrest him immediately!"

An unusual crackle of static came from the other side, as if the communication was unstable,

"Zzz..."

"Are you protecting the honor of His Excellency the Marshal, or your own secrets?"

A sharp voice came through, stinging Alexei's ears with discomfort,

But he still retorted toughly,

"He is carrying certain high-energy dangerous goods,"

"I do not want him to cause massive destruction within the territory of The Consortium,"

"We are all striving for the sake of the Marshal, aren't we?"

After a long time, the other side of the call gave a cold snort,

"Hmph,"

"It better be."

"I will protect every inch of territory for His Excellency the Marshal,"

"I hope you do the same."

"Vermin."

Without waiting for his reply, the other side hung up the communication.

Only then did Alexei wipe the sweat from his brow.

Anyway, he had already finished the cleanup work; no matter what happened afterward, he could wash his hands of it completely.

That batch of void energy?

He wouldn't get it anyway, so he would just extract more for another year.

But that kid Kirk,

Hehehe...

"In transit—"

The fleet had been circling in the Void Channel for over two hours.

Xi Hai had learned how to enter the Void Channel through his previous studies.

The Void Channel here was not a direct route; it had forks and intersections, just like a spread-out web, extending in all directions, spreading through the void.

"Approaching the periphery of the star system numbered 'Order Seat A01.01', remaining journey, three minutes."

Beside the channel, a star marker that had been operating for who knows how many years accurately connected to the navigation system on Xi Hai's Warship and broadcasted to the Bridge.

We're almost there, thought Xi Hai, standing at the captain's seat.

Just a moment ago, White Shark had taken only half an hour to arrange all the work at the Z25 Sentry Post and headed to the base to report to Xi Hai.

Xi Hai happened to be leaving and thought he still needed someone to help on the way, so he just brought him along;

Originally, this person to help was supposed to be Xu Chang, but his sister had just finished treatment and was still in the observation period, so Xi Hai had him stay behind at the base.

Suddenly, a slight tremor came, interrupting Xi Hai's thoughts; it turned out they had arrived at their destination.

The colorful turbulence outside the Bridge turned back into the black night sky, and several Space Cities stood near the exit.

Because there was a clause in the covenant of the Order Alliance that prohibited damaging the Void Channel and prohibited engaging in combat within a 0.5 AU radius of the Void Channel entrance and exit,

so, except for some who needed to be especially secretive and would leave the channel midway, most people chose to stop and resupply at the Space Cities at such channel entrances and exits.

This also resulted in such Space Cities being very mixed with people of all kinds.

Just as Xi Hai was looking at the huge Space City in front of him, a contact sound came from the announcement channel:

"Unidentified fleet ahead,"

"Welcome to Order Seat V01.01."

"This is Space City No. 7, 'Heading'."

"If you wish to enter the interior of the star system,"

"Please dock for inspection and obtain an entry permit."