Pep heard "boom boom boom boom boom boom" sounds coming from the back of the escape pod.
In the vacuum of space, sound waves could not be transmitted, but the collisions of spiritual energy and mental power could raise surging tides that crashed into the escape capsule brutally, twisting the shell and the walls of the escape capsule to the brink of breaking apart.
"Brother …"
Pep knew what had happened without looking back. Tears flowed out of her eyes again.
The girl remembered that when she was young, every time she made a mistake, her brother would stand in front of her and defend her from her father's wrath.
Her brother was still her brother. Her brother had not changed at all. How wonderful.
Blocked by her brother, her father and the rest of them did not catch up in time. The escape capsule was closer and closer to Shanuya.
When her father and the rest of them finally subdued her brother and caught up to him aggressively, Pep had already entered the range of Shanuya's tentacles.
"Shanuya! Shanuya! "
The girl expanded her brainwaves to the maximum and shrieked at the void hunter.
Shanuya woke up. He extended one of his tentacles and hugged Pep softly.
The universal armor of her father and the rest of them was as hilarious as plastic toy soldiers in front of Shanuya's tentacles.
The escape capsule crashed into Shanuya heavily. Thankfully, it spurted out a few buffering air currents through the suction discs in time, allowing the girl to land steadily.
"Shanuya, you're still alive. This is great!"
Pep wept in joy.
"… Pep?"
Shanuya seemed to be struggling because Pep did not land in the area of the folds of his mind. The mental connection between them was not smooth, and his voice was intermittent. "Are you alright? Is everybody on the fleet alright?"
"We're fine. Thanks to you, Shanuya, most of us are fine. We've successfully escaped from 'air shock'. Thank you!"
Pep crawled out of the twisted escape capsule and looked at the exhaust flames of the fleet far away. She breathed heavily and said, "Shanuya, let's not talk about that for now. Let me ask you, can you still perform space jumps? How many more space jumps can you perform?"
"I …"
Shanuya said, "I've lost two thirds of my tentacles. I'm afraid that I can't protect the fleet and perform too many space jumps. Many starships will fall out of the gaps of my tentacles and be swallowed by the four-dimensional storm."
"What if you don't need to protect the fleet?"
Pep asked, "If you are on your own, you should be able to perform many space jumps, right? After all, it is your natural instinct!"
"Of course, but how is that possible? Aren't we meant to be together?"
Shanuya found it odd. "How can I leave the fleet and you behind and perform a space jump on my own? Where should I go?"
"No, not a space jump alone. You still have me."
Pep smiled, but he could not hold back his tears anymore. "Shanua, can you jump with me to the end of the universe on the other side of the sea of stars?"
"What?"
Sanuya was shocked. "What do you mean? I don't understand."
"You don't need to understand now. You just need to trust me."
Pepe asked, "Sanuya, do you trust me? Do you trust me with all your heart?"
"Of course."
Sanuya said without hesitation. "Of course I believe in Pep. I'm your prince, and you're my Marquina!"
"Then, let's play a game. A very interesting game. The reward of the game is … a secret."
Pep said with a smile, "I have a secret to tell you, but I can't tell you right now. I can't tell you until we reach the end of the universe on the other side of the sea of stars. Are you willing to take me on the journey?"
"Ah, a game."
Shanuya said, "I like games best with Pep."
"Then, come on. Perform a space jump right now. Don't stop on your way. Try your best to jump as many times as you can, and jump as far as you can."
Pep said, "When you jump a hundred times, a thousand times, or even ten thousand times, and finally reach a place where absolutely nobody can find us, I'll tell you the secret."
"But —"
Sanuya hesitated and said, "It's true that I can perform space jumps nonstop to a place where nobody can find us and where even we have lost our coordinates. But in such a way, it will mean that we will never be able to find our way back and return to our fleet. We might even have to live alone for the rest of our lives.
"I'm fine, but Pep, aren't your brother, your father, and all your family and friends here? Are you willing to abandon them? What happened exactly? Are you going to abandon them? "
"…"
Pep did not know how he should answer. Tears flowed out of his eyes again.
"Or are they going to abandon you?"
Sanuya's tentacles turned crimson again. "Tell me, what happened exactly? Did somebody bully you, and they want to abandon you?"
"No, they didn't. Stop asking. I'll tell you when we reach the end of the universe on the other side of the sea of stars."
Taking a deep breath, Pep held back his tears and forced a smile. "I'm fine. Nobody bullied me. However, there's a secret that I have to tell you, but I can't tell you here. I can only tell you in a place where you can't find everybody and they can't find you. I-I can't think of any other solutions. This is the only solution. Trust me, this is the only solution!"
"I still don't understand."
Sanuya said, "You human beings are too weird."
"I feel that human beings are too weird, too. My brother, my father, and myself are all very weird. Thankfully, you have a thousand years to get to know us better. Right now, all you need to do is to trust me wholeheartedly."
Pep begged, "Please, Sanuya, don't waste any more time. Let's go. Just like Sinbad in the story, let's sail and brave the wind and waves. Let's go to the depths of the sea of stars together and adventure where nobody is!"
"Aha. Adventure in the depths of the sea of stars? I like that idea," Sanuya said.
"Then, I will not be Sanuya but Sinbad. It's not a bad name either. It's as pleasant as the Happy Prince."
His temper was somewhat like that of a child's. He dropped his previous confusion in the blink of an eye.
"Then, let's go, my prince Sinbad!"
Pep said in a shivering voice, not daring to look at the exhaust flames of his own fleet anymore.
"Are you sure?"
Sanuya asked suspiciously, "The air shock just now made me dizzy. My sense of space is very bad right now. Once I perform a space jump, it's possible that I won't be able to find my way back. If I jump dozens of times in a row, I will certainly be far away from the active area of the civilization of mankind. I won't even know where I am.
"It means that you may not be able to come back for years, decades, or even your entire life, and you won't be able to see your family and friends again. Why is that?"
"I-I'm sure."
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