Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Feeding the Snakes
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In the darkness, Gavin and Heinrich stayed silent, quietly watching the innkeeper's movements. The shadowy figure hesitated for a moment before softly calling out, "Mr. Set?"
He called out several more times, but Heinrich didn't respond, pretending to be knocked out. Moments later, the innkeeper finally relaxed and crept toward Gavin on tiptoe.
It was almost amusing—most people didn't take an Omega's fighting ability seriously. The innkeeper didn't even bother calling out to Gavin to check if he was asleep. He reached the edge of the large bed and held his breath, waiting a moment. Seeing no movement from either of them, he let out a sigh of relief and called to the door, "It's fine! Everyone come in."
Only then did footsteps echo in from the hallway as several Beta residents filed in. The one in front with red hair asked, "They won't wake up, right?"
"No way. That dose could take down an elephant. Knocking out these two was a piece of cake." Another asked, "What about this Alpha? Kill him?"
"Too much of a waste. Better hand him over too—maybe we can skip next month's quota..."
They muttered among themselves for a bit. Probably lacking the guts for outright murder, they all agreed to the suggestion. The innkeeper then rustled around, pulling out who-knows-what, and walked to the bedside before stopping.
Gavin and Heinrich both held their breath at the same time.
Just as they were about to open their eyes and strike, the innkeeper suddenly wailed in a choked voice:
"I'm so sorry, you two. We're forced into this with no choice. Please don't hold it against us... Why did you have to come here? Those people make us send folks from the town to feed the snakes every month. We can't fight back!"
Gavin and Heinrich both froze—feed the snakes?!
"If there's any justice in the heavens, blame those lunatics and the snakes, not us! We really have no choice. When we get back, we'll build you a tombstone on the outskirts and visit to pay our respects every year..."
The innkeeper wiped at his eyes and trailed off, trembling as he bent down to bind Heinrich's hands.
But at that moment, Heinrich shot his hand up and grabbed the innkeeper's wrist, barking, "What do you think you're doing!"
Everyone in the room jolted. Gavin opened his eyes and sprang up, seizing the nearest redhead and slamming an elbow into his skull with a crack, dropping him instantly. The residents finally snapped out of their panic and roared as they lunged to grab them—but how could they match these two?
Heinrich punched the innkeeper unconscious with one blow. As two more charged him, he didn't dodge—instead, he grabbed each by the throat mid-air and shoved them straight out the window. The other two, not daring to tangle with the Alpha, rushed Gavin instead. But Gavin yanked the belt from the redhead's waist and cracked it twice with crisp snaps. Both men screamed in unison, their cheeks instantly whipped raw!
"You bastard—" Clutching their bloody mouths, they charged again. Gavin just shook his head silently and lashed out once more. This strike was lightning-fast, precise, and brutal—the metal buckle smashed straight into the left guy's head, sending him crumpling with blood spraying from his mouth and nose. The one on the right took another perfect hit to the cheek and spat out several bloody shattered teeth.
"Stop, stop, stop..." The man rolled on the ground in agony, begging for mercy. He instinctively reached to hug Gavin's leg but got kicked into the corner by Heinrich.
Gavin shook his head with a sigh, tossed the belt aside, and eyed the pile of weaklings on the floor. He couldn't even be bothered to tie them up.
"Please, spare us... spare our lives..." The guy was surprisingly young, barely into his twenties, his face a mess of blood, tears, and spit. He actually looked a bit pitiful.
Heinrich's temper would've had him tying them up for a proper beating and interrogation by now—the more they begged, the harder he'd hit. But seeing the kid's state, Gavin felt a twinge of pity. He just gave him a light kick and asked, "What exactly is going on here?"
"It's our fault—we were blind, out of our minds. Please forgive us... Cough cough cough! Please don't hit me!" The young man saw Heinrich raise his hand again and scrambled away in terror, clutching Gavin's pant leg. "I'll talk! I'll tell everything! Just don't kill me, please!"
Heinrich's face darkened, but before he could snap, Gavin cut him off and asked coldly, "What's this about feeding people to snakes? Where were you planning to take us? Come clean, and everyone lives. Otherwise..."
Heinrich thought to himself, they'd live even if they didn't talk—since you won't kill anyway, and who knows if your bleeding heart kicks in and you let them go... This flaw in Celia looks like it'll last forever.
But the young man didn't know that. He took the empty threat at face value and spilled everything through snot and tears. "We really had no choice! The Gemini Empire won't occupy this planet, we have no governor, and after the Galactic War, it turned into a no-man's-land. All these years, there's been no one to stand up for us..."
After unloading countless "arrows" at Heinrich's knees, the young man finally tremblingly laid out the whole story:
This planet belonged to Ophiuchus, but it wasn't developed until a few hundred years ago. After the Galactic War, Ophiuchus became a battleground between Imperial border garrisons and Alliance remnants. To escape the chaos, many people migrated here with their families, gradually forming several large settlements. This town was one of them.
Life was decent at first—until about twenty years ago, when a group of strange warriors arrived at the settlements. They wore black armor with masked faces, raised giant snakes, could traverse space at will, and were said to control people's minds directly.
The planet was sparsely populated with no real army to speak of, and these black-armored warriors were all beyond human imagination in strength. They took over the entire planet on arrival, killing anyone who resisted. To prevent calls for help, they strictly controlled all comms in the settlements—no one had escaped in years.
"Thankfully, they don't enslave us, but they follow some weird religion and keep giant snakes in every town. Every month, they demand we provide live people to feed them... This town hasn't been around long, and everyone knows each other. How could we do that to our own?"
The young man coughed up more bloody spit and sobbed, "We used to have Omegas in town, but the snakes love eating them most. Those warriors demanded we prioritize them, so eventually, Omegas vanished from the whole settlement..."
Heinrich and Gavin exchanged a glance, their faces both subtly changing.
Black-armored warriors, space traversal, giant snakes...
—Dark Star Hall!
With countless random landing points from the space tunnel, they'd landed right in Dark Star Hall territory!
"We didn't want to do it to you, but if those warriors found out an Omega was in town and we didn't hand you over willingly, they wouldn't spare us." The young man grew more desperate, dropping to his knees with a thud. "Those warriors kill without blinking. We can't beat them—even the two of you could wipe out the whole town..."
The innkeeper and other residents stirred awake one by one and burst into mournful wails upon hearing this.
Gavin's heart softened, his brow furrowing in silence. Heinrich studied him for a moment before suddenly asking, "Why does Dark Star Hall feed snakes live people?"
The question came out of nowhere. If Celia had wanted to hide his Dark Star Hall connection back then, a simple "I don't know" would've sufficed.
But Gavin didn't overthink it. His memories of the Alliance were fragmented, but of Dark Star Hall, they were complete. He replied offhandedly, "Just a cult. Those snakes are the source of their faith—feeding them live people is pure intimidation, same as how they could sweep through armies but force residents to provide victims themselves."
Heinrich nodded, then said oddly after a pause, "What's your deal with Yunis, exactly?"
"...Why are you asking that?"
"Just curious."
Gavin paused, then answered irrelevantly, "Yunis wouldn't be here. A Dark Star warrior of his level stays at the distant headquarters... Especially after a defeat—he'd have gone back to atone to the Elder Council. The ones stationed on backwater third-rate planets like this are apprentices, newbies, or even disciples recruited after Dark Star Hall emerged from five-dimensional space."
He turned to the innkeeper. "Got any weapons?"
Everyone's faces changed at that. The innkeeper stammered in fear, "Y-you... you're not thinking of..."
"We can't run or hide—only fight to the death. Where do you usually deliver the live ones?"
The innkeeper was utterly stunned, never imagining this Omega wouldn't flee or silence them but pick up arms to fight back for them!
"W-we take them to the Enforcement Hall. A warrior comes out to collect them. Sometimes if they don't like the look of the offerings, they just slaughter everyone on the spot..."
Gavin relaxed, nodding casually and having the innkeeper lead him to the weapons. After Dark Star warriors took over, they'd seized control of all electric, thermal, electromagnetic, and nuclear gear. The innkeeper only had a few ordinary hunting rifles—Gavin glanced and tossed them aside, grabbing a fruit knife from the kitchen instead.
Heinrich leaned against the kitchen doorframe, arms crossed, snorting. "You planning to take on Dark Star warriors with a fruit knife?"
"Why not?"
Gavin flicked the blade with his finger and looked up at Heinrich. The tall man wore a white shirt and uniform pants, sleeves rolled to his elbows, exposing his toned, muscular forearms. He didn't look like an emperor so much as a commander fresh from the battlefield on leave.
Karyan always called him a pretty boy, and he certainly had the looks for it.
"Most Dark Star warriors are too proud to deal with commoners directly. The ones stationed in this town are probably just apprentices." Gavin spun the blade between two fingers. "Apprentices like that? I can crush a handful without breaking a sweat."
Heinrich stared at his face, a sudden malicious impulse surging. "Better if I go. Your situation's... delicate right now—"
"..."
"You haven't noticed?"
Silence fell in the kitchen. They locked eyes for a long moment before Heinrich narrowed his eyes. "You might be pregnant."
Gavin stared at Heinrich, expression utterly calm. Moments later, he leveled the knife at the emperor, slicing the air toward his throat.
Heinrich blinked.
Then Gavin sheathed the knife and walked out.
...What the hell was that?
The emperor touched his throat in frustration—nothing happened. No heads flying like in ancient novels.
...A threat? A joke? Awkward shyness? A death omen?
Full of doubts and no answers after mulling it over, the emperor could only chase after Gavin's departing figure in chagrin.