Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

Even without anything to do with the starship, Bai E still wanted to go and tag along.

As long as Bauhinia Republic's political screening could pass, Bai E had absolutely no objections.

"I'm fine with anything." Bai E replied cheerily, "Actually, even if you didn't bring it up, I wanted to go and experience it with you anyway. Having the chance to personally participate would be even better."

"That's great!" Catherine's face instantly blossomed with a radiant smile.

Bai E's strength was unclear, but it definitely exceeded hers.

Having him there, with two Legendary Mech Pilots in the team, the chances of breaking through the Stellar District were significantly increased.

"With your help, we're guaranteed to make it to the Star Alliance competition."

As for the political screening Bai E was concerned about...

A Legendary Mech Pilot who fell from the sky, and even had the identity of a "steel-hearted guy" who had previously helped transport back the Fragment of God—those officials in Bauhinia Republic would have to be utterly brainless to push him away.

If anyone dared to fail it, Catherine would personally bring a knife to knock on their doors.

"Alright then, it's settled! With your help, handling the rest of the team will be much easier."

"They're not all for show, are they?" Bai E teased.

"Not exactly." Catherine shook her head, "At most, five of them are just fillers."

Bai E cocked an eyebrow curiously at her words, "Do you have some kind of secret weapon?"

"Hmm..." Catherine's gaze grew distant, "It's not exactly a secret weapon, but his talent... it's decent."

Speaking of him, Catherine rubbed her temples tiredly, "Problem is, I have no idea where that guy's run off to now, nor if we'll even be able to find him before the competition is finalized."

...

On a stormy, wave-ridden planet, several pitch-black ships descended slowly onto various platforms.

Within moments, a large group of blindfolded, hands-bound figures were shoved out by burly men with bulging muscles.

The leading thug, grinning broadly, greeted the sinister man with a rat-like demeanor waiting to receive them. He kicked a nearby captive, causing them to stagger, and said, "Another batch of fresh goods—this should last you guys a while, right?"

The sinister man's gaze swept coldly across the hundreds in front of him, his expression dark but with a shallow smile, "How long they last isn't up to us."

How long they'd endure depended entirely on their abilities.

If they were all useless, it wouldn't be surprising if they dropped dead minutes after getting started.

If they were like those few morons captured last time, they might last quite a while.

Undersea mining, after all... as long as the bosses above weren't rushing for shipments, they wouldn't overwork these black-market laborers too much.

The man gestured to his subordinates behind him, signaling them to take the new goods down below.

Immediately, a group of brutish thugs went around removing the black hoods from the captives' heads, dragging their chained hands along as they led them into the facility below.

"Where are we?"

"Nooo! I want to go home!"

"Let me out! Let me out!"

"I have money! I can ransom myself!"

"Let me make a call! Just one call! My brother's a top boss in the underworld—one word from him and everything gets sorted out, man!"

Despite being unmasked and "seeing the light of day" again, the captives only grew more panicked.

They all stared in resistance at the dark, subterranean space they were about to enter.

In the corner of each eye, the endless expanse of blue waves was still faintly visible.

But the lack of familiar landmarks or recognizable architecture anywhere only filled their hearts with greater dread and despair.

"Move!"

"Hurry up!"

"Quit the damn whining!" The thugs lashed random captives with whips.

Each strike inflicted pain that felt less physical and more like a searing electric sting.

A few captives collapsed instantly under the agony of those shocks.

Unmoved, the thugs swung their whips even harder at those who'd fallen.

"Whack!"

"Whack!"

"Don't you dare resist!"

"Don't you dare resist!"

Whip after whip.

Thin clothes tore to shreds at once, exposing torn, bloody flesh beneath.

With each swing, stronger electric shocks surged through their bodies.

Convulsing violently, some captives foamed at the mouth and lost control of their bowels.

In one case, someone even stiffened up entirely, legs jerking a final time—motionless forevermore.

"Dead already?"

"Which idiot told you morons to go that hard? These people are here to work—they're not cattle for you to slaughter!" snarled the rat-faced man, motioning to the body dismissively. "Get rid of it—quickly! Stop ruining the mood around here!"

"Yes, sir!"

The stiff corpse was dragged off by the feet, unceremoniously tossed into the turbulent sea; after a few splashes, it vanished below the surface.

"You lot, carry them!" The thugs pointed at nearby captives, whose compliance this time was instant and unanimous.

Those still capable of walking hoisted unconscious companions onto their backs, trailing behind the thugs leading them step by step into the submerged facility below.

Walking, stopping.

Footsteps faded into utter darkness.

The hum of machinery and grinding of mechanical components reverberated faintly as the captives confirmed among themselves—after the thugs had fully left—that they could safely exchange information.

"Hey, buddy, where're you from?"

"I have no clue. I had just gotten off a tour ship when I blacked out—next thing I know, I'm here."

"No way, you were on a tour too? Me too! Signed up with a group, no idea how I ended up here."

"So I'm the only one who straight-up got snatched, huh? Damn, they hit hard—it stings like hell."

"I boarded a ship voluntarily back at Freeport... dammit! Should've known a ship full of crooks was trouble! Got roped onto a pirate ship!"

As the captives exchanged details, their chatter grew increasingly noisy.

But amid the commotion, one faint yet persistently determined voice stood out, tinged with obsession.

"Brother~"

"Brother~"

"It's me, Lang! Where are you, big bro?"

"Brother~"

"Brother~"

"Quit yelling, damn it!" snapped one annoyed captive at Lang's delirious calls. "What the hell are you hollering for? Who here's your brother?"

"My big brother is MY big brother!"

Another captive who'd accidentally brushed against a whip spoke disdainfully, "We're all stuck here—what use is your brother gonna be? Bound up just like us, pal."

"My big brother... my big brother..." Lang faltered twice, ultimately refusing to boast about his brother's legendary feat of single-handedly breaking Peak Alliance's Psychic Energy Canopy while piloting a mecha.

If his brother had deeper strategies in play, wouldn't flaunting ruin everything?

The Star Alliance operative had told him that his brother was traveling incognito, hidden aboard the same ship as him—which meant he was surely somewhere among these captives now.

"Anyway, my big bro's a beast!" Lang smirked arrogantly, unwilling to argue further with these fools.

Once they saw his brother's true strength, wouldn't these ignorant idiots scramble to cling to his brother's coattails?

Looking down on me now? Soon, I'll be too high for you to reach!

Hah!

And so Lang crouched even lower, attempting to scuttle across the crowd, "Brother~"

"Brother~"

Out of nowhere, a hand grabbed Lang's arm. Before Lang could cry out in joy, a short male voice cut him off with a sharp "Shh."

"Don't talk—we're here."

"Brother!" Lang's face lit up, standing obediently as if he were a wolf cub beside his sibling.

"Whirrr!"

Sure enough, as the space around them decelerated, accompanied by tremors and noise, light crept in as iron gates before them scraped open.

A silhouette backlit by bright light stepped forward, grinning and announcing to all captives loudly, "Welcome, everyone, to your pathway to fortune!"