Zachary Chase and Annie walked out of the tea restaurant, Annie cautiously following behind Zachary.
Annie had no intention of escaping. Not to mention what would happen if she escaped, the slave collar on her neck allowed the owner to find her at any time, and it also had an electric current switch inside.
Zachary didn't dare to walk too fast, because if he walked at a normal pace, Annie behind him would have to jog, and he was really worried that she would be too weak and fall to the ground, gasping for breath.
"Can't the price be a bit cheaper? We bought a hundred energy blocks in total. Can the price be a bit cheaper!"
Zachary heard a familiar voice, and he turned his head to look.
He saw Serena Frost and a female crew member negotiating with a merchant at a weapons and ammunition sales point in a port. They were purchasing starship energy raw materials—energy blocks. For dozens of star coins, Serena argued with the other party for a long time.
It was hard to believe that the girl who was haggling with someone until she was flustered was the usually aloof class president.
"Miss, the price for these energy blocks is fixed. It's the same price throughout the entire Third Galaxy. Take it or leave it." The merchant became annoyed and his face darkened.
Serena's expression was a bit complex. She bit her lip lightly and finally took out her Imperial Card to pay for the energy blocks.
"Lily, wait here. I'll go see the ammunition needed for other starships." Serena walked toward another counter.
The female crew member was left waiting in place for the energy blocks to be delivered.
"I remember you're Lily Liu from Class Nine, right?"
Suddenly, the voice from behind startled Lily.
Lily looked around nervously and vigilantly, surprised to find that the person was actually Zachary: "Zachary, why are you here?"
"I've accepted the same escort mission as you," Zachary explained.
"That's great! Then we can look out for each other. I was worried about something unexpected happening with this mission," Lily said happily.
Previously, the students in the academy didn't have a very good impression of Zachary, but because Zachary defeated Victor Hargrove at the end of last year's term, everyone's opinion of this once-useless baron changed greatly. Strength is always a person's best calling card.
"Are you procuring military supplies?" Zachary looked at Serena in the distance, who was discussing prices with the boss on her own.
"Yes," Lily nodded. She noticed a timid little girl behind Zachary but didn't ask further. Nobles all had some special quirks.
"Why did you accept this mission?" Zachary asked curiously.
Lily hesitated, unsure whether she should say anything.
Zachary immediately transferred five star coins to her: "It's rare to see a classmate here. Consider this my treat for a drink."
Five star coins! That's not just for a drink—that's a month's worth of food expenses.
Lily thought about it and decided it wasn't a big secret, so she started chatting with Zachary directly.
Zachary also understood why Serena was here.
The purpose was money!
Serena's grandmother's old illness relapsed before the New Year. All her organs had died, and only her brain was still in a frozen state, but if she didn't receive treatment within half a year, she would surely die. And Serena's grandmother's illness required the use of the highest-grade medical pod, costing as much as one hundred thousand star coins!
"If it weren't for the academy's rule that starships exchanged with academy points cannot be sold, Serena would probably have sold the starship directly!" Lily sighed: "And ordinary missions simply can't accumulate so much money in a short time. They could only choose military missions. And when they learned that Serena was going to undertake a military mission this time, half of the crew members disagreed and chose to leave. Now, our T2 Hyena-class Medium Interstellar Destroyer only has half of its standard crew, and everyone is doing multiple jobs.
"Everyone sympathized with Serena, or had been helped by Serena or her parents, which is why they were willing to come and carry out this mission together."
"Serena's grandmother is seriously ill. Don't Serena's parents care?" Zachary asked.
"Serena's parents passed away long ago. Both of Serena's parents were Imperial Army soldiers and sacrificed themselves in a battle. But that battle… for some reason, the Empire did not issue pensions. Only Serena, her younger sister, and their elderly grandmother were left.
"When Serena's parents were alive, they often helped others. Our family was once helped by their family, so… I came along this time. My taking these five star coins isn't betraying Serena… After all, this isn't a big secret, and these five star coins can buy many servings of synthetic food. During this time, to save expenses, Serena only eats one meal a day, just to save those pitiful few star coins," Lily said with a pained expression.
So Serena had this story.
"Then why has she never mentioned it before?" Zachary asked.
Lily said: "That girl, Serena, is a strong-willed person. She never shows her soft side to outsiders and carries everything on her own. To be honest, I'm really worried she won't be able to bear it one day."
Zachary was deep in thought.
"Um… I'll go transport these things back to the starship first. Later, during the escort mission, I'll trouble you to take care of us." Lily took the opportunity to strengthen their relationship.
After bidding farewell to Lily, Zachary glanced at the class beauty who was still verbally sparring with the merchant over thousands of rounds of close-in weapon system ammunition. He silently led Annie back to the T2 Bee Queen-class Heavy Carrier Starship.
Upon entering such a large starship, Annie immediately became reserved, cautiously following behind Zachary.
And Lilith was already waiting at the hatch.
When Annie saw the charming woman in front of her, she lowered her head even more self-consciously, and without realizing it, she bumped directly into Zachary, who had stopped.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I… I didn't mean to," Annie apologized hurriedly, tears already welling up in her eyes.
"Lilith, first take her to shower, then take her to the cafeteria to eat. Let her get familiar with the starship's environment first." Zachary asked Lilith to settle Annie. As both were female and had similar backgrounds, they should be able to communicate well.
"Okay." Lilith looked at the little girl in front of her and said with a smile: "I'll take you to shower first and change into clean clothes."
Grumble, grumble.
Annie's stomach rumbled again at this moment. Annie's face flushed as she lowered her head.
Lilith looked at Annie sympathetically. She seemed to see her own tribesmen who had once wandered with her.
"Then I'll take you to eat first, and we'll shower after we eat," Lilith suggested.
Annie nodded proactively this time—because she could eat…
"I'm going to run some errands. She's in your care." Zachary entrusted Annie to Lilith.
Lilith then took Annie to the Starship cafeteria.
When Annie entered the Starship cafeteria, she unexpectedly smelled a very, very fragrant scent—a scent she had never smelled before.
"What would you like to eat?" Lilith asked Annie.
"I… I can eat anything…" Annie didn't dare to lift her head, much less look at the food and menus on the counter.
"Then I'll order my favorite." Lilith ordered two portions of fried rice and led Annie to a clean spot to sit down.
When Lilith sat down, she found that Annie had directly sat on the floor next to the chair, her arms wrapped around her legs, curled into a ball, her eyes never leaving her already torn shoes.
Lilith felt a pang of sadness and directly picked up Annie, making Annie sit on the chair.
"Annie… body is dirty… will get… the chair dirty…" Annie said nervously, trying to get off the chair.
Lilith, however, looked directly at Annie and said seriously: "Annie, remember, here you can sit on a chair! You don't have to sit on the floor anymore, and no one will hit you or bully you! From now on, this is your home!"