Chapter 177: 177. The Chase

The ship screamed through the Argentus Nebula.

Ionized gas streaked past the viewport, lightning arcing between clouds, close enough to make the hull shudder. Gorvax’s hands moved across the controls with desperate precision.

Behind them, five Enforcer vessels maintained pursuit. They were Smaller, Faster and more maneuverable than their ship.

And behind those five, the cruiser. Massive. Slow. But inevitable.

Owen gripped the co-pilot’s seat as the ship banked hard left. Warning lights flashed across the console.

[SHIELDS: 67%]

“They’re gaining up on us!” Owen said.

“I know!” Gorvax didn’t look away from the controls. His wounded arm left blood smears on the interface. “The dampener is failing. They’re tracking our signature.”

An energy bolt streaked past the viewport.

BOOM!

A second bolt hit the shields.

[SHIELDS: 58%]

Gorvax cursed. He pulled the ship into a dive, using a dense gas cloud as cover. The Enforcer vessels followed without hesitation.

Another bolt. This one connected dead center.

[SHIELDS: 41%]

“We can’t keep this up,” Owen said.

“I’m open to suggestions.”

Owen’s mind raced. Five Enforcer vessels. Each one crewed by Tier 4 beings. The cruiser had at least one Tier 4, two-star commander. Kaelon.

They couldn’t fight. Couldn’t hide. Couldn’t outrun forever.

’We need a third option.’

His eyes scanned the console. Navigation. Sensor readouts. Energy signatures.

Then he saw it.

A spatial rift. Unstable. Fluctuating. Three kilometers to starboard.

“There!” Owen pointed.

Gorvax followed his finger. His eyes widened. “That’s a death trap. Those rifts collapse randomly. We could be torn apart.”

“Better than guaranteed death out here.”

Another bolt hit. Shields dropped to 33%.

Gorvax’s jaw tightened. “Hold on.”

He banked hard right. The ship’s engines screamed. G-forces pressed Owen into his seat.

The rift grew larger in the viewport. A tear in space. Edges flickering with violet-white light. The space inside was black. Absolute. Nothing reflected from it.

The Enforcer vessels adjusted course. They were closing. 1.8 kilometers. 1.5. 1.2.

Energy bolts streaked past on both sides.

Gorvax didn’t slow. He aimed straight for the rift.

“Gorvax—”

“Trust me.”

The ship hit the rift’s edge.

Reality fractured.

—

The transition was instantaneous and eternal.

Owen felt his body stretch. Compress. Exist in multiple places at once. His CE core spasmed. His vision went white. Then black. Then colors that didn’t have names.

Sound stopped. Started. Looped. Echoed backward.

Then they were through.

The ship emerged into normal space. Gorvax immediately killed the engines. Let momentum carry them forward. Silent. Dark.

Owen gasped. His hands shook. “What was that?”

“A shortcut. Through folded space.” Gorvax’s voice was strained. “We’re thirty light-years from the nebula now.”

“Did they follow?”

Gorvax checked the sensors. Empty. No signatures. No pursuit.

“No. They won’t risk a rift. Not without knowing the exit coordinates.”

Owen exhaled. His CE core was still settling. The spatial transition had disrupted his energy flow. He cycled his Restoration-Cultivation-Technique. Slowly. Carefully.

5,120… 5,140…

Gorvax slumped in his seat. Blood still leaked from his arm. “We’ve bought some time now, not much but enough…”

“Enough for what?”

“To disappear. Change the ship’s signature. Find a black market tech to remove the dampener’s tracking code.” He looked at Owen. “And to decide what comes next.”

Owen studied him. The exhaustion. The defeat. The wound that hadn’t healed because Gorvax was conserving CE.

“Seri,” Owen said quietly.

Gorvax’s hands clenched. “I failed…again. The dungeon was supposed to give me the breakthrough. Tier 3. Enough power to find a cure. To buy her more time.” His voice cracked. “But I couldn’t even reach Floor 100.”

Silence fell between them.

The ship drifted through empty space. Stars glittered in the distance. Cold and indifferent.

Then the sensors beeped.

Gorvax’s head snapped up. “No. That’s impossible.”

On the display, five signatures appeared. Not Enforcers.

Different. Organic. Powerful.

Ships. But not metal. Living vessels. Grown, not built. Their hulls pulsed with bioluminescent patterns.

Nullborn ships.

Owen’s blood ran cold. “How did they find us?”

“I don’t know.” Gorvax’s fingers flew across the interface. “We went through a rift. There’s no way to track—”

One of the Nullborn ships broke formation and Accelerated toward them.

On the comm, a voice crackled to life.

Female. Amused. Familiar.

“Well, well. The whelp survived the dungeon after all.”

Raxka.

Owen’s jaw tightened. “Ignore her, let’s run.”

“We can’t.” Gorvax gestured to the console. “Our Engines are still cooling from the rift transit. We’re dead in the water for another three minutes.”

The Nullborn ship closed the distance. 10 kilometers. 8. 5.

It pulled alongside and matched their drift.

Through the viewport, Owen could see figures moving inside. Furred Horned Predators.

The comm crackled again.

“Power down your weapons and open your airlock. We’re coming aboard.”

Gorvax’s hand moved toward the scythe.

Owen grabbed his wrist. “Don’t, We can’t fight Tier 2 Nullborns.”

“Then what do we do?”

“Maybe just talk? Stall? Buy time for the engines to recover?”

Gorvax’s eyes searched Owen’s face. Then he nodded. “Fine…”

He opened the airlock.

—

Raxka entered first.

She had to duck through the doorway. Tall. Muscular. Her fur was silver-grey with black tribal markings across her arms and face. Her horns curved back elegantly. Her golden eyes locked onto Owen immediately.

Behind her, two more Nullborns. Male. Larger. Scarred. Armed with blades.

Raxka’s gaze swept the cockpit. Took in Gorvax’s wound. Owen’s battle-worn appearance.

She smiled. Sharp teeth. “Rough day?”

“What do you want?” Owen said.

“Answers.” She stepped closer. Sniffed the air. Her expression shifted. “You still smell wrong. Even more than before.”

She circled him. “At the dungeon, I thought maybe you were some lesser world mongrel. Mixed bloodlines. Nothing important.”

She stopped in front of him. Leaned in close. Her breath was hot against his face.

“But you have now broken through to Tier 5, five-stars. In one dungeon run. That’s not normal. Not for a mongrel.”

Her hand shot out as she Grabbed Owen’s wrist. Her claws dug into his skin. Not deep. Just enough to draw blood.

She brought his blood to her nose. Sniffed.

Her eyes widened.

“By the Matriarch’s fangs.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “This scent. I know this scent.”

She turned to Gorvax. “Sower. What did you do?”

Gorvax’s hand was on his scythe now. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Liar.” Raxka’s CE flared. The pressure in the cockpit spiked. Owen’s knees buckled. The two male Nullborns raised their blades.

Raxka held up a hand. They stopped.

She looked back at Owen. “Progenitor blood. That’s what I’m smelling. But you’re not a Progenitor. You’re too weak. Too small. Too…” She tilted her head. “…wrong.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Hah! You’re an imitation. A theft. A crime.”

Owen said nothing.

Raxka’s smile returned. Dangerous. “The Tribunal would pay a fortune for this information. The Progenitors even more.”

She released Owen’s wrist. Stepped back.

“But I’m not interested in their payment. I’m interested in the hunt.”

She gestured to one of the males. He pulled out a small device. Sleek. Organic. Pulsing with faint red light.

“This is a tracker. Nullborn technology. It will bond with your CE signature. No matter where you go, no matter how you hide, my clan will always know where you are.”

“No,” Gorvax said.

Raxka’s eyes flicked to him. “You don’t get a vote, Sower.”

The male stepped forward. Raised the device toward Owen.

Owen’s gauntlets flared. His CE spiked.

Raxka laughed. “Oh, the whelp has spirit. I like that.”

She moved faster than Owen could track. One moment she was across the cockpit. The next, her hand was around his throat.

She lifted him off the ground. Effortless.

“Let me be clear, imitation. You are Tier 5, five-stars. I am Tier 2, two-stars. If I wanted you dead, you would be dead.” Her grip tightened. “But I don’t want you dead, not yet. I want to see what you become.”

She threw him against the wall. Owen hit hard. His CE dropped by 80 just from the impact. Ultra-Regeneration kicked in.

The male pressed the tracker against Owen’s chest. It burned. Sank through his skin like it was water. He felt it attach to his CE core. Foreign. Invasive. Permanent.

Raxka watched the process complete. “There. Now you’re marked. I will monitor your progress. If you grow strong enough , we’ll come for you. A proper hunt, my Worthy prey.”

She turned to leave. Paused at the airlock.

“Hunting has been so boring lately, and I couldn’t hunt anybody from the other noble race. According to the rules.” She looked over her shoulder with a wide grin.”Thank you sower, for what you’ve done, I don’t know how you did it. But you did. And now, I can hunt a progenitor’ runt without any qualms! Hahaha”

She left. The two males followed.

The airlock sealed.

The Nullborn ship detached. Drifted away. Then jumped to warp.

Gone.

—

Gorvax stared at the tracker’s glow beneath Owen’s skin. Faint. Red. Pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.

“This is bad,” Gorvax said.

“I noticed.”

“No. You don’t understand. Nullborns don’t mark prey they consider weak. They mark prey they want to hunt. Sport prey.” He looked at Owen. “They think you’re going to become strong enough to be worth their time.”

Owen touched his chest. He could feel the tracker. A constant presence. Like a second heartbeat.

“Can we remove it?”

“Not easily. Nullborn tech bonds at the CE level. Removing it would require Tier 3 equipment. Maybe Tier 2.” Gorvax sat down heavily. “We don’t have access to that.”

Owen’s mind raced. The Enforcers hunting Gorvax. The Nullborns hunting Owen. The Tribunal. The Progenitors.

’We’re running out of places to hide.’

The engines beeped. Ready.

Gorvax set a course. “There’s a black market station. Three days from here. We can get the ship’s signature changed. Maybe find tech to mask the tracker.”

“And after that?”

Gorvax didn’t answer immediately.

Then he said, “I need to see Seri. One more time.”

Owen nodded. “Then we go to Kaelos.”

“The Enforcers will be waiting.”

“I know.”

Gorvax looked at him. “You’re insane.”

“Maybe.” Owen’s CE pulsed at 5,200 now. Recovering. Growing. “But we won’t be running forever.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep