Step Six: Get rescued by an old woman

Lei’s decision was proven to be right. His plan was very successful. Apart from experiencing those seven days of torture, the result can be considered quite satisfactory. This way, he will have more time to think of his next action.

However, contrary to what one might expect, Lei was actually feeling very uneasy and anxious. After all, he was certain that the investigation have already started..

Although he manage to make them believe with his words, that alone wasn’t credible enough. They need more than just his testimony for this case to be settled. When that time came, his lies will be uncovered, he will be thrown to prison (?) for perjury or in worst cases, he might even have to say goodbye to his head. Lei shivered at this thought.

The only good news right now is, planet Mata is a low civilization planet and wasn’t part of the Empire’s territory.

They are not people of the Empire so they couldn’t ask them for help with the investigation. There is a law signed by both the federation and the empire two thousand years ago. It was called Universal Evolution Law for Intermediate, Low and Lower Civilization Planet which states that we must absolutely not interfere with the natural process of evolution of the creatures in other planets and stars, whether they’re part of their territory or not.

This was mentioned to Lei inadvertently he was still in the institute by Alice, the nurse who was in-charge of him. In other words, the Empire wouldn’t be able to conduct an investigation unless they send someone on planet Mata.

Moreover, according to Alice, Planet Mata is very far from the Roswald. Travelling from the empire’s closest planet to planet Mata will take at least one month. He have one month at most. The people sent by the empire departed six days ago so subtracting that six days, he have a little more than three weeks.

This time is enough for Lei to prepare a thorough plan. They’ll see through him the moment they start investigating and though communication from the empire to planet Mata is currently not possible, once the people sent to investigate there arrived, it would be no problem at all with the equipment they had, so the time it took for them to investigate and come back will be naturally excluded from his calculation.

Of course this is all under the premise that, the investigation on the Beast planet is not part of the consideration.

In fact, this is what Lei is really worried about. From the beginning to end, he never expect himself to escape so smoothly. Even before he told that crappy story, he already knew, it was impossible for him to explain how he ended up in the beast planet.

After all, he wasn’t very clear on the situation then. It was already noteworthy for him to be able to come up with a story on the spot with little details, so don’t expect him to be able to make it without any flaws. He already given up on explaining right from the start.

He only hoped then, that he could go before the investigation report arrived or for them not to make a thorough investigation at all.

But how could that be possible? This case was considered of great importance. It can be seen with how they treated him as something precious in the beginning. How could they not investigate it thoroughly? How could they let him go before the investigation result arrived? Beast planet is very close to the empire and is also a part of it. Investigating that place should be very easy for them.

So, since they were willing to let him go, does this mean the result already arrived?

Impossible. If that was the case, they would’ve already knew he lied and would never let him go. Unless, his story somehow matched their with investigation report?

That’s ridiculous. Even if he was lucky, it shouldn’t be to this extent. There shouldn’t be such a coincidence. Besides, if that really was the case, they would’ve already told him about it.

So the final conclusion is, the investigation report haven’t arrived. No, they haven’t started the investigation on this side at all. Was there anything preventing them from doing so? Then why did they let him go? Unless they actually haven’t let them go and secretly assigned someone by his side who could suppress and arrest him anytime? Lei glance at the seventy-year-old Ms. Emily and immediately rejected the idea.

Although Ms. Emily have stronger pressure than anyone he met so far, he really couldn’t imagine her restraining himself. With her gentle and elegant demeanor, it really is hard to imagine.

Now, this makes his situation even more strange. What made them reach this decision? Lei thought of this and realized, it was better for him to ask in a roundabout than guess blindly. This information is very crucial for his planning. He must dig all the details he can.

Lei turned his head to the old woman sitting beside him. They were inside a space car. Ms. Emily will be taking him in so they were now currently on their way to her house.

This is Lei’s first time seeing and riding a space car. The feeling is very different from riding on a car. Unlike the latter, you won’t be able to feel that it was moving at all.

For those who experience car sickness, this is really the best remedy. It have an air ventilator so the inside doesn’t feel stuffy. It’s also very spacious. From the looks of it, ten people sitting here together wouldn’t feel cramped at all.

There was even a complete set of furniture and appliances and a small bed. Rather than calling it a car, it seems more appropriate to call it a small house. Sure enough, the gap in the technology between the era he came from and here is as big as the whole milky way.

“M-Ms. Emily?” Lei tried to call cautiously. There was only him and Ms. Emily inside the space car- the one driving was an AI called Ellie. Ms. Emily looked at him wearing a warm smile on her lips. She asked, “What is it, my child? Are you hungry?”

Lei’s mouth twitched. He suddenly had an illusion of a child, asking his mom to buy him a candy.

He cleared his throat before answering, “N-no, I’m fine. I just wanted to ask..” he paused, asking her with his eyes. Seeing her nod, he continued “..you mentioned before that you found me in the Beast planet. That- In the beast planet, other than beast, are there any humans there?”

“Is that all?”

Lei nodded his head repeatedly. Ms. Emily laughed at his response. She slowly began to narrate.

“Although Beast planet has its literal meaning, there were a lot of humans in there as well. The reason why it was called beast planet in the first place wasn’t because it was a planet full of beasts, but because every species of beasts can be found there, even the rare ones. They were also extraordinarily strong.

At first, the founding emperor, Bauer and the people of the empire, thought it was normal. After all, they were beasts and cannot be compared with humans and ordinary animals.

However, someone accidentally discovered that this wasn’t the case at all. While running from a gorilla beast chasing him, that person, because of panic, tripped and fell. Crying in despair, he thought he will die, but then, he discovered a rainbow shining on the ground. Realizing what it was, that person was overjoyed. He immediately absorbed the energy from the crystal and was finally able to escape barely, sharing the news to the Empire.

Before, the Universal Evolution Law signed by the federation and the empire, not to interfere with the creatures’ natural evolution, haven’t been established. Rainbow crystal particles were the caused of human evolution more than three thousand years ago. In the beast planet, they were guarded by powerful beasts.

The empire wanted to take the control from these beasts but they soon learned of an existence, the beast god. It was so powerful and hard to beat even with numbers. Fortunately, the empire can provide what the beast god wanted so they finally made an agreement.

The agreement stated that the empire can only have two mining sites and they are not allowed to explore the other parts of the planet. Beast planet has a wide variety of medicinal herbs. They can exchange them with something of equal value. If they wanted to explore, they must ask for the permission from the beast god.”

She paused, staring at him. “The reason why I found you that day was because of the explosion. You were also in the scope of the Empire’s domain, if not, I’m afraid it would be really impossible for any human being to find you. This agreement, some nobles were naturally dissatisfied.

But since the beast planet originally belonged to the beasts and this is already a very huge compromise on their part, there is nothing they could do. And rainbow crystals are more precious than anything so most of the empire, including the founding emperor was content with this agreement.

The matter about exploring and getting permission was also very favorable for us. This is because most of the beasts in the beast planet are carnivorous and very aggressive. They especially like to eat human flesh and couldn’t be controlled at all. But with this agreement with the beast god, he would, of course, as their leader, will restrain them, not to make trouble, otherwise, what would be the use of this agreement if us humans were already dead?

And, in order to maintain the order on the Empire’s side, as well as achieve balance, every generation, a prince is chosen to come there to govern along with a chosen noble family. This generation, his highness Varrius Bauer of the royal family, along with the noble Frederick Albert and family, are currently in-charge of the affairs there.” She smiled gently before asking, “Does that give you an answer?”

Lei was silent. He was trying to absorb all the information he got, sorting them all out in his heard. However, his silence made Ms. Emily misunderstood and remember the words of Dr. Smithe. She remembered him telling her that this child was kidnapped to be fed on some noble’s pet. What a pitiful child. She thought. He must still be stuck on what happened to him in that place that day.

“You don’t have to worry about those nobles, my child. The empire is already investigating them. Although it will take a while, your safety is already guaranteed by my side. Please rest assured and focus on your recuperation.”

Lei pulled himself back to his senses upon hearing this. This is a key point. He focused his gaze on Ms. Emily and gave ger a grateful smile. He couldn’t help but ask, “The investigation report. When will it come?” He needs the approximate time.

“This is a serious case of human trafficking involving nobles and low civilization people so it might take at least half a year.”

She smiled. “Until then, you can chose to stay here and wait, or, do you want to go back to your planet first?” Neither. He needs to get away here first but he couldn’t go to planet Mata either. If possible, he wants to go somewhere they wouldn’t be able to find.

However, before Lei could give an answer, the AI already announced their arrival. The door of the space car opened. He helped Ms. Emily get off the space car before getting off himself. The space car was parked in a spacious courtyard. In front of them was huge mansion, resembling a castle. Several maid’s were lined outside the door, welcoming them.

Lei’s right foot haven’t even touched the ground yet when a giant bird directly lumged at him. He immediately stumbled on the ground, falling.

Lei: “??