Chapter 288: I Was Captured by Chicken Space Pirates Only to Meet a Talking Panda Knight.

"Well... so much for getting away."

I stared at the dozens of spaceships encircling us, their lights fixed solely on Arza and me as I held her in my arms.

I wasn’t nervous in the slightest.

With a subtle motion, I summoned three Moon Cards and infused each with a sliver of will, embedding a simple trigger and action before quietly slipping them into my pocket.

"Don’t do anything unless they try to kill us."

I whispered the words into Arza’s ear.

She simply nodded, without hesitation or even asking what I was planning.

A moment later, one of the lead ships fired a massive net. Neither of us resisted as it wrapped around us and pulled us aboard.

***

The Murgin were surprisingly composed, their movements efficient. Two of them scanned our bodies with an artifact designed to detect other artifacts, while a third calmly collected every item it identified.

They took away all the space rings on our fingers, my cloak, Arza’s scythe and more importantly... all three of my Moon Cards.

A smile appeared on my face as they bound our wrists in heavy chains.

Only once they were satisfied, they escorted Arza and me deeper into the flagship to meet the second in command of this particular fleet.

Krag.

It barely took a few minutes before we arrived in the captain’s cabin where the old Murgin stood with an amused smile on his face.

"It’s the first time I have seen the rare Monkins and I must say, you look as repulsive as they say." Krag didn’t bother doing any formalities and directly jumped to the point.

Way to start a conversation.

I cursed him in my mind as he continued with his observations.

"As they say, you don’t seem to have the majestic feathers like us Murgins. But it is a fate of a low-ranking race. Still, I did hear that your people work quite much relentlessly. So, I do wonder how much you would sell for."

Naturally, Arza didn’t understand whatever he was saying.

"I greet the second in command of Great Murgin Pirates, Krag. As you might have guessed, I am a humble Monkin, Lear and she is my wife, Azra."

"Would you be so kind as to release us? We have somewhere we need to be and quickly."

"Oh-hoo, I was amused by how fluently you spoke the language of the Murgins before but seeing it again, I have to say, you are quite an amusing little piece. I am sure those crazy scientists of the Lycan Race would love to get their hands on a Monkin who can speak multiple languages."

He said with amusement.

"But unfortunately, I cannot let such a fine slave leave."

"I see... I understand."

I didn’t push him any further and instead acted as if I had accepted my fate.

"You seem to have accepted your fate already."

Krag let out a chuckle as I sighed.

"What else could I even do? How could I possibly hope to defeat someone as strong and great as you, let alone the rest of your fleet? So, the only thing I can do is give up."

"Smart, too. I am gonna get such a damn good reward for finding a smart, submissive slave like you. The captain is going to be overjoyed as well."

He let out another chuckle before looking at his subordinates.

"Tkargh, prepare to head toward Rogwave and Nkorg, take these Murgins to the prison and treat them nicely, like guests."

Two Murgins moved immediately.

One of them appeared right beside us before escorting Arza and me through the ship to an incredibly disgusting, foul-smelling part of the spaceship.

He then threw us into a prison cell before binding our hands with Mana-Suppressing Chains.

Once the Murgin left, I looked around.

There were a few more cells, most of them empty, while a few of the others contained nothing but skeletons.

...Nice way to treat guests, I guess.

I thought before movement from the cell directly opposite mine caught my eye. Through the darkness, I could make out the faint silhouette of a humanoid figure chained to the wall with countless restraints made of mana-suppressing metal.

I enhanced my eyesight with mana since the mana-suppressing metal had no effect on me thanks to all my Myths and abilities.

And finally, I saw it.

...A panda.

Or at least, something that resembled one.

It was covered in fluffy white fur, but its body had withered into a dried husk, devoid of any fat or water. Its empty black eyes met mine through the darkness.

"...Who are you?"

A weak voice echoed throughout the prison, causing even Arza, who had been staring at the mana-suppressing chains around her wrists in annoyance, to snap her gaze toward the panda in an instant.

"I am a humble Monkin, Lear and she is my wife Azra, we were captured by the Murgin Pirates because we somehow invaded their territory, according to them. Who are you, though?"

At this point, I wasn’t even surprised by seeing a talking panda. I mean, there was a race made up of talking chickens and another of talking bears, so a panda wasn’t completely out of the question.

"...How can you speak my language?"

He asked.

"Well, I have my talents." I replied in the same tone.

"I am Pandalion, a warrior of the Spandal Race from the planet Rockwave and I am sorry about your fate, young Monkins."

He said, sounding genuinely sorry for us but rather than his pity, something else caught my attention.

Rockwave.

Wasn’t that the place Krag had just ordered his subordinates to head toward?

I already had a plan to escape and for it to work, the ship needed to enter the atmosphere of a planet first. So, I still had plenty of time and listening to the panda’s story didn’t seem like a bad way to pass it.

So, I slumped down against the wall, looked at Pandalion and asked the question I was most curious about.

"Can you tell me more about your planet? From what I heard, the pirates are taking us there."

Pandalion didn’t seem surprised and merely let out a bitter smile as he began.

***

A/N: Sorry for the slow updates over the past few days. After taking a nice little break I feel like I can finally get back to a consistent schedule.

Also, if you have some time, please check out my new book, Yandere Instructions Manual: My Wife is a World-Ending Calamity. I would really appreciate the support!

It already has 90+ Chapters, so there’s plenty to binge! If you enjoyed The Villain Rising, I am confident you will enjoy this one as well. More importantly, both stories take place in the same universe, so you will notice plenty of connections and references between them.