Chapter 52: Stirring Up Trouble (Part Two)

Chunt wandered around the interior of the cruiser. Most of the pirates inside were dead drunk and their guard was completely down.

He easily mingled his way over to the point-defense turrets. A few of them had clearly been added on at a later date, featuring very crude workmanship. The entrance to one of the turrets was even right next to a restroom, so practically no one paid any attention to him.

Being extremely cautious and cunning, Chunt chose to cut the wires of the turret base coils. This way, while the close-in weapon turrets could still aim and fire, their rotation would jam, rendering them just as useless as scrap metal.

Most importantly, this minor yet fatal act of sabotage would not trigger the spaceship's security system.

Though he could no longer remember clearly, Chunt was certain that he had spent his entire life dealing with all sorts of spaceships before boarding the mother ship. Even if the types varied, the underlying principles were connected; the design logic of most spaceships was more or less the same.

Having dealt with the turrets, he ran into the hangar. Handing out a few packs of cigarettes, he laughed and bantered with the completely unsuspecting logistics crew, blending right in. Then, taking advantage of a moment when no one was looking, he dumped a large handful of Tatooine's specialty—fine yellow sand—into the oil barrels.

With all this accomplished, Chunt smiled faintly at the corner of his mouth and prepared to leave.

However, just as he slipped over to the bar area to say goodbye to the Suya sisters and find an excuse to slip away, a few figures suddenly strode up behind him and shoved him violently aside! Chunt’s heart instantly clenched. Could he have been exposed?!

"Get the hell out of the way, cleaner!" a hoarse voice came from behind. Almost at the same instant, the bar fell into absolute silence. The music and uproar cut off abruptly.

He hadn't been exposed yet! Chunt hurriedly feigned panic, scrambling away in a clumsy tumble, pulling the cleaner's cap down low to hide his face, and glancing sideways out of the corner of his eye to size up the newcomers.

He saw that the person who had approached was a filthy-looking human old man whose appearance was beyond ugly. It was as if someone had splashed sulfuric acid across his face, beaten him to a pulp, and then performed a completely failed skin graft. His missing several teeth were replaced by metallic dentures, radiating an unbearable stench from the gaps.

Could this fellow be "Iron-Teeth" Kukan?!

Chunt felt his heart skip a beat.

Sure enough, the old man stood at the doorway and roared in that utterly grating voice: "Looks like you lot have way too much time on your hands, eh? I told you, there's big business coming in a few days! And what did you bastards do? You drank alcohol and played with women! Listen up, I'll give you ten minutes to get the ship squared away! We're setting off this afternoon to pull off a big score!!"

Wrong! Didn't they say it would be a few days? Chunt peeked over secretly, only to find Quinto and Felacy being dragged behind Kukan, bound hand and foot! He cursed fiercely in his heart...

Those two good-for-nothing cowards!!

At this moment, Quinto, whose face was beaten black and blue, stammered, "Boss Kukan... no, if we go over like this, we're bound to take a loss. That side is a gigantic ship... Give me a few days to contact my brothers; they're working inside that massive vessel, and we can coordinate from the inside and outside..."

"Coordinate my ass! Shut your trap! I'm here to do business, and no one is stopping me! What I've got in my hands is a cruiser! Do you know what a cruiser is? What's the big deal about wiping out an unarmed civilian vessel?" Kukan sneered coldly.

His hawk-like gaze swept across the people in the bar, finally landing on the navigator and the Suya sisters. Step by step, he walked over and stood right in front of the navigator.

The navigator was already sweating profusely with terror, completely forgetting about trying to take advantage with wandering hands. He stood there honestly, trembling all over.

"Sari... my navigator..." Kukan grinned hideously, then, with lightning speed, grabbed one of the head-tendrils on Suya!

"Waaah..." Suya shrieked in agony instantly.

It turned out that Kukan's hand was a mechanical prosthesis!

"I remember you were flat broke a while ago. I told you long ago not to mess with this Twi'lek stinking bitch, but you wouldn't listen. Though now, I'm quite curious: this money-obsessed stinking bitch clearly knew you were broke, yet she came over clinging to you again today—why is that? Huh? Heh-heh-heh-heh..." Kukan let out an ugly, grating laugh.

Clutching Suya's head-tendril, he dragged her right in front of him. "I'm asking you. Why is it such a coincidence? Someone comes to tell me there's big business in the Endor system, and right on their heels, you come running to cling to my navigator... Can you tell me why?"

"I... I don't know..." Suya cried out while answering. She was practically frightened out of her wits, blurting out anything just to get away. "A Muun! A Muun from the InterGalactic Banking Clan wants to do business... Waaah..."

She had originally wanted to rat out Chunt, but then she realized she had no idea what Chunt's background actually was. Thus, she had no choice but to bring up the Muun that Chunt had mentioned, hoping to scare Kukan off.

Sure enough, Kukan's expression shifted. "The InterGalactic Banking Clan? A Muun?"

"Yes, yes, yes! He had us come get the ship's specifications... He wants to do business..." Seeing that it seemed to be working, Suya poured out everything she knew in a rush.

"Heh-heh-heh-heh..." Kukan let out an eerie chuckle. "If that's the case... Hah-hah-hah-hah..."

His mechanical arm gradually began to increase its pressure, and Suya's screams grew increasingly shrill.

With a sickening snap! The head-tendril on Suya's head was actually ripped off by sheer force! Blue blood splattered everywhere.

"Then I really can't keep you around..." Kukan sneered darkly, drew his blaster, and shot Suya dead right where she writhed on the floor!

Next, he turned his gaze onto Taya. "So... what about you?"

Taya was so terrified she couldn't even speak; she collapsed onto the floor, staring blankly at Suya's corpse right before her eyes.

"She's... she's just someone I brought over from the bar to sing..." The navigator still retained a shred of conscience—or perhaps because Suya was already dead and he still harbored desires for Taya—he did not give Taya up.

"A singer?" Kukan looked Taya up and down, then let out another hoarse, unpleasant laugh. "Then sing! Get on stage and sing! Sing happily! Hah-hah-hah-hah!!"

The navigator hurriedly shoved Taya forward. Trembling from head to toe, she stepped onto the stage and began to sing, her voice practically on the verge of tears. To be honest, under those conditions, her singing was atrocious.

Yet Kukan grew even more excited. Standing at the doorway, he shouted loudly: "Brothers!! Right now in the Endor system, there's a massive score! An ultra-gigantic spaceship over 40,000 meters long is colonizing out there! Most importantly, it's an un-armed civilian vessel!!"

"Woooooh!!!!"

"Hah-hah-hah-hah!!!" The ferocious-looking pirates burst into wild laughter, dancing about like a horde of demons.