Somehow, Lev wasn't even that shocked when he found out, almost as if he had been expecting such a thing. Back at the Council Headquarters, he somehow regained the memory of how his grandparents hated the Council so the information checked out. But then again, his assumptions were wrong. Initially, he thought that his grandparents couldn't do a thing about the majority's decision, but who would've thought that they fought for their ideals and ended up dying for it.
"Back when the Council was formed, your grandparents were that close to infiltrating it. As I mentioned back then, they were viable candidates for a position there. But the holders of the positions connived with one another... and got your grandparents killed. And now that you've reemerged out of nowhere, they are targeting you since you might remember something that might endanger their positions."
"What are you guys talking about?" Helena asked, she still couldn't approach them even though they weren't doing anything to her at all. To her, they didn't seem like criminals, but maybe it was a misjudgment on her part.
The group simultaneously stared at Helena as if she wasn't there a moment ago. Their gazes made her feel uneasy, causing her to take even more steps backward but to no avail. She was already hard-pressed against the wall so there wasn't anything she could do.
"Oh yeah, Helena, right? You did say you wanted to come with us, right? And you didn't even look into us before you joined us." Dmitri continued. "So let me just ask you this, are you still in? Or no?"
"Well, what choice do I have? Besides, I'm finally out of that miserable planet. As long as you don't involve me in any of your criminal activities then I'm all in. I'll just be your oblivious cook. How about that?" She offered, crossing her arms in front of her.
"In any case, you've already decided so there's really nothing we can do about you. And either way, you'd still be an accomplice even though you're just a harmless cook." Dmitri explained. "By accomplice, I didn't mean that we're going to do something illegal, it's just that you'll most likely be targeted by the Council as well."
"That's fine, I"m sure all of you are experts in escaping, right? You lot, it doesn't seem like this was your first time trying to escape authorities." Helena let out an exhale as she softly smiled. It's as if she was looking at a bunch of kids instead of ruthless criminals.
"We just passed the first wormhole. I'm taking over the controls." Dmitri announced. "You can all talk or play games and stuff. I don't need help navigating."
Lev and the others nodded. As for Helena, she finally found the courage to sit with everyone else so they could discuss what their next plan is all about. She had the urge to ask if she could cook something but then she remembered that they'd just eaten.
"I'm sorry about that, Helena," Lev suddenly spoke up, leaning a little bit towards her since he didn't want to raise his voice. "But trust me when I say that we're not criminals. And we're in the same boat, I also don't know what's going on. I don't really have my memories at the moment." He continued.
"You lost your memories? Why? What happened?" Helena asked.
In response, Lev just shook his head. "I just woke up as part of an exploration team, and then when we landed on Main Earth, I was arrested without a valid reason. I escaped, and that's when I met Dmitri. Turns out they were my best buds back when we were still in training as expeditioners. I can't really recall them that much but I have a sense of familiarity with them. Hopefully, I get my memories soon."
"I see, well then, nice to meet you, Lev. And this girl, she's Titania, right? How did you join the team?"
Titania didn't speak at first, she just pointed at Lev. "Their team destroyed my home planet and I had nowhere to go." She continued.
"I... I see." Helena uttered.
"As for me, I was framed for killing my exploration team, and then someone close to me was killed by the Infernals." Hellspawn said. "It was all the Council's doing. They wanted to cover up something during our twenty-fifth voyage... I'm not sure what it was, but I"ll get to the bottom of it someday, for the sake of my men and... that person."
There was an inner rage in Hellspawn's eyes as he clenched his fists so hard that his nails dug into his palms.
"As for me, I was just laying low for quite some time, trying to prepare as much as I can while I wait for our reunion. But who would've thought it would happen earlier than I imagined. I met Lev and Titania by pure coincidence while I was building up my connections in the Council Headquarters. It was quite a surprise seeing him though since I haven't seen him for quite some time now. How many years has it been?"
"Abou half a decade in relevance to Main Earth. Time fluctuates in every part of the universe, after all." Hellspawn responded.
"Right right, that's about how many years it had been. In just a short time I did manage to build up my own company. And now we don't have to worry about funds." He continued.
[Space Cruiser detected, model Excelsior Knifehead V35.6]
A monotonic announcement erupted throughout the Starlight Streamer, and then, an explosion occurred, causing the Starlight Streamer to tip and vibrate a little bit. "Well, they were faster than expected." Dmitri forced a smile on his face. "But whatever, we've almost reached the next wormhole. This time, we'll shotgun straight to a planet and turn the Starlight Streamer's engine off. They won't see us, I'm sure of it."
"You don't have to explain, you're the pilot here. We trust your judgment." Hellspawn shrugged off the emergency as if he's got nothing to do.
Another explosion ensued as the mad chase continued.