"Hey!" Kolev shouted angrily, "You are staring blankly! You scoundrel! Her father is still here!"
"Your daughter is called Mimili? I didn't realize it just now."
Yang Ming murmured with shining eyes.
The old man lunged forward and grabbed Yang Ming by the neck, "Don't you dare think those dirty thoughts about her!"
Yang Ming allowed Kolev to hold his neck, the other man not exerting much force, or perhaps he exerted force but Yang Ming couldn't feel it at all.
A wise gentleman naturally should not stare too intently at a lady.
Yang Ming calmly withdrew his gaze, and only then did Kolev let go, raising his eyebrows triumphantly and jumping down with a laugh.
Yang Ming continued to unabashedly admire the beauty.
Mimili's wine-red hair seemed as if it had just been soaked in red wine, her skin fragile as if the Creator's finest gift to mankind, especially her delicate face on her swan-like neck, the clever arrangement of her features surely delighting her birth mother.
— Her flawless forehead, slightly sunken eye sockets combined with a gently rising nose bridge gave a subtle sense of three-dimensionality; those gem-like light-colored eyes seemed always to be whispering to people.
And her tall figure, perfectly showcased by an outfit of dungarees, a shirt, and knee-high boots.
Kolev opened his arms.
Mimili, several centimeters taller than him, ran to her father with a laugh, hugging him tightly, screaming excitedly.
Screaming was more fitting for a pirate than crying.
Yang Ming, hands tucked in the pockets of his repair suit, leaned against the front of the maintenance boat, soaking in the warmth of the father-daughter reunion, while also taking the opportunity to catch a few more glimpses of Mimili's captivating figure.
'She really is a beauty.'
What's more precious is her youthful vigor that radiated from within, not artificially maintained on her face through various means.
However, more than Mimili's beauty and vitality, Yang Ming was clearly more concerned about her other identity.
More specifically, the identity Mimili possessed thirty Galaxy Years later, in "Abyss".
She was one of the most notorious antagonist characters among players in the '60~70' level range.
Her beauty and fiery figure had secured her a spot in the top twenty of the characters players most wanted to date for two consecutive years.
The Black Wind Pirate Group she led, with dozens of large and small combat ships, brazenly based in a small country, was one of the few legendary pirate groups in history capable of directly challenging and retreating unscathed from major nations' regular armies.
Mimili herself was consistently among the top ten on players' bounty lists for years, a prime target for major military forces in the '60~70' stage; anybody whose mecha or combat ship landed a hit could become a millionaire overnight.
But Mimili survived.
Not only did she manage to escape several dangerous situations amid the relentless pursuit of player armies, causing heavy damage to their ranks and bringing several large corporations to the brink of bankruptcy; she also began campaigning for presidency in a medium-sized Galaxy state, receiving political asylum.
Proud as a queen, yet with the ruthlessness of pirates;
She was like a beautiful venomous snake, also like a rose with thorns, never once submissively getting cozy for any man.
Yes, Yang Ming was completely certain, this young and beautiful girl before him was the future pirate queen!
Star Widow, Mimili!
"Uh, hold on."
Yang Ming raised his hand and rubbed his eyebrows.
He truly loved this girl's face and figure;
But this nickname... was it perhaps too demanding for her other half?
And moreover, the pirate queen whose sexy photo shoots I used to collect, was actually an old lady in her fifties?
Yang Ming's expression became indescribable.
Kolev only briefly embraced Mimili, then turned his attention to a few old people nearby.
"Oh, you guys are here! My old buddies!"
These old folks, hair graying but still sturdy, moved forward and hugged Kolev one by one, with two old grandmothers even tearing up, visibly emotional.
Kolev looked behind and greeted the middle-aged men and women with a smile, then he frowned deeply.
"Where are the others?"
Kolev asked, "Kimo, Guka, Ferina, Emily... Oh, are they on other ships?"
"There are no other ships, Dad."
Mimili bit her lip, slightly at a loss and unable to meet Kolev's gaze directly.
"We were expelled... by Kimo... I'm sorry, Dad, I lost your Black Dragon Pirate Group..."
Kolev's expression darkened like still waters.
The outer cabin quieted down.
A few old people tried to explain something to help Mimili, but Kolev's reputation made them too scared to speak.
No one knew what the old pirate Kolev thought about in the silent thirty seconds; he turned around, walked up to Mimili, and slapped his beautiful daughter sharply across the face.
Slap!
Yang Ming raised an eyebrow.
Mimili's eyes brimmed with tears, her lips tightly pursed, her hands behind her back, saying nothing.
"As your captain," Kolev growled, "just four years! You lost the seven ships I left for you! Over a thousand crew members! How useless do you have to be for everyone to abandon you!"
"Kimo pretended to pursue me, I did not agree," Mimili said with a trembling voice, "He continually spread rumors about me, and even tampered with the accounts, making me..."
"Enough! This is a lack of competence!"
Kolev roared, then closed his eyes and exhaled softly, opening his arms to hug Mimili, gently patting her back with his fist.
"As your father. You've been wronged, Mimili, Dad will stand up for you, Dad will take care of all those who bullied you! There, my sweetheart! I'll introduce you to a new friend I just made, my age-defying friend, a strong and mature man, his name is Hanton."
Yang Ming composed himself to look like a respectable elder, wearing an elegant smile.
He extended his right hand to Mimili, who after glancing at Kolev, stepped forward and shook Yang Ming's hand gracefully.
"Hello, Uncle Hanton."
Yang Ming's smile was somewhat stiff as he said, "We should be about the same age."
Mimili blinked her long eyelashes, and her cheeks were slightly flushed from the slap earlier, her eyes revealing a hint of curiosity.
She naturally knew that it was hard to extract any compliments from her father's strict mouth.
"Alright! Break it up!"
Kolev quickly slapped Yang Ming's hand away and pulled Mimili behind him, full of vigilance as he said,
"Mimili, you better know this beforehand, this guy is very strong, and he's a playboy. When we came here, there was a woman nearly as beautiful as you pouring her heart out to him, guess what he did?"
Mimili's curiosity grew even stronger: "What did he do?"
"He knocked her out!"
Kolev cursed, "Right after they were entangling tongues, he used his head to knock her out!"
"Oh!" Mimili was full of confusion.
Yang Ming shrugged, "Nothing is more important than freedom. She wanted to seduce me with her beauty, and I'm not easily enchanted by mere beauty."
Two old men and a middle-aged man joined Kolev, completely separating Yang Ming and Mimili.
They began to speak in turn:
"Kid, what are your achievements? To join our New Black Dragon Pirate Group, you must go through a rigorous assessment! For instance, I once killed two military officers, officers of the New Federation!"
"I once scared away three escort ships of a trade group with just one empty ship, three!"
"Oh, I haven't done such significant deeds, but I'm a mature scoundrel! Haha! I can use a laser gun, and I once hit three central targets with a laser gun!"
Yang Ming: Aren't laser guns supposed to lack recoil? Don't they usually have an aiming assist system?
He clearly understood where their hostility came from.
Mimili indeed was a naïve young girl, far from growing into the pirate queen of the stars. She had a thirty-year long journey ahead, destined to be filled with various tragedies and challenges.
"My recent achievements are somewhat modest," Yang Ming said earnestly, "I merely pulled down the pants of eight strong men and left them paralyzed on the ground."
—Referring to the initial physical examination in prison.
The two old men and the uncle suddenly changed their expressions, took a few looks at the muscle outlines faintly appearing under Yang Ming's maintenance suit, and wisely took a step back.
"You, you've passed our assessment, young man with astounding strength."
"Kolev, your old friends are really interesting," Yang Ming squinted and smiled. "I'm not here to join you. I'm just accomplices with Kolev in escaping prison. I'm Kolev's comrade-in-arms. Now, Kolev, do you want to continue following me as my deputy, or stay here to clean up this mess?"
Kolev thought for a moment, "I was originally thinking of pulling together a pirate group to have you as my deputy."
"Forget it," Yang Ming reminded, "you've already called me 'captain.'"
"I said 'temporary captain'!" Kolev corrected, "That Lina was the problem you caused, it has nothing to do with me, so you need to take responsibility, and the captain's primary duty is to take responsibility."
"Alright, suit yourself."
Yang Ming smiled at Mimili and gently winked.
Mimili dared not meet his gaze.
Is this really the assertive and domineering Mimili?
Yang Ming noticed Kolev showing signs of losing temper and quickly averted his gaze, saying, "Think it over, I'm going to take a shower. Any empty cabin should be fine, right? Kolev, we'll talk later."
Yang Ming glanced under the maintenance boat seat and walked past this group of middle-aged and elderly pirates towards the cabin door.
It was a pity that his Light Sword and Light Shield were left on the escape pod, confiscated by the Human Council.
A failed zero-cost acquisition.
As he entered the rust-streaked corridor, Yang Ming still heard the conversation behind him.
"This young man is really rude."
"Hey," Kolev reminded, "remember, no one should provoke him, I mean no one! He is extremely dangerous. If he wanted to kill everyone present, it would only take a blink of an eye."
"Boss, you're exaggerating."
"His latest achievement isn't just those eight gays; he dismantled over a dozen mechanical guards with his bare hands and subdued over a hundred guards, capturing the prison's control room and armory, killed their warden and several tough criminals without them even realizing his presence.
"How do you think I escaped? His single-handed combat capabilities could match a hundred Kimos! His only deficiency is a spaceship of his own."
Yang Ming shook his head and smiled.
I should take a capsule soon; intense fighting is not conducive to stability, better to secure some pure Genetic Stabilization Liquid early.
This young version of the Star Queen, Mimili...
Yang Ming clicked his tongue.
He respected his comrade-in-arms, Kolev, and would not seek out Mimili later; however, if Mimili made the first move, he would probably find it hard to refuse a young mistress who matched his aesthetic preferences.
Who could withstand that?
Half an hour later, in the cabin Yang Ming chose, the door was gently knocked.
Standing in the water cascade, Yang Ming cautiously grabbed the dagger he had just found.
"Who?"
"Uncle Hanton," Mimili's sweet voice chimed, "Father asked me to remind you that we're going to perform consecutive jumps in the next half hour."
"Thanks," Yang Ming simply said.
"May I come in?" Mimili asked, "I brought some clothes for you to change into."
Yang Ming: …
'She's my niece now.'
He reminded himself mentally.