Chapter 1 A Starship Captain's Beginning

If he hadn't experienced it himself, Hao Ren would never have thought that a glorious starship captain started by holding textbooks and memorizing instruction sets—most novels and movies don't talk about this!

However, the data terminal didn't lie about at least one thing: the textbooks had indeed been adjusted according to his comprehension ability and worldview, and the initial physical modification had also strengthened his brainpower. Although these textbooks seemed like heavenly scriptures to Hao Ren, after memorizing the basics, he found that he could slightly understand the later content.

He didn't need to know how the starship core worked (probably no one in this entire universe could understand the Empire's high-end goods). He just needed to know what instructions to input in what situation. At most, he would understand the meaning behind these instructions so that he could improvise in the future. This was the essential knowledge for a starship captain, and it was enough to deal with most situations.

Anyway, if the spaceship broke down, the autonomous machines inside could solve it.

Hao Ren held the data terminal and started studying early in the morning, working all the way until after ten o'clock. During this time, the little mermaid Doudou stayed next to him. The pot filled with water was now the little guy's exclusive equipment, placed on the coffee table. The little guy would jump into the pot and swim around a couple of times, then hop out, tug on Hao Ren's clothes, climb onto the latter's stomach, and lie down to rest, occasionally mumbling some unintelligible呓语 (yiyu, murmurs), looking content.

"I think... the biggest problem with raising a mermaid is that you have to change clothes often," Hao Ren finally couldn't stand the headache-inducing information and put the data terminal aside, picked up Doudou, and put her back in the pot. His shirt was wet, all from the little guy running around, and even the sofa was not spared. "Vivian, what are you busy with?"

The vampire girl had been busy with needles, thread, and cloth not far away. Hao Ren curiously poked his head over and saw that she had a very small and exquisite little garment in her hand. "You wouldn't be preparing clothes for the little guy, would you?"

"What do you think?" Vivian bit off the thread and glanced at Hao Ren. "You can't keep wrapping Doudou in plumber's tape. Nangong Wuyue asked me to help make some clothes for the little guy before she left. Do you think this will work?"

This vampire's talents were all spent on housework!

Hao Ren took the light pink mini-jacket and found that the size was almost perfect, and the workmanship was as exquisite as a work of art. Vivian had not only specially selected a fabric that would not shrink after absorbing water, but also embroidered two small fish on the back with almost insane skill. This technique really made people wonder how she learned it. Doudou stared wide-eyed and curiously watched Hao Ren put this inexplicable thing on her, clumsily cooperating with the equally clumsy "dad." It took the two of them a long time to finally get the clothes on. Wearing real clothes for the first time made Doudou a little uncomfortable. She wriggled awkwardly, her tail slapping on the coffee table, but after adapting for a while, she became happy, seeming to feel that wearing such a thing was quite interesting—the little guy regarded it as a game.

The little mermaid, wearing her new clothes, hopped and ran around on the coffee table, finally plopping back into the pot and dozing off. Vivian watched her work being accepted by the little guy with satisfaction, and her motivation soared. "I'll make her two more vests and tube tops later and replace that ridiculous plumber's tape. It looks like a bandage..."

Just as Hao Ren and Vivian were studying how to take care of the mermaid baby, the sound of a key opening the door suddenly came from outside. Lily was back much earlier than usual this time.

Vivian looked at Lily in surprise. "You're back so early today? I haven't cooked yet."

In everyone's impression, Lily's actions were linked to mealtimes. They had never seen her come back so early.

Lily did not answer Vivian's question. Contrary to her usual self, she had a serious expression on her face. After entering the door, she first carefully looked at the street outside, then carefully locked the door before quickly coming to Hao Ren and Vivian. "We have a situation."

Even the always careless husky could show such an expression, which immediately made Vivian and Hao Ren look at each other. The latter subconsciously grabbed his data terminal (he didn't know how this conditioned reflex formed). "Did you bite someone and now someone's coming to your door?"

Vivian kicked Hao Ren under the coffee table. "Although I know you're talking nonsense, it's quite admirable."

"It's this," Lily also rolled her eyes at Hao Ren before taking out a small piece of paper from her bag. "It looks familiar to me."

It was a small card the size of a playing card, yellowish in color, and exuded a strange fragrance. Some complex lines were drawn on the card with red paint—莱塔 (Laita) runes!

Hao Ren was now really allergic to these mysterious and bizarre patterns because he had rarely encountered good things whenever he saw them! Vivian's brow also furrowed. "This is a符卡 (fuka, talisman card) used by demon hunters. Where did you find it?"

"Nearby streets. Some were inserted in brick cracks, and some were pasted on telephone poles, all hidden in inconspicuous places. I found a lot," Lily poured a large pile of paper out of her bag. "...Am I really going to be stewed by humans this time?"

"Don't think too much," Hao Ren was also startled to see so many rune cards appear in front of him, but he was much calmer than Lily. "Let's identify if they're real first, in case someone is just playing a prank..."

"This can't be fake," Vivian casually flicked a rune card into the air and wrapped it in a cloud of blood mist. A series of electric sparks immediately burst out within the blood mist. In the blink of an eye, the card and blood mist canceled each other out. "This is a very rigorous drawing method. Only demon hunters and church monks know how to draw it. It looks like we've really been targeted by demon hunters."

"Didn't渡鸦12345 (Duya 12345) say everything was resolved!" Hao Ren took a breath. The thought of those perverted guys made his scalp tingle. "How did they pop up again?!"

Vivian sighed. "Alas, that's why I said don't always rely on her. We have to learn to protect ourselves. Let's discuss a countermeasure after Nangong and the big guy come back. The demon hunters have deployed符卡 (fuka, talisman cards) on this street, which means they've almost confirmed our location. I'm afraid there'll be a big commotion... Tsk, it's rare to have a peaceful day."

Vivian said this, but she didn't neglect the preparations. She waved her hand and summoned a dozen small bats, beckoning to Hao Ren. "Come help me put on sunscreen."

She was preparing to immediately start investigating the surrounding situation. Although Hao Ren doubted whether these small bats could find the demon hunters' traces, it was better than doing nothing. Lily curiously flipped through the paper she had found, quite puzzled by the crooked symbols. "By the way, what does this write? It's not quite the same as the paper I saw last time?"

"There are many types of符卡 (fuka, talisman cards). Skilled demon hunters can even create new符卡 (fuka, talisman cards). The power of莱塔 (Laita) runes lies in their ever-changing nature," Vivian explained while cooperating with Hao Ren to put sunscreen on the small bats. "According to the runes on these papers... I judge that they are probably used to form some kind of 'base' or 'field'. Half of the符文 (fuwen, runes) write about the territory of the earth, and the other half write about invisible shadows. These things are combined to create a field for reconnaissance, surveillance, combat, and blockade. Whatever they do next will be based on this field. It seems that the demon hunters just arrived. They didn't have time to deploy more things before you discovered them."

Hao Ren felt that these demon hunters were a bit weak, even allowing Lily, the husky star person, to accidentally destroy these deployments. Lily was also quite happy and "poofed" out her tail, shaking it vigorously. "That's right, I have many strengths."

"Okay, then you're responsible for finding the remaining符文 (fuwen, runes)," Vivian said casually. "Based on the situation of deploying the base, it seems that these demon hunters are afraid of confronting us head-on. Then you can keep destroying this base. This will buy us time, and we'll have more initiative—try to find all the符文 (fuwen, runes) on the entire street."

Lily's tail suddenly froze in mid-air. "...Huh?"

"Huh, what?" Vivian pushed open the window, and a dozen bats flew into the sky in a skirmish line. She turned to look at Lily and Hao Ren, grinning and showing her two fangs. "This is a provocation! I was caught off guard last time, so I was unlucky. This time, we noticed it early and are prepared. We have to catch one alive no matter what!"

As the vampire girl spoke, a cold wind gradually rose around her, full of fighting spirit.