First Intergalactic Emperor: Starting With The Ancient Goddess

The inmates ate with pure bliss on their faces, their laughter echoing through the yard as they passed dishes to one another. If someone unrelated were to see them, they would surely think that Xavier was their leader, that everyone respected him dearly. With just one meal, he had earned their favor, their promise that no one would touch him as long as they were with him.

Xavier didn’t tell them he would be leaving soon. It didn’t matter to him. He wasn’t there to make friends, and if he needed one, they surely wouldn’t be someone who would change sides as long as they got what they wanted.

But he was curious about Bull and the wolf girl. What was their relationship? And why did he feel a strong sense of attraction toward Bull from the moment he had seen him?

Just then, a tall Kla’ots—an alien species of beautiful avians with iridescent scales, who loved eating and sleeping—approached Xavier and pulled him out of the group. He didn’t belong to their yard, but he had managed to sneak in. The guards watched, hesitant to approach him. Even the inmates who had just been eating with Xavier were reluctant to step in to help him.

It was obvious that the Kla’ots was someone high in the prison hierarchy.

”My name is Klatos,” he introduced himself, his voice smooth. ”State your name, human.”

”Xavier,” Xavier responded nonchalantly, without a hint of fear in his face or voice.

Klatos’ eyes gleamed. ”Don’t you think it’s unfair that you get to eat such tasty food while we eat that sweat of sewer every day?”

Xavier didn’t flinch. ”You can eat with us if you want,” he said with a straight face.

Klatos blinked, confused. He had been prepared to resort to violence, to steal the food—but this? This was unexpected. ”Can I?” he asked, his voice hesitant.

Xavier nodded toward the dishes on the table. ”We have too much left. You can eat as much as you want.”

When Klatos moved to grab the food, the other inmates scattered away. He took as much as he could before sitting beside Xavier, who was now eating alone.

As they ate, Klatos glanced at Bull and the wolf girl, who were eating at a table far in the corner. ”What’s the occasion?” he asked, his voice curious. ”I’ve never seen them serve this kind of food here.”

”It’s a farewell party,” Xavier replied, his voice light.

Klatos’ eyes gleamed. ”Oh, they’re letting you go? Looks like someone paid extra for you.”

Xavier raised an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued. ”Hmm?”

Klatos’ voice was casual. ”Don’t you know that everyone in Yard XBE is supposed to die?” He leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper. ”I was once in XBE too. I had to sell them my land on Jupiter to get transferred to another yard.”

Xavier’s mind raced. ’So they planned to kill me from the start, huh? I thought Dominic was just a pawn, but it looks like he wanted to get rid of me anyway.’

Klatos ate fast, swallowing without chewing. Xavier wasn’t sure if that was how all Kla’ots ate or if Klatos was just like that.

”This is good food!” Klatos exclaimed, his voice enthusiastic. ”I’ve always liked Earth’s food. It’s got the taste of life!”

Xavier had spent only one day in the prison, and he had talked with more aliens than humans.

Klatos glanced at Bull and the wolf girl before looking back at Xavier. ”Let me do you a favor for letting me eat this food,” he said, his voice serious. ”Stay away from that man, Bull.”

Xavier’s curiosity piqued. ”Why?”

”He is the most dangerous one in the XBE yard. There are many who want to kill him.” Klatos looked into Xavier’s eyes with a serious expression on his face. ”Do you know who Bull is?”

’Great! I actually wanted to know more about Bull, but since I couldn’t ask Bull himself, I was going to ask someone else.’ Xavier shook his head and responded, ”No, I don’t.”

”Bull is one of the most wanted space pirates with a bounty of 10 billion USC. Space mercenaries were after him for decades.”

’USC?’ Xavier’s mind raced. ’I remember reading about it the other night. USC stands for universal space chips, a currency used anywhere in the universe. And 1 USC was 300 dollars. So 10 billion USC would be 3 trillion dollars. I wonder what he did to have a bounty this big.’

”His team betrayed him for the bounty and doxed his location. Then they abandoned him.” He sighed. ”It’s sad that a few of his team members, including the Lykaios girl, were arrested with him too.”

Xavier’s gaze flicked to the wolf girl. ’So that’s why she’s here. But where are the rest? Are they in another yard?’ He wondered.

Klatos’ voice was grim. ”But space pirates or criminals who have committed crimes in space aren’t brought here to Earth.”

Xavier raised an eyebrow. ”Bull’s an exception?”

Klatos nodded. ”He’s hidden his treasure somewhere, and everyone wants to know where. No one knows about it, not even his team.” His voice was a whisper. ”And as long as he doesn’t reveal where he’s hidden the treasure, they’ll keep him here and torture him.” His gaze flicked to the wolf girl. ”They killed his team members—who were arrested with him—in front of his eyes in the torture room.” He sighed. ”That Lykaios is the last one. I wonder what they’ll do after they’ve killed her too.”

The break ended, and everyone returned to their cells.

Xavier lay on the floor, his mind focused on what Klatos had told him about Bull. He still couldn’t understand why he felt attracted to Bull. He couldn’t grasp what the feeling was, but there was something special about him.

Time passed, and night arrived. The force fields from some cells vanished like a daily routine. But Xavier’s didn’t.

Dominic had told the officers not to open Xavier’s cell that night. However, the officers had misunderstood his order. They thought Xavier had been moved up on the list, and they had added his name to one of the three cells that didn’t open.

Xavier wasn’t aware of that.

Until... he saw Bull and the rest standing in front of his cell.