A Chemist's Interstellar Saga

Chapter 140: Sneaking Out
Chapter 140: Sneaking Out

Ever since Arix and Drexel caused a disturbance at IRMA and gave Kares a solid beating, Krylak had kept them on lockdown to prevent any Dragon clan retaliation.

For twenty long days, they stayed within their clan’s territory, dutifully attending online classes.

Too much idle time, however, makes people restless.

”Arix, aren’t you bored?” Drexel asked, sprawled out on the desk.

”What do you think? It’s been almost 20 days, and we haven’t been out for fun,” Arix replied, looking like a deflated little tiger on the verge of a tantrum.

”When will these days end?” Drexel pouted, balancing a pen on his lips.

”Uncle Krylak said he’d let us out before the Blessing Ceremony. But it’s only five days away, and we’re still stuck here,” Arix complained, feeling like Krylak was breaking his promise.

”Adults never keep their promises,” Drexel sighed, letting the pen drop from his lips in frustration.

”And now with Scion out on a mission, it’s even worse.” Arix had tolerated the confinement because she could visit Scion every day. But with him away, the boredom was unbearable.

Drexel rolled his eyes at Arix’s complaint. Her obsession with Scion’s looks was something he couldn’t understand. Thank goodness Arix was a girl—if she were a boy, she’d be the spitting image of the Calix family’s son, surrounded by illegitimate kids.

However, it suddenly came to Drexel that being called ”uncle” by a bunch of kids didn’t seem so bad after all.

Drexel chuckled to himself, lost in his thoughts.

Arix shot Drexel a deadpan look, wondering if he had finally snapped from being locked up. His creepy laughter dragged on, making Arix’s forehead twitch. She held back her temper until she couldn’t anymore and threw a pen at Drexel.

”Have you laughed enough? What’s so funny?” Arix asked, clearly annoyed.

Drexel dodged the pen, but he dared not reveal his thoughts. If he did, the next thing flying at him might be Arix’s knife.

”Ahem, isn’t it almost time to return to the Alliance? I was just thinking about the famous Moon Goddess Temple in the Empire—we haven’t visited it yet!” Drexel coughed, quickly changing the subject.

Arix just snorted, ”We can’t go out anyway, so what’s the point in thinking about it?”

Drexel raised an eyebrow, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. ”I have a way. It just depends on whether you wants to go out or not.”

”What way?” Arix asked, curiosity and suspicion battling within her.

Drexel’s face lit up with a big, smug grin as he said, ”Come on, follow me. I’m taking you out for fun.”

Arix had a bad feeling about this but couldn’t resist the curiosity, so she followed him.

A few minutes later, they arrived at a secluded corner of the family estate.

”Drexel, don’t tell me this is your way out!” Arix’s paw trembled as she pointed to a tiny dog door about ten centimeters high.

Whenever she was with Drexel, they always managed to hit new lows. Like now, he wanted her, a proud young tiger, to crawl through a dog hole!

”Shh, Arix, keep it down,” Drexel whispered urgently, covering her mouth with his hand and putting a finger to his lips. After making sure no one was around, he relaxed a bit.

”It may look like an ordinary dog door, but it’s the only blind spot for the clan’s surveillance radars. I spent days figuring this out,” Drexel explained proudly, keeping his voice low.

Arix rolled her eyes. ’No matter how he puts it, it’s still a dog hole!’

”I’m not going. I’d rather just ask Uncle Krylak and go out openly,” Arix said, shaking her head and taking a step back, her whole body radiating resistance.

”Sure, we could go out openly, but we can’t exactly visit the Moon Goddess Temple openly. Since we have to sneak there anyway, we might as well start sneaking now. If we get caught by the Moon Goddess Temple folks, we can at least say we had no ill intentions,” Drexel reasoned.

Arix couldn’t deny that her brother had a knack for strategy. Even his exit plans were well thought out.

Sighing, she looked at the dog door, struggling internally for a moment before hesitating again.

”Come on, just get out quickly. The hole’s too small; I still need to make it bigger to get out myself,” Drexel said impatiently, rolling his eyes and lifting Arix through the hole first.

Then he started tearing at the wall to enlarge the hole enough for him to squeeze through.

Arix, now outside, watched Drexel struggle to wiggle through the hole. The sight was quite unappealing.

”Why not make the hole a bit bigger?” she asked.

”You don’t get it. This way, we save materials for patching it up later. If we make it too big, it’ll be harder to hide. Oh crap! My waist is stuck. Arix, give me a hand!” Drexel groaned, hands on the ground, trying to pull his waist through.

Reminding herself that this was her brother, Arix gritted her teeth and grabbed his shirt, pulling with all her might.

With a thud, Drexel’s waist finally came free.

He grimaced as he got up, rubbing his waist. ”I guess next time I won’t skimp on making the hole bigger. The time wasted here could’ve filled two dog holes.”

Arix, not wanting to waste time on this silly topic, quickly interrupted, ”Alright, just find something to cover the hole, and let’s get going.”

”Got it,” Drexel replied, brushing the dirt off his clothes. In the dim alleyway, he found two broken baskets and used them to cover the dog hole.

Satisfied with the makeshift cover, Drexel grinned and then picked up Arix, heading out of the alley.

Stepping out of the alley, Arix and Drexel found themselves amidst the bustling streets of Imperial Nexus. They wandered, eyes wide with wonder, as if they’d never seen anything like it.

It wasn’t that walking around was unusual; it was the stark contrast between the streets of the Alliance and those of the Empire that held their fascination.

In the Alliance, street vending was mostly banned, with robots patrolling to keep illegal vendors at bay. But here, in the Empire, robots were a rare sight. Instead, therian folk managed everything themselves, giving the streets a unique, almost otherworldly charm.

Street vending thrived in the Empire, with few restrictions. Therians set up stalls everywhere, selling strange items from their travels to dangerous places. These exotic goods attracted more interest than usual, making business brisk.

”Check it out! Insectoid Cores, anything you want, I have it all!”

”Hey kid, want to be a mecha master overnight? Buy this guide! Seven days or your money back!”

”Fresh beast meat, ten credits a kilo! First come, first served!”

Arix clung to her brother, eyes darting around in excitement. She often pulled him to her favorite stalls for a closer look.

”Arix, why do you like these little trinkets? They all look like junk,” Drexel finally said, watching her rummage through a pile of odds and ends.

”Well, you shouldn’t buy that ’mecha master in seven days’ guide either!” Arix shot back, equally disdainful.

”That’s different! What if it’s a real master’s guide?” Drexel argued, pulling out the guide he’d just bought and flipping through it. He couldn’t understand it, but it looked impressive.

Arix rolled her eyes and resumed her treasure hunt. Just as Drexel believed he might find a secret master’s guide, Arix was convinced she could stumble upon a hidden gem. ’Aren’t these stalls where lucky finds often occurred in novels?’

Even if there were no treasures, the quirky items were fascinating.

Arix found some little pearl—it was so smooth! It would make a great gift for Cirilla.

These medicinal ingredients looked good too; they might be a nice present for Varden.

Then she found a piece of stone. She wasn’t sure what this stone was for, but it was pretty and might be worth keeping.

Arix spent quite a while picking out items, satisfied with her purchases. After paying, she nestled back into her Drexel’s embrace, and they continued exploring.