62 An Unexpected Turn of Events [Seeking Happiness!]
Lu Chen opened the Aurora Starway News.
The headline was all about the bounty trap on Seon Star.
Bribing officials within the Adventurers’ Guild, publishing false bounties, luring adventurers into crime, capturing them to serve as free laborers…
It was a complete criminal chain.
The Primal Star Vault Adventurer Group, who had escaped from Seon Star, had provided crucial evidence for this.
However, the report also took great care to note that there was no absolute proof the Seon government was behind it, and the involvement of third-party stakeholders could not be ruled out.
The Adventurers’ Guild was set to negotiate with the Uncrowned Nation, aiming to rescue the adventurers imprisoned on Seon Star as quickly as possible.
Simultaneously, the Guild had already severely punished the internal bounty review staff who had accepted bribes.
Perhaps because they didn’t want to offend the Uncrowned Nation too much, this part of the news was brief.
Soon, the tone shifted, and a long section began to lavish praise on the Primal Star Vault’s achievements.
Unafraid of tyranny, seekers of truth, liberators of comrades—true adventurers worthy of this very starry sky.
They had even been awarded the Idealist Medal by the Uncrowned Nation!
The praise was so effusive that even Lu Chen felt a little embarrassed…
Just yesterday, during the brief interval while Gloria was bathing, Lu Chen had received an email from the Uncrowned Nation, officially granting him the Idealist Medal!
He could collect the physical medal at any time, from any vassal state of the Uncrowned Nation—personally presented by the Star Lord in a formal ceremony.
Such honor far exceeded the Empire’s Heroic Medal!
Rumor had it the Idealist Medal was gold-plated and jade-cored, worth a thousand spirit stones…
However, Lu Chen had no plans to claim the award anytime soon—he intended to keep a low profile for now.
Besides the headline, there were two more news stories about the Primal Star Vault Adventurer Group—both highlighted in red.
One read: After leaving Seon Star, the Leonin successfully evaded both the Justice Hunter and an unidentified vessel, demonstrating piloting skills no less impressive than those shown in the flight trials.
Subtext: The piloting trials are highly professional, top-tier, and thrilling—everyone, come watch and place your bets!
Clearly, the Adventurers’ Guild knew how to do business.
Fortunately, although Lu Chen had made enemies of the Empire this time, the Empire, eager to cover up the truth, had neither stripped him of his Heroic Medal nor issued a bounty for the Primal Star Vault Adventurer Group.
With the loss of the fly drone’s tracking, the Imperial warships had ceased pursuit as well.
Just then, Ellie brought Lu Chen a cup of invigorating red tea, unable to contain her excitement.
“Captain, look! We’ve been chosen by the Guild as a Rising Star—we might soon break into the Hundred Thousand New Generation!”
Lu Chen lifted the teacup and patted her on the head.
“What are you so excited for? It’s not like there’s a cash prize.”
Ellie pouted, then suddenly grew serious.
Her petite frame straightened, a girlish curve showing at her chest.
“Captain… I want to ask you something.”
“Go ahead.”
“What’s your purpose in being an adventurer?”
“For adventure.”
“No, I mean—the meaning of adventure…”
“The meaning is simply to adventure.”
“…”
Seeing Ellie’s baffled expression, Lu Chen elaborated for clarity:
“To adventure with beautiful girls.”
Ellie still looked puzzled, unable to grasp his meaning.
Lu Chen thought the child needed more guidance.
“A film director who only thinks about box office during the shoot rarely gets a good box office.”
“A scientist who only thinks about breakthroughs and winning awards rarely achieves real breakthroughs.”
“A novelist who only thinks about subscriptions as he writes rarely gets good subscriptions.”
“To me, adventure itself is a joy. Only joy brings focus; only joy wards off exhaustion and confusion, allowing one’s nature to unfold and talent to shine.”
Subtext: It wasn’t having a cheat that made me happy—it was that writing code made me happy, and thus I had a cheat.
“Enjoying the process is the shortcut to success,” Lu Chen said.
Ellie finally understood. She immediately took out a notebook and jotted it all down with enthusiasm.
Lu Chen was about to tease her, when Ellie retorted,
“Captain, I’ve loved taking notes since I was little!”
“Oh, very good.”
The second news story reported that the Primal Star Vault Adventurer Group had earned ten thousand points within a month of entering the Pangu Continent!
Any group that reached ten thousand adventurer points within a year of setting out to sea would be marked by the Guild as a Rising Star.
Such groups were seen as potential candidates to join the Hundred Thousand New Generation in the next decade.
The Primal Star Vault group had won three battles in a row and hit this milestone in just a month!
In the comments section, the group now even had fans.
At least there were no more sarcastic remarks—most messages were positive.
“When’s the live broadcast? I’m not here for the beauties, just want to see how Captain Lu pilots the ship!”
“The first group in history to hijack a ship during the flight trial and still take first place.”
“I declare that the Primal Star Vault Adventurer Group will win the Federation’s All-Races Glory Medal within three months!”
“The next Guernica Beastmasters…”
“These new-generation adventurers are really something. I wonder under whose blade they’ll fall…”
“Another group playing dumb to hunt the tigers. I refuse to believe such big shots can’t afford a high-grade long-range ship!”
“That’s not fair—they really did rescue the adventurers imprisoned on Seon Star. This time they got five thousand adventure points as a favor.”
“Anyone know the record for the fastest group to reach the Hundred Thousand New Generation? I want to see if Primal Star Vault has broken the system…”
“Seventh Prince, Black Hole Roamer, Ulysses—the Genius Representative. Set sail at seventeen, became famous in ten days, skipped the Hundred Thousand New Generation, and jumped straight to the Three Thousand Star Killers.”
“Then never mind.”
“Look at another story—Justice Hunter chased the Leonin and battled the Uncrowned Fleet for an hour…”
“And?”
“As a result, Justice Hunter is about to enter the Hundred Thousand New Generation.”
Justice Hunter was still alive?
Lu Chen was stunned.
He quickly found the relevant news. It was already old news.
Two and a half days ago, Justice Hunter was surrounded by the Uncrowned Fleet. Seeing no hope of breaking through, their captain, Kundi Augus, donned powered armor and charged alone at the Uncrowned Fleet’s flagship, the Third Ideal…
At the time, both the flagship and the other destroyers and frigates focused their fire on the Justice Hunter.
No one expected Augus to risk his life against the warships!
The enormous Uncrowned Fleet was taken off guard by his assault, their formation thrown into chaos.
Inspired by Augus, all ten of the ship’s fighters left the vessel to join the battle.
The ship didn’t try to break out—instead, it fought fiercely within the destroyers’ encirclement.
The battle lasted over half an hour.
In the end, the Justice Hunter Adventurer Group’s captain, Augus, was severely wounded and fell unconscious; seven fighters died among the stars, the ship’s hull was riddled with holes, the gyroscope damaged…
Ultimately, under the command of Vice Captain Shadow at the Brink, they rescued Augus and, miraculously, broke through, crash-landing on an ocean planet several light-years away.
After this battle, the Justice Hunter Adventurer Group received the Guild’s highest commendation.
They were awarded one hundred thousand adventure points in one stroke—entry into the Hundred Thousand New Generation was now a certainty.
Lu Chen stared, dumbfounded.
“Well, looks like in a few days we’ll be earning the Justice Hunter Medal ourselves!”
———
Latest news: this book has made it onto Sanjiang!
Thank you, mountain dwellers!
The release may be delayed by a week to give everyone more free chapters to enjoy.