Counterfeit Hero

Chapter 149: Volume 3 Chapter 43 Ann Lei Returns

Over the next few days, the situation on the [Apollo] remained tense but stable. Gradually, as the commotion died down, the crew also began to calm down.

Everyone was making a living on this ship, and no one really wanted to see it in chaos. Normally, Eric and Anthony were domineering bullies, and the regular crew members wouldn’t dare to speak out against them, but now they had been uprooted with no resistance. Anyone who had any ideas quietly swallowed them back down, as Audrey’s thunderous actions had established her authority. The whole ship suddenly felt like it did back when the old captain was in charge.

The most carefree person was Tian Xingjian. This Fatty lazed around all day with nothing to do, just tinkering with various parts and gadgets in the ship’s lowest cabin. His room had been moved to the top level, right next to Audrey’s. After all, this entire operation had been planned and executed by Fatty alone. If any desperate situation arose, Audrey could be in danger. Besides, those makeshift peeping devices made from junk had to be put to use somewhere, right?

As for whether peeping was moral or not, Fatty definitely didn’t care. In this bastard’s mind, the concept of morality didn’t even exist. Who the hell gives a fuck about that shit?

For Fatty, the best thing in life was to follow his desires. He felt that if he had been born into the martial arts world of ancient Earth novels, he would definitely be a great rogue hero. Rogue, because he would marry many wives; Fatty was never Liuu Xiahui. If he had the chance, he wouldn’t mind causing some chaos, and even if he didn’t have the chance, he would create it just to make some trouble. Hero, because he would rob the rich to help the poor and fight for justice, and as long as he carried the word ”hero,” he would draw his sword to help the oppressed, and if there was no injustice, he would stir some up just so he could resolve it.

Therefore, Fatty most hoped for those scenarios where beautiful ladies were in distress, and the lascivious hero would come to their rescue. The usual ending would be the lady unable to escape being stripped down like a lamb, only the butcher had changed. After mutual affection and a romp, they would then live happily ever after.

Currently, Fatty was quite dissatisfied, having done the heroics without the pleasure. Like a child getting a shot without receiving candy, it wasn’t like the old days of polygamy. Such days were infinitely desirable, but unattainable in this era. Gender equality had been a thing for thousands of years, and besides, Audrey didn’t seem to have any intent on offering herself to him. For Fatty, pretending to be lofty and refusing with great pain would indeed be a fine story, but the fact that this chick didn’t show any affection for a dashing guy like him was a huge blow to his pride.

If he couldn’t get the reward, he at least had to get some interest back. So, he used his peeping device while muttering to himself, ”Tsk tsk... can’t take it, that body is just perfect. Sweetie, my duty is to save the universe, and your duty is to provide some nighttime entertainment for the hero saving the universe. Everyone has their responsibilities, hehe, so white, everyone has their responsibilities.”

To someone like him, talking about responsibility was already a push. If someone tried to use morality to strip him of his greatest hobby, they would probably get a few liters of his spit in return.

Apart from his nightly peeping sessions, Fatty did put some effort into the [Apollo]. He pulled out the entire ship’s schematics and directed the power cabin crew to carry out additional reinforcements. From Ivan’s perspective, these reinforcements were incomprehensible, but the ship’s computer showed that after the modifications, the overall stability of the ship increased by eighty percent, far exceeding that of typical new civilian transport ships. On top of the reinforcements, two sets of idle auxiliary thrusters were added. These thrusters, after Fatty’s modifications, not only provided stable thrust but also had a powerful burst capability that could propel the [Apollo] from a standstill to full acceleration in a minute during emergencies.

Space travel was incredibly boring, and Fatty immersed himself daily in repurposing junk. Under his behind-the-scenes direction, the entire [Apollo] gradually transformed. The crew watched as the [Apollo] changed bit by bit, with upgrades to radars, thrusters, engines, scanning devices, auto-avoidance systems, emergency maneuvering, energy shields, and the overall structure. Fatty’s idleness resulted in a completely new [Apollo], and within less than a month, the [Apollo] had rejuvenated from quantitative changes to qualitative ones.

If it was only rejuvenation, Old Ivan wouldn’t be trailing Fatty so closely, and Audrey would probably have already snapped under the weight of Fatty’s various bad habits. According to the ship’s computer, the value of this ship now far exceeded that of the latest civilian transport ships by ten times. Although it wasn’t the most advanced space fleet, for smuggling, this ship was practically priceless.

During this time, Audrey increasingly felt a tendency towards self-loathing. She had grown accustomed to talking with this Fatty named Zhang Yuan; his unrestrained imagination gave her great inspiration. There was practically no problem that could stymie him; he always found incredible ways to solve whatever difficulties arose. But...this person was a natural-born scoundrel. She couldn’t exchange more than a few words with him before she felt she was about to explode. It was nearly impossible to maintain a calm and composed demeanor in front of him; he was a devil who could effortlessly strip away her facade without hesitation. If she spoke to him naturally, he seemed unfazed, but as soon as she adopted a reserved and composed demeanor, his infuriating taunts would trigger her anger.