Chapter 249: A Change of Face

By now, the Caeluna personnel behind her were already glaring furiously at the group of robbers.

For someone to dare rob their leader, Sterling, right on Caeluna’s doorstep... it was unthinkable.

This was a lapse in their oversight. Worse still, these people had used Caeluna’s name against them. If word of this got out, Caeluna would become a laughingstock.

And then there was Sterling...

Gus Locke, Julian Fletcher, and the others looked at Stella Sterling. They saw the smile on her face and noted she didn’t seem angry at all.

For a moment, they didn’t know whether to feel relieved or worried.

Sterling’s attitude was impossible for them to decipher.

Sterling had only been gone for a few days, and this had happened right under their noses. For her to run into such a mess the moment she returned... this was their failure.

This group had to be severely punished. Otherwise, incidents like this would never end.

The man knelt on his speedboat, but the people on either side of him remained silent, completely ignoring him.

His heart pounded with anxiety. He had no idea what these people were thinking.

But he couldn’t just kneel there and wait for the axe to fall. He scrambled to explain, "We honestly didn’t know you were from Caeluna! If we had, we wouldn’t have dared to touch you, not even if you gave us ten times the nerve! We’ve always had the utmost respect for Caeluna. We’d never do anything to harm you."

Stella Sterling watched him with a smile crinkling her eyes. "Is that so? But just now, you seemed quite practiced at doing this sort of thing while flying our Caeluna flag. When you were doing that, did it not occur to you that you might be ruining our reputation? That you might be offending Caeluna?"

Stella Sterling’s words made the man break out in a cold sweat.

’She must have seen right through my act of using Caeluna’s name from the very beginning,’ he thought. ’She’s just been toying with us this whole time.’

’How was I supposed to know? Of all the people to rob, I just had to run into them. What are the odds?’

’If I had known, I would never have done this. I’m not an idiot.’

’If I’d known it would turn out like this, I never should have used Caeluna’s name in the first place.’

’The plan was to finish this one job, take my men, and get out of here fast. That way, even if Caeluna found out, they’d never be able to track us down in this wide world.’

’But no, I just had to be this unlucky and run into the genuine article.’

’If I hadn’t used Caeluna’s name to try and scare them, things wouldn’t be so awkward right now. Our situation wouldn’t be this dire.’

The man put on a woeful expression and tried a new tactic. "It’s all a misunderstanding! I only said that because we admire Caeluna so much! In our hearts, Caeluna is all-powerful. We were just trying to find something to eat, and we thought, since Caeluna is so mighty, we’d borrow its name for a bit."

He spoke with such apparent sincerity, constantly praising Caeluna’s strength and professing his admiration, all while trying to talk his way out of trouble.

Someone without a strong will might have been swayed by his flattery and let him off the hook.

They might have even been convinced to spare him this one time, just for the sake of his silver tongue.

Unfortunately for him, he had run into Stella Sterling.

She nodded. "I see. Well, since you all admire Caeluna so much, why don’t I invite you over to Caeluna Base for a visit? How about a tour?"

Stella Sterling’s words were polite and gentle, but the men, including their leader, immediately grew wary.

They hurriedly shook their heads, refusing. "N-no, we couldn’t possibly impose!"

’Are you kidding me?’ the leader thought. ’Out here, we still have a slim chance of survival. If we actually go to Caeluna Base, we’d be lambs walking into a tiger’s den. There’d be no coming back.’

Their lives would be completely at the mercy of others.

"So, you were lying to me this whole time?"

Stella Sterling’s smile vanished. Without waiting for them to speak again, she said icily, "Take them back. We’ll use them to make an example of what happens to those who borrow Caeluna’s name so freely."

With that, she turned and went back inside her vessel, giving the man no further opportunity to speak.

The man’s eyes widened. ’This woman’s mood changes in a flash.’

Just a moment ago, she seemed so approachable, and now she was utterly decisive. He hadn’t even had time to get his words out.

He knew he couldn’t talk his way out of this.

His men were looking at him, waiting for a decision. He raised his voice and yelled, "Brothers! If we go to Caeluna Base, we’re dead for sure! Since it’s come to this, we might as well risk it all and fight them! It’s our only chance!"

"Yeah! Let’s fight ’em!"

"Exactly! So what if we borrowed their name? We only did it because we look up to them! Do they have to be like this? Pah!"

Hearing their leader’s words, the men began to roar, waving the large blades in their hands as they prepared to fight Caeluna’s people.

The leader heard their shouts and felt a pang of guilt. He himself wouldn’t dare say such things to Caeluna’s face. ’I have to admit,’ he thought sarcastically, ’my men really are brave.’

’Then again, what’s the difference between this and suicide?’

He’d always known his men were brainless, surviving this long on brute force alone. The only reason he’d become their leader was that he had a bit of a brain. It had taken considerable effort to gather these fools under his command.

And he had reaped plenty of benefits from their brawn.

But he never expected them to be *this* stupid.

’Then again, if they weren’t idiots, how would my plan work?’

He had already made up his mind. If there was going to be a fight, he’d let these idiots handle it. He wasn’t about to join in. The moment they started fighting, he would make a run for it.

’Can’t they see? The Caeluna people have guns! And what do we have? Knives! How can we possibly be a match for them?’

’We’d probably all be dead before we even got close.’

While thinking this, he shouted words meant to stir their blood even more. "That’s right, brothers! We fight them! It’s not over ’til it’s over! This so-called Caeluna might be nothing but an empty reputation!"

The two sides quickly descended into a chaotic brawl. The leader seized the opportunity to escape. He leaped from his speedboat, dove into the water, and began swimming for the shore.

He just had to get out of this area, and he’d be safe.

’As their leader, it’s their duty to cover my escape,’ he thought, feeling not a shred of guilt.