"I know you guys," the boy said. "You’re the S-Class Alpha team from the Federal Military Academy, right?"

Zoe Pierce finally understood why he was nervous seeing Director Quinn and the others, but relaxed when he saw her team.

"I’ve seen your livestreams," he said to Nathan Lockwood, who was closest to him.

Nathan Lockwood nodded.

The boy’s voice apparently woke up the others who were still unconscious. Suddenly seeing the unfamiliar environment, their reaction was almost identical to the boy’s at first.

They were all incredibly tense.

"We’re saved, we’re saved," the boy muttered, his voice on the verge of tears.

He climbed out of the escape pod and immediately grabbed Nathan Lockwood’s hand. "Please, I’m begging you, save my dad."

Except for the youngest little boy, who didn’t quite understand and just knew to follow his older brother and sister, the slightly older ones were so anxious that tears streamed down their faces. "What’s the date today? How many days have we been in the escape pod?"

Nathan Lockwood glanced at a special display on the exterior of the escape pod. It read "1 Day," indicating the time since the pod had been activated.

"Don’t panic. Calm down and tell us exactly what happened."

They couldn’t solve anything if the children just stood there crying without explaining what had happened.

Seeing Miles Sherman and the others was like seeing their saviors. They had seen on the Intelligent Brain how the squad handled the other Alphas from the First Military Academy, and they also knew that these young men were going to represent the entire Federation and the Empire in the friendship games.

They had already been filled with envy and admiration when they’d watched them on the Intelligent Brain.

Now, they had appeared at such a critical moment, making the children want to cling to them and never let go.

After the children’s emotions calmed down, the Omega girl, holding her younger brother’s hand, spoke with clear logic, "We encountered Interstellar Pirates."

The expressions on Miles Sherman and the others shifted slightly, and their gazes immediately shot to Zoe Pierce.

To their surprise, Zoe Pierce’s expression was actually quite normal. She just furrowed her brow for a moment before relaxing it.

"Mom and our aunt put us in the escape pod and told us to run."

"Mom had mentioned that the route we used to take was recently taken over by the government. If we still took the official route, it would take ten days longer than usual. Dad said he would take us on a route that no one usually travels."

"So we took a detour through an unregulated route. That’s where we were ambushed by two starships and forced to open our hatch."

The girl was surprisingly calm, but the way she tightly gripped her brother’s hand revealed her inner turmoil.

"While Dad and Uncle were negotiating with the Star Pirates, Mom and Auntie stuffed us into the escape pod. Then, they waited until all the pirates had boarded our starship and had Mom launch us."

They deliberately waited until the Interstellar Pirates had entered the starship to act, precisely to create an opportunity for the children to escape.

"Please, go see if my mom and dad, and my aunt and uncle, are still alive!"

The important people she had only seen on the Intelligent Brain were now standing right in front of her, making the little girl feel as if she had found a piece of driftwood in a raging river.

’If it’s these people, they should be able to save my parents, right?’ Her nervous gaze fell upon Director Quinn, who looked the oldest. ’Anyone who’s with Zoe Pierce’s team must also be some kind of important person.’

Ryan Jacobs looked at the little girl. "Do you remember the approximate location of where you ran into trouble?"

Theoretically, an escape pod that had been drifting for a day would already be very far from its original location.

The girl remembered and immediately recited the previous coordinates and location.

Nathan Lockwood calculated the distance from their starship’s current position to the location the girl mentioned, and then from there to the Companion Star.

All in all, it would add an extra day or two to their journey.

Director Quinn quickly made a decision, finalizing it with a sharp nod. "Have Dr. Reid check on the children. We’re going."

Ryan Jacobs immediately complied.

Then he said to the children, "Come with me for now."

The children looked at Zoe Pierce and her team, then back at Ryan Jacobs, and finally pursed their lips and followed him.

Standing where she was, Zoe Pierce felt a little dazed.

Miles Sherman grabbed her wrist. "Are you okay?"

Zoe Pierce said blankly, "I’m fine."

She just hadn’t expected that there were other children who had experienced something so similar to her own childhood.

Nathan Lockwood said, "The official routes have regular patrols, and the search and rescue signals are always connected. This time, they tried to take a shortcut and chose an unmonitored route. There’s nothing to be done about it."

The Star Pirates likely knew this as well, which is why they would set up ambushes in places like that.

"I hope the adults are okay." Zoe Pierce was unwilling to consider the worst-case scenario.

After all, of the children, the oldest only looked to be fifteen or sixteen.

’At that age, they basically understand everything. They understand what it means to lose their parents.’

She could tell the girl was also forcing herself to be calm, as was the boy, protecting his younger brother.

The topic was a bit sensitive.

By now, the others had learned a little about how Damien Pierce and Zoe Pierce’s lives had become connected.

They usually avoided bringing up the subject.

"They’ll be fine," Chase Shaw said in a low voice.

Hopefully.

With Director Quinn’s order, Mr. Troy immediately adjusted their course. It would still take them half a day to get there from their current position.

There were no major planets in this region, nor was it part of any official routes. Even calling for help would take a significant amount of time.

Dr. Reid examined the children and found nothing wrong. They had been immediately protected upon entering the escape pod, and the pod’s exterior showed no signs of impact, which meant it hadn’t been subjected to any external force.

Zoe Pierce and the others sat with the children in the starship’s main hall.

The Omega girl was named Ian Sullivan, and the oldest Alpha boy was Mason Sullivan.

The two were cousins.

Their two families had just completed a business deal together and were heading home after a trip when they unexpectedly ran into Star Pirates.

After all, for so many years, the term "Star Pirates" was something they had only ever heard of, never encountered.

The adults reacted quickly, immediately understanding that their civilian starship was no match for the modified starships they were facing.

If the other side truly decided to open fire, their remains would be scattered across the Star River, slowly degrading into space junk over time.

But it would be naive to completely entrust their lives to the Star Pirates.

So, they had to save themselves.

With a tacit understanding, the adults gave the chance of survival to the children.

Even if they were to die, they didn’t want anyone to harm their children.

This was especially true for Ian Sullivan, who was an unmarked Omega. If she were to be permanently marked by some scoundrel, her life would be over.

As business people, they were adept at weighing pros and cons; as parents, they knew best how to protect their children. They made their decision almost instantly.

This was why Ian Sullivan and the other children now stood before Zoe Pierce.

Their gamble had paid off.

At least the children were all alive.