Chapter 5

The bug attack hit their ship hard. The quantum drive had taken serious damage during the forced jump, and the emergency landing system barely managed to keep the mobile fortress from tearing itself apart in the atmosphere.

Their ship crash-landed on Feral Planet, though they were far from their intended destination.

Maya crawled out from the wreckage and looked around. This was the outer region of Feral Planet, with ancient forests stretching endlessly toward the horizon and towering trees blotting out most of the gray sky.

The air carried wild scents, damp soil, and the sharp fragrance of unknown plants. Distant beast roars echoed through the wilderness, low and terrifying, reminding Maya that this planet was not part of civilized Federation territory. It belonged to aberrant beasts, primitive tribes, and whatever managed to survive between them.

Scattered around the crash site were jagged rocks and twisted metal pieces from their ship. Everyone who made it out looked battered.

Caleb had metal shards stuck in his silver hair. His dark red eyes looked exhausted, but he was still scanning the area like a commander assessing a battlefield.

Sage's silver-white hair was messy and stuck to his face. His amber eyes showed worry, especially whenever his gaze moved toward Finn.

Jasper had fresh cuts on his face. His usual sly green eyes now looked tired, though he still tried to hide it behind a crooked smile.

Hunter was covered in blood. His ice-blue eyes stayed alert and watchful, and even injured, he placed himself between the forest and the others like a wall.

Finn looked the worst. His portable tank got damaged in the crash. Now he could only curl up in an emergency water container they salvaged from the ship. His face was white as paper, and the water around his tail still carried a faint pink tint from his wounds.

Maya saw how injured everyone was. She knew they couldn't travel like this. Everyone needed rest, medical care, and time to understand where they had landed before making another move.

"Everyone's hurt. Let's stay here today and recover. Tomorrow, when we get our strength back, we'll start looking for my father. At least we made it to the right planet, even if we're nowhere near the place we planned to land."

Caleb stared at her with an unreadable expression.

Before, Maya would have forced them to keep moving no matter what. She never cared if they were bleeding, feverish, or half-dead. If their pain amused her, she would only push harder.

"Are you sure?" he asked carefully, as if waiting for the hidden cruelty behind her words.

Maya nodded. "We all need rest. And I didn't expect Feral Planet to be this wild and dangerous. If we rush into the forest like this, we won't be looking for my father. We'll just be delivering ourselves to whatever is out there."

She looked at Sage. "Use your healing ability on everyone's wounds first. Prioritize Finn, then Hunter's acid burn, then anyone with active bleeding."

Sage hesitated for a moment. Then he lowered his eyes and silently walked toward Finn's damaged water container. Caleb followed to help move salvageable supplies aside, while Hunter went to check the perimeter without waiting for orders.

When Sage passed Maya, he paused for a second but didn't look back.

Jasper gave her bloody fingers a meaningful look. His lips curved into something between a smirk and something else, then he turned away too.

Now only Maya and Finn remained near the crash site. Finn's eyes showed curiosity, but he stayed quiet in his salvaged water container.

Maya found a flat piece of metal wreckage to sit on. She let out a long breath.

Leaning against the damaged ship parts, her tense nerves finally relaxed a little.

At least she'd given them some hope and kept them stable for now. But that was not enough.

She knew the deep hatred the previous Maya had created couldn't be erased just by offering to break their bond contracts.

They protected her now only because they wanted freedom. Once the beast marks were gone, their hatred might still get her killed.

So finding her father was only step one. Before that, she had to change how they saw her. Not with words, because none of them would believe her words, but with repeated actions they couldn't deny.

Footsteps approached while she was thinking.

Jasper walked over carrying a metal container from the ship. It held several pieces of golden-brown emergency food. The edges looked slightly crispy and smelled decent. Even though it was just emergency rations, he had clearly put effort into preparing it.

Jasper stopped a few steps away from Maya. His tall figure cast a long shadow over her. Despite the new cuts on his face, he forced a charming smile, the kind of smile that probably once helped him survive boardrooms, banquets, and assassination attempts within the Davis family.

"Hungry? Want to eat something?"

[This guy is being way too nice all of a sudden. Is he trying to poison me?]

Maya looked suspiciously at the fox beastman with his forced smile.

But Jasper said in a coaxing tone, "If you eat this, can you give me a blood drop?"

So he wanted to sweet-talk Maya into giving blood to break his contract faster.

These beastmen were desperate to escape Maya's control.

Maya understood immediately. That was actually perfect. It meant they had no other schemes right now. The beast marks kept them from hurting her directly, and the promise of freedom could keep them moving in the same direction for now.

But she couldn't break the contracts too quickly. If she gave Jasper blood drops too easily, after ten times his fox clan's vengeful nature would probably make him turn on her the moment he was free.

Maya looked up at Jasper's cunning but obviously tired green eyes. She smiled meaningfully. "One meal of emergency food for a blood drop?"

Jasper's smile froze. Then he showed his expected mocking expression. "So what do you want?"

Maya slowly picked up a piece of food. "How about this? You make me five meals, each one as carefully prepared as today's. Then I'll give you one blood drop. Deal?"

Five meals for one blood drop meant fifty meals would completely break his contract.

Jasper's tired eyes lit up immediately. After a moment, he asked carefully, "Are you serious? Will you swear to the Beast God?"

In this interstellar age, the Beast God was sacred. No one could lie when swearing to him. Such oaths had real binding power, especially when spoken between bonded partners.

Maya raised her right hand without hesitation. "I, Maya Cross, swear to the Beast God that if Jasper makes me five proper meals, I will give him one blood drop to break his contract. I will never go back on this promise."

The moment she finished speaking, Jasper's tired eyes burst with fierce joy.

The others treating their wounds all looked up with complicated expressions.

Jasper's smile became much more genuine. Despite his facial wounds, he pushed the container toward her. "Eat quickly before it gets cold."

Maya finally took a bite. The texture was decent, but after chewing twice she frowned. It had no taste at all. It was as bland as cardboard.

"Why is there no seasoning?" she couldn't help asking.

Jasper's smile faded a little. His voice carried helplessness. "The ship's food synthesizer broke in the crash. All the seasoning containers shattered too. We only have these basic emergency rations left. We don't even have flavor enhancers."

Maya froze as memories flooded back. She frowned. As a doctor, she knew how important proper nutrients were for recovery.

"What are we going to do then? We all need proper nutrition to get our strength back. We can't keep eating this tasteless emergency food."

Jasper tilted his chin and looked at Finn in the portable water tank. His tone carried amusement, but there was calculation beneath it. "There's another problem. The water purification system also broke in the crash. But Finn has water control abilities. He can purify water sources. Maybe he can even extract useful minerals from water."

Maya finally realized how dire their situation really was. No working food synthesizer, no proper seasonings, and even clean water was a problem.

Maya followed Jasper's gaze to the emergency water container. Finn floated quietly in the recycled water. His beautiful eyes looked ice-cold as they stared at her.

His fish tail moved gently in the water. The bio-scales at the edges still showed faint red marks. Sage's healing had closed the wounds, but the spots where his protective scales had been ripped off still looked like shallow pits. Nobody knew if they would grow back.

When it came to hatred, Finn probably felt the strongest among all the beastmen.

Would he be willing to help her?