Veronica caught BD that flew toward her, then dashed out the front door with Amir close behind.
Without Amir to pursue, the remaining bounty hunters realized they had been tricked. They fixed their gaze on the ventilation ducts, spread out, and rushed toward their exit.
"Stormtroopers! Why are the stormtroopers surrounding this place?" Veronica exclaimed.
After rushing out the front door, Amir saw the large number of stormtroopers surrounding the bar, forming a circle and advancing quickly toward the entrance.
Veronica pressed the red button on her left arm, causing her arm to rotate outward and reveal two blaster gun barrels.
"This way!" Amir surveyed the area, chose a safer route, strapped BD to his back, and shouted to Veronica, who was eager to fight.
"Shoot the Stormtroopers! We'll be able to escape Coruscant. You don't want to spend the rest of your life sleeping in the sands of Tatooine, do you?" Amir joked.
"One day, I'll kill them all," Veronica said, her eyes filled with hatred.
"You should thank me for dropping out of school. Otherwise, you'd be crying when you got to me," Amir said.
"Cry? I wouldn't cry. Even if you took off your helmet and begged for mercy, I wouldn't bat an eye," Veronica said dismissively.
"There are stormtroopers over here, too." Amir stopped at the corner and peeked out with half his head, watching the stormtroopers close in. Three bounty hunters also peered around the corner.
"The ventilation shaft exit is right here. If those two come out now, we're done for," Amir said.
Before he could finish, a metal grille at the base of the wall was pushed open with a single palm strike. Lango, with his green skin and long green braids, crawled out.
A dozen stormtroopers immediately aimed their weapons at Lango, who had appeared suddenly, while the bounty hunters also assumed combat stances.
Suddenly, another small head poked out, followed by a box. Not seeing the situation clearly, Jax shouted, "Hurry up, Lango! Don't block the exit!"
When Lango finally emerged, he froze. Lango shielded him, staring at the stormtroopers closing in. There were no obstacles around them. With a single command, the two of them would be shot to pieces.
"Sir, I am a student at the Imperial Military Academy on leave," Amir said with a smile as warm as spring. He revealed the uniform he hadn't changed out of yet under his coat. He raised his hands and walked toward the center of the field. "These are my friends. Hand over the items to the officer, Jax."
Seeing Amir's uniform, the stormtroopers' posture softened slightly. However, Jax still looked at Amir resentfully. He clutched the box tightly in both hands, refusing to let go.
"Lango!" Amir looked at Lango.
After an internal struggle lasting less than a second, Lango turned around and tried to take the box from Jax.
At that moment, a figure suddenly darted out of the ventilation shaft, which had been silent all along. A strong arm instantly wrapped around Jax's neck while the other hand forcefully snatched the box from his grip. A sweeping kick sent Lango crashing to the ground.
Amir immediately raised his gun at the man who had suddenly appeared in a trench coat. However, the man placed Jax in front of him, preventing Amir from firing.
The stormtroopers looked at their "ally" with some hesitation.
"Hey! Throw the box over here!" a white soldier shouted at the man in the trench coat.
"As you wish." The man carried Jax and the box toward the stormtroopers.
"BD?" Amir continued to move cautiously toward the man, but suddenly noticed BD running toward him. Lango's entire body turned black, and his pupils contracted to a point, like two cold, flashing needles aimed at the man carrying Jax.
"What the hell is this guy trying to do?!" After moving forward about ten meters, the man in the trench coat was surrounded by a group of stormtroopers.
The bounty hunter didn't leave but instead moved to grab the box.
Veronica's gun barrel on her left arm slowly rotated, and her entire body resembled a predator ready to pounce.
At that moment, the man in the windbreaker glanced back and saw BD running toward him.
"Goodbye, friend." The man in the trench coat's eyes suddenly filled with fatigue and relief.
"Ah!" Amir suddenly felt a strong sense of danger, and his vision was instantly engulfed by intense flames. Jax, Lango, BD, the man in the trench coat, the bounty hunter, and all the storm soldiers were reduced to ashes in an instant.
Amir saw Lango's charred body trembling before his eyes. He saw Jax's remains and Veronica kneeling beside him, sobbing uncontrollably.
It's all fake!
Amir clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms. Everything before his eyes turned into a mirage and shattered like bubbles.
The man in the windbreaker was still staring at BD. But before he could finish his sentence, Lango charged forward and BD kept running.
"Ugh!" The man in the windbreaker cried out in pain as Jax bit down hard on his arm. The man threw Jax behind him in pain, sending him crashing into BD, who was running toward them.
Ignoring the excruciating pain in his head, Amir sprinted forward. He had never run so fast in his life.
The man in the windbreaker turned his head to look at the stormtroopers and gently pressed the switch on the briefcase.
"BOOM!!!"
The intense explosion sent thick smoke billowing into the air and scorching heat rolling outward, tangling Veronica's red hair. A blinding white light appeared at the center of the field.
Veronica didn't blink once.
"No, no, no!" she murmured softly, then ran forward frantically. The thick smoke felt like an endless abyss, and she felt herself falling uncontrollably. There was no light in front of her, and the world turned black and white.
She tore through the smoke, stumbling forward, her mind blank.
Suddenly, she noticed a faint blue light ahead.
It was weak, but it flickered on nonetheless.
It was a spherical protective shield.
From ahead came a tired but lighthearted complaint: "Jax, why are you so heavy?"
Veronica smiled through her tears and ran over, striking Amir's chest with her mechanical left arm.
Amir, who was kneeling and holding Jax, was knocked to the ground by the blow. The protective shield disappeared.
"That hurts! You can't just hit people with your left hand! If it malfunctions, you'll kill me," Amir said weakly.
Lango struggled to stand up; his green braid was burned halfway through. He wiped his face, picked up the unconscious Jax, and said, "Let's get out of here first."
Veronica helped Amir to his feet and supported his arm as she followed Lango.
BD emerged from the protective shield and looked at the torn edge of a windbreaker in front of him. The carbonized edge was still spitting sparks. BD lifted his leg to extinguish the sparks and stood there for a long time until he heard shouts behind him.
"BD, let's go."
BD picked up the torn edge, put it down, turned around, and ran toward Amir.