The cabin was bathed in a drowsy, warm glow, as if time itself had paused there. Every corner of the room breathed an air of lingering ambiguity.
“Mar… mark you? Okay…” An Ming agreed almost subconsciously.
Having obtained the little mermaid’s consent, LAN bowed his head slightly. He reached up, brushing his flowing golden hair to one side to reveal his elegant, slender nape.
“Go ahead,” his voice whispered, sounding like the murmur of a god of love.
An Ming’s rut had already ended, yet a dry heat flared up within his body once more.
“Okay… here I go…” He licked his lips and leaned forward.
Moments ago, to better appreciate the Red Giant star, LAN had used his watch to switch off the interior lights.
Just as the little mermaid’s canine teeth brushed against the warm, soft surface of the gland, the ship shifted direction again. The room plunged into sudden darkness.
Within two seconds, it was pitch black.
With their other senses suddenly cut off, the sound of their heavy breathing became exceptionally clear, brushing against each other’s skin and stirring up patches of fish or dragon scales.
After a brief mental blankness, An Ming’s mind quickly cleared.
“Wait, that’s not right,” he asked into the darkness. “Aren’t you taking me down there? Why do you still want me to mark you?”
The response was first an indistinct rumble in the throat, followed by the hybrid dragon-human’s deep voice: “The people of Black Pool are fierce. It’s a transit planet for trade between various races where the law is virtually non-existent. All transactions follow the unspoken ‘rules of the jungle.'”
“It’s a bit dangerous for you. Wait until we return to our base at Sword Bay; then you can go wherever you like.”
“No way,” An Ming refused to budge.
On one hand, he was truly going stir-crazy on the ship; on the other, he and LAN had already made a deal.
Based on his own analysis, as long as he stopped LAN from killing the Human Emperor, he wouldn’t provoke the protagonist Prince. The Prince would then continue his modest little life with his adjutant, and An Ming could remain a “salted fish” in peace.
But so far, LAN hadn’t shown any signs of animosity toward the Emperor. Furthermore, according to the information he’d gathered on the StarNet, the current timeline was set before the main plot of the original book began.
Something must happen later to provoke LAN into becoming the book’s great villain.
Therefore, starting from now, he had to stick to LAN twenty-four hours a day to try and prevent whatever “incident” might occur.
“I want to go down with you. I want to follow you every time you go out,” the little mermaid said.
LAN had not turned the lights back on. He couldn’t see the other’s face, judging their extreme proximity only by scent and sound.
With just a slight movement, he could press against the other’s skin again.
This made his mind wander.
While his heart was secretly trembling, the little mermaid’s sweet voice rang out again from inches away:
“Take me down there.”
Just five short words, yet they acted like a demon’s spell, carrying infinite power.
LAN found he couldn’t refuse.
He wanted to say “no,” but the syllables shifted on his tongue, and what finally escaped was:
“Alright.”
“Awesome!” An Ming cheered happily. The invisible power that had gripped the hybrid dragon vanished instantly.
Something was wrong. A flash of doubt crossed LAN’s mind, but when he tried to grasp it, it was gone.
LAN switched on the lights.
“We need a three-point agreement beforehand,” he said solemnly. “Stay by my side at all times, obey my orders unconditionally, and seek help from me immediately if you encounter danger.”
“Yes, Sir!” The little mermaid stood at attention, giving a mock-military salute.
LAN smiled and couldn’t help but reach out to ruffle the little mermaid’s blue hair.
“A little spy who blatantly steals my information.”
“…Hehe.”
Two hours later.
An Ming had changed into a blue, tight-fitting combat suit, topped with a thick, warm, three-layer grey fleece cloak. On his feet were black hard-leather military boots that wrapped around his calves. He followed LAN to the flight bay.
According to LAN, the technology on Black Pool wasn’t advanced, but it was heavily populated by people who were far from virtuous. Most were backed by local gangs; the entire planet was essentially a nest of bandits.
At the same time, because there were so many interstellar travelers and traders, it was a hub of complex information a great place to buy intelligence.
The Phoenix was an exquisite carrier, but its model was too eye-catching. LAN’s army had only been established for a little over a year; they needed to develop quietly and avoid drawing unnecessary attention.
Thus, the Phoenix remained in space with its cloaking shield active, sending only two general-purpose small cargo ships down.
When An Ming arrived, the silver-haired Zerg adjutant and four soldiers were already waiting. Including LAN and the little mermaid, there were seven people in total.
For purchasing basic supplies, this was plenty.
However, An Ming felt someone was missing.
Sure enough, Evan said, “Wait for Number Nine.”
The words had just left his mouth when a pleasant shout came: “I’m coming, I’m coming!” The holographic male Zerg image that hadn’t appeared for a long time emerged from the end of the corridor, running toward them.
His light footsteps tapped against the alloy floor, producing a crisp echo.
An Ming: “…”
It wasn’t a hologram!
Number Nine ran over, his black hair slightly curly and his dark eyes vivid. He looked incredibly handsome.
He held out his hand to the little mermaid: “Touch it.”
An Ming affectionately took his hand and gave it a squeeze.
“Wow! It feels real! It even has body heat!” The little mermaid’s mouth formed an ‘O’ shape. How did Number Nine do this? So cool!
“Squeeze it again, it’s fine.” Number Nine was very generous, so An Ming reached out and pinched his cheek.
It was soft and elastic, smooth and tender the texture was fantastic.
The four soldiers also wanted to touch, but Number Nine slapped their hands away: “For viewing only, no touching. I am a precious male Zerg now, you know.”
LAN only raised an eyebrow from the side, acting very indulgent toward Number Nine.
Evan said, “Hmph, getting addicted to breaking the rules.”
At the same time, his face showed a look of disgust. No one knew that beneath his collar, strictly hidden below his collarbone, black-red Zerg markings had appeared.
Four soldiers took one ship, while LAN, the little mermaid, the Zerg, and Number Nine took the other. Everyone got ready. The flight transition gates opened, the two ships slid in, the rear doors closed, and the outer gates opened.
After a brief moment of weightlessness, the ships had detached from the Phoenix and were heading toward the blue-and-white planet below.
An Ming was very excited.
In his seat, Number Nine pulled two knitted scarves out of his tactical backpack and handed one to the little mermaid.
“Black Pool is freezing! It’s minus 30 to 40 degrees. Your ‘thing’ could freeze right off! An Ming, you have to be careful.”
“Mhm.” An Ming was a bit nervous, worried Number Nine would slip up and reveal the truth about their situation.
LAN and Evan both stared at the flight screens without speaking.
After a while, Number Nine added, “An Ming, aren’t you going to ask why I’m not worried about the Boss and Evan?”
An Ming: “Huh?”
Worried about what?
Number Nine said mischievously, “Because they’re too hard from the inside out. They won’t freeze off.”
An Ming: “…”
So he hadn’t changed the subject; he was just playing with words.
Number Nine wasn’t finished: “And I’m not worried about myself either! Because mine can be re-installed…”
Throughout the journey, Number Nine couldn’t go three sentences without mentioning his “thing.”
Anyone could see he couldn’t hide his desire to show off; he was desperate for someone to ask, “What kind of ‘thing’ do you have that’s so amazing?” so he could immediately strip down and let everyone inspect it.
LAN was in a good mood and hadn’t been bothered since they started; now, he didn’t even spare a glance.
Evan, however, reached his limit: “Shut up! Mention it one more time and I’ll pull it off right now and throw it out!”
Outside was the ultra-low temperature of space; exposed skin would freeze and crumble into powder within ten seconds.
Frightened, Number Nine hid behind An Ming: “Ah, don’t! Where would I even go to pick it back up…”
The twenty-minute descent wasn’t long to begin with, and with Number Nine’s banter, it was even less boring.
The two small cargo ships landed one after the other.
The security check and registration were quick and extremely lax. The security officer didn’t even look to see how many people were in the ships; whatever Evan said was taken as truth. They didn’t even notice Evan was a Zerg.
According to the plan, the primary mission was to inspect the raw materials for the inhibitors; if everything was fine, they would exchange the money for the goods immediately.
They had pre-ordered everything on the StarNet before arriving.
To their surprise, when the seller they had coordinated with received the call, he put on a show of complaining. He claimed the prepared materials had been forcibly bought by someone else, and they were currently rushing to harvest more from the forest, hoping to have the stock replenished by the day after tomorrow.
To compensate for the labor costs, the price of the goods for the day after tomorrow would also increase by twenty percent.
“…Robbers!” Evan cursed.
LAN stopped the Zerg’s swearing and asked in a low voice, “Is it convenient to disclose the buyer’s information?”
Rumors were already circulating in the galaxy about the terrifying Rebel Army slaughtering giant exotic beasts, reclaiming barren planets no one dared enter, and effortlessly wiping out audacious space pirates… Under his name, ordinary people wouldn’t dare snatch resources.
But LAN had ordered anonymously this time.
Still, this didn’t fit the “underworld rules” of Black Pool.
“Oh, how could that be according to the rules…” the seller also said.
Snatching resources was wrong, but casually leaking a buyer’s information was also wrong; Black Pool had many shady businesses, and this was a basic principle.
“I can do twenty-five percent.”
“Mr. L! Why didn’t you say so sooner!” The shrewd seller’s eyes lit up at the sight of money, and rules were instantly thrown to the back of his mind. Regardless, the other buyer was in the wrong first.
Even through the watch, An Ming could hear the man’s wide grin. “It’s the Royal Guard of the Human Empire! They are completely unreasonable! Not only did they snatch all your goods, they even swiped ten vials of natural pheromone extract from an Omega Mermaid!”
The seller began to grit his teeth. “Those cost a hundred thousand star-coins a vial! They only paid sixty thousand in total…”
Quietly, LAN’s vertical pupils appeared, his green eyes narrowing dangerously.
Number Nine and Evan exchanged a glance.
“The Royal Guard?” Evan asked.
The seller: “Oh, who else? Every one of them acts more like an emperor than the Human Emperor himself! They’re a small six-man team. Who knows what mission they’re out on, but supposedly they’ve been playing around on several planets. Everywhere they go, they loot and plunder!”
“They insist on the best of everything…” the seller continued to complain.
LAN listened impassively. After confirming the specific delivery time for the day after tomorrow, he hung up amidst the seller’s cries of “Twenty-five percent, not a point less!”
No one moved.
The moment An Ming heard “Royal Guard,” he began to feel restless.