"A raid? To plunder all the technical data of the Yafik Kingdom?" Gu Xiechen breathed, intrigued by the sheer madness of the plan.

But the face of Fuya.Ming suddenly flashed before his eyes, and an inexplicable thought surged into his mind. Gu Xiechen stammered slightly, "Plundering, let's forget that. After all, we are mercenaries now! However, instead of robbing the Yafik Research Hall, we can bribe their researchers. No violence; our methods can be gentler!"

"Oh!" Kan Hua and Linghu cried out in unison, nodding vigorously: "Gentler methods, then!"

"Damn it! Gentle! Gentle methods!" Gu Xiechen suddenly felt his scalp tingle and roared in frustrated shame.

"Hey! Gentle methods!" Kan Hua patted Gu Xiechen's head forcefully and sighed, "Strike while the iron is hot, Junior Brother!"

Chuckling a few times, Linghu also clapped Gu Xiechen on the shoulder, "My Queen, you must not let her go. Hey, young man, when it's time to be amorous, be amorous! Otherwise, when you get old like me, it will be too late to regret it!"

Kan Hua glared viciously at Linghu and said with extreme malice, "You're already approaching your fifty-first bloom, and that eight-legged octopus envoy of yours already gave you your first kiss!"

Gu Xiechen watched as Linghu's face suddenly turned ashen white, and with a 'whoosh,' he darted to the small lake by the palace terrace and started retching violently.

Shaking his head helplessly, Gu Xiechen’s attention remained fixed on the vast sea of technical data.

"Bio-DNA Supercomputer Construction Plan? Damn it, this test subject's calculation speed is five hundred to ten times that of the Gu Clan Group's strongest super-brain! I want this technology too."

"Wormhole Spatial Quantum Communication Technology? Real-time communication through a subspace jump gate to a pre-established corresponding communicator? This is at least a hundred thousand years more advanced than the Romanians' subspace communication technology!"

Happily selecting another era-transcending technology, Gu Xiechen clenched his fist forcefully.

Dong—the door to the hall where they were gathered was violently kicked open. Fuya.Ming, with an iron-hard expression, strode in with a forced smile. Thirteen young men, some handsome, some beautiful, some elegant—in short, individuals who immediately gave the impression of polished pearls—followed closely behind her.

Gu Xiechen could not begin to describe his first impression of this group of youths. Take, for instance, one particularly handsome youth, about two meters and ten centimeters tall, dressed in a blood-red uniform. His uniform was clearly custom-made high-end attire, perfectly outlining the inverted triangle of his upper body and the strong lines of his powerful legs. The epaulets on this uniform were two enormous black gems; the buttons were two rows of blood-colored gems; the cuffs were adorned with twelve purple gems; and the seams of his trousers were embroidered with two dense rows of fine sky-blue pearls.

A dazzling array of jewels washed over him. Gu Xiechen felt as if a jewelry counter from some massive mall had suddenly come to life and run over.

Slowly rising to his feet, Gu Xiechen nodded towards Fuya.Ming, signaling his acknowledgment: "Your Highness, are your matters concluded?"

Fuya.Ming flashed a brilliant smile, walked swiftly to Gu Xiechen's side, and grabbed his arm: "The citizens of Yafik are the most obedient citizens in the entire Child Alliance." She gave a self-deprecating laugh and continued, "The new Kingdom Elder has been selected, the Elder Council has passed the resolution for full-scale war against the Doko Federation, all kingdom factories are working at full capacity to build new warships, the general mobilization order has been issued, and the new Minister of Military Affairs is establishing new recruit training camps. I have secured all the power of the Kingdom!"

Looking at Fuya.Ming with surprise, Gu Xiechen smiled, "You don't need to tell me these things. In short—"

Fiercely pinching the flesh on the back of Gu Xiechen's arm where others couldn't see, Fuya.Ming leaned close to his ear, her smile barely reaching her eyes, and whispered, "Help me get rid of these damn fools, and I’ll double the reward I promised you."

"No, five times!" Gu Xiechen immediately understood that a golden opportunity for extortion had been presented to him. These thirteen imposing youths, and the princess breathing fragrant air beside him—they were all leverage.

"Double, no more than that! Do you want to bleed the Yafik Kingdom dry?" Fuya.Ming played the pathos card.

"I am a mercenary. Give me enough payment, and I'll go kill Death itself! Without sufficient compensation, don't even dream of me helping you dispatch a mere chick!" Gu Xiechen stated firmly, "These people are not ordinary folk; why should I provoke them for nothing?"

Fiercely pinching Gu Xiechen's arm again, Fuya.Ming cursed under her breath, "Five times the reward then, five times! Just get rid of them for me!"

"Deal," Gu Xiechen felt a surge of joy and nodded vigorously.

Fuya.Ming then beamed radiantly, like a morning glory blooming in spring, and chirped, "Esteemed Highnesses, I apologize. This is my fiancé, Mr. Xiechen Gu. 'If nothing unexpected happens in the future,' I will marry him, and he will become an external Prince of our Yafik Kingdom!"

"Impossible!" The jewel-encrusted 'jewelry counter' roared in fury, pointing at Gu Xiechen and yelling, "Junior Sister Fuya, how come I don't know anything about this arrangement?"

Fuya.Ming shrugged completely unconcerned and stated cleanly, "I decided this matter a few days after returning to Yafik. Well, during Prince Daogen's rebellion, Xiechen stood by my side, supporting, encouraging, and helping me. He saved me from gunfire several times. If it hadn't been for him this time, the Doko Federation's conspiracy would have succeeded, and I wouldn't have gained control of the Yafik planetary defense system, nor regained rule over the Kingdom. Therefore, I..."

"No, you can't do this!" Another youth, clad in a purple cloak, with pale skin and obvious dark circles beneath his eyes—clearly depleted by excessive indulgence—trembled forward a couple of steps. He looked at Fuya.Ming with 'pitiful sadness,' his right hand shaking as he pointed at Gu Xiechen, 'piteously' 'accusing' her, "No, Fuya, you cannot do this! If you do this, how can you face our past feelings? Marrying some random man? A man of unknown origin? No, no, you cannot do this! What you are doing is a crime against us!"

The young man's final series of 'no's rose in pitch with each repetition, becoming more mournful, more melodic, until it reached a sound almost like the cuckoo crying blood.

Fuya.Ming forcefully rubbed her arm. Gu Xiechen could clearly see a large patch of goosebumps rising on the back of her neck.