The attending physician looked troubled and couldn't help but ask, "What if the Commander asks?" Lan Li smiled faintly, "I'll tell him." The attending physician knew there was nothing more for him to do. He took his leave, shredded the documents in his file, and deliberately put the matter out of his mind, returning swiftly to the hospital to resume his duties.

Lan Li sat for a while in the Red Haired Woman's space and dialed An Junlie's SkyCom.

SkyCom was the internal communication system within the Angelic Domain, with all signal transmissions encrypted using proprietary Angelic Domain technology, rendering eavesdropping impossible.

Once connected, Lan Li coughed lightly, piquing An Junlie's curiosity. "Commander, I recently met someone truly formidable!" An Junlie, having just finished a meal, was in a good mood and sounded surprised, "Oh? Who might that be?"

Few people earned Lan Li's admiration; there probably weren't ten individuals across the entire galaxy whom he would describe as "truly formidable." Lan Li stated with certainty, "You definitely won't guess!" Even now, he felt a slight internal struggle—should he tell An Junlie or not? It wasn't that he feared An Junlie might act against her, but purely that he didn't want to be mocked by him! The last time, concerning the Ziye incident, he had relentlessly mocked An Junlie for two full months. To now have leverage against himself... it just didn't feel right.

An Junlie had no intention of guessing. He casually opened the detection report for his plush beast. Seeing An Junlie wasn't taking the bait, Lan Li was forced to reveal more information: "I thought that person had passed away years ago, but I didn't expect her to still be so young..." An Junlie gave him a side-eye. "Just tell me who it is already!" Lan Li was finally satisfied, grinning so widely his mouth curved almost to the ceiling: "Ta-da! The Commander's Blood Mistress, the one who cures all defiance!" An Junlie looked at him with surprise a few times, then suddenly burst into laughter, a hearty, unrestrained sound. Lan Li felt utterly bewildered. "Commander, stop laughing! Do you think she's a fake?" An Junlie stopped laughing but couldn't quite suppress the upturn of his lips. "Is she with you now? Put SkyCom on speaker for her." Lan Li had sensed An Junlie’s attitude was off earlier. Hearing this, he instantly understood—so, the Blood Mistress was an acquaintance of his. Could it be that An Junlie had arranged for the Blood Mistress to spar with the Government Pirates, and then orchestrated Lan Li’s "coincidental" rescue of her? If so, An Junlie was being far too "innocent"! He voiced his displeasure, "Commander, how could you calculate against her like that?" An Junlie gave an "innocent" smile. "You're overthinking it."

In truth, when he learned Ziye was out, he should have realized Red Hair was out too. Besides her, who else possessed the sheer capability to fight off an entire squad of Government Pirates and survive? He quietly sent a message to the intelligence department, instructing them to send over the surveillance footage of Lan Li being with Red Hair. After being mocked so many times previously, he finally had a chance for payback!

The more Lan Li looked at An Junlie, the more sinister his intentions seemed. He puffed out his cheeks and complained, "Commander, you're just fobbing me off!" An Junlie didn't answer immediately. He thought to himself: Given the personalities of the Silver Talisman Star group, if they were out, there was no reason the Void should remain so quiet. Lately, apart from the pirate incident caused by Red Hair, there had been no other significant activity! Yet, every one of them carried a heavy burden of resentment; it made no sense for them not to come out and cause some ruckus. Unless only a portion of them had emerged.

An Junlie couldn't help but think of Ziye. While traveling on Kira Star, Ziye had appeared. In the less than three months since Ziye left, how many mechs could she have possibly fabricated in that time? Two? Three?

"Lan Li, do you want to know where the Blood Mistress is?" An Junlie tossed out the bait while picking up his UltraCom and dialing Aikesbent's UltraCom: "Help me contact Ziye. Preferably, ask her out for a meal." Although Aikesbent didn't understand, he trusted the Commander implicitly, knowing An Junlie would never harm Ziye. He responded with an affirmation and dialed. To their surprise, Ziye's UltraCom was unreachable. This happened three times in a row. Aikesbent began to sense something was wrong. He relayed the result to An Junlie and asked, "Commander, did something happen to Little Ye Zi?" An Junlie smiled and shook his head. "Nothing. You all don't need to worry."

He terminated the UltraCom call with Aikesbent and looked back at Lan Li, who was glaring at him with resentment, his eyes conveying both grievance and dissatisfaction. An Junlie soothed him, "Don't cry, be good. If nothing unexpected occurs, the Blood Mistress has likely gone to Kaga." Lan Li deliberately turned his face away, feigning indifference. "I don't care to know!" An Junlie paid no mind to his feelings and called him out directly. "I thought you might want to go to Kaga to check things out. I haven't seen the brat in a long time; I was thinking of organizing a trip..." Lan Li turned back, giving An Junlie a sharp glare. "Not going!" With that, he cut the SkyCom and haughtily stalked off alone. The Blood Mistress had left without saying goodbye to him; he absolutely would not go see her!

An Junlie wanted to see Ziye; if he could happen to see Red Hair too, that would be even better. But, it seemed he lacked a proper excuse...

While An Junlie was pondering this, Aikesbent’s UltraCom rang again, his expression suggesting hesitation. An Junlie felt a flicker of surprise. "What is it?" Aikesbent paused slightly before asking, "Commander, do you know that Little Ye Zi has become Tang Wen's student?"

An Junlie naturally knew this, but he never quite grasped the concept of a mentor-student relationship. After all, everyone has various teachers throughout life, so he hadn't paid much mind to it. So, he just smiled faintly: "Tang Wen is very talented. Ziye should learn well alongside him." Aikesbent felt like slamming his head against a wall. "Commander, do you understand the importance of a university mentor to a student?! We brothers have a Legion, we have a home, we know where we are going, but Ziye doesn't. She might very well be seduced away by Tang Wen!!!"

University meant making choices about one's future life. If she spent every day with Tang Wen, she was bound to be influenced by him. Aikesbent had hesitated for a long time before raising this. He worried he might be overly cautious, but watching Ziye fly her shuttle to KeLai every week made him feel it was better to remain alert.

An Junlie listened and conceded that Aikesbent had a point, but he understood Ziye’s character. If she didn't want something, no one could force her. Just like when he prepared to leave Silver Talisman Star, he had asked Ziye, "Do you want to come along this time?" Ziye had refused, yet shortly after he left, she built a mech herself and departed. If he asked her to come to the Angelic Domain now, she would surely refuse. Moreover, everyone from Silver Talisman Star had agreed to establish a Legion called the "Wolf's Den" once they emerged. But what if Ziye was successfully lured away by Tang Wen?

An Junlie still felt a nagging unease. He opened the promotional video he had saved and started watching from the beginning again. Previously, when watching this video, his gaze had been entirely focused on Ziye. This time, he watched Tang Wen. Tang Wen's physique, his features, his temperament, his hand speed, and so on. After watching, he reached a conclusion: Tang Wen looked slightly effeminate, but undeniably, he was perfect in every aspect—the type of man that women found appealing.

An Junlie turned off the video and opened his schedule. He had just finished meeting with Zhuge Yingche, the Commander of the Huaxia Legion. The next two days were the weekend, which meant rest. A good day is better than waiting for a good day—he would go see Ziye now! An Junlie returned to Aikesbent: "I'll be in Kaga within half an hour. Want to go see Ziye together then?" Aikesbent's eyes immediately lit up. "Great! I'll try Ziye's UltraCom one more time."

This time, there was no surprise. As soon as he dialed, Ziye answered. Aikesbent said excitedly, "Ziye, are you free tonight? The Commander is coming to visit us today, why don't you come out for a bit too?" Ziye frowned in distress: "But I'm on my way to KeLai." It was as if Aikesbent had been doused with cold water on the spot. KeLai again! It must be her destination to Tang Wen's research institute!

This time, Aikesbent truly wronged Ziye. Ziye had painstakingly finalized the upgrade and modification of all the robots and sent them back to Black Beard for mass production. Aikesbent felt irritated and strongly wanted to grab her ear and ask, "Is Tang Wen really that good?" Although he himself admitted Tang Wen was quite excellent. In a way, it was precisely because Tang Wen was inherently outstanding and treated Ziye well that his worry was amplified.

Aikesbent sighed softly: "When will you be back tonight? Or should I come pick you up?" Ziye replied while piloting the shuttle, "Probably not back until Sunday afternoon. Why is the Alien suddenly coming over?" Aikesbent was confused. "Alien?" Ziye smiled apologetically. "Oh, that's An Junlie's nickname. When should he arrive? Let me check the time and see if I can come back." Aikesbent checked the time. An Junlie would arrive in about twenty minutes, but he didn't know how long he would stay in Kaga, so he couldn't decide the timing for An Junlie. "I'm not entirely sure. Perhaps you can ask him about his schedule?" Ziye readily agreed: "Okay, send me the number." Aikesbent immediately sent the number.

Ziye looked at the digits on the screen, her heart beating a little faster. Her hand still trembled slightly as she dialed. Sometimes she couldn't figure it out. They had interacted so naturally, harmoniously, and happily on Silver Talisman Star, so why did everything feel different once they left the Void? What was this expectant feeling?

An Junlie answered very quickly. On the UltraCom virtual screen appeared An Junlie’s perpetually vibrant face, and his familiar deep voice followed, carrying a hint of pleasant surprise, "Brat?" All of Ziye's abnormal feelings instantly vanished. Her mood took a dramatic turn, just like when An Junlie called her for a run back on Silver Talisman Star. She frowned in displeasure. "Try calling me 'Brat' one more time?"

For some inexplicable reason, An Junlie suddenly felt like laughing, and he didn't suppress the impulse. So, Ziye watched him inexplicably start to laugh, the laughter softening all the firm lines on his face, turning him into the carefree, bright smile of an ordinary handsome young man. Ziye glared at him, puffing out her cheeks. He felt her expression was just like Lan Li trying to look cute, which made his laughter even more amusing. Ziye hated the feeling of being laughed at without knowing why, and she snapped in exasperation, "Alien!"