After the meal, An Junlie needed to visit the wounded who had ventured into the primal forest to raid the tiger's lair, so Ziye waved her claws and sent him off with a beaming smile.

Once An Junlie was gone, Tang Wen felt a slight gloom settle in his heart. To think he had been so easily bought off by An Junlie’s mere gesture—that was surely a major stain on his life record!

Not long after An Junlie departed, Lan Li’s internal communication pinged.

Before An Junlie reached Silver Emblem, Lan Li had exhausted every means to obstruct him, yet even so, upon hearing the report from the Tiger Hunt team, An Junlie resolutely shook off all of Lan Li's interference and proceeded to Silver Emblem Star.

As the First Deputy Commander of the Angel Legion, Lord Lan Li certainly did not wish to see An Junlie paired with Ziye. However, regarding An Junlie’s meeting with Tang Wen, Lan Li absolutely refused to allow his own commander to be overshadowed by Tang Wen!

It is indeed true that sometimes, a man values saving face more than sentiment.

Lan Li inquired, "I hear you met your legendary ultimate romantic rival, Tang Wen. Is he truly as devastatingly handsome as Aikesbent described him?"

An Junlie paused for a moment of consideration before offering a very fair assessment: "More attractive than you."

Lan Li flared up in anger. "Did you duel him? If not, I'll go duel him myself! Why on earth would he be better looking than me?"

An Junlie glanced at the light screen and smiled, replying smoothly, "I leave it to you."

Lan Li nearly spat a mouthful of blood onto the screen.

An Junlie, you are the truly black-bellied one!

An Junlie recalled Ziye’s look of profound satisfaction while eating just now, and his heart swelled with pure happiness.

He suffered from the common affliction of all great chefs: seeing his creation enjoyed brought an indescribable sense of achievement. He scarcely had the mind to listen to whatever Lan Li was saying.

Suddenly, he spotted a lump on the grassland below. He terminated the internal communication, slowed the airship’s speed, lowered the altitude, and upon drawing nearer, realized it wasn't a lump, but a person.

The person's hair was a mess, their clothes were in tatters, and they seemed utterly deranged. Seeing the airship, the person shrieked, "Airplane, airplane! Such a big airplane!"

An Junlie felt an intense familiarity with the man's face. He scrutinized the figure carefully, and then suddenly remembered.

Rainer. This was Rainer, the scandalous figure from a while back!

Rainer stared blankly at An Junlie, his mouth agape, drool trickling down his chin. Suddenly, as if recalling something awful, he screamed, clutching his head, and began burrowing into the grass, "Don't kill me, don't kill me!"

An Junlie remained silent.

Rainer had gone mad.

It made sense, too. Enduring so much radiation from the Gamma Baseline—it would be strange if one didn't go mad.

The pathways of interstellar travel were fraught with peril; a slight misstep meant either wreckage floating in space or utter idiocy.

He suddenly understood why the Interstellar Federation no longer executed prisoners. If a convict was shot dead instantly, their clone might immediately activate and continue to endanger the world.

By sending the prisoners to Silver Emblem, whether they went mad or became imbeciles, the clones could never activate, effectively erasing them completely.

Shortly after An Junlie departed, Rainer silently wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and cast a cold, sharp smile toward An Junlie’s receding silhouette...

Ziye selected an auspicious day—which, for her, meant five in the morning—to depart from Silver Emblem Star and enter space. Bran, acting as Tang Wen’s devoted caretaker, contacted Tang Wen immediately upon exiting the wormhole and dispatched a battleship for collection.

After a few days apart, Bran looked noticeably worn.

The moment he saw Tang Wen, Bran immediately began an intense visual inspection, checking whether Tang Wen had lost weight, tanned, or was experiencing any discomfort. Ziye secretly thanked her lucky stars that the Gamma Baseline on Silver Emblem didn't cause tanning; otherwise, Bran would have peeled a layer of her skin off!

Truthfully, she envied Tang Wen.

Not because of his lineage, nor his talent, but because he had one person who could tolerate everything about him—someone who would let him run wild and then dutifully clean up his messes, someone who would stand unwaveringly by his side no matter how many people he managed to offend.

That person was Bran.

Bran spoke solemnly, "Ziye, thank you for taking care of Tang Wen."

Ziye shot him a sidelong glance. "Why don't you consider that he was taking care of me?"

Bran smiled without reservation. "If she could take care of herself, she wouldn't be named Tang Wen."

Ziye froze for a moment, suddenly feeling a pang of pity for Tang Wen, who had been so utterly dismissed by Bran.

The battleship warped to the O-Light Asteroid Belt, where the 'Dead Pervert' resided.

Tang Wen delivered Ziye to the asteroid belt, tossed out a quick, "Poke me if you need someone," and dragged Bran away. Ziye automatically imagined him throwing a tantrum and rolling on the floor in front of Bran, and couldn't help but laugh.

Halfway there, Tang Wen suddenly snapped, "Stop those tedious thoughts immediately!"

Ziye could no longer contain herself and burst into rolling laughter.

She handed the 'Base Tiger Gall' to the Dead Pervert. Feeling like she had just completed another major task, she was about to curl up for a nap when Little Sprout spoke up languidly, "Little dummy, take a look at your schedule for the coming month; it seems you still have quite a few things to handle."

Ziye glared at it, and it glared back with equal defiance.

Ziye huffed, walked into the rose garden, plucked a red rose, and pinned it to its downy fluff. "Pretty Dou-dou girl, be good, let me take a picture."

Little Sprout exploded in rage. "This master is a man, a man!!!"

Ziye ignored it and turned to walk away. Utterly disregarded, Little Sprout whimpered and flew into the covers to hide, refusing to acknowledge her.

The Dead Pervert took the Base Tiger Gall, expertly brewed it into a nutrient solution, and dripped it onto the Seven-Colored Rose. Having completed this, he breathed a sigh of relief, feeling refreshed, and ordered the G-series little girl to come out and perform the 'Boogaloo Bounce.'

Ziye sat by the doorway, resting her chin on her hand. "Your pets are very obedient."

The Dead Pervert smiled upon hearing this. "They are. Say, what about your little pet?"

Ziye sighed. "Oh, that one? It has one specific day every month."

Little Sprout, who had been waiting for her to come and coax it, its two ears keenly tracking her movements, heard this statement, felt a surge of blood rush nine feet high, and collapsed to the ground, seemingly lifeless.

It writhed on the ground in excruciating agony three times, then with a 'whoosh,' shot out the door and settled precisely on top of her head. It immediately activated its light screen and began announcing her upcoming itinerary.

"Tomorrow at noon, Mengya Group's official website sales open. Before opening, all procedures must be checked, and the robot sales quantity determined based on pre-registration numbers."

"In three days, a joint internal meeting for the Giant Wolf Lair and Mengya Group."

"In five days, the Wolf Lair will officially open in the Shuiyun Star System. The big-haired guy has issued the official documents; all personnel must report."

"In seven days, you need to purchase the metallic materials for the Mecha Competition and meet your teammates in Kaga to begin fabrication."

"In ten days, school starts."

"..."

"The most important thing right now, Mommy Ziye, haven't you brought Douzai back yet?" Little Sprout asked in a pitiful tone. "I haven't seen my son in ages."

The more Ziye listened, the darker her expression became.

That was far too much to handle!

She had planned to take three to five days off to relax after the Mengya Group sales launch before starting any other work.

Woe is me, a whole vacation was slipping away like this, it was heartbreaking. She wanted to travel, wanted a few days of decadent laziness where she didn't have to do anything, and she wanted to go shopping and chat with Shaxinnie and the others...

Little Sprout, observing Ziye's expression, happily unfurled the small sprout on top of its head.

Oh yeah, revenge successful!

The more miserable she became, the happier it got!

Basing its joy on Ziye’s suffering was precisely what it enjoyed most.

After hearing the report, Ziye decisively covered her ears, allowing herself to watch the G-series loli's 'Boogaloo Bounce' without distraction. She stretched languidly and reached for her hyper-comms, intending to place a call, when the hyper-comms suddenly rang.

It was Black Beard calling.

"I'm telling you, your disappearance has gone on long enough! If you don't show up, the media will assume you've died of illness in a hotel. Do you know that terrifyingly obese pig of yours actually gnawed a robot to death? The Tira Hotel nearly thought you had been eaten by it! The cleanup was a spectacle; there were no parts left, only a single human skin!"

Ziye listened, stunned. "I don't own a pig."

Black Beard raged again. "It's so fat you can't even see its feet—what else is it but a pig?"

Ziye blinked. Did he mean Douzai had actually chewed up a robot?

She supported her right hand with her left, covered her eyes with her right, utterly unable to look. That little fluffball was that vicious? After a long moment, she suddenly remembered something and urgently asked, "Are you sure it chewed a robot? Not Twin?"

Black Beard spat out his disdain. "A shuttle will be at O-Light in five minutes to pick you up. Hurry back to Kelei."

Ziye forced a dry laugh. "Old Black, give me a break. The sales are online; all you need is a light brain. There’s no need for me to run back to Kelei."

She absolutely would not admit that she didn't want to stay in the barren space station. Here on O-Light, even without the bright light and layered scenery, there was at least fresh air and beautiful roses.

Black Beard sighed. "Fine. As long as you can handle it. Mengya Group is dominating the headlines right now; the sales launch is the critical step. Just don't mess up anything else!"

He rattled off a string of demands, and Ziye realized she couldn't play ostrich any longer, so she resigned herself to getting to work.

As he said, five minutes later, a shuttle docked on the landing pad in the rose garden. The hatch opened, and Twin emerged, carrying a Douzai half the size of a person.

Ziye pointed at Douzai, utterly dumbfounded. "This..." It was too incredibly fat; its size had doubled in just a few days!

Twin looked ashamed. "I’m sorry, I didn't take good care of it. The day after it gnawed the robot, it suddenly became this large. I truly don't know what happened. Mr. Hu said you would handle it when you returned."

Ziye reached out to take Douzai while apologizing, "I should be the one apologizing. I’ve caused you so much trouble these past few..." Before she could finish, Douzai slipped from her grasp. With quick reflexes, she scooped it up in an embrace, preventing it from falling and hurting itself.

Ziye gasped in shock.

Douzai’s weight was comparable to that of a five-year-old infant!

She couldn't help but admire Twin; what kind of strength did one need to carry it so unflinchingly?

Twin offered a slight smile. "It does seem quite a bit heavier."

Ziye gave a strained laugh. "It seems I've caused you a lot of trouble."

Twin waved a hand dismissively. "It’s nothing."

Ziye felt a small knot of conflict in her heart. Every time she truly needed someone, Twin appeared. She knew there was someone backing her up.

However, whether it was Tang Wen or An Junlie, she couldn't be sure.

She had tried to ask before, but the words always caught in her throat. Now, looking into Twin's earnest eyes, she suddenly found herself unable to ask. Because she feared that the moment she spoke the truth, Twin would leave her side.

-RS