Chapter 13: Let Me Treat You to Some Candy
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The cat-eyed girl suddenly leaned toward her, bringing her face so close to Night Moxi’s that they were nearly touching. Night Moxi instinctively shrank back, only to feel her back press against something. She jumped in surprise.
From the corner of her eye, she saw that her other temporary “neighbor” seemed to have just stretched out an arm to press the activation button for the spatial barrier. As a result, her back had landed directly against the other person’s arm.
“Sorry!”
Night Moxi hurriedly apologized and edged aside.
Yet the brief flutter in her heart left her puzzled. Had her trip to the Desert Star somehow left her suffering from tactile deprivation?
Last time, merely watching Chief Michael and the Empire’s ultimate weapon on a screen had been enough to make her swoon. Now, just a light touch through a layer of clothing had left her whole body weak, while a frantic voice in her head screamed, More… I want more…
“Big sister, I’m sorry! Let me give you some candy.”
All right. There was another strange one here.
To avoid attracting attention, Night Moxi was dressed more decently than she had been in the frontier star systems, but her clothes carried nothing more than the scent of cheap laundry detergent. Where had this “wonderful fragrance” come from?
Still, she had no desire to get entangled with a girl whose nose clearly did not work properly. After saying, “Thank you,” she accepted the lollipop and pressed the activation button for the spatial barrier.
The barrier swiftly separated the two of them.
The cat-eyed girl in the pink princess dress did not sit down until Night Moxi had vanished completely from view. Then she returned to her seat, took out another lollipop, peeled away the wrapper, and popped it into her mouth.
The sweet fragrance immediately brightened her mood. Suddenly, a voice sounded in her ear.
“Young mistress, members of the Bear family are in VIP Room Six…”
The corners of the girl’s lips curled upward.
The Bodhi Lotus was a sixth-level medicinal plant. Once processed into medicine, it could prolong one’s life.
The Bear family’s old matriarch was already more than four hundred years old, making her one of the longest-lived women in the empire. She was not merely the Bear family’s matriarch—she was also the pillar that held the entire family steady.
The news that the Bear family’s heir, Bear Baimo, had purchased a Bodhi Lotus from the frontier star systems was supposed to be absolutely confidential. Unfortunately, the merchant who had previously dealt in smuggled goods had casually mentioned it to another customer, and that customer had been incapable of keeping his mouth shut. That was how the news had reached them.
Bear Baimo had been fortunate enough to acquire the Bodhi Lotus one step ahead of them, but who would ultimately get their hands on it was still anyone’s guess.
The cat-eyed girl glanced at the spatial barrier beside her.
It was not only the Bodhi Lotus. She also intended to take away this “big sister,” whom she could not help wanting to draw close to and cuddle.
Her fingers tapped several times against her optical computer, sending out a series of orders.
Crunch. Crunch.
Her sharp teeth bit through the candy. She had been thoroughly unwilling to leave home this time—there were still so many toys at the base she had not finished playing with. Now, however, it seemed fortunate that she had come.
Her fragrant, soft “big sister” would become one more toy in her collection.
Bang!
Night Moxi had already fallen asleep, but the violent shaking brought her abruptly back to consciousness.
What was happening?
“You’ve got to be kidding me. We ran into space pirates too? When did the Moyun Star System become so unsafe…”
The moment the spatial barrier opened, a cacophony of voices and commotion flooded in.
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Space pirates?
Hadn’t they been suppressed so severely that they could only operate around the black holes between a handful of star systems?
“How terrifying! How terrifying…”
Without warning, a figure flung herself into Night Moxi’s arms. Night Moxi staggered, her back pressing directly against a solid chest.
Even through the thin fabric, she seemed able to feel the powerful muscles of the person behind her, as well as the forceful beat of the heart within that chest.
Thump. Thump.
Oh no!
Her legs went weak, and she nearly collapsed into that person’s arms.
Unexpectedly, a pair of long, slender hands caught her by the shoulders and steadied her.
The palms were scorching hot. Night Moxi’s body trembled, and she almost let out a soft gasp.
“I’m sor—sorry! I didn’t…”
Night Moxi hurriedly apologized.
Her voice held a trace of delicate, alluring softness that even she herself failed to notice.
But at that moment, the person released her and walked past her toward the VIP rooms.
“I’m sorry, big sister! It’s my first time traveling on my own, and I was a little frightened…”
The cat-eyed girl still had both arms wrapped around Night Moxi’s waist. When she sensed Night Moxi trying to push her away, she only tightened her embrace.
Just as she thought! Up close, big sister’s fragrance was even stronger!
And big sister was truly so soft, so soft. It made her want to get even closer…
“Could you let go of me first?”
Night Moxi was actually very averse to physical contact with other people, but the cat-eyed girl in front of her was clinging to her like an octopus.
“Big sister, my legs have gone weak…”
“Then sit down in your seat first…”
And then let go of me! Please.
“All right! I didn’t mean to, big sister. Please don’t hate me…”
The cat-eyed girl looked utterly aggrieved, tears trembling on the verge of falling. She was heartbreakingly pitiful.
Unfortunately, Night Moxi, who had grown up in the frontier star systems, knew better than anyone how treacherous human hearts could be.
“Have you considered that I might be afraid of space pirates too? We’re strangers who happened to meet by chance. I have no obligation to become your support…”
Night Moxi’s voice was cool and flat.
She had no extra sympathy to spare for other people. If she had, she would have become nothing more than a mound of earth in the frontier star systems long ago. The only reason she had restrained herself from attacking the girl was that they were aboard an interstellar shuttle, and she did not want to expose her supernatural ability.
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The cat-eyed girl’s body stiffened. She lowered her head, looking pitiful.
Yet a strange gleam burst from her eyes.
Just as she had expected! This was the “big sister” she had wanted to take home and hide away for herself from the very first glance. Fragrant and soft, yet so cold and indifferent—she hated those saintly, softhearted women most of all. Playing with them was no fun…
She began slowly moving back toward her seat. Just as she was about to sit down—
Thud, thud, thud!
A burst of hurried footsteps rang out.
Night Moxi had only just looked up when she and the cat-eyed girl were roughly seized by the wrists. Two sharp daggers were instantly pressed against their throats.
“Don’t come any closer! Otherwise, I’ll kill them first!”
“You won’t get away!”
Among the crowd that had given chase, the person who appeared to possess the highest status let out a sigh of relief.
“Hand over what you took. Perhaps I’ll even grant you a quick death…”
A sharp sting flashed across Night Moxi’s throat.
She frowned.
What did they mean? Did these people care only about the things that had been stolen from them? Were the two of them simply acceptable sacrifices as hostages?
Had it not even occurred to them to rescue them?
Her eyes lowered.
“Big sister, I’m scared…”
The grip on her hand tightened. At some point, the cat-eyed girl had taken hold of it.
Night Moxi could feel that she was genuinely frightened. Her hand was trembling.
“Don’t come any closer! Otherwise, I’ll kill—”
One of the pursuers, a young and handsome man, gave a mocking laugh.
“You’re welcome to try. The Bear family will naturally provide her family with generous compensation…”
His tone was casual and utterly certain, as though the insignificant ants being used to threaten him had nothing to do with him at all.
The violence within Night Moxi began to surge.
The Bear family again! Had she somehow forged a blood feud with them in a past life?
“You may state your conditions, but you’d better not try to achieve your ends by harming innocent people…”
A figure stepped past the members of the Bear family and stopped to one side, his gaze falling upon Night Moxi and the cat-eyed girl.
“This is a matter concerning the Bear family. Those who have nothing to do with it would be wise to stand aside…”
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