Chapter 68: Is it her?

"Look at you, all reckless and disorderly!" Valen's father frowned and reprimanded.

Their family was destined to form a matrimonial alliance with an SSS-grade female in the future, attracting the attention of millions. How could they afford to behave with such a lack of decorum!

It seemed this butler would have to be replaced.

Unaware that he was already facing an unemployment crisis, the butler could not care about the reprimand. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and blurted out, "No—the young master has been taken to the Security Bureau!"

"What nonsense are you uttering??" Valen's father flew into a rage.

Yet the very next second, a message from the Security Bureau popped up on his optical computer.

The Security Bureau sternly notified him that because Valen had been lingering near the Marshal's residence without cause and speaking incoherently after being arrested, he was suspected of plotting against the SSS-grade female. As Valen's father, he was summoned and must report to the Security Bureau immediately.

What??

What was the meaning of this??

Why hadn't the men he sent to keep watch come to notify him?!

There was no time for deeper thought. He hurriedly urged the butler, "Hurry! Go to the Security Bureau! We must get Valen out at once!"

It was not out of deep concern for this son, but rather because once the matter reached the Security Bureau, should Valen confess to hiring people to keep watch, not only would the family lose all face, but he himself would have nowhere to show his old face!

Before Valen could truly be convicted, the family hurriedly dispatched representatives to negotiate with Felix.

Given their status, they were not qualified to negotiate directly with Felix, so Lu Zhan stepped forward on his behalf.

With a gaze that held a mocking smile behind his gold-rimmed glasses, Lu Zhan slanted his eyes at the negotiators opposite him, staring until cold sweat soaked through their backs.

"Might I have a few words with Lady Nian Tu?" Valen's father still refused to give up, rubbing his hands together as he asked with a ingratiating smile.

Before the Security Bureau personnel could bark a warning, the other members dispatched by the family had already moved with lightning speed to forcefully pull him aside, clamping their hands tightly over his mouth.

Just shut your trap!

Who knew what madness this pair of father and son had succumbed to, dragging their entire family down with them!

An SSS-grade female was someone you were worthy of harboring delusions about?

That was the unparalleled treasure of the Empire!

Not only was the entire Empire paying intense attention to the SSS-grade female, but even the dark market forces and interstellar pirates lurking in the shadows were swarming in like hyenas catching the scent of fresh blood.

Beyond the space routes monitored by the Empire, a massive starship drifted in the vast, boundless universe.

Destination—the Crimson Star-Sand Sea. The territory of the notorious interstellar pirate, "Flood Dragon."

The exterior of the starship was disguised as an ordinary imperial passenger vessel, but its interior everywhere revealed the true colors of interstellar pirates. Blood, sweat, violence, and bizarre screams filled the cabin.

The pirates were mostly high-energy, violently destructive, and malicious individuals. When there were no missions to undertake, they had nothing to do, and their pent-up hostility found no outlet.

Scarcely a day went by without internal brawls, which were usually swiftly and violently suppressed by the upper management through physical punishment or confinement. Yet even when beaten to within an inch of their lives, they remained incorrigible.

Yet from last night until today, not a single person had caused trouble or started a fight.

The sudden emergence of the SSS-grade female had not only shocked the entire Empire, but even the pirates were deeply immersed in this news, utterly unable to extricate themselves.

Chasing females was the instinct of males, and higher-grade females were precisely the most coveted existence in male instinct.

Countless covetous gazes stared at Nian Tu's photographs, repeatedly watching those few scarce videos over and over again.

An SSS-grade female!!

She was simply so stunningly beautiful!!!

Unlike the imperial males who cupped females in the palms of their hands and pampered them, the more pure and lofty the existence, the greater the blasphemy these desperadoes felt welling up in their hearts.

The pirates were driven wild with craving.

Whispers and lascivious fantasies cast a layer of hazy, lustful colors over the entire cabin.

This was the one and only SSS-grade female in the world... If one could receive her spiritual soothing even once, one couldn't even imagine how incredible it would feel...

"Would the loss-of-control value drop directly to zero?"

"If I could play with her just once, I'd truly die without regrets."

"We don't have that kind of fortune, but the supreme leader might..."

"Will our next mission be to invite this little female to be a guest here?"

"Hard to say. The supreme leader is an SS-grade male, and he's right in need of spiritual soothing."

"Hiss... If the one who took on that mission was me, I'd definitely not be able to resist tasting a piece of meat first..."

Filthy profanities filled his ears. Brother Bear hid in a corner, secretly sighing to himself that it was fortunate that fellow Black Mamba was out on a mission and not on this starship.

Otherwise, given his protectiveness toward Nian Tu, he might have gone mad and washed this place in blood.

Yet... he truly never expected that little female named Nian Tu had actually awakened SSS-grade spiritual power!

Would Black Mamba still be able to protect her in the future?

Brother Bear raised his head to look toward the highest level of the starship, sighing with worry.

On the highest level, the door to the leader's room remained tightly shut, having gone unopened for several days.

It was far too noisy outside... that buzzing sound gave one a splitting headache...

Flood Dragon opened his eyes from a hangover, his gaze gloomy and suffused with a bloody, hostile red.

So noisy...

What were they arguing about now...

In the past, only those fellows in the lower cabins bickered endlessly, while the upper levels remained relatively quiet. Now even they were beginning to grow restless.

What?

Did they want to revolt?

Flood Dragon raised a hand to rub his throbbing temples, slowly rising to his feet as he stepped past the scattered wine bottles and discarded syringes used for medicinal injections littering the floor.

His back was bare, his upper body devoid of a single stitch. His skin was as white and flawless as jade, his muscles evenly proportioned and striking. His waist and abdomen possessed the solid resilience characteristic of a snake, concealing formidable strength.

Yet starting from his collarbones downward, this body was covered in scars, new wounds overlapping old ones layer upon layer. They were ferocious and terrifying, effectively destroying any sense of aesthetic beauty entirely.

Almost all of these traces had been left behind in his struggle against the agony of losing control.

Accustomed to bearing scars on his body, Flood Dragon paid them no mind as he casually picked up an outer robe and draped it over himself, concealing everything.

"Click," the door opened.

Accompanied by a strange fragrance approaching from afar, the chaotic cabin instantly plunged into silence.

"Lord Flood Dragon..." his subordinates' voices trembled.

To subordinates familiar with him, that excessively mesmerizing face seemed steeped in poison; his expression appeared as gentle as water, yet he was actually furious.

If his anger could not be appeased in time, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"An SSS-grade female has awakened..." his subordinate spoke nervously, attempting to use this earth-shattering news to divert his attention and prevent his wrath.

The air fell silent for several seconds.

Flood Dragon raised his brow slightly. "Oh?"

"SSS-grade?"

"Female?"

"Are you certain?"

"You aren't tricking me?"

Let alone an SSS-grade female, even an S-grade female had not appeared for a very long time. Unless his hangover had not worn off and he was still trapped in hallucinations,

how else could he hear such absurd talk that could never possibly happen?

One unhurried question after another left his subordinates sweating profusely. "D-D-Daring not deceive you, sir. The official imperial announcement was released."

"Is that so? An official announcement." Still harboring disbelief, Flood Dragon slowly leaned down, bringing his face close to his subordinate's optical computer. "Then let me take a look..."

Even if the official imperial announcement had been published, it was not entirely impossible that the news was falsified.

Perhaps the Empire had gone too long without an S-grade female awakening and was thus fabricating fake news to appease the public.

Reading through the entire text announcement at a glance, Flood Dragon's expression remained unchanged, his inner feelings devoid of ripples, and the low pressure enveloping his entire body did not dissipate by even a fraction.

The subordinate cursed his wretched fate inwardly, sensing he was on the brink of death.

The screen began to automatically play the video of the awakening ceremony—

The little female's figure appeared within the lens, walking step by step toward the Holy Crystal amid the gaze of the multitudes.

Flood Dragon's gaze suddenly trembled.

...Was it her?!