The next morning, the atmosphere at the dining table was surprisingly harmonious.
Baal had returned to the military headquarters early in the morning, and the two brothers, Tianyan and Tianque, were nowhere to be seen. Only Chiron and Tinia sat opposite Jiang Lijin.
"I have the day off today." Chiron pushed the sliced fried egg toward Jiang Lijin's hand, seamlessly taking her empty cup to pour a glass of warm milk. "I'll take you to pick out a gown. The royal banquet is the day after tomorrow, so we need to prepare."
Jiang Lijin took a bite of the fried egg. It was cooked perfectly, crispy on the edges and soft in the middle. She nodded in agreement.
"Sister, it's so chaotic outside," Tinia said in a clingy tone. "If you want to pick a gown, why don't I have Yunlan's chief tailor bring the latest season's catalog to the house? Custom-made is much better than what's in the stores."
"I've been cooped up at home for days. If I don't go out for a walk, I'm going to grow mushrooms. Go to your meeting and stop getting in the way."
Tinia had an extremely important intergalactic video conference today and truly couldn't get away. Seeing that he couldn't persuade her, he compromised, looking down and quickly swiping a few times on his optical computer.
"Alright." He looked up, his blue eyes sparkling. "The store you're going to is owned by the Yunlan Group. I've already spoken to the manager. Just take whatever catches your eye, don't look at the price. Even if you empty the store, it's on me."
How wealthy and imposing.
Jiang Lijin perfunctorily rubbed his blond hair. "Got it, young master."
She finished her breakfast in a few bites and turned to go upstairs to change.
An hour later, the hovercar parked in the most bustling commercial district of the capital planet.
It was an extremely low-key yet luxurious storefront. There was no eye-catching signboard, only a dark gold Yunlan Group logo above the door. Those in the know would immediately recognize it as the synonym for top-tier interstellar luxury.
The manager had been waiting at the door early on and personally stepped forward to greet them, his attitude so respectful he looked like he wanted to bow all the way to the ground.
Because time was tight, custom tailoring was out of the question; they could only choose ready-to-wear garments.
The efficiency of trying on clothes in the interstellar era was extremely high. Jiang Lijin stood in front of a holographic fitting mirror. After scanning her body data, various styles of haute couture gowns were directly projected onto her body via holograms, simulating even the texture and luster of the fabrics with absolute clarity.
Chiron sat on the velvet sofa nearby, his legs crossed, holding a cup of black tea the staff had just brewed.
She tried on over a dozen outfits. Even though Jiang Lijin didn't have to physically put them on, watching so many colorful clothes flash across her body made her eyes blur and she grew a bit impatient. That was until she put on a dark red mermaid dress.
The tailoring of this dress was excellent. The back featured a large cutout, perfectly revealing her beautiful shoulder blades. The hem was woven with invisible optical fibers, creating a flowing, starry-river-like lighting effect when she moved. It was high-profile, flamboyant, and highly aggressive.
Jiang Lijin looked at herself in the mirror and raised an eyebrow.
Quite satisfactory.
Chiron set down his teacup. His gaze paused on Jiang Lijin for two seconds, and his Adam's apple bobbed slightly.
"Wrap it up," Chiron turned and instructed the manager.
The manager quickly nodded, rapidly noting it down on his optical computer.
"I think this one looks good too. Should I wear this one?" Jiang Lijin turned to ask.
"No." Chiron's tone was flat and even. "Keep this one to wear at home. For the banquet, wear this."
He raised his hand and swiped on his optical computer, and the projection in the fitting mirror instantly changed.
A pure black, long-sleeved gown.
The style was conservative, only cinched at the waist to outline her slender curves. The hem draped beautifully, without any superfluous decorations. It was proper, standard, and flawless.
Jiang Lijin looked at herself in the mirror speechlessly, somewhat disapproving.
"The Second Prince is not a well-behaved character." Chiron pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses. "The more inconspicuous you dress, the less trouble you'll have. That red one is too eye-catching."
Jiang Lijin didn't argue. Thinking about it, he was right. If she weren't afraid of the royal family finding fault with her, she would have wanted to go in a tracksuit.
"Alright, this one it is."
Just as they were preparing to head home, Chiron's optical computer vibrated.
He glanced at the caller ID, stood up, and walked to the side to answer.
Two minutes later, Chiron walked back. His originally gentle and composed expression had been replaced by a layer of gloom. It was an emotion Jiang Lijin rarely saw on his face.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Lijin noticed something was off.
"We need to take a trip to the Academy of Sciences." Chiron spoke half a beat faster than usual, his brows tightly knitted.
"Now?"
"Yes."
Jiang Lijin didn't ask further. Chiron had always been steady; anything that could make him change his expression was definitely no small matter.
The two got into the hovercar and headed straight for the Imperial Academy of Sciences.
Along the way, Chiron didn't say a word, his gaze fixed on the rapidly passing buildings outside the window. The air pressure in the cabin felt extremely low.
They arrived at the Academy of Sciences.
The usual atmosphere here was rigorous and orderly, but today it revealed a suppressed sense of tension. The researchers in the corridors hurried along, and upon seeing Chiron, they merely bowed their heads in greeting, not even daring to breathe loudly.
Chiron led Jiang Lijin around the main building and directly into the underground core area.
Jiang Lijin had been to the Academy of Sciences a few times. The deepest she had gone was during her first visit to test her spiritual power, which was already very close to the mainframe. But today, Chiron took her even deeper.
Fingerprints, iris scans, gene comparisons, and even spiritual power verification.
With every door they passed, the air temperature dropped a few degrees, and the smell of disinfectant became increasingly pungent.
In front of the final, heavy metal door, Chiron stopped in his tracks.
He turned his head and looked at Jiang Lijin.
"It's a bit unsightly inside." Chiron weighed his words. "Prepare yourself mentally. It might be very disgusting."
Jiang Lijin frowned. How unsightly could it be? Could it be more disgusting than the Zerg on the frontlines?
"Open the door." She nodded.
Chiron said no more. He verified his palm print, and the metal doors slid open to both sides.
Inside the door was a massive circular observation room, with a transparent reinforced glass cabin in the center.
Jiang Lijin looked up, and her stomach instantly churned as a strong sense of nausea rushed straight to her throat.
Inside the glass cabin, a lump of something was sprawled out.
It was hard to accurately define with words what exactly that creature was. Its upper body barely retained the silhouette of a beastman female, but the skin was completely ulcerated, covered with a layer of grayish-brown carapace.
Its lower body had completely mutated into the arthropod limbs of a Zerg, with thick, barbed bug legs twitching weakly.
It wore no clothes. Those human organs and Zerg tissues were bizarrely fused together. Dark green slime dripped down through the gaps in the carapace, pooling at the bottom of the cabin into a puddle of foul-smelling liquid.
Several massive fleshy tumors bulged on its back, quivering with every breath, with something faintly writhing inside them.
Compared to this thing before her, the purebred Zerg on the frontlines could almost be considered pleasant-looking.
Jiang Lijin fought back the bile in her throat and looked away.
"What on earth is this thing?" she asked in a suppressed voice, her tone wavering slightly.
Chiron stood beside her, staring coldly at the monster in the glass cabin.
"Felwin."
