Over the next few days, Jiang Lijin stayed peacefully in the Valoran Galaxy for her vacation. The scenery at the Yunlan Consortium's private beach was stunning. She spent her days doing nothing but eating and sleeping, living quite comfortably.
However, the expected dogfight between Arden and Felwin never happened. There was no movement at all from Arden's side.
Chewing on her straw, Jiang Lijin stared blankly at her optical terminal screen. After Felwin issued that statement shifting the blame, Arden—an S-rank male with a notoriously short temper—should have jumped out to confront her immediately after being framed with such a massive accusation.
Besides, no matter how stupid Arden was, he shouldn't have been completely silent without a single word of defense when summoned by the Interstellar Security Bureau.
Yet there wasn't even a ripple. Either he was being controlled, or he was dead.
Jiang Lijin leaned toward the former. The side effects of Felwin taking the drugs couldn't be hidden forever, and she couldn't avoid the Purification Department's medical exams. As long as Arden was alive, this ticking time bomb would soon detonate.
But things didn't go as expected.
Just as her mind was racing, her optical terminal chimed. It was a special push notification from the Starweb forum.
"Arden Commits Suicide Out of Fear of Punishment, Suicide Note Exposed."
When Jiang Lijin saw this headline, her brows furrowed unconsciously.
She opened the news. The accompanying image was the scene investigation record released by the Security Bureau. Arden died in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the main planet. The cause of death given by the forensic examiner was an overdose injection of high-concentration spiritual power dissolving agent. There were no signs of a struggle at the scene, and the doors and windows were locked from the inside, forming a perfect locked room.
Next to it was a holographic suicide note recorded by Arden himself.
In the footage, Arden's eyes were dull, and his facial muscles were stiff. He incoherently repented to the camera, admitting that because he couldn't accept that the Jiang Lijin he had abandoned had advanced to 3S-rank, he secretly went to the black market to buy illegal drugs and forced Felwin to take them. Finally, he said he had no face left to see the public and chose to end his life.
Half an hour later, Felwin's personal account posted a new video.
In the video, she wore a black dress. Her eyes were severely red and swollen, and she couldn't even stand steady, relying entirely on the beastman husband behind her for support.
"Brother Arden made a mistake, but he shouldn't have punished himself this way..." she sobbed uncontrollably, large tears rolling down her face. "Even though he hurt me, I would have forgiven him. Why was he so foolish..."
Every single word struck the public's sympathy perfectly.
The tide of public opinion on the Internet completely turned in Felwin's favor. Harming an S-rank female was already a capital crime under Imperial law. Seeing that his deeds were exposed and knowing he couldn't escape death, Arden choosing to end his own life made perfect logical sense.
Jiang Lijin turned off her optical terminal, a layer of goosebumps rising on the back of her hand. She had always thought of Felwin as just a vain, hypocritical woman who liked to steal other people's things.
She never expected this woman would actually dare to kill someone!
Arden was an S-rank male, after all. Just Felwin, a fake S-rank female, even with her three A-rank beastmen husbands, could not possibly forge a suicide scene so flawlessly, let alone record that bizarre suicide note...
Jiang Lijin recalled the plot of the original book. In the book, to make room for Arden, Kieran, and Rex, Felwin didn't hesitate to send her three A-rank beastmen husbands into the interstellar maximum-security prison.
This opponent was extremely dangerous and completely devoid of a bottom line. Now that she had been pushed to a dead end, her way of doing things had gone completely mad.
Fortunately, Jiang Lijin was currently in Valoran. If she were still on the main planet, an increasingly desperate Felwin might have resorted to some underhanded tactics to deal with her.
Tinia also saw this push notification. Before he could speak, the optical terminal on his wrist lit up again.
He glanced at the message sent by the downstairs security supervisor and curled his lips.
"Sister, there are two males downstairs claiming to be your matches, and they want to come up." Tinia's tone was full of displeasure. "Do you want me to have someone kick them out?"
Jiang Lijin shifted into a more comfortable position, leaning back on the sofa. "Let them come up."
Since she had to meet them eventually, she was actually quite interested in these two beastmen husbands whom even the Master Brain couldn't find records of.
Two minutes later, the door of the exclusive elevator to the penthouse suite opened.
Two slender males walked out.
The male walking in front wore a moon-white short-sleeved shirt with narrow sleeves. He had black hair and green eyes. Those green eyes curved in a gentle arc, and his whole being exuded a warm, amiable aura, looking like a very good-tempered boy next door.
The male half a step behind him wore a tight black martial outfit, with white hair and red eyes. He was expressionless, his gaze passing over everyone and landing directly on the ocean view outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, as if he had absolutely no interest in the people in the room.
Two identical faces, yet their temperaments were completely opposite.
They were very handsome, but after seeing beautiful men like Chiron, Baal, and Tinia, the looks of these two were not enough to stun Jiang Lijin. She was more concerned about their clothing... which looked exactly like the traditional attire of her home, the Blue Planet.
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Jiang." The black-haired man stepped forward and bowed slightly, his etiquette flawless. "I am Tianyan, and this is my younger brother, Tianque."
Tinia leaned against the sofa, looking up and down at their attire, making no secret of the contempt in his eyes.
"Which galaxy are you from? This fashion style is at least two hundred years behind the main planet," Tinia sneered.
Tianyan had an excellent temper. Faced with Tinia's mockery, he didn't even twitch an eyebrow.
"We live in the Shattered Star Belt of the Outer Galaxies. I run an antique shop there, and Tianque usually helps me out in the shop, doing some heavy lifting," Tianyan explained with a smile, his tone sincere.
Tinia let out a cold laugh. Two 3S-rank males were actually running a shabby antique shop in the outer galaxies? Did these ignorant country bumpkins really deserve to compete with him for her?
Chiron, who was sitting on a single sofa reading a book, closed it. His sharp gaze swept over the faces of Tianyan and Tianque.
"Since you two are 3S-rank, why not go to the main planet, or a developed galaxy closer to it?" Chiron's speaking pace was steady, but he pointed straight to the core of the issue. "The Empire and the Federation treat 3S-rank males extremely well. As long as you are willing, the doors of the military and the Academy of Sciences are always open to you. Staying in the Shattered Star Belt is a waste of your genetic talents."
Tianyan unceremoniously pulled out a chair and sat down, his long legs crossed and his posture relaxed.
"The main planet has too many rules. If we go there, we could be forcibly drafted into the military at any time and sent to the battlefield to risk our lives." Tianyan spread his hands, a touch of shrewdness appearing in his smile. "My brother and I are cowards. We just want to run a small business peacefully and don't want to go to the front lines to die."
Chiron stopped speaking, finding it impossible to understand such remarks that showed a complete lack of collective honor.
Tinia rolled his eyes and cursed them as cowards.
In the interstellar era, defending against the invasion of Zerg and alien beasts was the responsibility of high-ranking males. As long as a large-scale war broke out, 3S-rank males on the main planet would be forcibly drafted. By hiding in the outer galaxies where even the Master Brain's signal couldn't accurately locate them, Tianyan and Tianque could avoid military service. If the Master Brain couldn't find them, it naturally couldn't issue a mandatory draft order.
Jiang Lijin had remained silent the whole time. Staring at Tianyan's face, she couldn't help but feel that she had heard this man's tone of voice somewhere before.
[Host.] Little One brought up a comparative data chart in her mind. [The black-haired one on the left, his silhouette and gait data have a 90 percent match with the dark figure who climbed through your window in the middle of the night!]
Jiang Lijin narrowed her eyes.
No wonder when she asked him what he was doing that night, he said he just came to see her. So he was actually her matched beast husband?
Climbing through a window in the dead of night, that counted as just seeing her?
Jiang Lijin had no patience for someone so sneaky and completely lacking in boundaries.
"You have seen what you came to see." Jiang Lijin pointed toward the door, her tone stiff. "This entire floor is Tinia's private suite. There are no spare rooms, and it is not convenient to take in outsiders. If you want to see me, go wait at the house on the main planet."
The smile on Tianyan's face paused for a second. He had not expected Jiang Lijin to reject them so bluntly.
Tianque finally withdrew his gaze from the window and glanced at Jiang Lijin. He remained silent, acting like an emotionless background prop.
"We brought Star Coins." Tianyan pulled an old, worn debit card from his pocket and placed it on the table. "We can pay to stay in the guest rooms here."
Tinia stood up and walked in front of Jiang Lijin, blocking Tianyan's line of sight.
"Sorry, but every single guest room in the Yunlan hotel chain across the entire Valoran galaxy is fully booked for the next half month. Even the storage closets are taken." Tinia issued the eviction order with an arrogant tone. "Put away your broken card. The Yunlan Group does not need your pocket change. See yourselves out."
Tianyan looked into Jiang Lijin's eyes, catching the clear repulsion hidden in her gaze.
His intuition told him that this little female had recognized him.
Tianyan stood up, straightened his clothes, and slipped the card back into his pocket.
"It seems Ms. Jiang was not very satisfied with the greeting gift I sent earlier." Walking to the elevator, Tianyan looked back at Jiang Lijin, a hint of amusement flashing in his green eyes.
He was not angry; instead, he seemed to find this encounter highly entertaining.
"That is fine. I will just give you an even bigger gift."
The elevator doors closed, and the figures of the two men disappeared from sight.
Jiang Lijin frowned, completely baffled by what Tianyan meant by a greeting gift. She searched through her memories but could not recall this guy ever giving her anything.
