Pushing open the villa doors, the oppressive atmosphere in the living room hit immediately.
Tinia sat on the long sofa right in the center, arms crossed over his chest, his chin tilted high.
Opposite him sat two males.
Tianyan and Tianque, the twins from the black market.
Tianyan wore a linen shirt. With black hair and green eyes, he was holding a cup of hot tea, slowly blowing the foam off the top, looking completely at ease. Beside him, Tianque was dressed in a solid black combat suit. With white hair and red eyes, his back was ramrod straight, exuding a chilling, unapproachable aura.
Baal didn't even take off his coat. He strode over and sat directly on the single sofa to the side of the brothers, his intimidating aura fully unleashed.
Chiron changed his shoes methodically, his gaze sweeping around the living room without a word.
Jiang Lijin changed into her slippers, walked over to the empty seat beside Tinia, and casually grabbed a piece of fruit, taking a bite as she settled in to watch the drama unfold.
"You two look unfamiliar," Baal launched the first attack, his golden slit pupils locking onto the two men opposite him.
Tianyan set down his teacup and looked over with a smile. He was the type who knew exactly how to play people; it took him only a single glance to figure out Baal's identity.
"Chief Commander Baal, I've heard so much about you," Tianyan gave a slight nod, his tone familiar. "When we ran that little antique shop on the fringe planet, we heard no shortage of stories about your majestic deeds. Seeing you today, you truly live up to your reputation."
The flattery was smooth. But Baal wasn't buying it. He gave a cold snort and leaned forward, oozing an overwhelming sense of oppression.
"Triple-S rank, and you're holed up on a fringe planet selling antiques?" Baal looked Tianyan up and down, his tone extremely hostile. "Coming to the capital star system, with your ranks, you could make a fortune with your eyes closed. Taking a step back, even if you don't care about money, you could go to the Federation frontlines to build a career. What path isn't better than running some rundown antique shop?"
Tianyan's expression didn't change, his smile unfading.
"The Chief Commander is joking." He spread his hands, looking completely devoid of ambition. "My brother and I are naturally timid; we just want a stable life. A place full of fighting and killing like the frontlines really doesn't suit us."
That excuse might be enough to fool Tinia.
Baal's gaze swept past Tianyan, landing directly on Tianque beside him.
"Timid?" Baal scrutinized Tianque without any reservation. "This one doesn't look like an errand boy."
Although Tianque sat motionless, the tension in his muscles and even the rhythm of his breathing were entirely in a state of defensive counterattack.
"The stability of his lower body, the alignment of the bones and tendons on the back of his hands," Baal said coldly. "Even without using spiritual pressure, relying purely on hand-to-hand combat, there are very few in this room who could take him down completely unscathed."
To earn such an evaluation from Baal, it seemed this guy really had something to him. Jiang Lijin's interest was piqued, and following Baal's words, her gaze fell onto Tianque.
Tianque had been staring at Baal with an extremely hostile look, but the moment Jiang Lijin looked his way, his body flinched slightly.
He lowered his eyelashes, avoiding Jiang Lijin's gaze, his long lashes casting a shadow over his eye sockets.
Seeing this, Tianyan quickly took over the conversation. He sighed, putting on a heavy expression of someone looking back on an unbearable past.
"The Chief Commander has a good eye." Tianyan's voice lowered. "To tell you the truth, my brother and I originally hail from the Jiyang Star System."
Hearing those words, the living room fell silent for a moment.
"That place is plagued by constant war, coupled with rampant star pirates; it's simply not a place for humans to live." Tianyan continued fabricating his story. "Just to survive, my brother and I have been crawling through piles of corpses since we were kids. His skills were entirely forced out of him."
He paused, his tone growing even more sincere. "To say something without fear of you all laughing, we really have been beaten into fear. We just wanted to find a stable place and live out the rest of our lives in peace. Who would have thought the Main Brain would match us to the capital star."
This deeply emotional speech almost had Tinia convinced.
But Jiang Lijin felt it was fake. In Tianyan's deep green eyes, there was absolutely no trace of sorrow. He was lying, and doing so without batting an eye.
[Host! The Jiyang Star System!] Xiao Yi suddenly sprang to life in her mind.
[I heard him. You don't need to be so loud.]
[That's not it, Host!] Xiao Yi frantically pulled up the database. [The original host's identity file clearly states that she is an orphan from a fringe planet in the Jiyang Star System! And Blue Star, the planet that disappeared ten years ago, its coordinates also belong to the Jiyang Star System!]
Jiang Lijin paused her munching on the fruit.
Jiyang Star System, the original host, Blue Star, the Star Crest Flower, the black market.
These seemingly unrelated fragments were suddenly connected by an invisible thread in this very moment.
Taking a huge step back, even if Tianyan's story about a tragic childhood was completely made up, his deliberate mention of the Jiyang Star System definitely had a purpose behind it.
These two men had to stay.
Thinking of this, Jiang Lijin finally remembered that due to the sudden Zerg attack earlier, Xiao Yi still hadn't reported back to her about investigating the original host's soul. However, now was not the right time to be chatting in her head.
Tianyan was an extremely smart man; he knew very well that saying too much would lead to mistakes. He stopped while he was ahead, giving Baal absolutely no chance to interrogate them further.
He turned his head and looked at Jiang Lijin, the heaviness on his face completely swept away, replaced once again by that smiling demeanor.
"Ms. Jiang, we are unfamiliar with the people and places here on the capital star. Since the Main Brain has already determined our matched relationship, it's only reasonable for us to live here, right? May I ask, which room will we be staying in?"
The moment these words came out, the air in the living room completely stagnated. Three highly oppressive gazes uniformly pierced into Jiang Lijin.
Tinia was the first who couldn't sit still. He stood up abruptly. "Sister, there are no extra rooms in the house! The rooms on the second floor are under renovation; no one can live there!"
Baal's brows twisted into a tight knot, his golden eyes staring fixedly at Jiang Lijin. Only Chiron remained silent, looking at her calmly.
The three resident beast-husbands had reached an unprecedented consensus on the matter of expelling the outsiders.
Kick them out? If she really provoked these two, they were by no means law-abiding citizens! What's more, they held hidden clues regarding Blue Star and the original host.
At most, these two were after her body; at least for now, they weren't after her life. Keeping them under her nose to watch over was better than letting them out to be ticking time bombs.
"There are still two rooms on the second floor," Jiang Lijin said in a calm tone. "Go pick for yourselves."
Tinia jumped anxiously. "Sister!"
"Thank you." Tianyan ignored those three hostile gazes, bowed slightly, and pulled Tianque straight toward the stairs.
Tianque followed behind him. As he passed by Jiang Lijin, his footsteps paused slightly. He shot a quick glance at Jiang Lijin, then quickly walked upstairs.
The soft sound of a door closing echoed from the second floor.
