A Lady with S-level spiritual power had arrived at the purification tower.
This news spread like wildfire, reaching the ears of every male inside the tower within ten minutes of Yunyang’s arrival.
The males with dangerously high contamination levels finally saw a glimmer of hope, desperately trying to get closer to Yunyang—only to be blocked by the heavy electric grid.
All they could do was watch helplessly as the Lady who could save them walked away.
Situations like this were nothing new to Yunyang as she made her way toward the elevator.
At first, it had been a bit unsettling—after all, no male confined to the purification tower had a contamination level below 95, and their rationality had long been eroded bit by bit by the contamination.
But the thought of the two beast-husbands behind her quickly put Yunyang at ease.
There were no SS-level or SSS-level males in the purification tower, because males that dangerous—once their contamination exceeded 95—would be immediately transferred to the Federal Central Star for supervision.
So even if those males broke through, Qin Mo and Xuan Yu could keep her safe.
Lao Wei had been carefully observing Yunyang’s reaction the entire time.
He had initially worried that this esteemed Lady might be frightened—there had been such cases before.
Fortunately, Lady Yunyang was calmer than he had expected.
His old comrade really did have a chance!
If it weren’t for the fear of losing his composure in front of the esteemed Lady, Lao Wei would have happily wiped away a few tears.
He struggled to maintain his outward calm, passed through layer after layer of security verification, and brought Yunyang to his office area.
Looking at his bare and plain office, Lao Wei felt a bit nervous. “Lady Yunyang, this is my office area. It might be a bit simple—I hope you don’t mind.”
He really had no other choice.
Aside from the top two floors, every other level of the purification tower was dedicated to housing high-contamination males.
And of those two floors, one was the resting quarters for the guards.
So he could only bring Yunyang to his own office.
As for letting Yunyang go down to the containment area to find those high-contamination males?
What a federal joke that would be!
Even if those males had once achieved great military honors, they weren’t worth a Lady going to find them in person.
This was the first S-level Lady to visit the X92 Star purification tower in a long, long time.
“It’s fine.”
Yunyang wasn’t picky about such things, and she could tell at a glance that this was definitely Lao Wei’s office.
He had already given up his own space for her—if she started nitpicking, that would be downright ungrateful.
Lao Wei was overwhelmed with gratitude.
This Lady Yunyang turned out to be surprisingly easygoing.
He dutifully pulled out a chair for Yunyang, only to receive two sharp glares.
Lao Wei: “…”
He was just helping the Lady with her chair. No other intentions.
Really!
At his age, if he got lucky enough to be matched with a female mate, he could be old enough to be the Lady’s grandfather!
That said, he had been so focused on Lady Yunyang earlier that he only now noticed one of the two beast-husbands was that Qin kid from the 23rd Army.
That tiger cub—how in the world did he get so lucky?
Back in his day, he never had such luck!
Lao Wei muttered to himself over and over, all while keeping his expression steady.
Once Yunyang was seated, he used his light-computer to contact the supervisor he had arranged the day before.
“Lady Yunyang, the males who need purification will be here shortly.”
Yunyang nodded and used the time to make a quick calculation.
At home, using 70% of her spiritual power, she could lower Qin Mo’s or Xuan Yu’s contamination by about 40–50 points, assuming both beast-husbands were S-level.
If the males here had lower ability levels, she could reduce even more—and spread across two people, it would still be substantial.
She wondered what level of males Lao Wei had arranged for her.
Her question was soon answered.
Not long after Lao Wei gave the order, the sound of a successful authorization came from outside the door.
The heavy metal door slid open slowly.
The first thing that entered Yunyang’s sight were five supervisors in matching black combat uniforms.
They led the male who was to undergo purification into the office area.
Because his condition was unstable, the high-contamination beast-man had been fitted with a suppression collar—any sign of erratic behavior would trigger a merciless electric shock.
His original form was a griffin, and aside from his head, the rest of his body had already fully transformed into beast form.
It looked somewhat terrifying.
Lao Wei spoke nervously: “Lady Yunyang, this is Min Shi, former Deputy Commander of the Federal 7th Army. Ability level S, contamination level 99.”
Yunyang’s breath caught.
99. Just one point away from complete beast transformation.
A soldier who had fought countless battles to protect the Federation, and now he could only be confined inside this tower, waiting for death to come—
For beast-people, fully degenerating into a mindless beast was no different from death.
Watching the former deputy commander of the 7th Army, Qin Mo’s eyes showed deep emotion.
If he hadn’t been so fortunate as to be matched with a female mate, in a few more years, he might have ended up just like Deputy Commander Min.
There were far too few S-level and above Ladies in the Federation to care for every S-level and above male.
And Ladies below S-level could purify only a very limited amount of contamination.
If they weren’t matched with a female mate, this was the inevitable fate of every Federal soldier.
And yet, every time the Federation called for enlistment, a flood of males still joined without hesitation.
By now, Min Shi had already been secured into a restraint chair by the supervisors.
His body was quickly bound.
The restraints were made of the toughest materials, and even an S-level ability user like him couldn’t break free.
Not to mention the five supervisors standing guard around the chair.
Yunyang stood up.
Before approaching Min Shi, she asked, “Mr. Lao Wei, is the second male to undergo purification also S-level?”
She needed to determine how much spiritual power to hold back.
Lao Wei nodded.
Yunyang acknowledged this, then approached the restraint chair with her two beast-husbands at her side.
Min Shi had nearly lost his reason entirely. The last shred of willpower kept him barely calm, but the male instinct within him still made him grow increasingly restless as Yunyang drew near.
Her spiritual power could save him.
Min Shi opened his mouth, but he could no longer speak properly. All that came out were hoarse, piercing cries.
With her two beast-husbands nearby, Yunyang suppressed the faint stir of fear within her and said softly, “Mr. Min Shi—if you still have any sanity left, would you open your mental landscape for me?”
Her gentle voice was like a breeze sweeping across an ancient grassland—faint, yet enough to bring a moment of clarity.
Min Shi’s eyes flickered with struggle, as if he were battling his collapsing rationality.
After a long moment, he managed a difficult nod, and his near-collapsing mental landscape slowly opened before Yunyang.
Until now, Yunyang had only ever seen the mental landscapes of Qin Mo and Xuan Yu.
So she had never seen one this terrible. It was filled with black mist everywhere, and everything she could touch was shrouded in gray.
A dead silence ran through it all, with not even a trace of life to be found.
