First came the chat between the three best friends.
【You Lu: What happened? Did I sleep for two years? Why did I see a notice from the Psionic Testing Center saying that Yangyang’s mental power has risen to SS-rank?】
【Chu Zhiwei: I saw it too. It should be true.】
【You Lu: Ahhh, congratulations, Yangyang!】
【Chu Zhiwei: Congratulations, Yangyang.】
【Yunyang: Thank you, Lulu and Sister Zhiwei.】
【Yunyang: Have you eaten dinner yet? If not, would you like to come to my place for hot pot?】
They had originally planned to have this hot pot meal two days ago, but an accident had gotten in the way. Yunyang decided to take advantage of today’s opportunity to invite her two best friends over for a celebration.
【You Lu: Sure, sure! I haven’t eaten yet either, so I’ll have Wen Xu and the others get things ready.】
【Chu Zhiwei: I haven’t eaten either. I’ll get ready and see you soon.】
【Yunyang: See you soon~】
After arranging the dinner, Yunyang temporarily closed the group chat and opened another one.
Lao Wei had created it with her permission. He said it would make managing the official reservation website more convenient.
The two people in the group congratulated her on her promotion as well before asking whether the number of available reservation slots on the website needed to be changed.
Yunyang thought it over, then asked Fu Shiyi for his opinion before replying.
【Yunyang: The number of group purification slots can be increased to one hundred. Leave the number of individual purification slots unchanged for now. The reservation requirements will remain the same as before.】
【Jenkins: Understood, Lady Yunyang. Do you need to take a day off tomorrow?】
【Yunyang: No need. You can open tomorrow’s purification slots as usual.】
【Jenkins: Understood.】
【Lao Wei: Lady Yunyang, if one hundred people is too much for you, please be sure to let us know.】
【Yunyang: Don’t worry. I won’t push myself too hard.】
After that came congratulatory messages from her brothers and younger brothers at home, as well as several males who had added her as a friend on their optical brains so they could transfer money to her before.
Even Si Zhao sent her a congratulatory message.
Yunyang ignored everyone else’s messages and replied only to Si Zhao.
【Thank you, Sister Zhaozhao~】
【Sister Zhaozhao, have you absorbed the Xiling Amber?】
Yunyang knew very well that the reason her mental power had risen to SS-rank so quickly was because she had absorbed the Xiling Amber.
The Empress’s mental power had already been close to S-rank. Under those circumstances, if she absorbed the Xiling Amber, her mental power would certainly break through to S-rank in the shortest possible time.
【Si Zhao: Not yet. I sent it to the laboratory so they can study it first and see whether they can extract its components.】
Although there were not many S-rank females in the Federation, there were still quite a few females with A-rank mental power.
If the laboratory could extract the components of the Xiling Amber, they would be able to manufacture a potion based on them.
At that point, the Federation might even gain several more S-rank females.
In front of Si Zhao, Yunyang felt ashamed of herself.
As expected of the Empress. She always considered the Federation first.
【Yunyang: I understand. If I obtain any more Xiling Amber, I’ll send it to the laboratory right away as well.】
She could no longer continue absorbing Xiling Amber, and she had no idea when her mother would be able to return to the Federation.
So if she obtained any more Xiling Amber in the future, she would not mind sending it to the laboratory to help advance the research.
With the Federation’s highly advanced technology, they might really be able to extract its components. If they successfully developed a potion, she might even be able to absorb it herself.
Yunyang was more than willing to do something that benefited both herself and others.
Si Zhao was busy with government affairs and did not chat with her for long. Yunyang tactfully ended the conversation early.
By then, the eight beast husbands had already set out their name plaques, reminding her that she could make her selection.
Yunyang turned around and casually chose the one that looked most pleasing to her. It was the tiger plaque.
Qin Mo: !
“Lady Mistress, I’ll definitely perform well tonight!”
·
Because she had invited her best friends over for hot pot, Yunyang had all nine of her beast husbands prepare the ingredients after returning to the villa.
She went upstairs to change into something more casual.
Once she had changed and come back downstairs, Butler Four flew over to remind her that guests had arrived.
Yunyang hurried over in her slippers to greet them.
You Lu and Chu Zhiwei had come together. Behind them, Yu Wenxu had brought a large amount of fresh ingredients, while Gu Yun carried more than a dozen drinks he had specially mixed himself.
Seeing that all nine of Yunyang’s beast husbands were busy in the kitchen, You Lu and Chu Zhiwei also sent their own beast husbands over to help.
Meanwhile, the three best friends sat on the sofa and chatted for a while.
“Sister Zhaozhao contacted me this afternoon.” Chu Zhiwei got straight to the point. “She had someone compile the list of people who knew about those two matters this morning. Then she had the Terminal Administration Center inspect the optical-brain records of everyone on the list.”
The two matters she was referring to were the details of Chu Zhiwei’s journey back to the Central Star from the frontier planet, and the fact that a female’s mental power could strengthen the insectoids’ healing abilities.
Yunyang and You Lu both knew what she meant, so they straightened up and listened attentively.
Chu Zhiwei continued, “Sister Zhaozhao didn’t tell me the specifics, but one thing is certain: there are no traitors within the Federation.”
No traitors…
Yunyang frowned slightly. Then the problem was on the insectoid side.
That was more troublesome than having a traitor within the Federation.
If a beastman had leaked the information, they only needed to identify the person responsible to resolve the matter.
But the situation with the insectoids was different. Because their languages were incompatible, the Federation had no way to investigate their intelligence.
You Lu had clearly thought of this as well and hurriedly asked, “Did Sister Zhaozhao say anything else?”
Chu Zhiwei shook her head. “Sister Zhaozhao told me not to worry. She’ll have the Terminal Administration Center continue monitoring the situation, while also sending the federal military to investigate.”
Yunyang said, “This matter has had a major impact. It will probably take quite some time to investigate thoroughly.”
Whether the problem was a traitor within the Federation or the insectoids gaining a new ability, neither was good news for the Federation.
Seeing the atmosphere grow increasingly gloomy, You Lu decisively stood up. “Since Sister Zhaozhao said that, let’s stop worrying about it and eat first! I’m starving~”
As You Lu spoke, the aroma of hot pot broth drifted out from the kitchen.
As before, there was one spicy red-oil broth and one clear broth.
All three families’ beast husbands were busy in the open kitchen, so Yunyang instructed Butlers One, Two, and Three to prepare the dining room.
The dining table in the house definitely would not have been large enough to seat so many people. Fortunately, when she moved, she had stored the original dining table in her spatial wristband and brought it along.
The two dining tables were placed side by side. Rong Jin and Xuan Yu divided both broths into two portions and placed them into two enormous split hot pot pans.
Each table was set with a split hot pot, and all the other ingredients were prepared in duplicate as well.
Before long, everyone took their seats.
The three best friends each brought two of their beast husbands and sat at the round table. The remaining beast husbands sat at the long table beside it.
You Lu and Chu Zhiwei had each chosen the two beast husbands they favored most. Yunyang, meanwhile, chose Qin Mo—the one whose plaque she had drawn aboard the spaceship—and Xuan Yu, who had prepared the hot pot broth.
The six males served the three females throughout the entire meal. Qin Mo’s optical brain vibrated at the same time as those of Leonardo and Cang Zhuonian at the neighboring table.
