Unfortunately, none of the three females successfully awakened an ability.
The chances of success with an ability inducer were extremely low to begin with, so Si Zhao wasn’t too disappointed. Instead, she comforted the three of them and told them not to take it to heart.
You Lu teased with a smile, “Sister Zhiwei and I didn’t succeed either. Maybe this ability inducer really does depend on fate.”
Chu Zhiwei nodded in agreement. “I’m afraid that’s the case.”
Although Yunyang had never been injected with an ability inducer, she knew how low the success rate was, so she nodded vigorously.
Willow and the other two females had never been the type to let something like this affect their mood.
They had once been the sacred females of their tribe, with countless males lining up to do things for them. Even after returning to the Federation, they still enjoyed the privileges afforded to S-rank females.
Abilities were dispensable to them in the first place.
The three females took it all in stride.
Si Zhao didn’t bring up the matter again and took the initiative to change the subject.
When females gathered together, they always had endless things to talk about. But Si Zhao had been busy all day, and in less than an hour, weariness had begun to show in her eyes and brows.
Ran Xi noticed and rose with a smile. “Your Majesty, I’m feeling a little tired. I’d like to return and rest first.”
Yunyang and the others also stood up.
Although the Empress had no intention of seeing them out, they couldn’t really pretend not to understand the hint.
“That’s fine. Youchuan, please escort the ladies out.”
As she spoke, Si Zhao cast a meaningful glance at Yunyang.
Yunyang blinked and quickly understood. She deliberately fell behind.
You Lu and Chu Zhiwei had originally planned to return to the residential district with her, but when they saw this, they understood as well and tactfully left the palace together.
Only after everyone else had departed did Si Zhao pull Yunyang back down beside her.
The nine beast husbands also returned to their positions behind Yunyang.
“Yangyang, there’s something I should tell you now.”
Yunyang straightened her expression. “Go ahead, Sister Zhaozhao.”
She had a feeling that whatever Sister Zhaozhao was about to tell her had something to do with her mother.
And that was indeed the case.
Si Zhao gently patted her hand, then opened her optical brain and brought up a file. “This is an experiment the Federation has been conducting in secret all this time. It’s also the reason your mother hasn’t returned to the Federation in all these years.”
Yunyang’s gaze shifted slightly.
Did “hasn’t returned” mean that her mother truly wasn’t within Federation space?
But she had been to the outer star systems, and all the beastfolk there had been brought back to the Federation. She hadn’t found any trace of her mother or father among them.
Still, she didn’t question Si Zhao. She simply lowered her head and began reading the information carefully.
In this sea of stars, besides the Federation and the outer star systems, there was another region known as the Dead Star Domain.
More accurately, it was a death vortex.
Any planet that drew close to the death vortex would be swallowed and torn apart, eventually reduced to drifting chunks of rock in space.
More than two hundred years ago, Federation researchers discovered that the Dead Star Domain might contain a way to resolve the pollution afflicting beastfolk.
Whenever males used their abilities, their mental landscapes would be contaminated. The more powerful the ability, the more severely the male would be eroded by the pollution.
Yet in the ancient beastfolk era, before the Federation was established, pollution had not existed.
No one knew how it had first appeared, but beastfolk had suffered from it ever since.
Thus, for more than a century, the Federation had continually sent people to the vicinity of the Dead Star Domain in hopes of finding a way to eliminate the pollution. So far, however, they had made no progress.
By the time she reached this point, Yunyang already understood. She lifted her eyes to Si Zhao.
Si Zhao nodded gently. “Your mother is near the Dead Star Domain. The Federation’s signals are disrupted by the Dead Star Domain, so she has no way to respond to your messages in real time.”
“But don’t worry. She’s always been safe.”
The Federation had established a space base near the Dead Star Domain long ago. The beastfolk who had volunteered to go there all lived at the base, where the conditions were no different from those in the Federation.
The space base itself was not threatened by the Dead Star Domain either. If an accident occurred, the personnel there would immediately escort the females back to the Federation.
In truth, there had been no need to keep this from Yunyang for so long. It was simply that Yun Conglan had been unwilling to tell her, and Si Zhao hadn’t wanted to overstep by informing Yunyang herself.
But things were different now. Shortly after Star Dawn Day, the investigation near the Dead Star Domain had made a major breakthrough.
Si Zhao felt that even if she didn’t tell Yunyang now, Yun Conglan would probably tell her herself in a few days.
Yunyang didn’t know much about the Dead Star Domain, but she believed Si Zhao. She believed that Yun Conglan was safe.
As for whether she would actually get to see Yun Conglan, Yunyang wasn’t overly attached to the idea.
“As long as my mother is safe, that’s all that matters.” Yunyang closed the light screen in front of her. “Thank you for telling me, Sister Zhaozhao.”
Si Zhao ruffled her hair. “There’s no need to thank me for something so minor. You made an enormous contribution to the Federation by destroying the Insect Queen, and I haven’t even had the chance to reward you yet.”
“Since we’re on the subject, I’ve been too busy dealing with matters in the outer star systems to ask you before. Is there any reward you’d like?”
Yunyang actually had something in mind.
Not only did she have something in mind, she had decided on it before she went to the Insect Planet.
So when Si Zhao asked, Yunyang gave her answer almost immediately. “Sister Zhaozhao, if possible, I’d like H2978 Wasteland Planet.”
She wanted Blue Star.
Even if it was the Blue Star that had become barren after thousands of years, a world long abandoned and devoid of inhabitants.
Yunyang didn’t have many memories of her previous life to feel nostalgic about. But she still wanted Blue Star. Even she didn’t know where this fixation came from.
Every planet in the Federation was unowned and belonged to the Federation as a whole, including the barren planets.
Throughout the Federation’s history, no beastfolk had ever been granted sole ownership of an entire planet. That was why Yunyang had waited until now to make her request.
Si Zhao looked a little surprised.
“You want H2978 Wasteland Planet?”
Yunyang was just about to say that it was fine if her request was too much when she saw the helpless expression on Si Zhao’s face.
“Yangyang, you’re the Federation’s greatest hero. You won at least ten years of peace for the Federation. If you wanted it, you could even have the position of the Federation’s supreme ruler.”
“You don’t have to hold back. You can tell me anything you want.”
Yunyang was stunned.
Did Sister Zhaozhao think that asking for just one barren planet was too little?
“Sister Zhaozhao, I only want H2978 Wasteland Planet.”
As for the position of supreme ruler, Yunyang had absolutely no interest in it. She was a complete slacker and neither could nor wanted to shoulder such a heavy responsibility.
Si Zhao let out a quiet sigh.
That child, Yan Ning, complained to her every day, saying that she had given her too much work and begging her to raise another daughter.
Was raising a daughter really that easy?
Heaven knew how long she and Youchuan had spent selecting reproductive material before they finally raised Yan Ning, their one and only daughter.
Forget it. Thinking about it any further would only give her another headache.
“Since that’s what you want, then I’ll give you H2978 Wasteland Planet as your reward.”
As she spoke, Si Zhao opened her optical brain and granted Yunyang full administrative authority over H2978 Wasteland Planet.
At the end, she even thoughtfully asked, “Yangyang, do you need me to send people over to help develop the planet?”
