Inside the flying ship, there was an unfamiliar fluctuation of psychic energy. Fu Shiyi glanced around warily.
Just moments ago, he had sensed a very faint psychic disturbance, so brief that he nearly thought it was his imagination.
But when it came to the safety of his female master, he never let his guard down, so he shielded Yunyang without a second thought.
Qin Mo and the other two exchanged glances, covering Fu Shiyi and Yunyang as they slowly retreated toward the exit of the ship.
When they had boarded, the flying ship had only carried a pilot and a few robotic attendants.
Now, here, an unfamiliar psychic fluctuation had appeared.
Given what had happened near the Purification Tower, it was possible that an escaped beastman had taken the chance to slip aboard.
The likelihood was low, but it couldn't be ruled out.
Qin Mo reached back and pressed the cabin door switch, lowering his voice: "Fu Shiyi, take the female master and go first."
The cabin door slid open, and Fu Shiyi did not hesitate—he pulled Yunyang into his arms and retreated outside.
As she was being carried out of the ship, Yunyang cast blessings on all four of her beastman husbands.
Feeling their abilities surge, the three beastmen remaining inside the ship straightened up, all assuming combat stances.
Outside the ship, Fu Shiyi flew with Yunyang in the direction they had come from.
But not long after, Yunyang suddenly gripped his clothes tightly.
"Fu Shiyi..."
The female's voice carried a hint of panic.
"I think... there's something on my leg..."
It was cold and slick, slowly crawling up her leg, raising goosebumps all over her skin.
Fu Shiyi's expression tightened. He immediately descended with her and, with her permission, rolled up her pant leg.
A small black snake suddenly came into view with no warning at all.
The serpent was coiled entirely around Yunyang's calf. Seeming to notice his gaze, it lifted its head and looked at him, its vertical pupils glowing a deep red.
A feral beastman!
Fu Shiyi was still holding Yunyang tightly. Rationality told him he needed to subdue the black snake immediately, before it went on a rampage and harmed more beastmen.
But this snake was wrapped around his female master.
If he attacked the snake recklessly, she would certainly be caught in the crossfire—and that was the last thing he wanted.
"Female master, don't be afraid." He soothed Yunyang as he reached a hand toward the snake.
Sensing danger, the black snake raised its head high, flicking its tongue and hissing a warning.
Fu Shiyi was forced to stop.
He couldn't provoke the snake. If it lashed out in fright and injured his female master, that would be a loss not worth taking.
Fu Shiyi withdrew his hand and tucked it behind his back, using his optical communicator to contact Qin Mo and the other two.
Inside the ship, under cover from the other two, Qin Mo quickly checked the message on his communicator.
After reading the line, his pupils contracted sharply.
"Xuan Yu, Rong Jin—a feral black snake has latched onto the female master. It's likely the male that escaped from the Purification Tower."
Xuan Yu and Rong Jin both stiffened.
The next second, both shifted into their beast forms and shot out of the ship.
Qin Mo forwarded the message to Jenkins and charged out right after them.
Back with Yunyang, she and Fu Shiyi were locked in a stalemate with the black snake.
Every time he reached out, the snake assumed a defensive posture. He was too afraid of hurting her to make a move.
Thankfully, his three rivals didn't keep him waiting long.
"Female master!"
After Qin Mo and the others arrived, they saw the black snake coiled around Yunyang's right calf.
Their sudden presence seemed to agitate the snake. It suddenly swelled to several times its size, slammed the four beastmen aside, and wrapped its entire body around Yunyang.
"Hiss!"
"Hiss—!"
The black snake stared at the four of them with its crimson vertical pupils, releasing a continuous stream of warning sounds.
The four beastmen reacted quickly, sealing off all escape routes, yet none of them dared to strike.
Yunyang had been a little frightened at first. She wasn't afraid of snakes, but she knew this was how serpents hunted their prey.
But soon, she realized that although the snake was coiled tightly around her, she felt no suffocation at all.
This black snake...
Yunyang calmed down and studied its head carefully.
Its head was unlike any snake she knew from her past life—it bore a slight resemblance to the dragons she'd seen on television, with two faint bumps on its skull.
Could it be a flood dragon?
A bold guess surfaced in Yunyang's mind.
She tilted her head slightly and called out in a soft voice: "Pei Wenye?"
The black snake didn't turn its head, but its tail tip slithered up to Yunyang's side and gently wrapped around her wrist.
The cold reptilian temperature came through, yet Yunyang felt no fear at all anymore.
It was Pei Wenye.
The beastman with the highest genetic compatibility to her.
His actions clearly weren't meant to harm her, but what exactly he intended, she couldn't tell.
Yunyang spoke up again: "Pei Wenye, can you let me go first, okay?"
The black flood dragon didn't move.
His corruption level was too high—he couldn't hold even a sliver of human form anymore. And with no constraints now in place, Yunyang didn't dare to force her way into his mental landscape like she had with Leo before.
She could only raise her hand and envelop the black flood dragon with her psychic threads, trying to calm him down.
The four beastmen's faces changed the moment they heard the name "Pei Wenye."
Before this, they had already obtained their female master's final beastman husband's file from the robotic butler:
Name: Pei Wenye
Age: 25
Height: 195 cm
Beast form: Black flood dragon (semi-dragon)
Ability: Water
Ability Rank: SS
Occupation: Unknown
Genetic compatibility: 99.9%
The black snake in front of them—or rather, the black flood dragon—was clearly the never-before-seen Pei Wenye.
The fact that he could locate his female master accurately while feral was likely due to that 99.9% genetic compatibility.
After all, that number was the highest ever recorded in the Federation.
But that didn't excuse him.
Fu Shiyi raised his hand and adjusted his glasses, and Pei Wenye's stats appeared before his eyes.
Pei Wenye's corruption level hovered at a peak—oscillating between 99.9 and 100, threatening to tip into complete beast transformation at any moment.
In that state, no matter how strong his willpower, there was no guarantee he wouldn't harm his female master.
Fu Shiyi spoke in a low voice: "Pei Wenye, you'll hurt the female master. While you still have your senses, let her go."
Yunyang was still trying to soothe Pei Wenye.
The black flood dragon clearly loved her psychic threads. Its entire body relaxed, with only its tail tip still tightly wrapped around her wrist.
But that brief calm lasted only until Fu Shiyi spoke.
The flood dragon's vertical pupils snapped onto Fu Shiyi, as if parsing the meaning of his words.
Soon, it seemed to understand—and its gaze turned frantic and restless.
Hurt... female master...
He couldn't...
But—there was blood...
Yunyang could clearly feel Pei Wenye's grip tightening around her.
She frowned and increased the flow of her psychic power: "Pei Wenye, you're hurting me."
Corruption level 99.9...
Corruption level 100!
[WARNING: Target is about to undergo full beast transformation!]
The scene before his eyes turned crimson. Fu Shiyi, not bothering to remove his glasses, lunged forward, circling his arm around Yunyang's waist to pull her away.
"Hiss—!"
The black flood dragon opened its massive jaws, fangs driving straight at Fu Shiyi.
"Fu Shiyi!"
