As a reward, Yunyang gave Fu Shiyi a quick kiss.
Fu Shiyi wanted to take things a step further, but she stopped him.
“Let’s go outside.”
Fu Shiyi had no choice but to suppress the spark of desire she had ignited within him.
It was already past lunchtime. He took out a strawberry-flavored nutrient pack, tore it open, and fed it to Yunyang before carrying her out of the room.
You Lu was already waiting outside.
When she saw Yunyang, You Lu waved at her. The sleeve that had slipped down exposed a few faint, suggestive marks around her wrist.
Her beast husbands immediately turned to Yu Wenxu, their eyes clearly saying, “Shameless.”
Yu Wenxu merely smiled calmly.
The Federation was open-minded, so Yunyang pretended not to notice and sat down beside You Lu.
The two esteemed ladies launched into another round of chatting.
Yunyang thought about how two of her beast husbands already possessed SS-rank abilities and asked, “Lu Lu, when do you think our mental power levels will advance to SS-rank?”
You Lu fell silent for a moment.
“In theory, purifying contamination from male beastmen should allow us to increase our mental power, but…”
“Throughout the history of the Federation, there have only been ladies who awakened with SS-rank mental power. No one has ever advanced from S-rank to SS-rank.”
Increasing mental power was far more difficult than advancing one’s abilities. You Lu had awakened her mental power seven or eight years ago, yet she still showed no sign of breaking through.
The Federation’s other S-rank mental-power user, Lady Chu Zhiwei, had awakened hers more than ten years ago and had yet to advance to SS-rank either.
And Chu Zhiwei regularly assisted at various Federation military bases, purifying far more male beastmen every day than You Lu did.
Yunyang took this information in, but she was not discouraged.
Just because it had never happened in history did not mean it was impossible.
Before her, hadn’t the Federation also never had a transmigrator?
Unfortunately, mental power was different from abilities. Yunyang could not sense its level herself; the difference only became apparent when she used it.
She did not dwell on the matter. There was no point in thinking about it now. Whether advancing to SS-rank was possible or not, the process of increasing mental power was extremely long.
Compared to that, she was more eager to raise the level of her own ability.
After her Blessing ability reached D-rank, its effects and duration had increased substantially.
She vaguely felt that if she raised the Blessing ability to S-rank, the blessing might provide a permanent increase.
Of course, that might just be her imagination.
Yunyang moved on from the subject. The two ladies chatted about this and that while their beast husbands gathered around them, attending to their every need.
It seemed like hardly any time had passed when the pilot’s voice came from the cockpit.
“Your Excellencies, we’re beginning our final jump.”
“That fast?”
You Lu glanced at the time and realized that it was already past eleven at night.
Had she and Yangyang really been chatting for that long?
Yunyang had not noticed how quickly the time had passed either. She stood and stretched, then sent Yun Shaoqi a message saying that they would arrive soon. Afterward, she asked You Lu whether she wanted something to eat.
Yunyang had only drunk a single nutrient pack at noon. Although it had tasted good and was very filling, she still felt that something was missing if she did not eat an actual meal.
At the mention of food, You Lu immediately perked up.
She took out a preservation-space key. “I brought some desserts Wen Xu made. Want to try them?”
Qin Mo promptly cleared the coffee table.
Only then did You Lu take out the desserts Yu Wenxu had prepared. There were puddings, cookies, mille crêpe cakes, and all kinds of other treats, with even more flavors than the Colorful Nutrient Packs.
Yunyang was dazzled by the sight.
She likewise took out some of the dishes Rong Jin had prepared and placed them on the empty half of the table.
The preservation-space key not only kept food fresh but also maintained its temperature.
The dishes taken out of it were practically indistinguishable from freshly prepared food.
Drawn in by the aroma, You Lu’s appetite soared. After stuffing a piece of mille crêpe cake into Yunyang’s hand, she began eating without the slightest hesitation.
Naturally, Yunyang did not hold back either.
While the two ladies shared their meal, Rong Jin opened a space key and handed a bag of Colorful Nutrient Packs to each of his four romantic rivals and You Lu’s eleven beast husbands.
When he finished, he waved his hand generously.
“Don’t mention it.”
The four romantic rivals: “…”
You Lu’s eleven beast husbands: “…”
Who was going to thank him?
They had more than enough nutrient packs of their own and could not possibly finish them all.
Though they grumbled inwardly, everyone still tore open a nutrient pack and quickly drank it down before beginning to serve their respective ladies.
The starship’s jumps were normally perfectly smooth, but just as Yunyang was about to take a bite of the milk-salt cookie You Lu handed her, the entire vessel shook violently.
Twenty Federation soldiers instantly surrounded Yunyang and You Lu.
Yunyang turned her head and asked, “What happened?”
The copilot’s voice came from the cockpit.
“It was a small patrol unit of insectoids. We’ve gone around them. Please continue your meal, Your Excellencies.”
T01 Frontier Star was the closest planet to the Insect Star. It was inevitable that they would occasionally encounter insectoids on their way there.
As members of the First Army, the two pilots were already accustomed to such incidents. They knew how to avoid detection by the insectoids.
With so many Federation soldiers and beast husbands around her, Yunyang was not nervous in the slightest.
After hearing the copilot’s explanation, she and You Lu simply continued eating.
The brief interruption soon passed.
Once the jump ended, the starship traveled at full speed for another ten minutes before beginning its landing preparations.
At the same time, on T01 Frontier Star, every member of the First Army who should have been resting was stationed outside the landing site.
Each of them wore a solemn expression, though their eyes were filled with barely concealed excitement.
Deputy Commander Pan En repeatedly lowered his head to check his clothes.
“Morrison, are my clothes still neat? I won’t embarrass myself in front of the two ladies, will I?”
Morrison glared at him impatiently. “Pan En, you’ve asked me that thirty-seven times today.”
“Got it, got it.” Pan En nodded. “But are they actually neat?”
Morrison: “…”
“They’re fine, they’re fine!”
Pan En relaxed. “Morrison, your clothes are neat too. None of us will embarrass ourselves in front of the two ladies.”
“As if I needed you to tell me.” Morrison snorted, though he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Behind the two men, several executive officers watched the deputy commanders helplessly.
Pan En and Morrison had both spent more than twenty years fighting in wars. How could they still be so excitable?
“I see the 129!”
Some young Federation soldier suddenly shouted. The executive officers immediately straightened their backs and hurriedly adjusted their uniforms.
So much for composure. It had vanished like a cloud on the horizon.
The starship was moving quickly. It had only just appeared in everyone’s line of sight when it began to descend.
Five minutes later, the hatch opened, and twenty Federation soldiers emerged first.
They saluted the two deputy commanders and several executive officers in unison.
“Reporting to the deputy commanders and executive officers: mission successfully completed!”
Pan En put on an authoritative expression in an instant.
“Very good. You’ve all done well. We’ll add to your military merits later.”
“Go back and rest.”
The twenty soldiers nodded together and marched in formation toward the nearby base.
On the starship, Yunyang and You Lu each purified the contamination in one of the two pilots.
The pilots felt as if happiness had arrived out of nowhere. They had been envying their fellow soldiers the entire journey, and now it was their turn to receive the ladies’ purification.
Once the purification was complete, the two pilots bowed deeply to Yunyang and You Lu.
“Yunyang, You Lu, please allow us to join your guard.”
