Unlike every previous departure, this time the post-match evacuation was unexpectedly nerve-racking.
But once they boarded the ship, it wasn’t long before everyone’s attention was drawn to the livestreams playing throughout the vessel.
The competition was over now, so they could freely watch the replays. Most people’s first reaction was to claim a screen and bring up the performances of whichever contestants interested them.
The replay played most often, of course, was Pei Liang’s.
The space station’s transit channel had already been repaired, so they no longer needed to spend nearly two days flying back to the venue.
That meant the footage they could watch in the limited time available was naturally restricted. But before they even had a chance to fast-forward, they saw the scene of Pei Liang beating Brian to the ground and making him call her “Dad.”
Although the contestants had all, to varying degrees, witnessed how terrifying this S-rank fighter was, most of them had never truly seen her in action.
Now, watching someone as formidable as Brian—who had been a serious contender for the championship—completely unable to fight back, they couldn’t help but find it horrifying.
As a result, all kinds of eyes were periodically cast Pei Liang’s way throughout the ship.
Pei Liang, however, was with Lancelot and the others in front of the enormous observation window, admiring the vastness of space.
The original owner’s memories included interstellar tourism, but Pei Liang herself had never experienced it. Ever since she transmigrated, one thing after another had kept her occupied, leaving her constantly itching to go.
Once she had some free time, she would have to take a proper interstellar journey—not some rushed trip, but a long vacation during which she could see the true sea of stars.
By the time she had finished a cup of coffee, the ship had already arrived above the venue.
The spectators had long since returned to their seats. When the ship appeared, tens of thousands of people below erupted into cheers.
Fireworks bloomed in the sky, creating a romantic spectacle even in broad daylight. The scale of the welcome was no less impressive than that given to any major interstellar celebrity.
The contestants aboard the ship couldn’t help feeling their hearts surge with emotion.
All these people had come to see them—and this magnificent scene was only an insignificant fraction of the Empire’s supporters.
The ship docked, and a staircase several meters wide extended outward. The contestants disembarked one after another.
The audience grew even more excited, waving their support goods frantically and screaming the names of their favorite contestants.
Of all the cheers, the most overwhelming were naturally those for Pei Liang.
Before entering the venue, she had barely attracted any attention. Many people had never even heard of her. Yet now, she had become the person receiving the loudest cheers in the entire stadium.
In that short span of time, her support merchandise had already been produced.
At a glance, Pei Liang saw a sea of people holding light sticks shaped like her chibi likeness. Her name was painted across their faces, and they wore support clothing and carried projection boards featuring her distinctive appearance.
There had already been plenty of people, and with such a spectacular show of support, she was unquestionably the strongest dark horse of the competition.
Know-It-All Senior, who was standing quite close to her, had no idea where he had gotten the information so quickly. He leaned over and said quietly, “I heard the price of your support merchandise has already broken the historical record.”
Pei Liang looked at him in surprise, but she immediately understood the key point.
Her performance had been so unexpected that she had instantly gained countless supporters. Even the organizing committee itself hadn’t thought much of her chances before the competition began.
An underestimated clown was completely different from a powerful newcomer. Take Lancelot, for example. With his obvious talent, formidable strength, and handsome appearance, he was clearly destined to shine in the arena. Naturally, a whole series of commercial products would have been prepared for him from the very beginning.
But someone like Pei Liang obviously hadn’t been worth spending the effort on at first.
The merchandise had to be designed at the last minute, production had to be coordinated, raw materials had to be urgently allocated, and the market was desperately short of supply.
Even with the powerful productivity of the interstellar era, these items were still scarce under the circumstances. Of course, that meant they could be driven to record-breaking prices.
And that wasn’t all.
Pei Liang glanced toward the VIP viewing boxes.
Most mecha contestants came from aristocratic families, and every year, a large number of their relatives came to cheer them on. Naturally, the nobles couldn’t sit together with ordinary citizens.
But so that the contestants could see their families supporting them at the first opportunity, the viewing boxes would disable their privacy screens once the competition ended and the contestants came out.
With Pei Liang’s eyesight, she could clearly see a large group of relatives from the Pei family inside, along with her cheap mother and the people connected to Mr. Valen.
The two sides were sharply divided, and the atmosphere between them didn’t look particularly friendly.
But Pei Liang was certain that the Pei family members hadn’t come in such numbers when the competition began. They had even brought along her cheap uncle—the head of the Pei family.
None of that mattered, however. Pei Liang merely glanced over before withdrawing her gaze.
The nearby spectators saw where she was looking and erupted into excited screams.
Before she entered the competition, everyone had thought she was an arrogant midget.
Short, arrogant, and clueless—a ridiculous clown. But now she was still that same person, with the same height, and not the sort of Alpha who possessed an especially imposing or heroic appearance.
Yet her aura was powerful and her bearing effortless. That short woman now seemed irresistibly, outrageously charming no matter how one looked at her.
The reporters swarmed forward. Without any prompting, those in the front row all pointed their microphones at Pei Liang.
“Contestant Pei Liang, congratulations on winning the championship in the first event. How do you feel?”
It was a standard interview question. After all, Pei Liang had made such a brazen speech in the arena that quite a few media outlets had nearly used it as their news headline.
Who could have expected events to take such an abrupt turn, revealing that she had actually been carrying out such a meticulous plan?
One reporter smiled and added, “Everyone knows that your speech in the arena was only meant to buy time. Now that the crisis has been resolved, could you tell us how you truly feel? What is it like to win the championship in your very first competition?”
Without even thinking, Pei Liang replied, “Just as expected of me.”
The entire media fell silent.
Pei Liang noticed the brief silence and hesitated. “Don’t tell me you thought I was lying when I spoke on the flag platform?”
“Haha… How could that be? I only needed to buy time. That doesn’t mean I had to lie.”
Gasp!
All right. She really hadn’t been joking.
This was the exact same formula as her performance in the arena.
The media immediately adjusted their expectations. Someone else hurriedly asked, “Contestant Pei Liang, you saw through the Zerg’s disguise and prevented their invasion of human society. Without a doubt, you are a hero of the Empire.”
“Now that the people of the Empire are expressing their gratitude to you, is there anything you would like to say to everyone?”
Pei Liang looked into the camera and smiled. An ordinary person might not have noticed anything unusual in that atmosphere, but a few people who were especially sensitive to facial expressions inexplicably found something sinister about her smile.
Still, Pei Liang had never behaved like a typical Imperial soldier. Everyone had long since grown accustomed to her eccentricity and oddities, and their tolerance for her was unusually high. No one thought much of it.
Pei Liang’s smile became faintly mocking.
“Then what I’d like to say to everyone is this: You’re thanking me far too soon.”
The people around her visibly relaxed at her words, assuming that, as an Imperial soldier, she was declaring that she would make even greater contributions in the future.
And indeed, with her strength, once she entered the military after graduation, she ought to make impressive contributions to protecting the Empire before long, right?
But only Pei Liang knew that once she started making trouble, people in this world might not look at her quite so favorably.
There might even be plenty of people who wanted her dead.
Several more questions followed, and the atmosphere remained fairly harmonious—until a discordant voice suddenly cut in.
“Competitor Pei Liang, you personally confirmed that you and competitor Lancelot are siblings. Is that correct?”
“Then you could have taken all ten flags and broken the historical record, but instead you gave the runner-up position to competitor Lancelot. Was that not disrespectful to the spirit of competition? Or, to put it another way, did it amount to disregarding and trampling on the honor of the collective?”
Pei Liang glanced at the reporter. If she remembered correctly, this was someone notorious for asking deliberately pointed and cutting questions.
She looked toward Lancelot in the Poseidon faction some distance away.
Then she smiled and answered the reporter, “Lancelot deserves it.”
“He’s strong, meticulous, and thorough. Judging by his performance in battle, his ranking was entirely deserved. He also deserves credit for discovering the invasive Zerg’s natural enemy. If it weren’t for him, I might be a parasite by now. To take away what he deserved for an honor that I didn’t earn alone—that would be the truly shameless violation of a soldier’s honor.”
That was true. Judging by their combat performance in this event, Lancelot could easily rank among the top tier.
His strength was on par with Brian’s, and he was even several years younger than Brian.
For contestants in the top tier, their final rankings involved a certain element of luck. If Lancelot had been competing under ordinary circumstances, there was nothing strange about him taking second place. It could hardly be called cheating, nor could it be said that Pei Liang had favored him.
In particular, his meticulousness had contributed enormously to resolving the crisis. From then on, no one questioned his ranking anymore.
Lancelot was also being interviewed by media outlets connected to Neptune. He was the only contestant from the three major military academies to claim a flag, so naturally he attracted considerable attention.
When he heard his sister’s answer to the interview, his face flushed. He secretly glanced over at her.
Quite a few reporters captured that moment. Later, it was even placed alongside Pei Liang’s photo in the layout, and in no time at all, the siblings’ relationship became common knowledge.
The interview time was limited, and the reporters were reluctantly ushered away.
Next came the announcement of the results from the first round, along with some tired words of encouragement. There was nothing particularly interesting about it.
Pei Liang was so bored she felt like dozing off, so she casually swept her gaze over the audience.
That was when she spotted her little stray dog, Hill. He was sitting in the front row, where he had an excellent view. He wasn’t holding any cheering paraphernalia, but he had been staring at her the whole time.
So when Pei Liang looked over, their eyes collided unexpectedly.
Pei Liang smiled and winked at him.
He immediately lowered his head.
That only made Pei Liang grin wider.
Once the speech ended, the first round was officially over. There would be several days of rest before the next one.
She saw the people in the aristocratic box signaling to her, clearly intending to send someone over.
Pei Liang didn’t need more than her toes to figure out what they wanted to say. Her performance in the arena had been enough to make the Pei family take her seriously and begin planning their future around her.
But Pei Liang was already thoroughly fed up with this sort of thing, so she decided not to deal with them for the time being.
Just then, a message arrived on her terminal from Hill.
His tone was somewhat nervous.
[Can I see you? I’m at the XX Hotel, Room XXX.]
It wasn’t far. The hotel was right next to the venue, barely a ten-minute walk away.
After leaving the venue, Pei Liang said goodbye to Lancelot, who had been kept behind by his military academy, and arranged a time to meet him again. Then she headed out.
Although the first round had ended, there was no way such a huge crowd had dispersed yet. The streets were filled with a lively, bustling parade and celebration.
Hill had made a huge profit after betting on Pei Liang. Even though the accommodation included with his spectator ticket had expired, he could now renew it without hesitation.
He had bet on Pei Liang winning every round. Although only the first round had ended, the first payout had already arrived.
He had been mentally prepared for it, but seeing his current assets still felt like a dream.
A month ago, he had been a penniless desperado from the slums. Other than his own body and life—which were hardly worth much—he had possessed nothing.
He had intended to gamble his life in exchange for a chance to climb upward.
If someone had told him back then that a month later he would have the right to enter the central district freely and would become a multimillionaire overnight, Hill would have scoffed in disbelief.
Yet now, all of it had come true.
Hill was feeling nervous. The moment he received Pei Liang’s reply, he rushed into the bathroom and took a shower.
Wrapped in a bathrobe, he hurriedly dried his hair, then changed into plain-colored clothes that were completely different from his usual style. But after that, he still felt that something about the room was lacking.
So he quickly rearranged the space, adjusting the holographic atmosphere projection into a somewhat suggestive setting.
Then Hill picked up a bottle of perfume from the bedside table. Closing his eyes, he sprayed it over himself and around the room.
He had spotted the perfume a few days ago in the shopping center attached to the hotel when he went downstairs.
It was a perfume modeled after an Omega’s pheromones. Its scent was not especially strong, but it held a considerable allure for Alphas.
The price was steep, far beyond what an ordinary person could casually afford, yet Hill had still bought it as if possessed.
After all that, Hill waited nervously in the room.
He didn’t have to wait long. Soon, a knock sounded from outside.
Hill opened the door and let his benefactor in.
His face was slightly flushed, and his breathing was a little uneven as he said, “Congratulations on winning.”
Pei Liang smiled. “It was only the first round. Though there wasn’t much suspense.”
Then she noticed that something about the little stray was off today. He looked dazed and flushed with desire, almost as if he had taken an aphrodisiac.
A fragrance drifted into her nose.
Pei Liang no longer reacted to an Omega’s pheromones, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t recognize them.
She was puzzled. “You found an Omega to keep you company while staying at the hotel?”
Then she added with a teasing smile, “That’s impressive. An ordinary Omega isn’t easy to arrange.”
Seeing that she had misunderstood, Hill immediately panicked. “I didn’t!”
“It’s the perfume. You smelled it wrong.”
“But your face is red. If it isn’t pheromones, then what is it?” Pei Liang waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not interested.”
“Besides, why did you ask me to come?”
Hill, however, remained fixated on the accusation. “I said it isn’t! I bought the wrong perfume, okay?”
Seeing him look like someone who had picked up a stone only to drop it on his own foot, Pei Liang glanced at the bottle on the bedside table, surprise crossing her face.
“Perfume like this actually exists?”
“What were you thinking? Trying to get yourself killed?”
It was true that the perfume could serve as an aphrodisiac. Compared with genuine pheromones, it wasn’t entirely unbearable, nor did it seem capable of making someone lose all reason.
But judging from Hill’s reaction, if someone sprayed this stuff in a place packed with Alphas, you could bet no one would have the mind to do anything productive.
Pei Liang took the bottle and frowned. “This counts as a weapon, doesn’t it?”
“How terrifying would it be if someone used it in a terrorist attack? And they actually sell it openly on the market?”
If Pei Liang were to use this thing to cause trouble, she was certain it could produce the greatest possible results with the least manpower. The losses involved would be so severe that even the emperor of the Empire would wince at them—she wasn’t bragging.
Hill looked a little bewildered by her reaction. “D-doesn’t an Omega’s pheromones count as something normal?”
Pei Liang sighed. “That’s precisely what’s abnormal about it.”
They treated an obvious risk as though it were perfectly ordinary.
Still, there was no point discussing that now. Pei Liang shot Hill a sidelong glance. “Then why were you spraying Omega pheromone perfume around your room?”
Hill had been loudly defending himself just moments ago, but now he suddenly seemed to have been sewn shut.
His voice dropped to the level of a mosquito’s buzz. “Don’t all Alphas like this scent?”
“I don’t,” Pei Liang said. “Didn’t I tell you that I like Alphas? Why would I be obsessed with an Omega’s pheromones?”
Hill froze. This wasn’t the first time he’d heard her say that.
But the galaxy was vast and full of wonders. There were, of course, Alpha men who liked men, but no matter what their sexual preferences were, their bodies would still be drawn to Omega pheromones.
It was an instinctive reaction, not something they could control through personal preference.
That was why Omega pheromone perfume was also a popular aphrodisiac among wealthy gay men.
Hill hadn’t expected Pei Liang to be so thoroughly gay that even an Omega’s pheromones couldn’t move her. Judging by her expression, she genuinely hadn’t felt the slightest reaction. He couldn’t help but regard her with newfound respect.
But there was no turning back now. Even though the conversation had repeatedly strayed from the point, Hill had long since been so nervous and embarrassed that he could barely stand it. Still, he had to find a way to draw his benefactor’s attention over.
He took a deep breath and cut straight to the point. “I heard that you like Alphas, so I got the wrong idea.”
At that, Pei Liang raised an eyebrow and looked at the little stray.
She had been distracted by his strange behavior the moment she entered. Only now did she have the chance to properly take in the state of the room.
Oh, wow~
The furnishings and cleanliness of the hotel’s luxury suite were naturally beyond reproach, but the atmosphere carried a casual, hazy suggestiveness. It was quite alluring.
And then there was Hill. Until now, she had been focused on his complexion and breathing, and only then noticed that his ice-blue hair was half wet, with one side brushed back behind his ear. Instead of his usual dark leather jacket, he was wearing a white silk shirt.
He looked rather like a dirty little stray dog that had just been washed clean—pitiful and adorable all at once.
His entire person was both innocent and seductive. The icy blue of his hair and the faintly flushed, aroused look on his face created a contradictory blend of ice and fire. He was undeniably alluring.
Especially after Pei Liang had just come from the heated arena, looking at him was like taking a long drink of a cool blue cocktail.
Hill had grown up in the lower districts, where sex and violence were part of his everyday environment. Naturally, he was highly sensitive to shifts in Pei Liang’s gaze.
When he sensed the invasive hunger in her eyes, his face grew even redder.
“If you want an Alpha,” he said, “what do you think of me?”
Pei Liang was sure of it now. The little stray dog had really come wagging his tail over to bite at her trouser leg.
She immediately grew interested. Sitting on the sofa with her long legs crossed, she said to Hill, “That depends. Where exactly does your competitiveness lie?”
Hill walked over to her and stood in front of her, as if he were a piece of merchandise voluntarily displaying his worth.
“I’m… reasonably good-looking, aren’t I?”
Pei Liang nodded. He wasn’t merely good-looking. Although he came from the lower districts and lacked the refinement and elegance of the upper classes, his appearance alone was enough to earn him a living off his face.
And there was something striking about his bearing as well.
Though he had deliberately dressed in pale, gentle colors and adopted a submissive posture, the beautiful shell could not conceal the ambition within him—the ambition of someone who had been trampled into the mud yet still fought desperately to climb upward, charging forward without hesitation.
Hill continued, “I’m obedient enough, too. Whatever you ask me to do, I’ll do it.”
“And I was born low. I can take whatever you put me through. I have nothing but my body. That’s my competitive advantage.”
Pei Liang fell silent.
During that silence, Hill felt time stretch unbearably slowly, as though everything had frozen in place.
His heart rose into his throat. He had never expected much from such meager qualifications.
This woman was now the most famous military academy student in the Empire. Even if she wanted an Alpha, there would be plenty of Alphas willing to offer themselves to her out of admiration for her strength.
And he was merely a stray dog from the lower districts, a wretched life barely worth anything. A noblewoman like her would probably find him too disgusting to even bite into.
Hill felt disappointed. Yet the disappointment was strangely different from simple regret that he had failed to trade his only asset for the reward he desired.
He didn’t know how long it had been before he heard Pei Liang’s voice reach his ears.
“Originally, we were nothing more than employer and employee. At the beginning, I had no intention of making things more complicated.”
The disappointment on Hill’s face was impossible to hide. He had expected this outcome from the start, yet she had still given him a bit of unrealistic hope.
But it seemed that she had no particular interest in him after all. Perhaps she was simply accustomed to being generous.
Then Pei Liang continued, “However, I don’t dislike a stray dog who’ll stop at nothing to get ahead. And the fact that you have better judgment than most people is worth a little extra praise.”
She estimated that she would be staying in this world for a very long time—longer than ever before.
After all, in the interstellar age, human lifespans had been extended considerably. The things she wanted to accomplish and the ambitions she wanted to realize would not be achieved through a small undertaking, especially since she had no experience in this field.
With such a long stretch of time ahead of her, there was no reason not to enjoy herself.
She had been tempted by Richter at the arena just an hour ago, but that didn’t mean the little stray wasn’t appealing too. There was plenty of time. She could take things slowly.
So Pei Liang smiled and said, “Fine. From now on, you’re with me.”
A startled, delighted expression appeared on Hill’s face. Before he could say anything, he saw his benefactor make a few movements on her terminal.
The next second, a notification appeared in his account. Hill tapped into it—and was stunned numb by the balance inside.
His benefactor said, “I just happened to make a little profit. You like racing, don’t you?”
“I’ll have someone contact you later. With a noble’s influence and the money in your hands, it should be enough to buy a racing team.”
“If you want to climb higher, then show me what you can do.”
Hill had never heard of a benefactor so generous—someone who arranged everything for him before he had even received a taste of the reward.
But since his benefactor was so lavish, he naturally had to work even harder to prove himself.
Hill walked over to Pei Liang, braced himself against the armrest of the chair beneath her, and knelt down in front of her.
